Ye of Little Faith

I should know better by now than to doubt Tanzania. 

After a peaceful and relaxing evening at Ndutu Lodge, we set out for the vast Serengeti. Our two days in the plains were exhausting and wonderful.  The ride to get all of the way out into the serengeti from the Ngorongoro lands is a hot, dusty, bone jarring, marathon of a drive. 

On our way, we were fortunate to spend time sitting in the middle of large groups of elephants, watching them interact with one another.  There were babies and old bulls with everything in between in a group of about 30.  Just shutting down the engine and sitting right in the middle of one of these large groups is a blessing pictures cannot capture.

We completed our sighting of the “big five” (lion, leopard, black rhino, elephant, water buffalo) by catching just a glimpse of a leopard lounging high in an acacia tree.  We were doubly blessed by finding ourselves in the midst of a big portion of the great migration, which should have moved north of this region by this time of year.  Tens of thousands of wildebeest and zebras literally as far as the eye could see.  One single-file line of zebras stretched out for many miles through the long golden grasses of the plains in a scene so beautiful it felt like a dream.

 

At the end of our second day on safari everyone was tired but profoundly grateful for all we had witnessed.  I was secretly a little disappointed however, that we had not come across any Cheetah along the way.  We pulled down the vehicle roofs to close up for the long dusty drive toward the border when we saw a couple Jeeps off to the right. 

When we pulled up close to see what they were looking at we found ourselves just feet away from a gorgeous female Cheetah with three very young cubs!  We popped the roofs back up and sat with the Cheetahs as the young ones played with each other and ventured two or three feet in front of their mother to satisfy their curiosity by staring up at us!

After we finally tore ourselves away from the Cheetahs, we traveled out of the flat Serengeti and back up into the sweeping valley below the Ngorongoro range.  We stopped into a Masai Boma (village) where we were welcomed with songs and dancing and a display of vertical jumping done by the young Masai warriors.  Turns out, Masai got hops!

Click on the picture & check out that vertical!

Taken From Our Room!

Our group had yet to get a good clear view of Mount Kilimanjaro.  It is not uncommon for the mountain to remain hidden behind the clouds for weeks at a time.  As our tired gang traveled back toward our home base at the Lutheran Uhuru Hostel in Moshi, the mountain suddenly appeared in all its glory and stayed out the rest of the evening.  We piled out of the Jeeps and tried to freeze the moment in pictures but those who have been blessed to stand in front of this mountain as it reminds you how small you are in God’s good creation will tell you… you have to see it to believe it. 

Close encounter!

As for me, I was beginning to doubt that my group would see either a Cheetah or the mountain.  I was sure that our daughters were having an experience here that will last their entire lives but that experience would not likely include seeing a Cheetah in the wild or seeing the largest free standing mountain in the world. 

I was beginning to doubt… but I should know better by now.

Moving Day

Monday was moving day.  We got a lazy start and made our way out of the busy little city of Moshi toward big busy city of Arusha on our way to the red dirt town of Karatu.  The landscape changes radically from the tropical looking slopes with banana trees in the Machame region to the more arid, desert looking lowlands. 

After a few hours on the road we dropped into a verdant valley where we came upon the fertile little town of Mto Waumbu (mosquito river).  We spent some time with some old friends and haggled at the local Maasai market. We even tried the red banana, which grows only here.  We were excited to find ourselves right in the middle of a great migration of storks. There were so many of them that they painted all the trees white, which was cool... until we got close enough to smell the paint they were using!

We arrived at Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge, which is situated way at the top of one of the rolling green hills in this valley of farms, which always reminds me of Ireland.  This was the first time I have used this camp and I was relieved to see it is a truly lovely place.  Each tent has a great wooden deck situated with a spectacular view.

We were up early to make our way toward the Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive in this world famous wonder of nature (google it!).   The weather on the rim of the crater was rainy and foggy but by the time we reached the crater floor, the sky had cleared.

No one in the group could resist shooting a bunch of pictures of the first few zebras we saw which was proven ridiculous after a few hours of trying to run them off the road by the dozens, just so we could pass by.

Our day in the crater was nothing short of spectacular.  We saw all four of the “big five” animals it is possible to see in the crater and many other creatures as well.  The game drive turned PG-13 when we came upon a pair of mating lions.  The excitement grew when the lions decided to take a break and walk straight at our Land Cruiser.  When they got to within 3 feet of our vehicle Mia ducked down and began to roll up her window!  The lions decided they liked the shade of our car so they plopped down with a growl for a nap!

