Today was a hard hot day. We drove to the SE corner of our focus area to a village called Dete. The purpose of this journey was to decide on possible locations for a water well. Dete is only about 22 miles as the crow flies from the Lutheran Junior Seminary (where we stay) but it was a 2.5 hour drive over road that several times tested the abilities of our 4-wheel drive vehicle. By the time we got there I had a significant headache.
We hiked around the area and found 3 possible drilling locations. Based on the depth to water in nearby watering holes, two of the locations might yield water at a fairly shallow depth. The third (located by the church) would have to be drilled deeper. All in all, I'm optimistic about being able to bring clean water to the village. God is good.
At one of the watering holes, a Bari Baig livestock herder had built pens immediately next to the water supply. Less than sanitary... The pens were made out of tall sapling trees that were basket woven around tree posts that had been driven into the ground. It was very interesting.
There are many Bari Baig in the Dete area. Because they raise livestock, they are quite wealthy (like their more famous counterparts the Massai). Unfortunately, they are most known in the area for their drinking, which I saw first-hand. A sad prayer concern. According to Pastor Herb Hafermann, very few Bari Baig have been saved. They continue in their animist ways and are not open to hearing about the gospel.
Upon arriving home, I had a 2-hour meeting with Bishop Jacob Mameo, Robert Spitaleri, and Grant Miller. (Asbury has teamed with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania to do our work.) The meeting went exceedingly well. I am very confident that our work here is making a big impact on the Kami people and that there is complete unity between our two groups. Praise be to God.
Mark Dalton
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tanzania Water Well Update, Day 6, February 18, 2009
Habari from Ed, John, Grant, and myself. Today we traveled to two villages to find places to drill water wells. The first village we went to was Mazizi. (Whenever I talk about going to a village, what I never mention is the condition of the roads. In short, the roads to all villages are nothing more than a poor 4-wheel drive trail. Assume that all roads are really bad.). Mazizi has been a challenging village for us to find a sustainable source of good water. The first well we drilled there was great... until the well collapsed. The second well yielded water that is a little too salty. We found a spot today that we think will yield good water. Pray that it be so.
We were reminded of the physical reason we are doing this when an elderly woman showed up at the local watering hole. A bucket of putrid chocolate colored water was filled and Pastor Leonard Mwimbe helped her to hoist it onto her head. We then walked with her 0.9 miles, up hill, back to Mazizi. A 5-gallon bucket of water weighs 40-pounds... Leonard estimated her age at 70. Think about it.
We next went to Maseyu where Pastor Mwimbe's wife Catherine served us a full lunch of rice, chicken, and gravy. After lunch we hiked around looking for a good spot for a well. The spot we settled on is in a low spot in a farm field near the hole that they currently use for a water supply. It doesn't look any better than the one at Mazizi.
We are praying that the two well locations chosen today will alleviate some of the suffering of the people here.
Tomorrow Ed and John will leave us for 2-days to go to an animal park. Please pray travel mercies for their journey and that communing with the animals will only heighten their appreciation for the creativity of our Creator. The rest of the contingent is going to make a very long journey to a very remote village called Dete where we will decide on one or several preliminary locations for a well. Please pray that God will see us safely there and back, and that He will grant us wisdom and vision to pick a good spot for a well. Bwana Asifiwe (Praise God)!
Mark Dalton
We were reminded of the physical reason we are doing this when an elderly woman showed up at the local watering hole. A bucket of putrid chocolate colored water was filled and Pastor Leonard Mwimbe helped her to hoist it onto her head. We then walked with her 0.9 miles, up hill, back to Mazizi. A 5-gallon bucket of water weighs 40-pounds... Leonard estimated her age at 70. Think about it.
We next went to Maseyu where Pastor Mwimbe's wife Catherine served us a full lunch of rice, chicken, and gravy. After lunch we hiked around looking for a good spot for a well. The spot we settled on is in a low spot in a farm field near the hole that they currently use for a water supply. It doesn't look any better than the one at Mazizi.
We are praying that the two well locations chosen today will alleviate some of the suffering of the people here.
