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History of the Voices of Pare

Bombo, a village in the Gonja region of the Pare mountains of northeastern Tanzania, has had a Lutheran church since 1904. With a membership of 2.5 million, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) is the largest Lutheran church in Africa. At the 2001 annual choir festival of the Pare Diocese of the ELCT, the choir from Bombo received first place and therefore was offered an opportunity to travel to Iowa. The Southeastern Iowa Synod of the ELCA has had a companion relationship with the Pare Diocese since 1988.

Those selected for the tour were chosen from a choir twice the size of the group traveling in Iowa. The choir practiced four days per week, two hours each day. Tour participants traveled to Dar Es Salaam in May, 2002, to obtain U.S. Visas, where they relied on the hospitality of others while waiting five days for a "yes" to their request to enter the U.S. (After being denied twice.) The Voices of Pare range in age from 18 to 36 years.

God's hand was surely in this journey, witnessed through the efforts of many people. To God be the glory! Utukufu Kwa Mungu! Ngazo Ni Ya Mrungu!