Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Maelfu wajitokeza kumuaga Mchungaji Masalu

Maelefu ya wakazi wa jijini Dar es Salaam, jana walijitokeza kuuaga mwili wa aliyekuwa mchungaji wa Temeke EAGT , Karisti Masalu aliyefariki dunia na kutangulia mbele za Bwana YESU alhamisi iliyopita saa 3 na nusu usiku hapa jijini Dar es Salaam.

Umati wa Maaskofu,wachungaji,mitume na watumishi mbalimbali wa Mungu pamoja na wananchi mbalimbali walijitokeza kwa wingi jana tangu asubuhi na jioni kabisa kuhudhuria ibada hiyo iliyokuwa imejaa furaha na simanzi kwa pamoja.

Muongozaji wa ibada hiyo mchungaji Mwanjala wa Sinza EAGT kabla ya kusoma wasifu wa marehemu aliwakaribisha maaskofu na wachungaji mbalimbali maarufu walimfahamu na kuzaliwa chini ya huduma ya mtumishi wa Mungu Masalu ili waweza kutoa wosia.

Baadhi ya waliotoa nasaha kuhusu marehemu alikuwa ni Askofu Zakary Kakobe,Mtume Dustan Maboya,Mch. Anthony Lusekelo,Askofu Kameta,Askofu Shemsanga,Makamu wa Askofu mkuu wa EAGT mzee Mwakisyala aliyehubiri na wengine wengi wengi.Wote hao walieleza jinsi walivyozaliwa kihuduma kutokana na huduma ya Mch. Masalu.


Wengi walikiri kuwa kanisa la Temeke ndilo hasa kiini cha upentekoste hapa jijini Dar es Salaam.

Huduma nyingi kubwa hapa jijini Dar zimetokana na huduma ya mtumishi huyu wa Mungu.

Pastor Masalu atakumbukwa kwa moyo wake wa kujitolea na unyenyekevu wa hali ya juu kiasi kwamba hakuna anayebisha kuwa mtu huyu alikuwa ni mtu wa Mungu.Hakuwa na makuu wala makundi.Unyenyekevu wa Mch. Huyu uliwapa changamoto wengi waliofika kanisani hapo.

Mlima sayuni ulikuwepo eneo la tukio na kufanikiwa kuchukua picha kazaa za matukio ya msiba huo.

Bwana ametoa na Bwana ametwaa ,jina la Bwana libarikiwe





Thursday, September 24, 2009

World First: HIV Vaccination

BANGKOK – For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic and a surprising result. Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible.

The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world's largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok.

Even though the benefit is modest, "it's the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine," Col. Jerome Kim said in a telephone interview. He helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The institute's director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that this is "not the end of the road," but said he was surprised and very pleased by the outcome.

"It gives me cautious optimism about the possibility of improving this result" and developing a more effective AIDS vaccine, Fauci said in a telephone interview. "This is something that we can do."

Even a marginally helpful vaccine could have a big impact. Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV; 2 million died of AIDS in 2007, the U.N. agency UNAIDS estimates.

"Today marks an historic milestone," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, an international group that has worked toward developing a vaccine.

"It will take time and resources to fully analyze and understand the data, but there is little doubt that this finding will energize and redirect the AIDS vaccine field," he said in a statement.

The Thailand Ministry of Public Health conducted the study, which used strains of HIV common in Thailand. Whether such a vaccine would work against other strains in the U.S., Africa or elsewhere in the world is unknown, scientists stressed.

"This is a scientific breakthrough," Thai Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai told a news conference in Bangkok. "For the first time ever there is evidence that HIV vaccine has preventative efficacy."

The study actually tested a two-vaccine combo in a "prime-boost" approach, where the first one primes the immune system to attack HIV and the second one strengthens the response.

They are ALVAC, from Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis; and AIDSVAX, originally developed by VaxGen Inc. and now held by Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases, a nonprofit founded by some former VaxGen employees.

ALVAC uses canarypox, a bird virus altered so it can't cause human disease, to ferry synthetic versions of three HIV genes into the body. AIDSVAX contains a genetically engineered version of a protein on HIV's surface. The vaccines are not made from whole virus — dead or alive — and cannot cause HIV.

