Itolwa Parish 

St Peter's Church, Itolwa.

The picture below shows the church family on Easter Sunday 2018.

Itolwa Easter Sunday 2018
The pastor and Area Dean is Rev'd Stephen Madinda. His vicarage is shown below.
Itolwa Vicarage

There is a daily service at 6am and the Sunday service is at 3.30pm. After the Sunday service, the youth gather to learn games, sing, and read and study the bible. 


Rev'd Madinda leads four churches. St Mark’s Church in Itolwa is the largest of the four and there are smaller congregations in the nearby villages and hamlets of Mlongia,  Machakosi and Kihogoro.  The Catechistis are:

  • Itolwa   Catechisti Shedrack Mzuri
  • Mlongia   Catechisti Andrea Chibanhila
  • Machakosi   Catechisti Daniel Petro
  • Silale   Catechisti Mika Wanga
  • Kihogolo   Catechisti Petro Lubeleje

Rev Habel Bira and his three C
The parish has an active Mothers Union as well as youth and children’s groups. This picture is of the roof being added the the church at Mlongia.Mlongia roofing the church
The villages continue to be threatened by water shortages. There are no operating wells and in the dry season, water has to be collected by digging down into the dry river bed over a mile from the village. In the rainy season the soil is fertile and good crops of maize and sunflowers can be harvested, but climate change has made the rains more unreliable in recent years.

Despite poverty and lack of water and other basic facilities, the churches are vibrant and the church elders are eager to spread the good news and involve children and youth through teaching, music and sport. 

Itolwa parish is linked with St John’s and St Mildred’s in the UK Diocese of Rochester:  http://stjohnsmeopham.co.uk/itolwa-tanzania/ 

“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land”.  Proverbs 25:25.

 

The link started in 2015 with an exchange of letters and two members of St John’s church, Jill and Peter Kettle, were able to visit Itolwa and Kondoa in September-October 2016 and meet the church families there.small for website

The two parishes aim to strengthen links between Meopham and Itolwa, so that the churches can provide each other with mutual support in spreading the word of God, sharing spiritual and material resources. They also hope to encourage village schools and other organisations in Meopham to establish links with Tanzania.

The friendship has been continued since October 2016 through various means of communication, including e-mail, phone calls and text messages and Facebook.  A video of the 2017 New Year Service at St Mark’s was shown at the morning service at St John’s the following week.
 

The Christians of Itolwa have chosen 3 John 1: 13-14 as their mission for this relationship:

"I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.  Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name."


Here is a picture of Rev Billa with his new motorbike, funded by St John's Meopham with st Mildred's Nurstead:Itolwa motorbikea
Photos of St.John's Meopham with St. Mildred's Nurstead are shown below:St Mildreds in the snowSt Johns
 

















Enquiries concerning baptism, marriages, funerals and Sunday Services should be addressed to the Pastor.

Any correspondence should be addressed to 

Kanisa la Anglican 
Itolwa Parish - Dinari ya Itolwa
Dayosisi ya Kondoa 
PO Box 7 
Kondoa 
Tanzania