"She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes...."

Trusty "Sherman"

Getting ready to leave for our trip

Kent and I have been intrigued about what a trip around the whole mountain might be like for quite some time. The base of Mount Kilimanjaro is 60 by 90 miles but we decided to go around it on a road that is about 7000 feet in elevation. We began to ask if anyone had done it and the reply was no, no, and another no… but everyone said.. “Oh I should do that”. We thought this might be a trip that would be fun for some of our US guests for the future. So…. on Saturday morning we headed out with a plan to go and stay at the 1/3 spot and then continue on Sunday morning. We left Moshi around 10:30 AM after doing some errands in town and headed up the Marangu road. When we reached Marangu we continued to the east to begin the circle. The name of the lodge we were to stay at was Snow Cap Cottages. We had somewhat vague directions which is quite normal here. We had also searched for a map and there was none to be found but everyone said “there is only one road so follow it.” We came to a town a bit before the one where the “cottages” were located and found a few signs for Snow Cape Cottages…. it was so remote that I quickly informed Kent that we were NOT staying there for the night…. as it turned out is was a police barracks!! Everyone kept saying go a bit further… so we did. Finally we saw a sign pointing to a dirt road on the left that said Snow CAP cottages and as we drove up the road we saw them in the distance. It only took about 3 hours from Moshi to arrive and we were there shortly after 1pm. The place was lovely and cool and you could smell the pine forest all around us.

As it has been a bit warm ….. HOT…. in Moshi, we sucked in the cool air. We spent the afternoon knitting…me… and reading…Kent and it was wonderful. The mountain was typically clouded over but the cool air was enough for us to be happy we were there.

As we checked into the lodge, we were asked if we would like fish and rice or chicken and chips (French fries) for dinner at 6pm. We chose chicken and chips. At 6pm our dinner was served and it was quite nice. The bill was about $3.00 each. Our room was clean and adequate with a nice shower. We also slept well in the cool air.

 Motorcycle with passenger and bananas

Snow Cap Cottages

Looking into Kenya

This morning (Sunday) we enjoyed a nice breakfast (included with our room) of eggs, sausage (hotdog) and warm bread and we headed off for the last 2/3 of our adventure at around 8:30 AM. We could tell that it has rained in the evening and Kent said he heard it raining. After about 4 KM we began on the unpaved road which looked from the simple map we did find, to be about 30KM long. It was beautiful with the pine forests all around us and the clouds covering the magnificent peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. We knew we were skirting the border of Kenya and this became even more evident when my phone sent me a message saying I was now on Kenya network! It started to rain a bit off and on and we began to go though a few “little streams” on the road. The road continued to be more remote but the scenery incredible. We did come to one section of road that was quite muddy and we had to use 4 wheel drive low to navigate the ruts but “Sherman”… our trusty Nissan Patrol…. made it though. We continued our drive on the remote unpaved road and began to wonder if somehow there might have been a road turn we missed but we knew that both of us were glued to the route and could not have missed a turn and there were NONE. There were also no other vehicles… even motor cycles.. for miles. After a bit more than 3 hours on this road we finally came back to the tarmac and we were in Sanya Juu!!! What a wonderful sight!! We arrived home with a very muddy and dirty Sherman about 1:30pm and a wonderful adventure behind us.

Some of the better road

Pine forest

We did decide that we will NOT do the trip again until the VERY dry season… January and February perhaps and even then we will most likely not go all the way around. We also decided that the Snow Cap Cottages will be a great occasional trip to escape the heat and at $20. a night for 2 what a bargain!!!

Wonderful scenery and crops growing

Phil 3: 13-14 "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus".

Lulu and Gift

 Gift and Lulu have now had surgery and they are actually up and walking around after six weeks in their wheel chairs. It was so rewarding to see that even after six weeks, the other children never grew tired of pushing the chairs and helping the mothers lift the children. Please pray that we can get proper braces for them so their walking will improve quickly. The first request of both children was to slide down the new slide on the preschool playground and that was quickly accomplished within nearly minutes of their arrival back at the Village after the cast removal.

New Preschool playground

The "band" for the wedding

 The next Village event held recently was the wedding of two of our National employees. Emmanuel is the Assistant Village Administrator and Anita is the kitchen supervisor. They are a very lovely couple and seem so well suited for each other. We were invited to the "send off" and the wedding and it was indeed a wonderful occasion with lots of cultural learning for all of us. The "send off" is given by the bride's family as they "send the bride" to the groom and his family. It is much like a big wedding reception and the bridal party is dressed in formal attire and it is beautiful. The lovely cakes are not to eat but to give to honored guests. Our Rafiki Village received a cake.

Chagga Cake

Standard five singing

 The real cake for the send off is a "chagga Cake". It is a roasted goat ....completely in tact... with grass in the mouth. And very tasty. Our Standard four children (8) were invited to the send off and Standard five children (7) were invited to the wedding. Standard five sang two songs at the reception.

