By Megan Lewis

For the Sidney Daily News

JACKSON CENTER — Grace Lutheran Church is partnering with One Plus God Ministries to go on a mission trip to Tumaini-Bariadi Parish and the Southeast of Lake Victoria Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Grace Lutheran in Jackson Center, Ohio, and the Tumaini-Bariadi Church have partnered in ministry for over 20 years.

They have served together starting an orphanage called Home of Peace for twenty-four kids, and other outreach projects. Their Tanzanian friends are very faithful and generous. They have all been blessed by this partnership. On this trip they will be continuing their outreach to surrounding villages, helping families affected by malnutrition, disease, vulnerable girls affected by cultural gender issues, and forced child marriages.

The mission trip participants will also help build and dedicate a new church in the village of Mbiti. Through this partnership they seek to help bring the people there closer to God.

Grace Woolley, a junior college student who is attending the trip, is excited to be part of it. She is hoping to learn a lot about helping others in ways she never thought possible, which she plans to use in her future career as a social worker once she graduates in 2025.

The trip will be two weeks long. They will be leaving on May 29 and returning on June 11. They are hoping their next trip to Tanzania will be in 2026.

They will be holding a breakfast fundraiser on May 12 at 9 a.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church in Jackson Center where all money raised will be used towards the mission trip, including musical instruments for worship in the remote villages. Anyone who would like to donate to the mission trip should contact Grace Lutheran Church at 937-596-6516 or mail to PO Box 328, Jackson Center, OH 45334.