We are on our way h
ere in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania waiting for our flight to board for Nairobi, Kenya and then on to Kisumu. Our time in Tanzania was most enjoyable. Our friends here are wonderful hosts and keep us fed ready to do our work at the college and in the churches.
We traveled to Kigoma on Tuesday, May 17 and checked into a hotel that was arranged for us. We usually try to go to the Costal View hotel in Kigoma because it is relatively inexpensive by western hotel standards and has some of the best views of Lake Tanganyika from any point in Kigoma. Unfortunately they were completely booked (which does not surprise me). So we stayed at a the Mwitongo Garden hotel. It was very nice and similarly priced.
A
fter checkin we went to visit with Margaret Mpango, her daughter Rose and her sister Elizabeth. Margaret (AKA Mama Rose), is the wife of the late Bishop Gerard Mpango. Bishop Mpango was the first bishop we partnered with in DWT. I passed away unexpectedly back in January. We shared stories with them about Gerard and many of the things we did together. I even admitted to Margaret that while she was away from Kasulu at one time, Gerard and I shared some beer together one evening. He was really not supposed to drink beer because of some health concerns, but we broke the rule that evening and enjoyed our fellowship as to “bad” boys. I miss Gerard, especially his laugh. You could hear it across a crowded room with it’s high pitch woop. I remember a time when he was visiting with us in Connecticut. I brought him to a field nearby to show him how I fly radio controlled airplanes. Sure enough, every time I tried to land my P-51 Mustang, it would roll over on it’s nose and Gerard would laugh uncontrollably.
Later in the early evening, we went to visit with the now retired Bishop Sadock Makaya. We had a good time with him and some guests from the local church. We talked about all kinds of things including some of the world political situations and how the USA and other countries are responding. We also talked about being saved by faith through grace (from Ephesians 2) and “faith without works is dead” from James. The two ideas really are tied together. Of course, I forgot to bring my guitar. Sadock really wanted to sing together, so we did that following day. Before we went to the airport for our afternoon flight to Dar es Salaam, we visit with Sadock again and had a good time singing worship songs together. After that, we were off to the airport and made our flight to Dar.
Right now we are in Kisumu in Kenya. I’ll skip the journey info between Dar and Kisumu. I can say that all went well and right on schedule. I will write later today about our initial time here in Kisumu.
There was not much to report about Saturday as we took the day off and rested in the hostel at the DWT compound. We did have dinner that evening with Andrea Young. She is a German missionary who has been here in Kasulu for many years, so we have gotten to know her well. It’s always a pleasure to visit with her and compare notes on what’s been happening in the diocese since we’ve been gone, and to bring her up to date on our family and friends at St. Paul’s.
Sunday, we worshipped at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Kasulu. It was an early morning as worship starts at 6:30 AM and we need to be there early to get setup to sing during the service. We did just that, leading the congregation in the song “Forever Reigns”, like we did at Murusi church last week. Again, we sang the bridge verse in Swahili. The original verse in English is “My heart will sing no other name, Jesus”. Since Swahili words and grammar tend to have more syllables than English, we change the words to “Moyo wangu utaimba, Jesu” which translates at “My heart sings Jesus”. The main thing is that the rhythm of the words match the music.
Later in the early evening, we went to Bishop Bwatta’s home to have a viewing party of the St. Paul’s Live 10:30 AM service. Since we are 7 hours ahead in time zones, it was 5:30 PM our time. It was great being able to join in with the worship at St. Paul’s from such a long distance and a remote place in Tanzania. The best part was when our Rector, Fr. Joe did a shout out to us during the announcement time and had the congregation turn around and wave to the camera. Bishop Bwatta really enjoyed that gesture. My thanks again to Dave Szen and the sound person (not sure who was on deck for sound on Sunday) for making this happen.
So it’s Monday now. It’s our last full day in Kasulu before we go to Kigoma on Tuesday to visit with Margaret Mpango and her daughter Rose. Margaret, AKA Mama Rose, is the wife of the late Bishop Gerard Mpango. Bishop Mpango was the first bishop I partnered with at DWT when we first brought computers to the college back in 2006. After visiting with Mama Rose, we will spend some time with Bishop Sadock Makaya. He is the now retired bishop of DWT who we have served with over the passed several years. From there we will start our journey on Wednesday to go to Kenya. We’ll write more along the way.
Bill