University Lutheran Church & Student Center, Norman, OK

Tanzania Mission Build 2005

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What's this all about?

A group of eleven men and women from three congregations, two different denominations and two different states will embark on June 8, 2005 on a construction mission build to Morogoro, Tanzania. Five people from University Lutheran Church in Norman, OK will be joined by three members of United Lutheran Church in Bella Vista, Arkansas and three members of Asbury Methodist Church in Tulsa on a two week effort to remodel the Junior Lutheran Seminary of Morogoro. In addition, we will have an opportunity to spend a couple of days in a village building a pole church and most importantly, an opportunity to meet and get to know fellow Christians in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania.

How did this come about?

For several years, the Asbury Methodist Church has sponsored medical and dental teams to do important work in the Morogoro region working with the Lutheran missionaries in this area.. This year they wanted to send their first construction team and were looking for someone to assist them. Tom Roach initiated a contact to Mary Ann Smith of the Asbury congregation and suggested that University Lutheran might be able to provide some leadership and help. From this initiative the mission trip was begun.

What will we do?

The major efforts will be spent working on a dormitory for students of the Lutheran Seminary. This seminary is a school for Forms I-VI which covers the middle grades through the first year of college. The school has 380 residential students who are preparing for a wide variety of roles: church professionals, teachers, and other positions not necessarily church related. The role of seminaries is an important one in a poor, developing country such as Tanzania. We will be working on repairing, decorating and painting the many dormitory rooms that are in much need of renovation. We will also be staying in those rooms while the students are away for summer vacation.

What can you do?

First of all, you have already done so very, very much to bring this hope into reality. Each of the three participating congregations has been involved in fund raising efforts and the results have been beyond our fondest expectations. Counting all the contributions from all sources we will be able to bring approximately $14,000 to Morogoro to help with the construction remodeling and mission church building. Additionally, your prayers for our mission and for the safety and success of our trip are absolutely essential. We thank you for everything you have contributed and ask you to keep us in your prayers as the trip unfolds.

What do we hope to accomplish?

Of course, we hope to make some significant improvements on the facilities at the Lutheran Junior Seminary but of far greater importance will be the impact the experience could have on those of us who are going and on the congregations who are supporting us. We hope to form a bond either with the Seminary or with a congregation in Tanzania that will remain long after we have returned. We will be carrying pictures of many of you to share with our brothers and sisters there and we plan to bring back pictures, memories and contacts that will continue in the years ahead.

What else will we do while we are in Tanzania?

The last 5 days of the 19 day trip will be an excellent opportunity for 9 members of the team. We will travel by bus for 8 or 9 hours from Morogoro to Arusha where we will stay and visit with Sally and Tom Roach for one evening and then leave on a 4 day safari into the fantastic animal preserve of the Serengeti. After the safari, we will take a shuttle across the border into Kenya and return home by way of Nairobi, Kenya.

Do you wish to keep informed about the progress of the trip?

Each day of our journey is listed below and we will attempt to e-mail the activities of each day for which we have Internet access. So, please check out this page for our adventures each day. We will be studying the Book of Acts for our devotions while on the trip. The chapters we will be covering are listed under each day and you are encouraged to join with us in reading these portions of Scripture to study the growth of the church and the missionary journeys of St. Paul. We would be sharing the same Scriptures separated only by miles but joined by faith.

Also, there are some fantastic links listed below that provide excellent information about the Lutheran church in Tanzania as well as about the history, geography, culture and government. of Tanzania. The Yellow Pages of Tanzania are even included in case you wanted to order a pizza from Arusha!

ENJOY!

Travel Schedule, Daily Journal & Bible Study Guide:

Wednesday June 8 - Travelling, Chicago-London-Dar es Salaam - Acts, Chapter 1
Thursday June 9 - Travelling, Chicago-London- Dar es Salaam - Acts, Chapter 2

"The Eagle has Landed"
We are relaxing in Heathrow Airport in beautiful, sunny London after an excellent flight from Chicago. We arrived at 11:18 AM Thursday following a 7 hour flight. Our trip to Chicago was much more of an adventure for all three groups coming from 3 separate places. O'Hare was a mess due to weather and every flight was backed up for hours. The Tulsa crowd of Bo, Mike and Dwight made it after only a one hour delay and our Norman group sat on the tarmac in Okc for 3 1/2 hours before we finally took off. The Arkansas Travelers (Alice, Roger and Tony) cut it even closer by arriving at the gate just as it was boarding.

We met a missionary headed for Entebbe who guided us through Chicago quickly to find the international terminal. We have about 7 hours to rest up for our next biggie flight to Dar which will be a 9 hour and 40 minute marathon.

Stay tuned for our next installment. Everyone is in good spirits Cheers and blessings to all.

The Morogoro Marauders
Friday June 10 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapter 3

We arrived in Dar es Salaam at 10:15 AM, Friday, June 10th after a wonderfully smooth 9 hour flight from London. It was the best long flight I've ever experienced with the seatbelt sign never being lit the entire trip. Would that our luggage had such a pleasant journey! The close connections in Chicago caused all the Arkansas group's luggage to miss the flight. Also, in London, a half dozen of us were told our carry ons were too large for the old configured 767 and we checked those things at the gate, never to see them when we arrived in Dar. We have received many assurances that they should arrive soon.

