THURSDAY NIGHT

Today was an "Adult VBS" as Mike and I were able to travel to the Mikumi wildlife area under Grant's guidance. Of course the day started with tea, coffee, yogurt, breads and fruit. Since we would not begin our travel until after lunch, Mike took me on an extended walk around the Lutheran Seminary. The grounds have a church, graveyard, school, dormitories, and housing for teachers, missionaries and guests. There is a large football (soccer) field and a basketball area as well as maintenance buildings and water towers.

Green lush vegetation is all around—including a variety of shrub and tree. Throughout the seminary there are private gardens growing different leafy vegetables, bananas, papaya, corn and other items. There are a very few dogs and cats and several goats and some mules.

We barely had time to finish our walk before morning tea time. (Tanzania was formerly a British colony). This is the first time we were on the grounds to do so and we were able to greet several of the teachers,

After some devotional time and discussion Mike and I were back at the dining hall for lunch. Since we were served the wheat "tortilla", I created a Tanzania buritto with rice, beans, and sauce. I received a few strange looks but it was enjoyable and easy to eat. Grant, Herb Hafermann and Luka talked to us about Mikumi and even provided some booklets. This conversation turned into several wild, yet true, tales of lions in the park. Herb made several jokes about not knowing whether Oklahomans were good for lion's dinners or not. All was good fun and after a few errands we were off.

The drive was easy and we had an extra special day as we were able to stay overnight at the park lodge—a first for Grant. During the evening we saw all the popular animals except the wild cats. We say quite a variety of birds but didn't know the names for most of them. Not only were the animals beautiful but the plains of high grass with the mountainous borders were extraordinary. As dusk rolled in Grant hurried us back to the bungalo which we would share for the night.

We had a wonderful dinner in the open restaurant and ate by some small lights and candles. Dinner was tasty and we followed it with fresh sweet fruit and coffee. Afterwards we enjoyed community together in the bungalo and finally slept.

This morning, Thursday, we woke early to trek through the park again. We saw small herds this time instead of a few individual animals. Zebra seem to be the most social with other animals as you can see them mixed within any grouping. They can be seen grazing with antelope, water buffalo, wildebeest and others. Elephant and giraffe are seen in small groups with elephants mostly in family units. Our journey did have to come to an end but we did have to enjoy one more meal - a delightful breakfast on the porch - before leaving.

Wouldn't you know it, we arrived back at the seminary just at lunch time. Although we didn't eat much we enjoyed extended conversation with those we had briefly engaged previously. Hearing different stories about people's faith journey only confirms our reason for being here - and maybe as importantly - provides more comfort in knowing that the Christian outreach by Asbury is similar in many churches across the globe. We spoke with Kristiana who is here with three small boys and her husband. She has a wonderful story I will relate later, but in short it is a typical God story where their faith was rewarded with the right position, the right time, and with the right resources. She related that her church of 180 people supports her family, another family and a few other individuals who work in western Tanzania. We hope to later share how we are seeing the Great Commission unfold through her and other people.

Mike and I will spend the rest of the day preparing for the upcoming three days of Kids' Camp (VBS) with local villagers. This evening should permit time to meet with some of the pastors or evangelists from those villages who meet and study with Grant on a weekly basis.

While the last day has been more vacation than work it is easily related to Romans 1:20 where Paul states that God's creations alone should be evidence of his existence. What a great thrill it is to be here and acknowledge this truth with strangers who are actually our relatives in Christ.