After overnighting at the peaceful Ndutu Lodge we begin our adventure into the great Serengeti plains.  We will be in search of the elusive leopard to complete our sighting of the “big five” but the success of this experience has already been more than assured!

We Had Church

Fiends at Kusheyeny Lutheran Church

We spent last night in a small motel up in the Machame region.  This positioned us close to the church in the morning and also provided a great opportunity to view the mountain if she decided to be revealed.  The mountain remains shy and the quiet little motel was surrounded by more ruckus all night than a motel six in Manhattan.

We climbed aboard the magic bus and started bouncing and spinning and slipping our way up the wet muddy slopes toward the church.  You are gonna have to see video to appreciate this ride which at times became so ridiculous the whole group was laughing out loud.

As we cleared a bend in the path and began our final assent to the church, a crowd of children came into view screaming and singing and waving branches to welcome us to their village and their church.  As we passed through the crowd of welcoming kids we looked out the rear window to see them running and laughing after us up the muddy road.  As we approached the church and slid to a stop, the entire congregation joined the children in a rowdy, welcoming embrace that seemed to go on forever.

After tea with the pastor and the elders the service began.  Even the kids in our group agreed that the two-hour service seemed to go by quickly.  The adult and youth choirs sang gorgeous African songs and the Spirit of God surrounded us all even though we speak different languages and come from different worlds.  I was the preacher with Pastor Stephen as my translator.  Stephen and I have done this many times and it is so much fun to share the good news in this unique way with such a good friend.

Delicious!

During lunch after the service a trumpet fanfare could be heard approaching the room where we were all gathered.  Our group was delighted to see that a large goat had been roasted in our honor and everyone enjoyed at least a bite or two!

As we said our goodbyes, Lydia, Clara and Mia talked me into making an unscheduled stop back at the orphanage to spend more time with the babies.  The bonds grew even stronger with those little ones during this visit and once again we boarded the magic bus with tears flowing down several faces in our group.

From Babies to Beasts

Clara & Lydia w/Eppe & Moses

To say we have had a couple full days would be the understatement of the year.  This is the first chance I have had to post to the blog and even now I should be packing up and making preparations to head out on safari first thing in the morning.

We had a fantastic morning on Saturday visiting with the sisters of Ushirika Wa Neema (community of grace).  These Lutheran sisters boggle the mind both with their self-sufficiency and their commitment to serving the least of these.  The deaconess center is like a little garden of Eden where everything is beautiful and nothing is wasted.  Even the cow manure is converted into biogas, which is used for cooking and providing light with lanterns when electricity is unavailable.  You really have to see the place to believe it.

We traveled from the deaconess center up the mountain to the Neema Orphanage to spend time with the sisters and the children they care for.  This turned out to be a profoundly moving experience as you can see in Mia’s face.

The Lutheran sisters love these orphan children like they were their own.  Each child has a tragic story of loss, which the sisters are redeeming with the love of Jesus twenty-four hours a day.

This one’s mother died in childbirth.

This one lost both parents to AIDS.  This one was found abandoned by the side of a dirt road.  By the time I was able to wrestle my group out of that holy place, we knew the name of every child and loved them dearly.

Family Home Before

After sharing lunch with the sisters at the orphanage we moved further up the mountain to spend time with Bob Kasworm visiting houses for health.  This program that Bob oversees replaces unhealthy shacks with a simple home for families with a critically ill caretaker.

It’s one thing to read about this amazing outreach but it is quite another to stand with the family being saved, between their old shack and their new home. 

New Houses for Health Home

We finished this emotionally draining and blessed day at Bob’s home, which looks like a safari frozen in time.  With the head mount of a big wildebeest staring straight down on the dining room table, we enjoyed Bob’s specialty, wildebeest fajitas!  Some were heard to say, hmm, kinda tastes like chicken!

A Glimpse

We are getting an early start today to head up the mountain toward Machame.  We will spend time at the orphanage and visiting houses for health homes.  We will also follow along with my friend Murrow as he makes palliative visits in village homes.  Murrow is invisible to the world at large but he is the very face of God to the dying people he cares for.

The mountain made her first appearance this morning with a brief glimpse before quickly disappearing behind an overcast sky.  Just a glimpse of this mighty mountain is more than most people in the world ever get so we count it a blessing as we begin this day.

First Day

It’s funny how you are never in a hurry in Africa, everything happens in a kind of slow motion, but somehow by the end of the day you have had so many rich experiences it is difficult to remember all of them.  Our first full day was like that.