We were pleasantly surprised to be met at the plane by Herb Hafermann of Morogoro whom we expected to see and also Tom and Sally Roach who we were not expecting to see until next week.

Several of us were taken on a roundabout tour of some of the village church sites where we will be working next week. The local helper has dug 11 holes each one a cubic meter in size that will hold the 8 X 10 poles for the church. Each of those holes will be filled by concrete that will be mixed with shovels on the ground and rebar structures will also be placed in the concrete. I thought about calling Delese Concrete to see if they would deliver.

This evening we had a wonderful meal and devotional sharing experience. Even without their luggage the team members are in wonderful spirits and they send their warmest greetings.

Tomorrow some will rest and some of us will go on a very long ride to worship in a Massai village church with Pastor Herb.

The weather is beautiful and the stars are as brilliant as I have ever seen. The Southeran Cross was particulary sharp tonight.

Day one in country and all is well. Blessings to each of you.

The Team
Saturday June 11 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapters 4 & 5

I have absolutely NO idea how to describe the day's activities. Four of us started out in the Land Rover with Pastor Herb Hafermann at 8:30 this morning and we just returned at 9:30 this evening We drove for an hour, visited a completed pole church that will be a model of the two we are to build, picked up 6 members of a church choir of an established Masaai church and then drove another hour to the site where we would hold today's worship service. An evangelist trained by Herb has been serving this group and meeting in a school but today would be special because Herb would be there and because about 15 members of the existing church would be on location to support the fledgling group.

The worship site was the middle of a field under a tree about 12 miles from the last highway and was barely reachable by Land Rover. The evangelist who serves this small group usually rides a bike about 10 miles over steep terrain highway and another 7 miles over rutted trails to serve the membership.

The tree location was shared with a herd of about 150 beef cattle that are the livilihood of the Massai village. Herb spent a couple of hours registering 15 children and adults for baptisim and a couple of people reclaimed for the church. All this while different groups of adults and chldren sang hymns and paraded and danced around the site. The women were wearing brilliant colored clothing typical of the Massai.

Then............church began promptly at 1:50 pm which included the 15 baptisms and the Lord's Supper and continued until 4:30. The beauty of the singing mingled with the occasional whimper of a child needing to be fed and the lowing of brahmin cross bred cattle just has to be imagined. All I can say is that it was the most meaningfully beautiful service this old farm boy has ever experienced.

As the service neared a close, Herb leaned over to us and said "We are going to sing only 2 verses of hymn 183. If we continue too long the calves get so hungry that they feast on the cows and there goes today's milk production. That makes both the cows and people somewhat unhappy."

To describe all the exciting dynamics of one day of evangelism is simply not possible.. Only 1 more example will have to suffice:
A Massai elder was sitting behnd the altar under a tree and did not participate in the service. Herb said that after the service the elder took him aside and said he would be baptized at the next service and this means that the entire village will be open and available for ministry. A vibrant new worship community was born today.

We were then invited to a meal served outside of a member's thatch hut consisting of tea, rice, beans and roasted goat. Sitting there enjoying the meal while dozens of young and old goats bleated at us accusingly only added to the ambience.

At 5:00 pm we sauntered back to the Seminary with our 6 choir members singing nearly all the way. The clarity of their voices is difficult to describe. This, and so...........much more happened today. Tomorrow is another day. Which means that maybe the lost luggage will arrive.
Or, not.

The team says,
"Asante"
and, Goodnight.
Sunday June 12 - Worship (somewhere) - Acts, Chapters 6 & 7

We spent a great Sunday at worship in another village site of the Massai. I was wrong about yesterday's baptism count so here's the corrected number for yesterday and today. There were 23 yesterday, (10 adults and 13 children) and today there were 14 children baptisms. Pastor Haferman said he has done about 2,000 baptisms in the past two years.

We presented our books for the kindergarten children today and it was a magnificent response. Pastor Herb allowed me to speak for a while and he translated since my Swahali is rustier than I thought. And, yes, that IS a joke! They passed out one book to each of the 42 children in the kindergarten and someone took video and still shots of the activities. They were really pleased since this is the first set of books they have had. The addition of these books will now allow them to be certified as a kindergarten so the children of ULC really had an impact. Editors note: These books were purchased with funds generated at an auction held after a church service in Norman, OK. The children of ULC brought items to be autioned to the members in attendance. This is a tradition of the churches in Africa that was duplicated in Norman, OK.

Tomorrow we found someone who will download pictures so we hope to have not only a message for Bishop Kitale who will be at ULC but also some pictures to share. Also, Tom and Sally Roach will be having dinner with us at the seminary so I hope to have words of wisdom from them to share as well.

Tonight we dragged all our tools into the kitchen and put them on the table to present them to the construction supervisors . Needless to say they were overwhelmed. One of them described it as 3 or 4 Christmases rolled into one.

Tomorrow we split into two groups and start getting some construction work done. Seven people will stay here and start prepping and painting under Bo's direction. He is the painting contractor from Tulsa who will be able to spend his break from his painting jobs in Tulsa by doing more painting in Tanzania. Four of us will go to the first pole church site and pour concrete and also we will get a chance to cut and build some trusses. It sounds like another great day at the office in Morogoro.

Oh, and in case any of you are interested, THE LUGGAGE FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, yes, it WAS that exciting to folks who had not changed clothes since they left home last Wednesday about noon.