Neither vaccine in the study prevented HIV infection when tested individually in earlier trials, and dozens of scientists had called the new one futile when it began in 2003.

"I really didn't have high hopes at all that we would see a positive result," Fauci confessed.

The results proved the skeptics wrong.

"The combination is stronger than each of the individual members," said the Army's Kim, a physician who manages the Army's HIV vaccine program.

The study tested the combo in HIV-negative Thai men and women ages 18 to 30 at average risk of becoming infected. Half received four "priming" doses of ALVAC and two "boost" doses of AIDSVAX over six months. The others received dummy shots. No one knew who got what until the study ended.

All were given condoms, counseling and treatment for any sexually transmitted infections, and were tested every six months for HIV. Any who became infected were given free treatment with antiviral medicines.

Participants were followed for three years after vaccination ended.

Results: New infections occurred in 51 of the 8,197 given vaccine and in 74 of the 8,198 who received dummy shots. That worked out to a 31 percent lower risk of infection for the vaccine group.

The vaccine had no effect on levels of HIV in the blood of those who did become infected. That had been another goal of the study — seeing whether the vaccine could limit damage to the immune system and help keep infected people from developing full-blown AIDS.

That result is "one of the most important and intriguing findings of this trial," Fauci said. It suggests that the signs scientists have been using to gauge whether a vaccine was actually giving protection may not be valid.

"It is conceivable that we haven't even identified yet" what really shows immunity, which is both "important and humbling" after decades of vaccine research, Fauci said.

Details of the $105 million study will be given at a vaccine conference in Paris in October.

This is the third big vaccine trial since 1983, when HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS. In 2007, Merck & Co. stopped a study of its experimental vaccine after seeing it did not prevent HIV infection. Later analysis suggested the vaccine might even raise the risk of infection in certain men. The vaccine itself did not cause infection.

In 2003, AIDSVAX flunked two large trials — the first late-stage tests of any AIDS vaccine at the time.

It is unclear whether vaccine makers will seek to license the two-vaccine combo in Thailand. Before the trial began, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said other studies would be needed before the vaccine could be considered for U.S. licensing.

Also unclear is whether Thai volunteers who received dummy shots will now be offered the vaccine. Researchers had said they would do so if the vaccine showed clear benefit — defined as reducing the risk of infection by at least 50 percent.

Those issues, plus how to proceed with future studies, will be discussed among the governments, study sponsors and companies involved in the trial, Kim said. Scientists want to know how long will protection last, whether booster shots will be needed, and whether the vaccine helps prevent infection in gay men and injection drug users, since it was tested mostly in heterosexuals in the Thai trial.

The study was done in Thailand because U.S. Army scientists did pivotal research in that country when the AIDS epidemic emerged there, isolating virus strains and providing genetic information on them to vaccine makers. The Thai government also strongly supported the idea of doing the study.

___

Associated Press Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione reported from Minneapolis.

___

On the Net:

