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On the way to Tanzania
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the prayers and support that have launched me on this epic journey to Tanzania. So many of you have put your money where your heart is to make this happen and I know there will be pastors in Africa who will be eternally grateful. I started this morning off at the Corner Bakery in Preston Center where my Academy Bible Study meets. It is an awesome time where grads from West Point and the Naval Academy get together for Fellowship and the Word. Awesome. My buddy Jonathan Spinks and I presented our vision to go to Iraq to share the Gospel with the troops this year and the men were very enthusiastic. I may have come off a little hard on the you need to give money piece, but when you believe in something, all bashfulness about money just ebbs away. It is how this trip was paid for.
I arrived at the airport several hours early, which was good, because I had ticket issues. Thankfully after three ticketing agents worked the computers, I was finally given a ticket. While they were doing that I was rearranging bags to keep them under 50 pounds which Praise God they all made it under 50. With that taken care of I made it to my gate and met a really neat guy named Dion who is heading to Berlin for the World Track meet. Pretty Cool. We talked about what it was to train an athlete and we talked about faith. I showed him the I Am Second website. Unfortunately Volume always becomes an issue when showing someone that and I should have had earphones ready, but you never know with these things.
I got on the plane, napped, woke up for some food, napped again and then woke up ready to blog.
So now, I must think about what I am going to say while I am in Tanzania. We have our first meeting Saturday evening in Dar Es Salaam. I Google mapped the area so that I might know where the internet café is and where I will be staying. I couldn’t find where I was staying, but I did find an internet café. I thought we would be roughing it in a village somewhere, but it turns out, the pastors are coming to us in Dar Es Salaam. I am going to go and speak at one of their churches, which will be amazing, but I really wanted to get out among the people.
I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a sightseeing trip, but a chance to train local pastors so that they can share the Gospel effectively in their own communities.
Here are the list of talks that I am going to be doing. Feel free to give me any feedback for what you think these African Pastors need to hear. The topics were given to me by my Mission Trip Leader, Ambilike.
Pastors need to connect with the community, people outside of the church as the example for others Feed the Flock through different teaching techniques. Conflict Resolution Equipping the Saints: Delegation
Okay, I am going to be videoing my thoughts along the way and posting them to www.youtube.com I will title them all Chris goes to Africa I,II, III, etc.
In Him Chris
First Night in Africa August 10, 2009 at 1:13pm
The rest of the journey to East Africa was uneventful but long. I sat next to an Austrian lady on the way from Kilimanjaro to Dar EsSalaam. Her name was Irma and she just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was pretty neat to engage her in conversation as she talked about how wonderful socialism was except for the fact that it paid for all the Muslims who come in the country illegally and they don’t pay taxes but receive all the care that the rest of the Austrians receive. I guess that goes on everywhere. She loved Obama and wondered if I loved him too. She told me about her life and that her daughter was soon to have a baby and she was excited. It was her first grandbaby. Her daughter was 38. She said that most look to get a solid career first and then add a baby. We talked about faith and she told me she was born Catholic, but doesn’t ever go to a church unless it is for a wedding, a funeral, or a baptism. She considered herself more Buddhist. Mainly because she went to India and saw how the Buddhists lived so peacefully and the Catholic priests have sex with everything that moves. She did say that, the priest who married her daughter and son in law was different, but she was sure he was the only one.
I told her about Jesus and about salvation. She told me that everyone has their own way to heaven and we just have to tolerate one another. She told me Jesus was one of the masters, but not the master. I said that it was really hard to believe that, because Jesus made so many exclusive claims about himself. It is impossible to follow Jesus and believe the words that He said in the Bible and then say, it doesn’t really matter what you believe, we all get to heaven, because Jesus' own words and the words of his closest followers tell me that I must believe that Christ died for the sins of man, and that he rose from the dead and in Him I have forgiveness. I told her about coming to faith and that had to leave. She thanked me for being so kind and it really was a wonderful conversation, but Irma doesn’t know Jesus. Pray for her. Again, for me to say that would be arrogant in her eyes, but if I didn’t ask you to pray for her, I wouldn’t really be genuine would I?
