Tanzania is a land of natural wonders, including its beautiful Indian Ocean coastline, Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika (Africa’s deepest lake), and Mount Kilimanjaro, (Africa’s highest mountain). Christians and Muslims are equally represented, each accounting for around 35% of the population. It is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse country in East Africa; over 130 different languages are spoken in Tanzania!

Tragically, AIDS has now afflicted over 1.7 million people (8.8% of the population) and orphaned over one million children. This has had a horribly adverse effect on Tanzania’s social fabric and economic structure. And though 70% of the population is rural and more than half of the country’s workforce is involved in agriculture, about one third of Tanzania’s 45 million citizens are malnourished; 68% live in poverty.

Although there have been renewal movements in many traditional congregations, in much of the Tanzanian Church choirs and collections have taken priority over biblical teaching. There are extensive areas where churches have stagnated and many villages through the country remain unreached.

In 2005, a pastor from Tanzania attended an ITEM seminar in Nairobi, Kenya, and returned home telling friends and denominational leaders about how helpful the training had been. An invitation was extended, and ITEM’s ministry in Tanzania was launched in April of 2006, first to Free Methodist pastors and then expanding quickly to include pastors from all denominations and independent churches. Since that time, a strong national team led by Henry Johnson (ITEM Associate), Joseph Musuma Marwa (ITEM Coordinator), and James Johannes (Assistant) has developed and is working hard to train pastors and revive the ministry and impact of Tanzanian churches.