Africa--February 2015 Journal VII Saturday, January 31, 2015 9:45 A.M.; Kisii, Kenya We were to have left an hour ago for Tanzania. Pastor Daniel called. He had to go to the home of one of his church members early this morning. The elderly father had gone missing over three months ago. He was found in Nairobi (4 1/2 hour drive away) wandering the streets, no memory, disheveled, long growing fingernails, and very confused. the church (and especially Pastor Daniel) had been praying he would be found alive. God had answered prayer and the pastor was summoned for a thank you and a time of thanksgiving prayers. What a great reason for a travel delay! 11:50 A.M.; Kenya/Tanzania border @ Sirari, Isibania Seldom is a border crossing in a developing country easy. Borders are the fly-strips that collect the dregs of humanity. Money-changers, con-men, hustlers of all kinds, pick pockets and prostitutes. You are in “protect mode” the entire time you processing the border crossing. ! 1 Bribes are the norm at borders. I hate paying bribes! Especially, when everything you are doing is legal and your are already paying a ridiculous amount of money just to enter a country so you can spend all your American money in their economy that is failing. But....I digress. So, instead filling every outstretched hand at every document window, Pastor Daniel has built a relationship with a “border conflict consultant” (I think I just made that title up. This guy knows everybody, everybody knows this guy. He takes care of everybody and, well.....you get the picture. A process that has taken me as long as 3 1/2 hours is finished in 40 minutes! Pastor Patroba appears on the Tanzania side of the border to welcome us and oﬀ we go. As soon as we leave Kenya and enter Tanzania there is a marked diﬀerence in the roads...for the good!! We have to stop at a auto supply store to purchase a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher and some road flares. If you are stopped in Tanzania without these, the penalty is stiﬀ. I like this country already! 1:20 P.M.; Goldland Hotel, Tarime, Mara --Tanzania I have learned in Africa that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Africans are masters are the facade. The outside is beautiful, and then you try to open a door or get the hot water to work. Well....this place is beautiful on the outside, but I have stayed here before. Electricity, water (especially hot) and other conveniences are random at best. After settling in our rooms, we all meet for lunch in a beautiful palm grove. Fresh Talipia filets from nearby Lake Victoria, sweet rice and pineapples and a cup of nice mixed tea. Ahhhhh. We spend the next two hours talking ministry (past and present). Patroba is a unique man. Primarily gifted as an evangelist, this man is planting churches , making disciples and caring for children at our feeding station. Tomorrow I will preach in his church for the first time on a Sunday. He thinks it is a big deal. After worship we will enjoy a local African lunch and then spend the rest of the day with pastors who are traveling to Pataroba’s remote church for a one day training conference. I thought it was just the local pastors !om the region that were coming. I find out at lunch that some pastors have already been traveling for over a day to get here. They are coming from all over Tanzania; , Mwanza, Zanzibar City, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, to name a few. I have only preached in Mwanza and a few small villages. I have a feeling, that might just change in 2016. My “luxury” hotel is nestled in a simple Tanzanian community (see photo first page). There is no A/C, so I am a part of neighborhood life on this Saturday afternoon. The sounds, smells and activities. Thunder rolls across the Serengeti and I can smell rain. Mmmmmmm....maybe a nap as I listen to the syncopation of drops on the neighbors tin roofs. I am going to pretend to study before the my raindrop nap comes. ! 2 Sunday, February 1, 2015--Goldland Hotel, Tarime-Mara, Tanzania 2:00 A.M. The music, laughter and talking finally begins a decrescendo from the drunkards in the bar below my third floor room. All of my windows are open to ventilate and cool the room. I might as well be sitting at the bar with them. There has been little sleep. God is soooo smart. I seldom take naps. I took a good two hour nap yesterday afternoon. I suppose He might have known what Saturday night in this town was to be like? 4:oo A.M. I have faded in and out of sleep for a couple of hours now between the barking of the dogs in the town outside my window. Many keep a dog as a guard but the dog is not fed or cared for. So, they stay in a foul mood and are easily agitated. Suddenly, from about a block away someone begins to bang on metal with a hammer very rhythmically. It’s not accidental. He’s trying to wake someone. Well...he succeeded! 