Until I entered the sanctuary of God...

This week, it’s Rebecca writing the blog on behalf of our family. After a wonderful time on the coast, Paul gave my parents a final good weekend here in Arusha. Then he needed to single-handedly take over the job of transitioning our children back into school last week, after a month-long holiday. He reported that he nearly had a mutiny every morning as he tried to wake the kids before dawn in order to get them to the bus on time. Aside from a rough time getting back into the regular schedule though, things went fairly well for him and the kids.

David and Oren making cookies with Gramma Jean

Meanwhile, I had two days of transition back to the office before I needed to leave town to do something completely different from our normal Arusha routine. Back when we worked with MCC in Burundi, I became involved in a movement for Christian reconciliation in the region. It was called the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI), and it brought together “restless” Christian leaders from very different walks of life and gave them opportunity for theological reflection around the idea that reconciliation is the mission of God. It was one of the only venues we ever saw in that region in which both Catholic and Protestant leaders were willing to participate – and even pray – together. And alongside various bishops and other Protestant church leaders, Christian development workers and various community members came to tell their stories and learn from each other during an annual Institute. In between those gatherings, we began to develop a very active network in-country in Burundi. Here is a blog I wrote, right after my last opportunity to participate in the GLI Institute in 2014, if you want more details.

with fellow worship facilitator Acher

I had served on the Board of the GLI for several years until 2014, and when I returned to the continent, the GLI director Prof. Wilfred Mlay contacted me to see if I could become involved again. In fact, he and his wife live just 2 hours from us in Moshi in their retirement home, and we were able to visit them a few months ago. I was very thankful that my new MCC leaders saw the value in my continued participation and allowed me to go to Kampala, Uganda for the Institute. I was invited as a worship facilitator and a speaker on the final day.  Even before I left for Uganda, I had been in contact several times with the two other worship facilitators, one of whom was my pastor in Burundi, Acher Niyonizigiye. The other woman, Josephine Munyeli, and I had worked together on worship for 3 previous GLI Institutes and wrote the GLI theme song together. It was already wonderful and refreshing to be in contact with these old friends.

Our travel to Kampala went reasonably well, and put me in touch with a number of other participants coming from Tanzania. When we arrived, there was time to take some rest and then to begin to catch up with other old friends, including Emmanuel Ndikumana. He had led the IFES (Intervarsity) group in Burundi and then founded our Bujumbura church. Together, we had served as church elders and also worked very hard to bring Protestant leaders in Burundi together to have a positive impact on the formation of a legitimate Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Burundi. It was a great treasure to sense that the bonds formed during that hard work still remain. This was part of recalling a key component of the GLI. As we join God in his mission of reconciliation, we find that fellow travelers become family, and we become a “new we.”

The GLI Institute began on Sunday, but slowly. As participants trickled in, we had a small worship service on Sunday morning in the Ggaba seminary chapel. Again I was grateful that our venue was a place for the training of priests, with such a beautiful and awe-inspiring worship space. Mama Faith Mlay’s message to our small group will challenge me for a long time to come, as the starting point for reconciliation.

Are you willing to worship a God who refuses to be on your side?

Faith recalled the story of Joshua, a faithful and determined leader, who followed the instructions of God carefully. He had circumcised a new generation of Israelites and was preparing to attack Jericho, when he suddenly came across an unknown armed man (Joshua 5:13-15). Like any brave soldier would, he confronted the man and asked, “Whose side are you on? Are you for us or for our enemies?” He was totally unprepared for the answer:

“Neither,” he replied, “but as the commander of the Lord’s army I have come.” This angel demolished all of Joshua’s fixed categories of “us” and “them,” “our side – i.e. those who have truly understood the way of God” and “Their (godless, heathen and heretical) side.” In fact, there seemed to be a more important question implied here: Are you on the Lord’s side? And do you even know what that means?

Joshua had the presence of mind to do the right thing. He fell on his face in awe. And then he remembered to ask an important question. “What message does God have for us?” The angel confirmed that worship is the first and best response to understanding God’s perspective and God’s side: “Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Since I’m from a country where everything is polarized, politicized, tribal and divided, it’s really difficult to resist the temptation of thinking in terms of “us” and “them.” I have a political perspective and I strongly feel drawn to it. And yet, who am I to ask God to bless “my side?” On the other hand, when I am able to really worship this God who won’t be on my side, when I pledge allegiance to the Lamb, then suddenly the strategy looks like sacrifice and victory looks like death on a cross. I don’t find the achievement of my agenda in any straightforward way. It’s not easy to let God be God.

