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Tanzania Day 4: Singida
Today after breakfast, our team loaded our vehicles and began the trek to Singida. It took us about 6 hours to get here. Singida sits in the wide, open center of Tanzania, where the land feels unhurried, As we approached the city, we could see how life here is shaped by farming and herding.. Just…
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Tanzania Day 3: A Day of Discovery
Today our group was up and moving early. At 7am we loaded our vehicles and headed to Ngorongoro Conservation Area for a safari. The Ngorongoro crater is an amazing place. What had been an active volcano, after it blew, then collapsed upon itself. This formed then a crater, between 12 and 14 miles across, and…
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Tanzania Day 2: Getting Settled
This morning at 6:15am (Tanzania time…which is 9:15pm Owatonna time) I sent my family a text: “Tanzania has roosters.” I know this because after a solid 24 hours of travel, I wasn’t planning on getting up at 6:15am. The roosters, however, had other ideas. But at that time of the morning there were things I…
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Tanzania Day 1: 3 Continents. 1 Day.
The team traveling to Tanzania has arrived safely! Thanks be to God for that. The team is made up of 13 people from three different congregations around the Southeast Minnesota Synod of the ELCA. From Trinity, Kathy and Dave Chatelaine, and Pastor Todd are traveling. Kathy also serves as the Assistant to the Bishop for…
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An Update on Pastor Amanda’s Health
Dear Trinity friends, I want to give you a quick update on Pastor Amanda’s health and medical treatment. We are grateful that Pastor Amanda has completed both her chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer. That is a significant milestone, and one we give thanks for together. At this point, while she is considered “cancer free,”…
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From Trinity to Tanzania: Meeting Face to Face
Dear Trinity friends, On January 18, I will board a plane and begin a journey that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I will be traveling to Singida, Tanzania, to make my first visit to our partner congregation, Kimpungua Lutheran Church. This is a trip rooted in relationship, gratitude, learning, and…
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Words Matter
Language experts tell us that on any given day, the average person speaks about 7,000 words. That includes conversations with other people, muttering under your breath in the grocery store, singing in the car, arguing with the radio, and yes, talking to yourself. Those words add up quickly. The words you speak in a single…
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The Real Miracle of Christmas
Every year, as Christmas approaches, I’m convinced that there is an unspoken competition that happens all around us. It is the annual contest to see who can be the nicest version of themselves, at least for a few days. You see it everywhere. Suddenly, people start letting each other merge in traffic. Someone actually returns the shopping cart…
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Hope Refines
The season of Advent often feels like you’re standing just at the edge of dawn. Have you ever been up in the morning for a sunrise? Then you know exactly what I’m talking about: The sky is still dim. The world is quiet. Yet there is just enough light on the horizon to tell you that morning…
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Christmas is a Time of Welcome (Not Fear)
This time of year always draws me back to the heart of the Christmas story. It is a story full of angels and shepherds and songs of peace, but at its core it is about a young family on the move. Mary and Joseph were traveling because they had to. They were vulnerable. They were…
Test Driving Theology
Sermons and thoughts from Pastor Todd