Study information: http://www.hivresearch.org/phase3/factsheet.html

Vaccine coalition: http://www.avac.org/

Friday, September 4, 2009

Kakobe VS Pengo --More back story

SIKU moja baada ya Askofu Mkuu wa Kanisa la Full Gospel Bible Fellowship (FGBF), Zacharia Kakobe kuupinga Waraka wa Kanisa Katoliki na Mwongozo wa Waislamu, Kanisa Katoliki limemgeuzia kibao kiongozi huyo wa kiroho na kumweleza kuwa ni kigeugeu na anajikomba kwa watawala.
Akizungumza na Tanzania Daima jijini Dar es Salaam jana, Askofu wa Jimbo Katoliki la Mbeya, Mhashamu Evaristo Chengula, alisema endapo serikali inalipangia kanisa lake jambo gani la kuandikwa na kuhubiriwa, basi aendelee kufanya hivyo na si Kanisa Katoliki.
“Mambo ya dini hatuwezi kwenda kuiuliza serikali, lakini kama yeye anaomba kupangiwa mahubiri, afanye hivyo,” alisema Mhashamu Chengula.
Alisema Askofu Kakobe ana tabia ya kujipendekeza kwa watawala kiasi cha kushindwa kujua mahitaji ya wafuasi wake kiroho na kimwili.
Alisisitiza kuwa, kamwe Kanisa Katoliki haliwezi kupangiwa na serikali mambo ya kuhubiri na kuongeza kuwa, kama kanisa lake linafanyiwa hivyo, basi atekeleze hayo kanisani mwake.
Kwa upande wake, Makamu Mwenyekiti wa Halmashauri ya Walei, Jimbo Kuu Katoliki la Dar es Salaam, Joseph Selasini alisema, Askofu Kakobe hana budi kutambua kuwa Kanisa Katoliki halijipendekezi kwa watawala, bali linazingatia maslahi ya umma.
“Kanisa halijipendekezi wala kutafuta Cheap Popularity (umaarufu kirahisi) kama Kakobe, hivyo kusema maaskofu wamekosa nidhamu, ni kuonyesha upeo mdogo wa kazi yake ya uaskofu anayoifanya,” alisema Selasini.
Alihoji: “Kakobe huyo anayesema nidhamu, aliwahi kuipigia kampeni TLP alipoona haikuingia madarakani, akahamia CCM, sasa anatapatapa, mara CCM mara TLP. Hiyo ndiyo nidhamu anayopaswa kuwa nayo mtu anayejiita Askofu Mkuu?”
Selasini alimtaka Askofu Kakobe kuachana na mambo hayo kwa sasa ili akomae kiimani kwanza kabla ya kufanya jaribio la kujilinganisha na Mwadhama Kardinali Polycarp Pengo, ambaye ni Askofu Mkuu Katoliki Jimbo Kuu la Dar es Salaam.
“Kakobe asijilinganishe na Kardinali Pengo kwa kuwa uaskofu wao ni kama mlima na kichuguu, hivyo asitumie heshima wanayompa waandishi kumsikiliza kwa kuchanganya watu, maana uaskofu wake ni kigeugeu wa kutafuta maslahi ya kidunia,” alisema.
Naye mmoja wa waamini wa Askofu Kakobe ambaye jina lake limehifadhiwa, alisema hakutegemea kuona kiongozi huyo wa kiroho akipinga msimamo wa viongozi wa dini kutochaguliwa mambo ya kuhubiri.
Kwa upande mwingine, Mwenyekiti wa Kamati ya Maadili ya Shura ya Maimamu nchini, Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, alisema hata kama Rais Jakaya Kikwete ataliingilia suala hilo kama alivyoshauri Askofu Kakobe juzi, hakuna litakalosaidia kwa sasa.
Akizungumza kwa ufupi na waandishi wa habari jana, jijini Dar es Salaam mara baada ya kutoka msikitini, Sheikh Ponda alisema sababu ya kusema hivyo ni kwamba, waraka uliotolewa na Kanisa Katoliki ndiyo umelenga kuwagawa Watanzania na si ule wa Waislamu.
Sheikh Ponda alimgeuzia kibao askofu huyo kwa kumtaka akausome vizuri mwongozo wa Shura ya Maimamu anayoiongoza, na endapo hatauelewa, basi arudi kwa Waislamu wamweleweshe.
