Christopher Mwashinga

Christopher R. Mwashinga, Jr is a Tanzanian author and poet from Mbeya, Tanzania who lives in the United States. He has published books of Christian poetry, theology, mission, and religious history. His poetry has been published in reputable anthologies in the United States, and other countries including Kenya, Singapore, and Tanzania. He writes in English and Kiswahili.

Early life

Christopher Richard Mwashinga was born to Richard Male Mwashinga and Christine Mwashinga in the Igawilo ward of Mbeya, Tanzania. He spent his first 20 years in West Kilimanjaro about from his home village in the southern highlands of Tanzania. He is the third of the eleven children born to his parents.

Education

Mwashinga attended Ngare-Nairobi Primary School in West Kilimanjaro before he moved south to attend Igawilo Secondary School in Mbeya, and Songea Boys High School in Songea –all in Tanzania. He was trained in Theology at the Tanzania Adventist College in Tanzania and the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton in Kenya where he earned a B.A. degree in Theology. He then moved for graduate studies to the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University, located at Berrien Springs, Michigan, US. At the seminary, Mwashinga earned two master's degrees: a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Religion. He earned his PhD in Systematic Theology in the same institution.

Personal life

Dr. Mwashinga is married to Ruth Michael Mwashinga. Together they have three children: Christopher Richard Mwashinga II, Anna Nakijwa Mwashinga, and Richard Aaron Mwashinga. Mwashinga enjoys traveling to new cultures as he preaches and writes his Christian poetry and non-fiction.

Youth and student ministry

For many years, Mwashinga, an ordained minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, served the youth and public university students in East Africa. Before going to the US for further studies he worked as a chaplain in charge of Public Campus Ministries in the South-West Tanzania Field headquartered in Mbeya. He also served as director of several church departments in the Eastern Tanzania Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, including: Public Campus Ministries, Youth, Education, Children's Ministries, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, and as coordinator of the Satellite Evangelism Program for the same conference. During his tenure, Mwashinga started a program he called Campus Evangelistic Campaigns which was responsible for organizing and running evangelistic campaigns in major public universities in Tanzania. Between 2000–2004 he personally conducted big evangelistic campaigns in Sokoine University of Agriculture, University of Dar es Salaam, and Mzumbe University, utilizing major university auditoriums such as Nkrumah Hall, New Assembly Hall and Multi-purpose Hall, among others. He also spoke to university communities in a number of Kenyan universities including the University of Nairobi, Moi University, and the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. His was a familiar voice in many of these centers of learning. He also spoke internationally, visiting universities around the world. For the past twenty years, Mwashinga has traveled widely, representing the Seventh-day Adventist Church in international conferences and preaching assignments. Between 2000 and 2021 alone, he crossed the Atlantic 18 times. His ministry and study tours took him to Brazil, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Rwanda, Uganda, Thailand, Kenya, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Tanzania, Israel, the Czech Republic, and Zambia among others. During those international trips, he presented on a variety of subjects and wrote hundreds of letters and emails. He also wrote hundreds of poems both English and Kiswahili, and always kept a diary.

Non-fiction and Christian poetry

Mwashinga began to write and recite poetry at a fairly young age. He was about 13 when his first piece was published in Kilimanjaro Leo a weekly Kiswahili Newspaper in his native country of Tanzania. Since then he has published six collections of English poems, including: Beeches of Golden Sand: Inspirational Poems ''Windows of Love, and Ocean of Grace., Collected Poems: 1991-2021, He has also published eleven collections of Kiswahili poetry including Sauti Toka Ughaibuni,, Kilele Cha Tumaini, and Tumaini Lenye Baraka: Diwani ya Christopher Mwashinga, Njia ya Matumaini, Mwenge wa Matumaini. Furthermore, he has published more than twenty other books both scholarly and popular, mostly in the area of theology, mission, and history of Christianity. The most notable works in the area of non-fiction are perhaps his books on Mission Theology and a History of Christian Missions in East Africa, Uadventista Barani Afrika: Changamoto na Fursa za Ukuaji, and The Works of Christopher Mwashinga'' in multiple volumes.

Membership in professional organizations

Adventist Theological Society
American Academy of Religion
Michigan [Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters]
American Academy of Poets
Evangelical Theological Society
Publications

Non-fiction

2011: Rays of Hope: Living to Make a Difference
2012: Enduring the Cross: Messages of Salvation and Hope
2013: Utume na Ukristo Katika Afrika Mashariki
2013: Mission Theology and a History of Christian Missions in East Africa
2013: Barua na Mashairi
2014: Insights From Bible Lands: Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and Greece
2014: Waadventista wa Sabato na Utunzaji wa Sabato: Historia Fupi
2016: Moments of my Christian Experience
2017: Uadventista Barani Afrika: Changamoto na Fursa za Ukuaji
2018: Kumtumaini Yesu
2019: Crisscrossing the United States.
2020: Waraka wa Paulo kwa Waefeso.
2020: A History of Christianity in East Africa: The Beginning and Development of Missions
2022: Christ on Campus: Meeting Jesus on University Campus

Poetry

2009: Beaches of Golden Sand: Inspirational Poems
2012: Windows of Love
2014: Sauti Toka Ughaibuni
2016: Kilele cha Tumaini
2016: Ocean of Grace
2017: Tumaini Lenye Baraka: Diwani ya Christopher Mwashinga
2018: Sauti ya Faraja na Matumaini
2019: Mdomo Mmoja, Masikio Mawili: Mashairi ya Watoto
2019: Short Poems of Christopher Mwashinga
2020: Mionzi ya Matumaini
2021: Njia ya Matumaini
2021: Collected Poems of Christopher Mwashinga: 1991–2021
2022: Mwenge wa Matumaini
2023: Pwani ya Matumaini
2024: Mashairi ya Christopher Mwashinga: Akademia Juzuu ya 1
2024: Mashairi Ya Christopher Mwashinga: Akademia, Juzuu Ya 2
2024: The Shore of Hope
2024: The Shore of Hope: Bilingual Edition-English-Swahili
2024: Asubuhi ya Matumaini

The Works of Christopher Mwashinga project 1

2014: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. I, Letters
2014: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. II, Sermons, Addresses, and Poems
2020: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. III, Theology and Mission
2017: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. IV, Journals and Diaries ,
2025: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. VIII, Miscellaneous
2025: The Works of Christopher Mwashinga Vol. IX, The Salvation of the Unevangelized

The Works of Christopher Mwashinga project 2

2019: Kazi za Christopher Mwashinga, Juzuu ya I: Maandiko ya Awali
2020: Kazi za Christopher Mwashinga, Juzuu II: Mashairi
2020: Kazi za Christopher Mwashinga, Juzuu III: Utume, Theolojia, Mahubiri, Barua

'''Journal Articles'''