The mission in Tanzania today is operated through Sower Media Trust
The mission to Tanzania came about through a revelation from the Lord to His Servant, the late Apostle Ayo Omideyi and he simply went to Tanzania in faith, not knowing anyone or ever being there previously. He took the revelation and Word of the Lord in faith that the Lord who had shown where he should go, will open any and all the doors that need to be opened for this project.
It all started in 2002 with the late Apostle Ayo Omideyi holding a series of discipleship training and teaching sessions in local places such MWENGE in Dar es salaam then Korogwe and then Baranguu in Moshi and then on to Kigoma then to Songea and then Bagamoyo and then Majohe and then to Mahguri in which most of the students were Pastors from other churches totalling about 50 students.
He started Gingles on Wapo Radio, advertising the discipleship sessions and also Praise Power Radio had his teachings on their regular daily playlists. This went on for over 5yrs Evangelist Taiwo Majekodunmi joined the team and later became the coordinator in 2005 travelling back and forth between the United Kingdom and Tanzania supporting the late Apostle and coordinating various elements to include organising revivals and other teaching sessions and administrative elements such as registration of the Sower Media Trust.
All operations in Tanzania where registered and run under the charitable name and status of The Sower Media Trust. The late Apostle held a retreat in xxxx for drug addicts, touts in Bagamoyo and other socially deprived individuals which saw many lives turned around for good. During the Praise Power teachings, people were hearing about the discipleship teachings and generated a lot of interest. A dedicated telephone number was also set up to take calls for counselling sessions and it was through that avenue that the callers insisted to see him (the late Apostle) for further prayers, teachings, and counselling and that by the grace of God, became the birth of the Prayer house fellowship that started on Mbezi in Supa. During those sessions at Prayer House, the congregants that attended started to insist on worship sessions. This then needed much more space, so the current space was expanded to accommodate worship services called Prayer House. This was completed in 2007. The place of residence during this time was at Mbezi beach.
We moved to Tegeta and were there for more than 3yrs carrying out various worship sessions and evangelical outreach in the local area and within the various neighbouring communities. We then moved to Mbueni. We were then joined by Pastor Thomas from Mapinga who helped. Pastor Tobias also wanted to be part of Sower Ministry
The late Apostle was also invited to carry out revival meetings in several churches in Dar-es-Salaam. We then moved to Sala Sala in 2013 and then moved to Tegeta Masaiti and Namanga Shiloam Church, Goig, Tangibovu and Shalom Ministry
Sower Care is an initiative of CAC (Bethel) UK who have carried out several missionary projects across various countries. During a visit to the village of Selela, located in the Arusha region of northern Tanzania, the Minister in charge and Founder of the Sower Care initiative, Fadeke Omideyi and her team quickly became aware of the needs of this deeply rural, under resourced and very primitive part of the country. This part of the country is characterised by the ancient Maasai tribe, who are historically known as warriors and their culture revolves around their cattle.
After visiting schools in nearby Ndinyika and Nadosoito, – sub – villages of Selela, Fadeke and her team were heartbroken to witness the extreme lack of resources within the schools. The only structures in one of the schools were 3 poorly equipped classrooms with hardly any amenities, catering for 348 pupils. This meant different class levels share rooms. Due to overcrowding, the younger children study under a tree. Another nursery school had a single ‘shed’ like room made of bamboos and mud. Teachers and children alike would walk an average of 8 miles (around 2.5 hours walk) forth and back to school daily. Directly observing this plight spurred the decision for the founder to create an initiative that is dedicated to “Building a better Future” for the children, which has become the mantra of Sower Care. The initiative applies the concept of identifying needs in impoverished or rural areas whose facilities are inadequate or non-existent, and finding ways/means to provide solutions.
The government in Tanzania has decreed that all children over 6 years old must attend primary school. This is almost impossible as the schools do not have the capacity to accommodate the children.
In Arusha and Moshi, which are very underdeveloped, primitive parts the country, primary schools typically have well over 1000 pupils with only around six or seven classrooms. An average of 150+ pupils per class is not uncommon.
A needs analysis conducted by Mondo challenge foundation among 12 schools in the Arusha and Meru region reflected this situation. It showed that the numbers in some classes were so much that the desks were inadequate and up to 5 pupils occupied a bench meant for 2.
According to the Human Rights Watch, “Tanzanian law and international treaties that Tanzania has ratified state that everyone under 18 has a right to education”. This ‘right’ relies on children passing the Primary School Exam which is required to access public Secondary Education . Many children fail this exam due to lack of resources and are pushed out of school each year long before they are 18 years old. More than 400,000 children (49.4%) failed the exam in 2013, in the previous year 69.3% failed. Girls are also disproportionately affected with lower percentages passing the exam.
The Contributing Factors for this situation are:
Typically there can be between 150 – 200 pupils per teacher. This draws to attention the quality of education the pupils receive and the ability of the primary school teachers to effectively monitor and improve the progress/performance of pupils that need more help.
The children have a 70% chance of failure
3 out of 4 children in the rural parts of Tanzania will not finish primary school
80% of the children are unlikely to progress to secondary education
