Owens in Africa

Meetings, planes and oil galore...

2011-11-04T18:57:00.000+03:00

Wednesday was a very interesting day. Forgot my phone at home - dropped Dennis Tongoi (our main speaker) at the airport as he was only able to make half of the conference, only just in time for his flight.
Stopped off for peanuts and soda on the way home in Usa River, only to see oil pouring out of the engine. Borrowed phone from supermarket lady and called Judi. Willie, who works in the area, arranged mechanics to come and then gave me a ride into town for our leaders meeting that night.

Finished the conference at lunch time today - amazing insights and keys for REAL change. HIGHLY recommended for all pastors, leaders, colleges & missions. Planning another March 12th. Thanks for praying, those of you who did :)

"Farming God's Way" - true to name...

2011-09-30T14:17:00.006+03:00

Delegates at Arusha Vineyard seminar

We finally got to see a long-time dream fulfilled in being able to host a 3-day seminar on sustainable farming, with 120 delegates from all over Tz - paradigm shifts galore with Grant Dryden & Carl Schmidt, two of the most influential trainers today.

Carl Schmidt - somewhat dwarfed!

We didn't realize just how honoured we were, as this was only the second time that Carl and Grant have done a seminar together.
In keeping with "Teach a man to fish..." this is one of the most powerful and effective ways to help the poor in this country, given that it is approx 80% agrarian and almost crippled with drought.
A friend informed us that he harvested 11 100kg bags this year off his shamba (field). The other yields in the village are 0-2 bags of maize. The rains were very little this year.
Another was 25 100kg bags compared to his neighbours highest yield of 5 for the same acreage.
With poverty and malnutrition rife, we can't afford to keep this a secret.

Our friends Josh and Philemon

I heard Anderson Cooper (CNN) a couple of weeks ago, claiming that the Somali and Ethiopian famines are avoidable, as other parts of the continent suffer similar conditions without famine, due to responsible alternate farming methods.

"Global Service Corps" Arusha and the proof of the pudding

We've planted two comparative plots in our church's front yard, one traditional, the other FGW - not too pretty, but the message is loud and clear to anyone who walks by!
We'll post pictures of these as growth kicks in...

More pics of the seminar at Arusha Vineyard

Dedication and belated official opening

2011-09-30T13:19:00.001+03:00

Yes, we've been here almost a year, but have put off the 'opening' until our land was officially ours. After a difficult sales process, peppered with much prayer, negotiation and generosity from so many, the title deed was handed to us a month ago.
In celebration, we started the church year off with the dedication of our property in true African style with food, music and laughter.
Our Sth African guest, Grant Dryden ('Farming God's Way') spoke in the morning service with a strong challenge to faithfulness.
We then had lunch together, hosting a number of visiting pastors and friends from other churches in the area, followed by communion, which they helped lead.
People from 17 nations represented in our congregation, prayed a dedicatory prayer in their own languages, highlighting not only the beautiful diversity of our faith in both ethnicity and expression of worship, but the unity of the Body as expressed in the sharing of the one loaf and one cup.

We had games and competitions for both kids and grown-ups; the latter being a dessert event ("Sugar with a Message") where people were judged not only on looks and taste, but the message they intended to convey through their dessert.

Meeting the others ...

2011-08-19T11:05:00.000+03:00

Iringa is well in the south of Tanzania. A beautiful part of the country, well-elevated at 1575 metres, with beautiful rock formations and close to the Isimila Stone Age Site, which is known for masses of stone tools eroding out of a dry lake bed.
We met for 4 days with the national Vineyard leaders, accompanied by three friends from the Port Elizabeth Vineyard in South Africa.
We had a great time of worship, teaching and fun.
The trip itself was an experience and a half. From Arusha, we had the choice of heading straight south through the capital, Dodoma, or twice the distance on tarmac towards the coast and back inland. We did both!
We took the rough road on the way there, overnighted in Kondoa, where we dropped off an Australian pastor. Morning in Kondoa saw the first of our 3 flat tires in one day!
The long trip back was smoother but not as interesting by a long shot.
Next year we'll return - thanks for the hospitality guys & beautiful African Vineyard worship!

More Pics of Alpha International Week

2011-06-22T21:44:00.001+03:00

Alpha International Week June 6th - 11th

2011-06-17T14:13:00.000+03:00

I, Judi, have just returned from time in UK where I attended the Alpha International week.
As you may know, we have been running Alpha courses in Arusha for a couple of years, now, and seen God using this evangelistic tool in amazing ways in our community.
We have many international people, plus english speaking Tanzanians and recently young adults who've all enjoyed the alpha course.
The week at the conference was inspiring and encouraging and I have returned with a vision for the Catholic church here in Arusha, to be blessed by the Alpha course.
For a glimpse of the conference highlights please click here.

13-2=11

2011-05-21T22:32:00.001+03:00

Although it can't possibly be true, it seemed like my chickens are racist!!
Out of 13 beautiful chickens that hatched, 11 remain. 2 died. One of them drowned and the other was stepped on by its father, the rooster.

Both of them were black, the only 2 black chickens in the whole brood. I am so disappointed. The first poor little thing was desperate for water and jumped up into the water container had inadvertantly been put in the cage, and drowned, unable to get out.

The mother hen was standing next to him when I checked in to see the chickens, late afternoon.

The other little black chicken was the victim of the hens sleeping habits. They all sleep in the same roosting box even though they have roosts and plenty of other boxes. All 5 hens, 11 chicks, 1 rooster in the one roosting box, all on top of each other. Unfortunately, the rooster stood on the small black chicken and severed its head!!

The very next day, James the chicken expert, has re-housed all the hens and the rooster into the newly wired downstairs cage while the chicks and their mums stay upstairs. A new water container - chick friendly was also purchased so that the 11 baby chicks are safe.

Sentencing of four Rwandan leaders at Arusha trial...

2011-05-18T22:13:00.002+03:00

Yesterday I attended the handing down of the judgement on Augustin Bizimungu (fmr head of Rwandan Army), Augustin Ndindiliyimana, Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye & Innocent Sagahutu... key perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.

Augustin Bizimungu - Former Head of the Rwandan Army

Many of us were puzzled by the apparent leniency of the sentencing, well-expressed by one of our church teenagers sitting with me who said, "They were lucky they weren't in Nuremberg!"
All were convicted on charges of crimes against humanity, among numerous other horrendous charges - the heaviest sentence being 30 years for Bizimungu (less his 9 years of time served). Two others received 20 years less time served, the fourth released for his 11 years in the trial process.
I had attended part of a trial previously but this was quite different - 40 press agencies invited, one of our own Vineyard leaders a key member on the trial team...

Security was understandably tight, with even a West African lawyer in full garb just behind me, refused entry because he had his cell-phone on him. He retreated protesting loudly (in jest), that he was victim of a ridiculous dictatorship!

Finally seated in the small gallery, the reading of all charges, the court's evaluation of the cases presented by the prosecution and defence, followed by the sentencing, took just under two hours - the culmination of a 10+ year trial process.

Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to many dear friends that are here with the UN. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has been winding up over the past year and will largely be finished in the next year or so. However, Mr. BIG (Felicien Kabuga), the genocide's main financier, Africa's most wanted criminal, is still on the loose. Should he be caught in the next few weeks, who knows, there may well be an extension.

If you spot him, let us know!

How I was recently 'a-rasta-d'

2011-05-09T21:05:00.006+03:00

I’m usually suspect of cell calls that don’t show a known ID. I’ll answer or sometimes let it ring out and text the person, asking for them to identify themselves so that I can return the call at my expense.
Most times, if I answer, it’s very hard to understand with muffled sound, strong accents or no English.

This time was no different. I was warmly greeted (the African norm), called ‘Mchungaji’ (pastor), so I knew it wasn’t a random call.
In these situations I’ll immediately ask how they know me, or got my number. The person indicated that a mutual friend gave it to him … but I soon lost track of what he was saying. The line was bad, his accent was strong and I wasn’t keen… so I hung up and texted him.
“Please text me about why you called” Often that’s enough of a hurdle to discourage people who are asking straight out for money etc…

In this case the reply came within a couple of minutes:
“My name is C---- A--- i m Artist I want to know so much about jesus christ and i meet with S---- (a Moslem friend of mine) and he told me you can understand me about that.Me is rasta my ofice is out the gate with (he names a large local store) please show me the way.sorry I don’t know to talk too much English. Thank you sir”

As it turns out, their ‘ofice’ is a phone-booth size shop that three of them run, selling Rasta gear … beading and beanies they make and sell right there.
When I called by on Saturday afternoon, they grabbed a bucket, turned it over and asked me to sit and talk. Within a couple of minutes another friend joined us, who turned out to be a Catholic Rasta(?) I was hoping and praying that he wouldn’t be a distraction – to the contrary, he was as hungry, if not more, than the others.
So there I perched, sharing Jesus with my little congregation of four, in one of the busiest and most notorious parts of town.
They showed me two Christian books they’d been given – had New Testaments at home, which they assured me they read faithfully.

Their request was this. “We are Rastas. We learn and we teach. Many people come to our ‘ofice’ to learn and we want to tell them about Jesus but we don’t know. You must help us. How much time can you spend?”

We spoke for an hour. It became clear they knew virtually nothing, so I did an OT and Gospels overview, with lots of fun tangents.

As we finished, I was tempted to ask them to come to church the next day (i.e. yesterday). Although they’re the other side of the city from us, it just so happens we run a free minibus service, literally starting at their little store! mmm....
But I decided to wait – we’d just met. Let them digest what we’d shared and next time I’ll invite them.
Well, that was not to be.
“Sir, where is your church? Can we come and visit? We like what you say!”

And so it was. Yesterday our three friends sat in the front row at Arusha Vineyard, in all their regalia, soaking it all in. They felt very welcome and ended up loving their first-ever visit to church (which is more than most of us can say!!!)

How cool is that?!

Another thing I find cool (and puzzling) is how God called a Swiss-born, Welsh-educated, French-speaking Australian/Canadian to Swahili-speaking Africa, to share His love with good friends made among the Moslems, Hindus, tribal Tanzanians and now Rastas.
Inashangaza … or as we would say in French, “C’est bizarre!”

Please pray for these guys – I expect to be telling you more of their stories as we get to know each other better. Maybe we'll soon have a Pasta Rasta?
In the meantime, I need to grow some dreads…

PARASITES & PILLS...

2011-05-08T23:16:00.001+03:00

Pills and Parasites

David was recently diagnosed with pneumonia caused by parasites. He has been feeling pretty tired, breathless and has had fevers so after lots of visits to doctors and tests we finally decided to head to Nairobi to see Dr Chunge at the Tropical Disease Centre. He is the equivalent of “Dr House” here in East Africa.

After many blood tests and x-rays it was discovered that there was a problem in his lower right lung which was caused by parasites.

He has spent 3 days on pills for worms - 3 different pills - one of which is not approved for human consumption in the UK and another 7 days on an antibiotic that is for severe or life threatening illnesses. It also treats gonorrhea! Interestingly enough, our friend, who is a vet said that he used to have lots of people show up in his surgery who wanted to remain anonymous asking for him to treat their Venereal Disease?? But, I digress…. This is not David’s affliction.

The pills cause some side effects, like, sore tendons - even tearing of tendons, sore skin, headaches etc.

After 7 days of the antibiotic for the lung infection, David is still having difficulty with his breathing and we are praying for complete healing.

more pics of Vineyard Festival, Arusha

2011-05-05T17:05:00.001+03:00

This was a shoeless event.... yes, we have mud, will track..

Masai Market, Vineyard style - ministries sell their produce

Sig was one of the emotional judges for the preaching competition...here with Shirley, the crazy games mistress!

Kids at the Festival...

Kids challenge...

Lots of healthy competition..

Frank the sound and audio expert, worked tirelessly with 10 or 11 powerpoint presentations!

mmmm.... how did this table guess that this was Job, OT figure.

Niki, the artist, painting with an audience of admiring kids.

Vineyard Festival in Arusha!!

2011-05-04T18:48:00.011+03:00

Arusha Vineyard Festival!!

April 30th was a day of celebrating the diversity of the different ministries in our church.

We looked at the process that Arusha Vineyard is undertaking to help us define who we are. This is not a democratic process but rather a acknowledgement that vision, not only rests with the leaders, but is also embellished (strengthened and added to) by the congregation.

Our strategy group presented findings of two different home groups so far, in this process of Who are we, Where are we going and What are the values we adhere to?

Through out the day different groups presented their ministries so that we could better appreciate each other and network together as well as get a glimpse of the overall tapestry that is Arusha Vineyard. We all agree that the walls between denominations should come down and even between ministries but much of our time is spent extending or maintaining our own “turf”. This day was a start in the process of looking over our own fence and seeing what God is up to in our neighbours’ yard and cheering and celebrating what we see. We were left with a sense of amazement regarding the diversity and compassion and commitment of God’s people in our congregation.
We won!!

No! We really won!!

Lolade wows us, in the preaching competition!

For David and I, where we have sometimes felt in previous ministries that we were leading, a heartfelt desire to see more outward looking ministry - here in this church we see people who are committed to outward ministry so much that we want to provide a place of rest and nurture for them.

Breakfast!!

Income generating projects and ideas by one ministry presentation...

Vineyard kids beat us at most competitions!

Niki - our resident artists impression of the diversity, life and colour in our church..

Between ministry presentations we had skits and competitions and games that had us laughing and running and jumping and shouting. The day started with croissants, coffee and fresh tropical fruit and ended with the Swahili musical “Nipe Jibu” a movie produced and directed by Pamoja ministry.

At the end of the day we felt that God was about to do something unique and wonderful through the unity expressed in the day. Where the brethren dwell together in unity, there the Lord commands a blessing; They shall know that they are my disciples because they love one another. Joy may be full.

Chickens and More Chickens....

2011-05-04T18:47:00.003+03:00

Ever researched how to hatch chickens? The internet is very clear that the temperature of the egg must remain at a constant heat and simulate the warmth of the mother’s body etc. etc. It involves lights, no drafts and other complicated procedures.

As you know, I have one rooster and 5 hens now. I regularly get 3 or 4 fresh eggs every day.

I have one worker, Jamsi, who is a self confessed chicken “fundi” (expert). He is constantly telling me that I need to get this medicine for the chickens or that feed for them…. I roll my eyes and tell him “yes” but secretly wonder if he is as knowledgeable as he says. This was especially the case when he asked me if I wanted chickens and I said “yes”. After this point, he began to collect the eggs on a daily basis and store them in the laundry. This went on for 4 weeks!!! After he had around 21 eggs that had been sitting in a box in the laundry for 4 weeks, I began to question him and his “expertise”. Remember, the internet research I had done was very clear about how sensitive to temperature, time and light these eggs are and the slightest shift could mean NO CHICKENS! My Swahili didn’t allow for a discussion about the internet advice but Jamsi understood that I was worried. Every day he would laugh and tell me “hamna shida, mama” (no worries, mama) soon! SOON! When? I would respond. “The chicken is not ready yet.” he would reply patiently. Eventually, the chicken was ready. He took a small box (previously used for water bottles) cut down the sides, filled it with hay and topped it with 12 eggs. He sat the white hen atop the eggs and told me that in 21 days I would have chickens!! I was sceptical. He asked me to pray over the eggs before he placed the chicken on them and I did so thinking that I was in fact, praying for a creative miracle. One day later, the chicken kicked 2 eggs out of the nest. “Too many” was Jamsi’s evaluation. I remained sceptical. 2 days later, he did the same with the rest of the eggs and placed a black hen on them. For the next 21 days these hens barely left the nest. They came outside of the hen house only for food and water, returning immediately to sit on the eggs.

Imagine my incredulity when this morning Jamsi shows me our first chicken, only 2 hours old!! To me this is amazing that these eggs are hatching?? After a 4 week period in the laundry?? Who knew??

Jamsi is busy building a wired enclosure under the raised hen house for the baby chickens. He says that they will stay in the hen house for the first week with their mother until their umbilical wound is healed??? Who knew that they had an umbilical wound??? Or was he talking about something else because I am not absolutely sure about the word for “umbilical” in Swahili! But he did point to his belly button?? But I am pretty sure chickens don't have umbilical cords!!

After this week the babies are allowed outside but only in the caged enclosure to protect them from hawks, mongoose, snakes etc. At this point, I am agreeing with the “fundi” about the welfare of the baby chicks. After the laundry episode, he has my attention.

Safari park with Baba Hamida and Jamsi....

2011-03-31T21:07:00.000+03:00

Today we had the awesome experience of seeing a 2 week old zebra nuzzling its mother. We had decided to enjoy some of our surrounds and take along Jamsi and Baba Hamida for the day to enjoy a picnic at a nearby game sanctuary.

They were overjoyed with the experience. Jamsi even deleted some photos of his beloved girlfriend to take pics with his phone.

We also had a blue/black snake travel btw David's feet after Zac accidentally kicked it. Yikes! It turns out it is non venomous... but you're not to know that when your foot touches it!!!

Zac ran very quickly toward the car and couldn't be convinced that his feet were safe.

Kids excel!

2011-03-22T22:37:00.002+03:00

Last sunday was our family service. This involved children in almost every area of the service.

