The Long Goodbye

Our last full day in Tanzania was just that… full.

We began the day by visiting the Amani Home for street children.  This amazing place provides a loving community where children are rescued from city streets and given a new chance at life.  Check out the link to their website.  I have visited here many times over the years and I whole heartedly recommend supporting this incredible outreach. 

We spent the rest of the morning at Building A Caring Community (BCC) centers.  Our Lutheran partners operate eleven small BCC centers around Moshi town.  Each center provides all day care for special needs children.   These are the forgotten children of Tanzania, often left in the dark corners of village huts with parents incapable of caring for them.  BCC is a profoundly important ministry.

At the second BCC center we visited we found three bright Cornell University students volunteering there and they ended up spending the rest of the day with us. We offered to give them a ride on the magic bus to their host home in Moshi, which led to the three of them joining us for lunch.  By the end of lunch we were all friends so we visited their host family home with them and we spent the rest of the afternoon together.  We met more Cornell U. volunteers at the coffee shop in town and a group of them joined us for dinner.

Before dinner we climbed up through the coffee farms and fields of maze to Kilimakyaro Lodge for cold drinks.  The beautiful landscaped grounds of the lodge sit right at the base of the mountain and if you are fortunate, the clouds will part to reveal the mountain from this vantage point which feels so close to Kilimanjaro. 

So it was that our expanded group which now included a contingent of Cornell University volunteers, sat outside under the mountain, with the snow covered peak of Kilimanjaro in full view as the sun set in the west.  The odds are well against such a blessing, especially on the final evening of such a rich and meaningful journey together.  This is Tanzania.  A country in great need but a magical, holy place that somehow always finds a way to give more than she receives.

Our final morning will be spent packing up and saying our goodbyes.  If you have been reading this blog you will not be surprised to hear that we will depart for the airport several hours earlier than necessary so we can return to the orphanage to spend time with the babies there.  We will be home soon…

Agape Means Love

This morning I looked at our itinerary and was pleased to see it would be a nice slow day.  Again, I should know better by now.

We began by driving out of Moshi toward Agape Lutheran Jr. Seminary.  This is the first time we have gone this direction and the landscape changes from the dry foothills to a gorgeous mixture of deep greens and golds surrounded by mountains.  Agape is a Lutheran boarding school for the brightest young people from about the ages of thirteen to twenty-one. 

We toured the beautiful campus and stepped in to visit a class full of young physics students.  The older students became aware of our presence and asked to gather in the large cafeteria so that they could sing for us.  Standing in front of these incredible young people who represent hope for this country as their songs of faith washed over us was an unspeakable blessing.  I could barely speak as I stood on a bench to thank these kids for welcoming us in this way.

Everyone in our group placed a stone into the foundation being laid for the chapel being built on the campus.  The new church will seat 1,000 people and the students are helping to construct this holy space on the very location where the local tribes would make sacrifice in the old days.

Next, we made our way to Ashira Lutheran Parish.  This congregation has a fascinating history connected to the establishment of the Lutheran Church and the work of the German missionaries.  Back in the day this hilltop location was the sight where the local tribes disposed of dead bodies.  

The word Ashira is derived from the English pronunciation of the Chagga word for “place that stinks." Imagine telling people you are a member of Stinky Lutheran!  The chief figured that by giving the pesky missionaries this cursed ground they would soon disappear.  More than one hundred years later and the Lutheran church thrives everywhere you look in this region.  The gospel can take root and grow wherever it is planted.

We had a fun visit through a busy local market on our way to hike down to see the beautiful Marangu Falls. Oscar, our magic bus driver, had to wait until the road was cleared of a giant tree blocking the way.  The guys made short work of the big tree with nothing but an axe.

On our way home we stopped by the rock quarry at Uchira to watch the amazing women carry large stones on their heads up the steep narrow trails leading from the bottom of the quarry far below.

The day ended with dinner at Bishop Shao’s home.  Several dignitaries from the diocese were there and the food was fantastic.  After dinner we stepped outside for prayers and a group picture.  The bishop shared a heartfelt and personal reflection about what a blessing our partnership in the gospel is to the Lutherans in this region and the thousands of people they serve.  We held hands and prayed under the stars, under the mountain, in the presence of a gracious God we knew to be smiling.

Warrior Lutherans

We enjoyed a Spirited worship service on Sunday at the predominately Masai congregation of Karansi Lutheran Parish.  As you would imagine, the Masai have added their own flavor to traditional Lutheran worship, even by Tanzanian standards.  The Masai choir jumped and yelped while singing about the grace of God in their native language, which actually seems more fitting than the sullen looks we often see in American Lutheran churches singing about the very same thing!

Elder member of Karansi Lutheran

By the time the service had ended, our entire group was adorned in Masai jewelry and I was wrapped in several layers of Masai blankets in an effort to transform this group of wazungu (white people) into Masai. 

By the time the offering auction had ended outside, the little church had been transformed into a cafeteria where we all shared a delicious lunch.

Health Caring

Back up the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro we went to visit Machame Lutheran Hospital.  There is an immediate realization that there is a vast difference between the medical care and facilities we take for granted in the developed world and what we are seeing here.  Paint is peeling from the walls.  Plastic chairs are fitted with wheels to create makeshift wheelchairs.  People sit on wooden benches waiting to be processed through admissions.

Even so, it is quickly apparent how crucial this hospital is to the entire region.  We see Masai women who have walked miles to receive care and even to give birth.  A man recovers in one ward after being gored by a Cape buffalo.  Another from being bitten by a hyena! 

Since healthcare is a hot topic at home, we asked what the entire cost of giving birth in the hospital would be.   The answer is fourteen dollars! 

Next we visited the new nursing school, which is part of the hospital campus.  We listened to the personal stories of a few of the students, which were each filled with tragedy and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to a hopeful future.  By the grace of God, each of these stories led to this nursing school where a new future has begun.  These are not great comeback stories, they are resurrection stories and members of our group have been inspired to support this incredible place.

We saw some brand new babies with their proud mommas in the maternity ward and then we headed off into the forest with Mr. Muro on his holy mission to provide palliative care to dying people wherever they may be found. 

Mr. Murrow leads the way.

We ducked into a small, dark mud hut where we were warmly welcomed by a man who had lost both legs to a mystery infection.  The man was a mason by trade and was thrilled to receive a baseball cap from Jack and Elaine and a bag of basic cooking supplies from our group.  Two things I noticed in that dark little house.  One was how happy the man was.  He had a joyful welcoming smile and was grateful for what he had in spite of his circumstances. 

The other thing I noticed is how important Muro’s work is on this mountain.  There are fourteen hundred such patients scattered throughout the area surrounding Machame Hospital and Muro knows exactly where each one of these people is to be found. You know flashier people than Muro, but you don’t know anyone doing more necessary or meaningful work than he is doing, day in and day out.

We ended the day hanging out with the family of assistant bishop, Rev. Dr. Shoo, at their lovely home.  Here the girls encountered the first African dog we would allow them to touch.  Dr. Shoo’s wife Janet made a lovely apron for each of the gals in our group.