One of "Those" Days

There are wonderful days in ministry no matter where you live and then there are days of frustration that the only thing good that can be said about them is that you survived and the day is over.
Those days in Tanzania can be further complicated by cultural issues; it's usually not the big things that get to you but an accumulation of many small insignificant things.
This week, for instance, was one of those times. There has been almost no water pressure due to a broken pump at the city water plant; it may be weeks or months before they decide to fix it. So, day after day you take showers under tiny trickles of water, spend all day doing a couple of loads of laundry because it takes a couple of hours for the tub to fill and wait "forever" to get enough water to do dishes.
Add to that the tapping at the gate that signifies there is someone there so you walk all the way down the drive to discover it's someone you don't know wanting money or it's someone wanting your worker who isn't even working that day because he has malaria, again. This event occurs numerous times throughout the day.
Since the worker is out sick for several days you get to cook the stinky dog food in your kitchen instead of it being cooked outside.
The watch dogs have decided to find every hole in the ancient fence around your property and escape nightly; as soon as you fix that hole they make another one.
You go to market and because of the dry season the vegetables and fruit are not as plentiful and not as nice as you would like.
You are in the middle of watching the one show that you sometimes have the time to watch on TV and the power goes off so you miss the ending.
You pick up a package at the post office to find that the contents are missing for the second time this year and you fill out a form that you know will accomplish nothing.
You are baking something and the power goes off, you find bugs in your flour and the ants get into the sugar container because the lid wasn't on tight.
You are trying to get ready for the next bible college term and your notes have somehow disappeared and you spend half a day looking for them.
It's the week of Ramadan (Muslim holiday) so the loud speakers go night and day almost with the off key singing/chanting that accompanies the holiday.
You have your third set of unexpected Tanzanian guests arrive to visit you that day and you must stop what you are doing and serve refreshments and struggle to follow and contribute to the conversation in Swahili.
You drop a can of vegetables on your toe and it throbs for the rest of the day and turns black.
Your husband is on another long safari (trip) so you are "home alone" with no vehicle to drive and so you get a little stir crazy.
However, these types of things are part of life no matter where you live and the fact that these times are mixed in with times of fulfilling ministry, great accomplishments, being involved in changing peoples lives with the Gospel message and spending time with wonderful people from your host country make the bad days bearable.
When you weigh the good and bad days and they are placed on the scale; you will find that the good days far outweigh the bad and the good days make the bad days bearable.
Today is a good day; Tim is returning from a long safari, the water pressure is great and I just finished a batch of Chocolate Cappuccino muffins which are ready to sample.
It's a good day.

They have returned bearing gifts

Tim, the General Supt of the TAG (Mtokambali), his wife and the National Children's Director (Paul Meivukie) returned yesterday evening. They arrived later than planned due to the fact that this is Africa and nothing goes according to plan and few things stay on schedule.

We had thirty minutes to have supper, sort luggage and get the Mtokambali's to the airport. We made it!!!

Tim and the team traveled to some very remote areas over rutted dirt roads; flying over the potholes and in a cloud of billowing dust as they tried to maintain their tight schedule. Everyone buckled their seat belts and held on and Mama Mtokambali could be heard praying at times from the back seat. Tim doesn't like to travel that way but he did not set the schedule.

Everywhere they went they were greeted with celebration and showered with gifts. Most of the sections they traveled to have never been visited by a General Superintendent, National Department Director or a missionary; to have all three at one time is a once in a lifetime occurrence for these pastors/churches/leaders.

They literally returned with the Land Cruiser filled to bursting with gifts of all kinds and even had some tied on top of the vehicle. There were three piles; one for the Mtokambali's, one for Paul and one for Tim.

There were wood carvings, bolt after bolt of material, honey, woven mats, bags of peanuts and even bags of Dagaa(minnow sized sun dried fish). Many gave what was indigenous or produced in their areas.

Everything: gifts, luggage, Land Cruiser and even the travelers were covered and imbedded with dust. It is the end of the dry season and so very dry and windy.

There are a few days of rest before they are on the road again.

August travels

Tim is going to be traveling 3 of the 4 weeks in August; right now he is on a 13 day trip to the sections in our five western districts. He is part of a team that includes the General Superintendent of the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) and his wife, the National Director for Children's Ministries and himself.
Their goal is to travel to as many of the sections in these districts as possible; they are traveling to 2-3 sections each day.
Their day begins at sunrise and they go all day preaching, teaching and traveling their way around the western part of Tanzania. They eat a late supper, usually the only meal they have that day, and fall into bed exhausted each night. They start the process over the next day.
They will return here on Thursday this week and Tim will have 3 days to rest, take care of as much business as he can while he is home and prepare for the 9 hour trip to Dodoma to meet with a team from the Southern Missouri District on Tuesday the 17th. This team is coming to hold a conference to launch Men's Ministries here in Tanzania.
The team departs from Mwanza on the 25th of this month and the General Superintendent, Mtokambali and his team will return on August 30; they will be here until September 9.
As we look ahead at September and October there seems to be a lot of travel scheduled for those two months as well.
Such is the life of a missionary.

Baking Day

Yesterday was an experiment in baking.
Lisa, the young missionary lady renting our guest house, came up yesterday morning and we made homemade waffles for breakfast. These were so good that we decided to mix up another batch and we made these with apples and cinnamon. This batch was packaged and put in the freezer for "frozen waffles" for the future; the missionary version of "Eggo" frozen waffles.
After cleaning up the waffle mess we moved on to our first attempt at making Bagels; these turned out fairly well. In the states they may have received a "6" on a 1-10 scale rating system. However, here in Mwanza Tanzania and half way through a four year term they received an "8" rating. The longer you go without something the less critical you become about the way it "should" look and taste. Again, these were divided up between us and most were frozen to pull out and enjoy later.
Our last effort for the morning was to make a batch of yeast raised glazed donuts. These again received a rating of "8" on the "1-10" scale.
OK, they weren't "Krispy Creme" quality but they sure tasted good with a cup of good Tanzanian coffee.
Lisa and I decided the mess we made and had to clean up in the kitchen was definitely worth it! Who knows what "make from scratch" challenges we will attempt next.
Blessings.