Synod's Namibia task force back in gear

The synod's Namibia Task Force is back in gear. At a meeting Thursday in Tacoma that followed a long hiatus, task-force members decided on two priorities for future work.

The first will be backing community development projects, foremost among them a large emerging garden in north Namibia where produce for hungry AIDS orphans and old people will be grown.

The second priority is multifaceted support of Oshigambo High School, to possibly include scholarships to that school and to college, classrooms renovations and a bridge.

The synod has a 30-year-old companion relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, which is in the north.

It was great to see the people I went to Namibia with last year, and everyone else, too.

Stay tuned, and if you'd like to join us, contact the Rev. Randy Faro at kingtut13@qwestoffice.net or myself at rachelpritchett@msn.com.

I'll post updates here as they develop.

Here's one sad fact shared by Pastor Randy. Of all the nations in the entire world, Namibia has the most income disparity of all. That is, there is no other country in the world with a wider gulf between the rich and the poor than Namibia.

Here is a photo of Bishop Robert D. Hofstad, left, meeting with a Lutheran bishop from Namibia, Zaphania Kameeta, taken in 2010.

Rachel Pritchett