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The new School of Nursing admitted its first students.

Dr. Mark and Linda Jacobson are ELCA missionaries in Tanzania where they work with the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. In this recent newsletter, Mark provides an update on the important work of the medical center. To support Mark and Linda, or another of the ELCA’s more 240 missionaries in the global church, click here.

Dear friends in Christ,

The common greeting in church and church meetings is “Bwana asifiwe!” (Praise the Lord!)  And reply is a rousing “Amen!”

How appropriate to begin this letter to you faithful supporters in this same voice.  “Bwana asifiwe!  Amen!” There is much to praise God for just now especially, as it seems God has been accomplishing great things in our midst. This morning, we held a staff meeting at the hospital and it was a time to review the accomplishments and the challenges of Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre.  Wonderfully, the blessings have been many and the accomplishments amazing.

Much of our current focus is on education and capacity building. In March we opened our new School of Nursing and admitted a class of 25 bright and eager young people wanting to become nurses. Many of you together with Operation Bootstrap Africa have helped to fund this start up. Our partner hospitals under Exempla Health Care in Denver have now helped us to apply for a large U.S. Agency for International Development grant to construct our own facility. We are waiting impatiently for the decision on grants and so again, appreciate your prayers.

In January we launched a surgical residency to train Tanzania doctors to become fully qualified surgeons. We have two residents in our first class and we are using a program together with the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons to train and mentor these young doctors to become Christian leaders and Christian surgeons. It’s truly an exciting time and opens a major new direction for our hospital services.

I write today in a mood of gratitude. Your support, your prayers, your love and friendship continue to carry us forward here in Tanzania. Your faithfulness is life giving to us and to the people we serve together. Thank you profoundly and we pray God’s many blessings to continue upon you and yours.

Blessings,
Mark and Linda Jacobson
Missionaries in Tanzania