Members of a local congregation visit unbelievers in the bush with their Pastor.
The first women's dormitory at the Sewing Center gets a new, improved roof!
One of the rooms at the Sewing Center — it has electricity and supplies!2017–2019 Mission Grant 4
Tanzanian Sewing Center
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT)
$25,000
View mission grant resources below.
In southeastern Tanzania, many young women from villages do not attend school or have jobs, and so seek unskilled jobs in larger towns, often ending up involved in prostitution. Some end up with AIDS or unexpected pregnancies, with no means of supporting themselves. The ELCT has established the Bishop Makala Sewing Center to teach young women sewing, life skills, and the Gospel. The ELCT goal is to build classrooms with a 50 student capacity, along with a dormitory. Within one year of training, their sewing skills enable women to have pocket money, purchase a sewing machine, and buy materials to create sewn items to sell for income.
Many people pass the days with no purpose and little hope.
Vibrant active worship and beautiful music fills the space at the nicest building at the Sewing Center Complex — the church of course!
WHEREAS, The Bishop Makala Sewing Center strives to train desperately poor young women in Tanzania who are faced with choosing between starvation and prostitution, who neither work nor attend school, who are untrained in any skill; and
WHEREAS, Becoming mired in human trafficking, many women meet extremely unhealthy situations in the cities where they seek to sustain their lives, the result being unexpected pregnancy, disease, and degradation; and
WHEREAS, The Christians in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania are committed to connecting these women to Jesus, providing Christian education, teaching life skills, providing a safe environment for learning, emphasizing Christian unity among them and purchasing products from them as well as developing additional markets for their sewing skills; and
WHEREAS, Though extremely rich in spiritual blessings and a will to serve, these African Christians do not have the means to reach the many suffering, but we have the means to provide Christ’s mercy and compassion through our gift; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the delegates gathered at the 2017 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, vote the sum of $25,000 to help fund the Tanzanian Sewing Center.
