Of VBS and Soccer Camp

A team from Old Fort Baptist Church arrived on 18 June 2012 to work in 2 elementary schools in one of the areas of Maasaini.

The team of 11 stayed at the house in Losimingori, which serves as our "base camp".


The team arrived at the Losimingori Elementary School on 19 June and caused a great stir!  Not many wazungu (white people) go there much less stay and interact with the 286 students. The time frame was 10 am - 2 pm daily for the next 3 days - 19, 20, 21 June.  A rotating system was established where 1/3 of the students would listen to Bible Stories in a classroom, 1/3 would do crafts in another classroom, and 1/3 would participate in a soccer camp on the school soccer pitch (usually a dirt field with 2 sticks set in the ground at both ends to serve as "goals").  The story time set dictated how much time the other 2 sections had to complete their tasks.  This was usually about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The team was divided before hand to handle these different tasks at the different stations.  Just as in VBS in the USA, the first day is always the worst as far as schedules, team work, and logistics is concerned.  But this day went well as did the following 2 days.  Students could not believe these "older white people" could or would play "futbol" (soccer) with them.  But the "old white people" really showed some skills and stamina on the pitch and they even got the teachers involved in the competition!  This part of the trip went well and the team saw many make a profession of faith in Christ.  The students and teachers will never forget this group, especially since they left "futbols"(soccer balls) for them to use!

The second school was the Engirigiri Elementary School.  The same rotating system and time schedule was followed there for 2 days -- 22 and 23 June.  The 174 students there thoroughly enjoyed the team, learned some Bible Stories , completed some great crafts, and then had some intense soccer instruction!  The fun part was keeping the cows and donkeys off the soccer pitch while the camp was going on! The teachers and students were also thoroughly impressed with the skills and stamina of this team!

Each afternoon, the team dug deep and summoned the energy to visit different Maasai bomas {(bow mahs) small Maasai settlements)} near both schools to interact with the parents and families of the students, share Bible stories, and pray with and for them.  Many contacts were made, students even came by the "base camp" house, and engaged in some informal futbol there also.

On Sunday, 24 June, the team attended the Engirigiri Baptist Church.  Dina got to give her testimony and Randy, the team pastor, was invited to speak to the church.  The team really got into the praise and worship time and the praise and worship really got into them also!  After a lunch of chapatis (Cha pah tees) and soda, we went to the pastor's boma to greet his extended family.

Then the team went to Tarangire National Park on 25 June.  They saw many animals, re-visited the same pride of lions that part of the team saw in January 2012, and had a great lunch!

Then on 26 June, the team packed up, went to Cultural Heritage in Arusha for shopping and lunch and then back to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) for the long flight home.

Thanks so much to this team for your time, sacrifice, energy, dedication, and perseverance as you joined God in His work in Tanzania among the Maasai!!

The TZ driver license adventure (continued)

In the previous entry, I described my adventure in trying to secure and Tanzania driver license.
One week later, I returned to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) office as directed.  After a 45 minute wait, I was informed that the license was not ready and to return the following week.  I did just that and the following week, I received my Tanzania driver license!  It is good for 3 years.  It will be another adventure to go through the renewal process again, but at least it is not until 2015!

 Pam also went to renew her Tanzanian driver license also in June 2012.  Her steps for her license renewal were:

1)  Go to the TRA office # 2 with the correct form filled out.
2)  Go to the TRA office # 6 to get a Tax Identification Number (TIN).
3)  Go to the TRA office # 7 to get the TIN form verified. There are 7 desks in office # 7 so you wait until the right person is available to get your verification.  But there is no designation of which desk/employee is the one you actually go to for this service.
4)  Return to the TRA office # 2 with the verified TIN form.
5)  Have a picture and finger prints taken to be entered into the TRA computer system.
6)  Go to the police station to office # 3 to obtain her certificate of driving competency.
7)  Go to office # 8 in the police station to be entered into their system.  The person to do this was not there so we had to wait for him to arrive at his office.  Then the internet was not working so we were informed to return at 2 pm (it was 9:30 am at this time) to finish this process.
8)  We returned to the police station at 2 pm and Pam's information was entered into their system.
9)  Return to TRA to obtain a receipt for payment for the driver's license.
10) Go to a local bank with the payment receipt and pay the fee for the license ($25.80).
11)  Go home and wait 1 - 2 weeks for the license to be processed.
12)  Return to TRA with the payment receipt to pick up the license.