My hotel is in Dar Es Salaam about a mile or two from the Indian Ocean. We got in late and Ambilike picked me up from the airport. There of course were a hundred taxi cab drivers pleading with me for me to ride in their taxi. Ambilike who is getting his doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary and from Tanzania picked me up. He had trouble driving on the left side of the road as three years in America had totally changed his driving habits. We drove about 3 miles from the airport and turned down a dirt road. Although a city with hundreds of thousands of people, only the main roads are paved. People are buying and selling and are out in the streets all night. Ambilike told me that it was like that because the days are so hot. But it shouldn’t be too hot because it isn’t summer here. Wait till February and no one is outside during the day. The whole different season thing is kind of weird. This is the first time I have been south of the Equator.
We made it to the Fine Travellers Hotel. Weird spelling, but I don’t think they care. The area we are in reminds me of Iraq. Hastily built homes surrounded by Cylinder block walls. Outside the window of the hotel, I can see someone’s crudely made outhouse. The smell is what you would come to expect in this environment. I am stared at by everyone. Needless to say there aren’t exactly a ton of white people walking around and to say that I stand out is an understatement. My room is about the size of the office that you have in your house. The mosquito net above the bed is standard for every room in the hotel as malaria ravages the place. I am only slightly jetlagged so far. I went to sleep and set the alarm for 5:30am.
I awoke around 5am to the mosques blaring their call to prayer. I pray that we never get Sharia law in the US for that reason alone. Although, the residents in Dearborn, Michigan do every day I guess they deal with it. I had that in Iraq. There is something eerie about the call to prayer that I can’t describe. It is sung not spoken so it is a nonstop drone calling all those who are follower of Allah to do their duty.
This morning I am preaching at a church nearby. I don’t have a suit with me, but evidently even though everyone is super poor, they still wear suits to church. I could strangle the idiot missionaries who hundreds of years ago came to Africa and changed the dress code. This is not a place for a suit and tie, but like America back in the 40s and 50s, you didn’t go to church without one. I wonder how I will appear to the Africans who are expecting to hear from an American Pastor. I guess they will have to get over it.
The hotel has a neat veranda that overlooks Sinza the part of town that I am in. Beer bottles and liquor bottles litter it from last night’s party. Take away the dirt roads and poverty, and this hotel looks like the aftermath of an American Frat house party—smell and all.
I am preaching this morning on Luke 15. I am asking the people if they are stingy with grace.
In Him Chris
Preaching in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Africa August 10, 2009 at 1:11pm
The rest of the team went off to preach at their respective churches. I waited in my hotel room, prayed, stared at the ceiling, paced about and watched the news. The news was given from an African point of view, but seemed to be like any US show would have been 20 years ago. The news was in English and broadcast out of Johannesburg, South Africa. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were all over the news for their views on Africa and their pledges to help. Patrick picked me up at around 0930. He was around 62 years old and had been led to Christ many years ago by missionaries in Tanzania. We exchanged small talk on the way to church which of course felt like we were going to die several times, but the driver was skillful enough to use evasive maneuvers to reach his destination. When we got there, I wondered if we had come to an old warehouse to pick up something. The tin roof was not much for insulation and the four walls were cracked. As we approached I heard loud shouting. Patrick looked at me and said, this church is a little more charismatic than most conservative Baptists are used to. I smiled and nodded and we watched from outside as men and women were fiercely praying.
When the shouting stopped, Patrick guided me in. There was another young white man there, who I could only assume was a missionary like myself looking to share the good news. His name was Derek and he was from South Carolina. He would be teaching the Sunday School Lesson, while I preached. I wondered for a moment if this happened every week or if these pastors got to speak often. Derek’s message was great, but the translation, I know must have been challenging for them to hear. He spoke on that we are all Pharisees and in need of a savior and our good deeds can’t get us anything but hell apart from faith. I liked Derek and we had an instant chemistry afterward.
After Derek spoke, we sang and danced. This wasn’t individual interpretation, but rather choreographed moves that could be on MTV, if we weren’t so gosh darn oriented on Jesus. I then got up and preached Luke 15. My emphasis was on the fact that Jesus was into lost people and he wanted us to stop worrying about their sin and worry about their soul.
