Day Seven - Tanzania

Hello once again!

My day in a nutshell:

• 45 minutes of off-roading up and down mountains: painful
• 20 minute hike: tiring
• Singing 6 songs at an afternoon church service: embarrassing
• Helping spread the Word of Christ to the Masai: priceless
  (Thanks to Jeffrey Harrison for that introduction.)

Today was the day that Jordan, Jeffrey, Katie, Jennifer, and I all went on an adventure with Herb. I'm not sure I've mentioned Herb before so I'll spend a minute explaining who he is. Herb is an American, born and raised in the upper Midwest. He went to a Lutheran college in Iowa and also attended seminary. When he was in his 20s, he felt called to become a missionary in Tanzania, and moved here to LJS to attend language school. It was here he met his wife, and he has been living here ever since. He has lived here for over 40 years now. I will describe his typical day as I explain the events of my day.

Indeed we drove quite a distance in order to reach the village this morning. We drove about 45 minutes on the main road, and then spent another 45 minutes taking the "road less traveled." The path to the village was a dirt road. I must say that I once thought that driving on Lewis was very narrow; my perception was changed today. The road was hardly wide enough for Herb's SUV to fit through at times. I kept wondering what would happen if we encountered another vehicle on the road, but it was clear that no other vehicles were traveling on the road all day; our only encounters were with some of the local people.

The "villages" that we passed were very spread out; at times it felt as if we were searching for a needle in a haystack. As we drove along, Herb said, "If we pass a certain village, we're lost." Add this to the list of things that one never wants to hear when in Africa. A few minutes later, Herb said, "Oops," and we were forced to turn around and retrace our path. (This made that list as well.) We finally reached our destination after passing over a couple of mountains and by a few homes along the way, all made of grass, mud, and sticks.

When we got out, a lively old man was there to greet us. We thought for a time that he was the owner of the land and had an incredible amount of energy, but we later found out that he was the "town jester" who floated from village to village, encouraging people along the way. He gave us quite the tour of the land, however, and we met the cows, goats, and sheep that were on the property. He had so much energy we doubted his sanity for a little while, but he certainly made our morning memorable.

After our jester experience we walked about 20 minutes to another village, and then walked to where we would be having church. The location of their church reminded me of the top of the "mountain" at Camp Egan; it was on the top of a hill and was overlooking the countryside. It was small, with only a few benches and a small pulpit. The church service included about 25 people from the two villages. I should not forget to mention that in each village we met about 15 or 20 people, mostly women and children. I brought the guitar along with us today, and Herb asked us to sing multiple times during church. We were quite an anomaly to the people, and the "choir," as we were named, was warmly received.

The highlight of the service came when Herb baptized some of the people. Some young men were baptized, with ages similar to those of our group - 19, 20, and 22. There were also young babies baptized, and they were to receive Christian names upon their baptism. The children were named Jennifer, Jeffrey, and Katrina, after our group, and another was named Hoffermann, which is Herb's last name. It was a humbling experience to have children named after us, especially since they had only known us for such a short time. This village was called Choza, and Herb commented that he had only established communication with them for a short time, since April. The young men were so excited that they were being baptized, and as we have experienced many times during our stay in Tanzania, their hearts were clearly very passionate for the Lord.

The village that we visited today consisted of Maasai people. They, along with the Kami people, are the two most prominent people groups in the area, and have been the ones we have dealt with all week in the clinic. I had intentions of explaining their differences, but this short space would not suffice, and pictures would certainly help. Therefore, I will leave it for the team to describe the differences when we all return home.

I am told that the clinic was somewhat smooth today; the number of people needing medical attention was much smaller, but we were still able to see a fair amount of patients. Nevertheless, the team packed up a couple of hours early, as soon as we ran out of medications. Bert Johnson and the dental team were at the seminary today caring for the students here. We are thankful that we can help to care for some of the people that have made our experience here at LJS so pleasant.

My lengthy journal will end here for the night, as I look at my watch and realize that we are boarding the bus in 7 short hours. We are going to the animal park tomorrow and are to be ready for the bus at 5:15. I also hear that we get pizza tomorrow night! Please pray for the safety of the team as we travel tomorrow, and for patience and energy as the trip comes to a close. Thank you for your continued support.

Ryan