In
February 2005, three members of St Peter’s church, including
the
Rev Bill Henderson, made an arduous journey to Mara in Tanzania to
further develop the relatioenship between Stanley parish and the people
of Mara. The link between
Wakefield Diocese and Mara has been in existence for 15 years and in
that time, relationships have also grown between individual parishes;
thus the parish of Stanley is linked with the Sakawa parish in Mara.
The
exchange fund was set up
to raise the money to send these
parishioners to Mara. The fundraising began with an
exhilarating
Balloon Race and Family Fun-day on Saturday 25th September. However the
fund is not designed
as a one way trip for Stanley parishioners, we
truly hope to be able to fund "return journeys" for Mara parishioners.
Despite the hardships of everyday life, the Tanzanians are enormously
grateful for all they have. They have a strong Christian
faith
which
helps them cope with adversity, and they truly believe that God is
there for them and will provide for
them. In the UK however,
we
have so
many material possessions but can still feel dissatisfied.
Maybe
this
is because we’ve invested time and money in satisfying our
physical
needs, but have neglected our spiritual needs and failed to acknowledge
that we need God in our lives.
It is hoped that the people of Sakawa might be able to tell us what
gives them such faith in God, and hence re-invigorate our own worship
and mission at St Peter’s. We may also find out if
there
are further practical ways in which we in Stanley can help them.
