Kwaheri Tanzania!

Today was our long goodbye as an amazing trip winds down and we begin our journey home.

After breakfast we visited the headquarters of the Northern Diocese of the Lutheran Church to meet with the director and staff of Building A Caring Community (BCC).  BCC is an outreach of MOSAIC which serves children with physical and mental disabilities.

There are 11 BCC centers around the Moshi area where these special needs kids are loved and cared for.  We visited one of the centers and were inspired by the work done there.

From there we did some shopping around Moshi Town before heading over to the Amani Home For Street Children.  I encourage you to click on their link above and learn more about this great outreach.  They currently provide a home for 80 street children while also providing education and skills training. I whole heartedly vouch for the effective work this special place is doing and encourage you to consider supporting them.


After getting all packed up it was time to head back up to the orphanage to leave our four wonderful volunteers.  Our group bonded over these two weeks together and there were several tears shed as we said our goodbyes!  God bless Natalie, Rebekah, Raechel and Anna as they help the sisters care for the orphans.  We are all so proud of these faithful young ladies!

Now begins the long journey home.  We are anxious to get back together with our families. We leave Tanzania with hearts full of gratitude and humility.  We have been changed by this place and the people we have met along the way.

You should consider participating in a Vision Trip to Tanzania.  We will return with videos and thousands of pictures but everyone in our group will tell you the same thing...  You have to see this place for yourself to believe it.

Party Town

Our time in Bukoba was short but it was so full of joyful fellowship that words to describe it fail me.  After a somewhat long and boring church service, we visited the Sunday Schoolers to drop off gifts of pens, soccer balls, frisbees and bubbles.  Boy, did those kids pick up our spirits!  They sang and laughed and patiently waited their turn to receive a pen or a piece of candy. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

A long afternoon began to sap the energy from our group again but what happened next will live on in the annals of Tanzania Vision Trips forever!

More than a hundred people descended upon Smart and Jessica's home (remember, they moved in two days earlier!)  A fantastic party ensued with two separate choirs performing just for us.  The Imuka singers were joined by the wonderful youth choir that sang at church that morning.  These teenagers stayed in their choir uniforms the entire day so they could perform for us in the evening.

The party went into the night with singing and dancing and laughing and lots of great food.  You will really want to see the video of this evening after I put together my annual Vision Trip movie.  For now, I will let the following pictures give you a small glimpse into one epic day in Bukoba.

A Story So Good...

We slammed down on the runway after flying straight across the largest lake in Africa and stepped off the small plane into the sunshine. There is one small building at the Bukoba airport which serves as the arrivals and departure gate as well as the baggage claim area.  An old tractor pulled a trailer full of our bags up to the building and one guy began hauling the luggage up the steps.

We happened to arrive on the same little flight as the local govener so there was some political fanfare to endure before we could head out with our friend Smart and other members of COSAD who were there to greet us and pick us up.

We visited Smart and Jessica's new home which they just moved into yesterday and are now hosting our large group today!  Half of our group is staying there and the other half in an old hotel overlooking the lake.

We visited the Bruce Johnson library which was a moving experience and then a couple other outreaches like the women's goat project site before going back to the hotel for dinner and conversation.

Smart 

Sitting out on a big patio with lake Victoria in the background, I asked Smart to tell the group the incredible story of how he first came to America to attend school.

I wish I had the time and space to share the story with you here. It is the most amazing story I have ever heard, told by a man who knows only how to tell the truth.  Like the old man in the book, The Life of Pi, Smart's story is so good, it will make you believe in God. 

The story includes Smart arriving in Amsterdam after leaving Tanzania on his way to Chicago with only eight dollars left in his pocket after wasting twelve dollars trying to use a pay phone. Smart was convinced that the strange voices he heard on the payphone were voodoo black magic. So, when Smart reached the Chicago O'hare airport at one in the morning, he asked a random stranger to help him make the call to the only person in the country Smart had a number for, which was scribbled on a scrap of paper. Smart did not want to risk losing his last $8 to the black magic on another payphone!

The man Smart was trying to call lived in Iowa where Smart was to attend school.  The stranger in the Chicago airport looked at the name and number of the man Smart was trying to call in Iowa, the only man Smart had a number for in the United States, and the stranger said to Smart, "I know this man! He is no longer at this number. I know how to reach him!"

