Current work in Tanzania
Contact Paul Kleine at pfkleine@ou.edu with questions about any of the Tanzania projects.Tanzania Mission Build 2007
What's this all about?
Greetings to all who have hit the web site for the first time or for the 30th time. We are getting ready to embark on our third construction trip to the Mission District of the Morogoro Diocese and we will be there from June 11-27, 2007.
The following are members of the team and request your thoughts and prayers. Please return to the web site each day we are in country and we will try to share with you our adventures.
- Paul Kleine a.k.a. Yours Truly, University Lutheran, Norman, OK
- Bill Scott, University Lutheran, Norman, OK
- Jim Sylwester, Lawrence, KS
- Ed Taggart, Sacramento, CA
We will be building pole churches together with our fellow Lutherans of the Massai tribe. The first picture shown is of the original church and the second picture is of the church that we constructed last year to replace it. The one we are building this year should be very similar to this one.
I want to thank any and all who contributed to our fund raising efforts this year. For those of you not familiar with our trips, each of the team members has paid $3,300 of his/her own money to make the trip. In addition, we have worked to raise money for construction costs, well drilling and famine relief. Every penny collected will go to the particular purpose for which it was given. Individuals and congregations all across the Ark-Ok Synod of the ELCA have contributed and, once again, Thrivent for Lutherans has provided us with matching funds of $1,600 for which we are grateful.
Here is a summary of the fund raising that was done and we want to thank God for His abundance in providing for these needy causes.
Construction Team � 2005
$16,000 was raised by Asbury Methodist of Tulsa, United
Lutheran of Bella Vista, AR and University Lutheran which built two
churches, one evangelist center and provided $4,000 for remodeling
expenses at the Seminary.
Water Well Fund - December, 2005
$10,000 raised in our congregation with help from a $1600
Thrivent Grant. This provided the basis for a World Bank Grant of
$180,000 to provide two wells, a power source, and a distribution system
to bring water to 1800 Massai in 2 villages.
Construction Team 2006
$8,000 raised in our congregation (with help from Asbury
Methodist of Tulsa) to build two pole churches.
Famine Relief Fund 2006
As a result of a letter to all congregations of the Ark-Ok
Synod approximately $4,000 was collected to lessen the impact of the
famine on evangelists and their families in the Morogoro Dioces.
Water Well Fund - 2006
Beginning with a matching grant from the Care in Regions fund
of Thrivent of $5,000 the Ark-Ok Synod responded with an additional
$11,000 to provide a total of approximately $19,500 for water wells.
Nearly $3,000 of that amount was raised in our congregation. At a cost
of $7,500 per well and pump this will provide resources for two more
wells for drought stricken Tanzanians.
Construction Team 2007
Approximately $8,000 was raised to build pole churches. The Ark-OK Synod Breakfast collection yielded $2,345 and Jim Sylwester
raised over $1,800 from his family and friends in several Lutheran
congregations in Kansas and Missouri. The remainder of the funds
was raised by our congregation at University Lutheran in Norman that has
been very, very supportive of the cause.
Debt Relief 2007
Because of a shortfall in the Morogoro Diocese budget our
Global Missions committee of the Ark-Ok Synod set a goal of $15,000 to
be raised to help our fellow Lutherans in Tanzania. We exceeded that
goal with a total of over $22,000 to help preserve the future of
the rapidly growing Mission District in the Diocese
Water Wells 2007
Much has happened this year. The two largest gifts were
for $30,000 and $7,500. Our totals in a little more than two
years stands at about $75,000 which provides for 10 wells with
pumps which will safeguard the health of people and cattle in dozens of
villages.
These generous outpourings of God's gifts always bring the same two
responses from the
writer: WOW and THANK YOU GOD!
What will we do?
Our major efforts will be building new churches. We will also worship several times during our stay either under the trees or in churches that have been previously built and we will be observing well drilling sites to see the wells and pumps going in. The group will stay at the Morogoro Lutheran Junior Seminary which is a school for Forms I-VI and 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.
