Bishop Sospeter Ndenza: A Global Partnership That Continues

In 2012, +Sospeter Ndenza, the inaugural bishop of Diocese of Kibondo, Tanzania, became the first bishop in Tanzania to join the AMiA. On the eve of his fall 2025 retirement, we talked with him about the growth he’s seen in Kibondo and how being one of AMiA’s global partners has provided mutually supportive connection with Anglicans on the other side of the world.

“One of the things that impressed me was the three-stream approach,” Bishop Sospeter says as he recalls first learning about the Anglican Mission in America. “I grew up in an Anglican church, which is an evangelical church. And my spirituality grew up in a charismatic [church].”

When he became one of the AMiA’s global partners, +Sospeter joined a body of like-minded bishops and archbishops who give the mission a relational connection with its global Anglican family. They graciously serve by providing wise counsel, prayer and encouragement, and through them the AMiA has opportunities to be involved in what God is doing through the Anglican Church across the globe.

+Sospeter’s church in Kibondo responded positively to this new connection with churches half a world away. They saw, as he explains, that “The Anglican Church is a community-based kind of church. We depend on each other. We share the same faith. And so, we want to learn from each other. So, for them, it wasn’t a new thing. It was an encouragement that we have brothers and sisters on another site, with whom we can work together, with whom we can pray together and do the mission together.”

Thus began a connection rooted in prayer, encouragement and the shared pursuit of God’s work. “Our relationship is a mutual relationship,” +Sospeter says. He recalls attending the AMiA’s Winter Conference shortly after joining the mission: “That was absolutely moving. It was as if I was in a fire when I saw everything happening—Chuck Murphy [the inaugural Apostolic Vicar of the AMiA], a man of God, praying for the Holy Spirit and then praying for the needs of the people. I felt at home.”

He also joyfully remembers visits from AMiA clergy, including +Robert Cook of St. Andew’s Little Rock, and encourages more people from the AMiA to visit its international partners. “You learn from where you go. … So, I would encourage more people to come and visit because that will help them to know where we are, what to pray for and how we can improve our relationship.”

Through this relationship, AMiA churches have been able to see and participate in God’s work in the Kibondo Diocese. “When I started in April 2012, we had mostly nothing. We had very few resources. … We really started from scratch,” +Sospeter recalls. But over the course of 13 years, the diocese has grown dramatically. “We started with the 27 parishes with very few congregations. Now we have 47 parishes with 110 congregations, and we are still planting churches. … We started with about 16,000 people. Now we have over 30,000 to 40,000 people in the diocese, and the churches are now expanding. They are building bigger churches. Everywhere you go, there is a new church under construction. There is vicarage construction. Those are the signs of growth.” In addition, the diocese has a Bible school, and its secondary school is among the top three in the region.

“We are really thankful. We have seen God touching the lives of people,” +Sospeter shares. “Every year, we have over 1,700 people who have given their lives to Christ.”

+Sospeter identifies several factors that have played a significant role in this growth, including the diocese’s holistic approach. Each parish is encouraged to have a farm to help support the work of church planting, and pastors remain in charge of their parishes while receiving training, enabling them to continue to minister and be paid for their work, which helps them educate their children.

In addition, he says, “We share the joy and the grief. When there is a problem—for instance, a pastor loses a child or a mother or a father—the whole diocese is responsible to support. We give. It’s not just attending the funeral—no. We give to help the person to feel that he has brothers and sisters together.”

This shared joy and grief has stretched across the world as AMiA churches have partnered with the Kibondo Diocese, both in prayer and in giving. “Whenever we can’t reach our dream, then we use what we’ve gotten from our dear friends,” +Sospeter says. “We are grateful because our relationship has really borne more fruit.”

Funds from AMiA churches have helped to build the diocesan house after the home +Sospeter was living in was damaged in an earthquake, as well as purchase a car for the diocese. The Kibondo Diocese has also begun to build a health center and has already constructed several buildings.

As +Sospeter retires, he’s grateful to be leaving Kibondo Diocese in a place of growth and financial health, one that is allowing it to invest in the future. “When we started, it wasn’t easy. Everything was hard. And now it is in good shape. So, when I go, I believe they have a good place.”

Though +Sospeter’s role is changing, he knows this isn’t the end of his relationship with his brothers and sisters within the AMiA. He concludes,

“The Church is the Bride of Christ. And if that is the case, then the relationship is part and parcel of our calling. And so, I believe that the relationship will continue.

“What the mission means is to go—go everywhere in the world. That’s the Great Commission that we are given. So, I think the relationship will continue, the mutual visitation will continue so that each one shares whatever God has given us. The gift of Holy Spirit doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to everyone. … The church is not an individual entity—no. The church is communal worldwide, and the Bible is clear.

“This relationship would not stop because of Bishop Sospeter. If I die today, the church will remain there. I think it’s not about us. It’s about the mission. It’s about Christ. It’s about the Lord who entrusted us in this ministry.

“We pray for our partners, and especially for the Mission—for the church to stand firm in faith, to make sure that Christ is preached becomes a part and parcel of each one of us, is the Lord and Savior of each one of us.”

Jeff LeMaster of St. Andrew’s Church, Little Rock, AR contributed to this article.