The Gift of Witness
Patricia Gross

To be is to be related, not to be related is simply not to be.

This African proverb might be considered a guiding principle for the St. Luke’s group currently planning an October, 2006 trip to Tanzania. At a recent informational meeting, the first in a series of preparatory meetings, Lynda Minnick suggested that t his trip would change our lives---in ways we might expect, and in ways only God can imagine.

Lynda went on to describe her own transforming experience of global travel, and the calling she feels to share the possibilities for such transformation with St. Luke’s. Our congregational life is enriched by the experiences of its members, and the Tanzania trip is an intentional pursuit of a witness experience. It is, we learned, an opportunity to receive the gift of Christian witness from our brothers and sisters in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT).

The two week itinerary includes visits to an ELCT hospital, schools, and fair trade coffee farm in and around Arusha, with opportunities for conversation and exchange with global mission and local staff. Also included are visits to nature preserves and Mt. Kilimanjaro, and worship with area ELCT congregations. We’ll visit the AIDS hospice program where our missionary partners, the Hartwigs, work. And we’ll reserve time each evening to debrief as a group in order to maximize our learning and share our experiences.

We’ll look forward to bringing back our witness gifts and sharing them once again with the members of St. Luke’s. Who knows what relationships will grow from there?