Anita and Emmanuel

 We continue to be blessed by the beauty of our surroundings. Kent takes great joy in growing beautiful plants and trees. With the never ending growing season here, we are learning a lot about how and what to grow. The beauty of the mountain is something we also never tire of seeing. It seems every day it changes in appearance due to clouds, snow, sun and moonlight. God's majesty is all around us.

New snow on Mount Kilimanjaro

Zinnias right out our porch

Superb Starling

 had no idea this plant bloomed!

Passion Fruit

Recently as a follow-up to the last blog entry on what we have learned over this past year, I came across  a marginal note inserted in my bible several years ago. It was on maintaining a devoted attitude as we do the Lord’s work. We still hope and pray that some of you will catch the vision of how valuable you can be even in retirement in a place like this. Here are seven principles based on Phil 3 which can be very helpful in stoking our devotion to Christ regardless of what we are doing:
1. Abandon delusions about spiritual perfection in this life
2. Press on to realize our full potential in Christ
3. Forget (do not dwell on) past failures or victories
4. Anticipate what lies ahead in our spiritual journey
5. Strain (invest energy) toward the final prize
6. Be constantly open to divine correction
7. Guard against regression in our spiritual progress.

One of our friends sent back with us several copies of the Jesus film including Swahili and English versions. Last week end we showed the Swahili version and many could not believe they were going to see a Swahili film. Anyone interested would get a tremendous blessing in learning how the film was visioned, financed and made over 30 years ago. Billions of people have seen the film. We are planning to show the English version in about six months in hopes that God will use it coupled with our Bible studies for the children and staff in introducing them to a personal relationship with Christ.

Lessons in Ministry in Tanzania

Blog posting from 25 Oct 2015

Yes this is a blog with no pictures!! Next time I promise lots of pictures :)

Almost a year has passed since leaving the familiar life of a big medical institution after nearly 20 years as an infectious diseases physician, the last part of which was physician administration and recruiting. This exceeded my wildest dreams as a young man growing up in a small mountain town in Idaho. Now at my 73 birthday, Peggy and I are in much greater awe at the privilege God has given us in serving Him in Tanzania, East Africa. We have good health, can still put in a good day’s work, live in stunning wonder at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro and are partners in running a 50-acre village caring for orphans, running Christian based schools and education programs for adults. Peggy is assuming responsibility for financial tracking and supervising the training of mothers who care for our orphans. I am for the time being responsible for running a training program for Christian teachers, doing part time teaching in the nearby medical school with about a thousand students and developing Bible studies among students we are hoping will become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

At this year mark, it is time to recap what God has taught us in this time of transition. We were back in the States for a brief time with the chief purpose of attending a STEER conference. This is an organization of ranchers, farmers and donors who through an ingenious system have managed to send out this year $ 2.3 million to support missionaries. They do this by accepting donors to buy impregnated cows which are placed in a herd of cattle owned by committed farmers or ranchers. The yearly offspring of the cow is sold for the support of missionaries. This is a gift which just keeps on giving year after year with minimal risk to the rancher since the cows are insured and the veterinary bills are covered. Administrative costs to the organization are down to 5%. Peggy was on the STEER board for 6 years before we finally decided to return to Africa.

What a joy it was to see all our old friends around Bismarck, ND; our home church gave us a special reception one evening to learn about the ministry God has given us. We are just beginning and hope that God will give us 7-10 more years before age catches up with us. Thank you Lord for all you have done for and through us in 2015.

Our daughter Anna is now an attorney in Washington DC and hopes to spend some time after Christmas with us.

The remainder of this blog is meant to summarize what we have learned over the previous year about discipleship and ministry. For many of you there will be nothing new here which you have not heard in pieces here and there. The significant thing for me is being able to summarize for myself and articulate to others what is the MEANING, MOTIVES AND MOTION OF DISCIPLESHIP AND MINISTRY. In using this mnemonic, 1. meaning, 2. motives and 3. motion, I mean by number 3. to cover what dynamics are visible to the observer in looking at discipleship first, then ministry. In other words, what does discipleship and ministry look like when they are truly at work in the world. Teaching students and observing colleagues has been the impetus for this summary; perhaps the reason why I have not said much about this until now is we have not been in a situation where there are so many opportunities to do good things and possibly miss the best things. I am sure that another contributing factor is something with which we all wrestle---the daily distraction of our commitments at home and at work.

DO NOT PROCEED FURTHER IN READING THIS BLOG UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO READ AND REFLECT ON THE TEXT, IT WILL BE TOO BORING! The newsy part of the blog is concluded.

