Tanzania trip-May 2009-Post 2

Pictures will be added later

Tuesday May 19th
Today was a bit more laid back. Since we had all been to the property yesterday and the vision of End Time Glory Ministries was shared, now the EMI team could get busy. A couple of the members went back out to the property with two of Pastor Richard's nephews, Alex and Dominic, to begin topographical surveying of the property. That ended up being a three day job by the time they finished. Other team members spent the next several days designing buildings on paper, pricing construction materials in the city, checking building codes, doing water testing and drilling on the property and near it. While the EMI team worked, Wayne, Debra Shannon and I did get a chance to go with Pastor Richard and his wife Gertrude into the city. I personally wanted to go to check out some American grocery stores in town to see what kinds of things are available and for what price. The things that can be bought there look like they run about three times the cost of what they can be bought for back in the US. It is obvious to me that our eating habits will change dramatically once we move but that there are some things we will still buy as comfort foods for the times we need to get over a hump when we are missing "home." Unfortunately, I didn't see any Velveeta cheese anywhere, LOL. We also visited a market where I was able to buy some authentic African fabric. I paid about $1US per yard for gorgeous thick African prints. We also shopped at a couple of the clothing stores Gertrude likes to buy her dresses at. I was a bit bothered by the fact that when I saw a dress that would have fit Star in one of the shops, I had Pastor Richard ask about the price for me. Things are not marked over there. Everything is bargained for. It was a dress I would pay , maybe $15 at Target in the US. The shop owner told Pastor Richard the equivilent of $45US. Pastor Richard explained to me that it was because I was a "mzungu" and that Gertrude could probably get it much cheaper. Although I knew this happens over there, it still frustrates me that we are thought to be rich because we are white. In reality, we are very rich compared to the vast majority of the world but that does not mean we are all stupid or foolish in our spending. I am still very frugal and careful in how I spend my money. I guess this is a simple fact of the African culture I will need to get used to but honestly, can you imagine, if you walked into a Target and they charged white people $20 for something they would charge an African American $40? It just couldn't and wouldn't happen. I didn't buy the dress. Sigh...

Wednesday May 20th
Not a lot happened for Shannon and I today. I know that Wayne and Debra have been meeting off and on pretty much every day with different members of the EMI team. We have seen some preliminary drawings of the layout of the different facilities on the land as well as the building lay outs. It is very exciting to see this coming together. I the hotel, sometimes we have electricity but not always, the water has been on and off due to construction on the new portion of the hotel going on next door and the internet hasn't been working.

Since it has been very difficult to get online here at the hotel all week, Shannon and I did get to the internet cafe this afternoon. We were dropped off at the place in the van with Pastor Richard as our guide. He then took us inside and introduced us to his nephew Gideon who was working there. We spent a half an hour on the internet and paid the equivilent of .80US for the privilege. It was similar to slow dial up here in the US so we couldn't do much more than check our emails and quickly send one off. After we finished, Shannon and I walked the aproximately half mile back to the hotel by ourselves. There was no shortage of taxi drivers stopping to offer us a ride. I once read a book titled, White Man Walking. It was written by a missionary who traveled through the African Bush by foot. The African people he ministered to were always amazed to see him arrive on foot since , in most situations, white men don't walk. Shannon and I enjoyed the walk but got a lot of stares on the way.

We joined the Zimmer's at Pastor Richard and Gertrude's for coffee this evening. It was nice to see their two boys Ben(15) and Sharon(11) as well as their new baby daughter Darlene. Darlene is 7 months old and is the daughter to Gertrude's sister. Gertrude's sister, a single mom, has decided to allow Pastor Richard and Gertrude to adopt Darlene. It is obvious to all that Darlene is very loved and will be in capable hands with Pastor Richard, Gertrude and the boys. Darlene had never before seen a mzungu and so we were unable to hold her. We sat near her and allowed her to reach out to us but did not force anything. She will have many opportunities in the future to get used to our strange looks. We also saw several others of Pastor Richard's family who stopped by to say hello and it was great to renew friendships.

Thursday May 21st
Pastor Richard, Wayne, Shannon, myself and Megan from the EMI team went back out to the property today. We wanted to walk the land again and see how wet the lowlands are and whether they can be built on or not. While we were there we saw the surveyors and Dominic and Alex, still hard at work on their topographical mapping. We also had the opportunity to further discuss the adjoining property to purchase and to meet a woman who lives on a portion of it. She is willing to sell her small bit which would fall right in the middle of the land with some stipulations which were all reasonable as far as I was able to understand.

As we walked back through the village on our way back to the ferry, the school children were just getting out of school. We were followed by quite a few and we heard some English They asked us to take their pictures, they asked if we liked Barak Obama and others, just stood off to the side saying, "Ona(Look), Mzungu(white person)." I tried to greet the children with a wave of my hand or a Jambo(Hello) but we were in a hurry to meet the ferry so didn't take a lot of time.

End Time Glory Ministries meets Engineering Ministries International-Tanzania trip 2009-Post 1

More pictures will be added to this post later. I'm having some camera problems. Check back.
Friday May 15th and Saturday May 16th
Shannon and I got each of the 5 children off to their places for the day. Only Molly and Evan will be together most of the next 12 days while the others stay with friends or the best places for them. My(Christine's) stomach was a bit upset. I thought it was because we were both leaving all of the kids for so long but found out later it was due to the anti-malarial drugs we are on. We arrived at Wayne and Debra's to load our luggage into Bill and Nancy Allen's spacious conversion van. We would come to appreciate that spaciousness even more on the trip home after being in tight planes for days. The Allen's are an incredible blessing to
End Time Glory Ministries. They have servant hearts and are always looking for a way to help. They took the day off of their jobs to bring the 4 of us to the airport.