The Institute began in earnest with an opening time of worship and an address from a faculty member at Duke Divinity School (one of the GLI partners). He recalled a critical moment in the history of the church, when Bishop Ambrose confronted two different emperors who were trying to coopt the church for their political ends. The church past has much to teach the church of the present.

Where are we headed? The New Creation

On Monday morning, we began our journey of theological reflection by recognizing that God has always been working on reconciling all things to himself. In God, another world becomes possible. Fr. Emmanuel Katongole, a Ugandan priest and academic, brought to life the story of Esther. It seemed that she was brought to a position of influence by chance, but in fact she had been prepared by God and was willing to listen to godly people speaking into her life. “Who knows, but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” With prayer from the community, Esther is able to surrender to the will of God (“if I perish, I perish”) and confront the powers around her in order to change the outcome of events. Sadly, in the case of Esther, the Jews play by the same rulebook as Haman’s people who were determined to exterminate them. Fr. Katongole pointed out that God’s new creation involves more imaginative ways to open up new creation and include an expanding “we.”

We heard the inspiring witness of Dr. David and Dr. Kaswera Kasale. He resigned from a safe, well-paid position as head of a theological college in Nairobi to return to their home community in the Democratic Republic of Congo with 3 school-aged children. There, against all sense, they have established a Christian university and are revealing new creation on the outskirts of power.

What’s going on? Lament

Our second day compelled us to look critically at the world we live in, and to “see things which can only be seen with eyes that have cried.” God is bringing about new creation, but our reality falls far short. During worship, our devotional speaker Marion described in graphic terms some of the cases she is lamenting for in her home country of Kenya, and asked, “Does Jesus really care?” In worship we responded by calling out to God to see us: “Angalia, Baba!”

Father Jacob, a scholar from DRC, unpacked the short prophetic book of Obadiah with two very different imaginative readings. On the one hand, we see the struggle between Edom and Israel as a family struggle between two brothers, Esau and Jacob. As “Jacob” is being destroyed by Babylon and taken into exile, “Esau” just stands by to watch, to mock and even to profit from Jacob’s defeat. How often do we just stand on the sidelines while our brothers and sisters are suffering from war and displacement? On the other hand, Fr. Jacob pointed out that perhaps the nation of Israel, through the prophet Obadiah, is really just looking for a scapegoat to explain the suffering, blaming their problems on a nearby tribe, Edom, whom they already distrusted. He reminded us that “tribes exist, but ideology about tribes is constructed and imposed upon us.” As we lament, we need to also examine our ideologies and make sure we are not blaming others for our suffering, simply because of the dogma we’ve learned. We ended the day in worship, led by a group of Ugandan Catholics, crying out in many languages for our various countries.

Models of the torture tree

What does hope look like? Pilgrimage

On Wednesday morning, we left the seminary to take buses on a pilgrimage. We visited the site where 45 young Ugandan men (22 Catholics and 23 Anglicans) were martyred in 1886. Read more about the Uganda Martyrs here. Most of these young men were pages or officials, serving in the court of the Baganda King Mwanga II. Although his father had tolerated the conversion of some Baganda people, King Mwanga became increasingly upset with the new way of life he saw among the Christian converts. The final straw came when he heard them praying the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come…” 

King Mwanga heard a threat to his own power with this coming Kingdom and soon the young men were forced to declare their allegiance, either to the King or to Christ. All but three refused to renounce their faith and they were sentenced to death by burning. They walked, or were dragged on their backs, to the execution site Namugongo. They spent a week in chains, enduring torture, hunger and thirst, but also in prayer, refusing to recant. Finally, those who had lived through the week were bound in reed mats and burned alive. They died, singing and encouraging one another. As it turned out, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. Even their chief executioner was converted by the testimony of the young men he killed. By the time missionaries were able to return to the area several years later, they found 1500 Christians waiting for instruction.

An Anglican church and museum has been built at the execution site, around the actual torture tree, and just up the hill from the spring where the executioners washed blood from their weapons. It includes an assortment of grisly sculptures, depicting the type of torture and inhumane treatment those Christian martyrs endured. Every facial expression asks the question of the observer: “faced with this, would you remain true to Jesus?” And on the other side we find a warning: Fear turns us into animals and allows us to treat other human beings the way those executioners tortured the young men.