As Jesus approached Jerusalem for his last Passover there were people who were going along with him and the disciples in increasing numbers. This was no doubt stimulated by his increasing fame, based on the miracles which he performed like the healing of the ten lepers and making the blind men see, on the outskirts of Jericho. The expectation of what would happen in Jerusalem was clearly laid before the disciples, even though they understood Jesus' words poorly, "Behold, we going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up" (Matt 20:18,19). But somewhere along that way he turned and addressed the crowds which were following. He mentioned five criteria which were necessary to become his disciple (Luke 14: 25-33) which sweeps away any other kind of discipleship then, during the intervening time or now.  Anyone who is thinking of following Jesus has to be astounded by the plain severity of what it meant to follow him.

1. Anyone intending to follow him must "hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life". In most Bibles having even scant notes there is usually a footnote marked just before the word "hate" explaining that this is a figure of speech indicating that our love for the Master must be so great that all other loves BY COMPARISON ARE HATRED. Matthew in his gospel substantiates this by quoting the Lord in a slightly different way, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more the Me is not worthy of Me" ( Matt 10:37). This particular category of loves includes the most common reasons given by Christians for not personally taking seriously the Great Commission stated at the end of Matthew's gospel. Jesus is very clear that it is not possible to become His disciple without this uncompromising love for Him. And this does include holding on to our own life also as if to keep a portion reserved for ourselves. Not keeping this in mind was the first great criticism He had against the early church when He addressed the church in Ephesus through the Revelation given to John on the island of Patmos, "you have left your first love" (Rev 2:4). It is the source of nearly all the troubles we see in the modern church.

2. Next comes something just as sweeping in the Luke passage. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple". Most of us think this means we must be willing to suffer pain and privation for our Lord. Of course based on many other scriptures this is the case. But we pass over the main point in not realizing that crucifixion was an ancient method of capital punishment perfected by the Romans to inflict the very maximum of shame, lingering pain and suffering that one could imagine. Sometimes death did not happen for three days, birds would begin to pick at the dying body including the eyes and, to make sure the locals got the message it was done publicly, usually just outside the main gate of the city or in a very conspicuous place. But on the way to the crucifixion site the condemned was forced to carry his own crossbeam and in the case of Jesus there were probably thousands of onlookers along the way. The point here was the final power of Rome and the public display of it. As Rome declared once again its supreme power in life and death so those who follow Jesus must declare his absolute power over the individual in all matter of life and death. It too must be publicly displayed as his followers "come after Me". Someone has said that the entry fee into heaven is nothing, but the maintenance fee is everything.

3. Verse 28 of Luke 14:25-33 involves counting the cost and calculation. It points to careful planning in order to execute what our Lord commands so that we will be able to finish well. It reminds us that in Scripture we do not find the concept of retirement, a much beloved theme of the American dream. Paul continuously challenges us to finish well as he did, not doubt obtaining from his Master the great words, “well done, good and faithful servant”.

4. After the parable of the tower comes another one about a king who is soon to face an army twice as large as his own (vv. 31,32). Can he possibly win? If not he may need to sue for peace with the prospect of sacrifice; either if he goes to battle and wins, or has to humble himself by asking for peace. If he goes to battle and loses, everything is gone. In any case, the idea of sacrifice is put forth. Those who follow Jesus must be prepared for making decisions which involve big sacrifices.

5.  Lastly in considering the meaning of discipleship Jesus makes it clear that no one can be His disciple without giving up all his own possessions (v. 33). This means placing them under His lordship. We are bound to use them for the benefit and advancement of His kingdom. There will be a day of reckoning when the question will not be salvation but the use of what we had committed to us while still in the body (2 Cor 5:10). We learn in another place that what is obvious in the way of deeds will be judged as well as motives because in the process of leaving everything behind for Christ, there are many who appear first and will be last as well as vice versa (Matt 19:28-30). Of course this does not mean that in discipleship there can be no rich Christians; but to whom much is given, much shall the Master require. These five principles are at least the MEANING OF DISCIPLESHIP.

The MOTIVE FOR DISCIPLESHIP is the realization of the incredible sacrifice Christ has made for us mentioned by Paul in Phil 2:5-8. We are instructed to "have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus". What was that attitude? It was willingness on His part to give up everything out of love to the Father in the great plan to bring forth a new race of men who have God's laws written on their hearts (Jer 31:31-34).


What is the MOTION (OR DYNAMISM) OF DISCIPLESHIP? This is mentioned in Jn 15 which teaches us about bearing fruit. The chapter goes on to mention bearing more fruit and then bearing much fruit. Jesus promises that as this process is made complete in us we may, "ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (v. 7). True discipleship is synonymous with bearing fruit-it is the Father's will. Here we find three relationships at least, which reveal the character of discipleship. What do people see in the lives of those who go on as His disciples?

