A couple of weeks ago, the national office interviewed six prospective staff for Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students (Ushirika wa Wanafunzi wa Injili wa Tanzania). It’s a wonderful chance to hear stories of God’s work and get a taste of the impact of TAFES nationwide. The candidates come having had […]
From time to time I read Jayson Georges’ blog Honorshame.com as a way of working my cultural anthropology skills. We have often used the three cultural paradigms – guilt, shame and fear – in order to unpack differences between Tanzania and Australia, and the way theology comes to bear on […]
A friend of ours once likened South Sudan to Tanzania. He had visited South Sudan for a construction project, and looming large in his experience was the constant presence of armed men. As he spoke, he seemed to be describing a potential failed state, a hive of barely contained conflict, […]
On arriving in Tanzania in 2013, we were greeted with a new communications reality: mobile internet. Tanzania had started out with mobile internet rather than waiting for wired infrastructure. Unlike Australia, mobile data bundles quickly became cheap and plentiful. By the time of our first home assignment, advanced smartphones were […]
Jesus will build his church. Not sin or corruption or poor leadership will stop Jesus building it. This was the message brought to us at church on Sunday from Matthew 16. Jesus will be triumphant. His glorious church is not dependent on you because he is the master. He can even do […]
My second hunch about Tanzanian women is a bit more complicated than the first, and a lot more speculative. Theory Two: women’s progress in Tanzania is hampered because their emotional expression is limited. Tanzanian society in general is hierarchical. Those at the top have the power and those at the […]
The so-called prosperity gospel has been a matter of concern in certain Christian circles for some time. The phenomenon doesn’t look like abating any time soon, and American evangelicals have renewed their opposition, with 9 Marks covering it at the beginning of 2014, and the Gospel Coalition posting throughout the […]
Meet Jesus at uni 