Violette and new friend Sr Dona

It was a sobering day, and when we returned to Ggaba seminary we had some time to rest before reconvening. Dr. Celestin Musekura, a pastor from Rwanda, challenged us on what it looks like to have real Christian hope. He drew inspiration from 1 Peter 1:3-13, as Peter addresses a Christian community that has suffered poverty, displacement and persecution. And he asked a series of penetrating questions about “how to know if I am living in hope.”

1. Do I have an unquenchable joy? (v 6)
2. Do I value character growth more than feeling good? (v 7)
3. Am I doubting or deepening in my love for Jesus? (v 8 – 9)
4. Do I see the privilege of living in my time in history? (v 10 – 12)
5. Do I keep my eyes on the Prize? (v 13)

These questions challenge my faith even now. Am I motivated by joy or by fear? Do I have boldness? Am I seeking God’s direction in this time and giving thanks for it? Celestin was a great speaker, having literally risked his life to bring hope to people in refugee camps in Darfur, South Sudan and on the border with Burundi.

What kind of leadership do we need?

Violette and Ken responding to questions on leadership

On Thursday morning, two mature Christian leaders spoke to us of their life journeys and the kind of leadership they have been converted to. Violette Nyirarukundo was involved as an advisor of the MCC program in Rwanda, and I have sat at her feet in past years and learned much. She is a trained Christian counselor and spoke about overcoming the anger and resistance in her own heart, following the genocide in her country. She reminded us that “our suffering is precious. Don’t waste it. It can become a very important tool for God’s healing in the lives of others.”

Ken Butigen teaches Christian nonviolent responses to conflict. He encouraged us in the practical mobilization of a community to seek change nonviolently, pointing out that it actually works 2 times better than violent campaigns for change, according to rigorous research. He stressed the need for training and discipline in nonviolent action. And he encouraged Christian leaders to share the gospel of nonviolence with others. Interestingly, many pastors did not seem to be familiar with the link between the gospel and nonviolence, but were hungry to learn more. Most evangelical teaching focuses on personal salvation and neglects the way that Jesus actually lived. I personally think there is a growing edge in theological training around the person and practice of Jesus and how it offers us a new approach to living a holistic Christian life. And this relates directly to being a good Christian leader and a shepherd of our people.

Why me? Why bother? Spirituality for the long-haul

Kenyans leading worship

After a joyful time of worship, led by a team from South Sudan, I had been asked to speak on the final morning of our gathering. I really don’t think I’m the best person to speak on the topic of spirituality for the long-haul, but I guess I’m qualified in the sense that I’m still struggling but also still standing. I decided to explore Psalm 73 and reimagine it. Here is my new version of Psalm 73, after a fair bit of study of the text, a version which speaks to me, in my situation, today. In fact, I found I had to return to the topic of lament. I lamented the situation in which I find myself, what has happened in Burundi where I used to live and what has happened in my own nation. I lamented the fact that God has allowed the wrong people to enjoy the shalom that should go to God’s people. I talked about the anger and frustration, and the risk of finding our feet slipping when faced with the world we live in.

The only real corrective I’ve found is what Asaph also found: “I entered the sanctuary of God.” I urged my fellow Christian leaders to take a time of Sabbath. We need to gain God’s perspective on what we’re facing (not just endlessly rehearse our own side of the story). In Sabbath rest, we find solid ground, rest, strength, the ability to roar in anger and still feel God holding us firmly by the right hand. We receive counsel from God, which we couldn’t dream up on our own. And we, by God’s grace, might still have a story to tell of God’s goodness at the end of our days, as the martyrs did, rather than a story of bitter betrayal.

We ended the week with a time of joyful celebration in worship. Lots of different people participated and brought their musical gifts to bear. We received a charge from Dr. Musekura, and we ended by singing that “God is so good,” in at least 10 different languages.

In between all these highlights of content, I can’t even begin to recount the many intense 30 minute conversations with old and new friends, the meetings with colleagues from Tanzania, good times of connection with MCC staff from around the region, and even connections with Christian leaders from Baltimore, whom I might see again in the future. God was truly very good to me over this past week, and I am thankful.