They assisted with announcements, prayer for the offering, the sermon (enacted the story of 5 "breads" and 2 fish multiplication) and we prayed for them all at the end.

Part of the teaching was about heroes and David was asked to dress up as Superman to enter the stage as a hero. There was a gasp of shock as Africans saw their pastor enter in a bizarre costume wearing underpants over his pj bottoms, a t-shirt with "S" on it, a cape and his cap backwards. Some of them had very probably never seen Superman and were wondering what on earth had become of their fearless leader.

The children had raised 75,000/- shillings over a 4 week period for a local orphanage. They were an inspiration to their teachers as they demanded to give their money every week at the outset of the class and it was wonderful to see them present their decision to the managers of the orphanage and pray for the offering. They prayed for wisdom in how to spend it and also for the orphans to grow into strong and healthy adults.
We were all humbled by their prayers.

Baptisms and breakthroughs

2011-03-22T22:28:00.000+03:00

A couple of sundays ago we had the great privilege of baptising 6 people. We went to a local lodge and filled the place to capacity and each candidate gave a short testimony before being baptised in the clear blue water of the pool.

Teddies for preschoolers; t-shirts for college goers; soccerballs and soap bars….

2011-03-22T22:13:00.003+03:00

Teddies for preschoolers; t-shirts for college goers; soccerballs and soap bars….
It felt like Christmas for the residents of Loiborsoit preschool and vocational college. They were treated to new teddies (for the children) and t-shirts, soccer shorts and soccer balls for the college students.
The beading ladies were tending their families and gathering water so were not able to visit with us, so unfortunately, only 2 ladies received the beautiful kikoy (shawl) that was a gift for them due to money raised at the garage sale in Australia, recently.
Mama Porkea and Johnny’s wife were the 2 women who were totally blessed to receive their beautiful shawls. They are not given gifts very often. Mostly, if there is extra money it will be spent on food or water or essentials. Gifts especially fabric are something the women love and really value. The other ladies will receive theirs the next time we visit Emboret.

Just when you thought it was safe to eat mango......

2011-03-18T12:28:00.000+03:00

Last night we had the disturbing experience of cutting open a mango that we had been eating (and enjoying) to find a large hard beetle like animal crawl out, with lots of small black eggs behind it......

Horror, repulsion and shock were among the first reactions....

Of course, we had to google....
this is what we discovered...

The insect pest inside the mangoes is the mango nut weevil or stone weevil, ‘Sternochetus Mangiferae’. The young one or grubs as soon as they hatch out from the eggs tunnel in a zig zag manner through the pulp, endocarp and the seed coat and finally reach the cotyledons. As the fruit develops, the tunnel gets closed. The grub feeds on the cotyledons and destroys them. The adult emerges from the pupae also and feeds on the developing seed and this may hasten the maturity of infested fruits. The adult emerges from the pupae also and feeds on the developing seed and this may hasten the maturity of infested fruits. The adults hibernate in between the crevices on the tree trunks. The weevil attacks only mangoes. The dark brownish stout weevil measures about 6mm long. The female scoops out the surface of the developingfruit and deposits the egg singly. On a fruit 12 to 36 eggs may be deposited. The fluid that oozes from the fruit covers the eggs. The incubation period is 7 days. The grub is apodous, fleshly, light yellow with a dark head and pupates inside the nut itself. It emerges as an adult in 7 days. The total life cycle from eggs to adult is 50.

A Masai Wedding..... well kind of...

2011-02-20T22:15:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, we saw 2 friends get married.
Both of them have been involved in ministry in Tanzania for over 20 yrs.
Erwin, an American, came to Tanzania as a 25yr old. He met his first wife here and they had 3 boys who grew up here. Erwin has been involved in empowering the poor first through the Heifer project and now through Global Services Corp.
5 years ago, his much loved wife, Esther died.
When we first met Erwin, he spoke of his wife, his saddness at her death and their life together, often and with tears never far away.
We ached for his loss and prayed for God to heal his heart and bring him joy again.

Angelika, is from Germany and at the age of 8 announced to the world that she would be a missionary in Africa. No one took her seriously. She was constantly compared to Tarzan, because of her ability to climb trees and her fearless approach to life. This has served her well in Africa. She has been involved in ministry to the masai for more than 20 years.
Many times she has escaped from very dangerous situations with amazing faith and fortitude. She knows what sounds to make when confronted by a lion and which ones to make when confronted by a buffalo. She has been single and for many years, on waking, she thanked God that she was not married because she would not be able to do the things she did for God if she was. Angelika also knew Erwin, his wife Esther and baby sat for their boys.

A little over a year ago Erwin hinted to David that perhaps God was bringing someone into his life. Try as we might we could not guess who.

At the same time, God was prompting Angelika that there was a new season about to start in her life.

Because they are both so well known in Arusha, getting to know each other and discovering if there was something more than friendship was difficult. Once they even took a bus ride to Nairobi so that they could sit on the bus next to each other and discuss their feelings. They even boarded the bus at different stops to divert any suspicion.

Their love began to grow. His boys gave their blessing and then her family in Germany were to find out as well as her beloved Masai. Her family were incredulous and her 90 yr old father was overjoyed that he got to see his daughter married. The masai, in their usual blunt manner questioned if she had back-slidden; if she gave into temptation; and were very incredulous also. Erwin, had visited with a team alongside Angelika earlier and all reports were that he was dearly loved.
On discovery that it was Erwin, Angelika was going to marry, the masai responded. "he is a good man, mama. He will not beat you."

On Saturday, their wedding was an exhibition of the people's love. The masai choirs that came plus the girls from the orphanage who came to sing showed how loved and honoured this couple is. The maped choir gave 3 goats as gifts, representing the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

Other goats were dropped in the days before the wedding. They were to be killed, roasted and eaten. About 800 people attended the wedding and the bride wore a masai bridal gown and the groom and matching blue shirt and both wore the masai bridal jewelery: neck band, arm bands for Angelika.

Their wedding was joyful and poignant, especially when Angelika sang a song she wrote to Erwin about how she will see his sadness dissappear and together they will be refreshed and find new joy.

Truly an amazing experience to celebrate with a special couple.

Zac's visit... blink and you would have missed it

2011-02-19T20:24:00.000+03:00

Blink, and you would have missed it!!
Midterm break for RVA’ers who live in Arusha is only a weekend…..
Friday is spent on the shuttle bus from Nairobi to Arusha and arrival is around 2:30pm Friday afternoon.
Return is Monday morning on the 8am shuttle.
Not much time for us to love on our boy.
However, we did manage to catch a movie, catch up with friends, eat at his favourite restaurant and play board games and play guitar together (well, David and Zac did)
Zac has really improved in his guitar skills. His strumming and picking are getting really good.
I cooked his favourite food and bought his favourite sodas and he ate lots.
On top of this we had an awesome prayer time together asking God to give us pictures of the next season we would be walking into. God really encouraged Zac with this.

We miss Zac lots but know that the school he is going to is giving him a great education, great friendships and good social skills. He is growing as a Christian and His love for God. He is gaining insights and disciplines from a more evangelical perspective that he wouldn’t necessarily get at home but that never hurt anyone and will be helpful for structure in his Christian walk.

Next visit? 6 weeks time….. For one month at Easter break. Can’t wait.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!!! There is a New Man in the House…..

2011-02-14T17:47:00.001+03:00

The small community of 3 chickens that reside in the small hen house adjacent to the Vineyard Church have a new resident and a mighty fine specimen is he!!
They all think so! Even the independent and fearless Henny Penny has curtailed her solitary walks by herself to join the harem.
After a few snide visits from a mongoose, and much discussion amongst my workers, we decided to dispatch Jamsi, the chicken “expert” to find us a MAN to protect these hapless women (chickens, that is to say). He returned triumphant with a gorgeous specimen. We all thought so. He has no name at this point and we are open to suggestions. I have had some R rated names suggested by my daughters that we cannot accommodate. It would never do to have a pastor’s wife calling to her rooster in an unseemly manner.
On his arrival Mr Hen, his temporary name for now, announced his presence with alacrity. He paced around the yard shouting “I am here” well actually it was “mimi ni hapa” (Swahili)…. “anyone going to challenge me?” After a brief calling duel with a nearby rooster, he settled into inspect the garden.
The hens hardly seemed to notice him at first. They were content to scratch around and find shade under the leaves of the Monstera Deliciosa plant. It was only when it came to bed down that night that they seem to work out the “pecking order”. Ordinarily, they all sleep in the same nesting box – all 3 squeezed in – supposedly because it is cold??? (coming from Canada, I find this hard to believe). My theory is that it is a bonding issue. Anyway, enter Mr Hen…
Well, that night, all 4 slept in the same nesting box with Mr Hen on top!! It was kind of a statement of dominance. He is, after all, their night watchman, their guard by day and as time continues…. He Is becoming their husband.
The day workers/guards kept me updated. “He has married the 2 smaller chickens: Little Red Hen and Easter” they would tell me. Henny Penny, the larger hen, continued her independent ways, unphased by this new man in the house. While the others followed him around adoringly, Henny Penny continued to dig for worms in the far end of the garden, undeterred by squirrels, mongoose or any other predator. Her focus did not waiver from the task of extracting nutrients from the earth.
Today, 2 weeks after Mr Hens arrival, I noticed Henny Penny had joined the others. Instead of being far away from her sisters and new husband, she too has been smitten. Her once nonchalant air of dismissing the other chickens has dissolved. The news today was “he has made “her” his wife too, Mama”. This is good news indeed. Henny Penny is safer now. She is no longer separated from the others. Mr Hen runs a tight ship and should any of them stray, he does a quick run at them to herd them back together. He also leads them to greener pastures where there are more worms. To date they huddled in the dust bowls near their hen house, or visited the workers kitchen for tomato scraps while Henny Penny scratched around the gate. Now the whole family has ventured down to the larger garden where the green grass beckons and they graze together. The mongoose’ chances have diminished!!
"Mr Hen" protecting his ladies...

The Hen Family and mama

"Mr Hen" dances with Henny Penny!

Global Alpha Training

2011-02-09T23:52:00.003+03:00

Never could I have imagined that, within 18 months, we would be hosting the very thing I was sending my wife off to in Dar Es Salaam.
We were sitting in the waiting room of the little airport in Arusha. It hosts about four terminals, each little more than a single room or little restaurant area for the particular 'airline' concerned.
Judi and our friend Serena were off to the Global Alpha Training event in Dar, led by a team from, of all places, Vancouver ... the lovely city we'd just moved from.
The experience was quite challenging and launched Arusha Vineyard into a whole new season of exciting outreach.
One of the early attenders of our course, was Purnima and her daughter Niki. These were recent Hindu converts who loved the course and brought numerous friends.
Since then, in a few short months, Purnima attended an Alpha conference at Holy Trinity (the Alpha Church) in London, met Nicky Gumbel and invited a team to come to Arusha. Last week it happened!
We had a good cross-section of folk from different cultures and tribes (39 guests in all). What excited me most was a group from Karatu (nr Ngorongoro), made up of pastors and leaders from 5 different churches; almost unheard of in cultural environment where there is still little association between groups and denominations.
The GAT (Global Alpha Training) team was made up of 6 folk from London, teaching a solid three days worth of material, most of which was translated into Swahili as they spoke. They did a great job and left us feeling encouraged, envisioned and better equipped for the next season of sharing Christ in a relevant and inviting way. (Pictures to come).

Getting late - time to crash!

2011-01-24T05:34:00.000+03:00

It was getting late, our Friday night worship team meeting had just wound up and we headed out of Outpost Lodge, what is fast becoming our downtown ‘office’.
I had dropped our guest speaker back and was making my way home, relieved to now be on tarmac after 6 kms of dusty, rough road. However, everything was pitch black, nicer road but very poor visibility. There was obviously a power-outage making it darker than usual.
The streetlights are not normally turned on even if the power is available (barring the presence of a visiting dignitary), but one gets some benefit from the ambient light of the houses and shops.
It was now 9:30pm and very busy, pedestrians dressed in dark colors, carts without reflectors, cars and taxi vans with only one headlight working (in most cases the curb side one, deceiving you into thinking it’s an oncoming motorbike hugging the side of the road!). The edge of the road is unmarked and uneven. All senses are on high alert; the later the more treacherous, as alcohol begins to take its toll.

A late model white Suzuki was forcing its way out from my left (curbside). I slowed to a stop, allowing him to pull around and head back past me – I wasn’t in a hurry. He was cutting it close, but the roads are narrow and we all have to get pretty good at cutting it close.
This time, however, he came round my front and just kept turning instead of straightening, ploughing into the side of me.
A loud hiss and my front right corner dipped, as the tire deflated. There we were, driver to driver, intimately positioned, about a foot apart nose-to-nose. I wound down my window and calmly asked the young Tanzanian, “What on earth were you doing?”
“I’m sorry”, he said, “let’s get away from the crowd”.
In seconds we were surrounded by a mob of excited men. I agreed with the guy, Kijenge Juu intersection is a rough area.

We gingerly disentangled the cars. Someone handed him a car part that was lying on the road (turned out to be from my car). His front tire was lodged into my rear wheel well. He might have taken off, except for the fact he’d lost his front steering. I limped the car over to the side of the road while he did the same … how, I don’t know.

I called Judi, who happened to have a couple of our friends at home. All I got to say, with the growing crowd was, “I’ve had an accident. I’m being surrounded… do I want you guys to come? Yes … good idea. Can’t drive!”

Emmanuel is a tall guy, I’d guess in his early twenties. He claimed to have full-comprehensive insurance; quite possible given the lower cost of insurance in our parts.
The tell-tale smell of booze confirmed my suspicion.
He didn’t want to deal with the police and I agreed. Reports are always done back at the station and come at a cost. Sometimes the cars are impounded and variable rates are levied to get them out.
That’s when Godfrey appeared. He was better dressed than the average and spoke reasonably good English. I was cautious at first but had little choice other than accept his help.
“Make sure everything is locked – I’ve asked my friend to watch the car while we find a place to talk to this drunk driver”.
Things were now going better. I got Emmanuel to give me his license and wrote down the particulars, and was just about to write a statement for him to sign, when things got even more interesting.
A policeman appeared, and on seeing a sole white face, decided he would take things into hand, declaring in a loud, slurred voice, “I am a policeman and have the responsibility given to me by the government of this land to protect you!”
Godfrey turned to me and said quietly, “You don’t want to do this!” I agreed.
Things got quite unpredictable as he and Emmanuel argued with the cop that everything was under control and that we were going to sort this out amicably.
He reluctantly withdrew for a couple of minutes, leaning against the car. I wasn’t sure who was more drunk – the guilty party or the Law!
The young man was now getting more difficult, not wanting to admit any liability by signing a statement. A mate he’d called arrived on motorbike, as did Judi and our friends, and we now had sides forming.
Things began to get ugly as the policeman decided he would sort things out after all. When the Emmanuel raised his voice in protest, the cop grabbed his phone that he was trying to call with, and spun him round ready hand-cuff him. Godfrey quickly intervened and said something in Swahili that calmed the guy. I was impressed.
I whispered, “That was cool … what did you say?”
He grabbed my arm and said urgently, “Let’s get out of here!”

We went back to my car and, with the help of my friend Darryl and the loan of his jack, Godfrey proceeded to change the tire and got us out of there.
The steering appears to be ok, and the damage ended up being quite superficial – the runner-board and a rear mudguard part need replacing. Otherwise we’re fine.
Monday I’ll go into the insurance and hope they cover it, regardless of not having a police report.

In spite of central locking, my rear door ended up being open the whole time, with my bag and laptop on the floor. The trick in these parts is for a by-stander to hold open the handle while you lock, so that that door doesn’t lock. They then wait for you to move away in order to help themselves. In this case, there must have been an angel…

Ever thought of visiting Arusha Tanzania??

2011-01-23T21:44:00.003+03:00

Recently friends of ours have opened a hostel.
This hostel provides hot showers, internet, cable tv and clean beds and safe accommodation.
As of Jan 2011, Accommodation with breakfast was $25 and with dinner and breakfast $30 per night. Group rates apply.

Have a look at the link below to check it out:
http://www.hishealinghands.org/hostel.html

SEW creates jobs for HIV+ women in Arusha

2011-01-23T21:39:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I bought a handbag from a young lady who has set up a NGO that helps HIV+ women in Arusha.

She assists women who are stigmatized and often prostitutes to find a dignified living.

More photos to come of the range of handbags.

Orphanage needs prayer

2011-01-23T21:34:00.000+03:00

The orphanage behind our property is having a battle.
The history is that an american woman who is a hair dresser came to Tanzania and was moved by the plight of children with AIDS. SHe decided to start an orphanage. She partnered with a Tanzanian woman who promised that she would manage the house, children and funds.

Although the american woman had some reservations, she dismissed these and proceeded. She raised funds for a house and land. Here in Tz, only Tanzanians can own land and the land and house were purchased in the Tanzanian woman's name. More money was sent for food, medicine, books, dvd players, games etc.

Over time it became obvious that not all of the money was getting to bless the children.

Recently, 2 children died and then on Christmas day another child died. Since then the american woman has enlisted the help of others to see if she can fight this woman who has been found to be beating the children, accumulating funds for her own business ventures, using the minibus for her own business etc.