After preaching, Patrick got up and gave an update that they were going ahead with their building campaign. I wholeheartedly agreed with my nose on this issue. They were way overdue for some more space.
We prayed and danced for another hour and then we were all dismissed. I made it back to my hotel room and sat down for a moment. I was exhausted. About thirty minutes later, the rest of the team returned. Hannah had preached to about 250 people in a Moravian church, Paul preached to Anglican church, Joel had preached and we were all tired. We needed to get Hannah some dresses because her attire was not quite to standard.
On the way I discovered, I left my debit card in the ATM last night. Thankfully, I had the number to chase and after being transferred100 times and explaining the situation through in and out cell phone coverage, they canceled it and sent me a new one home.
We then ventured forth to find Hannah dresses. I ended up getting three shirts which are technically more dressy as they are the African dress up shirts. Pictures to follow. Hannah got a dress and two skirts. Bartering was fun and Ambilike did us proud by getting the prices way down.
We then met back at the hotel to plan the conference which starts in the morning. After meeting everyone for the first time, we discussed what will happen and the fact that we will witness for an hour every day! Fun!
After, we ate dinner at the bar next door which is still blaring music as loud as possible at 11pm. But I guess that is what bars do and I shouldn’t be surprised. We had chicken and fries. The chicken had very little meat on it, but it was tasty enough. Although, that was all I ate for the day, I wasn’t starving, more just in slow motion. We ate and watched Manchester United get defeated by Chelsea and the entire crowd at the bar scream and shout as if it were the super bowl. I just don’t get the pull of soccer. We then went to search for an internet café, but could find none open. We did find a cool mall that had all the shops closed, and decided to come back manana for another shot.
Until then, the mission continues! In Him Chris
First Day of the Conference
Last night around midnight, I got a knock on my door. Half asleep I opened it to see Ambilike looking at me slightly frantic. “Chris, can you do a session tomorrow?” I paused, exhausted. “Sure.” “Ok thanks, someone just told me they would not be able to make it and we need someone to fill in.” Ambilike said. I muttered something then stepped under the mosquito net and fell asleep. I dreamed of being in the Army and Colonel Clark was criticizing me be because I couldn’t get my unit at 100%. I woke up around 3:30am relieved I still had two hours to sleep. I woke up again around 5:30 and went about the process of getting up. Shaving, brushing my teeth, careful not to use the water in the sink. I then got dressed with my new shirt that Ambilike had helped me barter for the day before. I stepped out the door to meet the others.
Hannah, Joel, Paul, Ambilike and I all met at 7am and headed down to breakfast this morning. The cooks had not yet arrived and so we skipped breakfast in order to make it to the conference center on time. I only ate a dried piece of chicken and fries last night, so my stomach was not so excited about the fact that we were not going to eat. Ambilike apologized and I said, “Ambilike, this is Africa, it is supposed to be hard.” To which he responded, “But we paid for all this. We already paid for the food.”
I shrugged my shoulders and got in the backseat of the car and risked my life driving through the streets of Dar Es Salaam as fast as possible, which was probably about 40 mph at top speed. The traffic is like that of Dallas or Atlanta, but there is only one street and it isn’t a highway. So people are getting on and off busses and darting through traffic. Always an adventure. We arrived at the church and we late, but because the rest of the world was caught in traffic we were fine.
The church was huge. Three stories with a large main sanctuary. We went to the third floor and began setting up. Pastors started arriving almost immediately. There were about 10 in five minutes. Then nothing. We waited about 30 minutes and Ambilike went into stall mode. He introduced all the Americans. I stood up and spoke to the group and reminded them of our mission to reach Tanzania for Christ. It started with them. We all must connect and love the city and bring the flock to Christ. I had a flashback to Iraq when I was talking to the Mosque elders and the elders of the town trying to convince them to partner with us in looking for terrorists. The smell of garbage burning permeated the upstairs of the church brought in by the cool sea breeze.
