Generous Donor Who Is Not an Adventist Builds a Church in Tanzania
By Tyson Jacob with Daniel Bulengela | 16 August 2020
A donor who is a Christian, but not an Adventist, has funded the construction of a new facility for the local Seventh-day Adventist church in Kinesi, Tanzania. A woman with a PhD degree who resides in Dar es Salaam, the generous benefactor insists on remaining anonymous, but agreed to be interviewed by Sauti Kuu, the news magazine of the denomination in Tanzania.
Asked why she decided to build the church, she said, “I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit whispering. … I have built the church not for fame, but for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.” Her grandfather provided the land on which the new facility is being constructed, and she commented, “We are doing a genealogical work and finishing our parents’ work by extending the blessings.”
Asked why she decided to build an Adventist church although she belongs to a different denomination, she said that her denomination “is very stable and can build any number of facilities. I also believe that all religions preach the same message. I see building this modern church to attract people for worship and so my fellow Kinesi natives can be saved.”
In addition to the construction of the church building, she has also built a good road both to assist the community in daily activities and make it easy to get to the church. She has also bought fruit trees and is providing for the planting of lawns to beautify the facility “for a peaceful worship environment.”
The building will also be equipped with air conditioning and a friend of the donor contributed by installing the electrical conduit. “I have installed benches made from rare timber instead of plastic chairs,” the woman said, stressing her wish for a very high-quality facility.
The construction is about 70% complete, with a total budget of about $300,000 (U.S. dollars). It is expected to be one of the best local church facilities in the denomination’s Mara Conference.
Samwel Irungu is the supervisor of the construction project, an experienced contractor and the brother of the donor. He explained that their late grandfather gave the land to the church and built a building that lasted for twenty years. It is being replaced by this modern facility.
Pastor Godwin Lekundayo, the president of Northern Tanzania Union Conference, visited the Kinesi Adventist Church recently and “thanked God for this generous woman. I haven’t met her,” he said. “I will write her a letter to thank her.”
There are more than 3,000 Adventist congregations in the eastern African nation and upwards of one million adherents, including the children in Adventist families.
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