At the airport we went through security. That's always fun as we remove shoes and wait while Shannon's CPAP machine is inspected quite carefully. Over the next week and a half we would find the experience repeated many times. Next, Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I decided to have our last meal of American food before boarding our plane. The guys chose Burger King while Debra and I each had a philly sandwich.

The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam was an uneventful 9 hours. Even though I had brought several books along on the trip, I found myself watching movies on the individual screen. Evan though I knew the children would be disappointed, I took the time to watch the animated film Escape to Madagascar 2. It was funny.

In Amsterdam we had several hours before our next flight. We laid down on some lounge chairs they have in certain areas of the airport and brushed our teeth. After boarding our plane in Amsterdam we spent two hours sitting on the tarmac while an engine that wouldn't start up was fixed or replaced. It was beginning to get a bit warm and stuffy by the time this was completed and we hoped the fix was a good one since we were to be at 31,000 feet and 600 MPH.

8 hours later we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport. Located near Mount Kilimanjaro, the airport is quite a bit different than we had previously been in. Unfortunately, arrival there was after dark. We got through customs, gathered our luggage and proceeded to a van that would take us 2 km to our hotel for the night.

Arrival at the KIA Lodge was interesting. We arrived with a group of about 10 others who were going to be going on a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in the morning. The lodge is made up of beautiful gardens with two room huts scattered throughout the property. The footpaths leading to the huts take one through the beautiful gardens. Arriving after dark we couldn't see what was awaiting us in the morning as we were led by the hired Masaai men who escorted us to our homes for the night.
(We have now moved 8 hours ahead on the clock due to the time change.)

Sunday May 17th
The next morning we woke up to the strange sounds of the native bird population. We ate breakfast then returned to the airport for our flight to Mwanza. After only one hour in the air we arrived at the Mwanza airport to be greeted by Pastor Richard Nzwalla and his wife Gertrude. Both Shannon and I felt happy to be there as we have such a love for the area. As I wrote in our first email home, Shannon and I are truly amazed at the love God has given us for the people and culture of Tanzania. For us to both feel it so strongly truly seems to be a God thing.

We arrived at the Monarch Hotel, happy to be at what would be our home for the next 9 days. Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I had supper and right as we were finishing the Engineering Ministries International team arrived. There were 8 of them and they were exhausted after a 16 hour drive over very rough roads from Uganda. We said quick greetings to them and made plans to meet them officially in the morning.

Monday May 18th
This morning after breakfast Wayne, Debra, Shannon and I met with the EMI team where we did formal introductions of all 12 of us then Debra shared the vision that End Time Glory has for the property. An orphanage made up of home like settings rather than institutional, medical clinic, church, school, bible school Christian radio station...the vision is big but God is bigger. Then we all traveled by ferry to the property. This was a process as we waited for vehicles to load, then people packed in between them with no seating on this trip though the other ferry has some seating. It is 30 minutes across the channel of Lake Victoria over to the village of Kamanga. Then 15 of us piled into an 8 passenger 4 wheel drive vehicle to go to the property. The first couple hundred feet on the main road was good but then we turned off onto what looked like no more than a rutted foot path. The driver got hung up on big rocks just trying to enter the path and it wasn't better from there. The ruts in the road ran between the tires and were often several feet deep. In places the van leaned dangerously to one side or the other and there was some nervous laughter emitted from some of the passengers. It was determined after this trip to the property that future trips would be made on foot.

The 22 acres of property that is currently owned by End Time Glory Ministries was more beautiful than we could have imagined. It was previously farmed but is currently mostly covered in tall grasses. There are two hills on the property, one which Debra has dubbed Glory Mountain. These hills make designing tricky but will end up making great dividers for the different portions of the ministry. The purchase of another 12 acres adjoining the land is already in process. From the top of Glory Mountain can be had the most incredible view of the southern shores of Lake Victoria.
After a couple of hours walking the property and visualizing it, we all made our way back to the ferry. On the ferry Pastor Richard pointed out the property as we could see it from there. Some enjoyed the view, some rested and some just visited. We returned to the hotel to order lunch/supper then met upstairs with the EMI team to further discuss ministry issues. This was the opportunity where the EMI team threw out questions of Wayne and Debra about how they wanted things built, what types of facilities and helped to decide how to put together the seperate building phases. As we discussed toilets versus squatty potties Pastor Richard joined us. We all laughed as Brad, the EMI team leader expressed his happiness that Pastor Richard was joining us as we were "just a bunch of Mzungus(white people) trying to decide what Tanzanians would want."

Prayer needed, especially in the next 24 hours...

Wayne, Rev Debra and Shannon need to make a quick decision in the next 24 hours. The design and engineering team has made an offer to meet them on the Tanzania property in May. We need to decide by tomorrow if that is a possiblity.If they can't go in May, it could be Sept but more likely later before the get together could happen. Please pray for them to make the right decision, for jobs to allow them the vacations they need and for finances to pull together by then.

Glory Mountain and the Tanzania property

Just this past week I was able to get my hands on some photos of the property in Tanzania that the ministry will eventually be building on.
This first picture is one of Rev. Debra standing in front of one of many Mango trees located on the property. On the right edge of the picture you can see a bit of the trail leading to the property.

This photo shows the view from one of the higher points of the property as it overlooks a village at the bottom. All of the land right up to the homes is the ministry's. No "squatters" will have to move, however, as you can see, they were farming some of the land. It shows us that some of the land is tillable and fertile soil. The residents in the area are very excited about the ministry moving into the area.

This shows what Rev. Debra is calling Glory Mountain. Taken from a distance it doesn't look very high but it is. It is likely that one day there will be a Christian radio station tower and/or a wind turbine located on top of Glory Mountain.

Here is the Tanzania ministry team that was there at the time, along with Pastor Richard and his nephew Alex, anointing the land for God's work and having communion together.