Thanks for your prayers, thoughts and interest. And, in case it isn't obvious, we are very glad we came. The weather has been incredibly beautiful with days in the mid to high 80's and the nights in the low 70's. The scenery is breathtaking and the roads actually are worse than East Norman. Today we drove for 30 minutes through high weeds and ruts and the lead car used his Garman GPS and we pointed in the right direction until we got there. He had been there before and punched in a waypoint and then followed the arrows until we found the place. If you didn't understand anything in that last sentence suffice it to say that I enjoyed seeing the navigational system being put to good use.

For the record, I haven't seen a single mosquito.

Later,
The Team
Monday June 13 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapter 8

Today was a bit different in that we actually did some work. Bummer! We achieved a lot today in two different settings. Four of us went to a village to begin construction on a church. We worked on two different tasks in that first a couple of us squared up the building to get ready to pour the 11 holes that will hold up the rebar structures. Then a group of locals were hired by the Tanzanian construction supervisor to haul in the materials, water and then mix the concrete.. We all took at turn a first hauling all the 2 x 6's, 10 ft long rebar structures and 10 ft. long forms for the pillars. The materials were being stored at a member's back yard about 1 mile from the church site down a rut filled road. Each piece I have described above needed to be carried to the site for three reasons. First, the material would have been stolen if it were left exposed. Second, no truck could make it down the road.Three, they don't have a truck. The locals put 3 12 ft. 2 x 6's on their heads, balanced them and walked the 1 mile without stopping or dropping a board. I made one trip carrying a rebar structure and decided my talents did not include balancing things on my head.

Also, all the water for the concrete needed to be hauled by bicycle. Each bike had 3 six gallon containers tied to the back of the bike. Do the math; 18 gallons times 8 lbs. equals 144 lbs of water sloshing around behind you as you navigate the rutted roads but this time they only had to go a half mile to a small stream. And, lest you forget, before we are done with the whole project they will have to supply the water for 11 cubic yards of concrete. And, no, I don't want to do the math on this one.

Then, the work began for the day. The locals shoveled and dumped 32 wheelbarrows of sand on the ground, threw in 4 bags of cement and mixed the thoroughly with two shovels and a hoe. Then they dumped 64 wheelbarrows of coarse rock on top of the mix. Then, they started dumping bucket after bucket of water on the edge of the mix and mixed it by turning over the pile with a shovel and adding water until it was ready to be shoveled into buckets and dumped into the 11 cubic yard holes to fill it to the top. Cheer up, day after tomorrow they will put up the 10 ft. forms around the rebar structures, build a scaffold to climb to the top and then fill the forms bucket by bucket by bucket by bucket.....I think you get the idea. Meanwhile several of us lazy types built trusses on the ground from the assembled 2 x 6's.

The rest of the team had equally challenging tasks back at the ranch. They scraped, sanded and painted one of the classrooms and I am told it looked super. We will try to rotate roles from time to time to give everyone a chance to experience the exciting possibilities.

Tonight, we had a great dinner of fried chicken, boiled potatoes and salad with great tasting pineapples. Driving down any highway shows tomatoes, melons, coconuts, cashews, corn, charcoal, sticks for firewood, and many things I can't identify being carried on heads, bikes,or any conveyance imaginable.

And, tomorrow is another day.

Tonight, Tom and Sally Roach were with us at dinner and we visited for quite a while afterward. In fact, I am hammering away on Tom's laptop right now. And, tomorrow night is the dinner with Bishop Kitale, the bishop of the Morogoro district of Tanzania. Give him the greetings of the team and tell him we are having a wonderful time at the Morogoro Junior Seminary and really appreciate the work of Pastor Hafermann. He is truly the consumate evangelist. We hope the dinner is a success and that Bishop Kitale and Bishop Schoehals and guests will receive the warm hospitality that we have seen.

Be well and much love from the team.
Everyone is in good health, good spirits and seem to be having a wonderful experience.
The Team
Tuesday June 14 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapters 9 & 10

Editors note: No report from 'The Team', but the tonight the people of University Lutheran Church & Student Center in Norman, OK had the pleasure of entertaining the Tanzanian Bishop this evening. Over 150 people showed up to spend time worshiping, singing and eating with this four person team. Some photos of this event are included in the photo album portion of this page.

Also, the first six photographs from Tanzania have arrived and are also included in the photo album portion of this page.

Wednesday June 15 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapters 11 & 12

The work has been progressing nicely and most of us alternate between painting classrooms and pouring concrete and building trusses for village churches. I stayed in today to fight with the computer that has developed a distinct anti-Lutheran virus in that each of the last two nights I have written accounts of over one hour each and have lost each one due to a loss of an internet connection. Some of us take longer than others to wise up and I finally decided to draft my story on MS Word and then at least I can keep it from being lost.

So, here goes for hour number three at trying to capture the essence of a worship service in a village church. Heres the typical pattern we have experienced. Pastor Herb and 3 or 4 of us will head off from the seminary down a good paved highway for about 10 or 20 miles and then we turn off onto one or another of the rutted, dirt roads that are the rule rather than the exception. People drive on the left side of the road here as in England and that adds to the intrigue. Each 2 or 3 miles along the rutted paths Herb will stop to pick up an evangelist who will assist in the service and/or will be observing to learn additional skills. Each evangelist takes two years of Bible Study and then is assigned a territory to develop and within a year or two will be ready for a pole church like the one we worshipped in Tuesday. The evangelists all receive the same pay of $30 per month which is very close to the minimum wage paid to government employees.