1. Abiding in Christ is the sine quo non of bearing fruit. Then we have first our relationship to Christ. He boldly states in v. 4 that fruit is impossible without abiding in the vine and He is the True Vine. Much has been written about this over the history of the church and I think Rick Warren in his record breaking book "The Purpose Driven Life" discusses the subject well. This relationship is maintained through constant conversation with Christ in prayer, meditating on God’s Word, obeying God in faith, choosing what God values, being honest with God and desiring friendship with God more than any other thing. We must have a daily communion with Christ and if that is occurring there certainly will be fruit as well as becoming more like Him.

2. Next, we have our relationship to each other. Christ's love will be in us if we keep His commandments just as He kept His Father's commandments and constantly remained in the Father's love (v. 10). We will love one another patterned after Christ's own love (v. 12).

3. The last relationship here is with the world. The will receive the assistance of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to testify of what Christ has done in coming into the world and for us individually (vv. 26,27). “For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard”(Acts 4:20).

THE CHARACTER OF DISCIPLESHIP IS FRUIT FROM ABIDING IN CHRIST, LOVE, AND THE POWER TO TESTIFY.

We are called to be disciples in order to bear fruit in ministry. Let us consider the MEANING, MOTIVES AND MOTION OF MINISTRY. The MEANING of ministry is clearly set forth among other places in Romans chapter 12 and starts with the realization of God's incredible mercies shown to us in Jesus Christ. What can we give in return? Paul urges us to give our bodies as living and holy sacrifices in a spiritual service of worship. It is only in that state that we will be able while on earth to experience what the full will of God is for our lives, which he describes as "that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (v. 1, 2). In experiencing this we need to come to the realization that just as in our own bodies the various members have different functions so in the body of Christ (His real church made up of all those who are truly redeemed) each of us have different functions. God has graciously given us different gifts so that each one of us contributes to the building up of the body of Christ. We are responsible to identify our gifts and use them for the wellbeing of the rest of the church both locally and generally. But we are to have sound judgment about our gifts and how to use them (no self-deception or misplaced importance, just humble service). There are many gifts and their uses discussed by Paul in other place in the New Testament.

There are at least four MOTIVES for ministry which starts with the concept of bond service. This is willing slavery or servanthood and is based on a ceremony prescribed in Exodus 21 whereby a Hebrew slave in the 7th year could decide that he wished to remain in his master's household enjoying the benefits there instead of going free. He was taken to the doorpost of his master's house and an awl was passed through his ear lobe. Without withdrawing the awl back through the earlobe, the servant was pinned to the doorpost by his ear indicating perpetual willing servanthood. This is the kind of servanthood Jesus demanded of his disciples, not measured halfhearted service. Many of the New Testament writers called themselves bondservants after this pattern. It is a term foreign to us and met with blank stares when used because slavery in most civilized societies is against the law. But there is one type of service on this earth where it is plainly expected based on the ultimate meaning of Christ's service to the Father for us. This is why He said, "if you love me keep my commandments". Bondservants not only keep the commandments of their master, they look for every occasion to intuit their master's will to please him out of gratitude. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians when he points out that to be in Christ is like becoming a new person. This is based on what God promised to do for each of us when the New Covenant was initiated (Jer 31). This spiritual renewal is produced by the Holy Spirit and without it, no one may enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3). The motives produced by this renewal are fourfold:
1. CONFIDENCE.  Paul again helps us understand in a few words what the Law, the Prophets and the Gospels have taught all along. Christ has been made sin for us "so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21). We are fully accepted by the Father and have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba Father. We are invited to ask whatever we will as we abide in Christ. This provides us with an unshakeable confidence and Paul even tells us that God makes all things work together for our good with nothing able to separate us from the love of God (Rom 8). God makes even the bad and difficult things for us to turn out for our good and His glory.
2. CONCERN. Since we have this wonderful intimate relationship with Christ, our great concern even while being absent in the body from heaven, is to be pleasing to Him in all things (2 Cor 5:9). It is the chief concern of a bondservant-to serve and make happy his master. It is stated in different ways by Paul. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father" (Col 3:17).
3. CONSTRAINT. Christ's love constrains us to speak and act worthy of Him (2 Cor 5:14) starting with keeping His commandments. It compels us to have His word abiding in our hearts. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ to us in the inner man, a completely unknown process to those who are not indwelt by the Spirit. This is the mechanism by which God puts His law within us and writes it on our hearts. He, the Spirit takes the things of Christ and discloses it to us. It is the means by which an individual can gladly meet the requirements to become and remain a true disciple of Christ. Then "from his innermost being will flow rivers of living waters" (Jn 7:38)
4. COMMISSION. These motives culminate in taking personal responsibility for participating in the great commission of making disciples of all the nations (Matt 28:18-20). We realize that we are Christ's ambassadors to the world around us starting right where we are and being willing to go to and do anything He may ask of us because He has promised to be with us even to the very end of this age. Paul terms us as ambassadors for Christ in appealing to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:20).