New friends from Uganda

My return journey home was smooth, and I was very, very happy to see Paul and my sons again. It was especially sweet to receive all the snuggles from my boys and to have time to catch up together. Oren and David even agreed to take a walk with me when we got home, to share all that has been going on. And now, we are at the beginning of our first really normal week of 2018. I am grateful, and I am ready to see and understand the privilege of living at this time and place in history, and to find out what God has in mind for me and my family here.

Tales Among the Mangroves

It is a rainy Saturday morning here in Arusha as I start this tale. Officially our Christmas holiday ended this past Wednesday and Rebecca and I returned to work. The children go back to school on Tuesday. Rebecca just left town for a week, but Dave and Jean Sack are here until tomorrow evening when they will leave as well. It is a good moment to reflect on the past week of activities and our all too short, but deeply satisfying 6 day vacation trip over the break.

We have been planning since October to take a trip to the coast over the holidays. The Tanzania coast, like most of East Africa is one long coral reef and offers many opportunities for snorkeling and other beach related activities. Our family had been to Zanzibar once during our time in Burundi, and we would have loved to return there, but decided that the money saved by driving to the Tanzania coast across from the Zanzibar archipeligo would be a reasonable substitute. It did prove to be so.

Since there were 6 of us traveling, the grandparents--Dave and Jean Sack, Rebecca and I, and the two boys, we needed to find a bigger vehicle than the Harrier we are driving here. Forunately MCC has a large landrover which we borrowed for the 600 km trip. What it lacked in comfort, it made up for in space, power, and fuel efficiency!

We left the Wednesday after Christmas and planned to do the trip in 2 days with an overnight in a village North of Moshi (on the way), close to Mt. Kilamanjaro. This was made possible by a professional colleague of Dave's who invited us to her family home for an overnight. We got a start from Arusha in the early afternoon and arrived at a rendez-vous point just past Moshi to follow someone to the actual address of our overnight stay since it was pretty far off-road up toward Kilamanjaro.

Kilmanjaro from the South

We arrived well after dark and I was glad we had a landrover because some of the driving required a very high clearance vehicle with alot of power. We had a nice dinner with Dave's colleague, Dr. Fausta, and her parents. We woke the next morning to finally get a view of our surroundings and found ourselves on a very quaint farm about half way up Mt. Kilamanjaro! --With a good view of the summit. (Very close to the start of the 'Coca-cola route for those who know the region.) We took a short morning hike to see the mountain better, then loaded up again and drove back down the rough terrain and onto the main road  heading east for our 8 hour journey to the coast. The addition of the mountain visit was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.

lunch break on the road

It is important to set the tone of this trip by framing it around our primary activity while driving. Because we do many long trips to and from places in Arusha as a family, we have taken to listening to audio-books whenever we are in the car. We finished the entire Harry Potter series several weeks ago and began listening to Tolkein's 'Fellowship of the Ring'. After listening to Harry Potter, which jumps from climax to climax fairly continuously, it is a noticable transition to the slower paced writing of Tolkein that puts great time and detail into the long process of travel. We spent about 10 hours on the road that day listening to the slow progress of Frodo Baggins and company leaving the shire and after many, many days, multiple recountings in tales, and songs, of the history of Middle Earth, -- eventually arriving in Rivendale.

The mindset of travel as an end in itself and not just a means seems to be part of the genius of Tolkeins story. The encounters with strangers and the telling of tales and singing of songs as a regular and anticipated activity of arriving at an evening rest point in the book also became part of the logic of our own  journey. This was particularly true because WE DID NOT TRAVEL WITH OUR COMPUTERS or with any easy way to connect to the internet. (We did have our cell phones for emergencies but no data.) This became a true blessing, and the anticipation of meeting new people and hearing stories from other places became an intriguing part of our own journey now that we were not 'wired' with all the latest current events and distractions.

We arrived, after a long day driving East through fairly dry savannah, but with the Usambara mountain range just to our north. The landrover is uncomfortable and we were fairly exhausted when we pulled in to the Peponi Beach Resort just north of the town Pangani. (The last 40 kilometers were on a washboard dirt road too.)

We were received warmly at reception and shown to our 'bandas which are thatched roof cottages just off the beach. It had the feel of a campsite in a way, because there was nothing paved between cottages, restaurant, bar, pool, and ocean front. It was all sand or packed dirt paths through groves of trees and small lawns and gardens. There were monkeys in the trees and we could hear bush babies calling at night. It was very charming in Swahili coast style. The weather was hot during the day, but cool with an ocean breeze that blew through our windows and quietly rustled the mosquito net canopies over our beds.