About 11 or 12 noon we arrive at a straw thatched church made of 1 or2 inch poles that are plastered with either mud or cow dung. Cow dung is considered superior to mud and is often used as the finish coat. Large sections of the wall are left open to allow air to move through the structure and with the strawthatched roof are quite comfortable at this time of the year.

When we arrive we are greeted by the local evangelist and perhaps a key member of two of the congregation. We are given a walking tour of "the boma" which is a collection of several thatch hut families or extended families. We are shown with pride the local herd since the Massai are all cattle people. Even the lovely and brilliant purple or blue kangas show this pride because many of them have a slogan embroidered in the hem that reads " Cattle are Wealth". That should be self explanatory.

After the tour of the boma we are offered ceremonial water to wash our hands and then are served chai (hot tea with milk) and perhaps some bread. After this welcoming service Herb gets down to business for an hour to two hours registering the baptisms. He surveys each person and the relatives to determine names, family connections, friends former villages, etc. etc. to enable him and the evangelists to do their work. He shares this information with the evangelist and also records tons of data in his mind that he is capable of recalling at any moment.

During the latter part of this process choirs of children or young women emerge and begin singing beautiful hymns and songs. Gradually, the service seems to begin but the beginning is almost imperceptible. A regular Lutheran order of service is used and one of the evangelists will keep us clued in on the pages for psalms and hymns and liturgy. The singing really fascinates me. Tuesday, there was a beautifully clad group of 30children aged 8-14 who sang 5 or 6 numbers. With no visible signal from anyone they will stand, begin gently stamping their feet in either an 8 count, 16 count of even a 32 count one child will begin with a slightly piercing but bell like voice and will be answered by the rest of the chorus. Young males in the congregation not connected with the choir will provide gentle and perfectly pitched harmonies. I couldnt wait to ask Herb how in the world they were able to know exactly what to sing when to sing and how to get their cues. I told him that I had no idea how they could do that. Herb thought carefully and then gave me an insightful comment, " I have absolutely no idea. Some gifts are best left unopened.

Then the baptisms; from 8 to 50 might present themselves, both adults and children. Each relative is joyful when the child or adult comes forward for the water and the Word. It is clear that baptism holds a very special place in their religious life.

A sermon of perhaps ten minutes follows and then communion by intinction. Herb was startled to learn that this congregation had not received communion since last October. The number of congregations being served boggles the mind . After the service concludes everyone winds out of the church singing and forming a huge circle outside the church which enables every person to shake hands with every other person and is a beautiful way to end the worship. Finally, the guests are invited to share a meal of rice and usually roast goat or beef. Three large bows are place on a church bench and each of us washes our hands again and then begin eating with our hand making sure that we use only the proper right hand.

After many handshakes and asante sanas we wend our way home and drop off evangelists as we go to return home about 6 for dinner and then Bible study at 7:30. The book of Acts has been a perfect opportunity to compare Biblical evangelism with Tanzanian. The modern day Pauls, Barnabas, Silas, Timothys or very similar. Im sure that St. Paul would have loved to have had Herb Hafermann on his team.

I hope just a glimmer of the sheer excitement we re feeling as we observe ministry of evangelism being done.

Yes, we came to paint and pour concrete but I have a feeling what will never leave our memories will be the blazing images of children and adults peering though the slats of the village church to get a glimpse of the service because it was too crowded to enter. The sounds, the singing, the praying the handshakes are all evidence of a church that is alive and well inside this glob of sticks, straw and manure.

And, theres another worship cathedral to visit tomorrow. As Herb would say, "I think you will find this one really interesting". Of course, Herb has told us that about EVERY village church we were going to see the next day. And, of course, Herb has also told us that we should be back at the seminary between 4 and 4:30 each day even though I have rarely seen a church service START much before 4 or 4:30. Now, when I ask him my American question "When will we be back today?" Herb gives the Tanzanian answer,

"Yes". Maybe I should stop asking foolish questions.

Thats it for now. Im sorry if my quick drafts are too rough to read smoothly but I hope you get just a glimmer of the excitement we are feeling.

All is well, God bless you all,

The Team
Thursday June 16 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapters 13 & 14

Hello Everyone:

I am pleased to hear from my son, Mark, that people are finding the website and reading our adventures. It continues to be a great experience day by day.

Tonight, I will share just two brief stories of a lighter variety. Tomorrow we have a full day which starts at 6:30 for me as the young Tanzanian construction supervisor, Luka, wanted me to see his house which he is struggling to build in his spare time as money appears. He wanted me to look at it and help him with a couple of options in building that he is facing. I am really anxious to see yet another layer of Tanzanian culture. I have seen lots of thatch roofs and brick buildings at the Seminary and now I can see a "tract" house being built.

Story # 1. The Tanzanian Bureaucracy Strikes Again.

Our stalwart crew of truss builders and concrete pourers set out to the village site and were stopped by their version of a county supervisor. He had detained one of the college students from Wartburg the week before we came and was insisting that he needed to give approval for anything being built. Short version of story is that he held up construction for about 2 hours and is now insisting on an "official letter" from someone before we continue on Saturday. It seems to be a case of a power struggle and a need for attention. It will probably require another trip by Herb and/or an evangelist who knows the man or his family to help the project along. And, you thought the U.S. invented politics!