It was ready in 2 weeks and now Pam has her new TZ driver license!
We need some rest after all of this!

The Importance of Prayer

Wednesday June 20th. We had had two wonderful days of going to the Losimongori Primary School sharing the love of God through soccer, crafts and the Bible Stories. While the team was back at the Losi house waiting for their next big adventure of going to a Boma to share some more we were hanging out on the back porch watching the herds, kids and Maasai as they came and went. I, Pam, wanted to get a better picture of some recent initiates and walked toward the far end of the porch. The next thing I know one of the guys is trying to help me up. All I can remember thinking was, "Careful of my other leg."I had stepped on the cover of one of the cistern tanks and one leg had gone in and I landed on the lip with the other leg which I was sure was broken because of the way I was sitting on it. He picked me up and set me in a chair. We had 2 nurses in the group and they immediately went into action. Spraying my legs down with disinfectant and applying antibiotic ointment and bandaging the worst of my scrapes. I was then helped into the house to sit in a camp chair that has a foot rest.

We were all rejoicing that I was not seriously hurt. I was sure that the leg I had sat on had been broken due to the odd angle that I had landed on it and it was not. Miracle number one. The cut that ran up the back of my leg wasn't deep nor required stitches. Miracle number two.

You may wonder what the big deal is. Well.....


Tuesday June 19 Prayer Partners around the globe were praying the following using the Maasai of Tanzania Prayer Calendar: "Pray that the OFBC team will have good health while here."


When our interpreters, Mikaeli and Moses, came later that afternoon they were shocked and became very animated. They proceeded to tell me that the night before, June 19th, well actually very early the morning of June 20th,  both had dreams of a really bad accident among our group. They both woke up at 4 in the morning and began to pray that God would not allow a bad accident to happen. They knew that Satan wanted to cause a bad accident to stop the good work that God was doing through the volunteers.

We all believe that had it not been for our prayer partners praying on the 19th and Mikaeli and Moses praying in the wee hours of the morning on the 20th my "accident" would have been much worse. I truly don't remember stepping on the lid or even falling. I do know that God had His angels watching over me. There were pipes running all over the place in that hole and I missed all of them. I didn't fall into the hole which could have been fatal. I did not have any broken bones nor did I need stitches both of which would have necessitated a trip to Nairobi, Kenya.

The power of prayer, WOW! If the Holy Spirit impresses you to pray for someone don't hesitate. Stop whatever you are doing and intercede for them. Only God knows if your prayers will save someone's life.

Where No One (white person) has Gone Before

 Recently, we had two volunteers come to the Longido area to work with the Maasai leaders in sharing Bible stories from the Maasai Chronological Bible Storying cloth and to help with a new church start.  The 2 volunteers are brothers, one having just received his master's degree and one just finishing his sophomore year of college.  These brothers were very tall – 6’7” and 6’5” – so the Maasai were very impressed with these “tall white boys”. 

We went to Loisoret with 3 Maasai leaders.  We were well received with roasted goat in the bush and then given a tour of their water source – a natural spring with 2 overflow areas that eventually feed into a river bed.

Camp was set up and everyday, morning/noon/evening, we had curious on-lookers checking out the strange white people and their bomas (tents). 

The cooking experience was fun.  Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, canned meat, and other “exotic fare”.  The Maasai watched in amazement as we cooked over a gas stove – “instant fire” – as some described it.  One verified fact is that Maasai do not like eggs – at least in that area.  After cooking the eggs, we offered some to our curious guests, who reluctantly sampled some of our strange food.  Two Maasai even started gagging when the eggs were passed to them – it was too much for their stomachs to handle!