Mangroves at high tide

David was up at the crack of dawn the next morning and down at the beach catching hermit crabs and looking for seashells. We got up and had breakfast then went down to the beach as well. It is quite remarkable to see the beach at low tide because the water recedes nearly a kilometer, leaving acres of sand and coral tidal pools full of star fish, anemones, sea urchins and small tropical fish to explore. There were also a number of groves of mangrove trees sticking out of the shallow water which offered an opportunity to explore for fish, crabs, and birds.

We also discovered that several families we had met in Arusha were there as well and we had a chance to visit with them and hear more about life in Tanzania. David enjoyed seeing some of his mates from Sunday school who helped him collect shells.

On the second day though, David met a particularly intersting boy of 11 named Malik who was not from Arusha. Malik had both the appearance and swagger of a young Captain Jack Sparrow, (complete with dagger thrust in his belt).  He had the comfort in the culture of a Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim'. David spent the day with him climbing through mangroves, and exploring tidal pools, and collecting crabs. Oren also seemed to enjoy him greatly as he was closer to Oren in age and shared his sense of humor.

Malik told us that although they had a house up the coast in Kenya, he and his family usually stayed in Northwest Territories in Canada where they lived on a houseboat and he canoed to his bustop when the lake was not frozen over. His story piqued our curiosity and eventually we did find his parents who had parked their landrover at one of the available beachside campsites and had pitched a tent on its roof.

Rebecca found in one of the first conversations with F. (Malik's dad) that we had an interesting '1st degree of separation' connection. He had been part of the UN group of experts working in DRC and predecessor of Michael S., our dear friend and colleague whom he had recruited and hired to replace him in that role. Michael S. some of you know, worked with us at MCC in Rwanda/Burundi/Eastern DRC. He left MCC shortly after we did to take the job at the UN in DRC. He and another UN worker were tragically murdered in Kaasai last March while investigating anti-govt. activity in that region. (The investigation into this goes on.)

F. and his wife H. (who is an epidemiologist) were frankly fascinating people with whom we felt a deep connection in a very short time. In the evenings in the days that followed we looked forward to sitting with them under the open air patios along the beach, usually swinging gently in the hanging platform beds watching the tide go out. It had the feel of the gatherings described in The Fellowship of the Rings after a long day of activities with stories deepening in intrigue each night.

I was partcularly taken by the story of the summer camp they ran at their lake the previous year called "A Dangerous Camp for Kids"--as a corrective to the hyperprotection children often experience at home. The camp was set up as a one week adventure in which the kids arrive on day 1 to find a number of barrels, scrap wood, and power tools by the shore. They are told there has been a zombie apocalypse and they need to build a raft to get to a nearby island, then take the raft apart and make a fortress where they will camp for the week. During the week they do numerous activities on the island including nature walks, rope courses, and othe challenges. Every night F. led them in a process of reflection on the days activity, particularly the times of conflict and conflict resolution. (That is his area of expertise.) On the last day they wee taken out fishing only to discover that zombies (their parents dressed up) have taken over the fort. They must break into a house (taught technique of lock picking and breaking padlocks), find plans for an antitode, concoct it, and get back to the island to save all the zombies. It sounded really awesome. He described it like adult 'Outward Bound' adventures but with more intentional time to reflect and learn from situations where they faced conflict.

The days were replete with activities--snorkeling and beach combing chief among them, but also included playing board games, reading, watercoloring, and sleeping.

On our third day there we took a trip on a dhow (traditional sail boat) about 2 kilometers offshore for some amazing coral reef snorkeling. Despite the fact we were so far from land, the water was only about 12 feet deep around the reef. David, Oren, Rebecca, and I all went out snorkeling for a couple hours around the boat while Dave and Jean watched from on board. The view was beautiful and we saw just about everything one could imagine, octopus, moray eel, countless tropical fish including a venomous lion fish guarding a piece of coral. One of the sublime features where we snorkeled was a "Finding Nemo" style 'drop-off' where the reefed ended and the bottom vanished dropping hundreds of feet almost straight down. It produced some anxiety of seeing large shadowy forms in the depths below.

