Sunday, July 11, 2010

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Sunday, July 11, 2010:

We spent the Sunday going in several different directions. Brad preached at Njiro, while Cody taught Bible class; Grant preached at Maji Ya Chai, and Corey accompanied him; and Rod preached at USA River, where the rest of our group went as well.
Some miscommunications arose with our bus, so we arrived at 10:30, instead of 10:00, but Tanzanians don't worry too much about time.
Now, Fariji Paul told us that there were about 20 children that went to Church there. I figured that some children would accompany their parents to the Lutheran, Pentecostal Churches, or to the mosque, but some would still come off the street. I estimated there would be approximately 75 kids. Wrong.
TWO HUNDRED and FORTY KIDS came to church that day! I was shocked, although in a good way! It was really amazing how all the kids just showed up everyday. The ages ranged from about 2-14. Jane was our translator. We talked about two things: Noah's Ark, and Jesus' life. We gave them animal crackers (for Noah's ark, of course), and we helped them make necklaces. Each bead represented something in the Christian life, and there was a wooden cross in the middle. I loved the kids so much! They were dirty, ragged, and adorable! It was so hard when they asked "Quesho?" ("Tomorrow?") to tell them "Hapana" ("No"). I will miss them!

Church lasted from 10:30 to 1:30. Rod, like afore mentioned, was the preacher, and Desderi translated for him. The singing was magnificent, and their communion service, was extraordinary. After Church, well, actually after any service, they do something that I think is so cool.
One man will go outside the door, and the next man will follow. They will shake hands, then the second man will stand beside the first. A third person will come out, shake both of the mens' hands, then stand beside them. This continues with every person, until the building is empty, there is a huge circle in the yard, and everyone has shaken hands with everyone else. It was so awesome; I noticed a few in our group had tears in their eyes. Oh, and we were singing the entire time-- "What a fellowship"! I finally learned their handshake--you grab on to their hand, then grab the thumb, and then their hand again, all rapidly. I had plenty of people to practice on.
And on the kids, instead of high-fiving, you hit fists when you want to say hi, bye, cool...or whatever.

After worship, we had dinner on the ground...literally. 😊The fare consisted of *drum roll* rice and meat broth and bananas and avocados! It was around 4 o'clock when we got back to the ACSOP. For supper, we went to the Coffee Plantation. We met Dr. Danny Smelser, and his son Luke, who have just returned to Tanzania from the US. Dr. Danny Smelser runs Tanzania Christian Clinic.

"Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness,
Open my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made
This heart adore you,
Hope of a life spent with You.

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down.
Here I am to say that you're my God.
You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days,
All so highly exalted.
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth
You created
All for our sake became poor.

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.

And I'll never know
How much it cost
To see my sin
Upon the cross."


PS Oh, and one more thing to mention about that evening. Mom, Cody, Danny, Cathy, Macey, Vernetta, Corey, Crystal, and I, all went to Cy & Stephanie's house and watched "The Ghost and the Darkness." Don't ask me why I did that. I guess because it was something you "had to do in Tanzania." This movie might appeal to those who like horror movies, but not me! A movie about man-eating lions ripping people apart is not the best kind of movie to watch right before going on a safari! (BTW, it is a true story, which took place in Kenya. We happened to be about 75 miles from Kenya.) Our thought after watching the movie was, "Do we really have to WALK back to the ACSOP, in the DARK, in AFRICA?!?" We did, and nothing attacked us, but still......

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Photos

The Njiro Church of Christ
A government building they are using

The ladies who cooked for us and the ladies from Oklahoma
And their new kangas!

Janel, Mary, Gladness, Paul, Benson, and Paul Jr.
The Fariji family--preacher at Usa River