Aliusifu mwongozo wa Waislamu kwa kusema kuwa ndiyo pekee unaofaa kwa mustakabali wa taifa na kwamba, tofauti na ule wa Wakatoliki, wa kwao waliuandaa wakiwa wamejiamini.
Nao baadhi ya viongozi wa makanisa ya uamsho wa kiroho jijini Dar es Salaam, wamemjia juu Askofu Kakobe kwa kuushambulia waraka wa Kanisa Katoliki na kumtuhumu kuwa, anatumiwa na mafisadi.
Wachungaji hao pia walishangazwa na hatua ya askofu huyo kumshambulia Kardinali Pengo, na kusema lengo la kiongozi huyo ni kutaka kulitangaza kanisa lake upya baada ya kubaini kuwa limepoteza mwelekeo.
Wakizungumza na gazeti hili, wachungaji hao walitetea kauli ya hivi karibuni ya Askofu Pengo, aliyoitoa mbele ya Rais Kikwete katika ibada ya mazishi ya aliyekuwa Askofu wa Jimbo la Mwanza, Anthony Mayalla, na kusema kuwa kiongozi wa Kanisa Katoliki hakuwa na nia ya kumdhalilisha kiongozi huyo wa nchi.
“Tunavyoona sisi katika suala hili ni kwamba, Askofu Pengo hakuwa na nia ya kumdhalilisha Rais Jakaya Kikwete, bali alikuwa akitoa mawazo yake na kumweleza rais kilicho ndani ya moyo wake kulingana na maandiko ya Kitume,” alisema Mchungaji Huruma Choya wa Kanisa la Living God la Mwenge.
Mchungaji huyo alieleza kusikitishwa kwake na kauli hiyo aliyoiita isiyo na baraka za Mungu, ikitolewa na kiongozi huyo wa kanisa, anayeheshimika nchini na kubashiri mwisho wa kanisa lake umekaribia.
Mchungaji wa Kanisa la Glory Tample la Kimara lililopo jijini Dar es Salaam, Andrea Kwayu alisema kilichofanywa na Askofu Kakobe kuchukua hatua hiyo ni chuki dhidi ya Kanisa Katoliki na kwamba anatafuta huruma ya Ikulu kwa maslahi yake binafsi.
Aliongeza kuwa, mazingira ya sasa yanaonyesha wazi kuwa suala la ufisadi na kukosekana kwa uadilifu katika serikali ni matokeo ya kupatikana kwa viongozi wabovu ambao huchaguliwa katika uchaguzi unaoshirikisha wananchi walio wengi.
“Kimsingi Kakobe miaka yote amekuwa na chuki binafsi na Kanisa Katoliki, sasa ameamua kusema hovyo mambo ambayo ni kama analazimisha wananchi waanze kulichukia kanisa hilo,” alisema Mchungaji Kwayu.
Kwa mujibu wa Kwayu, jamii imeanza kutambua uongo na ukweli bila kujali jambo analosema kiongozi yeyote yule, ikiwa ni pamoja na wa dini, mwanasiasa ama msomi.
Mchungaji William Mwamalanga wa Kanisa la Pentekoste lenye makao yake makuu mkoani Mbeya, alieleza kusikitishwa kwake na kitendo cha Kakobe kuungana na viongozi wa Shura ya Maimamu katika kuendeleza chuki dhidi ya kanisa hilo la Katoliki.
“Kama kiongozi wa kanisa, alipaswa kutoa msimamo au maoni yake kuhusu waraka wa kanisa na si kuonyesha chuki za wazi kwa Pengo, na kwa kweli ameamua kutumia vibaya sakata la waraka huu, na si kuchangia maoni,” alisema Mchungaji Mwamalanga.
Wakati huohuo, Shirika lisilo la Kiserikali la Peace Building and Human Development (PHD), limemtahadharisha Askofu Kakobe kuepuka njama za kutumiwa na mafisadi kwa lengo la kuupinga waraka wa Kanisa Katoliki.
Mkurugenzi wa PHD, Philoteus Lissanga alisema, amesikitikishwa kuona hata wananchi wakifuatilia maelezo yake, kwani kwa kufanya hivyo watu waovu katika jamii nao wanapata wafuasi wa kuwaunga mkono.