Story # 2 Bo, the Great White Hunter

Bo Boaz, who is the painting contractor from Tulsa, is providing great leadership to the painting project but his leadership skills far exceed painting and redecorating. I wasn't here to verify this event so there are lots of loose ends to nail down before we can give you the official Paul Harvey, "The Rest of the Story". But, I digress.

Yesterday, while Bo was leading his faithful charges from the painting site to the dining hall he was nonchalantly strolling along the path and stepped on a small stick which jumped up and caused a mild reaction on this fearless jungle fighter. He recovered quickly and continued leading his faithful followers toward a well-deserved lunch. A local student made a quick comment in rather clear English that went something like this,

"THERES A SNAKE" !!!!

Bo sprang into action and together with several warriors (here the story gets a bit cloudy as to number of participants and the relative contribution of each participant) but suffice it to say that they slew the snake with a couple of sticks and a few smooth stones. The size of the snake is also still under investigation but its species has been identified as being a genuine cobra. (And, THAT is the truth!) Some have reported that it reared its head and spread its neck in that interesting little style that only cobras can do when riled up.

So, even though not all the evidence is in, we know enough to realize that we won't go walking anywhere without Bo.

One final tidbit amused Tony Tolbert immensely. When Bo came back to the room after having conquered the cobra apparently a lizard dropped from the roof and fell on Bos shoulder. Bos vertical leap of 46 inches has given those of us who saw the movie, White Guys Can't Jump, reason to reconsider.

And, most of this story is true. Only some facts have been changed to protect the guilty.

I thought you might like a change of pace to see that we are having a variety of experiences.

Got to get up early and go to church in the far NorthWest region of Herbs territory. We will worship again under a tree which has become my favorite way to worship.

Be well, and God Bless,

Paul and The Team
Friday June 17 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapter 15

Our day began with a one hour shopping spree at Morogoro. There were some lovely fabrics that couldn't be resisted although some of us were better at resisting than others. Then, our entire crew joined Herb and evangelists and trekked 42 miles generally Northwest to a brand new church site. We arrived for the usual greetings, boma tour, chai and handshakes. As we were about to begin the service the young Massai warriors sprang to their feet and raced into the short grass about 50 feet from our church where they began flailing with their 4 ft. Sticks that are always in their hands. The brush kept them from making a solid contact so the 3 or 4 ft. Snake raced past the makeshift altar toward where our congregation of about 80-100 people had gathered. When the snake hit clear ground it was no match for the 14-16 year old warriors and one whack with a stick hit it right in the head and ended our drama..............Momentarily. Herb picked it up and announced that it was a very common and harmless variety and stretched it around his middle to indicate that it would make a fine leather belt.

Church began with two pastors and two evangelists handling the service. What was really exciting (forget the snake) was that 74 people were baptized today with about 32 adults and 42 children. Again, the joy was overwhelming to watch. I was asked to meet the 68 year old elder of the community and asked to sit next to him for the service. What made this exciting is that he had agreed to be baptized which pleased his son immensely who had been working and praying for his conversion. The pastors showed him the respect due a man of his age and infirmity by baptizing him and communing him at his chair under a tree near the altar.

A little bit more drama was provided by what happened during the reading of the Gospel. The best I could determine some sharp eyed Massai young man spotted some grass moving about 50 feet behind the altar in the same vicinity as the first snake was spotted. A man next to me made a slight hand motion and 6-8 young men sprang into action and in about 30 seconds dispatched the second snake which turned our (perhaps) to have been the mate of the first one. The Massai youth took a stick and hung both of them on a tree limb on the side of where we were sitting and Herb barely broke stride. All returned to their seats and the service continued.

I tell this story only to contrast the two events. The baptisms were highly exciting and joyous and emotional for one and all. The appearance and dispatch of two snakes was as natural and uneventful as if someone had removed a car parked illegally in the parking lot. I now know that the Massai do not consider their warrior sticks as ceremonial attachments. They don't go anywhere without them...........and, I'm glad they don't

My final thought that I leave you with is this question. Which would be more unusual in our own congregations in the States: Two snakes killed inside the sanctuary or 74 baptisms during one church service?

Tough call isn't it.

Life is good, all are well, God is good.

Bo and Dwight leave us tomorrow morning for their return flight from Dar to London to Chicago to Tulsa. Pray for them for a safe journey home. They have been wonderful teammates and we will miss them both.

The Team
Saturday June 18 - Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapters 16 & 17

The day began slowly as we bade farewell to Bo and Dwight and sent them on their way to Dar es Salaam for their flight tomorrow. Our morning continued slowly as we spent a leisurely hour strolling through the Mall. Oh, I haven't told you about the Mall? The Mall is the name we gave given to the 3 or 4 artisans who sell ebony carvings under a tree at the parking lot where we catch our rides to the work site or to the village churches. They spread their wares on a tarp and hustle us every time we pass by. The going rate is about 50-60% of their asking price and some of use are getting to be good bargainers. I am an easy mark as they haunt me with their gentle sales pitch, "Papa, I have good price for you today, welcome. Only 30 thousand for you only today." I now have enough ebony in my room to set up my own Mall and I have been working on hustling Jacob to buy a few things from me but so far I haven't succeeded. I even used my best line, "Jacob, for you today only, I have good price, only 45 thousand" Actually, all kidding aside, the carvings are beautiful and those of you "fortunate" enough to be related to a member of our team should plan now to build about 12 feet of shelving to house your new prized positions.

