Tanzanian Mennonites’ gift to Anabaptists around the world is their ability to retain youth in the church, said Leah Makoyo, a former Tanzanian church leader, during a visit to Pennsylvania.
The Tanzania Mennonite Church — Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania, or KMT — has 46,488 members, of which half are estimated to be youth.
In a presentation at the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, Pa., on June 27, Makoyo said KMT offers job skills to its young people through short courses on farming, electrical wiring and training on how to use tools.
Congregations coordinate music lessons for the youth to learn how to play instruments, and young people participate in choirs that sing at an annual youth convention, said Makoyo, a former KMT executive board member. “This is how we keep the youth,” she said.
KMT also sponsors educational scholarships for economically disadvantaged children.
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