What can you do?
First of all, you have already done so very, very much to bring this hope into reality. Many congregations across the Ark-Ok Synod have given generously to the various causes of debt and famine relief, church construction and water well drilling Counting all the contributions from all sources we will be able to bring tens of thousands of dollars 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 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 complete the construction of more churches in the Morogoro Mission District, 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 expand the bond with the Seminary and the Diocese in Tanzania that will remain long after we have returned. 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 4 days of the 19 trip will be an excellent opportunity for members of the team. We will travel by bus for 9 hours from Morogoro to Arusha where we will stay at the home of Pastor 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. Duane Winegardner has prepared a Bible study curriculum 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. 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:
-
June 11: Air Travel ACTS 1:1-18
A call home was received as Bill and Paul were headed toward the runway in Detroit. Next stop Amsterdam, then Dar es Salaam.
Due to weather in Kansas, Jim was rerouted from Detroit to Minneapolis and met up with Ed. Those two would fly on to Amsterdam and Dar es Salaam together.June 12: Arrive at Dar es Salaam at 10:00 PM.
We will stay overnight at the Catholic Hostel in Dar es Salaam. ACTS 2:1-21June 13: ACTS 3:1-16 Arrive at Morogoro Junior Lutheran Seminary
June 14 ACTS 4:5-20
Greetings to one and all from
1. We arrived safely
2. Bill lost his tooth paste.
3. Bishop Mameo wins in a land slide.
Details to follow:
With a minor glitch or two the airline schedules went very well. Jim Sylwester's flight from K.C. to
Herb Hafermann's wife, Kirsten, and the evangelist Luka were there to greet us at Dar and we stayed overnight in the Catholic Hostel before driving to the Seminary on Wednesday morning. At the Catholic Hostel we met a great group of a dozen fellow travelers who were from
We arrived at the Seminary with just enough time to throw our bags into our rooms and then head to the Morogoro Diocese meeting where Herb Hafermann was attending as a member of the Diocese Council. We were welcomed to the front of the group of 200 pastors and delegates and I briefly addressed the group with greetings from our Ark-Ok Synod and from our Global Missions committee. My impeccable Swahili was improved upon by Herb and my remarks appeared to be well received by the group. (As a cautionary note, one of the evangelists reminded me that the Tanzanians are very polite to visitors!) The point I wished to make to the delegates is one that is very important in a Companionship relationship such as the one between our two Synods. I wanted them to know that we benefit greatly from the exchange of visits and that, while we have brought labor and funds for wells and chapel construction, we take away a great deal in our understanding of them, the excitement they have for their evangelism and their commitment to their religious beliefs. I closed by telling them that my Bible has 28 chapters in the Book of Acts and I considered the Morogoro Diocese to be the 29th chapter in a continuing development of New Testament activity. I was also able to present them with a check for $2,000 for HIV-AIDs education issues and a check for $6,300 for the last part of our Debt Reduction campaign. Each team member was introduced and each of us received a beautifully hand sewn shirt made by members of the diocese.
The rest of the team went back at lunch to the Seminary to rest and unpack. I was asked by Pastor Mameo to stay with the Assembly for the rest of the meeting. Little did I know that the meeting would end at 10:00 in the evening with a dinner to follow. But... what a meeting!!!! The diocese has struggled over the past several years with leadership problems and has been served by Pastor Mameo in an interim capacity. His leadership has regained the trust of congregations in the Diocese and we in the Ark-Ok Synod have helped with $22,500 raised in a debt reduction campaign. The Assembly ended the evening with a resounding vote of 143 to 1 election for Pastor Mameo as the Bishop. The joy and enthusiasm of all present was beautiful to behold and as Pastor Herb and I left at 10:30 there were still spontaneous hymns of joy being sung by groups inside the dining hall and outside on the lawn. As I told Bishop Mameo, no one lost in this election; the
So there you have it
The week ahead will be filled with three types of activities: Water well site visits, chapel construction and worship in several settings. Those on previous years', trips may be interested to know that we will go on Sunday to dedicate the church where we first worshipped under the trees with the 2005 team and the 2006 team visited the land site that had just been purchased and this year we will observe the dedication of the new chapel. How's that for progress?
