Christian Missions for Dodoma Inc. (CMDI) is an independent not-for-profit nongovernmental organization, incorporated in the USA. CMDI's leadership team are members and/or hold formal calls to Lutheran (ELCA) Christian parishes and church bodies, but CMDI is independent of these or Tanzanian church organizations, groups and individuals with whom we cooperate.
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 Stuart Smith is a Christian, worshipping in Lutheran churches (ELCA and predecessors) all his life. His mom wanted him to become a pastor, but he was attracted to the sciences, and instead (but not by his own design) he became a pastor’s husband. He married his college sweetheart, Julianne, who entered seminary and has been a pastor serving parishes in Ohio (USA) since 1986. Stuart is by profession a hydrogeologist and microbiologist and partner in Ground Water Science, a consulting firm specializing in ground water supply development, improvement, and regeneration. In Christ’s service, he focuses on the ministry of meeting the physical needs of people and participating in worship music. While in the Northwestern Ohio Synod (ELCA), he served on committees and task groups focused on the partnership with Tanzania's Dodoma Diocese (ELCT) from 1999 to 2009. He now focuses on CMDi and related development work In Tanzania, such as water project planning and start up business efforts of Tanzanians. Stuart and Julianne now reside near Youngstown and have two adult daughters and a grandchild.
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Jill has been in the Secretarial/Administrative Assistant role for 30+ years. Since the formation of Christian Missions For Dodoma in 2004, she has enjoyed being on the “Retail” part of this non-profit business.
Although Jill has not physically traveled to Tanzania, she has felt a bond between the people of Tanzania through her work selling their crafts at church bazaars, church services, Farmer’s Markets, a Christmas Open House and attending various craft shows in the Northwest, Ohio area. It has been very rewarding getting to meet and host many people from Tanzania who have traveled to Northwest Ohio to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and how they have been blessed.
Jill feels very committed to helping the men and women throughout the villages of Tanzania, who have such talent and gifts, to sell their items to help them provide for their families and friends. |
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Dave was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to middle-class parents. Little did he know that he would one day be doing Christ’s mission work on the other side of the world in Tanzania. He attended Purdue University majoring in European History with a minor in Political Science. He attended Hamma School of Theology and graduated with a Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 1977 and has served in parish ministry ever since.
Dave and his wife Jill live in Bucyrus, Ohio, where he is serving a congregation, and own a home near the small town Grand Rapids, Ohio. They have four children and one granddaughter. Dave has been involved with the Dodoma Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania since 1993. It began when he served as a pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Arcadia, Ohio. He led the congregation in establishing a companionship with Lufu Lutheran church, located on top of a mountain in the Rubeho Range in central Tanzania. He has led 13 mission groups to the Dodoma Diocese since 1996. |
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