When we had had our fill of snorkeling, we got back on the boat and were taken to a pure white sandbar also well away from any coastline. There they set up a tarp and we had a lunch that was prepared for us. We swam around the sandbar after lunch and within a couple hours it began to disappear under the tide. We packed everything quickly and were off the bar as it disappeared under the water in the high tide. We sailed about an hour back to the hotel/campsite. It was an awesome day.

Dave Sack in the surf

New Years was another highlight. The Peponi resort staff prepared a big bonfire on the beach. We sat around on the swinging beds with our new friends and shared stories. I know other expats. have probably had the experience of making deep friendships quickly--probably a survival mechanism. But there is also that experience, when constantly remaking one's social network, of meeting total strangers that seem to be long lost friends-- an experience of a deep spirtual connection. These occurences are few and far between, but Rebecca still have friends all over the world with whom we have continue to feel a deep bond, eventhough we rarely see each other. A reunion, even years later, can feel like no time has past at all. That is how it felt to spend time with Malik's family.

Our conversations were rarely interrupted by the kids who were having a great time collecting hermit crabs on the beach by flashlight and had coralled about 100 of them in a small hole they dug in the sand. (they let them go later.) Some were enormous. Around midnight we noticed that Oren and Malik had gone over to the beachside bar and Malik was dancing on the bar with the resort proprietor. (I did mention that he had the charisma of an 11 year old Captain Jack Sparrow.) When his dad went to subdue him we noticed several minutes later that he had instead been recruited to join Malik in the bar top revelry. As midnight approach we all began dancing to disco oldies to welcome in the New Year, then promptly went to bed shortly after midnight.

On our last night, again following the formula of the 'Fellowship of the Rings' we shared a bottle of wine at dinner with F. and H. while Malik and the boys ran aroud on the beach. The tales went deeper still, and H. told us about F.s last trip to Somalia where he was doing disaster management at a refugee camp and was kidnapped by Somali pirates. He shared with us the story of his capture and release, (made possible only because of his many local contacts in Somalia.) We talked into the night about what was important in life and agreed to be in touch in the future. I went to bed with a sense of gratitude for the good things we have and a renewed sense of wonder.

The next morning we packed up and began the 10+ hour trip to Arusha. We again listened to The Fellowship of the Ring and the continuing journey from Rivendale to Mordor. The length of the journey and the excellent voice of the narrator (Rob Inglis), who made up tunes and sung the many songs and poems along the journey gave the otherwise exhausting trip, a deeper sense of purpose.

I have to say that I do not think Tolkein's trilogy would have succeeded at all if it was written in the past decade. We live in such a fast-paced society. A book that does not include the adjective "Riveting" as a descriptor would struggle to gain a readership. Tolkein is anything but! He demands that we take time to read about every long tedious day, to see the sights, smell the smells, meet the people along the way and hear their stories. He even demands us to follow false starts, turn back; that we learn the geography of Middlearth, including human and elven names for every locale and region--as well as its history. I realize that for me, I have generally seen the journey as a necessary evil, and distraction as the main activity along the way, to relieve the tedium. I am certainly not alone in that. But I think it is a loss.

This is actually the second time I wrote this blog and it is now Monday morning. I had written it once and with a computer glitch it vanished (eventhoug it said it was saved.)  We got back to work after traveling all day last Wednesday, on Thursday morning. Dave and Jean helped with childcare as the kids don't go back to school until this Tuesday.

On Saturday Rebecca left for Uganda for a week, and on Sunday Dave and Jean left for Dar Es Salaam and then back to Baltimore. The holidays are over, but I have many memories treasured in my heart from this one to carry me through to summer at  least.

First Christmas in Arusha

Lighting Advent candles on Christmas eve.

Now that the building intensity of activities and events around the end of Advent and Christmas have recently past, I can sit down and recount the highlights. I am happy to say that after only four months we were involved in quite a number of holiday activities at our church and in our community.

One of the highligts of the season has been the arrival of Rebecca's parents, Dave and Jean Sack! They actually did not arrive at the same time though. Jean proceeded Dave by about 5 days, getting here on Monday night (a week ago). Her early arrival was timed to help us with childcare as the kids are out of school and Rebecca and I still had a week of work left to do.

Jean and Dave Sack

We have been fairly creative with the kids including having them do some supplementary Swahili lessons to help them with school. They were surprisingly willing to do this despite the fact that it was 'Christmas vacation'. They actually have about 4 weeks off, which seems like alot, but perhaps this is because some families travel a long way during the holidays.