Blessings and stay tuned.
Paul, Bill, Jim and Ed
June 15 ACTS 5:12-16; 25-32
What beautiful weather we are having! It is hard to describe the clear, quiet, sunny days and the cool nights. Great sleeping weather if I could ever get to bed before midnight!
Today, was a very rewarding day as we spent the entire day worshipping with about 200 members of a brand new chapel that we helped lay out last year with the able help of our engineers in residence, Roy Strom and Dwayne Winegardner. I mistakenly told you yesterday that we would be doing this on Sunday but, in fact, it was today. Sorry about that! Roy and Dwayne, the chapel is solidly constructed and correctly built and I�m sure you would have enjoyed the day. The concrete work was particularly well done and it has a raised altar and brick all around the structure up to about 8 feet in height.
I will include a couple of pictures of the outside and perhaps 1 or 2 of the baptisms and communion. One young man rode his handicapped trike up to the altar to take communion and Pastor Herb had found money somewhere to buy him some mobility. He happily rode the bike along some pretty rough trails for about a half mile to get to church.
Herb was expecting two baptisms and wound up with 42. So much for advanced planning. The choirs came from several communities in the area and were beautiful to hear and observe. The only instrument of accompaniment is a 6 gallon bucket turned upside down to serve as a drum.
After church there was a very spirited auction and Bill Scott bought a rather scrawny chicken for about 8 dollars. It's starting to make a mess in his room and I have no idea how he plans to bring it past security when he couldn�t even get a tube of toothpaste through on the way down. He insists that Arlis will appreciate getting a genuine range chicken so what do I know?
We ate a nice meal of roast beef and rice at about 5 P.M. and I told the team to eat heartily because we wouldn't be fed again until 7 P.M. Sure enough, we rolled into the seminary at 7:05 and were joined by the newly elected bishop of the Diocese and his assistant for a complete dinner. That's our typical eating schedule. We eat breakfast at 7, "lunch" at 4 P.M and Dinner at 6 P.M. I know, I know, it doesn�t make sense to me either but that's what happens when two cultures come together at mealtime.
After dinner we had a wonderful planning meeting with Bishop Mameo about his ideas for the future. Also, he was profusely thanked our Global Missions Committee on Tanzania, our ULC congregation and Asbury Methodist for the great support of money and teams over several years. So, for all of you who have done so much to support our efforts, you should know that those efforts are genuinely appreciated here in the heart of Africa.
I am about ready to call it a day after 15 hours of riding, worshipping and planning. We saw a children�s choir assemble in the church at about 10:30, the service started ad 2:30 and it ended at 4:45. My muddled mind tells me that adds up to 6 hrs. and 15 minutes and they were still sitting attentively as the very end. I have NO idea how they do that!
All are well and we are off on a combined venture tomorrow to spend a couple of hours laying out a church and visiting water well sites in the afternoon. I am looking forward to see a couple of completed wells and one well drilling in progress.
Blessings to each of you.
Paul, Bill, Jim and EdJune 16 ACTS 8:14-40
Dear Friends of
A very different day; in some ways easy, in other ways difficult. The easy part is that we rode around
Anyway, we had a great day pursuing water wells, and water well sites. We were able to see three completed wells that were drilled with money we raised in
Also, I was able to capture two small bottles of water from the two wells and will bring them home as mementos. It was a joy to see the kids and grownups pumping away at the wells to fill buckets and carry them home to their bomas. At the site where a well is planned for the next several weeks we saw the filthy sump hole that they were currently using until the well is drilled. The water looked exactly like the stuff that comes out of your washer after a load of dirty socks. The exciting thing is that because of the $82,000 we raised a total of 10 wells will be done with our funds when they are completely finished. Pastor Herb was overjoyed and surprised to learn that I was bringing $18,000 to complete our efforts over a two year period. He is now able to plan for 3 or 4 more wells than he had anticipated.
