Background History
What is TAFES?
TAFES is an acronym that stands for Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students. It is a national and Interdenominational Christian organization ministering to students in Universities, Colleges. It is hence a Fellowship of Christian students, associates and staff all over Tanzania who have come together regardless of their denominational affiliations in order to reach students with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
BRIEF HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
- The history of TAFES is built on the foundation of the church history that eventually influenced student’s movement worldwide.
- The history shows that Universities and Colleges played a significant role in the sharpening and expansion of the Christian faith.
- Student movements gave birth to the revival of the Christian faith in Europe, America, China, India and Africa.
- Universities were centers of ideas and actions, many students left Europe for a mission to reach out to Africa, Asia and South America. It is the same people who gave their lives to the mission that eventually joined efforts to launch an international student movement.
- I947: IFES was formed(International Fellowship of Evangelical Students).
- 1950s: PAFES was formed in Africa (Pan Africa Fellowship of Evangelical Students).
Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students (TAFES) is a Students Christian Ministry legitimately registered in Tanzania with a registration certificate number SO. 7320 of June 11th, 1990.
TAFES work started way back in 1950s, when the Pan-African Fellowship of Evangelical Students (PAFES), a wing of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), was coordinating Students Ministry in African Universities. In the eastern Africa wing, coordination was locally done by FOCUS Eastern Africa (a name adopted by PAFES Eastern Africa) which involved ten (10) countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho.
In East Africa, PAFES coordinated students at the three main Universities of Makerere, Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi, each with only one or two constituent Colleges or campuses. By that time the University of Dar-es-salaam had only two campuses, Morogoro Agricultural Campus and Muhimbili Medical Campus. In the 1970s, the number of universities in Eastern Africa had increased so much which necessitated a new coordination strategy. From the Eastern Africa sub-movement of the IFES, national movements were formed and strengthened as separate entities. This was the beginning of IFES national movements registration. It was during this time the national ministry coordination was initiated.
In 1972 the national movement in Kenya (FOCUS Kenya) was registered
In 1973 the national movement in Uganda (FOCUS Uganda) was registered
Before its registration, the national movement in Tanzania (FOCUS Tanzania) operated under the Scripture Union of Tanzania until 1990 when it was registered as Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students (TAFES).
To date, TAFES is still affiliated to the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) together with other student movements in more than 170 countries worldwide.
TAFES Headquarters Office is located at Plot 725 Boko, Off Ununio Road Dar es Salaam at our Student center, in the United Republic of Tanzania.