Rebecca met Jean at the airport Monday night and she got to our house at around 10pm. The drive from Kilimanjaro airport to Arusha is quite far. Rebecca got a cab and rode back with Jean as driving at night is somewhat stressful since roads are not well lit and there tends to be a lot of traffic all the time. Jean was fully loaded with suitcases full of presents which, by pure luck, she was not asked to open in customs at the airport. (They do tend to look and charge duty on every item that looks new.)

She recovered from jet lag on Tuesday and by Wednesday was ready to spend the day with the kids. It seemed to go well, (athough I was at work) I came home to find Oren reading a book and finishing some over-vacation homework. David was playing a board game. They were both very excited to have her come.

Another stategy to keep the kids occupied during this work week was to set up the trampoline we bought from a departing missionary family. It was really the big Christmas gift, but setting it up a bit early seemed like a good idea since the kids have quite a bit of free time right now. It took a family effort to build it and we set it up right behind our house in view of our kitchen window. It is a very nice, large tramp with a much coveted safety net--not a standard feature of most trampolines set up in Arusha. Once it was built the kids have been on it for hours at a time. They tend to like to use it as a 'Gaga Ball' court even more than for jumping.

Wednesday evening, we had choir rehearsal brought Jean and kids in tow. We went well overtime to get all of our pieces ready, especially ones we had barely touched as we had needed a lot of time on the more difficult specials. We did feel that they were satisfactory by the time we left and planned to cram in one more hour, an hour before the service began on Friday. We took Jean out for Indian food as is our routine after the choir rehearsal. She thoroughly enjoyed the ritual having spent many years in Bangladesh. The Indian food here in Tanzania is excellent thanks to the enormous South Asian influences on Swahili culture.

Men's trio during service,
Erwin, Paul, Neal

Friday evening was the real highlight of the week. The long-awaited Lessons and Carols service at Arusha Community Church took place. This is the service for which Rebecca and I have been preparing for the past 2 months with our Wednesday night choir rehearsals. It is quite a popular event and had an enormous turn-out. There was a brass ensemble before the service, as well as a childrens choir, and us. It is always surprising to me to see an event here that draws a large expatriate community. I think what is surprising is the contrast it is to Burundi where I probably knew almost every American or European in the country, as there just were not that many. Here in Arusha, at an event like this service, or even the Christmas fair the week before, I feel shocked to see so many expats. This is largely because Tanzania has a number of industries and business opportunities that draw people from all over the world, tourism chief among them. So expats from very diverse economic sectors are here, and extend far beyond the standard, missionary, NGO, and diplomatic communities.

The service was very moving and a joy to be part of as a member of the choir. The pieces we struggled to learn, like the Magnificat and acapella Christmas "Halleluja" (a al Leonard Cohen/Pentatonix) all came together splendedly. The church was also decorated with greens and looked very Christmas-y. That is in contrast to most of the rest of the city in which Christmas is a far less commercial holiday. It did feel a bit odd to be sweating a bit in the church full of people. The cooler season is in June-- August. December is one of the warmer months of the year. Both Rebecca and I came home quite dehydrated and exhausted and had trouble getting up on Saturday morning.

We spend Saturday at Gymkhana with the kids. David and Oren have added squash to their list of activities there as they do have a squash court. We also took a short dip in the pool, which despite the warm weather continues to be abnormally chilly. We had dinner there while Rebecca did some worship music prep. at the church. Rebecca made a second trip out to the airport on Saturday evening to once again meet the KLM flight from Dulles (via Amsterdam), this time to pick up her Dad. Dave Sack also arrived after 10pm with a bad cold, and went to bed. He spent Sunday lying low as well and had to miss going to church with us.

Sunday (Christmas eve), after church, was spent in nearly continuous cooking activities. We made our traditional gingerbread house. (We even brought the magnet blocks toys that we always use for patterns.) David designed the church we built this year. The kids deorated it. Afterwards they helped Jean make her Christmas morning cinnamon roles. I ended it all by making a Christmas eve thai curry dinner which worked out very well. Because we have no dishwasher, time not spent cooking was spent washing dishes. (David also caught his 6th chameleon that day.)

We had family time in the evening, finishing our advent devotional book and talking about the meaning of Christmas. There were many, many, presents under the tree as Dave and Jean had brought stuff from all members of our extended families in their suitcases. Oren and David were very excited and had a very hard time going to sleep. We finished the night up by watching "The Polar Express".

