Monday, Monday (Oct. 9)
It’s Monday, and I have been very remiss about blogging. A start at a “quick” run-down on what’s been happenig for the last 5 or 6 days…….
As I mentioned before, last Tuesday was spent “getting our feet under us” in Kasulu. Then Wednesday we were off and running with Diocisan Secretary Daudi Ndhana and James, Bishop of Zanzabar to a confirmation in a a village half-way between Kasulu and Musagara along the R326 road that leads towards the Burundi border. As always, the views were beautiful along the way. We are told that they will start paving this road starting next year. As the project to pave the road all the way from Kigoma to Kasulu is still not complete, I expect that this will be at least a 5 year project. In the meantime, electric power has made it out to this village! At the end of the service, Bill and the Bishop where both given chickens, and I was given a reall lovely kanga (printed lengh of fabric, used all sorts of ways as a clothing piece).
While Bill worked at the Bible College on Thursday, Bob and I did a little exploring and shopping in Kasulu, with Efram’s help. We found a new shop for buying all the “specialty” foods that I like to get, and I purchased some more Africaf (the very good powdered coffee we can’t live without), some “Blue Band” which is a margerine and more AZAM brand Mango juice – Bil’s favorate. The store has a freezer which not only has some ice cream and frozen beef susages (hot dogs to you and me), but also has frozen butter, cheese and small chickens!
We stopped again a VodaCom as my phone was showing that it was out of data even though we had bought more than enough to last for the two weeks when we were in Dar. The clerk helped us get the credits applied correctly for data and after Bon at the bible college showed us that we didn’t have the data function turned on, on the phone I was off and running. (Both Bill and I are iPhone users and not very congnizant of how to use Android phones.)
Then it was off to the row of shops where we had bought the fridge two days before so that Bob could buy a small fan for his room. It cools down a night, but prevous day’s heat is held inside the guest house rooms until nearly down and air movement is necessary.
Bill continued to work at LTC and around 5:00 pm we left to visit two churches a little past the Murusi church off of the T9 road towards Kidyama. The first, Macedonia Church has only been worshipping for a few months. It is located in an area where there is a lot of building and a new school is being built just across the street. The Bishop wants there to be a church waiting for all of the people moving to the area, so they used cement blocks to quickly get walls up. There is no roof yet and there is a great concern about the rainy season, which is just starting, discouraging worshippers.
Some where between Macedonia Church and Church of the Good Shepheard, the misquitos attacked. I have a bunch of little bites on my face and arms.
We have visited Church of the Good Shepheard several times before. This is the church that has a tin roof and reed mats and blue tarps for walls. When we first visited them, it seemed that they were out in the middle of nowhere. Not anymore. “No where” has disappeared with the coming of electricity and a whole lot of new housing construction. They have been trying to start building a beautiful new permenant sanctuary for several years but ran into to legal issues over land ownership and new government permitting processes. It seems that they will finally be able to start construction in a few months.
We saw the Mother’s and the Youth Choirs there and shared a song ourselves before eating dinner with the Pastor’s family, and then home to bed.
