Daily Journal from Chimala - August 29 - September 14, 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Cy and Stephanie Stafford, Elly Martin and I arrived at the Chimala mission this evening around 8:00. My journey began at noon on Thursday when I left for the airport in Oklahoma City. The first leg of my flight took me to Detroit, Michigan. From there I flew to Amsterdam and then to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. I was met at the airport by Cy and Elly who then took me to the Swedish Free Mission (which is not free, but is modest accommodations for a modest price). After traveling for about 24 hours, it was nice to get a night’s sleep. At around 8:45 a.m., the four of us started across country in the Stafford’s vehicle, arriving in Chimala a little more than eleven hours later. The trip took us through several small towns and villages along the way. We also crossed Mikumi National Park where we saw impalas, zebras, elephants, giraffes and baboons. When we arrived in Chimala, we dropped off Elly at his mother’s house and then proceeded to the mission, where we met Bill and Cynthia Stinson and Chris and Tam Raynor. We ate a delicious meal and then headed to the Smalling House, named for missionaries who served in this mission for over 19 years. I tried to stay awake as late as I could so as not to wake to early. We went to bed around 11:30.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

I managed to sleep until 4:50 a.m., which is not too bad with this kind of time change. The Stinsons and their interpreter picked me up a little past 9:00 a.m. and we drove to the town of Rujewa and worshipped with the small Isisi church of Christ. Bill preached the lesson. I was asked to come forward and introduce myself to the congregation. There were about 25 of us all together, including some of the most precious little children. I made it back to the mission around 12:25; the Staffords who had worshipped in another congregation arrived just a few minutes later. This afternoon (services were at 4:00 p.m.) I was blessed to preach in the congregation of Chosi A (there is another congregation called Chosi B).

Monday, August 31, 2009

Today was the first day of classes. I am teaching the first year students this week and the course is Church Leadership. There are seven students in the class, but only six were present today. Five of the seven are from Malawi, I understand. They are a good group, very friendly and pay very kind attention. I guess my body is still adjusting to the time change. I woke up this morning at 2:30. As I sit here writing this report, I feel almost unconscious. It is hard to keep my eyes open. Since it is only 4:30, I really want to try and stay awake as long as I can. I am so glad to be able to come here and I thank from the bottom of my heart those who have sacrificed to afford me this opportunity. God bless you each one.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Today is the second day of class. We have had a good class today and a good lunch. The daily schedule is to have chapel at 7:30 and class begins at 8:00. There is a short break every hour and class continues until noon. Then, after an hour lunch break, classes go from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. This morning I had the privilege of speaking in chapel. Well, lunch break is over; it’s time to head back to class. The afternoons here heat up pretty well. As cool as the mornings are, the afternoons can become uncomfortably hot if you are in the sun, but it is still not too bad.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Today began, as every day has, with chapel. On Wednesdays, however, the custom is to have a day of singing, so there was no chapel sermon. After about fifteen minutes of singing, we adjourned for a few minutes break before class. We had good classes today, covering more material. I believe we will be able to finish the material on Friday and then take the Final Exam. We attended midweek services at the Chimala A congregation. There were about 30-35 adults present for the adult Bible Class. Stephanie taught the children’s class outside; over 100 children showed up. It was wild, but a good experience. Another thing about the midweek service (and the Sunday evening service) is that the service begins at 4:00 p.m. As I understand it, since there is no electricity in most of our buildings, there is a need to conduct the service during daylight hours. I must say, Wednesday evening services at 4:00 p.m. is a difficult adjustment. As I sit here typing this report, I feel like it must surely be 9:00 p.m. or after, but it is only 6:30. While my body is adjusting to the time difference (this morning I was able to sleep all the way to 5:00 a.m.), I am still tired in the evenings. I know I must stay awake as long as I can because I usually only sleep about six hours (although last night I slept for more than seven). So, I am tired, but it is a good tired. I am excited about the work I am doing here. These men seem to be benefiting from the classes, so I have no complaints. I urge you to continue to pray for me and this work.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Today was the last full day of lectures. The students have been very attentive and studious. Tomorrow is their Final Exam in Church Leadership class. In the evening, the Staffords and I walked to the Raynors’ house for a missionary devotional. I was asked to lead the discussion. We sang songs and had a good time. We all took flashlights because it was dark when we walked home and Black Mambas and Cobras are common. We were all blessed to be able to reach home safely. Today has been a difficult day for me physically. In the past I have not suffered from jet lag on this end of such a long trip. It is usually when I return home that it hits me. This time, however, I have been sleeping 4-6 hours a night and with our active schedule it is taking a toll. I am not sick, but I have felt tired and not very well all day long. Tomorrow is a short day and Saturday is a free day, so that will help, I am sure.