And the following is what Rev. Debra wrote about the trip to visit the property in her latest newsletter.
"We traveled across Lake Victoria on a ferry in our van and after only a fifteen minute ride, we were on the opposite side of the lake.(Actually it is a narrow channel on the southern edge of the lake-explanation mine) We then drove right off the ferry and traveled up a mountain road, a thirteen minute drive before arriving at the land and End Time Glory Mountain. An official from the area came with us to help in the surveying of the land. Upon seeing the land we were awestruck by the favor, and the blessing and wonder of our God! He truly does go before us and make a way. We saw the beauty of the Lord in that place with mango trees and even a few monkeys were seen by some. We then climbed Glory Mountain, and there on the highest place of the land sanctified it and cleansed it by the pouring out of oil and the elements representing His blood. Psalm 24:7-10 was read(see below), and we then took communion together, rejoicing in all that God had done!"

Look at this incredible view as it overlooks Lake Victoria!
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"Lift up your heads, O you gates, be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is He, this King of Glory? The Lord Almighty- he is the King of Glory." Psalm 24:7-10

End Time Glory Ministries now owns land in Tanzania!

Rev Debra and her team just returned from Tanzania and Burundi last week. Yesterday Shannon had a phone conversation with Debra about the trip and the land. The team was able to travel from Mwanza, by ferry and Land Rover, to the property. It is located across the channel from Mwanza. The land is about 15 minutes from where the ferry dropped them off via a fairly bad road(ahh, Africa...). Rev Debra thinks that with a little work on the road it could be turned into a 5 minute trip. The land is 30 acres of mostly tillable land that was being farmed. There is no one currently living on the property so those that were paid for the property were farming it. There are some mango trees and the exciting part is that there is a small mountain on the property. There are several reasons we want a large hill or mountain. It will be a great place to put a radio tower to broadcast God's word to the nation. Also, it will be a great place to locate a wind turbine to generate electricity which is not currently in the area. It sounds like there are plans for electricity to be in that area in the next few years but we are well aware of few years may be closer to many years, especially in Africa. A city council member is very excited about the ministry coming to the area and was involved in obtaining many signatures from area residents encouraging the farmers to sell us the property. The entire community is looking forward to the ministry's arrival which excites us greatly. Here is what Rev Debra had to say in her recent prayer chain email newsletter:
We were AMAZED to see the beautiful 25 + acre piece of property that now belongs to ETG Ministries! It has 'million dollar' views of Lake Victoria, mango trees, good farm land and even a small mountain - Glory Mountain - which we climbed, anointed, and had communion on! Pray for the remaining acreage ETG is expecting. None of what we saw is actual lake frontage, BUT the official who showed us the property lines was approached that very morning by a "squatter" who had adjoining lake frontage and wanted help in "selling" it! God is so AWESOME! Also, pray for favor with Engineering Ministries International - that they will approve the ETG application for their services for the Tanzania property.
This is good news and we are excited, and just a bit nervous, to see what God does next.

"Purchase" of the land in Tanzania

I just wanted to share the latest news we have from Tanzania.

As you may remember, the governor of the Mwanza district gifted 30 acres of land to End Time Glory Ministries last fall. It is a law in Tanzania that when taking ownership of property, if there are any squatters they must be paid off. In the Tanzanian culture there are very few people who actually own land. Most people find a place they like and they build their home. It is typical in the culture to be living on land you do not own. Tanzanian law states that squatters must be paid at the rate of $1000US per acre. Several months ago, Pastor Richard, a native Tanzanian, was able to convince the government to accept $500 per acre. As of last week, the money was over in Mwanza and Pastor Richard was in process of paying the people on the land. The plan was to have that done last week and to have the surveying done this week.

Engineering Ministries International has agreed to work with End Time Glory to engineer and develop the property. This is great news! They will travel to the property in either February or June of next year to help design the buildings and projects to best fit the property and the culture. We are all very excited about EMI's willingness to join with us in our efforts to help the widows and orphans of the Mwanza area.

What does this mean for our family? Well, End Time Glory Ministries would like our family in Tanzania when the building starts. Depending on when EMI visits the land and then their time frame of finishing the plans we would likely try to be over there in late 2009 or early 2010. Realistically, Shannon and I know that the whole process may take longer, especially when we still need to raise our monthly support. Shannon will likely be traveling to the land at the same time that EMI is over there as well-so likely in Feb or June.

Please keep this process in your prayers. We all want God's will for this entire project and His timing.

Here's what's happening

First I want to let you know that I will be taking a break from my doctrine posts for a couple of weeks. This coming Sunday in class the kids are taking their first test which will be on the first 8 statements of faith. The next Sunday is Easter with no class so the next class will be on the 30th. Unfortunately, Molly and I will miss that class as we will be attending another quilt retreat that weekend. I hope to post that week with the next statement anyway.

Next, I wanted to update you on how things are going with Tanzania. I know that things seem to be moving along slowly but first of all, we continue to remember that God's timing is perfect. God will have us there exactly when He wants us there. He will not send us too soon, before we are ready or before everything is in place for it to happen. It is important to remember too, that as slowly as things may seem to move in America, in Africa they usually move slower. The culture there is much more laid back. Schedules are fairly unimportant, a meeting set up for 10AM may not take place until 2PM, or maybe even the next day since many businesses and government offices close for the day very early in the afternoon.

Pastor Richard has made several trips to the area where the ministry was gifted land by the government. As I have stated in the past, the land lies across a channel from the main city of Mwanza and is accessed by a ferry. He was shown two different plots of land and given a choice. He says the land he chose is very beautiful and is located right on Lake Victoria. We have been told that it is approximately 30 acres. In Tanzania, the majority of people do not own property. Rather they find an empty spot to build and build. They are, in effect, squatters. In the year 2006, the Tanzanian government passed a law that says any entity taking ownership of property must reimburse those currently living on the land so they can rebuild elsewhere. The first number we were told was $1000 per acre. Pastor Richard has talked to someone who has lowered that down to $500 per acre. Pastor Richard is still negotiating with the powers that be over there for the property. What we have discovered is that free doesn't exactly mean free. So we continue to wait on the finalization of that.

