Catholic religious sisters in Tanzania are embracing television and social media as a new mission field, bringing the Gospel to audiences that may never encounter their ministry in person.
The Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Usambara has expanded its longstanding work in education and evangelization into digital media, using its Usambara Mountain TV platform to provide Catholic teaching, faith reflections and programming aimed especially at young people, according to Vatican News.
The congregation, commonly known as the COLU Sisters, was founded in 1954 by Monsignor Eugen Arthurs of the Rosminian Fathers. Its traditional apostolates have included education, catechesis and the formation of young people.
But as technology has transformed how people communicate and consume information, the sisters recognized that evangelization increasingly requires a presence beyond classrooms, parishes and religious communities.
That recognition led to the establishment of Usambara Mountain TV, or UMTV, in July 2024 in Lushoto, located in Tanzania’s Tanga region.
“Through television and the internet, we are able to reach people far beyond our immediate communities,” UMTV director Sr. Paulina T. Mshana told Vatican News. “This strengthens our mission to share the Gospel and encourage people, especially young people, to know and love God more.”
The platform now offers programming addressing catechesis, spirituality, youth concerns and social issues. Young viewers are also connecting with the sisters through social media and YouTube, allowing their message to reach audiences locally and internationally.
For the congregation, digital media provides an opportunity to continue its missionary work even where sisters cannot be physically present.
Sr. Paulina has also challenged assumptions about the kinds of work religious sisters can undertake in service of the Church.
“I am happy to be involved in this work, even if many people still think that operating a camera is a man’s job,” she told Vatican News. “Sisters, too, can take on this role and communicate the Gospel to the wider community.”
The station’s mission extends beyond explicitly religious programming. According to Vatican News, UMTV also provides educational content touching on culture, music and basic life skills, making resources available to people in their own homes.
The initiative has received support from other members of the Church, including Br. Lucas Masasi, OFM Cap., who has contributed to UMTV and witnessed its development from a YouTube channel into a more organized television platform.
The sisters’ digital apostolate, however, is not without obstacles. Limited equipment and financial resources make production difficult, while unreliable internet access and the cost of digital devices can prevent some people from viewing the programming. Power outages can also disrupt broadcasts because the station lacks sufficient backup systems, according to Vatican News.
Even within the congregation, embracing media as a tool for evangelization has required continued formation as sisters grow in their understanding of the opportunities presented by television and digital platforms.
Despite those difficulties, the COLU Sisters remain committed to expanding their outreach and helping young people use technology not simply for entertainment, but as a means of encountering faith, formation and deeper questions about life’s meaning.
Their work reflects an increasingly important reality for Catholic evangelization: the mission field is no longer defined only by geography. It can also be found on a television screen, a YouTube channel or a social media feed.
That same vision of digital evangelization is at the heart of the work of Your Catholic Voice Foundation and Catholic Online School.
Through Catholic Online and its educational ministries, the foundation uses the internet, digital media and online learning to make Catholic faith formation and educational resources accessible to people around the world. Catholic Online School, in particular, demonstrates how technology can carry Catholic teaching beyond the walls of a traditional classroom, allowing students and families to encounter the faith wherever an internet connection can reach them.
The work taking place in Tanzania is therefore part of a much broader movement within the Church. From religious sisters operating cameras and producing online programming to Catholic organizations building digital classrooms and faith resources, modern communications technology is opening new doors for the Church’s ancient mission of proclaiming the Gospel.
Inspired by Christ’s words in Luke’s Gospel that “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,” the sisters are taking their place in that harvest—camera by camera, broadcast by broadcast, carrying the message of Christ into the digital world.
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