Source: www.freemedia.co.tz

Bifu mpya ya Kakobe vs Pengo

Askofu Mkuu wa Kanisa la Full Gospel Bible Fellowship (FGBF), Zacharia Kakobe, amewacharukia viongozi wenzake wa dini akipinga uamuzi wao wa kuandika nyaraka, ilani na mwongozo. Ameiomba pia serikali iitishe mkutano wa pamoja na viongozi wote wa dini nchini, kujadili hatima ya nyaraka na miongozo waliyoitoa na kuwakemea.
Akinukuu maneno ya Biblia ya 2Timotheo 2:1-3 unaotaka watu watii mamlaka ya nchi kwa kuwa yanatoka kwa Mungu, amesema baadhi ya viongozi wa dini ni wababe hasa kutokana na kitendo cha hivi karibuni cha kiongozi mwenye cheo na dhamana kubwa nchini, kuisema vibaya serikali mbele ya Rais, jambo linaloashiria utovu wa nidhamu, ubabe na kujiamini.
Ingawa hakumtaja jina, lakini hivi karibuni Askofu Mkuu wa Jimbo Kuu Katoliki la Dar es Salaam, Mwadhama Polycarp Kadinali Pengo mbele ya Rais Jakaya Kikwete, katika maziko ya aliyekuwa Askofu Mkuu wa Jimbo Kuu la Mwanza, Anthony Mayala, alisema serikali inaelekea kubaya kwa kuzitaka taasisi za dini kupeleka nyaraka zake kuchunguzwa, kabla ya kuwafikia waumini na kusema Kanisa haliko tayari kulitekeleza hilo, kwani kufanya hivyo ni kuingilia kazi za kichungaji.
Kakobe alikuwa akizungumza na waandishi wa habari jana, Dar es Salaam, kuhusu Waraka na Ilani ya Kanisa Katoliki pamoja na Mwongozo wa Shura ya Maimamu wa Kiislamu, vilivyotolewa hivi karibuni na kuzua mijadala katika jamii. Askofu huyo ambaye mwaka 2000 alijiingiza katika siasa kumpigia kampeni aliyekuwa mgombea wa TLP, Augustine Mrema na jana kukiri kuwa ‘alichemka’ kufanya hivyo, alisema si kazi ya viongozi wa dini kutoa nyaraka na miongozo yenye mwelekeo wa kisiasa.
Alisema kufanya hivyo ni kudhihirisha udhaifu wa wazi kuwa wameshindwa kuhubiri kulingana na imani zao, ili mafisadi wabadilike, maana wapo katika makanisa na misikiti yao pia. “Viongozi wa dini (yeye akijitoa katika hilo) ndiyo chanzo kikuu cha ufisadi katika nchi hii, wanaotajwa katika ufisadi ni waumini wao, wajiulize wamefanya nini kukemea na kufanya waumini wao wasiwe mafisadi,” alisema Kakobe ambaye alilisifu kanisa lake kuwa halina mafisadi na wakiingia katika kanisa hilo basi watakiona cha moto.
Alisema serikali inapaswa kukemea vikali nyaraka hizo, tena bila kuchelewa, kwa kuwa wasiwasi wake ni kwamba bila kujua, viongozi hao wanaweza kuwa wanatumiwa na mataifa tajiri yenye kutengeneza silaha, kuibua vurugu zitakazosababisha vita ili wauze silaha na hatua hiyo inachochewa na wanasiasa wanaoshabikia nyaraka hizo.
Kakobe ambaye alimsifu Rais Jakaya Kikwete kuwa ni mpole, alisema upole huo umekithiri na haupaswi kuwa katika suala lolote lenye kuhatarisha amani ya nchi kama hilo na kumtaka yeye (Kikwete) na marais wastaafu waliopita, kutoa kauli kuhusu suala hilo na waepuke kufanya kazi kwa kumfurahisha kila mtu. “Waasisi wetu (akimtaja Nyerere) walitutengenezea mazingira mazuri sana hadi kuitwa kisiwa cha amani, kuna watu wanataka kuliharibu hilo, hivi sasa nchi majirani zetu zilizokuwa na vita, zinaanza kurejesha amani, sisi hatujui vita, ndiyo maana wanataka tuanze kupigana, tukiruhusu vita, Watanzania tutakufa kama panzi,” alisema.

