Swahili will be an official language of Assembly 18
Ubuntu – I am because we are.
“This African philosophy is very important to understand when we are gathering as a big community of Anabaptists in Arusha. There is no way I can manage anything myself. I do it because other people have helped me: interdependence,” says Musuto wa Mutaragara wa Chirangi wa Muhongo wa Nyawayega wa Rihu.
Dr Musuto Chirangi will serve as Swahili language coordinator for interpretation and translation for the MWC’s 18th global Assembly in Tanzania, 6–13 June 2028.
The official language of Tanzania, Swahili is widely spoken throughout Eastern Africa, including in DR Congo, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda. The names of the two Assembly host churches, Kanisa la Mennonite Tanzania (KMT) and Kanisa La Mennonite La Kiinjili Tanzania (KMK(T)), are both in Swahili.
Swahili will be one of the official languages for Assembly 18. “This means all written materials will be translated into Swahili and translation will be provided for all the stage proceedings,” says Liesa Unger, manager of international events.
“For each of our MWC languages (English, French and Spanish), we have a glossary of commonly used terms, especially church words, which can have specific connotations in certain languages. Chirangi will develop a team, who among other things will work on creating a Swahili version of the glossary,” says Karina Derksen-Schrock, translation & interpretation coordinator.
Although Musuto Chirangi’s education is in business development, community development, with graduate and PhD degrees in labour studies and human resources, he has a love for language and culture. He is married to Marja Schoenmaker, a Dutch Mennonite, and has one adult daughter.
“When you come to Africa, you must prepare sociologically. You must understand why we behave in certain ways,” says Musuto Chirangi.
Language is deeply cultural, and it is communicated not only through words but also through body language.
“If you take words literally and throw on AI [for translation], you can laugh at yourself when you look at them,” he says.
Musuto Chirangi was involved in reviewing the Swahili version of the KMT constitution and the recent 10-year strategic plan.
For the theme, “Christ unites us,” for example, “in Swahili, if you do it straight, it loses theological meaning. It becomes passive. You need to put it in a different way in Swahili: in Jesus we are one, we are together. Now you have responsibility. From Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, as a woman, as a man, you have responsibility to communicate, to be together with the others, together in Jesus; there are no demarcations,” he says.
“As a member of the Anabaptist global community, the core values of peace-building, promoting unity, considering community as the centre of life, and radicality standing for truth have shaped my perspectives, behaviour, and working philosophy,” he says.
He was raised in the Mennonite church. His father, Mutaragara Chirangi was one of the first people baptized in Musoma by Bishop Elam Stauffer in 1951. Trained as a teacher, Mutaragara Chirangi went on to be the general secretary for Tanzania and Kenya Mennonite Churches, which operated together at the time.
A gathering is not only about the meetings but also about meeting the people, experiencing the food, seeing the place and hearing the stories, Musuto Chirangi says. “Cultural shocks will come, but we can learn to anticipate, then accept and recover.”
“We are no more strangers in Jesus Christ.”