Leadership Study

Our leadership study has begun and we are now two day into it.  Mike and Clint are doing a great job with the teaching.  The brothers are doing wonderful with great concentration levels and wonderful questions.  The sisters are working so hard with the refreshments.  Everything is coming together so well!

I will write more about the study shortly, but for now here is a short photo essay.

Mike and Allen with the first topic

These two brothers work together very well - even the hand gestures are the same

Deep concentration!

At rest between the studies

Enjoying one another's company

Clint and brother Mwakasungula

Safari Njema

Yesterday Mike, Clint and I went on a safari.  In Swahili the word safari means "journey" and we had to go out of town to buy some sleeping mat for the men that are coming to town for the Leadership Study.

We left early and picked up Brother Msuya on the way.  Msuya knew where we could get these mat at a reasonable price (in town they were very expensive).  So with his local knowledge we were on our way.

Our destination was a village about 2 hours drive east of Arusha.  On the way we were able to show our guests a bit more of the country side here in Tanzania.  Our trip took us down Mount Meru, through the banana groves and coffee plantations to the flat volcanic plain between Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro.  We then started ascending again as we climbed the foot hills of Africa's largest mountain and the tallest free standing mountain in the world.  Kilimanjaro was hiding this morning behind its veil of clouds, as it often does this time of year.

        Baoba Tree

As we left Kilimanjaro behind we started heading towards the Pare Mountains - a rugged volcanic range and quite beautiful.  The landscape is dry and arid and we started seeing the wonderful Baoba trees.  Msuya told us these trees are planted up-side-down! And with their bear branches this time of year it sure looks like it.  These trees look a lot like what we call Boab trees in Australia.  The MUST be the same tree!

Just a little further on and we came to the markets Msuya had told us about.  Now, when a white person - a Mazungu - comes along you can be sure the price will go up a lot. So we left Msuya to do the purchasing and Mike and I went looking at the rest of the market.

They sell all sorts of things there from fruits and vegetable to fish, both fresh and dried.  Mike and Clint were approached by an enterprising youngster to purchase a small fish for 100 Shillings - the brothers declined!

Anyone for fish?

After a while Msuya phoned me up and we joined him in the section of the market where they sold the mats, baskets and other woven goods.  He had managed to buy 3 mats - we needed 20!

He had met a man who told him he knew where he could get more at the next village down the road, so with this guy we jumped into the car once more and headed off.  I have to say there was a pronounced odour of fish that was now accompanying us!

The next village was not far down the road and our new friend told me to stop at the side of the road and he and Msuya disappeared.  So, there we were, Mike, Clint and myself sitting in the car in this village not knowing quite what was happening and if we were going to be able to get the sleeping mats we needed - after all 3 out of 20 is pretty awful!

These kids thought we we so funny!

While we were waiting there were a group of children that started to gather and they were fascinated in Clint.  He was making the laugh so much as we sat in the car.  When we called them over the dashed off in hysterics.

After a while the got really brave and came a little bit closer and were playing around us.  Clint had the bright idea of teaching them the song "Jesus Love You".  I had my swahili song book in the car so the 3 of us Mazugus entertained the kids with a couple of verses of this song in Swahili.  They thought this was wonderful - laughing at us and dancing too, what they obviously thought was a good rendition of the old song in their language.

After some time Msuya started arriving back with more mat.  First 4 more then they were able to locate more and more.  Finally they arrived with a large bundle of these mats and Msuya announce that we now had the all!  20 out of 20 is really great!  Just as we were about to put them in the back of the truck, Msuya noticed something in the middle of the rolled up mats.  There was as kitten hiding in there!  Lucky he saw it.  I sure would not want a cat in the car on our long trip back.

Brothers on a safari

So, now with our mission accomplished, all we had to do was head back home.  It was a great trip, very enjoyable - good friends and a lot of laughs. We stopped on the way hope and assessed our day with the help of a cold Coke and Clint entertained the people at the Cafe with his renditions of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Dr. Clint and Dr. Mike at rest

Msuya enjoying a rest

The Adventure Continues

After a busy day today including studies, purchasing Bibles and various jobs that had to be done, we finished up at the church building for a study with the men on leadership.

Clint did an excellent job on teaching about the Lord's Supper.  The brothers got a lot out of his delivery and there followed a lively question and answer session.  We are starting our Leadership Study on Wednesday and the brothers were given a good taste of what is to come.

A day of study at Nkoaranga

On Friday afternoons I head out of Arusha and go to the little village of Nkoaranga.  This is about 1/2's drive out of town up on the slopes of Mount Meru.  The area is very lush and green up there, the air is cooler and the fields are filled with banana trees and coffee bushes.  


There are a lot of people living there, not in one big village, but it seems that most people live on their small farms where they make their livings.