So far the woman has been jailed and released numerous times. Unfortunately, just when it seemed she would be relieved of her office she managed to have her sentence overturned. Sometimes, justice in Tanzania depends on how much money you pay the judge.

Sadly, the children are in the middle. Food is no longer able to be delivered to them until the legal battle is over. They have been living on Ugali (a taste-free starch dish made from cornflour. Anyone that approaches the orphanage are chased away and the security guards are contacted.

Pray for this ordeal to be over soon for these 16 children.

Prayer for this coming year!

2011-01-11T00:00:00.001+03:00

This is a prayer that I discovered in "Culture of Honour" by Danny Silk.
The Bethel church prays this as they receive the offering. I pray it over my life and over the lives of those I love.
See if it is anointed for this time in your life:

Today, as we receive this offering, we believe You for:
Heaven open, earth invaded
Storehouses unlocked and miracles created
Dreams and visions
Angelic visitations
Declarations, impartation, and divine manifestations
Anointings, giftings, and calls
Positions and promotions
Provisions and resources
To go to the nations
Souls and more souls
From every generation
Saved and set free
Carrying Kingdom revival
Thank You Father, that as I join my value system to Yours,
You will shower FAVOR, BLESSING, and INCREASE
upon me so I have more than enough to co-labor with
Heaven to see Jesus get His FULL REWARD!
HALLELUJAH!

Breakfast with a Christian politician

2011-01-10T23:52:00.001+03:00

Our first morning back in Arusha saw us having breakfast with our Vineyard colleague and now MP for Iringa region (southern Tanzania).
We spent the morning talking about justice, toppling the giants of greed, poverty, corruption and division in this land.
Politics is a challenge anywhere in the world, but in Africa, the evangelical/pentecostal church by and large frowns on, and distances itself from, the political forum. This is so unfortunate seeing that this continent is crippled by self-serving leaders, who all initially trumpet the cause of anti-corruption, but consequently tend to fall prey to the seduction of 'the good life'.

The challenge for the Church is to identify and empower those called to the halls of power, and establish strong life-lines and accountability structures to help these godly individuals to not only survive, but take ground in the areas of justice and social ethics, especially for the sake of the poor.

We're very excited that this pastor has been successful in taking office. Peter Msigwa needs our prayers and encouragement, as well as mentoring, to be effective in community transformation. Any suggestions or contacts? Do let us know...

Interestingly, we just had lunch with Pst Elijah Ngurumwa, whom some of you know. His father did the reverse - from police commissioner to politician (with the opposing party to Peter's) then to pastoring.

Back home to fierce sunshine, loud rain and gecko fights/love

2011-01-10T23:51:00.000+03:00

The weather in Arusha, since our arrival is very hot. Around 29 or 30 degrees celcius and most evenings we have a cool delicious shower of rain.
David was fascinated to see a very "aggressive" gecko fight our first morning home. Upon further research, it seems that it may have been a love tryst?!
Geckos here are small and unobtrusive and eat the mosquitos. So we like them. Until the jump on you when you open a curtain.

You know you are not in Africa when...

2011-01-10T23:41:00.000+03:00

When in New Zealand one particular sign struch me as very Unafrican....is that a word?

Owens in Africa: Visiting Masai Mama store made me wish I could bring my beading ladies here....

2011-01-07T15:12:00.000+03:00

Owens in Africa: Visiting Masai Mama store made me wish I could bring my beading ladies here....

Arriving back in Arusha Tanzania, tomorrow

2011-01-05T18:42:00.000+03:00

After seeing Zac safely back to school, we take the 5 hour drive to Arusha tomorrow morning.
We usually leave early so that we beat the traffic and avoid the heat. We are not sure how the upgrade has progressed but we are bracing ourselves for the usual bone rattling ride. We do, however, regularly remind each other that many people pay for their bodies to be shaken vigorously in those special chairs you see in airports. If is meant to increase circulation and then there is a miriad of other things it cures. We shall see. Mostly it just feels like organs have been repositioned.
We are really looking forward to returning to our home.
A couple of prayer requests:
Water - the well that has been dug by hand, on the church property, reached 105 feet and we have hit rock. Dynamite is the next stage!! Pray for the "expert" who goes down with the dynamite which has a very long wick then scrambles out quickly. Also, that we would find water and lots of it so that we can bless those around us. Currently, we buy it from a neighbouring church for a lot of money and our neighbours travel on foot for miles to collect from a town tap, then carry it on their heads in buckets.
Also, pray for the political situation in Arusha, normally a very peaceful place. Riots broke out in town today when the political party Chadema held a rally that went wrong They ran to the nearest police station for protection where the police sprayed bullets and tear gas. Not sure if anyone was killed but people were very afraid and the father of my friend was caught in the middle of it in his car. He managed to drive over pavements, blasting his horn and screaming and managed to escape unharmed.

Christmas with family in Australia....

2010-12-27T16:11:00.012+03:00

sadly, Celeste was unable

to join us due to passport issues...

We shared the day with my family and their children....
In this shot, Matilda, Mark, Zac and I

with my sister, Bonnie, who owns Masai Mama, the store...

Justine with her cousins, Ben and Joel...

with my parents and brother, Mark...

with my sister, Kris

In this photo, Sonia with baby Cooper on her knee chatting with grandpa during the gift opening...

More beaded decorations in a store in Casino

2010-12-27T15:51:00.003+03:00

Heads salon in Casino, featured the snowflakes made by masai women from Emboret in their store window this Christmas

Visiting Masai Mama store made me wish I could bring my beading ladies here....

2010-12-22T14:40:00.002+03:00

It was so much fun finally getting to visit my sister Bonnie's store in the seaside town of Ballina, Australia. To look at something on the shelf and know where it came from, and in some cases who made it, was quite a thrill.
While in Ballina we also got to catch up with some of our oldest friends from pre-marriage days, Bob and Rozanne Ping - former Qantas crew and more recently teachers at Watoto in Uganda.

Next stop Australia..... to see my parents and lots of old friends

2010-12-22T14:36:00.002+03:00

Visiting with Lloyd and Susan...

Dad and Paul organise BBQ pork...

Next stop Tauranga to see our beautiful daughter Justine...

2010-12-22T14:34:00.003+03:00

and to catch up with old friends Jim and Min...and Jesse

Tauranga is one of the more beautiful places on earth... we can see why Justine loves it!

Onto Vancouver....

2010-12-16T16:33:00.003+03:00

More reporting about our work with friends, food & fun in Vancouver....
It also meant time for catching up about taxes, teeth, school friends for Zac ....
We caught up with ECC in Richmond
Time limitations meant we missed many of our friends....
but we managed a lot!!

We had the generous loan of a car, traded in our computer and fixed up our banking issues.

Time with family & friends!

2010-12-16T16:02:00.006+03:00

In London, St Albans we saw our lovely daughter Celeste, her flatmates...... and David's family.
We also caught up with the Vineyard team who came to Tanzania.
As for David's family, it was an Owens family reunion, except for big brother Ron and sister-in-law, Pat.

Celeste took her dad to a Chelsea game, for his Christmas present!!

Celeste and her lovely flatmates made us very welcome....

Catch Up Time!

2010-12-07T14:29:00.002+03:00

Since moving to the new property, life has changed considerably.
The church building is almost finished. We started worshiping there on Oct or Nov 1st. We had a baptism, prodigals return, young women's home group as well as prep for furlough which we are now enjoying.
One thing that became clear during our travels is that people read our blog! This has encouraged us to continue writing and we hope to a catch up (mostly pictorial) of the last few months.

We are in the process of buying the land for Arusha Vineyard at the moment. The church is meeting together, praying and seeking God for the $20,000US we need for a deposit by January 2011. We are so blessed that they have already raised $14,000. We are believing God for the rest. We believe God wants to birth a movement of Grace and healing and spiritual empowerment within East Africa thru Arusha Vineyard. God wants to visit Arusha in a way that transforms lives and brings many people to know Him. This building and property is a part of this. We want to see an invasion of kingdom of heaven in Arusha Tanzania. Please join us in praying for an open heaven and for storehouses to be released so that many may be freed, healed, loved welcomed and belong to the Church in Arusha.

If you wish to give and be a part of this venture then please click on our donate button or contact us via email at owensinafrica@gmail.com. We welcome your prayers, words, encouragement and support at this time.

Thank you for standing with us,
Judi and David

The Singida trip

2010-10-01T06:06:00.008+03:00

Our trip to Singida region was always going to be a challenge. Our schedule only allowed for one night and this place is well over 300kms away, with only a third or less of it paved.
Elijah and Tegemea, two pastors with whom I've been working over the last couple of years, joined me on the trip leaving Arusha early Monday, with our first session planned from 2pm that afternoon.

It wasn't long before the tarmac ended as we headed south, dust blowing everywhere and through it, a glimpse of wildlife.

We stopped in the town of Babati, where we grabbed a quick drink and met up with Elijah's father, a former senior policeman, politician and now regional overseer for his denomination, a rare combination in any country! Indeed he is a rare man with a heart for the whole Body of Christ, not just his own group. He has a Bible college and church there.

We then headed west, 200kms of road under construction and none of it open for use! I rebelliously used some of it to avoid the rough detours, sometimes having to double back when we suddenly come across the rare areas where the heavy machinery was at work.

Hango, our host pastor, had been waiting at a small village (Sagara) for four hours, in order that we would not miss the turn. Just as well - it was not even a road, rather a pathway through the village that broadened slightly as we weaved (wove?) our way through the bush to Mipilo, a tiny hamlet at the base of some huge rocks.

The Singida region is marked by clusters of rock that look like some giants had randomly piled stones.
(Tegemea laughingly told me of a local politician who had been just voted in and wanted to be able to tell people he'd raised issues for them in parliament. His question was, "Have there been any plans by the government to remove the nuisance rocks from my area?" He certainly made his mark!)

We were first dropped at our guesthouse, a small mud house, surrounded by others just like it and a brick field, where bricks are made using technology that would predate Abraham. We were warmly welcomed with tea and chapatis.
No electricity in the whole village, though there was a satellite dish (must be generator & TV somewhere but we couldn't see one). Our rooms had a single candle and box of matches - the shower and toilet were across the courtyard and could only be distinguished by where the hole was positioned on the floor! It was fun and the bed was comfortable.

When we got to the church - we were served lunch, (the ubiquitous goat meat stew and rice - special fare for visitors), surprisingly tender and tasty, before being escorted by a group of ladies with singing and the kigelegele across the courtyard into the church for the first session.
They had two choirs, their regular Swahili one and a Nyaturu widows choir.

The first session was on Jesus and his friends, asking the question "Who were Jesus' friends and would they be welcomed in YOUR church?" We looked at the Samaritan woman, Zacchaeaus, Mary Magdalene etc.. It was a challenging and they visibly wrestled through it, finally repenting of their attitudes.

The evening we met with the leaders of the church. The generator wouldn't start so we conducted the whole meeting with an LED lamp they brought.

After a late morning session the next day - poorly attended due to bad planning on our part, because all able-bodied people have to make the long trek of 3 miles to get water from the nearest well. Nonetheless, they eventually arrived and we spent some time together before hitting the road again, getting back to Arusha well after nightfall.
A truck had a puncture in middle of nowhere so we gave these guys a 2km ride on the side while they held on to the tyre.

We'll be back and I'm sure we'll get to see some of Jesus' seeker-friends mixed in with the congregation ... they assured me of that!

THE CHICKENS ARE COMING!!!!

2010-09-10T14:53:00.003+03:00

For a long time now, I have loved chickens and wanted my own to love and care for, in the hope that they would produce some wonderful little yellow eggs for me....

Finally, I am building that hen house. It will be 5 foot by 5 foot with wire mesh on one side and will be off the ground on "legs" to combat the problem of killer ants, here. It will have a roof and 3 wooden walls and a ladder for the chickens to walk up at night,

This structure will house the four lovely chickens I am getting from a friend when she leaves to live in Kenya. It is hoped that they will be safe from mongoose, dogs, snakes etc. in this little apartment.

The carpenter is charging 67,000 tz shillings - close to $47AUS and $45 CAD plus an extra $14 for labour.

Of course, there is still nesting boxes, sawdust, chicken feed and feeders but I am close to my dream of raising chickens.

The down side is that I am going to miss my friend, Serena, who has not only prayed diligently for us and our church but has run the first alpha course in our church and been a kind and generous listener in our time in Tz. She will be greatly missed. Thankfully, Kenya is not too far away and visits are possible.

Lets hope Maziwa (milk) and Kahawa (coffee) our two incorrigible dogs leave Henny Penny and the girls alone!!

p.s. plans are afoot to build a small fence and house for the tortoises so that Flash and his wife can also make the trek over to the new house. We are seriously considering leaving the younger male behind, who shows a lack of manners and over interest in females. He has been informally named "pervert" by one of my daughters. Any guessing which daughter might have labeled him? I think, Kobe, the female tortoise would thank us for this.

There are no short cuts to faith!

2010-09-06T11:49:00.004+03:00

When God asks us to do something that is way beyond our ability and resources, it stretches our faith and causes us all kinds of insecurities.
There are many temptations that arise when we face obstacles to our vision.

We are tempted to rework the vision or outcome and make it smaller

We are tempted to blame others for lack of obvious fruit

We are tempted to take charge and fill the gaps we can fill and not wait for God's answer

We are tempted to worry and complain

We are tempted to be angry and frustrated

We are tempted to accuse God

However, the only way through is to get on our face and "do carpet time" ... cry out to God. Seeking His face and hearing from God while we wait for answers and His resources, forms in us something of perseverance, peace, the Lordship of Christ. We need to settle our doubts honestly before God. Settle our fears, our inner conflicts before a loving Father and hear His answers.

This is often done in a season of pain. Something we seriously try to avoid is pain and yet it is in this crucible that so much of our faith and character is formed.

It sometimes saddens me that I spend so much time with God when I am lacking, when I am hurting, when I am in need and tend to skip along forgetting Him when things are going well. Is this relationship purely expedient? I don't think so ... but sometimes it must look that way.

My African brothers and sisters inspire me with their deep spirituality. When faced with a lack of food, what do they do? They see it as a forced fast, using the opportunity to cry out to God and trust Him excitedly for an answer. They don't battle with self pity, anger, doubt and lack of love because their Christianity is not from a paradigm of being cosseted and cared for with every need taken care of, immediately. When their needs aren't met, which they aren't (on a regular basis) they see it as God's intervention to get their attention and assume it is time for prayer!

A good challenge for me! God is still God when my needs aren't met immediately. His timetable has a purpose to grow me and bring me to maturity where I can say with Paul & Timothy:

I timothy 6: 6-7
6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

and with Paul:
Philippians 4:11-13
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plent or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

A Great Awakening

2010-09-06T07:42:00.006+03:00

Two nights ago we were woken by what we thought was an argument either on our property or next door. I got up to check what was happening, couldn't see anything out of the windows so went outside.
I checked the guard house; Justin our night guard wasn't there, nor were the dogs. He was obviously out doing his rounds.
It was all quiet, then I heard it again, growing in volume, coming from the building site.
I could make out a few Swahili words from the distance - "nyumbani... familia.. kanisa... mungu.. bariki..." (house, family, church, God, blessing).
By the time I got to the site in the pitch darkness, there was singing. It sounded like four or five in beautiful harmony. I thought our two guys must have invited folk to join them for a prayer meeting without informing us. Heart-warming ... but they should have checked first.
They must have seen my flashlight as I approached, but didn't ease up the singing until I shone the light directly on the "group".
There was only the two of them, Justin and James, our resident day worker.
(Justin, whose brother is a local pastor, has apparently taken it on himself to disciple young James. They sit up late into the night, their figures backlit by the kerosene lamp in the guardhouse.)
There I was, standing among the stacks of makuti (banana-leaf roofing), shining my light around to see where the rest were. There were only the two - both looking a little apprehensive about having woken me.
I said, "Wow, that sounded like more than just the two of you!"
Young James came up to me with a broad, sheepish grin, apologetically took my hand and said, "Labda Yesu pia?" (Maybe Jesus too?)
James and Justin near the site
The two guys with Maziwa checking out our erratic water pump

Patience in building

2010-07-05T07:48:00.000+03:00

It’s not the most rewarding of seasons … when you have to go down to go up, there’s little to show for the effort. Like seasons in farming, the preparation of ploughing and weeding are essential, but at the end of the day you just end up sore and dirty - with no visible sign of fruit. Thankfully one gets to know the pattern of nature, working with it and learning what must be done during the course of the seasons. As a farmer, we do all WE can and then we have to leave the rest to God.
It’s always fun going out to the villages – doing seminars etc … but the challenge is to empower, not just encourage; educate, not just inform. That takes longer – that takes patience and God-given vision, with no guaranteed short-term results.
Church-wise we are literally in low-season. The school holidays are upon us, with our families heading overseas, missionaries on furlough and our business folk gearing up for the tourist safari influx, meaning extended absences from Arusha.
At the same time, we are building our new church home – in one sense bad timing because of reduced income but what we are left with is our local base, the growing element of English-speaking Africans that are giving time, energy and what they can give financially, and God’s giving the increase.

Busy times means little blogging!!

2010-06-11T22:34:00.002+03:00

Our lives are filled with moving house, building a church banda (wooden tent), launching small ministry teams, teaching church planters and visiting our son in Nairobi for his birthday and midterm break.