After a pleasant hour on ebony ogling we went to our various tasks. The dedicated paint crew has typically been Tony, Roger and Alice, Len and Andy, together with Sam, Bo and on one day, Jacob and Paul. They will have completed painted four large classrooms which needed tons of prep work. They have very high ceilings, mean metal windows on both sides that are a bear to paint, blackboards that are painted (duh!) black, plus outside metal posts and large outside panels in three different colors. Also, some furniture was refinished. The rooms look absolutely awesome. Herb Hafermann said that the classrooms have never looked that good even when they were new because they had been left unpainted for several years. The students and teachers are really appreciative.

The Village People, as I call our group usually consists of Mike, Jacob, Paul, and Luka, (the young Tanzanian builder) and Robert who is on the staff at the Seminary. Today, we had a very pleasant encounter with the "county supervisor" who insisted we meet with him before we go to build. We sat in his office around a table for about 15 minutes and he gave us a bit of a lecture but our evangelists who were with us were smiling broadly so I knew we were in good shape. Basically, we each had to sign in his book to let him know who we were and why we were here.

We typically, traipse off cross-country and stop every 10k to pick up another local helper, evangelist on anyone who looks like he might useful on the job. On one day we had 11 people in the Rover with a wheelbarrow strapped to the top of the vehicle. Then we bounce the last couple of miles over the rutted wonders and arrive at our site. Today we finished the massive trusses at the second church. They are made from approximately 2 X 6s that vary in thickness by a quarter to over a half inch in width and thickness. Also, the longest boards we can get are about 4 meters long so we splice the rafters and the joists. The scabs we have to put on the splices add another 10 to 15 percent to the weight. Also, we installed the rebar for the 11 posts and mounted the form boxes around the rebar to get ready to pour next Monday. Then, the fun begins again as the local lads will scoop together about 8 yards of concrete with shovels and hoes and we will all carry the mix up the scaffold made out of poles in plastic 5 gallon buckets to pour it into the tops of the 10 ft high columns.

Also, today we caught a break because we only had to carry the 10ft long forms made out of 4 heavy 1 X 12s, plus all the lumber for our trusses about an 1/8 of a mile rather than the full mile of last week. The carrying was sort of fun because it brought us back and forth through the front yards of a couple of houses in the boma and we could smile and exchange greetings with the mothers and children tending a fire for late breakfast or early lunch, or making beaded objects or other chores. At about 2 PM these same women and children brought us our meal of rice, beans and potatoes in three large bowls. They scooped generous amounts in each of our bowls and urged us to eat more, more, more. They brought us water to rinse our hands but they were a bit grubby from wrestling dirt and timbers all morning but, surprisingly, after you eat lunch for just a few minutes with your hands they start to clean up rather nicely.

It was a wonderful day and we were surrounded by local neighbors who are members of the church, young men paid to help us, a couple of evangelists and for or five really neat young men who appeared to be aged 12-16. I showed one young Massai how to drive an 8 penny nail for practice and then I gave him a couple of 30 penny spikes we were using and he never missed a lick with the hammer. After watching the eye to hand coordination of the young warrior who nailed that snake yesteday I shouldn't have been surprised that he could drive a nail. I asked Robert to ask them if they were in school and we got mixed responses. One 13 year old was the most advanced and he was in the 3rd grade. One young man said he was 22 and had never been to school. When asked if he wanted to study he said he did but they wouldnt let anyone his age start in the 1st grade. He said he knew enough to be in the 3rd grade but they wouldnt let him do that. One other young man of 14 was in the 2nd grade and the last young man wasn't in school and he said he didn't know how old he was.

The one thing I have learned is to not pass judgment on stories like this too quickly. Each of these young men has a lot of skill and native intelligence. Each has mastered more survival skills and independence than most of us at the same age. Each is working at tasks in the family from herding cattle to caring for children in the family to being a useful member of the community. And, each has a soul and is interested in serving God in his boma and in his church and in his community.

We felt so loved and surrounded all day with people of all ages. They wanted pictures with each of us and even pushed Papa into many of them.

One fun technological thing we did was to use a water level to set the heights of 11 posts. They had not done that before and Robert brought a 60 ft. chunk of garden hose and he and I filled it with water and took some time to get out all the air bubbles. Then, we started using it from post to post and making our level marks from a common reference point. We got some very strange looks from all the local residents and (we should have thought of this first) a young man came to Robert and asked what we were doing. Robert told him and then he said, "Make sure you teach that to us so we can do that when you are gone" And, of course, we did. They had been sighting the tops of the columns and that can be tricky 10 feet off the ground without a ladder. Of course, measurement from the ground didn't help because the ground is too uneven.

Back for dinner at 6 and a visit during and after dinner with a local architect/engineer who had been helping with the village church plans. It was very, very useful because we shared with him some of our suggestions about amount of concrete and the appropriate ratio of cement, sand and gravel for the concrete. It turns out he totally agreed with us and, apparently, there had been a simple miscommunication with the local builder. We also shared some thoughts about lumber size, truss building, etc. and we all learned a great deal from each other. It often takes a village to do a lot of things and building a pole church is one of those things.

Have I told you that I think it is going well here in Tanzania?

Mungu akubarika.