Paul then got up and addressed the assembly. He made use of the few Swahili phrases that he had picked up in the past couple days. The group of men immediately responded when Paul said, “Bwana asifiwe!” (Praise the Lord). The cultural sayings here are so universal that it is almost like being in Catholic church and doing a remix on the liturgy. Whenever anyone says Praise the Lord, everyone says without thinking “Amen!” Reminded me of the Baptist tradition of saying, “God is good,” “All the time”, “All the time.” “God is good!”
Ambilike then opened further with what the conference was to be about and then he broke the group for tea. Paul and I used this time to hook up projectors and the like. I intend on using that tomorrow.
At tea, I scarfed down two roll looking things and a slice of bread and butter and a cup of Africafe. Fantastic stuff.
I then took 12 men who had been to the conference last year and began to teach them. I told the first group to give me observations, interpretations, and applications for Jeremiah 7, the second group Isaiah 56, and finally the third Mark 11:12-35.
I gave them thirty minutes for this and after that was going to have them give a report of what they found. My goal was that they would understand how upset Jesus was at the leaders of the church in Mark 11 the same way Yahweh was mad at the priests in Jeremiah 7, because they did not live out the truths found in Isaiah 56. We had lunch which consisted of steamed rice, chicken, and collared greens. I had a great time eating with Gilbert, an Anglican pastor who grew up in the country. He didn’t start going to school until he was 13, graduated from high school at 20 and then went on to seminary and is now a priest. He had a genuine heart for lost people.
Tanzania is totally reshaping my view of the Anglican Church.
That is all for now. I will let you know how the rest of the day goes. Count so far attendance at the conference is 59, and there were many people who could not make it today, but will be here tomorrow.
In Him Chris
Conference Day 2 August 12, 2009 at 12:39am
Day 2 of the conference went well. I am over the initial shock of being in the third world. The commonplace burning trash now only faintly reminds me of Iraq and mortar rounds. We woke up early and had bread and butter for breakfast with some excellent Africafe. You need to try this stuff. It is instant coffee that you just mix in with hot water, kind of like the kind we got in the Army in our MREs.
We made it to the conference and we all taught our respective classes. Mine was on the need for Pastors to be out in the community consistently. You know it is a strange thing being in such a poor place. Some locations have intense poverty, but then there are pretty opulent places that have grocery stores and the internet café as well as uniformed guards with rifles. Kind of intimidating.
After the sessions of the conference around 4pm, we headed out to evangelize.
“Hey Chris,” Adson my new 20 year old youth pastor from Tanzania called after me with his thick accent. “What’s up man?” “I want to teach you Swahili.” “That is awesome, why don’t you teach me some while we witness to some people in the village.” He smiled and said, “Okay.”
Hannah, Adson and I walked about 50 yards South of the church and found two men sitting outside of a shop. The older man looked at us through glassy blue eyes which I couldn’t help but stare at. How did this African get blue eyes? His hair was white and his skin well wrinkled. He didn’t smile when we approached so I put my hand out to the younger man. “Shikamoo!” I said to the younger man. “Marahaba,” came the blank response. The younger man looked at us with suspicion. I wore my orange African shirt that I had bought at the market a couple days before. My sunglasses perched on the top of my head as I wanted to make sure these two could see my eyes. After getting a non-negative response from the younger man I reached for the older man’s hand.
Adson who has a personality similar to mine started talking in Swahili and smiling really big. He motioned to me and I nodded like I agreed with everything he just said. Adson then pulled out a track and asked if he could share with them. The men nodded and the younger man gave me his seat and found a seat for Hannah. A young woman sat adjacent to them selling what looked to be small packages of rice. Adson asked her name. Her name was Glory. I wondered if she was a Christian, but it didn’t appear that she was. It turned out that the men were a father son combo.
Adson began to speak and a couple of people gathered around. They all listened intently. I pulled out a track that I had in my pocket in Swahili and handed it to the biggest meanest looking guy there. He looked fascinated by the whole deal and started to follow along with Adson. Adson asked him to read verses and he did. I couldn’t believe this was working. I do prison ministry and it works really easy there, because what else do the men have to do, but here, these people could leave at any time and our small gathering had grown to a crowd. Adson spoke for a good 45 minutes. There were a couple times I wanted him to get to the bottom line, but since I couldn’t understand anything he was saying, I just sat there and looked completely transfixed praying that these people might receive the Spirit.