Amidst the packing, teaching, birthday cake and team building God is at work and we are fulfilled.

Some interesting things I have learned in the last few weeks.

The Nyaturu tribe teach their baby girls that they should think about encouraging other men as lovers when they marry to ensure that they get the basics of food and clothing taken care of should their husbands disappoint in this area.

Men who praise their wives publicly are probably controlled by their wives is a sentiment expressed by some young African men recently.

China is responsible for the invention of paper, xerox, porcelain (think "best china") and many other things - thanks to Zac Owens for this info.

Packing and moving is painful both physically and emotionally overwhelming

My son is writing songs and so are his two sisters... what is up with that?

My son does not like Ethiopian food. He does like Italian food. He also likes naan bread and juice combos.

Building a church banda is amazingly fast when you have the right people and lots of them. Buying grass for a roof costs more than you think it will.

Launching small teams who are led by lay people and giving away vision take a lot of time and communication and excitement.

Daughters who live on the other side of the world are hard to connect with on skype.

Trusting God with daughters who live on the other side of the world and who are stressed out with moving and deadlines is easy in theory.

Documentation for travel in africa is time consuming and complicated and depends on who you know and how nice you are to them... no I am not talking about bribery!

Father's Day is celebrated in East Africa on June 20th like North America.

Babies born in Lutheran hospitals here in Arusha via C-Section make an expensive entrance into this world. They are also extremely beautiful. Welcome to baby Savannah.

"The player with the ball is the one who gets tackled" refers to more than just football.

Lots of "players" of late are getting tackled. Health issues, family issues, pet issues, worker issues.... all seem large at the moment.

Teenage boys hate sex talks by their teachers and counsellors. They are very embarrassed to discuss the subject of sex or have it discussed by others.

Haircuts are cheaper in Nairobi.

Kenyan movies need assistance. Money and expertise!

The Good Samaritan - Tanzanian style

2010-05-16T23:06:00.003+03:00

The beautiful Nadine

Our dear friend Nadine went hiking with her friend Tom on Monday night. Unfortunately, there was a light rain and at about 30 meters from the summit Nadine slipped and Tom went to assist her and they both fell around 100 meters onto rocks and mud.

While at the bottom of the gorge they had a number of visitors. The first people who came demanded money to rescue them. Nadine was unconscious and Tom emerged from consciousness to be asked for money. Unbeknown to them both the robbers helped themselves to Nadine’s camera bag in which she had her camera, blackberry and car keys in it. The second visitors went to get the third lot who laid Nadine on a Masai blanket to transport her to the top of the gorge so she could get some help. They also contacted nearby missionaries who knew Nadine and Tom so they could get them to a nearby hospital.

Nadine sustained multiple injuries with a broken pelvis and finger while her knee is badly swollen and she has grazes and bruising. Tom also had concussion, cuts and bruising. Tom has been released from hospital while Nadine is still recovering.

When relating the story of her robbery while she was unconscious to friends here in Tanzania we were informed that this is very common. In fact, if the victim of an accident is dead, passers by will strip them of everything including clothing!!

Surely, this is the story of the good Samaritan who suffered similar treatment at the hands of robbers and visitors who were indifferent to his plight until finally a Samaritan man came and showed mercy on the Jewish victim and not only helped him to a hospital but took care of his bills and recovery as well.

They touched my heart ... and this is all I have to show for it!

2010-05-13T22:32:00.011+03:00

The doctor looked at me and said, "This looks like the condition of a 75 year old. I want to do another test".
I had experienced my first heart-related condition two days before. It had been 5:30am, I was up enjoying some quite time, when suddenly my chest seized up and my pulse started doing things I didn't know it could... my world started spinning, making it difficult to sit upright, let alone stand.
Not long later I was in Arusha's Lutheran hospital, being attended to by one of the few western doctors in the city. He clocked me at between 60 and 160 rpm (sic), suggested that it was probably atrial fibrillation but that I needed to get myself to Nairobi for a proper check.

"75 year-old?" I'd just completed three tests that afternoon in Karen Hospital's cardio clinic (as well as 24 hr monitoring - see pic) and wanted to go home.

(One sensor fell off during the day, so I just stuck it 'wherever'... result? ... a bowel reading perhaps? No wonder I passed with flying colours!)

My episode had been conveniently timed the day before we were to return our son to boarding school in Nairobi. The hospital is a beautiful new establishment situated in Karen, the suburb named after Karen Blixon from "Out of Africa".
"The ECG and echo look alright," explained Dr Gykonyo "but your stress test suggests some problems. We'll need to do an angiogram."
He paused, "Actually, we have some visiting specialists coming... we can fit you in next week".

We headed back home on the rough 5 hour drive to Arusha, nervous about my condition, wondering how it would affect our work etc... I was surprised, I'd always been told I had a strong heart - no indication of cholesterol or the like, though I do have a family history which suggested weakness in that area.
The tests had been pretty straight forward - I turned to Judi, "What's an angiogram?"
"They stick a tube up through your groin into your heart, pump in some dye to spot blockages by Xray".
If I didn't have heart condition before, I almost carked it there and then!

To cut a long story just a little shorter, we returned the following Tuesday after a nervous few days, and checked in early Wednesday morning, accompanied by a good friend who came up to keep Judi company.

I was put under the care of two Indian cardiologists. I'd been briefed earlier that they were going to attempt the procedure through the wrist, instead of the groin. That sounded good to me after many tales of long recoveries and complications with the latter. The wrist promised a much quicker recovery.

There I lay, needles in both arms, my right wrist the subject of their primary attention (I thought my heart was on the left ... should I tell them?) They applied local anaesthetic(?) and promised I wouldn't feel anything.
The cardiologist asked for a splint to keep my arm in position. The attendant replied, "We don't have one, we always improvise!"
After a couple of improvisory attempts, they gave up and I was asked to keep my wrist steady at a specific angle. (Maybe that's why they don't put you under a general?!)

Though I couldn't see (not that I was trying), I could tell the African surgeon was having trouble trying to thread the catheter into my arm. The Indian doctor took over and after a bit I felt pain half way up my arm. It felt like a wire that was trying to come out ... mmmm.
They consulted for a while then they told me they would have to go via the groin. I groaned ... now I'd have two recovery sites!

"Could you please give it one more more try? I'm staying on the second floor of a guest house and have a long and rough trip back to Tanzania."
He looked at me and asked, "Are you a lefty?" (cricketing term for left-handed).
"Yes I am, actually".
"That's why I'm having trouble - your veins are smaller". (I knew I should have told them to use my left wrist!!!)
He deliberated silently for a few moments. "Let's give it one more try".
One more incision further up the arm ... "You're very lucky, it's working!"
"I wouldn't call it luck doctor .. I have just been praying and there's lots of people doing the same thing..."
"Ah, prayer is it?" he grinned.

I have no idea when my heart was penetrated or when the dye was pumped in - no feeling. A small Xray 'head', with what looked like a shower cap on it, was shifting around in quick, deliberate movements just above my chest, filming my veins and fast-beating heart from different angles.
He pulled the catheter out and reinserted it. My innards were displayed on a couple of screens - I simply could not get my head around the fact that that was me up there!
After what seemed like a very short time - I'd say less than five minutes, he looked down at me and said, "You're ok ... you are one of the few very lucky people!"
I said, "I wouldn't call it..."
"Ah yes ... prayer!"

David, after his procedure. A celebrity in the heart clinic.... posing for pictures with the surgeons.

On a lighter note..... Flash has no gender confusion!!

2010-05-01T17:05:00.003+03:00

The latest report on Flash is that he was seen digging a large hole right next to our vegetable garden and close to the footpath. Whenever we approached to look he stopped as if waiting for us to leave. When we did, he began digging again.

Nowhere in any of the literature we have read did it mention that MALE tortoises dig nests!

However, according to our night guard, around 1am Kobe, the female tortoise, lowered herself into the hole that Flash had dug and laid one solitary egg.

Flash was close by watching.

When she had finished he quickly covered the egg with dirt and made sure there was no evidence of midnight laying.

We await to see if the egg hatches. I am not certain that breeding in captivity is very successful.... or even if this could be considered captivity?? If the egg hatches successfully then we can expect to see something like the little tortoise in the picture below.

Meanwhile the young male is nowhere to be seen.

When I asked the locals how long it will take for the egg to hatch their reply was that we needed to wait till it gets cold??

So it seems that Flash was being a very good daddy and husband ..... not gender confused as first suspected!

Faith, Stress and heart problems.....

2010-05-01T12:47:00.002+03:00

This last week has been a bit stressful for us and also a bit of a shock.

David awoke Sunday morning and at around 5am experienced a tightening of the chest, numbness in his face and left arm plus dizziness and a very erratic heartbeat.

At 6am he woke me to take his pulse which I tried to do. I assumed that I had lost the ability to do this because it was so fast one second and non existent the next!!!

At around 10am after discussion with nurses in our church and phone calls to a local American doctor David went to Selian hospital for a consultation.

Here is the report from the doctor:

I examined David Owens on 25/10/2010 because of intermittent chest tightness and dizziness over a six week period. A chest infection had been diagnosed at the onset and antibiotics prescribed with no improvement. A chest xray done at that time was normal. This morning he once again noted chest tightness and dizziness and came to ALMC. There was a history of mild asthma, though no wheezing at present. There was no other relevant past history. His BP was 84/60, pulse 159 and irregularly irregular with a significant pulse deficit, respirations 18 and 02 sat 96%. Neck veins were flat. Lungs were clear. Heart rate as above varied, I was not able to appreciate any murmurs, bruits or extra sounds. He went to have an ECG taken but converted back to a regular rhythm at rate 82 before the study was done. I recommended referral to a cardiologist for further evaluation.

We left for Nairobi on Monday to drop Zac and called into the heart clinic for further tests. David had an ECG, heart echo, 24 hour heart monitor and a stress test. After which it was decided that he should also have an angiogram.

We were informed that there was a team coming from the States, the following week, of cardiologists who were donating their time and expertise and so we were going to receive state of the art care with a discounted price. The procedure would only be $800 US!!!

We felt we should just get medication and trust God for the rest. The cardiologist, however, mentioned that if we were in the states he would not allow David to leave the hospital but would need to stay till they had done the angiogram and he felt it was necessary. Therefore, this Wednesday, May 5th he will go into hospital in Nairobi in the morning for the procedure and will see what the results are and how he recovers to see if he overnights.

In all of this we have felt the prayers of friends and family and a sense of God's love and care.

It looks like this may have been some of David's fatigue issues all along. He has also experienced the numbness and tingling in his face for months, if not years when he is stressed. God is getting to the bottom of all this and we are thankful.

We appreciate your prayers and words of encouragement for us.

Please stand with us in believing God for his peace, healing, grace to endure Nairobi traffic :D, provision and faith in His all knowing love.

BMW Motorcyclist stays the night!

2010-04-22T19:07:00.005+03:00

As you can imagine there are lots of tourists in Arusha Tanzania. Yesterday afternoon we met Ronnie, Gypsy Rider, who is traveling the world on his BMW R1200GS motorbike.
(See his link http://www.motogypsybiker.com/ - April 26th entry for his account of our visit).

Ronnie stayed for dinner and for the night at the recommendation of a Biker enthusiast friend of ours in Port Elizabeth SA. It was fun getting to know him and his story.

Besides himself and his bike, Ronnie arrived packed to the gunnels.

Here is a list of all the things he has packed with him on his bike:
He decided not to take any form of cooking equipment, preferring rather to get the food I need as I go along…

RIDING GEAR

BMW Rally 2 Pro Jacket

BMW Rally 2 Pro Pants

Ricka Gloves

BMW Gloves

Caberg Helmet

Santiago Boots

Pro Rider Fingerless Gloves

Spare Off-road Gloves

Earplugs

Xkulcha Balaclava x 2

Xkulcha Buff x 4

Xkulcha Neck Warmer

Xkulcha Breath Deflector

Xkulcha Bandana x 2

BMW Motorrad 2 Piece Rain Suit

Safety Vest

Wraparound Back Support

BMW Motorrad Sunglasses

Spare Sunglasses

Spare Boot Clips

BIKE GEAR

Airhawk Seat

2 litre Fuel Bottles x 4

12v Compressor

Elastic Tie Downs x 6

Bike Cover

Cargo Net

Helmet Bag

CLOTHING

Fleece Lined Pullover

Windbreaker

Cotton Shirt x 2

Long Pants x 2

Raincoat

T-Shirts x 6

Shorts x 2

Woolen Socks x 4

Other socks x 2

Underwear x 6

Thermal long Underwear T/B Winter

Thermal long Underwear T/B Summer

Caps x 2

Strops x 1

Costume

Spare Kit Bag

TOOLS & MAINTENANCE

Puncture Repair Kit

Spare Air Canisters x 6

Spare Repair Rubber Slugs x 20

Rubber Compound Tubes x 3

Leatherman Wave Multitool Black

Digital Tyre Pressure Guage

Leatherman Wave Multitool

LM 40 Multipurpose Spray

Q-20 Lubricant Spray

Visor and Helmet Cleaner

Super Glue 1 gram tubes x 4

Velcro Patches

Microfibre Cleaning Clothes x 2

Tape Measure

Pratley Steel Putty

S/S Bolts and Nuts Various

Syphon Hose

Small Funnel

BMC Air Filter Washing Kit

500ml 20W50 Engine Oil

Long Handled Wire Brush

Utility Knife + Blades

Touratech Multitool

TOOL KIT

Cable Ties – Various Sizes

Duct Tape 10 metres

Electrical Tape x 2

Special Waterproof Tape

Wire – .5 Guage

5m Electrical Flex

Small Shifting Spanner

Small Hammer

Long Nosed Pliers

Small Pliers

Side Cutter

Allen Keys Various Sizes

Torque Keys Various Sizes

C-Spanner

Sparkplug Remover

Oil Cap Tool

Socket Set Metric

Star Screwdriver x 2 sizes

Flat Screwdriver

BMW Wheel Spanner Set

Combo Spanners 6 – 17mm

24 Pc Screwdriver Tip Set

Dual Purpose Bicycle Pump

Valve extender for Air Canisters

SPARES

L/H Ignition Coil

R/H Ignition Coil

Bottom Ignition Coil

Throttle Valve Switch

Front Brake Pads x 2 FDB2125P

Rear Brake Pads x 1 FDB2039P

Clutch Lever

Brake Lever

Rubber Mounts for Bash Plate

Osram H7 Head Light Globes x 4

Spotlight On/Off Switch

Spotlight Relay Switch

Brake Light Globes x 2

Spark Plugs x 2

Fuses 20 Amp x 12

Fuses 15 Amp x 5

Fuse Connectors

Spare Top Box Lock & Catch Plate

Spare Top Box Locks x 2

Spare H & B Pannier Lock & Key

Caberg Spare Outer Visor

Caberg Spare Sun Visor

BMW 1200GS Repair Manual CD

BMW Rider’s Manual

CAMPING GEAR

Adventure 360° Sleeping Bag

Sea to Summit Waterproof Bag

Bushtec Eurobike 2 man Tent

Spare Tent Pegs x 8

Thermal Comfort Mattress

Inflatable Pillow

Ground Sheet

5 l Fold-up Water Canister

Mini Lantern

Headlamp 1

Headlamp 2

Cyba-Lite Torch

Spare Torch

Clothesline

Cutlery Set

Stainless Steel Mug

Water Bottle 1

Water Bottle 2

6mm Nylon Rope (Short Pieces)