In the meantime, End Time Glory Ministries has filed an application with a ministry here in the US that provides architectural and designing help for Christian organizations looking to start ministries overseas. If they approve us as someone they want to help, they would travel to the property possibly as early as this fall to look it over and come up with a culturally acceptable layout and architectural designs for the property. They would also provide cost estimates and fund raising brochures for the end project.

The directors and board of the ministry and Shannon and I are currently thinking that we could be looking at a move sometime in 2009, possibly as early as spring. We are all aware that there is a lot to be done before we could move including selling our home and fund raising and of course the exact move date would be affected by those factors as well. None of us feel comfortable putting too much else into process until the details of the land get worked out.

All of this to say, we need prayer. Please pray for the property, for the approval from the other ministry that may help us and the other details involved. We so appreciate all of you who just continue to pray with us for God's will in this entire project and we look forward to seeing how God continues to work.

Daily life update

Things have been crazy at our home. As you already know, M and I returned from a quilt retreat last Monday. Since then, there have been more rehearsals for Collin and I for the church musical which started last weekend with three performances. There are four more to come this weekend. Collin also had a school choir concert last week where he sang a duet with Michael. Michael just joined CCS this fall as he was entering the 10th grade. He is the only 10th grade boy in this Christian school which only recently added high school to its program. He and Collin have become good friends.

Last week was also the last meeting for the Beth Moore bible study I had been participating in. I am still planning to facilitate the same group of women as we come back together again in January to do another study by Beth.

Collin turned 15 this week and in the hullaballoo his birthday party with the grandparents has to be put on hold until after the holiday season. He was aware when he chose to take a part in the church musical that this way the way it would have to be. We plan to bake him a cake today and then he will get another in January when the grandparents visit. It seems like a good deal to me!

I recently had an overnight training out of town for my job and am pushing to keep up with my Census Bureau work this month. I also did a self-study for more work I will be getting next month. Being a full-time stay-at-home mom, unfortunately cannot happen for me right now as we work to get bills paid so that when the time to prepare for a move to Tanzania arrives, we don't need to worry about finances.

We are hoping to meet with members of the ministry board soon, probably next month, to talk more about the future. Pastor Richard, who is currently responsible on finalizing things with the land over there, has been very sick with malaria and has only recently been recovering. Our family has prepared a small box of goodies to send over to them which will be mailed today, hopefully, but possibly not, in time for Christmas.

We are hoping to get a Christmas letter sent out to friends and family soon. It never got done last year. Then I had decided I would make it into an Easter letter but that never happened either.

Blessings to you and your family as you prepare for the holiday season in the midst of your own form of busyness.

As you are aware, I have missed a few Wordless Wednesdays. I plan to bring it back so stay tuned.

Merry Belated Christmas!

Oops! I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas on the day and planned to do so but our weekend didn't go completely as planned. Saturday I worked as expected and Shannon got some electrical work done in the basement. On Sunday, Christmas Eve, we went to the 9AM church service where I sang for choir and Collin worked in Kids Church. Then we drove out to my(Christine's) parents home to celebrate Christmas with them. We had our traditional Christmas meal of hot oil fondue. This has been a family tradition since I was a child in the early 70's so I don't remember ever not having it. We cooked steak, marinated steak, meatballs with cheese in them and smokies dipped in a breading batter. Everything was yummy. We also had salad, baked potatoes and french bread cubes dipped in a chipped beef dip. After clean up we had fun opening gifts with mom and dad and my sister and her boyfriend. We all thought it was funny as we opened gifts we asked if we'd say, "Can I borrow that when you're done with it?" We gave my dad a DVD we wanted to borrow and I got several books from my mom and sister that they wanted to read. Shortly after opening gifts I got very sharp stomache pains and ended up spending the rest of the day off and on the toilet. That evening, my sister ended up sick with vomiting. Then Christmas Day I was still fighting the bug when it kicked in on Shannon. He ended up home from work today too with it. Needless to say, I didn't get here to post due to how I was feeling.

I hope everyone reading this was able to havea good Christmas visiting with family and friends and enjoying each other while remembering Jesus' birthday. Collin was again a shepherd but this time in our church Christmas Eve service. Unfortunately I missed it as I was home sick.

I still don't have my Christmas letter sent out. It is looking like it will be a New Year letter. I hope it doesn't become a Presidents Day letter. We did send email greetings to some of our overseas friends and heard back from one today. Alex is the nephew of Pastor Richard in Tanzania. He was Pastor Richard's "right hand man" while Shannon, Collin and the team were there in September. We believe he will be pretty involved in the ministry when we get over there and look forward to spending time with him. I want to share with you a bit of what he wrote as he talks about Christmas preparations. He also speaks of flooding. Tanzania has two rainy seasons. When it is rainy, it is really rainy and the rest of the year it is a drought. I have left his writing in his original self-taught English spelling.
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may this CHRISTMAS SEASON be filled with precious moment of of joy and happiness to your family as you are celebrating the precious memory of the coming of our Lord Jesus the savior to save the world.as what says in luke 2:11and wish all the best success and cheerish love in saving the Lord inthe coming new year 2007.

here in mwanza everybody was busy since 20th of december,buying new cloth for kids and women for christmas as well as cards,flowers,some food etc, even though it has been a defficult season with much rainfall to extend that some of the areas here in tanzania has been affected with floods,some roads and brigdes has been destroyed.but we thank God at least on 24th,25th and 26th the rain has hold on for a while atleast to give a chance to people to celebrate in good harmony.

