I did not get a post in last night. I had a call from one of my customers back in the USA with a big problem of all of their systems not restarting after a power outage. So I spent the time I would have been posting walking through the issue with them and eventually getting all of their computer system back up and running. Bwana wetu asifiwe! I was actually able to use remote control software to view and control their systems from here in Kasulu. Small world.
Yesterday we traveled to Shunga village to do a site survey for wireless networking and Internet for the clinic (really it’s unofficially a hospital) that is run at least in part by German missionaries who have been involved in medical missions there for a very long time. They are hopefully going to have higher speed Internet available to them via 3G cellular soon. There is a new cell tower that went up next to their facilities that should be going live this fall. So our job for the day was to a walk about the grounds with Felix, one of the German nurses to find out where they would like networking and Internet access for the doctor’s and staff members. We’ve got a good idea of what they initially would like for access and also some idea’s about what they could do in the future to extend networking access through out the various buildings in the clinic compound. I’m hoping to use Google earth screen shots of the area to formulate a plan for them. The idea is to give a well thought out plan to those coming from Germany to facilitate an installation for them.
We arrived in Shunga at about 11 AM and finished our survey shortly after noon. Then we had lunch with the doctor’s and staff, along with Rev. Fred Kalibwami, a long time friend of ours from our first visits to Kasulu. Fred is “retired” now, but like most of us, you never really retire, especially from ministry. Fred was there to help out with some accounting issues at the clinic. It was great to see him. Cathy and I were not sure where he was and had not seen him in a couple of years.
The drive to and from Shunga is one filled with some beautiful scenes and vistas. It’s a trip we had done once before for a 100 years of the Gospel Jubilee that was help there a couple of years back. I was glad we had the chance to go there again, partly because of the scenery, but also because I admire so much what the missionaries and doctors there are doing to bring vital medical care to the indigenous population.
After returning to Kasulu, we got together with Emanuel Bwatta to finalize some business items regarding the Bible College. And then after some time to clean up from the dust and dirt of the day (did I mention the dust out here in Kasulu?) we went out to dinner with Daudi Ndahana and his wife Olivia for dinner. We love being with Daudi and Olivia. Like Rev Fred, we are long time friends and have a special place in our hearts. It’s more like family than just friends. Olivia brought cooked chicken along with her for us to have with dinner (try doing that in a restaurant in the USA). She cooked chicken because, as you may recall, I was given one at Kagunga village. The only problem was that apparently my chicken ran away sometime during the past week. Really, I think it just ended up in someone else’s pot (I think Daudi and Olivia think the same thing). No matter. She made chicken for us, so we ate!
So that was our day. It was full and it was wonderful. Even the late night call from my customer did not seem all that out of place or inconvenient. And I was grateful, VERY grateful that I could help service them from here.
Today is our last full day in Kasulu. It’s 7:24 AM, so we are off to morning chapel. I’ll write again tomorrow morning. Until then.
Mungu ni mwema!
Canon Bill
So to continue with yesterday’s post, after the confirmation service at Uviza, we traveled to Kigoma, which as about 1 1/2 hours by car, and fortunately on paved roads. The road from Kigoma to Kasulu is about 1/3 paved and 2/3 dirt. I have never seen the dirt portion of the road in such bad shape. It’s a very slow and rough ride through that portion of the trip. Our friend always apologize for the condition saying “Pole sana” which means “so sorry”. But we have gotten used to this type of road condition over the years as we have traveled about the diocese. Anyway, after checking into our hotel in Kigoma (the Coastal View Hotel) and taking a short rest, we when to St. Michaels Church in Kigoma. We had sort of a introductory meeting / service between the church, the choirs and our selves. At that time we shared songs of worship together. One of the KTC (Kigoma Town Choir) members who had remembered me for and earlier trip to Tanzania asked about a song that we did back then that he liked very much. It turned out to be “Sing for Joy”. So we planned to do that one during Sunday worship.
The next day started early for a 7:30 AM worship service. We got to the church in time for breakfast, after which the service started. Being a confirmation service (and also communion) the service was about 3 1/2 hours long. That’s not at all unusual for this type of worship service in Tanzania. I think some westerners find them to be very long, but really, Cathy and I are so used to it that the time does seem to go by very quickly. I think it’s just a matter of perspective. People sometimes travel a long distance (often on foot) to get to church, so when they are there, they expect to spend a good amount of time in worship together. Honestly speaking, we could learn at thing or two from our Tanzanian brothers and sisters about “spending time with the Lord”.
During the service, we did sing “Sing for Joy” with the congregation. They really seemed to like singing with us on that song. We sing the verses in English and then the chorus in Swahili. It goes like this:
Imba kwa furaha na Mungu nguvu yetu
This translates into “Sing for joy to God our strength”.
After the service we quickly traveled over to Ujiji, which is not far from Kigoma center. Ujiji is the area of Tanzania that was home base for Dr. David Livingstone, the famous traveler/explorer/medical missionary from Scotland in the early to mid 1800’s. FYI there is a memorial and museum in Ujiji about the work of Dr. Livingstone, a many who truly loved the people of East Africa. At Ujiji Church, there was a similar format for the service, which also took about 3 hours or so. For us, it was a wonderful time of worship with the congregation. And not only did we have a time to once again sing “Sing for Joy”, but in the middle of the song, Cathy and I moved out into the congregation and sang and danced with them as the place irrupted in praise! It was a special moment in the Spirit that I will never forget. For the sermon, I had the privilege to be guest preacher. Of course, I more or less shared my testimony of coming to know Christ at the age of 14 and relayed to those being Confirmed how important it is to be true believers and not “make believers” (AKA pretend believers) as I was at that time in my life until had a real encounter with Christ at this early age.
After the service we had some lunch with the church leaders and then started on our way back to Kasulu, where we arrived at about 5 PM. After relaxing for a couple of hours, our final thing to do that day was go to our friend Ephriam’s home to have dinner with his family. I was glad that his home was not far away. We could have even walked their, but we were tried from the weekend travels. We had a wonderful dinner with he and his family and brought some left over home with us, pineapple. I love pineapple. It is SO good here in Kasulu. Fruit is one of the things I look foward to when we come here. Between pineapple, banana’s and mango’s (BILLY LOVES MANGO) I feel like I’m tasting a bit of heaven here in Tanzania.
So today we’ve had a good nights rest. We met with the Bishop this morning to talk about future plans. And right now Cathy and I are typing up our blogs. This afternoon, we will go to the Bible College for our Swahili lesson and to check things out with the computer systems to be sure everthing is running well.
Thanks again for all of you who have been reading our blogs and praying for us along the way. This has been one of the smoothest trips to Kasulu we have had over the years (10 years to be exact). I’ve happy and grateful to the Lord for the blessings we have experienced in both working on the computer systems and in our going out to minister to the congregations at Kagunga, Uviza, Kigoma and Ujiji. It hard to believe that two weeks have gone by so quickly. I’m hoping the rest of the week seems to go slowly so we can take it all in.
Bill