Days after a bus accident claimed 11 of its missionaries in Tanzania, leaders of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) are “devastated” but rallying prayer and support to help medical evacuations, repatriations, and funeral arrangements expected to total $350,000.
The Christian missionaries, seven of whom were from other countries, including one from the United States, died within the Ngaramtoni area near the town of Arusha within the eastern African country’s north.
Authorities say a construction truck hit one in every of two mini-buses carrying the missionaries. The participants in an “Executive Masters in Leadership” course were coming back from a field trip in Maasai land when the truck lost its brakes, smashing into the bus.
“We haven’t seen a tragedy of this magnitude in all of YWAM’s history and we’re all devastated,” stated YWAM cofounder Darlene Cunningham in a letter dated Feb. 26. She explained:
The individuals involved in running the Executive Masters were key YWAM leaders within the region – some leading flourishing YWAM bases; others giving leadership in the sphere of education and other spheres; others ministering in restricted-access locations where nobody else would dare to go – and seeing the hand of God upon their ministries in amazing ways. The students interested in the Executive Masters were the identical caliber of individuals – life-long committed YWAM missionary pioneers. So their deaths create a large vacuum on this a part of the world for YWAM as a missionary movement.
On Wednesday (Feb. 28), members of YWAM within the region held prayers and send-off services for his or her departed colleagues.
“The mood may be very sad,” Bernard Ojiwa, an official of YWAM in Tanzania, told Religion News Service in a phone call from Arusha. “We began the journey for burials of the local members.”
“We are also planning how the bodies of the foreign members could possibly be sent home. For now, the bodies remain within the morgue,” he added.
Police sources in Arusha said the seven foreign nationals were from Kenya, Togo, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Nigeria, and the US.
YWAM has withheld the complete names of its lost missionaries because many worked in non-Christian nations with security risks. “All of people who died were leaders of projects, training centers and ministries,” the ministry noted in an update on its website. “It is a significant hit for our mission, especially the continent of Africa and the Middle East and Europe.”
The accident, which involved 4 motorized vehicles in all, killed 25 people, 11 of them members of YWAM, and injured 21, eight of them with the mission group. John Mukolwe, a Kenyan and the bottom leader of the Arusha station, was among the many dead.
“Mukolwe was a friend for greater than 30 years. His death makes me very sad,” said Karin Kea, the administrator for YWAM’s base within the Athi River area in Kenya.
Abel Sibo, a Burundian member of the mission, posted a video on Facebook of YWAM missionaries singing the hymn “This Is the Day the Lord Has Made,” saying the group was singing before the accident occurred.
According to officials, members of the mission from across the globe have gone to the region to supply moral, pastoral, and counseling support.
“Our brothers and sisters in Tanzania are carrying a lot presently,” wrote Cunningham in her letter to the YWAM family. “Those who survived the accident and were first on the scene to render aid are suffering a trauma that might be deep and long lasting. The practical tasks that should be done by survivors at the bottom after a tragedy like this are enormous, all of the while attempting to walk through their very own grief.”
YWAM was founded by Loren and Darlene Cunningham in 1960 with an emphasis on sending young volunteers of various denominations to serve on short-term evangelization missions. The group now has some 2,000 offices worldwide and involves missionaries from 200 countries.
YWAM established its presence in Arusha in 2000 and has since established three fully staffed offices within the region. The center’s teaching programs include classes in discipleship ministry, tailoring, computer skills, and English language, amongst others.
“In lately, tears are being poured out internationally by individuals, families and YWAMers worldwide. I’m personally reeling from the load of this news, as I knew and loved lots of these individuals personally,” wrote Cunningham. She encouraged the usage of three Bible verses:
- Hang onto the indisputable fact that, regardless of what, we all know that God is just and type in all His ways (Ps 145:17).
- Remind yourself of Job 42:2. Job had lost all the things and his response was “I do know that You can do all things and that no purpose of Yours might be thwarted.” Let’s hang onto that word!
- Remind yourself of Isaiah 41:10: “…don’t fear, for I’m with you, don’t be dismayed, for I’m your God. I’ll strengthen you and uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan sent a message of condolence and urged increased vehicle inspection and traffic law enforcement to stop further lack of lives.
“These accidents take the lives of our family members, national workforce and relations. I proceed to call upon everyone to follow traffic laws in the usage of vehicles,” Suluhu wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I send my condolences to family and friends who lost their family members. May the Almighty God rest them in peace! Ameen!”
“I like to think about Loren being there on the gates of heaven to greet and welcome these eleven beloved YWAMers!,” wrote Darlene Cunnigham. “Our hearts rejoice knowing that they’re rejoicing to be with Jesus, while at the identical time, we weep for the lack of their presence amongst us.”
Additional reporting by CT staff