We also made a visit to Luka's personal home in progress. Luka is the construction evangelist with whom we have worked all three years. He has really grown as a builder and is trying hard to find money and time to complete his half finished home. He is justifiably proud of his efforts so far and I hope in the next year he may be able to complete his home.
Our Bible Study of the Book of Acts is going nicely whenever we are home to engage in it. Tonight, Pastor Herb shared several stories of evangelism highlights over the years and those stories really help illuminate what Peter and Paul were doing in the New Testament
Tomorrow is a big day for a corner stone laying at a place that has much significance for our ULC teams of the past and for me personally, We will be having a dedication service at the place under the trees where, Roger Rahlfs, Andy West and I went with Herb the very first day we were in Tanzania and it happened to also be the very first day this group had worshiped together. Last year our team worshipped with them in a large classroom of a public school and then we took a tour to see the newly acquired 2 1/2 acres for their new church. This year we are laying the corner stone of the church that will be built by a Lutheran church in
Bishop Mameo will take part in the dedicatory service for the very first act of his tenure as Bishop of the Morogoro Diocese so it is a happy time for him and for the Diocese. Herb has asked me to ride with the Bishop to the service and I'm not sure what that means. Herb always has some plan in mind. Either he hopes the Bishop will provide me with some badly needed spiritual insights or he hopes I will learn some Swahili. I will let you know which it is tomorrow night. IF... Pastor Herb gets us back before midnight!!!
Everything is going great! Love it, love it, love it!
Nothing to report in the way of crises or issues other than that poor
Later and Blessings,
Paul, Bill, Leif, Ed and Jim
June 17 ACTS 9:1-31
A DAY OF CELEBRATION
The reason for an
evangelist home is that some churches we build are so isolated that they
need to have someone living nearby to protect the facilities.
Also, this structure is
different in that they used the same pillar and truss structure that we
usually build but they are building a solid wall all the way up to the
rafters with concrete blocks or as they are known in some parts of the
world as CMU's (Concrete Modular Units)
If in doubt about the
origin of CMU's see Alfred Downey.
With the large window
openings, it enabled a lovely breeze to blow through the church and make
for a pleasant 2 1/2 hour service.
Choirs from neighboring
churches came to take part of the celebration and provided their usual
clarion call of great beauty.
I video taped several
children's groups so we will see if I got anything to share with you at
our Tanzanian Dinner.
This church at Mione
will soon have a full time kindergarten using the sanctuary from Monday
to Friday and this is becoming a pattern in the chapels we build. What a
sensible solution!
The Mission District
builds the chapel and the National government ( and some private
donations) provide the teacher and books if available.
This is why I am getting
really interested in literacy materials for pre-primary kids.
The books are really
expensive and often not available.
Three years ago we bought
books for a kg. class that had been in school for over three months and
these books we gave them were the very first books they had ever had in
their hands.
They treated them like
precious jewels, which, in a way, they really are. But, I digress...
Bishop Mameo
officiated at the dedication and that marked his first official act as
the newly elected Bishop of the Morogoro Diocese.
Everyone reacted warmly
to the news of his election.
I had the opportunity to
make the long 170 kilometer trip with him and we discussed several
ambitious projects he has in mind for the diocese.
The major one is the
dream of a 480-student 
After the service,
we had a parade of animals into the church to be auctioned off for
benches for the unfinished sanctuary.
This included 3 goats,
several chickens, much fresh corn, soap, kangas. Bill bought a kanga, Ed
bought some corn and
I
bought another goat and a chicken and some corn. The goat was given back
to the church for a needy family and the chicken went home with us in
the back of the Bishop's car to be given to a worker at the Seminary who
had his chickens stolen recently.
The unappreciative
chicken did what chickens do on my GPS cord which didn't please me at
the time but... with the Bishop close by I chose not to tell the
chicken what I really thought about all that.And, that's about it for another typical, lazy Sunday in
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go clean up my GPS cord.