Again here in mwanza everybody is doing fine pasor Richard and Getrude are moving forward with the ministry and the church is growing well.

that's all for today but i will be intouch with often.
love to you'

Alex
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Please pray for the people of Tanzania, especially the children on the streets as they weather the current rainy season. Shannon and I wish you a joyous and blessed New Year and we look forward to another year of living for Jesus.

It makes a difference to this one

As I've thought the past couple of days about the last paragraph of my most recent post, I've had a lot of sadness about the orphans we will not be able to help. According to the United Nations, there are 143 million orphans in the world. That looks like this- 143,000,000! Over 43 million of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa with that number growing daily due to the huge HIV/AIDS crisis there.

I have had to remind myself of a story I heard many years ago, called The Starfish Story. This tale becomes more and more meaningful to me as I think on it more in regards to our upcoming ministry. I'd like to share it with you. If you have heard it before, I hope you can agree with me it applies well here.

As the old man walked along the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them back into the sea. Finally catching up to the youth, he asked why he was doing this. The answer was that the starfish would die if left until the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish," said the old man. "How can your efforts make any difference?" The young man looked up the endlessly stretching starfish covered beach and then at the starfish in his hand. Then he threw it safely in the waves. "It makes a difference to this one," he said.

Christmas decorating

As we enter the Christmas season I can't help but wonder if this will be our last Christmas in Minnesota for awhile. Only God knows for sure if we will be in Tanzania this time next year but it is fair to say that at this point, we are hoping to be there by then. It grieves me to think of being away from extended family and church family, snowy Minnesota(well usually we have some by Christmas) and "home." I remember well when Shannon and I were in the military and stationed in California, away from everyone and everything we knew, how sad we were to be away. I can't imagine how much more diferent it will be to be in a completely diferent culture with diferent foods as well.

All of the missionaries I know recommend taking some of your holiday decorations(any holiday) along to your new home to help it feel more like home during those seasons. I suppose when I pack the decorations away in January I will need to sort them into "get rid", "storage" and "take-along" boxes. I have already found a few things I am going to put on eBay now, knowing they will be worth more now than next summer. Then there are those things like our huge 6-pointed Star of David that Shannon welded and we hang each year from our TV antenae. Obviously, we wont bring it along but if we leave it here with the house will the new owner use it and apreciate it?

As sad as it all makes me, the idea of spending Christmas next year with orphans that maybe would have nowhere else to sleep or eat is tremendously exciting to me. As we read the Christmas story to them, will it be the first time they have ever heard it? As we feed them Christmas dinner will it be thier first Christmas with a full tummy? As we cuddle and hug and put them to bed, wil it be the first time they have felt loved? These thoughts are what help me realize that even in Tanzania, we will still be home for Christmas.

Continuing on towards the goal

A post I wrote a couple of weeks ago talked about the waiting game. We were having a hard time connecting with people and things seemed to be moving slowly. Since that time not a lot has happened but we have found out a few things. In regards to the meeting Pastor Richard had planned with the city about the land, he did meet with them. They discussed the land and our vision and a member of the city council will be meeting with him, likely this week, to go out and see the land and talk in more detail about it. Please continue to pray for favor in regrds to the land.

We have also been trying for several weeks to get in touch with the couple that has a well drilling rig somewhere in Tanzania. We found out about this couple through another couple at our church. Their parents know these people that brought a well-drilling rig to Africa to drill wells for needy villages as a missions work. At the time, Shannon and I thought that it was very unlikely this rig would be anywhere near where we needed it, but were surprised to find later that it is in Tanzania. Anyway, our efforts to reach these people had been in vain but we recently found out that it is because they are currently there, in Tanzania, drilling wells right now. They are in a village somewhere near Arusha which is not terribly far from Mwanza. They are supposed to return home in the next week or so, so we will catch them later.

Just this past week, we had a meeting with Wayne and Debra. We discussed in more detail our hopes for the ministry. We talked about the ages of children we would care for(birth and up, we do not want to turn any away), buildings(possibly smaller homes with a widow in each one raising a group of children like a family, or dorm-like settings), timelines, budgets, fundraising and other things. Shannon and I are going to be contacting some ministries we are already aware of and getting suggestions. We are also going to be looking into things like international health insurance for our family and ways we can possibly get some grants to hep with the bulidings.

It amazes me how on a nearly daily basis, Shannon and I are reminded that we are headed in the right direction. Whether it is a bible verse or passage in our daily devotions or bible classes, something someone says in passing, sometimes even from a stranger completely unaware of our plans, a magazine article, a church sermon or radio program or any number of other ways, God just keeps nudging us and our hearts towards the orphans of Africa. We are both so confident that at this point there is no turning back, that neither of us would ever have a peace if we didn't go.

We will continue on towards Mwanza, not sure of the exact timeline but hoping it is soon. We just want it to be God's timeline and His plan, knowing that if it isn't, it will never work out.

Meeting planned in Mwanza

I just received an email that on Tuesday November 14th, Pastor Richard will be going to the city council office in Mwanza about the land that the ministry is hoping to build on. Please pray for favor with the government and an unbelievably low price for this "perfect" piece of property. May they catch our vision for an orphanage/radio station/ministry center and realize what an asset this will be to their community.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-In Summary

Collin and I wish to thank you for your support. Wether it was financial or in prayer or both, it all played a big part in our travels. The trip was life-changing for both of us and the purposes for our journey were fulfilled. As you already know we had several goals in mind for our time in Tanzania.

#1-Evangelism-There were 962 salvations during the meetings and crusades that we were involved in. Collin and I were mainly involved in the children's ministry as well as going out into the crowds to speak one on one with the people. Many of those who received salvation were Muslims and there were several members of the Masai tribe. There were also many healings.