Sonic Mozzie Repeller

Karabiners x 6

Tie Down Buckle straps x 6

25mm Nylon Strap 5m

Buckles x 10

COMPUTER & OTHER TECH STUFF

ACER Travel Mate 5530G

BUILT Laptop Zip Pouch

ACER Charger Cable

MECER 400 Gig External Hard Drive

Vodaphone Internet Modem

MTN Internet Modem

Transcend 32 Gig Flash Drive

AXIZ 8 Gig Flash Drive X 2

8 x Multiport USB Station

Multiple Flash Card Reader

200W Power Inverter for Laptop

Garmin Zumo 660 GPS

Zumo 660 case

Garmin Oregon 300

Interphone F4 Wireless Telecom

OLYMPUS Digital Voice Recorder

Nokia E51 Cell Phone

Apple IPod 80 Gig

I-Jet Remote IPod Control

Spare Earphones x 2

SD Memory Cards 8g , 4g x 2 , 2g

Sony DVD-R Discs x 10

Garmin Maps on SD Cards x 2

Double Adaptor

Universal Multi Plugs x 2

Uniross 12v Battery Chargers x 2

Uniross DC Battery Charger

AA Rechargeable Batteries x 20

AAA Rechargeable Batteries x 8

DC USB Charger

CAMERAS

Canon D10 Power Shot

Sony T7 Cyber-shot

Sony DCR- SX40 Handy Cam

Sony PMP18 HUM Video Recorder

Sony “Bullet” HeadCam 5MP

Aluminum Tripod

Gorillapod

Multi Battery Charger

Spare Canon Battery + Insert

Spare Sony T7 Battery + Insert

Spare Sony SX40 Battery + Insert

Charging and Download Cables

DOCUMENTS

SA Passport x 2 + Copies

EU Passport + Copies

US Visa – Laminated Copy

SA I.D. Book + Copies

SA Drivers Licence + Copies

International Drivers Licence + Copy

Immunization Booklet + Copies

Carnet du Passage + Laminated Copy

Outsurance Cert. Letter + Copies

Discovery Medical Aid Cert. + Copies

Bike Registration Papers + 20 Copies

Bike Licences

Nedbank Letter + Copies

AA Indemnity Cert. + Copies

Passport Photos x 20

A4 Document Pouch x 3

A4 Waterproof Pouch x 1

A4 Waterproof Pouch x 2

FIRST AID

Space Blanket

Tweezers

Bandages

Mozquito Guard

Coartem

Malaria Herbal Drops

Zentel 200mg

Voltaren 12.5 mg

Diclofenac 50mg

Imodium Plus Chewables

Sinal Co Flu Tablets

Cepacol

Eno’s

Safyr Bleu

Deep Heat Patches

Deep Heat Cream

Band Aids

Sunscreen

Savlon

Bestum Red

Centrum Orange

Salmon Oil

Charcoal Tablets

Arnica Oil

CalCvita

Bactroban Tropical Cream

Betadine Cream

Coxflam Tablets

Rennies Tablets

Xtrax Ointment

Knee Guards

Emergency Blanket

Mouth-Mouth Breather

Hydrafilm

Earbuds

Rubber Gloves

Burnshield Hydro Gel

Scissors

Tissue Salts No 8

Panado Tablets

Rehidrat/HydraAssist

TOILETRIES

Toiletry Bag

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Deoderant

Disposable Razors

Face Cloth

Tek Towel

Battery Operated Clipper

Lip Ice x 2

Soap

Plastic Soap Dish

Shampoo

Small Mirror

Sun Screen

Ear Buds

Tweezers

STATIONERY & READING

Pens

Highlighters for Maps

Moleskin Journal 1

Notebooks x 3

Moleskin Journal 2

Notebooks x 3

Prestik

Bostik

Magnifying Glass

Guide Books

World Facts

Business Cards x 500

MAPS

Cape to Cairo

Africa North & West

Southern Africa

Zimbabwe

Malawi

Zambia GPS Map

Tanzania

Kenya

Algeria

Europe

Asia

Southeast Asia

Australia

USA

Central & South America

Brazil

Flag Stickers – 2 sets

Flag Stickers – vinyl covers

OTHER…

Pocket Wallet

Travel Wallet

Waterproof Cell-Phone Pouch

Spare Keys on Lanyard

Whistle

Pepper Spray…

Compass

Thermometer

Pegs

Spare Watch

Waterproof Bag

ActivGlo LED Marker

Small Locks x 2

Bottle Opener

Elastic Bands

Sewsimple Adhesive Set

Scissors

Lighters

Spare Lanyards

Waterproof Pouches Various Sizes

Energy Bars x 12

Sweets….!!!!

Rock Quarry workers in Arusha

2010-04-22T17:58:00.003+03:00

Mama Simon and I pose for a photo. I am wearing one of the aprons she made.

Many women in Arusha work as unskilled laborers at the rock quarries where they smash large rocks into smaller pebbles with another rock. They sit in the sun, sometimes with their children and beat rocks for hours. Their supervisor is usually a man and he watches their production level closely.

Recently, one of the women who speaks a little English greeted me near my home and asked if it would be possible to show me some of her home made doilys (an ornamental mat) and cushion covers. I agreed and when I saw them had to find a polite way to say how I am sure many African homes would be improved by them but most Mzungu's (Europeans) would not buy these. They were knitted and mustard in colour. Need I say more?

She also had some fabric for sale and I suggested that maybe she might like to sew this into aprons because I was pretty sure Mzungu's would buy those.

Later that week she came back to me with 4 aprons and the following week another 4 and the following week, another 4. We have sold many of them and I only have 3 left. She is making a small profit and enjoying not having to break rocks anymore.

She has such a sweet face and heart and is very thankful for all of the sales.

Visit from the UK team - Burn Church St. Albans Vineyard

2010-04-11T18:18:00.019+03:00

Team Tanzania

The flight was on time – customs clearance went without a hitch. We got a text from our daughter that they were waiting for us at arrivals at Jomo Kenyatta airport and it was only 20 minutes after ETA… were we really in Africa? Fortunately the Nairobi traffic was kind to us that early Sunday morning and it wasn’t long before we were together.
Thus started a wonderful, event-filled ten days.

We had already picked up Zac from boarding school for Easter holidays the day before, and traveled down with our two kids to Arusha in our car, following the bus with the team.

7 people for 10 days experiencing for the first time African missions. The team was led by Rick Flatt and consisted of Sarah, Daniel, Rebecca, Heather, Michael and of course, our lovely daughter, Celeste.

After arrival in Arusha, where the team experience relief that they were sleeping in a western style house with flushing tiolets they spent one night before our adventure into the bush. Here there were no flushing tiolets, electricity or running water. However there was rain and mud and lots of very excited faces on our arrival.

After fording a river and getting stuck in mud, being pushed by 20 masai we arrived to a feast of goats liver and kidneys to honour the visitors from England.

Then there was a tour of the auto mechanics college, preschool, carpentry and metal work school as well as visiting with the beading ladies from Emboret.

The masai women from emboret had also killed a she goat to welcome the visitors but the roads were so bad we weren't able to visit the boma to partake. We did however, have a delicious afternoon tea of mandazis, eggs, chai and peanuts.

Later that night we were treated to another meal of goat meat. This was our staple for the following 2 days.

Pastor Rick and the team did an excellent job of the devotions at the college for masai students. Daniel was called on to lead worship spontaneously more than a few times and he didn't even flinch.

Next the team did a seminar for the preschool where they sang "Allelu, Allelu, Allelu, Alleluya, Bwana Safiwe" with actions and participation. There were colourful games with a parachute, balloon twisting and a bible story. Each of the team exhibited God's love and generosity to the village Loiborsoit and the children there.

Pastor Elijah and his wife, Violet and their family were so blessed and encouraged by a visit from the team.

Our return to Arusha was as eventful as our trip out to Masailand with our car getting stuck in mud and then having to help a truck, and a landrover out of the mud as well.

Back in Arusha the team met with missionaries and church planters.

Sunday saw the Vineyard team ministering to Arusha Vineyard and many were touched by the worship, teaching and ministry time. We received many messages from the congregation thanking the team for their ministry.

Daniel also encouraged the worship team during practice and shared some of his own journey in worship leading with them.

Easter Saturday we celebrated a Christian passover linking the items on the seder plate to Jesus - the ultimate Lamb that was killed for our deliverance from death.

On almost a nightly basis we experienced the presence of God's spirit as we worshipped and prayed together. We sensed God calling each of us into a more radical obedience for Jesus.

Mama Simon was another highlight for the team. She is a woman who worked behind our house at a local quarry smashing rocks with her hammer. She has recently begun a new business of making aprons made of african fabric and selling them. The team bought some of her very first samples and she is so thankful for this new venture and God's provision for her.

Thank you to St. Albans Vineyard, to the Burn Church and to the team who came for generously giving your hearts to Tanzania and God's work here.

Thanks to God for His encouragement in our labour of love.

Water tank report from Pastor Elijah

2010-04-09T11:42:00.003+03:00

Greeting you in Jesus name.I do
believe that you are doing well in your ministry. Iam also
\ fine continuing well in my studies.I would like to send you
photos as I prommissed you.this is when water tank is
built,you can see me mwhen i took manure,and when i help the
fundi to mix sand and cement,also you will Jackline mix sand
with cement ect,and athers is patros jonah and fundi and
those who were coming to observe.may the good GOD bless you
so much for your great conern with our pre school,and the
church at Emboreet as well.send my thanks to the one who
sent funds through you.
Remain with God blessing. Elijah.

Please see the attached receipt (sorry- no scanner so photographed) for the materials and labour.
We recently visited the preschool and saw first hand the new tank and it was full of water.
The village elders thank the business men of Casino Baptist and other churches for their generosity in providing this.

The kingdom of God and Kenyan traffic police!

2010-03-27T17:03:00.005+03:00

It is my belief that we will know that Christianity and the Kingdom of God is here when Kenyan police are free from corruption.

At the moment they use intimidation and false accusation to extort bribes from vulnerable motorists. I know this from experience.

If all of your papers are in order, they will make up a "new" law that you are unaware of but have broken. All the while their guns are over their shoulders and often inadvertantly pointing in your direction.

"What gift have you brought me from Tanzania, mama?" or "we need money for chai" or when offered bananas after asking for money for dinner the indignant reply was "We cannot take food from a motorist while on duty, it would not be proper".... he then went on to say "but you could give me money for dinner when I get off duty".
There is always the threat that they will impound your car and throw you in a cell and that you will have to go to court to defend yourself. If the fine they are suggesting is too much, "...then how much can you pay?" is a give-away that things are negotiable and therefore not "kosher".

There are more requirements for motorists on the roads in Kenya than in Tanzania. A fire extinguisher and road license is all we have ever been asked for as well as valid insurance in Tanzania. In Kenya you also need triangles for the road in case of breakdowns, and a first aid kit. Besides insurance, paperwork showing how many days you will be in Kenya and also your passport is sometimes asked for.

At the end of our roadside discussions we often suggest they we pray for them in their difficult positions and for God's anointing for their job... at this point we are ushered on very quickly. Although, last week, one officer said indignantly,
"I am a man of God and if I ask you for chai money, I am not asking for prayer, I am asking for chai money!" (this is an indirect way of asking for a bribe and is illegal)
His superior officer grabbed him by the coat and said "let them go, it is getting late and they are tired"..... never a truer word said.

May the Kingdom of God come to Kenya..... for the many who are poor and powerless and harrassed by those in positions of power and authority. Just last week 7 taxi drivers were brutally killed by police officers on unsubstantiated claim that they were from some gang.

Pray for peace in Kenya.

The Divine Dance

2010-03-22T23:12:00.007+03:00

The Divine Dance
An invitation,
A whispered invitation,
An invitation to join the vibrant twirling colour and movement of dance with my Lover
Secret joy bunches like a fist in my stomach
Recognizable longings for freedom
Could this be?
This enchanted secret adventure is surely forbidden
This dance will lead to much more!
I can smell the intimacy the pure joy of being close and being loved.
And know that this silent, secret dance is not the frothy cover of life
But is the deep river I drink from
That sustains the everyday
And gives meaning to the mundane
And without a doubt, produces love-fruit.

Judi Owens (March, 2010)

My favorite African recipe! Nazi Kuku

2010-03-21T18:55:00.004+03:00

Swahili Coconut Chicken

Ingredients:
2 Onions chopped finely
2 Carrots peeled and grated
½ Green pepper chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
3 tomatoes peeled and chopped
½ teas Mchuzi mix (or chicken stockcube)
1 pinch salt
1 cup coconut milk
½ tablespoon oil
1 Chicken breast

Method:
Fry onion, garlic and peppers together until tender
Add grated carrots stir in and fry until tender
Add chopped chicken breast and fry until dry
Stir until the mixture seems dry (moisture has evaporated)
Add tomatoes
Stir and cook with the lid on over a low heat until boiling. Stir until all ingredients are almost mashed.
Add the coconut milk and stock flavor and salt to taste

Mixture is like a chicken stew. Serve with Coconut Rice.

Coconut Rice

Ingredients:
3 cups of rice
1 cup coconut milk
Enough water to take the liquid level up to double the rice.

Method:
Put all ingredients into a saucepan on high until it boils. Turn down to low heat and cover with a lid. Continue to cook until tunnels appear in rice and rice is tender. Salt to taste.

Fish Eyes and Grapes!!

2010-03-21T18:11:00.005+03:00

When studying the country of Liberia in the sunday school class that I taught we discovered that one of the delicacies you might be served in Liberia if you were a guest is fish eyes! An exotic delicacy that is given to visitors or to be eaten on special occassions. Imagine the surprise of my class when I managed to produce some "fish eyes" for us to practice our missions etiquette.

1 Corinthians 10:27
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

1 Tim 4:4-5
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

Luke 10:8
"Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you;

We talked about how it felt when you went to a lot of trouble to give a gift to someone or to cook something for someone and you wanted to bless them and they said "no thanks" or somehow rejected your gift.

Then out came the plate of "fish eyes" to test our obedience to God. We would pretend we were missionaries in Liberia and someone was offering us fish eyes... One lone girl stood bravely to eat a fish eye for Jesus!!! Her face scrunched and grimaced but she did it.

Boldly, I popped one in my mouth to show the class how brave I was.....mmm ... delicious.....

I had one slight advantage over my class. I had bought and peeled those grapes myself!! I knew they weren't fish eyes. They were delicious grapes without their skins!!! Because they expected the food to taste bad, it did!

When they discovered my ruse there was "hell to pay" .... and then they forgave me and ate all the grapes.

I think God was smiling because many years later when I sat in a Masai village "chewing" on goats liver which is considered an extreme honor to be served.... I think he was remembering my teaching!!

A partially peeled grape!

A fish eye!

Looking for church properties....

2010-03-14T21:16:00.000+03:00

So today, after church, we had a picnic at a possible future venue for our church.
It is a little surprising in that we originally were looking for something within the centre of town where we might meet and this place is not in the middle of town. In fact it is about 6.7kms out of town. About the same amount of minutes away from our previous venue.

We are currently meeting in a restaurant called Pepe's. However, we are rapidly running out of space even tho we have hired 2 tents to extend the space.

We have looked at around 15 different properties in town over the last month. An exhausting exercise to say the least. Finding space in the centre of a city is hard. Although we did find a remarkable property that required lots of work but would meet our needs who was willing to offer a 10 yr lease only to find that the owner called his father who was Muslim and the deal was off. You can't blame him really.

Parking for 50 cars with a view to increase plus enough room to expand is something we are looking for.

The property we looked at today is on 6.5 acres and has such a peaceful and serene feeling. Around 80 folk from church came for the picnic after church and ate their lunches under the shade of the large trees. Later we broke into smaller groups and prayed asked God for wisdom and words and collected the thoughts from the group: positive feedback, challenges we would face and what God is saying.

Pray as we make this important decision...

A new home for Arusha Vineyard is something we long for.

Going to the movies in Arusha...

2010-03-10T21:46:00.003+03:00

Took my wife for a day-off treat - a matinee movie in the only cinema (a complex of two) within hundreds of kms, and its right here, 20 mins from home ... luxury!
I could be wrong, but I believe the next closest is Nairobi (270 kms).
Each week always offers a Bollywood and a Hollywood movie. By the time they make it down here, they'll not coincide with the relevant season, meaning we'll get the Christmas in January or Feb. Kids movies never make the school holidays.
I looked up the web site to check session times and was greeted with the information that the place was closed for renos until Nov 2009 (see www.pigadeal.com).
This time we made it through without a power cut, which normally means sitting in the pitch dark for a couple of minutes while they start of the generator. This afternoon were the only two in the place, and as we stood to leave, the projectionist/owner gave us a warm wave through the little window. Ah ... I love it!

Alpha Saturday.... African Time, jammed dvds, power outages etc...

2010-03-08T10:16:00.004+03:00

Well, doing any course requires administration and organization. In Africa, we add to that the variables that can undo your schedule and your peace of mind if you let it.

This last Saturday we enjoyed the "Holy Spirit" part of our Alpha course. Such questions as "Who is the Holy Spirit?" "What does the Holy Spirit do?" and "How may I be filled with the Holy Spirit?" are answered.

I would consider this to be the most strategic part of the course and probably the pinnacle. Many people receive prayer and we see them healed, set free from fears, control, addictions, and their lives filled with love, peace and joy. It is truly a wonderful thing to watch.

This week was no different. The African variables were indeed a challenge. Besides our participants arriving late ("I will be there in 10 minutes, Mama" translated to one hour) and waiting for folk to show up meant we started over an hour and a half late. Add to that the 40 minutes we spent trying to get the dvd which was stuck in the player to work. Torrential rain, power outages and constant phone calls were another challenge. Food was not ready, mud was everywhere and our patience was tried..

However, the results were all worth it.
One woman who wishes to remain anonymous had found just the night before evidence of family betrayal which was undeniable. God came and gave her peace, freedom from fear and a plan for the future. She went away empowered and the terror and pain and betrayal she arrived with, dissipated.

Another woman, felt Jesus remove fear and heal her broken heart. Her husband had been shot in a hold up 2 yrs ago and she has lived with terror and aloneness ever since.

Still another was filled with joy and shouted out loud as she felt filled with a new found love from God.

Another man decided that he was not yet ready to become a christian but wanted prayer and the Holy Spirit to bless him. He said afterward "I felt my heart opening up"

Others were filled with peace, a sense of purpose and power.

When God touches someone's life and changes old patterns and removes things that limit their freedom - it is worth all the hard work and obstacles that we overcome.

Please continue to pray for these folk. They have another 4 weeks of their course left and more blessings coming their way.

New chalkboards for Loiborsoit preschool

2010-02-23T21:31:00.002+03:00

Thanks to the generosity of one of our supporters the preschoolers at Loiborsoit will get new chalkboards.

You may recall that in a recent post we showed you the pathetic few chalkboards that a little group of preschoolers use in their classroom. They are about 15yrs old and there are only 8 of them for 40 children.