Yesterday I met up with the preacher there, Mbise, at his house and after exchanging greeting with him and his wife, we headed off for some "house to house" studied.  Mama Mbise and their daughter would see us latter at the church building were we would finish the afternoon with a large study.


I really love it up in Nkoaranga, the little tracks between peoples farm are really beautiful and you often get glimpses of stunning views down the mountain to the surrounding areas.

Our first stop was a study arranged last week with a man we met at the church building.  He lives quite a way up the mountain and the Land Cruiser I have just purchased proved its work ability on the steep grades and  the fine dusty volcanic soil.  





After we had driven up about as high as we could go we left the truck and walked the rest of the way.  When we got to the man's house his sons told us he wasn't there - not an unusual situation, we can often find that thing don't work out as planned here.  However, this is not a big problem here in Tanzania.  We went to the next house and asked them if they wanted to study the Bible.

There was three generations represented and after they got chairs for the visitors and the grand-father we started to study.  We we studying from Matthew 18 and the church Christ said he was going to build.  We studied how we could become members of the one church.  It was a very good study with some great questions.  This interest in God's word is one of the reasons that I love it here in Tanzania, being able to go out to people's homes, to see their hospitality and to share God's word with them is a real blessing.

We spent about a hour studying with this dear family and then it was time to go down the hill a bit to study with another family.  Mbise tells me Ishmali is one of the best coffee growers around and looking at his fields and the coffee beans drying, I can believe it.  We had another great study with this man and his two daughter under their Bougainvillea arbour.  When we finished, Ishmali and his daughters hopped into the truck and came down with us to the church building for the study there.

The church building in Nkoaranga is small - well really, it is tiny.  But the brethren are so thankful to have it and they fill it up.  We had sixteen people come to this study, about half of them member and the rest, either wives of members or present for the first time. The brethren there LOVE singing and so we had to have some songs before we started to study.


I taught on salvation - How do you know you are saved?  I was very pleased with the level of interest and the concentration that the people were showing.  This is a great area for the gospel and I can really see a great future for the Lord's work.

Passing it on

One of my main focuses in the work here in Arusha, Tanzania has been working with men and helping them take on a leadership role. We are taught in 2 Timothy 2:2 how the church will continue to grow and how to train our teachers.

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 2:2 NKJV)



Tonight in our mid-week service we had Brother Shaban teach us. This was the first time he has taught and he was a bit nervous, but he did a great job teaching on the 5 steps of salvation. A great topic as we had 2 non-members present and some of the member's children.

Next week we are planning a Leadership Study with Mike Criswell and Clint De France. We have invited men from all over Tanzania. I think we are going to see more men stepping up just like brother Shaban.



-- Post From My iPhone

Sakoine - The Market

Things are getting really busy here in Arusha.  We are looking forward to the visit on Mike Criswell and Clint De France who arrive later this week.  Next week we are planning a Leadership Study and have invited numerous brethren from all over Tanzania and even some from Nairobi, Kenya.

The sisters have been busy working out how they are going to feed these men and have done a really good job.  This being the first time we have done anything like this there are a lot of things that have to be bought.  Today I went with Allen and his wife Hossiana to the market to buy the non perishable items.  Things like buckets, plastic plates and cups, charcoal cooking stoves and the such like.

Hossiana did a great job taking us around the central market.  It was fascinating looking at all the items on sale.  From all the spices of Zanzibar to cheap plastic from China.  You see in the photo the two cooking stoves we bought (one on top of the other) and the cooking spoons (I suggested after we have finished cooking we could use them as paddles!)

In the market you don't just take the price they give you.  It is an inflated price that they would be happy to take, but don't really expect.  When there is a Mazungu (white fella) the price is even higher.  I had to use all the skills I learnt on my mother's knee (she was an expert bargainer from her time in Zambia) to get the prices down.  It was a fun experience and you always know when you have gone down too far when they let you walk away and don't case you.  If there is further room for bargaining they will come after you and give you a counter offer.  It is all done in good spirits and every one ends up happy.  I tell Anne, if they don't want to sell it to you at such and such a price, they wont.

We finished our purchases and had a number of men offering to assist us to carry the items to the car.  I selected a man who I later found out was called Simba (Lion in Swahili).  He kind of pushed the others away who said they would help him (and share his tip!) and hoisted the cookers on his head.  I followed him out of the maze that is the markets and along the streets to where we had left the car.  There is not a lot of parking around the markets.

You really know that we live in a global village when you you see fashions gaining popularity where ever you go.  One of the most unfortunate fashions at the moment is for young men to wear pants that are too big in the waist.  Simba is a follower of that fashion and I am sorry to say that he has taken it too far.  As I was following him he was averaging 10 steps before he had to take a hand off the cookers and pull up his pants before they fell down to his ankles and tripped him.

We got everything safely to the car and from there to the church building.  Next week we will get the perishable stuff - another adventure awaiting me!