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Global Missions
Tanzania - Missions
Download the Fall 2007 Mwatasi Mission update magazine
Trinity maintains very active mission relationships in Tanzania. At present there are three primary mission projects:
Village of Mwatasi
We maintain two projects in Mwatasi: a partnership with the church, and building a water project for the whole village.
• Trinity’s partner is the Mwatasi Lutheran Church in this rural village of about 4500 people. The church is led by Pastor Upendo, a talented and devoted ordained female. In addition to the main church in the village, there are three churches in nearby preaching points. Those churches are led by evangelists under the direction of Pastor Upendo. Trinity has contributed  matching funds to those of the Mwatasi congregation for building the churches in 2005 and funded the purchase of pews for the main church in 2006. The Mwatasi Lutheran Church has set a goal to build a preschool and guest house near the church. As their plans become firmer, we look forward to helping them reach their goal.
• Village Water Project: Trinity began a partnership in 2005 that extended to the village as a whole. The village has no safe, accessible central water supply or electricity. We funded and built a simple municipal water system that began supplying the southern third of the village in October and November, 2005. This year, we are working with the village to build another system that serves the central third of the village. We plan to help the village complete the system in 2007-08 with increasing responsibility and leadership of the Mwatasi Village Water Board.
ScholarshipsEducation is key to an improved life for our Tanzanian partners. Public schooling is available only through grade six. Beyond that, students may attend secondary school at their own expense. Trinity maintains an on-going scholarship program, funded by individuals and groups. Each student’s secondary school tuition is only $300 per year, paid in two installments. Contact Lori Mildon at 351-1080 for information.
Arusha Lutheran Medical Center
Dr. Mark Jacobson is a Stillwater native who grew up as a Trinity member. He has lived in Tanzania for many years, and is credited with building and running a world-renowned hospital in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha. Trinity supports the hospital and special projects on an on-going basis. Construction is progressing on the new hospital in Arusha, headed by Dr. Mark Jacobson. The Trinity community has made major contributions to the new infant intensive care unit and an orthopedic floor of the hospital. To read the latest newsletter from Dr. Mark Jacobson on the status of the medical center's progress, click here.
Learn more about Selian Hospital and on the internet at: http://selianlh.habari.co.tz/index.htm
For more information or to become involved in a large or small way in any of our Tanzanian missions, contact Michele Hermansen at 715-247-5426.
Fall 2008 Mexico Border Trip
Information meeting Tue., July 8, 7 p.m. - Living Room
Travel Dates: Nov. 16-21, 2008
The 2008 adult mission trip to the Texas-Mexico Border has been scheduled and planning is underway! Travel to Eagle Pass, TX where missionaries stay overnight in a church dormitory. Each day cross the border to Piedras Negras, Mexico, where missionaries will distribute food and medical supplies to homes, and provide sewing/quilting classes for women and offer childcare during the classes at the Mano Amiga casa site. At the information meeting you will hear about the 2008 mission trip, view photos and videos of past trips, learn about trip costs and fundraising opportunities, and have a chance to ask questions concerning mission trip details. Whether you are a new missionary, not sure if you want to be a missionary or are a returning missionary, come to the meeting and discover what’s planned for 2008! Bring friends or family who might be interested, too! Applications are available at the meeting or click here to submit online. Contact Tom Thiets via email or at ext. 146 or Karen Gieseke via email or at ext. 145 for more information about the 2008 Border trip.
 Adult Yucatan Trip
Each February, a group of adults travels to our base camp in Chuburna Puerto, a gulf coast village north of Merida, Yucatan. They spend the week serving our friends, learning about the culture and cuisine of the Mayan civilization, and enjoying the recreational opportunities in the surrounding area. Trinity has been sending groups of youth and adults to this area since 1990. In these 16 years, youth and adults from the St. Croix Valley have forged deep relationships that continue to this day. Many of you have sponsored these missionaries over the past 16 years. Contact Tom Thiets with questions via email or at ext. 146.
Katrina: Rebuilding Hope mission trip
Let’s work alongside our neighbors in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Many do not yet have the same basic comforts of home that we have today. Let’s take the chance to bring our skills and hearts to help rebuild their lives and hope.
Have you noticed, a year after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, how much still needs to be done? Word coming out of Mississippi shows a sense of hopelessness combined with frustration and despair. We can help change that!
The list of workers includes those with construction skills, those gifted wtih hospitality or administration skills, and those willing to listen to others’ stories with compassion and care. You must be 16 years or older; the costs will be about $250 and we will carpool.
Please contact Kristie Anderson at 651-439-9133 or jkjsa@hotmail.com to see if there is one more spot for you!
Ways to support this trip include cash contributions for gas or to support hurricane survivors, Home Depot gift cards to buy building supplies or Wal Mart gift cards to support team food needs and /or goodie bags for the team as we travel south for 22 hours! Call Kristie at 651-439-9133 with your generous offers of help.
Mission Prayer Team
I sure would like to accompany the missions people wherever God sends them! You can! Prayer has been said to be the best tried and true method to accompany Trinity Ambassadors in Mission. And you can do it on your own time, in your own place, in the shower or on your walks . . . no meetings will be necessary for this team! Prayer schedules of mission trips can be sent to you by email; just contact Kristie Anderson at jkjsa@hotmail.com or 651-439-9133 to join this essential team of Mission Prayers!
Feed My Starving Children
Trinity encourages groups to visit Feed My Starving Children on service projects. Feed My Starving Children is committed to feeding God's starving children hungry in body and spirit. Their approach is simple: volunteers pack nutritious meals made up of rice, soy, vitamins and dehydrated vegetables, and then partner with relief organizations worldwide to distribute these meals to starving children. As a Christian non-profit, they hope to reduce the number of starving children throughout the world by working to instill compassion in a generation that hears and responds to the cries of those in need. Visit their website at www.fmsc.org to organize a trip for your group.
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