When Smart finally got through to his friend in Iowa after one in the morning, he told him he could see that Iowa was just a couple inches away from Chicago on the map, so Smart said he would start walking now...it was November!

That is just a small taste of Smart's incredible story. A story that had to happen before we could be sitting with Smart now on this patio overlooking the great lake.  A story we have now been written into.  A story so good...

Off To Bukoba

I finally have just a moment to post a few words rather than just photos.  We have been rolling up the dusty, bumpy miles over the past few days on safari.  You know those intentionally annoying rumble strips they sometimes carve into the road in the U.S. to make extra sure you slow down in certain spots?  Well, imagine hundreds of miles of those rumble strips and you have a pretty good idea what it's like getting all the way across the Serengeti and back out onto the main road.

Still, it seems like being so immersed in this breathtaking and fascinating part of creation should not come any easier.  I say those who skip all the rough driving it takes to get out to the Serengeti  by hopping in a chartered plane and landing on the airstrip near the crater to be picked up and whisked away in luxury Land Cruisers, are cheating.  It would be like taking a helicopter to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  The view from the summit is still awesome, but only the climbers know what the view really means.

Tomorrow morning we fly across the country to Bukoba on the shores of the great Lake Victoria to visit our aptly named friend, Smart and many others.  We are not at all sure what this part of the adventure will entail but we know it will involve lots of gorgeous singing from some of the best choirs in the country.  I will post from there if I can get online.

For now and from here, our thoughts and prayers are with the Krych family as they morn the loss of Candi and celebrate her life.  Candi was a rare and beautiful soul and our friends here have joined us in thanking God for the witness to love, life and faith her life has been.

peace, Chad

A few More From Safari

We spent a cold and cloudy day game driving down in the Ngorongoro Crater and then a fantastic night at a lodge perched right on the crater rim.

All Creatures Great and Small

After a full day in the Serengeti, we will let a few pictures tell the story. These are but just a few of several thousand taken!

Road To Ndutu

We enjoyed a peaceful stay at Rhotia Tented Camp in the hills outside of Karatu.  The tents look out across green rolling hills that look more like Ireland than some place in Africa.  Proceeds from the camp support the adjacent children’s home so the place is lovely on several levels. 

We got an early start down through the red dirt town of Karatu on our way through the border into the Ngorongoro Crater lands.  We stoped to marvel at the massive crater below but that adventure is a couple days away.

For now, we skirted the rim of the crater and made our way down through the breathtaking and vast Maasai lands.  After a lunch stop at the world famous Oldupai gorge, we visited a Maasai boma. 

 The boma consisted of about 20 small huts made of sticks, banana leaves and waterproofed with cow dung. The Maasai warriors and women welcomed us with joyful songs and dancing. Many of our group joined right in.

 

Our day continued with the longest, dustiest and most bone jarring section of road we have encountered so far.  As the light faded from the day with a beautiful sunset behind the acacias, we found ourselves sitting right next to a group of four large female lions and ten rambunctious cubs.  Everyone agreed the tough journey was a small price to pay!

Tanzania makes you work for it, but she always gives back more than she takes.

One More Thing

A quick addition to the Father’s Day post.  After a l-o-o-ng day up at the church, we went up to Kilimakyaro Lodge to watch the sunset and have dinner out on the beautiful grounds there.  It turned out to be a highlight of the trip so far. 

We had the whole place to ourselves and the food was fantastic.  The mountain remained shy and did not show itself but the sunset was gorgeous. 

By the end of the night most of our group was dancing with all of the staff to some funky
African music out under the stars.  Even Oskar our driver was out there with some impressive                    moves of his own!

Just when you think a day could not be more full and memorable, Tanzania piles on with another wonderful time together on the slopes of Kilimanjaro!                                                                

Worship At Kusheyeny Lutheran

It was a rainy morning as usual when we began the climb up the slick muddy road to the church. So off we went on one of the most exhilarating Sunday morning drives to church you can imagine. We bounced and slid our way up until we came to a stop in front of the church and were swept up in the warm welcome of the Chagga children as they sang “welcome, welcome, how do you do?”