The Team

Sunday June 19 - Worship (somewhere) - Acts, Chapters 18 & 19

Today was just another day at the office for Pastor Herb and his evangelists. We left at 8:30 this morning with three vehicles and a crew of approximately 18 people. In addition to our nine we had a couple of missionaries visiting or studying at the Seminary plus the Assistant to the Bishop of the ELCT went and assisted at the service. He was very gracious in the service about what our team had contributed and what our churches had done to assist them. He has a Massai and, as you would expect, he has a very strong commitment to evangelism among all tribes of Tanzania and a warm spot in his heart for his fellow Massai.

Today we had a really tough road trip and were stalled at one point for a while because a public transport bus was stuck in deep sand and got his bell housing hung up on the high ground. We were able to back up a ways and find and "alternate route" (a.k.a. drive through the brush and trees until you can get back on the trail.) Herb chastised us for missing what he called Highway 37 A and blamed us for the route problems. The bouncing was so severe that with all 4 wheel drives in gear you have to hold on to straps on both sides to keep from hitting your head either on the ceiling or on the side of the car. Young Seth who is a 21 year old volunteer from Wartburg College estimates that he has lost about 3 million brain cells from rattling around those ruts.

The church experience was both similar and different from what we have experienced. The same gracious greeting seated around a tree to be served chai occurred. Also, we toured the boma and examined the herd of Massai cattle. What was different was that this village was owned by a man who had a very large herd of excellent cattle and everything was a notch higher in quality. There were more cattle and better cattle, more houses and better houses. The elder actually had a solar grid on the roof of his house and was running a few electric lights. There was a new and improved privy for all people in the boma to use and they had an electric wire running to the outhouse with a light. This is as fancy as we have seen and everything was really comfortable.

The setting was under a tree but there were beautifully made outdoor benches and goats and donkeys and cows grazed nearby. A five acre corn field was adjoining the compound and a young man (I think the son of the village elder) took us around and had a fair command of English as he explained the soil consistency wasn't really right for this variety of corn but they had recently manured the fields with their extensive herd and he didn't want to waste the opportunity to grow corn. There were a series of 3 ft by 3 ft by 3 ft holes dug in straight rows in the corn field and he explained that they were planning to plant coconut trees but the program from a nearby agent hadn't materialized and they would wait next year for their coconut grove.

The service was beautifully done and very inspiring. I would like to list our visits this past week or so with the number of attendees, communions and baptisms to give you a feel for the cumulative impact. And, remember, Herb has 89 such preaching stations being manned by evangelists with each evangelist being responsible for 3 or 4 preaching stations. And, 8 more evangelists graduate from the Bible College this fall. It seems the only thing stopping the opening of more and more preaching stations and eventually churches is money to pay the evangelists their annual stipend of $30 dollars a month. Each evangelist contributes one dollar per month from that stipend as an emergency fund in case of illness or some other need of their fellow evangelists. Think about that one for a moment.

Here are the stats for our past village services:

Date	Place	Attendance	Communed	Baptized
Saturday, June 11	Miono	126	53	10 adults, 13 children
Sunday, June 12	Kiegea	147	61	14 children
Tuesday, June 14	Mbwade	139	40	3 adults, 5 children
Friday, June 17	Makjture	175	64	26 adults, 47 children
Sunday, June 19	Matuli	180	78	10 adults, 16 children

I know numbers don't represent the totality of the ministry but they certainly provide a benchmark for a very vibrant and alive presence of God in Tanzania. It certainly makes me think about priorities and what I would like to do with the rest of my life.

Tomorrow is our last work day and we are feeling good about our mission thus far. We have been blessed with excellent health, excellent weather, safety, excellent opportunities to serve God and excellent people with whom to work. It doesn't get much better than that.

It has been tough to send pictures in any systematic way but when we return we will share cd's with each other and then I will try to put together the best 4 or 5 thousand pictures and figure out what to do with them.

Blessings,

The Team

Monday June 20 - Last work day at Morogoro, Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) - Acts, Chapter 20
Tuesday June 21 - Bus ride to Arusha - Acts, Chapters 21 & 22

Greetings to one and all.

We haven't deserted you but I couldn't get to the internet last night. We had our last day of work on the job sites, raced home for dinner at 6, went to one of the faculty homes for dessert, juice and conversation and then off to chapel for a special song fest for us. All in all it was a beautiful evening but the computer room was closed when I returned. Other nights I had been sneaking in at 9:30 and they would let me close up when I left at 11 or 11:30.

The last work day was really an eventful one. The paint crew completed nearly all of the four classrooms and they look terrific. The director of the seminary led the song service and was very gracious in his thanks to our team for the great work they had done, He told the students that he really didn't want to see ANY writing on those walls that the dear volunteers had come from America to paint. He also thanked the congregations who had sent us and he mentioned each one by name and thanked you for the generous contributions. He promised that the remainder of the construction funds designated for painting and fixing up the class rooms would now be done by staff and students.

Our last day on the pole church site completed the pouring of the 11 columns for the church. We ran into one problem as we blew out a form and we narrowly averted disaster on that one. The difficulty is that the forms are nailed together with oversized nails that frequently split wood and the force of 3 meters of pretty liquid concrete was too much. I really wished I could go to my barn for about 10 strands of that handy-dandy material known as baling wire but it was not to be. I am checking out the possibility of a couple of inexpensive 18 volt drills that would allow them to use wood screws on the forms that would allow them to reuse the forms from church to church.