Friday, September 4, 2009

FINALS!! We began the day with chapel as we have every day. I was asked to speak again this morning. After chapel classes began at 8:00 and we still had lecture material to cover, so we began with that. After lecture, we reviewed the material, giving everyone the opportunity to ask questions before the test. When everyone was satisfied (as much as anyone can be before a final exam), I administered the test. As each one finished, I graded his test and his notebook. I am very happy to say that all the students did very well in the class. After class, we took a lot of pictures, some for me and some for them on the school’s camera. One students told me that my English is very good (there is a first time for everything, I suppose). I told him it should be because I’ve been practicing for 50 years. He laughed and said he meant that I spoke clearly and was easy to understand while some American teachers do not. It is important, I have learned, that when speaking to people who have English as their second language, it is important to slow down and enunciate. Since this was a shorter day, I was free to rest somewhat. Today has, indeed, been a better day and I have felt very good. I am hoping that yesterday was only an anomaly and the rest of the time here I will feel good. I have been bitten at least once by a mosquito, however, and so, since malaria is prevalent here, Stephanie Stafford took me to the mission hospital to see the facilities and to visit the pharmacy for medicine to treat me if I do show symptoms of malaria. As it turns out, the pharmacy did not have the medicine I need. Still, I feel good today. If I have malaria, the symptoms will present themselves about the time I get home.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Today we got to sleep in late. I slept all the way to 4:30!! After a good breakfast, Cy and I and three of our African brothers headed to Mbeya, a “town” about an hour and a half west of here for a meeting with preachers there and to buy supplies. I put the word “town” in parentheses because we learned that this town, which is in the process of building an international airport, has swollen in population to around 4,000,000. And after going all over town to buy supplies, I believe it! After a nice lunch of chicken curry at the Mbeya Hotel, one of the African brothers, Elly Martin, and I headed out to buy supplies while Cy met with the preachers who had come (there were about 8 in the meeting). As is often the case in the third world, in order to buy what you need, you must visit 4 or 5 different places, but we got almost everything we needed. We returned to Chimala around 6:00 in the evening. The drive back from Mbeya was the best part of the trip so far…I got to talk to Noma on the phone!! At 7:00 p.m. we headed out again with Stephanie this time and two of our brothers who had gone to Mbeya with us, to the home of a Muslim family that the Staffords had known some 18 years ago. We ate at 7:00 p.m. because this is the middle of Ramadan and Muslims fast during the daylight hours. The husband, Sheckland, was a hunting guide and tracker. This family is not native African, but are from Baluchistan, which is a region in Iran. Sheckland himself actually was born in Pakistan as his family migrated and they travelled for three months by a small sailing vessel in the 1950s to East Africa. They landed in Somalia and then came to Tanzania (at that time it was Tanganyika). They are a very kind family and they fed us very well. We had a very nice visit and I got to see some trophies (skull mounts only) of some of his hunting trips over the years. This has been another very good day for me physically. I thank all of you for your prayers for me on this trip. They appear to be answered.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

