No power or water…welcome to Africa!

Hey everybody,

Life is good here. With the minor exceptions of having no water for a week and the power being out every Saturday and Sunday due to tree trimming. Oh, and did I mention the huge rat that was living in our ceiling?

The power and water situation was bearable. But, I must say, the rat in the attic was a little much. We could hear him running accross the ceiling, he sounded huge. So, Jonathan bought some rat traps in town and climbed up there and set them. Not an hour later and we heard a SNAP! You should have seen the size of that thing! It was as big as a squirrel.

It has been raining not stop the last few days. The mud puddles are everywhere. I am thankful for the raincoat and umbrella my mom gave me. Also, I bought some galoshes here in town. Walking to the meetings I wear my boots and bring along some dress shoes to change into. Out in service the boots come in handy, as I don’t have to watch where I am walking or jump over puddles.

Well, that is all for now. Until next time…

Getting Around – Africa Style

Having owned many different vehicles, it now seems odd not to own even a single one. Without a doubt, there is much fun to be had driving a LandRover or LandCruiser here; check out the one Steve owned while he was in TZ:

There are even some models not available in the states or perhaps the same model with a different name, Quick quiz:

Toyota Surf = ?
Toyota Prado = ?

4-Wheel drive is almost a necessity due to the slippery mud and heavily rutted roads. In service with Martin and Anita, we began down an unpaved road that is usually fine in his 2-wheel drive station wagon. This time, after a week of heavy rain, we just got ourselves into trouble. It was a white-knuckled trip up the road, we instantly turned around, and drive right back outta there! Martin may have been making adjustments to keep us on the road, but it was basically on auto-pilot. What a sight we were, bouncing along, slipping and sliding from side to side, honking at pedestrians and cyclists to get out of the way! Steering and brakes don’t work well in inches of mud!

If you want to hear about interesting vehicles, the most common form of transportation are public buses, the dala-dalas. Take a Nissan or Toyota HiAce mini bus, tear out the interior and seats, re-install seating for 18 people, extend the roof so even more people can stand up inside. Add a driver and conductor, charge 150-300 tsh. per ride and you have a dala!

Since the collapse of a bridge here due to flooding, traffic has been horrible. Dala drivers, who are either highly skilled or suicidal, will drive on the shoulder or the opposite side of the road to cut traffic. In fact, we rode a dala the other day that didn’t just drive on the other side of the road, to avoid oncoming traffic, he drove on the opposite shoulder. That’s not skills, that’s suicidal, but we did arrive in good time!

I have heard myths of more than 30 people riding at one time, but have only seen 27 personally (plus six chickens tied feet to feet stowed under the seats). The other day, Hilary was barely able to stifle a laugh as I slid in next to a passenger holding a chicken in a black plastic shopping bag with the head peeking out. Assuming the bag was to keep the chicken restrained, the real reason was revealed when he got off and chicken poo found a hole in the bag and escaped all over the trousers of the girls seated across from me. We fared fine, maybe just a splash on my boots. The girls appreciated the hand wipes Hilary had and cleaned up just fine.

Of course, we walk an awful lot too and get so exhausted and sore. We don’t even think of joining a gym – we’re always getting a good workout – Hilary can keep up with me really well now and other sisters in the hall complain that she is walking too fast, lol. All the walking is good for my upcoming hiking trip up Mt Meru with Nathan, Aaron, their father, Fred, and Steve.

On the Work

While we have mentioned some goings on and a little about what this area is like, here are some field ministry experiences:

Working business territory in town, we discussed 2 Tim 3:1-5 and Ps 92:7 regarding the cause of Crime and God removing the wicked with a woman named Glory, and left the Will We Ever be Free of Crime? magazine. After leaving the shop and moving on, I turned around and Hilary had disappeared. Turns out that Glory had called Hilary back because she wanted to learn more. Arrangements were made to return and, since then, she has been studying with Hilary in the shop at her desk during her lunch breaks.

Steve turned over some nice studies to me when he left. This one could be a congregation book study group! It is a group of three to eight guys who have booths in the Masai craft market. Twice a week, they effectively close shop and we all cram into a single 10′ x 5′ booth to study. Using the What does the Bible Really Teach? book in Swahili (some, like me, have English too), they read the paragraphs, ask the question, and discuss the paragraph – most of which
I can’t understand well, but I facilitate the process. Then one with a better knowledge of English translates the committee’s answer to English. I have been able to ask very basic auxiliary questions in Swahili, but usually am forced to use English which is translated and the process repeated. Most of the main group attended the memorial and attend Sunday meetings from time to time.

Again, in town, we stopped for just a minute outside a shop when two fleshly sisters came out, greeted us, and asked for the magazines. Hilary had a nice discussion and has been calling back on them.

People are generally more friendly here and often greetings are exchanged by passersby. Speaking in general, not regarding our ministry so much, being approached happens here a lot. It is a tourist area, so, if you are white or you look like a tourist, you will get attention from the vendors and beggars. I’m getting jaded and tend to ignore people that approach or call out to me, but that’s not always a good thing, for example:

For a month or two now, we have walked past a group of guys who operate a used shoe stand outside the Masai craft market (they seem to specialize in used Chuck Taylors). Each time we pass, we greet each other and they invite us to draw near: “Karibu!”. Assuming this to be a motivated by business interests, my standard reply was a word of thanks while passing by without stopping. Last week, as I motored past, one of the guys called me over and, while apologizing for stopping me, informed me that I was just walking past day after day while he was interested in talking and studying. Oops! I thanked him for stopping me and promised to stop by there prior to entering the market from now on. I’ve only been back once, but we had a nice discussion about Jesus. We read John 3:16-17 and 17:3 and talked about the ransom and the two basic requirements to take advantage of it, Faith and Knowledge.

You may have heard or read about fine results being found in foreign countries where the need is greater; students embracing bible truth quickly and making rapid progress, new congregations being formed and the like, and some may assume that it’s that way everywhere there is a greater need. While we obviously are enjoying some good results, such sensational experiences are quite rare here. Embracing bible truth is more of a gradual process due to the culture and strong ties to a particular church and religion of friends or family. I imagine this is what ministry in the states was like some decades ago…