We usually had some snacks during the day and cooked pasta at night.  During our second night there, I fixed spaghetti and served canned fruit for dessert.  When the spaghetti noodles were finished, I drained them and proceeded to put the sauce on them.  One of the Maasai "spectators" asked what kind of food we had that night.  I told him that we had "cooked worms".  He proceeded to shake his head and walk away, commenting that these "good white people eat some strange food"!  We were able to show him later what the spaghetti really is and that it does taste good when the sauce is added.  The Maasai jury is still out on this taste test.

The Maasai came to hear the stories from the Bible Story Cloth for two days.  The Old Testament was covered the first day, then a short review and the New Testament were covered on the second day.  The singing was lively as usual and the jumping was something to behold.  My volunteers began jumping with the crowd.  They actually jumped higher than anyone there and almost hit their heads on some tree branches!  Our joke was that the Maasai agreed that “these white boys can jump!”

Many received Christ and a church was started.  The leader of the area was the first to “step out” and make a decision for Christ.  He is the designated church leader for now.  There is a Maasai seminary branch student who will finish his studies in November 2012 who will be going to this site to continue the work that was started during this time.

These 2 young men were really on the “cutting edge” of missions – the first white people and the first church started in this area.  It is something to behold when you join God in His work and are able to participate with Him.

The Grieving Giver

A team of Black Forest Academy students and teachers accompanied me to a worship service at the Kimokoa Baptist Church, a Maasai churches in one of our ministry areas.  The praise and worship was lively as usual with the singing, jumping, and "Parade of Praise" in and outside of the church building.
Introductions were given, announcements made, the main offering received, and then the preaching/teaching time began.  As the pastor spoke, I heard a wail followed by load crying, sobbing and moaning coming from outside the main entrance of the church building.  I ask the Maasai pastor next to me what we should do.  He said he would investigate and bring back a report.  He left the church to check out the situation.  I began to visualize different scenarios -- a sudden death in a family, bad news about other family members, loss of animals and/or property, or demon possession manifesting itself at this worship time.

The Maasai pastor returned in 15 minutes and reported that this particular woman was indeed in deep sorrow and remorse, so much so that she refused to even come into the service even though she was a faithful member of that church.

She had not lost a family member.
There was no bad news concerning her family.
Her animals and property were fine.
There was no demon possession manifestation today.

The cause of her wailing, crying, moaning and deep sorrow --- she did not have anything to give
as an offering for that day.  She had set aside some items and money to bring but other family members had taken her offering items and money to use for their own purposes!

After the service, a special offering was taken to buy supplies for the church's pre-school and to rebuild the doors on the church building.

We saw different members go outside and bring the grieving woman into the service.

She eventually came forward and gave something for the special offering.

The service concluded and we stayed and greeted all the members that day, especially since I had "special guests".

I asked the Maasai pastor about the women giving to the special offering since he had earlier relayed that she had nothing to give.

He said that other church members had combined their resources and gave them to this grieving women so that she would have something to give that day.

She said she would return the "loans" to her fellow church members over time.

Have you ever been so overcome with grief like this "grieving giver" because you had no offering to give to God?
Do you have friends/fellow believers who would help you out in the way this women's friends helped her?

This "grieving giver" is truly blessed.
Are you blessed in this same way with friends/fellow believers?
Would you be a blessing to someone else in this or other ways?

You Thought Your DMV was Challenging?

Tanzania has recently revamped their process for obtaining/renewing a Tanzania driver license. 

Our first process was to show an International Driver License bought at AAA before our departure from the USA to proof we could drive, fill out a form, submit the form with pictures, buy a Tanzania license book from a street vendor, and then have the picture and the official license glued in (yes, glued in) to the license book.  Our first license, which is good for 3 years, took 1 hour to obtain from the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).  That was 1997.  Every three years, the process to renew the license was to go the nearest TRA in whatever city you were living in or close to, show your license, pay a fee, and a renewal form was glued in to the license book.

Not this time in 2012.  

The steps that I followed to obtain my new license are as follows:

1)    Go to TRA in Moshi to obtain a new form.

