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Published: September 18th 2011
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Lugala September 2011
On Sunday, September 11, 2011 we made our first trip to Lugala along with two students from the village, Wiston and Yowel and one of their friends, Baraka, and a colleague pastor Lynn Clarke. It was a full car load and one of the students had to ride in the back trunk compartment. However, the trip is only about 20 km on a good paved road. It was an incredible day.
The road going into Lugala off the paved road was the first thing Rob noticed. It was no longer filled with potholes and bumps, but was very smooth – much smoother than the road going from Dodoma to Msalato. Then as we kept going, he noticed how much bigger the village seemed to be. It appeared more prosperous with many new dwellings. Everything looked clean and well-kept and all the structures we had built were still being used and in good repair. Our first stop was the pastor’s (Pendo – a female graduate of Msalato Theological College) house where we met her brother Ben and sister Ann. After a brief visit and use of the clean outside toilet (which was in the ground, but in its own
enclosure at the back of the cement-walled courtyard that completely enclosed the back yard area), we headed off to Church. There, we were greeted warmly by Pendo and taken to her office for instructions to get ready for the service. Attached to the office is the church hall/meeting room where the children have Sunday School. Then Wiston and Baraka conducted the worship and Rob preached. Pendo was surprised Rob was not a pastor, but was ok with him taking the pulpit anyway. Yowel, one of the boys from the village and a student of Rob’s here at the college interpreted for him. He read the sermon on the way in the car to prepare himself. Not surprisingly, he did a very good job. During the service, Pendo had each of us speak to the congregation and we were all warmly received. Pendo had the boys speak in English while she translated. It was very evident that she is doing an amazing job in the parish. The congregation is vibrant and growing. There were three choirs; the momma’s, the youth and the children’s choir that each performed during the service. As we exited the church, with the traditional hand-shaking that starts
with the first person and ends with the last, Rob was surprised to clamp hands with Moses , the headmaster at the primary school. It was quite a reunion because Moses didn’t know we were coming and Rob didn’t know if Moses was still at the school. What a pleasant surprise for both. We plan to get together with Moses and his family again here at Msalato.
As parishioners continued to shake hands, the momma’s choir, complete with drums (and a whistle used to signify the end of the music by the leader), sang and danced during the exodus. And as the momma’s continued to sing, others joined in and one of the elders, clad in a worn sports jacket and white shirt, entered the circle dancing with such exuberance. He could have been 120, because his hands were tough as leather, he was bent over and he had trouble balancing himself even with his old cane. He got quite a chuckle when Jeannie, who had been holding his hand in the circle, joined him in the dance and took his picture.
In the offering collection plate, someone donated two eggs. After the excitement died down, they were auctioned off
by one of the church elders who situated himself in the centre of the circle. Quite a few people bid on them – maybe some do not have chickens that produce eggs. At this point we decided it was time to get started on our tour, so we thought it was a good time to hand out all our remaining ‘Friends of Lugala’ bracelets. (Side note to Betty – they went like crazy - we should have auctioned them off after the eggs).
After the service we were taken on a tour of the central village. We saw the school with the two classrooms built by the Ballantrae community. The hostel is being used by teachers and students. The cafeteria is being used by some high school students and everyone shares the cooking facilities. It was wonderful to see these buildings in good repair, being used and generating income for the village. As the village has grown, the government has built a dispensary to support the residents. Moses also took us to see the trees they planted for us. There is one for Phil and Cheryl, one for Rob and one for Carmen Vaher from Ballantrae. The cow program has
not been quite so successful. Some of the cows have died from lack of proper care. Those given cows received training for a week in proper care, but most neglected their responsibilities and the cows died. Moses’s wife received a cow which has produced two calves, one of which is now fully grown, and they are doing fine. They just happened to be passing us by and we took their pictures. From what I was able to ascertain, the wells seem to be working ok, even though they are quite far from the village. So all in all the village seems to be doing well. Moses expressed that the village is very grateful for all that we have done for them. They understand that the partnership is now over, but are still very grateful. That was really nice to hear. Although things are better in Lugala, they still have no running water or electricity. However, Moses explained that electricity was coming soon.
After our tour we returned to the pastor’s office where we were served a rice, cabbage and goat lunch with bottled water and soda. During the lunch Rob set up our laptop and showed them the video he
took of the village and the students at the school four years ago. He also showed them the video of the “Lugala Gala”. They were quite enthralled to watch these and of course laughed a lot. It was a very special day for Jeannie and I and we were happy to share it with our pastor friend, Lynn and the three young men.
So, from our perspective, we can report that our five-year partnership with Lugala was a very good success. Even when we mention Lugala at the college, people comment about how Lugala has grown over the past few years.
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Phil Bristow
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Thinking and Praying for you
Hi Rob & Jeannie, Looking at these photos again takes me right back to Lugala and Tanzania. A couple of weeks ago we had Bishop Akiri as the preacher at St. Paul's Pickering. He was the Provincial Secretary with offices across the street from the DCT. Bethuel Mlula was his executive secretary for a while. Last July he was made Bishop of the brand new Diocese of Tamirime (Sp?) near the Kenyan border. Hope thinks are going well with you both and that you are encouraged and not too lonely for Canada where the average temperature drops a degree or two every few days. Today's high was +1 -minus 3 last night. Then again, maybe you'd love to feel a chill about now. I'll see some folks from St. Philip's at Synod this Friday and Saturday. I hear good reports. Did you know that Roseanne Kydd is leaving at Christmas? Nothing to do with Stephen. Ron has accepted a couple of assignments in Europe early in the new year and she decided it was time to retire and do something new. I am praying for you every day. Blessings, Phil.