Tomorrow Ed and John will leave us for 2-days to go to an animal park. Please pray travel mercies for their journey and that communing with the animals will only heighten their appreciation for the creativity of our Creator. The rest of the contingent is going to make a very long journey to a very remote village called Dete where we will decide on one or several preliminary locations for a well. Please pray that God will see us safely there and back, and that He will grant us wisdom and vision to pick a good spot for a well. Bwana Asifiwe (Praise God)!
Mark Dalton
Tanzania Water Well Update, Day 5, February 17, 2009
Today we went to a village called New Land for a church service. Before the service started, we went to check on the water well that Asbury drilled in 2004. The well is still producing good water and looks to be in very good condition.
We also checked on the bee hives. Asbury's missionary, Robert Spitaleri, helped introduce a newer style hive that allows for more honey production. New Land is currently the only village where bee keeping is being done. It was wonderful to see that there were hives there labeled for other nearby congregations.
Following the church service, we were treated to a wonderful lunch. We ate so much that we didn't eat any dinner.
In the afternoon, I had a meeting with Pastor Hafermann to go over our 2009 budget and discuss finances and future projects.
Everyone here is healthy. Blessings to all.
Mark Dalton
We also checked on the bee hives. Asbury's missionary, Robert Spitaleri, helped introduce a newer style hive that allows for more honey production. New Land is currently the only village where bee keeping is being done. It was wonderful to see that there were hives there labeled for other nearby congregations.
Following the church service, we were treated to a wonderful lunch. We ate so much that we didn't eat any dinner.
In the afternoon, I had a meeting with Pastor Hafermann to go over our 2009 budget and discuss finances and future projects.
Everyone here is healthy. Blessings to all.
Mark Dalton
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tanzania Water Well Update, Day 4, February 16, 2009
Today was an errand and meeting day for us. The team went into Morogoro to exchange some money, visit a well pump supplier, and have Grant Miller’s old SUV checked out by a mechanic before going into the bush the next few days (New Land tomorrow, Mazizi on Wednesday, Dete on Thursday, and Lubaya on Saturday). Please pray for safe travel.
This afternoon we met with two of the Pastors here at the seminary (Paulo & Mike). After good conversation, we ended the meeting by praying together, lifting up their concern for their students and teachers here at the seminary.
I finished the day with a business meeting with Pastor Hafermann to make sure that all of the ministry bases are covered financially.
The highlight of my day arrived as a surprise. My dear friend Pastor Raymond Dunia was able to travel from his remote village to see me. The reunion was wonderful!
Blessings, Mark Dalton
This afternoon we met with two of the Pastors here at the seminary (Paulo & Mike). After good conversation, we ended the meeting by praying together, lifting up their concern for their students and teachers here at the seminary.
I finished the day with a business meeting with Pastor Hafermann to make sure that all of the ministry bases are covered financially.
The highlight of my day arrived as a surprise. My dear friend Pastor Raymond Dunia was able to travel from his remote village to see me. The reunion was wonderful!
Blessings, Mark Dalton
Monday, February 16, 2009
Tanzania Water Well Update Day 3, February 15, 2009
Today we travelled to the village of Gezaulole for worship service. We first went to the village of Maseyu to pick up Pastor Leonard Mwimbe. While there, Leonard’s wife Catherine served us tea and “doughnuts”.
Upon arriving at Gezaulole, we first went to the water well site where the surface pumping mechanism was recently stolen. The well at Gezaulole was the first one drilled by Asbury, and is very productive. It is speculated that someone stole the pump to sell it for scrap iron. We are evaluating what can be done to prevent theft in the future. The situation is sad as the women now have to walk downhill almost 2 miles in order to fetch 5 gallons of polluted water to carry on their heads for the uphill walk back to the village. A prayer concern.
The worship service lasted about 2 hours. Leonard (Asbury sponsored him through seminary) did a great job. The sermon was on the sower (Matthew 13). After worship, there was a small auction which brought in extra funds for the coffers.
When we dropped Leonard off at Maseyu, Catherine had a veritable banquet ready for us. It was really good: rice, chicken, beans, oranges, bananas, potatoes, and papaya. All washed down with good old Coca Cola. That’s all for now.
