2003 Synod Assembly

Offering Designation

By the Synod Executive Committee

Iambi Lutheran Hospital is an institution of our companion synod, the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. It was founded in 1958 to be a center of treatment for leprosy patients. Today it continues to offer treatment and rehabilitation for such patients, but has also expanded to integrate medical and surgical treatments as a general hospital. In 1993, a teaching facility was started for nursing assistants.

The medical fees paid by patients were originally the major source of funding for Iambi Hospital. But due to the poor economic conditions of the country, most of the patients who come for treatment today are unable to pay for it. This has led to a serious situation at the hospital: staff are not paid, medicine is often in short supply, and buildings are badly in need of renovation.

A major evaluation of Iambi was recently completed, with financial support from the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. The report supports the need for Iambi’s continued ministry, especially in light of the continued rise in HIV/AIDS, and lays out a multi-year plan for upgrading the facility and the care it offers. This effort has been supported by the Lutheran Church in Tanzania, and by Global Health Ministries. The Central Diocese has identified the project at Iambi as one of its major goals, and asked for our support. The total project will cost $2 million.

The offering during our opening worship at the Synod Assembly this year is designated for Iambi. We are asking congregations and other organizations of the church to join in this special effort: to consider raising funds for Iambi prior to the assembly, and to send those gifts with your voting members. Our goal is to gather $20,000. This will pay shipping and handling and the cost of two containers to be filled with construction materials for the first phase of the project. 

Please share this information with your congregational leaders and auxiliaries, and pray together for the hospital in Iambi. Pray for ways you and your congregation can become involved in this special project. And watch for the special envelope for Iambi tucked in your Pre-Assembly Report!

See the Iambi Project web site: www.iambi.org.