Lastly, what is the MOTION (DYNAMISM) of our ministry for Christ? We may ask, to use a metaphor, what flavors does our ministry have in the world and among believers? Paul followed a principle in his ministry which we do well to emulate. This is set before us in 2 Cor 6 with the statement, "giving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God". He follows this principle with 27 examples of what he is talking about (2 Cor 6:4-10). They are easier to remember if divided into 3 parts with 9 examples in each part.
1. Extreme suffering (endurance), vv. 4-6
 1.1 in affliction-pain suffering or distress imposed by illness, loss or misfortune
 1.2 in hardships-that which is difficult to bear
 1.3 in distresses-mental or physical strain caused by worry, hard circumstances or
 dread of a dark future
 1.4 in beatings
 1.5 in imprisonment
 1.6 in tumults-the terror and uncertainty of being carried forward in a riot
 1.7 in labors-Paul often supported himself by making tents and knew hard labor
 1.8 in sleeplessness-watching behind his back, hidden and participating in secret
 plans to escape in the night
 1.9 in hunger-on his frequent journeys with their accompanying dangers (2 Cor 11:26)
2. Extensive graces, vv. 6,7
 2.1 in purity-chaste (no unlawful sexual activity) and decent
 2.2 in knowledge-some of this was super human as when he stated what he heard
 when caught up into the third heaven, "hearing inexpressible words, which a man is
 not permitted to speak"
 2.3 in patience-"patient when wronged" (2 Tim 2:24)
 2.4 in kindness-"and the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind
 to all, able to teach"
 2.5 in the Holy Spirit-Paul prayed for an abundant supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ
 which is mediated through the power of the Holy Spirit
 2.6 in genuine love-see Paul's great  comments of love in 1 Cor 13
 2.7 in the word of truth-we must be careful to handle the Word of God "accurately"
 which can only be done in letting the Holy Spirit teach us as we see how Scripture
 interprets Scripture (2 Tim 2:15)
 2.8 in the power of God-Jesus reminded His disciples in John 15 that "apart from Me
 you can do nothing"
 2.9 by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left-there is further
 instruction about this in the end of Ephesians 6
3. Extraordinary paradoxes, vv.8-10
 3.1 by glory and dishonor-the Holy Spirit ministers to us to act for, to experience and see
 glory of God in others but the world regards us as misguided fanatics
 3.2 by evil report and good report- some see us as a great hazard to society, Stalin and
 Mao condemned Christians to death or labor camps to decontaminate society.
 occasionally Christians are recognized widely for good works such as Mother Theresa
 winning the Nobel prize or Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, being awarded
 the Templeton prize
 3.3 regarded as deceivers and yet true-the Jews regarded Paul as their arch enemy
 because of his deception of synagogue members and his effectiveness in winning
 God fearing Gentiles to Christ
 3.4 as unknown but well known-Queen Victoria once said she was thankful for the "not
 many" rather than not any of the wise, mighty or noble as being chosen of God
 (1 Cor 1:26) as she considered herself a serious believer known of God
 3.5 as dying yet behold we live-see the comments about John Paton the great
 missionary to the Vanuatu (formerly known as the New Hebrides Islands) cannibals in the
 closing part of this communication
 3.6 as punished yet not put to death-many of God's saints have pointed out that we
 are immortal until God decides otherwise and our work is done
 3.7 as sorrowful but always rejoicing-we grieve and pray for the Christians who are
 suffering the terrible persecutions of Moslem terrorists in the Middle East now but
 rejoice in how God's kingdom is remarkably growing in other parts of the world
 (I would commend Bill Bright's biography "Amazing Faith" for documentation of some
 of the statistics)
 3.8 as poor making many rich-we must be willing to accept possible poverty to realize the
 incredible privilege of being used of God to reach others with Christ's love.
 3.9 as having nothing but possessing all things- the great change is coming in this world
 with Christ's return then many who are first will be last and the last first when it will be
 manifested who sought the true riches.

In my private meditations on all these things I have asked myself, "Are you ready for this kind of life"? I don't even know anybody who is an example of living this kind of life! I am not even aware of anyone in church history who measures up to this kind of challenge except Paul and I never dreamed that there was a missionary in modern times who was like him. Over the three weeks between instruction terms at our Rafiki Village I have read a book which has been on my book shelf for nearly ten years with an occasional dusting. It is called "MISSIONARY PATRIARCH The True Story of John G. Paton". He lived from 1824 to 1907 and labored in circumstances which repeat and magnify most of the ministry experiences of Paul except the Lord allowed him to die a natural death, being on the knife edge of death repeatedly among the cannibals of the New Hebrides Islands, modern Vanuatu. If any of you have been able to plow through this, the longest of any blog entry I have ever done, your reward is in front of you! Get this book, you will never be sorry that you read it. I have been able to articulate even though I don't know how I will ever be able to live up to discipleship and ministry, their MEANING, MOTIVES AND MOTION. I hope and pray that you will be just as challenged as I have been. Know that these things will be before Peggy and me as we start our second and better year in God's work at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Nehemiah 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is your strength".

