Erasmus+ – project
My name is Rev. Dr George Otieno Lawi, (Ph.D). Currently Academic Dean at Msalato Theological College, Dodoma Tanzania. My interest to care for the environment began shortly after my ordination in the summer of 2005. This is when I began to engage with my parishioners’ first-hand experiences of environmental degradation and climate change such as land conflicts, drought, food shortage, and crops failures. Contrary to the common assumption that environmental issues are secular issues, I began to realise that socio-economic consequences of environmental degradation are not only shaping our contemporary social wellbeing but also calling faith community to reconsider the role Christians can play within the Church and society to bring about genuine change and transformation in a given context.
I am a Tanzanian. Serving God in Tanzania. Since I discerned my calling in 1998, I have had a privilege of serving God in different capacities and in different Anglican Dioceses. I began my ministry as a parish youth worker, after which I became an evangelist. After my ordination, I served a parish priest. Then I went to become a diocesan assistant Coordination for Discipleship and Development Program.
God changed the course of my ministry from parish ministry to teaching ministry. In fact, I was part of Kowak Bible School Tutors since 2006, and I became full-time assistant lecturer at Msalato Theological College in 2013, and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2018. Currently, major issues we are facing in teaching ministry, especially in Christian learning institutions relate to challenges inflicted upon the faith community by the complex forces of globalization, urbanization, and life-threatening challenges of the climate. What we are doing? As the academic dean at Msalato Theological College, I am heading up efforts to equip pastors and faith-based community development practitioners with theologically informed tools for community transformation.