Blessings,
Paul, Jim, Bill and Ed
June 18 ACTS 9: 32-42
My
Dad used to have a saying, "Beware of what you seek, for you may get
it"!
Everyone was looking
forward eagerly to some chapel building opportunity and today we got it.
We started off the day
easy enough with a visit to Bishop Mameo's office in Morogoro.
He wanted us to see the
cramped and limited space that is available to him and his staff and,
indeed, it is very cramped and limited.
There are so many unmet
needs everywhere in But... I digress, again...
We
hit the job site about 10:00 A.M. and had a very productive day.
First, we did the
obligatory trek of a half mile to the home where the lumber was stored
and protected from being stolen.
In an isolated site, it
is necessary to do this and then the congregation members will bring two
or three 14 ft 2X4's or 2 X 6's
at
a time tied to a bicycle being pushed over pretty bumpy roads and
trails. Our visit to the home was purely social in that we were served
the usual chai with milk and a very tasty pancake that you roll up with
one hand (preferably the right hand which is considered clean) and eaten
with the chai.
The local Tanzanians
refer laughingly to the pancakes as C.D.s.
I don't know if it is
because they look like C.D.s or taste like C.Ds. Actually, I liked them.
Then...
trek back to the church site and work, work, work.
We finished all six
trusses by 5 o'clock which I thought was pretty impressive.
The lumber is a bit
better than I remembered it from before and the battery operated power
saw that I gave them last year really saved our bacon.
We had three batteries
that we recharged with the help of a transformer driven by a generator
and it all worked great.
Luka hadn't changed the
blade even though I had given him a new one last year and We really got a lot of work done and everyone was pretty beat by the time we returned, ran through the shower, ate dinner and had our Bible study. Some of the older fellows ran off to bed leaving me an hour or two to get this written, get the pictures downloaded and the messages sent to Mark. I really believe everyone felt it was a useful day. Jim Sylwester has the most intense interest in geography and checks the maps every chance he gets to locate where we are going or where we have been. I have kidded him that he's afraid we will go off the edge of the world after some of these crazy road trips through the bush.
Weather has again been outstanding here. I have seen on the net that the floods in
We got some good news from the surveyor today. They had encountered some rock formations and were trying to reach water with less hard rock to drill through and the survey came back with good reports for the next three areas. It costs a bit for the readings but it does help to ensure success when they drill the core.
Tomorrow, we are off to a worship service and to visit a new Massai school that Herb has really worked to bring into being. I am interested in seeing this one. Also, we will check out a church which was begun without Luka's help by some well meaning local residents who got swindled by a not so well meaning builder. Apparently, there is no footing for the church and the guy laid up the entire brick walls of the church on the bare ground with just one brick course below the dirt level hoping they wouldn't notice a lack of concrete foundation. Not such a good idea... I don't think Dave Gastgeb or Alfred Downey would approve of this one.
Herb says, "Maybe some of you guys with all your brilliance can come up with a good suggestion". The only suggestion I have come up with so far is to look for a rope to string up the builder but Herb was hoping for something that would be of more help to the local congregation. Stay tuned...
That's about it from the lovely, exciting, adventuresome, rewarding, spiritually enriching, culturally exciting
Eilene, I shouldn't tell you this but last night Herb said, "Now, Paul, when you come next year..." And, Luka said today, "Babu, next time could you bring us a new tape measure..."
Good night and God Bless,
Jim, Ed, Bill, Paul and Leif
June 19 ACTS 10
Today was a very hard day!. We visited three sites and traveled 120 miles over some of the worst roads in the area. The return trip was two hours and 15 minutes of spine pounding that needs to be experienced to believe. We left at 8:00 A.M. and returned at 8:15 P.M. to a dinner that was graciously held for us by the Seminary staff. And... they even seemed pleased that we made it home safely!
