29.09.2023

Continue Working Together

Bishop Dr Msafiri Mbilu (right) in consultation with Rev. Dr Andar Parlindungan (left). Photo by: Thea Hummel, UEM

Bishop Dr Msafiri Mbilu visited Bielefeld and Wuppertal in Germany at the end of September. He leads the ELCT/NED* and had previously participated in the Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Poland.

In Bielefeld, Mbilu met with partners of the NED to discuss current developments and challenges in his diocese. He preached in the Apostle Church and reported on the work of his diocese.

He then travelled on to Wuppertal. Here in UEM’s Mission House he met Volker Martin Dally, General Secretary; Timo Pauler, Executive Secretary Finance and Administration; as well as Andar Parlindungan, Head of Department "Global Programs I" and newly elected General Secretary elect. They discussed various projects and programmes as well as further cooperation between the NED and the UEM.

“Bishop Dr. Msafiri Mbilu continued to look forward to a good cooperation between the UEM and NED especially in resolving the past crisis in the church. The Bishop also called on the UEM to pay attention to educational work and youth empowerment in the NED”, this is how Andar Parlindungan describes the meeting. The Bishop congratulated the new General Secretary elect, who will take office in 2024, and confirmed the NED's commitment to participate in the ongoing internationalisation of the UEM.

*ELCT/NED = Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, North Eastern Diocese