After a leisurely breakfast we climbed aboard the somewhat funky white Uhuru bus.  Clara rode shotgun, which makes it look like she is driving from our vantage point further back.  We made our way into the busy town of Moshi to exchange money and the group enjoyed their first full-on experience with street vendors. 

It was a steady climb out of Moshi until we arrived at the big Kotela Lutheran Church.  We spent the next couple hours hiking our way down through the village with small houses tucked away in a lush landscape of banana trees and coffee plants.  After a nice visit at Kimangaro Lutheran church we had a great time with the 250 children of Kikoro Primary School.  Today was the last day of school before they go on break which did nothing to diminish the enthusiastic welcome we received from the kids.

The teachers wanted to serve us tea with some delicious samosas, ground nuts, avocados and bananas even though we had just come from breakfast and our next stop was lunch.  That’s Tanzanian hospitality.  Out of what little they have, our friends are determined to share and there is never any point to mentioning that you are really not hungry. 

We then had a great afternoon at the home of Pastor Stephen Massawe with his wife Haekieli and their 1 year old son Tajiel.  Taj was  missing his nap so he was tired and shy but he took to Jack right away.  We were thrilled to learn that Haekieli is expecting their second in late August! 

So off we go to El Rancho, the restaurant with a Mexican name that serves Indian and Italian food.  None of us are hungry, but I bet everyone has something to eat!

Arrival

Our Pennsylvania people met up with the Minnesota crew at the airport in Amsterdam.  The layover of several hours was a great time for everyone to get acquainted and to have some good strong Dutch coffee.

Getting everyone together on the same plane into Kilimanjaro was the first important juncture so I was feeling good about the smooth start we were off to... I should know better by now!

As we made our way thorough the final security to the gate, I noticed that an airline representative had pulled the Zillmers aside.  I walked over to hear that due to some "technical issue" there were not enough seats on the plane and that they had been randomly chosen to lose their seats.  After some tense negotiating, the issue was resolved in some weird way and we were back on track.

Nine hours later and we found ourselves in the enthusiastic embrace of the many friends who made the trip out to the airport to welcome us.  Rev. Urio, Sister Elle, Rev. Steven Massawe, Munguatosha, Nelson, Oscar, and Munisi were all there to greet us and I am sure I am forgetting someone.  The Sisters of Ushirika Wa Neema had made a little flower arrangement for each person in our group.

In the midst of all the hugs and greetings I turned around to see my good friend and frequent Vision Trip participant, Ed McNulty standing there.  This was a shock because when preparations were being made for this trip, Ed was disappointed his schedule did not allow him to come.  Ed decided that it was worth joining the group even if he could only stay for four days!

Sounds crazy if you have never had the experience I suppose of stepping off that plane under this dark African sky to be welcomed by saints of God who also happen to be good friends. Ed has had this experience many times and knows that even four days on the ground here is worth the marathon journey!

Getting Ready!

Kusheyeny Lutheran Church

We have our passports, our bug spray, our malaria medication and our shots. The suitcases are filled with medical supplies, an oxygen machine for Machame Lutheran Hospital, school supplies and soccer balls. Vision Trip 2012 is less than a week away and our friends in Tanzania are eagerly awaiting our arrival. We have a long, long journey ahead of us and we ask for your prayers as we go to build new relationships with Prince of Peace and to strengthen the many relationships between St. Matthew's and our brothers and sisters in Africa.

This trip is special and unique for many reasons and one of them is the fact that we have three school aged children in our group.  Lydia, Mia and Clara will be enthusiastically welcomed by the children of Tanzania as we travel around their country.  These children from different worlds will recognize that they have much in common.  They will love each other at first glance because they will first sense and then know that they are children of God together, which makes them brothers and sisters. It makes them family.

This blog will allow you to follow our adventures along the way.  You can automatically receive notice each time there is a new post by using the 'subscribe' or 'follow' links on the right.  Share the blog with friends and consider joining us on next year's Vision Trip to Tanzania.  We will worship on Sunday at Kusheyeny Lutheran Church pictured above.  It is a long bumpy climb up the lower slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro to reach the church.  It will be fun to see how large the "friendship tree" in the foreground of the picture has grown.  I planted that tree when it was a tiny sapling years ago.  May God continue to bless the friendship and partnership in the gospel that tree represents.

Off we go...

Pastor Chad




Post Script:  Here is a picture of the "friendship tree' as we found it on June 24, 2012 during our visit.  Clearly, our partnership is strong and growing!