But, what a day! We accomplished very much that needed to be done. First, we stopped at the Massai secondary school that is fully functioning but still being built for Massai young people in Forms I-IV that corresponds to our 8th to 11th grade. The significance of this school is that Herb had to do serious battle last year with the Tanzanian government all the way to the Prime Minister�s office to keep from having it taken away from the Massai. One comparison with our country may be to think of the way Native Americans have had to battle for recognition in many areas. The Massai are often deceived and manipulated because they do not have an advocate for their cause. This time Herb stood his ground and was fully supported by the Prime Minister who basically told the local authorities that the money had been raised by the Massai and the school would serve the Massai; and, so it is. Score one for the good guys!
Then, we went to examine the messed up church structure at Mbvade that I mentioned yesterday. The local people had tried to build a church on their own with a little financial help from the Lutheran pastor from
To show you the perseverance of the people, in spite of being cheated out of their precious money, they have been trying to rebuild the old stick and mud church they had been using before the new brick structure was begun. With the frustration of looking everyday at their six foot brick walls that would never become a church, they have temporarily rebuilt two stick walls of the decaying old church in an attempt to continue to have a place of worship. So sad! But, better days are coming
Then, we went off to our place of worship for the day across many more miles of bumps and open fields. Herb pointed out a large tree in the distance and said, "There�s our church for the day!" We pulled up but found none of the usual folks greeting us and chasing up to our car to welcome us with a warm "karibo", and an invitation for chai. Herb looked puzzled and stopped at a thatched boma to inquire and found that since Herb had last been here in January, the congregation now worshipped under another tree about a mile away. Not to worry! We headed across the field and there was Tree # 2 looking very church like. We now were officially greeted by a small group of young men, several young children, and three donkeys. The children folded up a 3 ft by 6 ft piece of masonite that had been painted a shiny black on one side that had been leaning against the tree as a blackboard and they carried it across the bush to someone�s home. This tree also does double duty 5 days a week as a kindergarten for about 12 Massai children. The logs that served as seats were polished with the bottoms of 12 children learning their letters and their numbers at the blackboard without the benefit of any books or any paper. But... it is a beginning. Children ARE starting to learn to read, even in the bush.
After the usual hour or so of registering baptisms, listening to choirs sing and playing with 30 or 40 young children with our soap bubbles we brought along, we were inching toward starting the service at about 2:30. Herb came up to tell us that an emergency had arisen and he and Luka would have to go and take a young mother to the local hospital dispensary for treatment. A 15 year old girl had given birth to a baby boy on Wednesday and complications had occurred and she needed treatment. He suggested I start the service if I thought my Swahili was adequate but, after some thought, the idea of stretching "thank you very much" and "praise be to God" into an entire liturgical service I wisely waited until he returned. Herb said he would be back in an hour and we put down a few Schillings of Over or Under the one hour limit. I chose 1 hour and 40 minutes as my best guess and, miracle of miracles, he returned in 44 minutes, 36.44 seconds. Yes, I timed him on my stop watch. And, more seriously, the very young mother was resting in the local dispensary and they assured Herb that she would be just fine.
So... sharply at 4:00 P.M. we started church and it was a moving experience as usual with 3 young marani, the young warriors who are difficult to attract to the church, being baptized. One has expressed an interest in being an evangelist and Herb thinks he has great potential. Then, food, tea, loving good-bys and off we were for the punishing ride home.
As Bill Scott said, "Thank goodness we can put up trusses all day tomorrow on a 12 ft church wall so we can rest up." Thank goodness, indeed!
Good night and God bless.
All are well, all are holding up very nicely and I think all are having a very excellent learning and worshipping experience.
Bwana Asifewe
Leif, Bill, Paul, Jim and Ed
June 20 ACTS 11:1-18
We were back to a building day in full force at Sokoine Ranch where we built six lovely trusses on Monday. Today we had the pleasant task of hoisting, securing, plumbing (sort of) and bracing the trusses on top of nine foot brick walls. This is a larger church than we have previously built and measures 8 meters by 15 meters. The concrete pillar churches that have been the stock and trade of our construction ministry measure 7 by 10 meters. This is about the maximum size that will allow humans to lift the trusses without some mechanical assistance such as cranes or hoists, etc.
