October 18th, 2015: the consecration of Bishop- Elect Dr Abednego Keshomshahara as the fifth Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) - North West Diocese.

By Rev John Wesley Kabango, UEM Africa Executive Secretary.

The day’s Motto is: “it is dangerous not to respect a calling”.

For a 6 hours church service, the Bukoba NWD Cathedral and its surrounding gardens are full of people who joyfully came to celebrate the Bishop’s consecration. The consecration service was jointly led by‎ the current ELCT Presiding Bishop, Dr Alex Malasusa and the retiring NWD Bishop Elisa Buberwa.

This event coincided with an other important meeting: delegates/leaders from all ELCT dioceses, partners from Germany (UEM, Ludenscheid-Plettenberg, Herborn, Bonn, Gladbeck-Bottrop-Dorsten), Switzerland (LWF), Denmark, Sweden, USA, churches and faith organisations operating in Africa ( Rwanda, Uganda)  have a two days meeting in the framework of the Lutheran Mission Cooperation (LMC).  The Government of Tanzania was represented by the Vice President, Mr Ali Mohammed Shein and the regional leaders at all levels. He said that the Government appreciates the ELCT, the NWD and their partners’ social work in addressing human needs in the areas of education, health, human rights and community’ life improvement in general.

 

After his Master of Theology obtained from Makumira University, Bishop Dr Keshomshahara  is a UEM scholarship holder who graduated at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel in 2008. He is married to Mrs Melisa Akanshalilao and they have two boys, of 18 and 15 years old. The Bishop’s work experience has been related to his Phd dissertation is “ A Theology of Poverty Reduction in Tanzania: A Quest for Christian Socio-Economic and Political Vision”.

In his words of greetings to the congregants and guests, Bishop Dr Keshomshahara confirmed that he will strive to continue the “holistic development” work which is a legacy of previous NWD Bishops and more recently the retiring Bishop, Elisa Buberwa who was appreciated for having shepherd the diocese through significant changes, both in the parishes and on societal levels.

“Let is join hands within and outside Tanzania to fight underdevelopment caused by ignorance and poverty. Churches and governments in Africa are called upon to fight the root causes of poverty leading people to flee their home countries seeking refuges to European Countries at the cost of severe atrocities and risks in crossing the Mediterranean waters”. The Bishop  appealed Tanzanians to keep their unity; togetherness and solidarity to continue enjoy a long lasting peace and stability.

The Missionaries of the Bethel Mission joined later by the Scandivians were recognised and acknowledged for bringing the Gospel in the East Africa Region.