#2-to confirm the call of God on our lives for the people of Tanzania-As you already know, we are feeling that God is calling us to move to Tanzania to be involved in working with orphans and widows, as well as the development of a Christian radio station. I spent much of our trip grieving the losses our family will endure. This move is going to come at a great cost to our family as well as loved ones staying behind. I feel it would be so much easier to just walk away from this whole idea, but I also know that if this is where God wants us, we must obey or it will be even more costly. This isn't about us, but rather we need to remain in His will. I am confident now that God is wanting us to be involved with this particular ministry.

#3-to affect Collin's heart-The call we are feeling as a family has been a scary thing for all of us but especially for him. He was really struggling with the whole idea, understandably. We wanted him to see that Tanzania is not the end of the world but rather the other side of it. One day, while in Mwanza, he wrote in his journal, "We will leave in 2-3 days. I'm not completely sure I'm ready to go home. In fact, I'm not." I realize that 2+ weeks is nothing like living there but he has expressed to us that he is much less fearful and even a bit excited for the adventure to come and to go back to some of the friends he made there. He was also baptized in the spirit while we were there and received an encouraging prophecy over his life that he has "healing hands."

#4-to find and purchase land for the ministry-We found a 30+ acre plot of what seems to be perfect land. It lies in a valley surrounded by hills and has many mango trees. The main city of Mwanza lies just on the other side of the hills so it is remote without being too rural. The final purchase is still pending but it has been placed in the hands of a minister over there that the ministry is working with. The government has had favorable reactions to the ministry's vision. Please continue to pray as we wait on the finalization of that purchase.

I now feel it is time for us to begin our preparations to move. The ministry is wanting us over there by August of 2007 if possible. We will truly need God to do a major work for this to happen that quickly. We have our home to sell and everything in it, as well as our vehicles. We also need to raise the monthly support necesarry for us to be a part of this vision. We would very much apreciate if you would begin praying about how God can use you in this ministry. Wether it be that you join one of the many teams that will be travelling to Tanzania short-term to do contruction work or, later, support work or that you be involved in our monthly financial and/or prayer support team. Maybe you, or someone you know would be interested to come over longer-term at a later date to help with the hands-on of working in an orphanage. It is going to take many, many people for this ministry to be effective. Thanks again for your prayers. Keep them coming as we are just beginning.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-a future in Mwanza

We spent a bit of our time in Mwanza doing a couple of things in preparation for the ministy's future in Mwanza. One afternoon we looked at several homes that were for rent. We looked at them to get an idea of what kind of housing is out there for our family when we arrive. The plan at this point is that our family will live in a rental until our living quarters are built on the ministry compound. I discovered that it will be a much diferent lifestyle than we are currently in. We will have running water but we will need to boil it to be able to drink it. As of now, the electricity in Mwanza is only on from 6PM to 6AM. The reason for this is because thier electricity is generated by hydropower. With the awful drought in East Africa right now, electricity is a precious commodity. This also means that most of our cooking will be done over an open fire. Nearly all homes in Mwanza have an outdoor kitchen even if they have an indoor one for this exact reason. When Christine was there two years ago they had electricity 24 hours per day so this is a situation that could change-for the better or the worse. Refrigeration is, of course, also an issue. No doubt our home will be much smaller than we are used to but overall I thought there were some nice homes available. Unfortunately, we discovered that the rent increased DRAMATICALLY when they found out it was white Americans looking. I know that we will find one that will work when we get there.

We also took a day to go look at land that might work for the ministry compound. As I stated earlier, the land we originally had in mind was too near a military base. The government did not approve of foreigners being that close to the base, understandably. We drove on a winding bumpy road for several miles. We then parked and were led through a small village. As we left the village and crested a hill we knew this was it.
We stood on the hill looking out over a 30+ acre valley nestled amongst hills on all sides. Scattered here and there on the property were mango trees. Mango trees are beautiful as they are this big perfectly round crown of leaves on top of a straight trunk. Several of us on the team truly felt that this was the place that God had chosen as soon as we saw it. Although we had driven several miles to get to it, the city of Mwanza actually lies just on the other side of the hills on one end. We will be within walking distance of the city for those working with us or needing what the ministry has to offer. The ministy's long-term vision is for an orphanage, a small clinic, a radio station, a school and a church and anything else that God leads. There are no squatters living on the land currently although part of it was being farmed. In Tanzania the government owns the land. In order to buy it, we need to be working with a native Tanzanian who will legally own it. We need to pay off anyone currently using the land and then pay the government to survey it. With no one living on it that makes it much easier as we only need to work with those farming on it. Pastor Richard is right now working on getting this to happen for the ministry.(And yippee! Our first attempt at posting a picture worked! Stay tuned as we may try to go add some in earlier posts over the next few days.)

Overall the team was pleased with what we had found in regards to the future there. Wayne and Rev Debra believe that Tanzania will be the African home base of the ministry as they travel to the other Eastern Africa countries of Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and more. It is likely that Christine and I will do a lot of traveling with the ministry when they come over as well. We are looking forward to seeing and meeting more of the wonderful land and people of East Africa.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-Ministry in Mwanza

The next day began 5 days of ministry in the city of Mwanza. Mwanza is the second largest city in Tanzania. It is located in the northwestern corner of the county on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world behind Lake Superior in the northern midwestern United States. The population of the city is aproximately 1.2 million and of the region(similar to a county) is aproximately 2.9 million.

We had 3 days for a pastoral conference. The conference was very powerful and by the end of our time there all of the pastors were on their faces before God, humbled and begging for more of God in their ministries. Rev. Debra had a prophecy for each pastor there. What a great and wonderful time it was and each member of the team was touched as well.