At tea before the service, Pastor Mushi asked if I would be willing to preach which did not surprise me so I had some notes ready to go on my ipad. Young Pastor Stephen was my translator as usual and we soon fell into our familiar rhythm with Stephen converting my words into Swahili as we preached together.

The congregation poured out of the church for the "offering auction" as the sky cleared right on cue. We purchased bananas and avocados and other strange looking fruits to hand out as gifts, much to the delight of all the people.

Then it was off to a delicious lunch served in the lower level meeting room of the new library. Lunch was capped off as usual with the dramatic presentation of a "Kilimanjaro banana" which is their affectionate name for a large barbecued goat!

As we made our way back outside the whole congregation broke out in happy songs celebrating our partnership in the gospel.  They followed us all the way down the hill and kept singing and waving until we drove out of site.

Tomorrow we leave for a few days on safari so it may be a little while before we have an internet connection again.

Happy Fathers Day!

Neema Means Grace

Our first stop today was at the Ushirika Wa Neema Deaconess Centre. Everyone appreciated learning about the life of the Lutheran Sisters as we strolled the campus to see, gardens, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, pigs and trees bursting with fresh fruits. The Deaconess Center is a forty-acre Garden of Eden from which life saving ministry emanates throughout the entire region.

The sisters butcher their own cows and make their own communion bread.  They run elite boarding schools and clean toilets.  They have committed their lives to service in the name of Christ. To be in the presence of the sisters is to be humbled.  To know them as friends is to be blessed beyond measure. When you visit there the Sisters promise they will keep you in their prayers after you leave. That alone makes the marathon journey to Tanzania worth all of the effort.

We left the deaconess centre to head to one of their main ministry sights, the Neema Orphanage in Kalali.  As we arrived at the orphanage, we walked past the homes filled with children to have some tea with Rev. Urio and Sister Agnes before we visited the children. As we passed by, the sound of children crying and carrying on could be heard all the way back down the mountain. Sister Agnes told us that the kids are only upset because they see us passing by without going in to play with them.

After tea, we had a wonderful time playing with the older kids (3 and 4 yr olds) out on the grounds.  We brought Frisbees and toy cars and soccer balls so it was a joyful time for all! It turns out that Sister was right. These kids were so happy to spend time with us that we didn’t want to leave. When I saw that one little girl had wrapped herself around Natalie’s legs to keep her from leaving, I knew we would not be on time for our next stop!

We bounced down through a deep river gorge and back up the other side to Machame Lutheran Hospital. We were on our way to visit the incredible hospital and to experience a wonderful program being administered by our good friend, Bob Kasworm. Bob works in Tanzania helping to improve the healthcare system especially at Machame Lutheran Hospital.

Through his work at the hospital, Bob identifies families suffering primarily from AIDS who are also suffering from poor and unhealthy living conditions. Working with local contractors, Bob arranges for a small but solid home to be built usually next to the shack the family had been living in. Each house is built using donations from churches and individuals for a total cost of about $4,000.  The new homes do not have electricity or running water but they are dry and safe places to live.

The boy pictured to the left is named Prosper. He is 17 years old and lives in a poorly built scrap-wood shack with his family. Prosper has extreme epilepsy and a developmental disorder that is most likely cerebral palsy. It was absolutely heart breaking to see their living conditions and to see Prosper sitting in the dirt and mud.  Prosper's family is on the list of those hoping to receive a new House for Health home.

A completed House for Health

It was a long and emotionally draining day so I diverted from the schedule and had Oskar pull off down a narrow side road that led to the most unlikely and beautiful Lodge tucked back in the forest.  We had cold drinks overlooking the gorgeous landscaped grounds.

During dinner this night at a cool little roadside pizza joint, our group was so moved by the day that we took up a collection.  A pad of paper was passed around to see if our group might get a running start at raising the $4,000 to build a new house for Prosper and his family back up the mountain.  By the time the pad made it all the way back around to Sue where it started, the commitment from the group was large enough to build not one, but two entire new houses for families in need.

If you decide to participate in our Tanzania Vision Trip next year, I will take you to visit Prosper's family. They will be living in a better home than the one they live in now.  Tanzania is a special place to be, and I am here with a special group of people!