Patience, Flexibility, Harvest

Maasai choir at our Harvest Concert (Ron Eggert photo)

Patience and Flexibility:

two key words that came up frequently over the past month, as I have been orienting our new MCC volunteer Jessica. (this is Rebecca writing for a change) Here are a few humorous examples of practical learning. And one more on the serious side. 

Vignette 1: Finding fabric

Jessica needed to get some local fabric to make a skirt which would be more suitable for church and visits to rural Tanzania. I took her on a long walk through town to get used to the hectic feel of the area around the market and to look in whatever fabric shops we passed. I wasn’t finding the fabric stores I wanted, so I stopped by the tiny back-alley workshop of a tailor I often call. We walked in and saw a teenage boy and a woman in a burka, but not Juma, my tailor. I thought, well, perhaps he shares this business. So, I let them know my problem. The boy took Jessica and I straight to the hidden indoor market with countless small fabric shops. There were some complex relational negotiations (shouldn’t we buy from his relatives?), as well as monetary haggling, but we found a beautiful green print for Jessica. And then of course had to have the boy’s mother be the one to take measurements and sew it for her. And then, the boy ended up jumping into the 3-wheel taxi that took us back to the office, seizing his opportunity to perhaps find a foreigner who would help sponsor his education. Not a relaxing outing!!

David's first swim gala

Vignette 2: Picking up the skirt

We needed to return for the skirt, of course. This time, I drove and parked the car closer to the woman’s workshop. The seamstress knew we were coming, but as soon as she saw us arrive, she threw on her burka, grabbed a bundle of some fabric in a bag and rushed out the door, leaving Jessica and I with another woman (A customer? A friend?) to sit and wait. And wait. And try to make conversation. And wait. About 30 minutes later, she returned, pulling the skirt out of her bag and searching frantically for a zipper and the hooks. Apparently, her over locker was broken and she needed a friend to finish the seams for her. And then she finished the skirt right before our eyes. Flexibility. Patience.

When it came to getting a top sewn for Jessica, I called Juma and he came straight to our office to do measurements and to return the finished garment. One has a limited budget of flexibility and patience, as it turns out. At least, if one is a mzungu.

yesterday, today and forever -- fragrant flower

Vignette 3: moving in with a host family

In June, I had made an earnest search for a good host family for Jessica. I found Mary, a widow in her 60s who was very kind and open and ready to receive Jessica. She seemed to have a settled, peaceful life. She has a beautiful garden. She has a beautiful heart. I was grateful to have found her.

But in early August, Mary received the kind of call one can’t refuse. Her older sister was seriously ill in another city and needed her help. Mary left town for about a month to take care of her sister and bring her to doctor’s appointments. She wasn’t able to return at the scheduled time for Jessica to move in with her host family. She delayed another 2 weeks, and then finally returned so that Jessica could meet her. But then we learned that Mary needed to go back to Dodoma again. It was another 10 days before she finally returned to Arusha, together with her sister.

Even on the day that Jessica was planning to finally move in, we found out that Mary had to take her sister to a doctor, and she was very late getting home. It was hard to just keep waiting, building up to this big emotional transition. Finally, at 7 pm, Jessica and I were able to drive over. We spent about 2 hours there, getting a few piece of furniture moved in, setting up the filter, and then having a very sweet time of prayer and singing with Mary, her middle aged cousin and companion, and her sister. I have no doubt that the coming months will actually be quite difficult for all of them: this was not the situation Mary envisaged, when she agreed to host Jessica. Please do pray for wisdom, patience and flexibility as all of us go forward.

Vignette 4: Searching for bible study

Last Sunday, Nina invited us to gather at her home for Bible study for the first time. She warned us that it was a bit far, and then sent directions and a google pin. We planned ahead and had lunch near the town where she lives, and also joined up with another bible study member to ride together, cramming 6 in the car (together with Jessica). Once we got off the main road, we were following directions like this, and I quote: “you come to a funny little dam with two big trees right and life…you’ll pass a bar on your right…and a small wooden stall on your left with tomatoes and grains…take that left hand turn.” (what if they were selling avocados instead, that day?)

The road was just terrible – we should have brought a 4WD! We kept saying, this better be a really nice place! Why would someone live out here? This is the middle of nowhere! But when we arrived – it was truly a peaceful oasis, a German-built home surrounded by a gorgeous garden full of beautiful birds. We enjoyed sitting in the afternoon light on the veranda, kids playing with dogs all around us, studying the book of Ruth together.

And I’ll add a few more vignettes, not necessarily regarding patience or flexibility, but because the past few weeks have not really followed a theme for me but have been more like contrasting beads on a thread.

David's classmates preparing for the clean up

Creation care

I am so thankful to any of you who participated in a climate strike or demonstration, somewhere in the world. Here in Arusha, I learned too late that we could have joined a march in the city center (thanks Naja!). Still, the school participated in World Cleanup Day, and David really wanted to go, and so I decided to take him last Saturday morning. 

And yes, I did feel conflicted about driving to his school, burning gasoline, to help him participate in picking up litter. But I chose to honor my child’s good impulses, hoping that this will encourage him to keep doing even more important things later. The head of Primary spoke to me, saying that he was surprised that no students went on strike the day before, but that this year was a record turnout for the Cleanup Day. Even in Tanzania, momentum is building among young people to take the climate crisis seriously. Jessica took part in an MCC volunteer virtual effort to encourage all of us: “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

Imperfectly, and Jessica wearing her new skirt.