There were also 4 days of open-air crusades. These were held outdoors near Pastor Richard's church. Collin and I participated in the children's ministry doing puppets and skits. Each night there was a teaching given by Rev. Debra that included a skit. Then after that she would do an altar call and send members of the team out into the crowd to speak with people. There was a bar across the street from our meeting place and one of the team members went in there with her interpreter to bring people to the front. One night I, along with my interpreter Alex, were talking to a man that was hesitant to come forward. Alex was getting ready to move on when I told him to wait. I asked Alex to tell this man that this could possibly be the last time he would have someone ask him to do this. Also that he would be reminded of this night on judgement day. The man ended up going forward. By the end of the 4 days there were 522 new Christians in Mwanza and 21 people filled with the Holy Spirit. There were several healings. One was a woman that had a tumor on her stomache that we could literally see and feel. She had been told by the doctors she needed surgery and was in the process of saving money for that. She came forward for prayer and by the time she left we could literally see and feel that the tumor was completely gone.

We also spent a Sunday service in Pastor Richard's church. The building had been built since Christine's visit two years earlier. According to pictures that Christine and I have of his first church and this one, the new one is at least twice, maybe three times the size of his former building. The church was packed the day we were there. It was a good service and I miss their style of worship and their music already. In many ways, I can't wait to get back to Mwanza. The worship and the people are two very big reasons.

On another note, my bronchitis ended up being pneumonia but the antibiotics seem to be kicking it. I am feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-Back to Mwanza

As I said, we were waiting expectantly for the ferry to take us back to Mwanza. A great ride this would be, compared to the trip over. As the ferry docked and lowered it's gate for us to board, we were greeted by an entire deck full of longhorn cattle. In order to get to the upper deck of the ferry we had to climb up and over piles of pallets and bags of cargo. We thought this was supposed to be a simple 8 hour ferry ride back to the mainland but we stopped at island after island after island to add even more cargo to the already full boat. Collin was pretty sick by this time. He had a cold when we left home and it had moved into his sinuses. He slept most of the trip. As it got dark they turned the lights on and the bugs came out in swarms. They were ferocious. Finally, 12 hours after leaving the island we arrived into the port at Mwanza. We later discovered the reason that the trip took so long was because the ferry was so grossly overloaded he wanted to be sure they came in after dark to avoid paying the taxes. Anyway, at this point we all wanted off this ferry and back to our better accomodations at the hotel in Mwanza. In order for us to leave the ferry we had two choices-wait for an hour or two while they unloaded all of the cargo and cattle, or climb over all of it. We climbed, literally. We had thought getting on was an adventure but after stopping at all of the islands on the rest of the trip, our tiny "walkway" had now become more of a mountain. We climbed up, up and up over bags and bags of dried fish and who knows what else. It was about three feet wide on top of these bags and if you fell one way you would fall into the lake. If you fell the other way you landed amongst the longhorns. We all made it off the ferry with all of our stuff.

After a good nights rest in Mwanza we awoke for a day off. During our group devotional time Collin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues(Acts 1:8). Later, Pastor Richard took us to look at temporary housing for our family once we arrive there and until the compound is built. I discovered that even as nice as some of the housing was for there, it was still very primitive to what we are accustomed to. I also discovered that prices would go up when it was discovered that it would be Americans renting.

Next we went to an internet cafe where I was able to log on to instant messenger and discovered Christine waiting for me. She had known that this was the day we would likely be near computers and had been online and awake since 2AM. Funny thing is, I came on right at the time she normally gets up. She could have slept until 6:30 as normal. We instant messaged for about 45 minutes as I also tried to read the 10 daily emails she had sent since we had left. It was good to check in and I realized how much I missed her. We were supposed to look at land this day but the land we had been planning to look at we had discovered was too near a military installation for the government to allow us to be on as foreigners. It was decided we would look in 4 more days, on Saturday.

Please pray for me as I am currently fighting a case of bronchitis that we believe came from the same virus that gave Collin a sinus infection. I am finally on antibiotics today but still running a fever.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-Maisome Island

After the long day of travel by a mechanically unstable bus and a leaky boat, the idea of a nice bed sounded pretty good. We approached the guest house by flashlight and were shown to our individual rooms. Yes, that's right, we each had our very own room, or so it seemed. My room consisted of a twin sized bed , with sheets. There was no pillow. The room was just big enough to fit the bed lengthwise and about two feet wider than the bed. It was very dark because it was an inside room with no windows. Even during the day I had to use a flashlight to find things in my luggage. We all went to bed and I slept fairly well until about 2AM when I woke up ready to go with nowhere to go. As I lay there I could hear heavy breathing under my floor. The floor was made up of boards with spaces between them. I lay there wondering what could be under there. Was it people? With all of the witchcraft on the island could it be something demonic? I tried shining my flashlight between the boards but couldn't see enough. As it began to get light outside and the light shone from underneath the building I could see that my heavy breathing friends were pigs. Other members of the team reported bats in thier rooms and one night Collin had a rat fall from the rafters in his room onto his bed right next to his head. He wrote in his journal that he "didn't sleep well the rest of the night."

It was immediately obvious that the village we were in was a fishing village as all of the island villages are. They would catch thousands of minnows and spread them on the ground to dry, then rake them up to send to market. The beach was covered with small wooden fishing boats. There is no electricity on the island except for when they use generators. Of course they didn't run those much due to the cost of fuel. Fuel over there costs around $7-8 per gallon. And we thought we were paying too much here in the U.S.

We were on the island at the invitation of Pastor Jams. Pastor James is a former witch doctor who came from a line of witch doctors. The stories he shared were incredible. Ultimately the most important thing of his testimony, in my opinion, is that even the bad guys know God's power. That witch doctors themselves admit to being unable to overcome the protection that surrounds a true Christian. I know Christine wrote a post about Pastor James on September 14th if you want to read more about him.