These are the last few days of August and we are starting to make plans for coming home in the month of October. By then a year will have passed since we sold our house in Bismarck and got ready to move to Africa as full time missionaries. Our perspective has changed a great deal since then, as you would expect. We mean; it is much easier to see and respond to the challenge of taking the Gospel to all nations in view of the certain fact that God’s kingdom, although not come in power yet because our King is seated “at the right hand of the Father”, is surely ever so close. Then God will bid the Son to “rule in the midst of Thine enemies” (I am thinking in terms of Psalms 110 and what we are taught in the New Testament about its literal fulfillment). Resistance will finally be impossible and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. To most of us this is a familiar challenge but out here, many of the distractions which afflict us at home are absent; so we more clearly discern our Lord’s expectation that we should be wise stewards of what He has committed to us during His absence.

The two of us were laughing together as we went to bed last night when we rehearsed the day and added the comment of how blessed we are at our age to have the privilege of still being active enough to serve under these circumstances. One of our resident children asked Peggy again how old she was and she replied, “Why? Do I look old?” The child replied quite candidly, “Yes, you do”. And so I see my grandfather staring me in the mirror now clearly. We take the opportunity to thank all of you who have prayed for us and sent your support over the previous year. We also appreciate all of you who have taken the time out to serve with us for weeks or months. You have seen what compels us to keep on course. We can also say that it is with joy in our hearts which only the Lord can give.

The sidewalk project financed by a generous supporter is over half complete and the playground renovation is taking shape as the steel framework is being erected near the children’s cottages.  

Another term is nearly complete in the teacher’s training program called RICE (Rafiki Institute of Classical Education). I am looking forward to expanded interaction with medical students, medical officer trainees and teacher trainees at a nearby college. For this I enjoy the partnership of two Lutheran pastors who are helping me to expand opportunities to teach students about the identity of our Lord and what He expects in return for His incomprehensible love. Yesterday we had a ground breaking ceremony which included the youngest (she shoveled dirt with a small garden spade) and the oldest resident moving dirt as construction started on the largest building to be erected in the village-a multipurpose facility with a gym, a stage, music practice rooms and expanded classrooms which will serve the teacher training program. With all this going on we have been reminded lately during our regular Bible study in the Gospel of Luke about at least four elements of discipleship which our Lord made very clear was His expectation (Luke 14:25-33):

 1. v. 26, discipleship means loving our Master so much that all other loves are hatred by comparison,

2. v. 27, taking up our cross daily speaks of His absolute lordship in our lives even as a condemned man had to carry his cross publically to the execution site as a sign of submission to the power of Rome,

3. In the teaching about building the tower (vv. 28-30) we are confronted with the challenge that we must plainly calculate the cost of this kind of discipleship!  and lastly

4. (vv. 31-33) this calculation should include how we can use our resources for the maximum benefit of His kingdom.

We hope to rejoice with many of you during the time we are in the States in October. We want to remind everyone that there are so many opportunities for faithful service here in the lives of others even for older people like us (I spent the morning repairing security lights which have been out for months). Let us know if you would like us to come to your church or home group to talk about these opportunities. There is always plenty of work to share J.

Ecclesiates 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A happy "gardener" with a completed maize crop in the background

Lilac breasted roller on the wire outside my house

What is it like to live below the equator? Well only a bit below; but indeed below by 3 degrees. Many things on this side of the equator are opposite. The seasons are opposite and the water even swirls down the drain in the opposite direction. We have some of the same star constellations but we have some different ones also like the Southern Cross. The big dipper is upside down.

What is “winter” like near the equator? We are currently in our winter season and today I have on a fleece jacket! What is the temperature.. well it is 66 but it is damp and cool for those of us who have acclimated to the 80’s. The really interesting thing is that as soon as the cloud cover lessens, it can raise the temperature by 15 to 20 degrees nearly instantly. The nights are nice for sleeping at around 60 or a bit less. Our solar hot water heater doesn’t function too well this time of year so we are grateful for the electric over-ride. The children nearly always are found in jackets or sweaters and many times with a hat!!  At first I chuckled at them but now I sometimes would like a hat too! I think we are in serious trouble when we will be in North Dakota in OctoberL.

Rafiki Village from water tower

Pre school with hats and sweaters and jackets

Our school at the Village operates year round with 4 quarters. Each quarter is separated by a 2 or 3 week break. We are currently in quarter 3. Our big school focus is getting the standard four (grade 4) students ready for their national exams in November. The students did very well last year with being #3 out of 150 schools in our district but there is always a lot of preparation required.

