Well after a two day black out of our web blogs, we are back online. It turned out to just be a reboot of our cable modem to get things working again.
So today, we spent some of the day gathering more equipment. We picked up 5 computer monitors, network cabling and a color laser printer for Kasulu Bible College. Our vendor, Ideal Computers in Dar had everything ready for us and delivered it to our hotel, so it was just a easy walk over to their store, make payment and then back to the hotel to receive the delivery.
Tomorrow we will have a pretty easy day. Most of our business is complete. Just need to get another SIMM card for the Android tablet I’m testing out for possible future use at DWT. We usually would be leaving for Kigoma in the morning on Tuesday, but I found out after making our overseas airline reservations that Air Tanzania does not have flights to Kigoma on Tuesday’s. Oh well, we could have left a day later from home, but the nice thing is that we have the extra day to get our jet lag straightened out and take some time to visit with friends in Dar. This worked out well because we were able to have dinner tonight with Bishop Mpango and his son Jesse and daughter Bweza. It was great to see them again. Mama Rose could not be with us because she is back in Kigoma working at a school there that just started up their new academic year.
Another cool thing happened when we arrived at the airport yesterday afternoon. Some of you know about our friend Alnoor. He was our computer equipment vendor here in Dar for many years. Last year we could not get in toch with him. His store phone was disconnected and his e-mail was no working either. We thought we had completely lost contact with him. But then on our way out of Tanzania, while we waiting in the Airport for our flight home, guess who showed up at the airport with his entire family to take the same flight? It was Alnoor. We exchanged E-mail addresses again to stay in contact. So this year, I tried to contact him, but I did not get an answer through his E-mail. Once again I was wondering if I would be able to see him. But when we arrived at the airport, got our bags and were waiting to get through customs, guess who shows up getting his bags as well? Alnoor just came in on a different flight that happened to be 2 hours late. I mean, talk about God – instances. I joked with him that we have to stop using the same travel agent. So we will get together with him sometime tomorrow, since we have the extra time.
Thanks to you all for your continued prayers. We have felt the blessing of those through our travels so far. We are also grateful to our nephew Chris who is back home taking care of our house and pets. He also got us back online today.
Here we go again. We’re packing our bags with loads of equipment, a guitar and clothing. 5 bags in all to take with us to Tanzania for our three week trip to Kasulu. We’re pretty excited and a little bit exhausted from the hunting and gathering we’ve been doing for the past 4 weeks to get all of the items we need together for this year’s mission.
Tomorrow morning at 6AM, we’ll be on our way to JFK airport to catch our flight to Dubai. I’m looking forward to the time on the flight, strangely enough. Once we are there, we can really sit back and relax for a while. 12 hours of that on the first leg of the trip and then after a brief layover, we’ll catch the next flight to Dar Es Salaam. That one is about 5 1/2 hours long. Once we get to Dar, there will be a 30 minute or so drive into the city to our hotel. It’s a long trip, but very much worth it. I’m looking forward to getting there. And I’m especially looking forward to the first morning. It’s always great to get up and out into the city. We have some business to attend to there, such as getting cell phone SIMM cards and purchasing more computer equipment for KBC.
The Lord truly has blessed our time of preparation. We’ve been very forward focused for some time now. What I enjoy the most when we are in Kasulu is focusing more on each day as it comes along and looking to be in the moment rather than always looking ahead. That will be a pleasure.
Keep us in prayer and stop in each day. We will try to post each day as time allows.
Blessings to your all.
Bill