This morning, like last Sunday, I went with the Stinsons to the town of Rujewa, which is almost an hour’s drive east of Chimala, to worship with the Isisi congregation. This morning I preached. The service was very uplifting to me and I hope my message brought some encouragement to these good brethren. I cannot get over the singing in these congregations. I do not speak Swahili so I don’t know what the words mean and the melodies are not familiar to me, but it is clear that these brethren sing from their hearts, and from a purely human point of view, their harmony is second to none. The Staffords traveled to Mbeya to worship this morning and will return in the afternoon. That leaves me to study and prepare for this evening’s lesson and my first class with the second year students tomorrow. We will be studying Marriage and Family. Sunday afternoon we (the Staffords and I) worshipped with the Chimala A congregation. After church, we went to the Stinsons’ home where we all ate pizza and had a good visit.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Today we began our day with chapel and I was privileged to speak again. The beginning of class found me with the second year students, teaching Marriage and Family. We had a very good beginning to our week together. I was worried that I might have too much material to cover in one week, but we made good progress today. There were a few questions as we made our way through the material, but not many. We enjoyed a good lunch of Shepherd’s Pie with Bill and Cyndi Stinson. The Stinsons are leaving tomorrow for Dar es Salaam to take care of some business over the next few days; they will return Friday. However, since that trip is about 500 miles and we are leaving after lunch on Friday, we will probably only see them in passing on the road. We did get to see the Stinsons and formally say “Goodbye” when they came to the house last night so that we could settle up our account for the expenses of staying here (i.e. use of electricity, paying the cook and cleaning staff, etc.). We are staying in a nice, three bedroom, two bath house for approximately $5.00 per day per person. Not bad! I learned last night that our house is sometimes called “the snake house” because on more than one occasion snakes have been found indoors here. Lovely! That is probably a bit information better left out of the brochure when I was making plans to come. The only “critter” I have noticed besides mosquitoes in the house, however, has been a brief infestation of ants in my bathroom that was easily repelled with a can of bug spray. I do, however, turn on lights when I get up in the middle of the night now. All things considered, though, I must say that I have been as comfortable here these two weeks as anywhere I have traveled in this work. Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Another good day of class! Today saw the first quiz for my Marriage and Family class. Most of the class did well. For the rest, the quiz should serve to focus their attention on just what is necessary for the class. We will see how they do tomorrow for the second quiz. The power went off all over the mission (there are over 400 acres on the whole compound) for about four hours this afternoon. It was hot indoors, but there was a nice breeze outside. Because of the heat and because of where we were in the material, I dismissed my class a few minutes early today. The students seemed to appreciate that. A troop of Vervet monkeys visited the banana garden this afternoon. They were very entertaining and I think I got some good pictures. God bless you all and thank you again for your support.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Today the second year students and I made good progress through the material. The scores on the quiz for today were a little better than yesterday. The memory work is almost perfect. This morning’s chapel was the usual Wednesday singing, without a sermon. There was no shortage of men wanting to lead a song. At the 10:00 a.m. break we took pictures. We took several group pictures at the sign out by the road and then again in the courtyard by the classrooms. For lunch today we had potato and leek soup. Again, it was wonderful. We have had a different menu for lunch every day since we have been here and there has not been a bad one yet. In years past I have not been a fan of potato soup, but I could not get enough of today’s fare. After class was over, we had a short time to relax before mid-week worship. This evening we decided to attend the Chimala Mission congregation. They worship in a building on the grounds of the mission compound. Their building is large by African standards, and it was almost full for a Wednesday evening study. We estimated the crowd to be 250 or more, with 100-150 of them being children. There is a custom that some of the congregations have here when they dismiss that was quite impressive tonight. We file out of the building single file and singing a song. Once we are out the door, we form a receiving line for everyone else coming out. The song is sung until everyone has come out and shaken the hand of everyone in attendance. Tonight we formed a circle, singing and shaking hands for several minutes to get everyone out. What an experience! After church the Staffords and I walked back to the house and had supper and started grading papers and writing quizzes and such for the next day. My prayers are with you as I know yours are with me. God bless!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Today was the last full day of classes. We finished the material on Marriage and Family so all we need to do tomorrow is review some and take the Final Exam. I think the men are ready and they seem appreciative of the material that we have covered. Tonight we are going to the home of Elly Martin to have dinner with him and his family. We are also packing so we can leave immediately after lunch tomorrow. Because of our rushed schedule and the fact that we will be in transit from then on, this will be my last report sent from the field. The next time you receive an update from me it will be after I am home, if the Lord wills. I want to thank you all again for your prayers for me and my family while I have been in Africa. I can truly say that this has been an experience I would not have missed. I miss my family greatly, but this has been a wonderful time in my life and I hope that I can do it again. I pray God’s richest blessings on all of you and look forward to seeing you when I can.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Finals are over and all my students did well. I don’t think any of them are in danger of failing the course. I was privileged to speak in chapel and say “Goodbye” to the students and teachers to begin the day. We had lunch with Chris and Tam Raynor and said our “Goodbyes” to them, as well. After lunch we picked up Elly Martin at his mother’s house and headed back toward Dar es Salaam. The drive was uneventful, even though we did drive through quite a bit of road construction. This road will be a good road when that job is done. We stopped for the night at the Tan Swiss Lodge in the village of Mikumi, just outside Mikumi National Park. This lodge is beautiful. We stayed in bungalows that are very nicely furnished. We were very comfortable there and I would recommend this lodge to anyone traveling this way.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

