Our first morning back in Arusha saw us having breakfast with our Vineyard colleague and now MP for Iringa region (southern Tanzania).
We spent the morning talking about justice, toppling the giants of greed, poverty, corruption and division in this land.
Politics is a challenge anywhere in the world, but in Africa, the evangelical/pentecostal church by and large frowns on, and distances itself from, the political forum. This is so unfortunate seeing that this continent is crippled by self-serving leaders, who all initially trumpet the cause of anti-corruption, but consequently tend to fall prey to the seduction of 'the good life'.
The challenge for the Church is to identify and empower those called to the halls of power, and establish strong life-lines and accountability structures to help these godly individuals to not only survive, but take ground in the areas of justice and social ethics, especially for the sake of the poor.
We're very excited that this pastor has been successful in taking office. Peter Msigwa needs our prayers and encouragement, as well as mentoring, to be effective in community transformation. Any suggestions or contacts? Do let us know...
Interestingly, we just had lunch with Pst Elijah Ngurumwa, whom some of you know. His father did the reverse - from police commissioner to politician (with the opposing party to Peter's) then to pastoring.
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