We are about to have 40 new chalkboards made by a local carpentry school.

Stay tuned for the results!!

Casino business men help a community with a water storage tank

2010-02-23T21:24:00.002+03:00

Thanks to a group business men in Casino, NSW, Australia, the little community of Loiborsoit is set to get a water storage tank along with stand and guttering system and tap.

All of this will be installed next to the pre-school so that during the drought and dry season the children will have access to water and not have to wait for hours at the bore hole.

and then there were three.....

2010-02-18T21:49:00.002+03:00

On our way home from masailand the other day we came across a small leopard tortoise which was slipping hopelessly all over the muddy road.

We decided to bring it home for a backyard of green grass and a mum and dad...

such a lovely idea...

The following morning we discovered that the small male tortoise did not consider himself a child but a fully grown male...

He persistently followed the female tortoise around exercising his maleness!!

She has not forgiven us and has gone into hiding. Poor Flash seems embarrassed.

My grandmother's dinnerset

2010-02-08T22:52:00.003+03:00

Early one morning, I jogged along next to my grandmother on her way to work... She was starting early and I was visiting her as a 10 yr old during my school holidays. As we bustled on thru the streets of Brisbane, Australia, catching buses, walking downtown then catching more buses, I remember vividly my grandmother stopping in front of a store window and staring wistfully at a dinner set displayed there. "One day, grandma is going to own all of that dinner set, every piece" she told me. I could tell from the tone of her voice it was a special and rare thing for her to own anything for herself. Most of her life she had scrimped and saved to make sure that her family had what it wanted. This was just what you did if you lived through the "depression" and she had no regrets. After working in a law firm as a cook for a number of years, however, she had put aside enough money to purchase her beloved Alfred Meakin dinner set. She loved this dinner set and it included every last possible piece a dinner set can include. 96 piece if I am not mistaken. It was a setting for 5 with everything from egg cups, fruit plates, jam plates, ice cream bowls, cereal bowls, coffee pot, tea pot, creamer, milk jug and more.

Later, in Casino, NSW, I remember visiting her humble house for "suppers" after church where she invited many folk to come and share her home, her food, and piano for a sing along...

I remember despising some of the folk she invited because of their social ineptitude...she reminded me that "whosoever will may come" and whenever important or clever folk aren't able to come then I go out to the "highways and byways and find folk and give them an invite".

She served lots of ready made food and her own freshly baked shortcrust tartlets filled with jam and cream.

When she died, she was missed by many. One of the things I remember about her the most was her dinner set. It was such a blessing for me to receive this after her death.
It travelled all the way to Canada with me where I kept it neatly stacked in my cupboard for special china. I didn't want a single cup to break. Later, it came with me to Africa...

One night at our Alpha dinner we were short of china...and I suddenly remembered my grandmother's dinner set. Should I use it? It was so special... then I remembered that this dinner set was special because of the woman who bought it and how she used it to love people. Her welcome of others and warm hospitality is what makes this dinner set so special for me.

Tonight we used her dinner set again for our Alpha supper. We have 3 muslims, 1 hindu and some nominal christians attending our course, all of whom are welcomed into our home and served soup, rolls and salad on my grandmother's dinner set... I think she would be happy.

I wonder what she would think about her dinner set that has travelled more widely than she ever did... did she ever suspect that God would use this to serve people in Tanzania East Africa warm food and a genuine welcome ... just like she did in Brisbane and Casino, Australia.

I salute you grandma... thanks for your gift of a lovely dinner set that reminds me of the warm hospitality you showed to so many....

Baby David arrives.... welcome!!

2010-02-08T22:43:00.003+03:00

Baby David... hours after his birth

On Thursday we prayed for Mama Ezra who was overdue in her pregnancy by about 10 days and was feeling discouraged. On Saturday her very adorable baby boy David was born. Yes, named after Mr Owens, himself, this little one can be seen in the pics -only hours old. Notice how pale African babies are when they are born...
Baby David with his mama

Mama Ezra and baby David

The house of Pastor Elijah, Mama Ezra, Ezra and now David...

God smiled on Loiborsoit preschool today!

2010-02-05T22:41:00.003+03:00

Getting a little help unpacking the goodies....

Look at the pencils we have received.... can we write with them yet?

Explaining the sharpeners are to sharpen all the pencils they've received...

the remaining chalkboards...

showing Jackson's letter...one of the donors.... to the teacher

.. children waiting patiently and shyly to see all their new resources!

teachers are just as happy as the children to receive these great resources...

Today we delivered resources from generous hearted people from all over the world. The story of the little preschool in Loiborsoit who despite their pitiful resources continued to operate and educate children from the surrounding area touched the hearts of many. God's generosity was expressed through them to these 40 children. Parcels arrived from the US, from Canada, from Australia, from parents and children alike.

Today, only 26 students were present out of the 40 who attend. They were shy but remembered our former visit where we had visited their school. This school is a worthy recipient of help because of the initiatives they are already taking and the sacrifice of the team of teachers who are underpaid or even unpaid and full of compassion.

We arrived at 9;30 am and we greeted the head teacher and showed her all the wonderful resources we had carefully sorted and organized into plastic containers and labeled. She was very excited and kept saying "What is this? ....wait, ... I think I know.... you do this, right? She loved everything and was explaining that she would keep some back to last longer...

We then had the children come in and we handed the gifts over to the teachers and pre-school committee (not sure how long they have been formed- possibly just today??) With each gift the teacher would ask if the children knew what it was.... many times they were unsure. They did not know what a bottle of glue was... some thought it could be fat for cooking. The toys they received were also secretly being examined with delight by the teachers and committee members. They quietly asked about the soft toy bear.... is this a lion or a dog? I realized... okay ... so they don't have bears here, but they loved them anyway.

After the handing over of all the crayons, chalk, paper, etc. etc. and a song from the children they were dismissed to go and eat their porridge for the morning. We were escorted to a nearby house for coffee and bread with margarine. The head of the committee and chairman (not sure what the difference is) sat and gave us formal speeches of thanks. They thanked God for us and also told us that they knew we loved them because of our willingness to drive on their road when it was so bad. We told them that we would pass on their thanks to the donors.

Next we were escorted to the college for trades and skills. It has a few things it is teaching: mechanics, carpentry and dressmaking with a bit of Bible thrown in.

The carpenter expert and mechanic teacher are very talented and this college is run for masai by masai. They have suffered a blow because of the recent drought with many of their students not even able to supply their food allowance. Attendance is down but they are confident they will recover.

Here at the college, we were also given bananas and sodas in the office where official greetings and introductions were given. We then proceeded to visit the pastor's wife who was 2 weeks overdue for the delivery of her baby, according to her doctors predictions. She also served us coffee and peanuts to thank us for coming to visit. On the way to her house we were asked to call by the local pastor's house to greet him. He asked us to join him for chai and when we explained our schedule he quickly ran into the house to bring out bottles of soda for us to have as we drove as a gesture of greeting and to welcome us to Terat. Time with Mama Ezra was sweet and after praying for the imminent delivery of her baby we headed back to the preschool. Along the way, Zebra, Wildebeest and Thompsons gazelle grazed nearby

On return to the preschool we were greeted with an announcement: "The food is ready!" We were desperately trying to leave before the rain came and the heavens were dark and heavy with impending rain. ... but to refuse... it may be better to be stuck in the mud..

So we went inside to eat lunch with our dear pre-school committee. A feast had been prepared to thank us. Rice, spagetti, beans, chicken and potatoes, mango, avocado, banana and oranges were all piled onto our plates. Mmmm the chicken was tender, the beans delicious and the rice and spagetti cooked perfectly. Mangos and avocado, bananas and oranges finished off the meal. Filtered water was served and then after the food we were presented with gifts. David was given a masai cross to hang around his neck and I was given a pair of masai earrings.

We left, fully blessed and thanked and amazed at the hospitality in rural Tanzania. Our drive home was somewhat slippery as the heavens opened and the rains fell.

We arrived home tired but happy after delivering the generosity of God's people on one side of the world to His grateful people on the other side of the world... Truly, God smiled on Loiborsoit preschool today... those kids will be drawing up a storm very soon.

Zebras by the roadside..

The road to Terat

I have a volcano in my back yard.....

2010-02-05T22:33:00.002+03:00

When we look out our window we stare straight at a very beautiful mountain...
Mt. Meru.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Mt. Meru:

Elevation 4,566 metres (14,980 ft)
Listing Ultra
Location Arusha Region, Tanzania
Coordinates 3°14′00″S 36°45′00″ECoordinates: 3°14′00″S 36°45′00″E
Geology
Type Stratovolcano
Last eruption 1910[1]
Climbing
First ascent 1904 by Fritz Jäger[2]
Easiest route hike
Mount Meru is an active stratovolcano located 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Mount Kilimanjaro in the nation of Tanzania. At a height of 4,566 metres (14,980 ft), it is still visible from Mt Kilimanjaro on a clear day[3], and is the fifth highest mountain in Africa. Much of its bulk was lost about 8,000 years ago due to an eastward volcanic blast, similar to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. Mount Meru most recently had a minor eruption about a century ago. The several small cones and craters seen in the vicinity probably reflect numerous episodes of volcanic activity.

Mount Meru's ash cone that has formed in the old crater.
Mount Meru is the topographic centerpiece of Arusha National Park. Its fertile slopes rise above the surrounding savanna and support a forest that hosts diverse wildlife, including nearly 400 species of birds, and also monkeys and leopards.
At the summit, one can find a two metre high flag of Tanzania in metal and also a milestone in concrete with "Socialist Peak 4562.13M" written.

The Rain makes all things new.....

2010-01-25T20:42:00.003+03:00

Below are pics for you to compare the amazing difference between the landscape before rain and after. We regularly drive to Nairobi to catch up with Zac at his boarding school and the road from Arusha to Nairobi is being upgraded... we think that is what you would call it.. .... but the dust has been overwhelming at times.

We want to thank all those who prayed for rain for Tanzania and Kenya. God has answered..... thank you Jesus!

Before rain.....

After the rain....

Another package arrives for Loiborsoit preschoolers

2010-01-24T20:44:00.002+03:00

Yesterday we picked up another 2 packages for the pre-schoolers at Loibersoit...
Lots of lovely toys and chalk and crayons, paper etc. etc.

Can't wait to see their little faces when they receive these.

When we get a moment in our busy schedules we will drive down there with our goodies. The wet season has been upon us.... thank you Jesus... but this has meant the roads out there are a bit risky for now. Would not want to break down or be stuck in mud in the middle of nowhere with lions around....

Our lives have sped up considerably since the beginning of the year... it is as if things are on fast forward.
We suddenly had no where to meet as a church and had to find a nearby restaurant with 2 days notice... it is too small and we are bulging at the seams.... so we are also looking for a new building to meet in.

At the same time we have lots of new groups starting up and lots of new life happening.....
Pray for our new alpha course where folks from many different faiths
( Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, and traditional african) come to discuss Christianity, its claims and repercussions.

Busy without a sense purpose is chaos and exhausting but with purpose it can bring life and reward. As Steven Covey says:
“We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind.”

Life choices - African and Western

2010-01-11T11:56:00.000+03:00

“What end profit is there for someone who gains the whole world and ends up losing their own soul?” Mk 8:36

Yesterday we were invited to farewell drinks with a couple who are moving to Zimbabwe. They had been working in the hunting community here, with a highly demanding life-style, requiring absences of up to 6 months in the bush – a marriage and family killer. The big money seems to bring everything but happiness and true fulfillment, and it’s rare to see people bite the bullet like these dear folk have done. To see them stand up among their peers in the middle of the party, and honestly share their story, was a warning call to many there and example of what can be done if you’re serious about life.
Well done, guys – we’ll be praying for you!

Another example is a lawyer friend of ours in Canada, who made a decision early on in his career that he would settle for less (passing on promotion, partnerships etc) in order to prioritize marriage and family above significant financial gain.

These kind of people fly against the world’s claims that everyone has a price – as one 20th century martyr put it, “He’s no fool who loses what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose!”
These kind are heroes in my book…

Doing Church in Africa......

2010-01-11T11:28:00.004+03:00

Church at Pepe's restaurant.....for now.... our current meeting place....

Kid's church meeting in the parking lot.... under a tent....

Requires a "don't sweat the small stuff" "we can do this even tho' there is nothing working right now" and "God is for me therefore I am sure there is a solution to this current problem" kind of attitude...

Every week we arrive at our rented venue to find loads of garbage from the night before being hauled away, sometimes beautiful wedding chairs, flowers and fabric adorning everything and often no power...

A scramble ensues... where is the generator, is there any petrol in it? Why are the lights dimming? What will happen to the keyboard if it is plugged into fluctuating power? Why is there no light in the bathrooms? Did anyone know there was going to be a power outage? I can pick up gas for the generator when I am at the service/gas station getting my puncture fixed. Why are there cats sleeping on the sound mixer? How did they get under the cover? Hope they don't set off the keyboardists allergies.....

This last Friday we were met with a surprise. Our current venue for Arusha Vineyard, "La Bella Luna" restaurant has been taken over by new ownership. The new owner was being very accommodating and wanted to continue our stay there however, did not realize that the previous owners took all of their fittings. This meant that the first week we met there under the new management we had no tables and chairs and no mirrors or hand dryers etc. The following friday when we arrived to see if there had been some improvement we found that there was no running water, no toilets and the main restaurant area was flooded. No way church could happen here in 2 days time.....

Panic and prayers ensued.... within a couple of hours however, we were able to find a new temporary home for Arusha vineyard at Pepe's an Italian/indian restaurant a few streets away. They are very happy to house us and have rented a tent for children's ministry and we have running water and flushing toilets!!!

What would I prefer..... predictable, order and sameness? Certainly this would be nice.... in Africa, it is often a luxury where the unpredictable and wild nature of this place demands a flexible faith whilst striving for safety and predictability without monotony.....

Pray for us as we continue the venture of finding our new home!!!

Lyndall preaching at Pepe's

View from the balcony...

You know you live in Tanzania when... your laptop bookmarks are:

2010-01-08T21:48:00.006+03:00

Parasites... How to get rid of parasites naturally
Leopard Tortoises ... breeding practices
The World Clock... times and dates around the world
Rift Valley Academy
Arusha Vineyard
Owensinafrica blog
Cheap flights
Julius Nyerere, lifelong learning and adult education
Canada Post - manage my mail
Facebook
Skype
Malaria: symptoms and treatment
Safari parks around Arusha
Explore Faith.org
Lifewind International - Village changers
Weather
Soccernet (David)
How to cook from scratch

What are your bookmarks? And what do they say about you?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Arusha, Tanzania

2010-01-01T12:32:00.005+03:00

We celebrated Christmas this year with a Vineyard service at a local restaurant and then had lunch with friends. This is the time of year that we miss family the most and so we skype our girls and Judi's parents and David's sister where possible.

Justine spent Christmas in New Zealand with different friends and Celeste experienced a snowy Christmas in England where she had Christmas Eve with the lovely Buchanan family!

Zac is home from school and we are loving having him back with us. He mostly catches up on sleep, reads books and visits his friends in Arusha or has them come over for a sleep over.

In Arusha town, there are suddenly new reasons for the police to stop vehicles, and the immigration department make random visits to different companies and ministries to check permits. Extra money is always required, whether it is to have a new sticker suddenly required for your car or on the spot fines for permits that require something more!!! Its Christmas, and government officials suddenly seem to need more money.... so, you may be threatened with having your car impounded .... or deportation if you don't pay up or have the correct documentation!

We had a Nacho Libre/Mexican themed party for New Year's, at our house. About 22 people came and we had salsa lessons, learned the Macarena from 9 yr old Megan, played games, lit fireworks, hit a pinata and generally had a good time... Zac was dressed as a matador and his friend Wes as Zoro.

This last year has been harder than our first year here but also more rewarding. We moved house a lot this last year and invested in different ministries but have now settled in our house and in pastoring the Vineyard while continuing to invest in the same ministries. The church is growing and we are too!!

Alpha, got off the ground in September and God is using this ministry to bring His love to many. We love talking with new Christians and unchurched folk and we are getting lots of opportunities...

Our lives get to dissect or cross over the lives of so many others, in this part of the world. People come to Arusha for many different reasons and we only get to have them in our lives for a short time. We hope that we love them and impart to them all the blessings that God wants them to have, as well as receiving their gift to us. We are also getting to know more locals and it is rewarding seeing them become part of our lives and church.

Without a doubt, we can say that we are where God wants us to be and that we are loving it!!

We appreciate your support, interest in our lives, love and prayers. Please continue!

Blessings,

Judi and David xxxxx

Encouraging the harvest workers...

2009-12-29T16:49:00.004+03:00

What a daunting task and privilege to be asked as guest speakers for the annual retreat of Imara Ministry Foundation. "Imara" is Swahili for 'strong', and for good reason. This ministry is multi-pronged, starting schools, health and HIV/AIDS programs as well as broad influence on the interdenominational church scene here in Northern Tanzania, working to bring unity in a very factional environment.
One of the things that impressed me first up on arriving in Arusha, was how well Imara stood out in the area of national leadership development, having locals in the majority of their key positions.
We spent two days with the team - 20 or so Africans and 3 wazungu (whites), with the job of encouraging them after a big year.
We were well received - God turned up, some wonderful people who are touching thousands of lives directly and indirectly appeared to be indeed encouraged.
For those who prayed for us during this time ... you share the blessing! Thank you!