The short version is that they all got up in fine fashion by 4:20 PM and really look great. They are a more sophisticated version than our previous ones and have a nice curved look that is befitting a church. Luka is an amazingly quick study and picks up ideas everywhere he goes. We had about 25 Massai warriors of every age and description and when we lifted and yelled and pointed and figured out ways to get these hummers to the top it was a veritable cacophony of sound. If we had 25 people we had at least 26 yelling instructions at the same time and pointing in 26 directions. As my sister-in-law likes to say, "It's a wonder it works at all". But it does work!
We had a couple of interesting diversions and events to lighten out work day and the young Massai certainly have a way of blending humor and work and are a delight with whom to work. In addition to the extreme courtesy and tea and welcoming each person they just know how to work, laugh and enjoy one another while showing the utmost respect for each other and particularly for visitors.
One pleasant work break was spent watching a couple of young boys tend to a small fire while they roasted corn for our morning break. I brought along some butter that was not the usual way corn on the cob is eaten and I think I made a few conversions to adding cholesterol to the Massai diet.
Also, Bill Scott will probably spread a vicious rumor around ULC that I had a slight tear in my pants during our hectic work day. I felt with the Massai wearing long flowing robes with a great deal of ventilation that I should also make a fashion statement but it didn't seem to be the same thing.
And, so, I am dead tired but happy. It is about 9:30 and I haven't had my shower and I hope the water is there and warm; and, it usually is. The weather continues to be absolutely beautiful; a breeze is blowing the curtains in my room as we speak and it is delightfully cool.
Now, if we could just raise enough money to get Herb that helicopter so that we wouldn�t have to destroy 5% of our brain cells every time we go to the bush we could all be happy.
All are continuing to feel well, seem happy and are really appreciating the experience. Ed Taggart has expressed how courteous, hardworking and hospitable everyone is at every level on interaction. Men and women will come by to shake hands and extend a greeting to each and every one of us when they arrive with food or tea.
But... I don't hear good words from anyone about those roads!
Blessings,
Paul, Bill, Jim, Ed and Leif
June 21 ACTS 13:32-44
We had a super culminating day of work at Sokoine Ranch church today. We had built the trusses on Monday, installed them on Wednesday and did all the little things that needed doing today to get them ready to put on the metal roof on Monday. "Little" things included having Bill Scott and Luka climb on the trusses to fine tune them for plumb and proper alignment on the walls. That was a pretty difficult job but absolutely necessary before the bracing could be done. The trusses were nudged up, down and sideways until they aligned just right and then they were more permanently braced. The ground crew had plenty to do also to move scaffolding, cut braces and help "eye-ball" the rafter alignment. Also, Jim Sylwester and
When we completed all these tasks we had our usual dinner at about 2:30 but were surprised to see a man ride up on a pretty sharp small motorcycle carrying what appeared to be a 3 or 4 foot long bouquet of leafy branches wrapped in thin strips of bark. The "bouquet" turned out to be a large leg of goat that had been carefully smoked all morning by a low fire at a nearby boma and brought to us for our surprise treat. The leafy branches were the simple way that the Massai wrapped the leg of goat to keep it clean from the dust and dirt of the road while flying along tied to the back of a motorcycle. Talk about really good eating! The goat was tender, moist and delicious. The man cut big chunks of meat into small pieces and passed them around to all of us and then gave me a large meaty bone to nibble on. You all missed out on a great treat on this one. This gesture was the way the village chose to thank us and honor us for our hard work and support of their church structure. I asked Luka tonight what would be the competition schedule and he said the would put on the purloins on Monday and the roof of Wednesday. Meanwhile, we cut up the concrete forms to be built into benches by local members of the congregation and next Sunday they would begin worship in their new church home. How about that for speed and efficiency? They don't mess around.