A lesson in biography

This term, David has been learning about different genres of literature. Last week, they studied biography, and so his class teacher invited a few parents to come as surprise guests, one on each of 3 days. We were to be prepared to answer any and all questions the children would pose, in their efforts to collect information and write a biography on us.

I was so happy to accept this extraordinary invitation, knowing that it would give me an opportunity to meet David’s new class teacher and his new group of classmates. And I suspected that it could be an incredibly meaningful time to share back with them, so I prayed quite a lot that morning before I stepped into their room. David’s surprised, pleased, embarrassed face was priceless, when he realized his mom was that day’s surprise guest.

There were a few boring minutes as we figured out how to spell Iowa, the state of my birth, but then they started to ask me more interesting things. A birth story? My mom having malaria when she was pregnant with me. Who was influential in my life? My father, and his calling to help prevent so many deaths in the developing world through vaccine development – and the kind of dedication he had to his work and the people around him. I was able to talk to them about being a third culture kid, something many of them can identify with. I cited Tintin as a favorite character. And of course, when they started asking me about my career, I talked to them quite freely about being both a pastor and a development worker. They asked: “what are some benefits of your career, besides your salary?” What a beautiful question! As a pastor, I get to see God at work in other people’s lives and I am able to know more of who God is. There is nothing more meaningful in life than that! One of the kids summed up my career like this: “So, you’re saying being a development worker and a pastor go together like a milkshake and biscuits?” Yep!

ACC choir (Ron Eggert photo)

Overall, it was a precious hour that I spent with David’s classmates. And after they all left for their next lesson, David’s teacher came to me, just glowing, and said, “I could tell that there was something special about David, but now I know his mother is one who loves Jesus and prays for him.” I assured her that there were many people praying for him. It was a delightful surprise to learn that she is a Christian (she’s of South Asian ethnicity) and I’m so thankful that David has her as his new class teacher this year.

Harvest Weekend

In Tanzania, people celebrate the end of the harvest with a big service at church. Our international church started the weekend with a concert on Friday evening. Jessica joined Paul, myself and about 10 other singers to make up the ACC choir. We’ve been practicing for the past 5 weeks and sang our three pieces about the best we’ve ever managed! But the five other local choirs were truly the highlight. We enjoyed a children’s choir of 40 kids, led by a child director; an enormous women’s choir; two excellent mixed choirs; several small ensembles; and a cultural Maasai choir, who sang Christian worship chants in the traditional style, with dancing, shield-brandishing, and horns, made of…horns. I think people were really inspired by all the music, and we had an excellent turnout from our congregation.

Our Sunday service was extra special and designed to be on the short side. As people arrived for church, they brought some of the fruits of their labors up to the front of the sanctuary, as an offering to the church and a praise of thanks to God. Jessica and I participated in the music group, which was a veritable orchestra! 2 violins, cello, flute, piano, guitars, percussion. We sang many old hymns which our Tanzanian congregants know by heart in Swahili and sang with gusto.

Harvest worship (Ron Eggert photo)

Right after the service, I dashed outside to set up a movie and snacks for the children in a Sunday school room, so that they would be settled during the auction – the next part of our Harvest Festival. Traditionally, all those offerings of first fruits are auctioned off to the highest bidder after the service. There was also a side table of baked goods, fresh veggies and other items for fixed prices. The auction itself was actually a lot of fun, as congregants waged bidding wars, and others took turns modeling and holding up items for auction. It was a joyful way for the community to contribute towards the external giving of our church, towards mission and mercy. We commit to giving 50% of our budget each year, which is quite a challenge in the economically challenging times in Tanzania right now. But this auction took us a long way towards meeting that goal.

Firstfruits

After the auction was finished (in record time, at 1:15) we shared in a huge potluck meal outside in the courtyard. Potlucks are not really a Tanzanian tradition, but our members rose to the occasion—another way of showing things was giving food to share. And there was plenty of food for all!

The downside of Harvest weekend was that Paul missed most of it -- he departed on Saturday morning for field visits with our Directors. So, the kids and I did our best on our own, making cookies Saturday to donate the next day, having a friend over, and then having a really tough time leaving on Sunday morning without another parent pushing us all out the door. The cookies got left behind. Thankfully, someone bought them, sight unseen and they were delivered the next day.  

Finally, a pet!

We have lived here for two years, with our pet-loving David, always hoping that we would have some kind of pet walk into our lives. But hedgehogs are too prickly, smelly and shy. Chameleons always creep away. We are not home enough to, in good conscience, be dog owners. So, finally we sought permission to adopt a cat.

Tramp (the name he came with) is a mature male who was not able to leave Tanzania with his expat owner. Her friend had tried to adopt Tramp, but found that he did not co-exist well at all with the cat she already had. And so I found Tramp on the Arusha FB page, and we offered to take him. Aside from the nightmare of getting him into the cat carrier and bringing him home for the first time, he has adapted really well to our family. He is super social and cuddly, and really loves our company. David has fun playing with him. He really likes to snuggle up to one of us at night when we sleep. However, he is also a dedicated predator of any toes which twitch under the blankets at night, and we’ve all been woken up in the night, with claws sinking into our feet! We will need to work on that behavior. But he is very fun and it’s really nice to have an animal around the house. Paul will load a photo and edit this post. 

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