Larger meeting and break-out group...

Pastors celebrate at their graduation!

2009-12-12T20:24:00.005+03:00

The pastors at Christian Missionary Fellowship graduated. They sang, did skits, received awards and danced and ate.
The skit they performed was about the importance of digging a hole for a toilet and drinking good water. hygiene and health are such important aspects of the kingdom of God coming to a community.

Flash gets busy....

2009-12-05T15:58:00.002+03:00

Our housekeeper mentioned today: "Flash is so busy that he has not been bothering us!"

After the initial awkward introductions Flash, our East African tortoise began to follow his female tortoise companion around. Very soon it became obvious that they were in fact married...... at least he thought they were. She continued to graze and actively attempts to hide from him. It seems, she finds his fascination with her, boring..

He is however, undaunted and persists in following her everywhere.

Eliza, our housekeeper is right.... our house has not even entered his thoughts today!!

Zac gets braces..... before and after shots!!

2009-12-05T15:53:00.004+03:00

After braces..... the pain is obvious.... 2 extractions and braces

Close up of braces - blue in color... the choice was red or blue??

Before shot showing Zac's crowded mouth....

Yes, Zac's braces hurt..... but they are very necessary. Getting photos of him has been a mammoth effort and these pics are especially so his sisters can see how he is doing....

Flash meets his wife.......

2009-12-05T11:30:00.004+03:00

Tortoises meet!

He is curious..... she is not!

Anyone home? ..... her response: "Grrrr........ hissss"

"Hello!"......

Rejection!!!

She takes a peek..... who is this guy? Why so interested?

She leaves....

He leaves.....

Flash..... back with mama who loves me....

Last night, one of the guests attending Alpha brought her female tortoise over to live with us. She will soon be departing from Arusha.

We excitedly let "kobe" out of her box, however, Flash was no where to be found and I had 36 guests to attend to.

This morning we found Flash sniffing the box Kobe had been transported in. "Kobe" simply means tortoise in Swahili. We may have to come up with a more romantic name.... Any suggestions?

We located Kobe who was hiding under a shrub and brought her over to meet Flash.

The meeting did not go well. She was very shy and hid in her shell. He advanced too quickly and invaded her space. She made a number of "hissing/growling" noises that tortoises make when threatened which echoed in her shell. He continued to poke his head in her shell where her face might have been if she was "out". She eventually backed up and he walked of hurt and rejected. He lumbered over to my feet where I was photographing the event and sat next to me as if to say... "at least my mama loves me". She peeked her head out to see who might have been inspecting her so intently and then walked away .... uninterested!!

Poor Flash.... his first lesson in love.... "if at first you don't succeed, then try, try again"

Alpha Celebration Dinner .... excitement builds

2009-12-05T11:12:00.003+03:00

The Evening after..... dinner for 36!!

At the end of our Alpha course we celebrated by inviting friends we thought would love to part of the next course. As the day of the celebration came we had about 20 people who had RSVP'd and we were excited. By the afternoon, the guest list increased to 30 and in the evening we had 36 people at our Alpha dinner.

Every plate, chair, piece of cutlery and cup in my house was used and then some. Friends brought cutlery, glasses and folding chairs to help accommodate the event.

What an environment of excitement. A group of people from many different backgrounds, some muslim, some hindu, some nominal christian, some Roman Catholic and some church goers sat around and watched the dvd discussing whether Christianity is relevant, boring and untrue. The other difference was the our ethnic backgrounds. Some were from India, some from Tanzania, the Philippines, Canada, Australia, Kenya, Zambia, Cameroon, South Africa and America. Wow! Kind of a little glimpse of what heaven will look like. Except everyone will already believe.....

Of course, the food reflected the ethnic diversity and was simply delicious. Everything from beef kebabs, fish curry, coconut rice, coriander chicken, turkey chowder, beef stroganoff, scalloped potatoes, salads, kachambari and more..

In January, we start our new course with many people already showing interest and others signed up. Pray for us as we are part of this exciting move of God in this place.

Flash disgraces himself.....

2009-12-03T21:44:00.002+03:00

Flash has decided that David is his favorite person.... or perhaps David is the only person who is not a little nervous of this reptile lumbering toward him.

Flash really enjoys being tickled on his little head and his "tail" wags and he pees with excitement! Three times in two days... our carpets have been soiled.

The decision has been made for this tortoise to stay outdoors. We are having difficulty having him understand the decision. He is hell bent on getting into the house.

Thankfully, our guest provided him with some companionship. Dave Pedersen decided to read outdoors the other morning and Flash, of course, found him and sidled up to him. Dave used Flash as a footstool and Flash fell into a satisfied sleep. They made a happy pair.

Later today, I discovered Flash cuddled up to the voltage regulator (inside the house)... possibly seeking warmth during the downpour outside.

His girlfriend is due to arrive any day now.....

Zac is home from school...... WooHoo! and so is Flash..

2009-11-26T22:29:00.003+03:00

So happy to have Zac home from his boarding school today.
This morning I rushed into his room to make sure all was prepared and ready for him only to find a shocking discovery.
There, happy as a clam, was Flash, sleeping in the corner right next to the power board!!! He had been in there all night obviously and we hadn't noticed him.
David had seen him earlier in the day - he entered the living room while David was having a meeting. He wandered around the room, eyed our guests toes then disappeared down the hall... only to be found the next morning in Zac's room. Over 18 hrs in the house and without disgracing himself.

He seemed to be saying... " see mum, I have behaved all night! no mess here.... why wouldn't you let me use this room and fill in as you surrogate son while Zac's gone?"

Well, of course, it is not happening... His girlfriend arrives soon. We hope that will lessen his desperate need for companionship with people!!!

Margaret gets to see Jesus today...

2009-11-25T19:29:00.004+03:00

A sweet African sister from our first class with the 'unreached people group' school, went to be with her Lord this morning. Margaret and Aaron were the oldest in the class and the most wonderful models of love. Their kids are all grown up and they were enjoying empty-nesting immensely. Whenever they spoke about each other, they were so tender and caring, often teary and untypically tactile.
Margaret missed a few sessions because of pain in her leg. We prayed for her on a number of occasions and she would get some measure of relief.
What fun to watch her at graduation - she loved dancing and really got into it, dressed to the nines in her tribal outfit, conservatively swaying as they sang, with such ease and rhythm.
Graduation saw her receive her first certificate, the only award or recognition of achievement in her life, and how delighted she and Aaron were.
Shortly afterwards she went for a major check-up and was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, the source of her chronic pain.

Pray for dear Aaron, his earthly love has gone .. his grief felt by us all but only really understood by the Great Lover, with whom he's walked for many years.
Farewell Margaret - may the seeds you have sown bear much fruit among your people.

It is heating up......

2009-11-23T19:43:00.003+03:00

We just commented to each other today that life has never been so busy... and so rewarding.

New life is everywhere around us and we are experiencing such variety in the work we are doing. Never a moment of boredom. I have been prone to say.... "if I ever have to pray for another aunt's ingrown toe nail..... I think I will shoot myself". The comment is more a reflection of the frustration at not being "hands on" and "against the coal face", so to speak, rather than a hatred of ingrown toenails or their owners. In fact, please don't hesitate to ask me to pray for healing if you have an ingrown toenail. I would hate to think that because of this motto there are folk limping around with gangrenous toes, ashamed to own up to them for fear of being thought inferior.

No, this season is very full.
Take for instance our marriage seminar. The first one was to expats in a swank restaurant with a three course meal. We have had lots of feedback about the need for a longer seminar and many orders for Costa's book. The next marriage seminar we did was to rural tanzanian church planters. I we wrestled and nutted through cultural contexts for biblical truths. Very satisfying for them and for us.

Next, the Alpha course has almost finished with our celebration dinner on Dec 4th. We are inviting many friends of the former participants and God has moved in the lives of these people strongly. 5 baptisms all together and probably 3 first time conversions and a couple of recommitments. God is on the move and when the newly saved get excited... there is a ripple effect. They invite their friends and bring them to all the events they love.

Our ladies coffee on Friday afternoons is developing into a place to share and be known and is a delightful way for women to connect.

This weekend we are having our first Church family camp. Speakers David and Colleen Pedersen are coming from SA to help with this.

We are truly experiencing a surge of life... a wave that is fun to keep on top of..... a birthing that means lots of work in the nursery and changing the occassional dirty diaper. What fun!!

Excuse me, I need to go.... life is happening..... babies are growing!! :)

The Latest Exploits of Flash - the East African Leopard Tortoise

2009-11-18T14:52:00.003+03:00

Flash very definitely needs company....
He has been seen many times negotiating the large steps at either the front or the back of our house in an attempt to get inside. This is no idle thing. It requires much maneuvering and a certain knowledge of physics, pivotal suspension and centre of balance. He rocks back and forth on the bottom of his shell, all the while clawing at the air in the hope of eventually making contact with a step, screen door or something solid on which to pull so he can lever his entire weight up to the next step. All of this takes quite some time considering there are around 6 steps at the front and 2 at the back.

Yesterday, exhausted after his mammoth effort, he lumbered contentedly over to David's feet. David, whose adolescent curiosity has been delighted by watching the clumsy attempts of "Flash" decides to see what will happen if he doesn't remove his toes from Flash's sight. Yes... we have noticed his appreciation for toes. All of us have felt a little vulnerable when he labors toward them with his sharp beak, and backed away. David, decided this was the day to see what it was, that Flash wanted. Meat or meet?

He eyed David's toes studiously then casually rested his head down on those toes as if they were the luxury pillow he had been dreaming of. It seemed such a tender moment. The rest of us onlookers immediately repented for thinking the worst of our friend Flash. It seems he never wanted our toes for meat.... rather he just wanted companionship....

Female Tortoise, anyone? We seriously need to get this guy a date....

Unless you become as a child...

2009-11-17T17:38:00.004+03:00

In much of East Africa, there's a tendency to discourage children from making a personal commitment to following Christ until they're twelve or older. The fear is that they won't fully understand and might fall away and not recommit.
It has been a challenge to speak into this, looking at western statistics where we see that most committed adults became Christians in childhood.
A friend of ours in Canada has written, what I would consider to be one of the best books on learning how to hear God.
On its release, his son proudly took a copy to school and read some of it out for show and tell. Shortly after, he challenged his dad to write a version for kids, which he did. I have a copy of the kids' version here (Children - Can You Hear Me?) and used it in class with the tribal church planters. They loved it, so I asked Brad if we could do a Swahili version, along with African illustrations. It'll be great if we can do it, as it cuts through the religious veneer and presents Jesus in very approachable and real terms. I suspect adults will benefit as much, if not more than its intended audience!

Tomorrow I'll be teaching some CHE (Community Health Evangelism) material on parenting, addressing five areas - the Theologies of Suffering - suffering is normal (not new to most in these parts), Work (work is a privilege not a curse), Stewardship (managing one's life wisely), Holiness (making wise choices) and Grace (how to live grace-filled lives).
CHE does wonderful work in the area of teaching, training and development ... cutting-edge thinking and resources. Check them out (www.lifewind.org).

..... and now some time for rest and relaxation.....

2009-11-13T07:40:00.005+03:00

My friend Jenny, noticing my frayed edges due to some of weeks of sickness and not much rest, decided to bless me with a couple of nights away at a lodge.

On arrival at the lodge, staff greet you with moist hand towels to wipe away the dust and fatigue. The delicious glass of pineapple and mango juice is a refreshing welcome, also.

The lodge is set in the Rhotia Valley and has a children's home on one hill and the lodge for guests on the other. The lodge supports the children's home and is very close to the entrance to Ngorongoro Crater. The scenery is breathtaking and serene. Peace is palpable. Huge hills are bathed in long streaks of sunlight and cows, goats and at night hyennas sing into the air. During our stay the rain drizzled down, a welcome thing in Africa, enhancing our feeling of snugness in our cosy tents. These tents are no ordinary tents. They have a roofing structure and en-suite with shower, verandah and fly screens. This is luxury.

For two days we slept, ate, read and chatted, all the while taking in the serene landscape around us. My soul was soothed.

Nevertheless, both the drive there and home again was quite dramatic....

The entrance to the lodge is via 5 kms of dirt road which is very steep in places. With a little rain it becomes a skating rink. The 4wd decided it wasn't working on one of the first hills we came to. Our car began sliding and slipping, no matter how slowly we drove. Sideways, looked like the best way forward at one point. After some more sliding, we approached a valley and after slowly sliding into the soft edges of the road, we decided this angle looked too much for our little car. We tried to negotiate back, then forward - we were stuck. At this point, one of the passers by came over. He seemed agitated and at first we were hoping for help. On the contrary, he began shouting "Thank you mama" in Swahili and hitting the car?? Soon it became evident that he was not in the same world that we were in. He began to pull on the head lights, aggressively - all the while dribbling and muttering. His aggression and fury with us was increasing. Finally, he looked us straight in the eyes, lifted his masai tyre-shoed-feet, up and wiped the 2 inches of mud on the bottom of them across our front grill and head lights. About 6 big lumps of mud adorned the front of Jenny's car - his face saying... "this is what I think of YOU!" Jenny, in the meantime, undaunted, pointed at him and authoritatively told him to take his leave. He was in the middle of another scraping when he looked up at her, stopped what he was doing, turned around and walked away. We giggled nervously and hatched a plan of escape. After phoning the lodge, they assured us that they would be back from Karatu in an hour and would find a place to safely leave the car and give us and our luggage a ride up to the lodge. Quite a crowd had gathered and it was time for us to practice our swahili and them, their english. Always fun! They established where we were from and they apologized for the masai madman.

With our car tucked safely away near the home of a villager we set off for our much needed break in the lodge truck..

Going home, proved equally adventurous...

After motoring along merrily, thankful for our restful time and that our car was safe when we found it, we drove into rain. The rain was wonderful. We watched the donkeys, goats and cows radiating thankfulness as they grazed in the rain.. . Then, we began to notice that there were puddles, in fact, water was streaming down the hillside. Soon the streams became swirling bodies of water tumbling over the road way. We slowed to assess the situation. Dala dalas were stopped, cars waiting. One car gingerly started to cross road that was covered by a torrent of swift flowing water, only to stop and reverse back after a few meters. This made us a little cautious. His 4wd was much bigger than our car. Shortly, a safari vehicle plowed through the water aggressively and made it across without mishap. We noticed that the water was rising. When the next safari vehicle decided to take the risk we decided to follow closely behind him to take advantage of his wake.

Mud sprayed everywhere, water sprayed onto Jenny's feet inside the car. The current was powerful and prayer pulled the little Rav 4 through the flooding. Our relief was short lived however, when we reached 3 more places where water covered the road - each of them as challenging as the last.

All the while laughter and prayer peppered our assessment of the situation.

Faith in God and a healthy love of adventure got us through all the dramas in the end.

A Maasai Creed (c. 1960)

2009-11-12T19:34:00.002+03:00

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created Man and wanted Man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the Earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light. God promised in the book of His word, the Bible, that He would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through Him. All who have faith in Him must be sorry for their sins, be baptised in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the Good News to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

Mothers-in-law in Africa!!!

2009-11-07T06:31:00.005+03:00

Day 4 of our teaching we tackled the subject of Mother-in-Laws.

It seems that the issues in the west are also present in Africa.

We began with a skit showing a typical African scene:
A man comes home from a journey. He is excited to be coming home to see his family again. Before arriving at his house, he is greeted by his mother who lives nearby who takes him into her house to greet him. She gives him Chai, sits him down and asks about his trip.. She notices the gift he has with him (which he purchased for his wife) and assumes it is for herself. She says "What is this?" Oh, thankyou! He doesn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't for her. After this she mentions that he may want to ask his wife how long she took at the market and how much house work she did while he was gone.....

He leaves without the gift for his wife, feeling annoyed at his wife. His wife notices that he has been to his mother's house first and is saddened to see the lovely gift he gave his mother. He enters the house and begins to question her about her chores and what she has done with her time.

This skit is very true to life here in Africa.

We then taught on the scripture: Husbands leave your mother and father and cleave unto your wife...
found 3 times in the bible... OT, Jesus quotes this, and Paul in NT. This makes it important doctrine.

We asked the couples how they could work this scripture out in their culture considering they lived so close to their in laws. See picture above of a typical Tanzanian boma where the extended family live in close proximity. Some of the men said this would not work in Africa.

When we asked them to fix the skit and make it biblical (i.e. putting the wife 1st) one man said he would buy two gifts and then when his mother criticized his wife he would go home and encourage his wife but couldn't say anything to his mother. His culture would not allow him.

We said this didn't really put his wife first publically and even privately she might still feel 2nd. We suggested that there must be some way to stop the mother's criticism without direct confrontation. Another man thought that he would approach his mother and tell her that she didn't really know his wife and how wonderful she was and that he would like to write down a list of her attributes and give the written list to his mother. They all agreed this was a good idea and that this was confronting the issue without cutting across your mother.