We actually got back to the Seminary at 5 P.M. which was so early we really didn't quite know what to do. We showered and were ready for dinner 5 minutes early rather than and hour and fifteen minutes late. I have cancelled my plans to give Pastor Herb a new watch. I am buying him a calendar. He responds by saying, "You Americans have lots of watches, we have lots of time".
He may be right.
Tomorrow we go to another worship under the trees in Choza. Jim Sylwester continues to be intrigued by the map to see where we are going and where we have been. I don't have that same interest in maps. My view is that it doesn't matter where we are going; it is always the same. You start out at point A, get your brains pounded out for an hour and a half and arrive at Point B. You have a wonderful six hour worship experience that combines social, spiritual, musical, educational, political, medical and culinary components. Then you crowd back into the car and get your brains pounded out for an hour and a half and arrive back at Point A. And, each one seems better than the last one.
And, so it goes.
Where did the two weeks go?
Blessings,
Leif, Bill, Ed, Jim and Paul
June 22 ACTS 15:1-12
The last day in the Mission Field was another good day in the neighborhood. Beautiful weather, bouncy roads and hospitable people who welcomed us from afar. Herb followed his instincts and by guess and by golly we made it to a thatched boma that Herb thought looked familiar. How in the world he finds one of these places is beyond me and he has 102 preaching stations that he locates without benefit of anything that even resembles a road. He will come to a place where three cowpaths diverge and, six months after he visited this place for the one and only time he conducted worship here, he will say, "I think it’s this one on the left but you can never be sure until you get there." And, he does this for 102 preaching stations. And, coming from a guy who gets lost in his garage, I must say I am impressed.
Also, Herb mentioned that he had tallied up his services conducted since he returned to
The 2 hour service was celebrated very attentively with 64 children of various ages,mostly sitting by themselves the entire time without a whimper or a push of shove to a neighbor. I don’t know how they do that, either. The one interesting set of baptisms was a group of five children aged 1-4 who were brought to the altar by their two mothers married to the same father. In
Well, time to pack the suitcase, get some sleep and get ready for a 9 ½ hour bus ride to Arusha. There will be one 10 minute stop in the middle so wish us luck. Then we get picked up ( if all goes as planned), taken to Tom and Sally Roach’s home and will have dinner there, sleep there and then be picked up the next morning to start our safari in the Serengeti. I will try to send a message or two from one of the lodges if the internet cooperates. We are off to see the animals. This will be my third trip to the Serengeti in 3 years and I am hope that some of the 40,000 wildebeestes will recognize me from last year.
Blessings and be well,
Bill, Jim, Ed Paul and Leif
June 23 ACTS 16:16-34 Bus trip from Morogoro to Arusha
June 24 ACTS 17:22-33 Safari
June 25 ACTS 19:1-7 Safari
June 26 ACTS 20:22-38 Safari
We were blacked out with no internet for four straight days. Bummer! Tom Roach's power was so spotty and so slow I couldn't get on and the other three nights on the safari none had access.
We are all well and that we had a thoroughly enjoyable safari and that the group truly enjoyed the work among the Massai.
We leave in a couple of hours for Nairobi (5 hour bus ride) and then get on the plane to Amsterdam at 10 tonight arriving at 5 in the morning. One day loafing in Amsterdam and then we all go our separate ways.
June 27 ACTS 26:1-23 Flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam
A quick note from the team states that they had a great flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam, but very little sleep. They've checked into a hotel and plan to sleep to whole day. Tomorrow they make the flight home.
June 28 Flight from Amsterdam to U.S.
Tanzania Links:
- The ELCA's information page on Tanzania
- The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Tanzania
- Photos from Tanzania - ELCA
- Tanzania London Embassy
- BBC
News Tanzania Profile
- The CIA Factbook on Tanzania
- Tanzania Music
- East African Music Page
- Hip Hop from the Motherland
- The Tanzania Yellow Pages
- The Bank of Tanzania
-
University of Pennsylvania Tanzania Page
- The Confluence Project visits Morogoro