The harvest is plentiful

Bishop Ntiruka took over the Tabora diocese in Tanzania 12 years ago. The 96,000 square-miles diocese has since seen incredibly rapid church growth. EN interviewed the bishop in June while he was in the UK.

EN: Can you describe the spiritual and material conditions in Tabora diocoese when you took over 12 years ago?

BN: The diocese had ten clergy on its staff, and there were about 5,000 Christians and 50 catechists. There were other denominations - Protestants, Catholics and others - with people around there following mainly traditional religions, Muslims and Christians - a mixed community.

EN: 18 months ago you sent out 15 evangelists sponsored by Crosslinks. How did you choose these men? Was there any one characteristic which stood out in them?

BN: First of all we trained them for two years to become catechists and then we sent them to look after congregations. They did a lot of things - with the exception of baptising, marrying, taking Holy Communion - but when they had finished their training we identified 15 men who were able to go to new places to plant churches and we brought them to our centre and trained and commissioned them. Originally we were only going to plant ten churches, but when we talked to Crosslinks they were able to support 15.

The characteristic that stood out was that they were enthusiastic people in their work, they were doing their work well, they were spiritually-minded people. They were good at communicating with people and, of course, the Holy Spirit guided their approach.

EN: They were meant to plant 15 churches, but instead there are now 34 churches. What factors do you think have contributed most to this very fast church growth?

BN: One of the factors was the leadership of these 15 men. They were so enthusiastic that they went to the villages and told their story and were able to get people to share their enthusiasm and, of course, the Holy Spirit is always present....

EN: Are there any stories of how God worked which stand out in your mind?

BN: I know one story in which we sent someone to plant a church because we had done some social work there. We had worked with WaterAid to dig a well for the people in the village. We don't identify ourselves as Anglicans but just went and shared with the villagers. After the well was working they began to ask us who we were and we told them that we were Anglicans. They asked why we didn't build an Anglican church there and so we sent someone to plant a church. Some sort of holistic idea there: we do social work and then we do a spiritual work.

EN: What is being done now to try to disciple new converts and make these churches mature in the faith?

BN: We have someone in the diocese who is called a Director of Evangelism and every three months he goes to each church plant. These new plants are in areas where there are parishes. The church planter gathers together the people and they teach them the need to be independent. We don't want churches to always depend on support from Crosslinks, so we are teaching them stewardship, to be self-supporting. We tell them that in three years' time there will be no support so that they must work hard - to build a permanent church and a classroom, also to build a house in which the pastor can live.

EN: What resources do you need?

BN: When we send these catechists out we give them bicycles and after three years' constant use they are simply worn out. Also our hope is to teach some of these church planters to be pastors, so we need support to send them to a theological seminary for three years - money for travel and resources to train.

EN: Crosslinks raised £15,000 to build and equip a new clinic in Tabora. How is that being used for the Lord?

BN: Very, very useful. The clinic is between two villages and the town of Tabora, which is about four miles away, and the aim was to help people from the two villages to get treatment. It was opened in March this year and we have six on the staff and it's doing a great job. Many people are coming not only from the villages, which was our aim, but from the town four miles away in order to get treatment there. The church is already telling us that we should be looking for a doctor. We show a spiritual presence through the work of helping people. The way the patients are treated shows them the love of Jesus.

EN: What is your purpose in visiting the UK and how can Christians in the UK help now?

BN: I was invited by Crosslinks to talk at their 80th anniversary celebration and to come and visit churches and people and share with them what we are doing in Tabora - church planting projects, health projects. Ever since I came I have met many friends and people, and old friends, and I hope to go back with a new energy. As I share with them they see our need for more church planting projects, the need for training our people, the need for transport in our area and so on. That's what I would like to share with them.

And I tell them (more importantly) about the need for prayer. As Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful but workers are few, so I ask them to pray for us.

An interview with Bishop Ntiruka of Tanzania