We spent the next 3 days doing pastoral teachings in the mornings and open-air crusades in the late afternoons. While we were on the island there were 440 salvations and 70 Christians filled with the Holy Spirit(Acts 1:8). There were also many healings-eyes, ears, and stomache pain.

Although we enjoyed our time ministering to the people of Maisome Island, I think it is fair to say that when we saw the ferry coming toward the island to pick us up, we were ready to go back to Mwanza. And, boy did that ferry look like a heavenly ride compared to the boat we had been on to get there but we didn't know yet what was to come with that either. Let's just say that we were all very surprised when the ferry let down its gate to let us on.

Shannon and Collin's trip-more travel

That morning once we were up and around, we travelled from Kilamanjaro airport to Mwanza on a mid-sized turbo prop plane. The flight was just over an hour. We enjoyed looking out the window to see some of the landscape. Like Christine, we saw the land change from brown and dusty to green as we arrived closer to Mwanza which is located on the shores of Lake Victoria. After a warm welcome at the airport we were taken to the Monarche Hotel. Shortly after our arrival we met as a team for devotions. It was during this time that Collin received a word over him that he would have healing hands and would be greatly used by God. Also, that he was there for one reason but that God had more in mind. That evening we went to Pastor Richard and Gertrude's home for supper then returned to the hotel.

Christine had warned me about the 5AM Muslim call to prayer. I was expecting to wake up to that but did not hear it. I guess our hotel had better walls and the sound of the ceiling fan covered it up. Some others of our team did hear it but they were on the other side of the hotel.

Off to the island we go. What an adventure! We were to be ready by 7:30AM. We ended up being late due to discussions with hotel staff about our luggage. The ferry should have been gone by the time we arrived but it was there and we just had time to get on. The bus we were to board was already on the ferry, ready to take us on the first leg of our journey. The bus had to have been at least 50 years old. It was pathetic. As we sat in our seats watching them clicking wires together to start this thing we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Another bus in front of us ended up pulling us off the ferry and to get us started. Here we were on roads that weren't fit for even a bicycle. As bad as we thought the roads were when we started, they only got worse as we went further. We had to stop many times to add water to the radiator and the motor killed several times but we always had enough momentum to pop the clutch and get it started again. The total time on the bus was 6 hours of bumpy, dusty roads. Ugh.

Finally, already exhausted, we arrived at a tiny fishing village where a chartered boat ride had been arranged to take us to Maisome Island. Rev. Debra was shocked to see what arrived. Our boat was an old wooden fishing boat. It looked like something one imagines in biblical times. It had the rounded bottom and sides. It was maybe 40 feet long and 12 feet across. It had two outboard engines and they managed to keep at least one of them running...most of the time. To get on the boat we had to climb a ladder and go up and over the bow of the boat. There were no life jackets. We were joined by about a 50 member choir that Pastor James, from the island had invited along. Some members of the team became a bit nervous as they noticed water coming in at their feet. Out came the buckets and some passengers began bailing water out of the boat. They only had to do this once. We were coming towards an island and thought this must be it. Nope, we were just stopping for gas on a neighboring island. We continued on to arrive at Maisome Island about 3 hours after boarding the boat.

At the island we were greeted enthusiastically by a church choir. As we got off the boat they took our luggage and escorted us to the guest house. Unfortunately by this time it was quite dark so we were unable to see much. As we approached what would be our home for the next four nights we were truly unsuspecting of what was to come and who or what our sleeping companions would be. That is another story for yet another day.

Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-getting there

Shannon and I will be sitting down together to write the next several posts. He will be telling stories from the trip while I type them. I hope you enjoy what he has to share. Shannon say he is sorry it took us so long to get to this but he has been busy and very tired since returning home.

We arrived at the Minneapolis airport and our biggest concern for the moment was that one of the team members passport was beginning to peel along the edge right where the picture was. The local passport authorities had told us she would never even get on the first plane and were concerned she would even try. They said that even if she got through Minneapolis she would never get through Amsterdam. In Minneapolis nobody said a word about her passport. It was a very long flight of about 10 hours. Collin and I were in the center of the plane and I was almost feeling clausterphobic. Finally we arrived in Amsterdam. We had a 4 hour layover there. I was surprised to discover that there was smoking everywhere and the gender signs to the bathrooms seemed to make no diference whatsoever on who one might find inside. I was inside a stall and heard several women and girls come in. At first I thought, "Oh man! Did I get in the wong one? " But I was nearly certain I hadn't. When I came out there was a woman janitor in there cleaning and a little girl changing her siblings diaper. There were the very telling symbols known as urinals hanging on the walls and sure enough, on the outside of the door as I stepped out there was a mens sign.

When it came time to board the plane to Africa I thought the security there was very lax. Not only was there no questions asked about Stephanie's passport but it seemed like we could have taken nearly anything on the plane there. Now it was time for another long flight of about the same length to Kilamanjaro International airport. The airport is located right near Mount Kilamanjaro in the northeast corner of Tanzania. It was a much more comfortable trip. I had an aisle seat and Collin slept most of the flight. We arrived at Kilamanjaro and stayed at the "hotel" right near the airport. The hotel consisted of small hut-like buildings. Each one had two rooms and each room had three twin sized beds. Unfortunately we arrived after dark into Tanzania so couldn't see much. We decided it was time to spread out in our beds and try to get some sleep as we knew we had more travel in the morning. I woke up ready to go at 5:05. Then I looked at my watch again and realized it was only 1:25. I had mixed up the hands. I didn't sleep much after that but I did some praying and the word "impartation" was stuck in my mind and the song, "Your Name" by Paul Baloche and Kathryn Scott. Here is the chorus:
"Your Name, is a strong mighty tower
Your Name, is a shelter like no other
Your Name, let the nations sing it louder
Cause nothing has the power to save but Your Name. "
The song ran through my mind over and over as I waited for the new day to begin.