I am learning many things but one of them is that often the local folks who have been doing things for a bunch of years often know best what works in their setting. For example, I described earlier how they make concrete on the ground with shovels, scoop it into buckets and pour it in the 10 ft forms from a scaffold. Well, while I was dreaming about what a portable mixer would do to help them along I noticed that it took them about 1 hour to mix the sand and cement and then two men could mix the rock and water with the sand/cement mix and keep up with the process of bucket pouring. In other words, a mixer would not have sped the process one bit. PLUS, I counted 22 people in the bucket brigade from mix pile to the scaffold to the empty bucket return brigade back to the mix pile. That's 22 Massai young people and adults from the congregation and from the neighborhood building their church and, as Martha Stewart would say, That's a GOOD thing.

Well, all good things must come to a temporary halt and this morning we said a said farewell to Herb, Grant, Robert, Seth and, of course, Luka, the talented 24 year old construction supervisor who will go to Bible College in July. He is very talented and very open to suggestion. A few moist eyes were around the group as we hugged, said goodbye and took our mountain of luggage out to the road waiting for the bus to take us to Arusha. It came and we barely got ourselves and luggage on a very crowded bus for an exhausting 8 1/2 hour ride. We had one 10 minute stop and it was not one of our more pleasant days.

However, the day could not have ended more nicely. Tom Roach was there with two vehicles that hauled the 9 of us to our two destinations. We came together at Tom and Sally's lovely home for a dinner that was unbelievably scrumptious. After rice, beans and chai for a couple of weeks the lamb chops, chateau briand, baked potatoes were a blessing to all. All are now safely asleep for our next marvelous adventure, a 4 day safari into the Serengeti. While we are not many miles from our beloved Morogoro mission field it will seem light years away. We hope that viewing God's creation and God's creatures will fill us with enthusiasm for our return home. Many of us will be changed by our experience with Herb and the evangelism work and will perhaps have a new set of priorities as to how to live our lives And, change can be a good thing.

I don't know what our internet prospects will be on the safari. If we disappear don't fret that the black rhino has attacked us. We may be just out of range.
Wednesday June 22 - Begin safari in Serengeti - Acts, Chapters 23 & 24
Thursday June 23 - Day two of safari - Acts, Chapter 25

Dear all,

No Internet last night but tonight's lodging is unbelievably swank. To go from the extreme poverty of the villages to the extreme luxury of this lodge is almost too much to take.

Two days of viewing every imaginable animal. Today we say about 14 lions including one about 6 feet from our vehicle window. We also saw four lions lounging in one tree. I could hardly zoom out large enough to get him in the camera frame. We saw perhaps 30 or 40 giraffes, maybe 5,000 zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, many elephants, gazelles, ostriches, and dozens of other animals. Trust me we probably have 5,000 pictures to back us up.

I can't describe how much this safari has picked up everyone. We were pretty beat after the hard work, long hours and miserable bus trip. Tonight as we sat on the patio and watched the beauty of the Serengeti (which means endless plains in Swahili) we all looked like a rejuvenated group ready to start over.

I am charged by the minute and through the nose for this internet connection so I will leave it at this brief note.

All are well and send their greetings. Off for more animal gazing tomorrow.

Love,
The Team,

PS We did lose a couple of the team members who got too close to the lions. Apparently they pick on the young and tender ones first so I am safe for now.

Cheers,
Paul
Friday June 24 - Day three of safari - Acts, Chapters 26 & 27
Saturday June 25 - Last day of safari - Acts, Chapter 28

In case there's anyone still out there checking on us I want to thank you for your patience, your understanding and your interest. This has been our last full day in Tanzania and it has been a full and wonderful one. We finished our Safari in grand fashion by touring the Ngorogoro Crater. This crater is actually a caldera that was the result of a volcanic eruption many moons ago and the result is a depression 1,800 ft deep and contains a varied and complete eco system with a lake, a river, springs, plains, some trees and nearly every animal we saw in the Serengeti except the giraffe. And, all this is enclosed arena 10 miles in diameter. Most impressive.

Tonight we took Tom and Sally to a local restaurant for dinner and are now packing for our return home tomorrow. We will attend an English service in Arusha with Tom and Sally, attend a potluck and then leave b shuttle for Nariobi.

I would like to leave you with a summary thought or two to end our chronicle. First of all I am struck with the power of God's Word in the life of Christians everywhere. We have witnessed the most amazing growth of new churches and new Christians over the past two weeks.

Second, I am impressed with how similar we are to all people everywhere. Basically, all people in all societies must perform about 5 functions in life:
1. Reproducing and raising children
2. Securing food
3. Securing shelter
4. Keeping safe from harm
5. Engaging in spiritual activities that include music and art
Finally, I am amazed at how different we in the U.S. are from people in Third World countries in how much time and effort it takes to fulfill those five functions. We have seen the birthing and caring for children, an all compassing effort for the women of Tanzania from the time they are about 14 until they leave the childbearing years.

What time is left over from function one is spent securing food, shelter and safety. Very little time is left for anything else. By comparison we in developed countries can take care of our basic needs in far less time and with far less effort.

We are indeed blessed, blessed, blessed.
May we use those blessings to His service and to the service of others.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.
We hope to see you soon.
All are well, have hade a great adventure and send you their love.

The Team
Sunday June 26 - Begin return trip

The Team is in country. A call from Chicago says they're all back and ready for the final flight.