We have had a steady stream of mini missionaries during the past couple of months. I wonder how we would have gotten everything done without their help. Mini missionaries are trained for a weekend at the home office in Florida then they come from one week up to one year to help in one of the Rafiki Villages. It seems like they all have special skills but God seems to provide just the skills we need the most. Recently some came and worked on school pictures and updating the child books. Another helped with some of the school classes and another who is actually a seamstress in Hollywood made some new uniforms for the girls in standard 1-3. She created a new design and made a pattern and 16 new uniforms in two weeks!!!

Our house from water tower

I continue to be amazed at new things I find in the markets here. Today Pat (head mistress at the school) and I were in town and found some really colorful battery operated clocks for a reasonable price.  I also discovered that the stores are now charging for plastic bags!! PROGRESS…..

We continue to be thankful and amazed that God has blessed us with good health in this “season” of our lives and with the privilege of serving here in Tanzania. Life is good here among these wonderful children and the opportunities for ministry are limitless. 

Resting Giraffe with water buck looking on

Zebra in Arusha National Park

Silver cheeked hornbill

It now has been 8 months since we started the new chapter in our lives in Tanzania living at the Rafiki Village. Looking back, the single most striking thing which occurs to me is the doors which have been opened to us for proclaiming the Gospel and making Christ known. We would not want you to get the idea that this mission field is evangelized (both the Catholics and the Lutherans have large works here and in our area the Lutherans are the larger of the two). But there is plenty of profession and so far fewer who want to be disciples and wish to disciple others. Let me tell you about two of the opportunities. A few weeks ago a Lutheran pastor who is in charge of education for a subdivision of the diocese (defined as the territory which a bishop supervises) invited me to go with him up the mountain to a place called Machame to see about getting a Bible study started at the Lutheran hospital there. This one trains clinical officers, mostly males and closer to a nurse practitioner, who are then sent out to remote sites to establish or staff clinics. There is also a nurses training program there. We met in the chaplain’s office with representatives of two Christian student organizations and an older nurse who is also a well-known Bible teacher. They want me to come every Sunday for two hours to teach the students through the Gospel of John. This is how I became a believer when presented with the astonishing person, words and works of Jesus. I still am amazed at the power of His words when reading through that gospel. “Two hours, are you sure you could tolerate this”! I replied as we discussed what should be done. “Well how about 80-90 minutes”, they replied thinking I may get weary. This is a place where the Gospel was first preached by the German Lutheran missionaries who came pioneering in the mid eighteen hundreds. The tent pegs which they cut by tradition have grown into huge trees adjacent to the very large Lutheran church which stands nearby on the edge of the tropical rain forest, one of the transition zones as the altitude of Kilimanjaro gradually increases. After the meeting the chaplain wanted to talk with me and said, “I am in charge of a teacher training college further down the mountain which has 100-200 students called Arizona and if you would come and teach on Fridays we would make the teaching a course which everyone would be required to attend during the academic year”. Later I asked why it was called Arizona and was told that some prominent Lutherans came from Arizona to look over the work and were told of the desperate need for teachers in the area. They provided the funds and support to get the college going. Just think of the opportunity for presenting the necessity of a personal relationship with Christ as we study through John. The problem here is that I can’t do this alone with all the other things I must do here at the Village.

The other thing which would fit in with this nicely is we really need another couple on the Village; a man who is trained or experienced in general maintenance, and another teacher who is experienced in junior secondary. We are just finishing a large addition to the campus for junior secondary and will be starting the sixth grade In January (we add a class each year as the resident children grow older and plan on doing this until we have all twelve levels complete). The man would need to be an experienced Bible teacher. There is a large concentrated pool of such men in Bible Study Fellowship and a smaller pool among church Sunday school teachers. WOULD YOU PRAY WITH US FOR SUCH A COUPLE AND HELP US FIND THEM. Jesus calls us to these opportunities and we realize that it does entail tremendous sacrifice for those who are willing. Here is an example of what Jesus was talking about when he said that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matt 9:37).