5:45 With the breaking of dawn comes the honking of the horns on the matatus (taxi-vans). I click on the lights and reach for my Bible....just then, the power grid goes out and so do the lights. Not all Saturday nights are as tough as this one. But, they are always a challenge when in a hotel. Think the enemy knows that Saturday night comes right before Sunday morning worship? Anxious to see what God says and does today. He must have something significant planned. The enemy sure thinks so to go to so much trouble to disturb and annoy one American preacher. No power = cold shower. But....there is a shower! ! 3 Sunday, February 1, 2015--Chenguere, Tanzania 10:30 A.M. Worship with Pastor Patroba is a glimpse of heaven. 13 pastors from all over Tanzania have joined us for this day. I have never met these men, nor heard about their work but today we shall remedy that. Introductions are very important in Africa. To have a guest in your midst and not properly introduce them would be unthinkable. As the introductions continue Pastor Patroba tells us how long each pastor’s journey has been. Some have been two days on public transport! There is no way to describe the agony of public transport in Africa. Sardine can is the illustration that comes to mind. The Holy Spirit gently asks me, “now, you were complaining about what in your luxury hotel room last night?” I’m a heel. It’s just that simple. Tanzanians are twice the musicians and worshippers that Kenyans are. That is saying a lot!! The small room is filled with passionate, wonderfully harmonized singing. The children’s POI(Point of Impact)choir takes us to the next level with their singing and dancing. (These are the children from the school and feeding station that meets here and is sponsored by our American partners POI). And then, to lead us in worship just before I preach, the widows of the church come forward. I am expecting long faces and sad songs. No way! A hallejuah hoe-down is the only way I can describe the singing, dancing, clapping and totally uninhibited worship of these women. Preaching in Africa is always a treat for me. No time restraints. Bibles and notebooks open. Eyes fixed on me as they await each translation. This morning is extra special with the addition of the pastors in the room. Let me just say, they are interactive learners. ! 4 3:22--Patroba’s home As I pull into the family compound where Patroba’s home is, the scene looks like an African block party. women are scattered under every shade tree busily preparing their best dishes. Young girls are scurrying back and forth with supplies and utensils for the cooks. The kids.well, they are being kids running, playing and laughing as they weave in and out of the outdoor cooking maze. And us men? Well, we are sitting in the living rom in the easy chairs waiting on lunch to be served, of course! Feast and Fellowship The tables are packed with every African favorite. Eating is not for the faint of heart in Africa. Helpings are spilling over the sides of plates. And the conversation among the pastors is only halted briefly for another mouth full of ugali (local favorite). The plan After lunch I spend a couple of hours with the pastors. I lay out our vision of disciple-making verses the traditional African “worship-tainment” and spectator Christianity. For decades the pastors and leaders have done all of the work of the church. The result has been a lot of thunder and very little lightening. The turnover rate in a traditional African church would challenge any American Baptist churchsplit driven exodus. We talk of accountability. Something grossly absent among many African leaders. We discuss many other “essentials” of partnership with our ministry. What I have said is obviously sobering to these men. Change does not come easy for any of us. Finally, the pastor Dar es Salaam speaks; “Pastor MIke, this is what I have been praying for. I knew there was a diﬀerent and better way for us to lead. But no one has come to help us. ! 5 “We&,” I say. “Here I am. I cannot oﬀer you money. Our budget is tota&y taken by the existing work. Until God sends us new and expanded partners, I cannot support more feeding stations, schools and church plants. But, I can come and train you in what the Lord has shown me.” The room erupts into applause as each pastor shouts the name of their ministry city and motions with their hands for me to come. To be honest, I was thinking more along the lines of ministry consolidation, not expansion. Many of the cities and towns where these men minister are background for evening news reports of radical muslim terror training camps and attacks. And then I smile.....what an adventure to end this amazing ministry ride on!” So, watch for Tanzania on the schedule in late ’15 or early ’16. 5:35 P.M. On the ride back to town and our hotel, cell service reappears on my phone. Among the emails is one from a young supporter and former Kenyan team member. She has started a business and has just read the February prayer letter where I ask for help with the $1,200 needed to pay Pastor Daniel’s annual church rent. She says, it is time for her to enter the ranks of missional entrepreneurs. The term I have invented for businesses who see their profits as funding for world-wide ministry. She just sen the $1,200 through our website on-line giving. I hand my phone to Daniel and smile as I hear from the back seat...Praise God! Praise....God! Praise Him.....INDEED! ! 6