In 2010, the CASFETA chapter at Sokoine University of Agriculture had eleven members and met in a borrowed classroom on Sunday afternoons. Today it has over two hundred active members, runs a weekly discipleship programme, hosts an annual leadership camp, and has planted three accountability groups in nearby secondary schools.
This is not an exceptional story. It is, increasingly, a typical one.
What CASFETA actually does
The Christian Association of Students' Fellowships in East and Central Africa — CASFETA — is the campus arm of TAYOMI, serving students across Tanzania's universities and colleges. Its model is simple: small, committed, student-led fellowships that combine worship, Bible study, fellowship, and outreach within their specific campus context.
The genius of CASFETA is that it is not a programme delivered to students. It is a movement led by them. The difference is everything.
Each chapter is governed by a student executive committee — a chairperson, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and directors for discipleship, outreach, and worship. The students set the agenda. TAYOMI provides training, resources, and the wider network. The energy, creativity, and labour are entirely student-generated.
The culture shift on campus
What happens when a fellowship grows to represent a significant portion of a student body? The culture of the campus begins to shift. Not through confrontation, but through presence. Christian students who are known for their integrity, their generosity, their willingness to listen — these students change the social climate of a campus simply by being who they are.
We have heard reports from campus chaplains, department heads, and student welfare officers noting a measurable difference in campuses where CASFETA is active — in the tenor of student disputes, in the willingness of students to seek help, in the quality of peer-to-peer relationships. Faith is not merely a private matter here. It is a public presence.
The goal for 2026 is to establish active chapters on every accredited university campus in Tanzania. It is an ambitious target. Given the trajectory of the past five years, it is not an unrealistic one.