I thought for the remainder that I should share with you what a typical day is like during a school break. After rising early and praying (I am really being edified by Bill Bright’s list of the thirteen attributes of God and nearly have them committed to memory) I ran around the village while Peggy prepared breakfast. The night before she had prepared a large mound of provisions for taking our second graders to the Arusha game park for the day (I don’t think any of these kids had ever seen the wild animals which are less than an hour away). School is out for about another two weeks and this is what we call GAMES (games, art, music, enrichment and sports). She left with fourteen kids in two vehicles, the second driven by an experienced safari guide who offered to do the day with the kids for $25. The costs were all underwritten by a family who dropped by last Christmas for a tour of the village and left cash to pay for a safari trip for all the kids. Tomorrow will be the first grader’s turn. They spent all day driving around in the park and having a picnic. I stayed home because somebody always must be available for the unexpected. Our mini-missionary was at work early drilling some of the children on math facts (+,-, x, division) and supervising coloring. I finished up painting the entrance to our house and got everybody ready for kick ball. We played until  noon and since it is a new but very exciting game for them we are concentrating on learning the rules, not pushing, following the orders of the team leader and accepting the observations of the referee (me). After lunch we did origami (I had to practice the night before and learned how to make a cube out of paper with only a piece of origami paper, the right folds and a final puff of air to inflate the cube). Next we did board games and triominoes. Finally at 4 o’clock it was time for the boys’ spectacular bike ride which they can hardly wait for, girls come tomorrow. The younger children who are just learning to ride are left in the village to ride small bikes supervised by the mothers. The older ones I take with me outside the village, down a dusty dirt road, cross two rivers and ride up a hill. For the trip back they can all ride just as fast as they want back to the village. Then it was supper time and Peggy was just getting back from the park. She just peeked in now after reviewing the day’s photos and said, “I am beat, I am going to bed”.

We love our life here and the days are full and rewarding. Many days end by our sitting on our porch with spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro. We nearly always sleep well J. 

Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said to them: "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

On our way to the Maasai Village

Cousins and more cousins.

What is it like to visit an authentic Maasai Village? Most people who visit the Maasai are going with a Safari company to a mostly authentic village but one that hosts many visitors and benefits from the income of the visitors. Kent and I were recently invited to bring our four Maasai girls “home” to visit their aging grandmother in their village. We were, along with the girls to be “guests of honor” for the day. The village we visited was far off the road and not one that a Safari company would visit.  We agreed to come and make a day of the visit. It took us about three hours to reach the village as it is a bit past Arusha. The uncle who had invited us, met us in Arusha to take us “off road” to the village. Once we left the main road we traveled about 45 minutes to our destination.

the girls with Grandma and aunties

An older brother of our girls

Peggy, Kent, and Uncle Lazaro

The Maasai people are a tribe in Kenya and northern Tanzania and are semi-nomadic. The Maasai are very reluctant to educate themselves or their children and their main activity is herding cattle, sheep and goats. You see children of three and four years of age out with a flock of goats. The Maasai dress in traditional shukas which are sheets of cloth tied onto the body. They also make elaborate beaded necklaces and bracelets. You usually see the Maasai women with stretched earlobes with beaded earrings hanging from the lobes. The Maasai practice polygamy with each wife having her own “boma” or house. The houses are typically on a dirt foundation with the house itself framed with some wood supported and covered with mud mixed with cow dung. Many of the houses are round and they have another smaller house that serves as a kitchen for cooking over an open fire.

The village we visited was very typical but also very poor. We were honored by the village killing and roasting a goat in honor of the girls visiting. I would say there were about 100 people in the village and they are all related in some way. We arrived in the village around 11am and the goat had been slaughtered but not yet prepared for roasting so we were free to visit many of the relatives. Only a few spoke English and our girls were able to communicate in Swahili as most of the relatives spoke Swahili as well as their native kimaasai language.

Kent enjoying goat fat with the men

Little sheep and goat hearders

The goat was ready for eating around 1pm and the men were served first and they get the much cherished “fat” of the goat. (Kent was worried that when he got home his “fat” might not set too well, but he survived without intestinal distress). (At this point I was quite happy to be of the female sex). Shortly after the men were served outside, the girls and I were served in the house of one of the wives of an uncle. The goat was really tasty and the girls and I loved it!! They ate and ate and drank fresh warm milk and then we were served rice with goat sauce and chips “French fries”.  As a real treat we were all served soda (Fanta and Coke) which our resident children rarely get.

After our generous meal, we were all honored with gifts before leaving the village. We all received beaded necklaces with crosses and I received a beaded collar necklace. Kent also received a round blue necklace and bracelet which you might see ME wearing J. 

The uncle who invited us to the village managed to get a good education (by working his way through school) and is instrumental in helping to educate many of the other children in the village. He is now planning to build a primary school close by. He is a secondary school teacher and teaches at a school around Arusha. He is so happy that the four children are at Rafiki and they are being educated. He comes to their recitation twice a year to see their progress.

The old grandmother was in tears at seeing the four girls for the first time in two years. She had taken care of the youngest for nearly two years after her mother died in child birth leaving the three girls without parents as the father too died shortly before the last girl was born.  The older girls came to Rafiki soon after the mother’s death. The grandmother is too old to travel to Rafiki to see the children.

"Sherman" with a boma in the background"

I must say that the whole adventure was indeed fun and rewarding. Seeing the children with their relatives is always a blessing. All four of these girls are still in need of sponsors if any of you are interested. You can find more information on them at www.rafikifoundation.org under sponsor a child, Tanzania.