After breakfast at the Lodge, we hit the road by about 7:45 a.m. and almost immediately entered Mikumi National Park. We drove slowly, stopping occasionally to take pictures of wildlife. I was really hoping to get some better pictures of elephants today, but to no avail; no elephants today. We say plenty of impala, zebras, giraffes and baboons, however. We also saw a very small antelope (my dog is bigger) called a Dika. He was right on the side of the road, but when we stopped, he took off. He stopped once and gave me a brief chance at a picture, but took off again before I could get him. He would have made a nice addition to my collection. We arrived in Dar around 12:30 p.m. and to the rooms around 1:30. We unloaded and headed for Subway Sandwiches for lunch, but ran into the mother of all traffic jams. We got to Subway around 3:15. After lunch, Elly and I dropped Cy and Stephanie off at the mall and we went to the Carvers’ market to shop for curios. After reuniting with the Staffords we headed to the beach to eat dinner. It was already dark, however, so I was not able to get any good pictures of the beach on the Indian Ocean. After dinner we headed back to the rooms.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

This morning I parted company with my traveling companions and co-workers. The Staffords and Elly headed back to Arusha and I took a taxi (which was arranged by Elly) to worship with the Kanisa la Kristo (church of Christ) Keko Jou (I hope I spelled that right – I can’t find the paper the name was on). Class had already started by the time I arrived, so I sat in the back. The preacher began to translate his class into English when I came in, which I thought was very kind. Before worship started, I was asked if I would preach, and I agreed. I had noticed as I arrived that there was a loud speaker next door that was very loud. It turns out there was a Pentecostal Church next door that had only been there a couple of years and just three weeks ago started blasting their worship over a loud speaker to try and drowned out our worship. When I began my sermon, the noise from next door had quieted down, but it soon picked up again. Not to be outdone, I let loose and just preached. My translator eventually picked up a microphone, but I kept going without one. After church he explained to me what was going on next door and I told him that I tried to be louder than the loud speaker. He said, “Well, you did a good job.” So, I guess I at least held my own. After services, my taxi was due back at 12:00. It did not arrive until about 12:20, but I made it back to the rooms and had lunch. At 4:00 I took the shuttle to the airport and here I sit writing this report. I am too early to check in right now; I have about another hour and a half to wait. I will finish this report when I can. God bless.

Monday, September 14, 2009

I finally arrived home (to the airport, at least) in Oklahoma City around 1:30 p.m. today. I had been in the air for 19 of the previous 21 hours. The other two were spent mostly in security in Amsterdam between flights and in Detroit, Michigan between flights. The layover in Detroit was short enough that I didn’t even stop to put my shoes and belt back on until I was at the gate for my connecting flight to OKC. I wanted to make sure they knew I was there and didn’t leave without me. As it turns out, however, that was not enough time for my luggage to get on the plane with me. Still, it is good to be home. Thanks to all for your prayers for my safe trip.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Epilogue: My luggage arrived at our house by delivery at 11:30 a.m. Yea!!