As the new academic year begins in Dodoma, it seems like every weekend features another mkesha, the big all-night gathering for university students. The mkesha phenomenon is little more than a decade old. We’re told it began in Dar es Salaam around 2000. With packed daily timetables, students were busy, but were […]
In the last couple of weeks, as the new semester begins, I’ve heard three visions for life at university. Each had a slightly different message and way of using the Bible. I’ve sketched them out below. Wanachuo refers to university students — it’s a neologism that reflects the emerging reality of Tanzania’s […]
We’ve been thinking a bit about the prosperity gospel and keen to learn from local sources here in Tanzania. So when we had dinner recently with a Christian leader from a region about 2 hours north of Dodoma, we took the opportunity to ask him what he thought. He doesn’t […]
So, we got some things wrong about student ministry in Tanzania, but a number of things we said during our pre-departure deputation in Australia have been confirmed. For example: We said that we would be joining in with what God is already doing here, rather than pioneering something new. At […]
You know when you watch an TV show that’s about some crisis in a foreign country and the CIA director or the American president asks, ‘how good’s our intel?’ It’s a good question, because what you hear or assume and the reality on the ground can be quite different. During […]
I’ve been drawing on a lecture by Vinoth Ramachandra to continue my question, What is the stuff of university ministry? The last post suggested that an integrative approach to student ministry will involve seeking out the complexities of the university. What might that look like? • Listen to part 1/4 of the lecture
Let’s continue considering the nature of university ministry with the guidance of Vinoth Ramachandra, who is Secretary for Dialogue and Social Engagement in IFES. To unpack my last post, here I’m drawing on Engaging the University, which is the first lecture of Ramachandra’s 2012 lecture series, ‘Mission as Prophetic Engagement’. Bear in […]
Meet Jesus at uni 