Another solution brought forward by an African pastor was that the man in the skit could buy 2 gifts (usually soap) and hide them so that when his mother came to greet him first he could say : "mama, so good to see you, I am going to come and greet you soon but first let me go to my home and greet my family". On arrival at his home, he would tell his wife, I bought 2 gifts, one for you and one for my mother but I would like you to choose the gift you would like first. Then he would give the other gift to his wife to bring to his mother thus strengthening their relationship. All of the Africans liked this example because it was peace making and still put the wife first.

It was a difficult day of wrestling and discussing these biblical truths, so it was all the more precious when there was breakthrough. Many of the wives didn't wish to speak on the subject probably for fear of looking bad, but those who did, said that it was important for their husbands to no longer listen to criticism about them.

Afterwards, as we began to pray, to our surprise a number of the men began to weep loudly. Soon the women joined them. Eventually, one man got up and went to the front of the room where he knelt down still weeping loudly. His wife joined him. Then other men and their wives went to the front and knelt down weeping, It was a loud cacophony of noise and very moving. After a time we began to pray for a new day in their marriages and a new hope and God's cleansing for them. Slowly, they began to sing thru sobs and gulps. It was a sacred moment and one that we will not forget.

Thanks for your prayers.

Training leaders from unreached people-groups...

2009-11-04T18:28:00.009+03:00

Judi and I have had the privilege working on several occasions with a mission (Christian Missionary Fellowship) that focuses on unreached people groups in Tanzania. These folk were instrumental in starting the Vineyard in Arusha, where we now serve as team leaders.
We were asked to take a week's teaching on Marriage for their students - prospective church planters.
We had an amazing first day with couples from Barbaig, Nyaturu, Sandawe and Maasai tribes. We compared and contrasted the marriage values each tribe had in light of Scripture, how husbands resembled Christ. As far as we can tell, the Sandawe have a lot to teach us Westerners and fellow Africans (with a few serious negatives).
Below is the limited list they came up with in the alloted time, documented largely in their own words.

BARBAIG
- Peacemakers
- quarreling with neighbours is a sin that is totally unforgivable (I suspect they mean 'unacceptable')
- a sacrifice is offered and the quarreling parties are covered in its blood for reconciliation
- the husbands are the 'guards of peace' for their family

Cultural 'challenges'...
- beatings are common and expected
- one's wife belongs to the whole boma (family cluster of homes)
- polygamy up to 11 wives

SANDAWE
- very loving
- monogamous
- couples walk together, holding hands (very rare)
- helps with household chores & kids

'Challenges'...
- arranged sex outside of marriage if wives are barren
- wife beatings are frequent and may be fatal. Women have no recourse.

NYATURU
- peacemakers
- men are generous and loving
- fights between couples are resolved in the company of tribal elders (if man is guilty, he is fined a goat or cow...)

'Challenges'...
- beatings are commonplace
- polygamous
- no expected heart forgiveness even after "reconciliation" by tribal elders
- never assist wives in any way in the home
- when faced with problems, will desert their families.

MAASAI
- husbands are highly protective of their families
- love their wives
- fathers are head of their families (no one overpowers him)

'Challenges'...
- polygamous
- affairs are commonplace
- women and children treated on same level (low status)
- wife beatings are common and culturally acceptable.

These issues are what these dear men and women face as they return to set up church in their people group. Remember, these folk are from areas where there are no Christian churches of any denomination, and the name of Christ is unknown within a large minimum radius of their location.

Day two with the students and some shocking discoveries re myths, beliefs and practices of these tribes on sex. Among them, up to three years abstinence for fear of affecting a fetus pre-birth and period of breast-feeding because of affecting milk? Any wonder there are issues of infidelity, many cases culturally accepted and arranged by the wives!?
Simply put, truth sets people free - with three pregnant women among the seven couples, along with two breast-feeding mums, the countering truths we taught became a practical reality and good news for all involved!

Day three - general review reveals they are really getting it ... most of it at least!
We covered Gary Chapman's "Five Love Languages", a little challenging given the strong cultural expectations regarding how a man or woman is to demonstrate love in their tribal context.
However, they did identify their personal love language and attempted to identify that of their spouse. A few got it right, but it also brought up a lot of pain, which we were able to talk and pray through.

Tomorrow we take on the huge issue of 'in-laws'. This proved a major challenge last time we taught this ... pray for us!

Do we ... "understand"?

2009-10-31T03:36:00.014+03:00

Mat 13:19
When any one hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. (NAS)

To 'understand' in the Greek, relates to knowing with the 5 senses - that which is tested, experienced, proven first-hand. The word syniemi (understand) literally means, "to bring together" or "to come together" or perhaps, "to put together". When we can "put things together" in our minds or when the words we've heard "come together" in our heads, we understand what the speaker is trying to say; thus its metaphorical meaning of "to understand". A similar metaphor is "I get it!" Somehow a "light" is turned on in our brains and we understand what is being talked about. (B. Stoffregen)

Julius Nyerere, the 'father of Tanzania', was one of Africa's brightest thinkers, and challenged the continent to become responsible for its own destiny. Far from being a fatalist, he understood the role and nature of real education but sadly failed in its implementation. (For more on this brilliant man click here).

The role of story (oral tradition) in indigenous contexts (beautifully exemplified in Jesus' MO), has largely been disposed of through the introduction of Western methods over the past century or more, sacrificed on the altar of rote learning; the accumulation of data without in-formation.
Ironically, Western thinking is now re-embracing the old, through the novel idea of 'on-the-job' training.
Philip Jenkins asserts that the centre of Christendom is shifting from the West to either Africa or South America. I'm thinking that this issue is a major player in that happening. As Western Christianity rediscovers story (HIS-story), and weaves it back into its teaching methods, people will begin to realize how little they really know, and seek the experience of truth, Truth Himself.
When pre-Christians look at us and say, "You don't know what you're talking about", they actually may be right! Without realizing it, they are really saying, "You don't KNOW who you're talking about!"
Until we know Him of whom we're talking, 'what' we're talking about is of little value.

We are having so much fun rediscovering these realities, realizing that we are as much (if not more) learners as teachers over here. We thought we were missionaries to Africa, but if Jenkins is right, we may well end up missionaries to the West, mentored in turn by our African brothers and sisters.
And we thought WE had it all... well, at least that's the way we understood it!!!

Oops - it's 4:30am ... time to go back to bed!

Swahili words you already know....

2009-10-20T17:27:00.002+03:00

Pancha..... something that happens to a tyre when you ride over a nail

benki..... a place you go to deposit your money for safe keeping or to withdraw money

teksi..... a car that gives you a ride which you pay for.

fourlani...... peak hour traffic

keeplefti..... a round-a-bout

offisini.....where you go to work everyday when you work in the business community

sirakasi..... under the big top...

Did you guess any of these?

Everyone can play.....

2009-10-17T19:12:00.004+03:00

Old Testament Priestly Garments...

Last Sunday, I preached on Everyone Can Play.....aka The priesthood of all believers.

I talked about the great divide that we have all experienced in church at some point where there is a definite clergy/ laity divide or professionals/ spectators divide. Another way of looking at it would be performers/ consumers. There are messages we receive about our inadequacy to contribute or just that there is a hierarchy that we need to respect.

This along with the western trend toward science and reason is yet another reason for non- involvement.

The biblical view of church is however, one of family, living stones, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9) This gives us a sense of organic flow, of living and moving and breathing together. A living thing. Church is about thinking, understanding AND DOING.

The reason for this divide?
Some thoughts...with the emphasis more and more on preaching the church has become more cerebral... less involved.
The increased value of science and reason has seen less and less emphasis on learning by doing. The praxis model Jesus used to teach is not as prevalent. Remember his show and tell model of walking on water... he showed them, he encouraged them and then he used the situation to teach the disciples.

Another reason could be low self esteem....

Still another relates to Old Testament theology left over in our thinking that we are unaware of.

I then looked at a comparison table of Old Testament Priests and todays' New testament priests. OT fields are in bold. NT in italics.

What a new testament priest might look like:

or this....

Clothing: Special clothing, which set them apart. Linen, head dress, sash, ephod etc. Bell around the leg of the High Priest.

New Testament:None except consideration of others. Modesty and consideration of cultural norms would come into this.

Duties: His office was responsible for the annual Day of Atonement rituals (Lev. 16) On the day of Atonement the priest would go into the altar and splash the blood of the unblemished lamb which would be an offering for our sins. We see some religious traditions today where communion is a ritual that should only be performed by the priest. He was also responsible for all the tithes and offerings of the Israelites .The priests supervised the system of worship and sacrifices at the holy sanctuary and helped regulate the religious affairs and holy days of Israel.
High Priest and priests – The priests aided the High Priest in all practical aspects. Priests inspected leprosy to declare it unclean or clean – healing;
Took your family sacrifice into the temple for you;

Praying for the sick, encouraging one another, confessing and forgiving one another. The sense of belonging as insiders and outsiders is now related to us the community of the church being those on the inside and those that don’t know Christ are on the outside and our hope and passion is that they would be drawn in. Christ has made us `priests to serve His God and Father' (Revelation 1:6; 5:10). As believer priests, all God's people have the privilege of ministering to each other by praying for one another (Ephesians 6:18f; Colossians 4:3; James 5:16) and encouraging one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18; Hebrews 10:25).

Rules and Regulations: Leviticus is a record of all of the rules that the priests needed to enforce. There were rules about the priests themselves being clean and then also declaring clean or unclean many different things that related to disease, diet and bodily functions. There were also many rules about the Sabbath that were interpreted by the Pharisees of Jesus day. Legalism was evident –you couldn’t carry your bedroll on the Sabbath and you couldn’t eat of the ceremonial bread. You didn’t work on the Sabbath – light a fire,

There is a big discussion about which of the rules should be followed now that Gentiles are included in the family – As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality." Acts 21:24-26.
This is a picture of contextualization of the gospel into other cultures.

Family Line: Levites – from the tribe of Levi. Priests were worthy male descendants of Aaron. The high priest was designated from among the first-born descendants of Aaron.

Christ is our brother – our co-heir. We are in the family of God. Eph 1: 2-4
[The God of Glory] How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Gender: Males only

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28

Race/ Ethnic Restrictions: Jews only

12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."Rom 10:12

Received or passed on? Priesthood rights given to the oldest son. Hereditary.

Adoption into the family makes us priests. 1 Peter 2:9 says
9-10But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. (The Message)

Buildings: Buildings were intricately designed and instructions were detailed and significant. Each person with special skills was to participate and offer their gifts. Tabernacle and Temple both structured and designed for the sense of Holiness and awe.

All of the activities of the priests were around the Temple. In fact in 70AD when the temple was destroyed the Priesthood system (priests and Levites) ceased and developed more into the rulership by the Sanhedrin and governed by one priest and a small group of chief priests. Their principal reason for existence had been the religion of the temple. Without the temple their purpose was gone and their role as religious leaders within the Jewish community passed into the hands of the rabbis, just as the temple was replaced by the centrality of the synagogue.

None. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We are the living stones of the Church.
1 Peter 2: 4,5 says: 4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Food restrictions No cloven hooved animals, no crusteans, nothing boiled in its mothers milk. Leviticus has the full list.

None except consideration of others.

Festivals and Special Days Sabbath, Festival of booths etc. etc.

Col 2:16, 17: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

So what is the point of all this?? We are the priests of today. We are the ones to bring God's kingdom to the world around us. We don't need a mediator or a priest.

What about leaders though?
The bible is very clear that there are leaders and fathers in the faith (and mothers).
Apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors are all called to raise up more of themselves in the church. They are to give away all they have and empower and equip the church. This is the opposite of using our leadership or position for status. No special clothing and no special seats....

So what are we called to do as these New Testament priests?
To bring the kingdom by:
being Jesus to this world - ie preaching the kingdom and then demonstrating by caring for the poor and oppressed, healing the sick, driving out demons, seeking the lost, and integrating, teaching and training new disciples to do the same.

Why do we do it?
Not for ourselves but because we are loved and we love...

Look at the following checklist and tick off in your mind the things you still want to do as a minister and a priest of this kingdom:

Strengthen feeble hands, steady weak knees, open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, cause the lame to walk, cause the mute tongue to shout for joy, Preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, bring freedom to the captives, release the prisoners from darkness, proclaim this time as God’s mercy and favour, proclaim God’s vengeance, comfort all who mourn. Care for the sheep, feed the hungry, chlothe the naked, strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, search for the lost, raise the dead, feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, invite the strangers in, visit the prisoners, Go, preach the gospel to all nations, make disciples, teach/train, drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes and not be hurt. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover….

Swahili words you already know....

2009-10-17T11:26:00.002+03:00

Take a guess at the following swahili words:

pancha

benki

teksi

fourlani

keeplefti

offisini

sirakasi

stay tuned for our next blog with some hints and the answers..........

Post office boxes in Arusha......means waiting... waiting

2009-10-17T11:22:00.002+03:00

So many of you have responded to our plea for help with Pre-school materials for the Loiborsoit preschool.
Thank you for your generosity...

Unfortunately, to date, we have not received one parcel..

We keep checking with the post office and checking our box but to no avail.

Please pray for those important gifts to arrive at there correct destination to bless those children.

We will update you when we have arrivals!!!

Alpha by candlelight and laptop

2009-10-17T11:11:00.002+03:00

Last Monday night - Alpha night - the power went out at 6pm until 10pm - the exact time frame for Alpha....

What to do? Well we prayed lots..... and then lit the candles and figured we would have to read "how to receive Direction" from the Alpha book "Issues of Life".... not a good option.

We decided instead to crowd around my laptop and turn up the sound (no speakers) and listen to Nicky Gumbel teach. We all strained to hear and must have been quite a sight. All 16 of us crowded around this small laptop in the candle light.... sudden bursts of laughter erupting at certain pertinent points...

The discussion and conversations after were lively and interesting...

Angels, Feng Shui, dreams, scriptures and coincidences, all played their part in the diverse discussion by participants afterwards..

God is on the move and it has been interesting and exciting to watch.

Mama Afrika Circus

2009-10-13T19:58:00.003+03:00

On saturday afternoon, because Zac was home for the long weekend, we went to the circus: Mama Afrika. No animals, no nets, just amazing juggling, contortion and gymnastic acts.

http://circus-mama-afrika.com/

While we were there we witnessed another treat..... it rained.... and hard.

Arusha experienced rain for a few hours and it was such a blessing..... but we need more.

Please continue to pray for more rain.

Today, we drove Zac back to school for another long six weeks before the end of the school year.... :(

2 Baptisms!!

2009-10-08T22:14:00.002+03:00

Yesterday, Nikita and Lala were baptized in a nearby pool.

Their excitement was evident.

These two girls have been going through the Alpha course and also attending another bible study where some Asians in Arusha gather to worship.

Their baptism was followed by a celebration with lots of Indian treats.

Text messages in Tanzania.... What joy!

2009-10-05T22:07:00.005+03:00

The following is a series of texts that I received from my dressmaking "fundi" expert here in Arusha....

He is a father of four, a lovely christian man and has sewn many things for me in the past. In the photo above he is holding up some backpacks he has sewn for Bonnie's shop.

His English is most probably better than my Swahili and I am sure he has a good laugh at my swahili texts that I send him. He prefers it if I speak and text in English because he wants to improve his English. From the following series of texts it is difficult to ascertain which of us has English as a second language. My texts are the ones in BOLD. Julius' are in italics.

This Sunday I am speaking on the difference btw the role of the priest in the OT and the NT. To better make my point that we are all priests and we no longer need special clothing etc. I am having Julius make me an OT caftan in white ... I will add the pomegranates etc....

He has no idea what my plan is and I simply ask him for a long white caftan:

Hi Julius. How r u? How much for a long white caftan. to fit a man. Not using good material? Mama Judi

His reply:Sorry madame.long caftan do u mine trouther?

No trousers.

Is the gament for place where drinks and simple meals availeble?

No just a sunday school story for kids. Not 4 good wear.

ok. i understanding. so how many years model has?

A man about 40 yrs old. He will be old testament priest.

3.5mts.

Is this enough to make a long dress say for my size?

Just buy 4 mts becaus i think its lake Jesus wear.

Sawa. How much 4 you to sew before saturday?

13,000tz have tetron cotton.

Can it be finished by friday? It would need sleeves between elbow and wrist. Also, a round neck with a slit so it can be pulled over the head. Is it all possible by friday?

Oh.yes is posble.

ok. Can u go ahead & I pick up and pay friday am?

Yes madame.

I hope to post a picture here of the finished article, soon.

10 crates of sodas, 2 small cows and a bull......

2009-10-03T19:04:00.003+03:00

A very shy Silas comes to talk to us about his new fiance..... if he could blush.. he would

This is the bride price our masai friend Silas needs to pay for his fiance, Dora.

These offerings are not for the wedding but are to be given to her father to pay for Dora so that Silas can go ahead and marry her.

4 crates of sodas are required first along with the small cow. Later, Silas will need to produce the large bull and small cow and the other 6 crates of sodas.

This is a regular payment here amongst the masai when they start to court a young lady.

Silas came visiting to ask us to help him with his payment because he doesn't have any cows.

mmmm.... how much are cows here? He didn't know... Sodas, however are around 9,000 tz or $8 per crate. 10 crates will be a whole months wage for Silas.... but she is worth it, I'm sure.