A couple of men walked off and in the course of his talking more joined. The big mean guy left and gave his track to another woman who stared at if for a while, handed it to me and then left. I was disappointed and was dying for Adson to get to the point, but again I had to wait. Finally Adson read the prayer. I know it was the prayer because all of a sudden everyone started repeating what he was saying. I looked up and saw the men and women sincerely closing their eyes and repeating his words.
When he finished, I asked Adson, “How many accepted Christ for the first time?”
“All of them.” “For the first time?” I asked. “Yes,” Adson said and smiled. There were a couple of guys who looked Muslim among the crowd. I assumed that they were Muslim because they wore the little hat things. You know the little net looking hat that is like a skull cap? And then another guy had a very decorated African hat that looked Muslim, just because no one wears hats but the Muslims. There was a Muslim seminary nearby, so I thought it a safe assumption. But the strangest thing about these men were they were transfixed by Adson even though they came in half way through his presentation. They accepted Christ.
Could it really be that easy? I am comparing this to prison ministry, because it is a guaranteed thing there. When you need hope and you need God, it makes God easier to grasp. I understand why it is easier to share your faith half a world away than to share it at your local Starbucks. They are hungry for it here.
I mean you know this. Isn’t it more fun to cook for those who want to eat your food as opposed to serving up meals for people who aren’t hungry? Of course. That just makes sense.
When do you need God? We have it so easy in the states. There is no government subsidy here. When they are poor they either work or steal. When they get sick, they trust God or die. In fact the closest hospital that an American will go to if they get real sick is in South Africa—about from New York to Dallas.
In Him Chris
Tanzanian Pastors’ Trouble
Jesus Film
Day 4 Conference Session Interaction
In Him
Conference Session 5 Delegation
During session five I taught the men about delegation. I opened the scriptures to Exodus 18 and taught them how Jethro advised Moses to delegate. Equipping them through delegation. Serve people by having them serve.
2. Smart and Lazy 4. Not-intelligent and Lazy
Now which of these leaders would be the best? We would normally think that the smart and industrious person would be the one to emulate. However, Smart and industrious people are only as good as they keep going without passing out. Usually Smart and industrious people work themselves to the bone and their families suffer. The best leader is the Smart and Lazy. They find ways of doing things faster and more efficiently not always because of altruistic methods, but because they don’t want to work. So they therefore create systems which do the work for them. This allows them more free time to do nothing. In America, do nothing time can be seen as weak. But do nothing time is essential because it allows someone to think, to process ideas, and to gain new insight. It also allows the leader to be approachable. It is very difficult to ask a question of a man who is always in a hurry.
Moses was to teach the people. Now, I don’t think that God intended Jethro to get a big microphone and have a class just like we are in here and teach everyone all at once. Now, Joshua did read the book of the law to all the people before they crossed the Jordan river and attacked Jericho. But even then, the people were divided up and the lessons that Joshua taught were repeated. To the people in smaller groups. Therefore, whoever you are going to delegate tasks to, ensure that you spend time with them to teach them specifically. You will be amazed at how a group of five people that you grow intimate with can change the world if you allow yourself to put your mind to it.
Conference Session 5 Interaction
Closing Ceremony
Follow Up
Dear Facilitators, Thank you very much for availing yourself to teach in the just ended pastors’ conference. Your involvement enabled these ministers of the word of God learn a lot of things both in and out of the class. May God bless you richly for your great service to His church.
In the course of the week, we were able to train 67 pastors from 9 denominations who minister to about 19,387 people. Also through the Jesus Film show and door-to-door witnessing, we were able to share the gospel to 488 people with 156 among them praying to receive Christ. Thank you for being part in bringing these fruits in the church of God. I hope to leave on Sunday and be in Dallas on Monday. Your prayers will be appreciated.
Love to your partners and friends. Have a great time. Bye. Ambilike |