2)     Get your Tax Identification Number (TIN).

3)     Go to TRA again to Office # 3 to turn in your form.

4)     Go to TRA Office # 15 to have my TIN verified.

5)     Return to TRA Office # 3 to have digital fingerprints and a facial picture taken and stored in their computer data base (Upon taking the picture, this question was posed to me “Is this you in the picture or is it someone who looks like you?”)

6)     Go to the Highway Police station in Moshi (5 blocks – walking that day) to have your Tanzania driver license verified and receive a certificate of “Competency to Drive”.  I was directed to Office # 3 (3^rd door on the right) but on arriving there, the sign above the door read “Office # 8.  I returned to the main desk, asked again to make sure I had the right directions, and was politely escorted to “Office # 3 – This is door 1, door 2, and door/office # 3, which was still labeled Office # 8.  I “failed the logic test” that day.  I received my certificate of “Competency to Drive”

7)     I was then directed to go back to TRA to Office # 3 to turn in the form and certificate.  This was 5 blocks back to the TRA building. 

8)     After two clicks on a computer mouse, I was verified as a competent driver.  I was then re-directed back to the same police station to the “Computor Room” so that my information could be enter into their data base.  After another 5 block walk and a short wait, my information was “safely in their system”.

9)     Once again, I was directed back to the TRA office to turn in the final form and receive a pay receipt so that I could go to a bank and make the payment for the license.

10) At TRA, I was given a pay slip/receipt to take to a local bank.  I would pay the driver license fee there, keep a copy of the paid receipt, and instructed to return 1 week later to TRA pick up my new license.

11) I left the TRA building and walked 6 blocks (in the opposite direction from the police station) to the bank to submit my payment.  After a 30 minute wait in line, I paid my fee and received my official receipt.

12) Now I get to return to the TRA building on 29 May to hopefully receive my new Tanzania license.

This process only took 5 hours (which was a good day).

An update will follow on whether I was successful in this venture.

So, how does your DMV compare to this experience? 

God Got Their Attention

These two stories come from one church in our area that has a mix of Maasai and some other people groups.  The pastor related these 2 separate incidents that occurred within the last month.

Story # 1

A man riding his bicycle passed by this particular church every Sunday.  The pastor and members invited him to the worship time consistently.  His response was always "I have to go work in my shamba - shahm baa (garden) and work on the fereji - feh reh gee (irrigation ditch) which brings water into my shamba. I am expecting a large crop and need to work instead of coming to church".

This scenario was repeated for several months.  Then one day, the pastor received a cell phone call from this gentleman.  He was in a panic.   Some other Tanzanians had bought the property adjoining his shamba.  One planted a large crop and the other built a house.  Both of these men had diverted the fereji so that the water could be used only by them.

His anticipated "large yield" from his four acre shamba would now only produce about 1 bushel of corn.

The pastor prayed for him and invited him to the worship service the next Sunday.

The hard working farmer who had put his work, shamba, and fereji before God was there Sunday morning.


Story # 2

This same pastor and church members had been inviting a woman to attended their worship time for serveral months.  She refused their invitations saying that "she had to tend to her goats and no one could tend them like she could so she could not leave them".

This continued for several weeks.

Then one Sunday morning, this lady came to the worship time.  When a time for testimonies was opened up for the members to share, this goat herder was the first to speak.  She related her story that one day as she was watching her goats, one of them stood straight up from grazing, stopped eating, and then fell over dead.  This scene was repeated several times in the next few minutes.  None of the animals were sick or had eaten anything toxic.   She then cried out to God, asking her to forgive her for neglecting Him and His church and promised to be at worship the next Sunday.  She followed through on her promise and was there to share her story.  She said that she would not miss another Sunday barring any unforeseen circumstances.

God works in unique ways and in unique circumstances to get our attention and show us what is really important in life -- a relationship with Him in worship and service.

What is God doing in your life?
Any of your "ferejis" been diverted or blocked off lately?
Any of your "goats" mysteriously died in recent days?