GINA HELMS
President
Pastor Joseph Hizza
Executive Assistant
The journey began when Gina Helms was introduced to different cultures and faiths during her university studies. Those experiences were seeds which grew and eventually led her to full-time work overseas in Tanzanian in 2007. Today she is an active mobilizer for a variety of ministry and community development projects with a focus on unreached areas known as Unreached People Groups (UPGs). Gina is from Fort Mill, SC. Her home church is the Fort Mill Church of God and her sending church is New Life Church, Virginia Beach.
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She is a software developer by trade with a B.S. and. M.S. in Computer Science. As a result of her shift to full-time ministry, Gina also completed a M.A. in Biblical Studies with a concentration in interpretation as well as a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degree. Her doctoral research explored how the perception of Christianity is formed in unreached people groups, specifically the Sonjo tribe.
The purpose of the research was to better understand why it has taken so long to take the gospel to the whole world as Jesus said to do. We know the places waiting to receive the gospel may be difficult to reach, and they may be resistant to the gospel. But there could be other barriers due to the way we present the gospel. The research focused on that aspect to inform us on how to do evangelism more effectively.
Gina is also a certified personal coach and coach trainer and simply loves helping a person, a village, or a nation move closer towards thriving and flourishing as God intends people, communities, and nations to do. Her life message and mandate is John 10:10, "The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give life and life more abundantly." Her purpose is to align with this verse, to go after uncontested darkness, and release the light of God's love, truth, and power in proclamation and demonstration.
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Gina's heart is to build a Tanzanian dream team to carry on and expand this vision. She is excited and hopeful about the potential of this growing team!
Operations Manager
CHRISTOPHER PETER
Mr. Hizza, Prism's new Executive Assistant, brings a wealth of experience in management, administration, education, and ministry. His professional journey began as a teacher where he taught Chemistry and mathematics for over 20 years, earning a reputation for dedication and delivering superior student performance. His leadership prowess led him to the highest school position, headmaster.
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His academic pursuits include a degree in Environmental Planning and Management, Diploma in Education majored in Mathematics and Chemistry, and he's presently pursuing a Master’s degree in Education Administration, Planning, and Policy at the Open University of Tanzania. He's concurrently undertaking a Master's in Biblical Theology via distance learning at the Crown Institute of Theology.
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Mr. Hizza contributed significantly to Tanzania's education sector between 2019 and 2021. He worked as an Education Technical Specialist with the World Education Organization, collaborating with the Tanzanian Government on educational projects across 108 schools in Arusha and Mara regions.
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Beyond academia, he holds pastoral roles, utilizing his experience in teaching and leadership. He's an Associate Pastor at Adonai Christian Church and a dedicated evangelist passionate about reaching remote areas.
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Aside from his professional roles, Mr. Hizza is a family man, father of five, and an active volunteer in ministry-related activities. He's also a gifted musician, having composed over 300 songs and begun transcribing them for future generations.
His secondary school and university years were punctuated with several accolades, including best student recognitions in multiple fields and institutes, a testament to his prowess in academics.
Known for his mastery in mathematics, Mr. Hizza has developed innovative techniques in solving simultaneous equations and contributed fresh insights in the field. He made a remarkable contribution by highlighting the non-commutativity of 2 x 2 matrices and creating self-inverse matrices, dubbed "Emene matrices' ', honoring his late father's nickname.
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Pastor Hizza embodies our aspirations for the future, a bi-vocational professional and gospel minister. Mentoring youth to become righteous leaders in Tanzania, he commands respect from all generations with his wisdom, passion, consistency, and fatherly demeanor.
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Project Manager
MATHIAS MSANGI
It is beyond exciting to have Christopher Peter Mushi join our team as Project Manager. Chris, who was supported through our Tanzania Education Advocates (TEA) program since 2017, graduated from Wenzhou University in China, in 2021, with an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology.
While at Wenzhou Chris received recognition as a best performing student in academics. He also served as President of the student government representative council, and also President of the Tanzanian Student's Association in Wenzhou China (WETASA). He was actively involved in cross-cultural events across his province as a speaker, organizer, and contributor.
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Chris has now joined our local team in Tanzania as Project Manager, leading our two community development projects, Safe Water and Public Health projects. He has begun strengthening relationships with local government stakeholders and has forged new relationships for smoother implementation of our ongoing community development initiatives. We can count on him and he delivers.
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We are excited about the amazing young man he has become. We are proud to see what God has done for him and in him, and we are honored to have our former project beneficiary as our Project Manager and colleague!
Mr. Msangi is engaged in supporting our ministry efforts, especially children's ministry, hosting teams, expanding our outreach, and providing critical cross-cultural understanding for all our efforts. His is especially talented with music, sound systems, and singing. A teacher by profession, Mathias has spent many years of his career teaching in primary schools. He is also known as a choir master, and loves to spend his time formulating and mentoring youth choir groups. He and his wife have a special additional calling to children’s ministry. His family runs New Generation Camp which provides children from different districts in Kilimanjaro and Arusha region with an opportunity to stay at a facility for two days, learn the word of God, be ministered to in prayer, receive counseling and on-going support as they mature in their Christian walk with the Lord Jesus.
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He has been married to his wife Esther for about 25 years now, and they have four children, Victor, El Shaddai, Shalom, and Jane. Mathias is from the Maasai pastoralist tribe which is well known for their high jumps and love of meat. His wife Esther is Chagga, originally from Kilimanjaro region.
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Mr. Msangi is a very rare find. Trustworthy in all matters, wise, mature, considerate, servant-minded, faithful, respected, and full of abounding energy like you would not believe.