Blessings, Mark Dalton
Upon arriving at Gezaulole, we first went to the water well site where the surface pumping mechanism was recently stolen. The well at Gezaulole was the first one drilled by Asbury, and is very productive. It is speculated that someone stole the pump to sell it for scrap iron. We are evaluating what can be done to prevent theft in the future. The situation is sad as the women now have to walk downhill almost 2 miles in order to fetch 5 gallons of polluted water to carry on their heads for the uphill walk back to the village. A prayer concern.
The worship service lasted about 2 hours. Leonard (Asbury sponsored him through seminary) did a great job. The sermon was on the sower (Matthew 13). After worship, there was a small auction which brought in extra funds for the coffers.
When we dropped Leonard off at Maseyu, Catherine had a veritable banquet ready for us. It was really good: rice, chicken, beans, oranges, bananas, potatoes, and papaya. All washed down with good old Coca Cola. That’s all for now.
Blessings, Mark Dalton
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Tanzania Water Well Update (Day 1 & 2) Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009
Ed Lusk, Grant Miller, John Simmons and I all arrived safely to Tanzania without incident. Thanks to all for your prayers.
As you know, one purpose of our trip is to improve our water well evangelism. To this end, one of our tasks was to evaluate a new water well drilling contractor. Today we were able to visit the site of a water well that is being drilled for another Christian group. The well is being drilled by a company called Majitech (maji is Swahili for water). We stayed for about an hour, observing and talking to the drilling rig operator (driller). We were quite impressed with both the equipment and the driller. We were also reminded that “this is Africa” when the well construction operation had to be shut down because the PVC well casing had not been delivered (it was supposed to be there last Monday…). We hope to meet the owner of this company before we leave here. Please pray diligently that we are able to find a long-term solution to the water well drilling problem as the need is very great.
After lunch, we drove from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. It took us almost 4 hours to make the 100 mile drive. The drive was slow due to the traffic being very heavy. I got to make the drive with Bishop Jacob Mameo and a missionary who works for him, Barbara Robertson. Our time together was very rewarding.
Tomorrow we’re going to go to the Massai cattle auction which is always very interesting. Thanks for your continued prayers.
In His grip, Mark
Day 2
This morning was spent planning the rest of our days here.
In the late morning we went to the Massai cattle auction which is about a 30 minute drive north of Morogoro. This was my third time to go. I had a good time watching the expressions on the faces of Ed Lusk and John Simmons who had never experienced anything like it. Somehow being in the middle of hundreds of Massai warriors and their cattle all in one place just never loses its awe factor.
Tomorrow we will worship at Gezelole.
Mark
As you know, one purpose of our trip is to improve our water well evangelism. To this end, one of our tasks was to evaluate a new water well drilling contractor. Today we were able to visit the site of a water well that is being drilled for another Christian group. The well is being drilled by a company called Majitech (maji is Swahili for water). We stayed for about an hour, observing and talking to the drilling rig operator (driller). We were quite impressed with both the equipment and the driller. We were also reminded that “this is Africa” when the well construction operation had to be shut down because the PVC well casing had not been delivered (it was supposed to be there last Monday…). We hope to meet the owner of this company before we leave here. Please pray diligently that we are able to find a long-term solution to the water well drilling problem as the need is very great.
After lunch, we drove from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. It took us almost 4 hours to make the 100 mile drive. The drive was slow due to the traffic being very heavy. I got to make the drive with Bishop Jacob Mameo and a missionary who works for him, Barbara Robertson. Our time together was very rewarding.
Tomorrow we’re going to go to the Massai cattle auction which is always very interesting. Thanks for your continued prayers.
In His grip, Mark
Day 2
This morning was spent planning the rest of our days here.
In the late morning we went to the Massai cattle auction which is about a 30 minute drive north of Morogoro. This was my third time to go. I had a good time watching the expressions on the faces of Ed Lusk and John Simmons who had never experienced anything like it. Somehow being in the middle of hundreds of Massai warriors and their cattle all in one place just never loses its awe factor.
Tomorrow we will worship at Gezelole.
Mark
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