Source: Habarileo

Kakobe VS Pengo

ASKOFU Mkuu wa Kanisa la Full Gospel Bible Fellowship, Zacharia Kakobe amemhisi Rais Jakaya Kikwete, kuvunja ukimya na kuzima mijadala kuhusu nyaraka za kidini, inaoendelea nchini.
Akizungumza na waandishi wa habari ofisini kwake jijini Dar es Salaam jana, Askofu Kakobe alisema nyaraka hizo zinaelekea kuwagawa watu na hatua zisipochukuliwa, zinaweza kusababisha vita ambavyo havitakwisha.
“Rais wetu ni mpole sana, mcheshi na ni mtu wa watu, hilo si tatizo kubwa kwake, lakini ukiwa na rais mpole sana ni tatizo, hata ukiwa mkali sana ni tatizo pia, namhisi hili aliingilie kati,” alisema Kakobe.
Kakobe alisema baadhi ya viongozi wa kisiasa, wamekuwa wakiogopa kukemea vitendo vinavyofanywa na viongozi wa dini kwa sababu tu wanawaogopa.
“Napenda kusema kuwa, viongozi wa kisiasa kunyamazia maovu yanayofanywa na viongozi wa dini kwa sababu tu kuwaogopa, kunaweza kuwaingiza watu wote kwenye uovu,” alionya Kakobe.
Mbali na hayo Kakobe amepinga vikali tamko la kiongozi mmoja wa kanisa aliyejibu hoja ya kiongozi mmoja wa kisiasa aliposema wanasiasa hawawezi kuwafundisha kazi maaskofu.
“Nichukue nafasi hii kukemea vikali tamko la kiongozi mmoja wa dini, ambaye alitamka rais akiwa jukwaani kwamba wanasiasa hawapaswi kutufundisha wachungaji. Alitamka maneno hayo kwa jeuri, kuonesha kabisa ana msimamo usioyumba na hataki kushauriwa,”alisema Kakobe.
“Kama tunasema maadili ya viongozi wa serikali yamemomonyoka wa kwanza kukemewa ni viongozi wa dini kwa sababu wao ndio chanzo kikubwa,” alisisitiza.
Pia Kakobe alimpongeza mwanasiasa mkongwe nchini Kingunge Ngombale Mwiru, kwa hatua yake ya kuupinga hadharani, waraka wa Kanisa Katoliki na kwamba kiongozi huyo, anaona mbali.
Alisema kwa huyo hiyo, mzee Kingunge amedhihirika kuwa hata watu wasio na dini, wanaweza kuongoza vizuri.

Source: Mwanachi

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Christians attacked in Pakistan; VOM staff providing help

Christians attacked in Pakistan; VOM staff providing help


The Voice of the Martyrs



Christians were forced to flee for their livesDear VOM Friends:

It was just a rumor. But among the radical Muslims in Pakistan's Gojra village, a rumor was enough of an excuse to kill.

When the rumor was broadcast from the loudspeakers on the minarets of local mosques, it became fact. As part of a wedding ceremony, the loudspeaker shouted, Christians tore pages from a Quran. Then they compounded the disrespect by walking on the shredded pages.

"Defend Islam!" The loudspeaker called. Muslims answered, rampaging through a Christian section of Gojra on Aug. 1. Eight Christians were killed, including women and children. More than 100 Christian homes were burned by a mob. The mob, which was estimated to be more than 20,000 people, also burned a church.

Five Hours Without Help

Emergency personnel did not reach Gojra for more than five hours. Christians were forced to use vegetable carts to move their dead and wounded to the hospital.

Responding to an international outcry, Pakistani government officials have now said no Quran was desecrated. The government promised to help rebuild the burned homes of Christian families.

Even before the government acted, contacts of The Voice of the Martyrs were in Gojra, offering comfort to the wounded and praying with the families of the dead. They continue to aid the village, including helping with some medical expenses, offering encouragement and pressing for a forceful government response.

Among the items burned in the attack were Bibles and other Christian materialsPray Blasphemy Laws Are Overturned

Christians in Pakistan hope these attacks can be a turning point. They are praying to God and pressing their government to overturn unjust blasphemy laws that are often a pretext to attack Christians.

They are also asking us to pray with them. Pray for Christians in Pakistan to be bold witnesses for Christ, despite threats. Pray for those wounded and left homeless by the brutal Gojra attacks. Pray for Muslims to come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way.


Please pray today for our Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan. For the latest news on persecution of Christians in Pakistan and other restricted nations, visit VOM's online newsroom.