Bill Schrull
Yesterday, as I mentioned in my last post, I worshipped at Murusi Church, two miles from Kasulu town center. Principal Alberto was my interpreter again. I preached on Mark 5:5 and some accompanying scriptures and focused on giving our all for Jesus. I lead two songs during the service. One was early in the service, and the other was just after my sermon, which wrapped nicely with the chorus “Yote kwa Yesu” (All for Jesus). Afterward, I rested at the hostel and drove to Daudi & Olivia Ndahana’s home. It was only a few miles from the DWT compound. I got there in time to use my iPad to tune into St. Paul’s livestream to see Fr. Nate Lee’s first Sunday as our priest. It was great to get the shout-out greeting from the congregation at announcement time. I even called Cathy after the service was able to greet Fr. Nate from Tanzania.
This morning was just a matter of breakfast and packing up. We drove to Kigoma, which only takes about an hour and 15 minutes these days. I remember years back that it was a 3-hour ride that was brutal because of the dirt road conditions, especially during the rainy season. We had lunch, and then I was dropped off at the Kigoma Airport, where I am now. I’m all checked in and ready to start the trip home. But first, I have an overnight in Dar Es Salaam, TZ, then a flight and overnight in Nairobi, Kenya. Then, it will be on to Dubai and eventually JFK New York. I’ll arrive home on Thursday morning, so keep checking for posts. I will try to reflect on the trip over the next couple of days.
Bill
Wow, this week has gone by quickly. And it was a slow week at that. I’ve mainly spent time at the college reviewing various tech things with Reginald. We spent some time going through stuff like network folders and file sharing. He learned about that at the university he attended in Uganda but did not get much “hands-on” experience there. It was good to show him some examples and then have him configure some himself.
As you can see in the video below, we have all the thin clients back in operation. With the new power supply and battery back system, they should be well protected from power problems going forward. There is one thing that would be good to do. Install some solar panels to augment and even replace the grid power they receive now. The grid power is not very stable. Besides outages from time to time, they also experience low power cycles throughout the day. It triggers the back battery system often. Putting in four 500-watt panels would more than handle the power needs throughout the day and would keep the batteries charged for usage at night. I told them to look into it and get some pricing from local suppliers.
I’ve got one more assignment to take care of. I’m visiting Mususi Church in Kasulu on Sunday. I will lead a couple of songs and be the guest preacher. Today, I completed my sermon outline and ran through it with my interpreter, Principal Alberto Mgala. All I have left to do is get plugged into their sound system tomorrow night and practice the songs with their choir.
So that’s my week in a nutshell. I’ll post once more on Sunday after the Musuri experience, and then I will start writing some of my thoughts and impressions about this long journey in East Africa next week during my travel days home. I start traveling on Monday and will arrive home on Thursday, 10/24. I have one overnight in Dar Es Salaam and one in Nairobi, Kenya, and then I board the Emirates flight to Dubai and finally New York.
I almost forgot to mention that today is my birthday (10/18). My friends at DWT had a cake for me just after morning chapel. It was much appreciated being away from home for so long.
Thank you all for following me and praying for me. It’s been a great experience overall.