Tanzanian agriculture student Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, along with many other foreign workers and students. Thanks to the help of the Genesis 123 Foundation, his body will return to Tanzania to be buried in his home village.
Mtenga's body was found and identified just over a week ago and his identity was confirmed by the Tanzanian government. He will be returned home Tuesday for his burial in his village in the Mt. Kilimanjaro region.
Mtenga not only studied agriculture in Israel, but he also practiced his Christian faith in the Holy Land. He was a member of his church choir and preached his understanding of Israel's biblical significance. He took the biblical prophecy, Ezekiel 36:8 to heart: “And you, the mountains of Israel, will produce your branches, and you will bear your fruit for My people Israel because they are about to come.”
Answering the call
Jonathan Feldstein, President of the Genesis 123 Foundation, took the news of Mtenga's death as a call to action. Feldstein's goal with the organization is to build bridges between Jews and Christians worldwide, advocating for Israel to support, recognize, and honor the families of non-Jewish citizens of Israel to receive the same type of support as Israeli and Jewish victims of terror.
“It’s all the more important in Africa,” he says.
Feldstein arranged for Genesis 123 "Africa Praying for Israel" network member Bishop Daniel Ouma to be a representative for the organization at the funeral in Tanzania. Bishop Ouma will provide support for the Tanzanian community and the Mtenga family as well as act as a point of contact for media covering the funeral.
Ouma is a longtime advocate for the state of Israel.
“By representing an important organization from Israel such as the Genesis 123 Foundation, we will provide comfort and condolences to the family. Also, by being a representative of Genesis 123, the significance of the brotherhood and solidarity established with Israel and all the people of Tanzania cannot be ignored,” Bishop Ouma said.
Feldstein summarized, “of course, this is a humanitarian effort and one that brings our mission to build bridges between Jews and Christians and Christians with Israel to the most personal level. But it’s more than that. Especially during war, when Israel is the front line of a broader war against Islamic terror, we must all stand together. Israelis know too well about Islamic terror. The minimum we can do is to support one another, especially when victims are around the world.”
Feldstein, Bishop Ouma, and the Mtenga family are expected to plan a memorial project in Clemence's honor, focused on solidarity between the two nations.