They were up at 6 am on Christmas morning and could hardly wait until 7. We did get everyone up by 7, had some cinnamon rolls, then had our gift unwrapping. Oren was probably the most ecstatic over the gift giving and receiving time as he got a much desired Jurassic World Indominus Rex toy. He still loves dinosaurs. Both kids also got a number of lego sets. David is quite a builder and has been working on sets the past 2 days.

In the afternoon we had a fairly big Christmas dinner. We invited our friends the Halters. A family with 2 kids. They also had 2 grandparents visiting. We also invited Neal and Christy Miller, some friends from church (former MCCers). There were 14 of us in all. Rebecca had bought a large Christmas ham from 'Meat King' a local butcher. We had many of delicacies including a delicious homemade rasberry chocolate cheesecake (brough by the Halters) and the gingerbread house.

The adults talked, the kids played on the trampoline. It was a very nice way to spend the day. Our first Christmas in Arusha is a milestone, and I feel that we have integrated well with no lack of activities in which to participate after only 4 months here.

We have 2 days left in Arusha (including 1 work day) before we head off for a 5 day vacation on the coast. I look forward to reporting on the fun we will have there. Heri ya Krismasi na Mwaka Mpya.

Retreat and a Very Full Advent

Golf loving baboon spectator

This weekly report is feeling more and more like a an act of obedience. This could be due to the fact that the kids being out of school means they are going to bed later. We have been playing games and reading an Advent devotional story every evening. But by the time they drift off, I can barely keep my eyes open.

The last week began with an MCC team retreat at a place south of the town of Moshe. The place is called TPC and it is a gigantic sugar-cane plantation and sugar production factory. In fact the whole town seems to be a complete bi-product of the sugar cane factory. They have their own railroad, post-office, medical center, and seemingly unlimited access to scarce resources of electricity and fresh water.

TPC, perhaps because of its access to these resources also has a small resort on the backside of the sugarcane factory. It is quite vast and has beautiful gardens populated with flame trees (currently in full bloom), frangipani, lillies, and vast flower beds of perinniels. They also have a pool, tennis courts and, almost flaunting the extravagance of water, they have a very nice, well-irrigated, 9 hole golf course. It is quite beautiful and almost has the feel of a vast oasis in the otherwise dry savannah.

Our team, which included Sharon, our country rep. Chrispin, our ag coordinator, Neema, program administrator and her 3 children, Lucia, our finance officer and her two girls, our family,  and Zoe, our SALT volunteer. To support us we also brought Amina and Johanna, the two German volunteers at the Tanzania Mennonite church (they did child care), and Pat and Joannie, a couple who have been her about a year supppting an Eastern Mennonite Missions family that are working here. Pat and Joanie were our reflection-time facilitators. We were 18 in all going down in a fleet of 4 MCC vehicles.

We arrived on Monday afternoon without incident, and got settled in on Monday evening. On Tuesday we had worship and a time of reflection after breakfast. Joannie had some interesting team building exercises including one where 4 of us had to try to stack up cups using string. We were not allowed to talk to each other. It was quite amusing and thought provoking as well.

Tuesday, after worship we played a game with the kids in which a group of people try to move a hidden stuffed animal down a field without revealing who has it to the person who is it and can make them freeze. In the late afternoon, after a swim, we returned to the golf course and we all played a round of golf! The club had all equipment for rent and the caddies and greens fees were quite cheap. Under $10 per person for everything. We went out in a number of parties and had an adult with every kid. David and I had gone out first and to my great shock, David was not a bad driver at all. He could hit pretty well and we moved through the course more quicly than I thought. He did poop out at hole 7 and we went right from there to hole 9 to finish up, but that was more than anyone else managed. One nice bonus of the golf course is the view of Mt. Kilamanjaro behind hole 4. It is also like a mini safari as the grounds are teaming with vervit monkeys and some baboons as well.

I think everyone had a pretty good time getting to hit the ball around. I felt like it was something I could improve at quite a bit given the chance to play more often. I am thinking maybe it is something I could take up here in TZ since it costs much less to play than in the US. And our caddie, who was a great coach, only charged about $2.50 to accompany us on our 9 holes. (He also had the clubs we rented.)

David relaxing back at the clubhouse

On Tuesday evening we played a game of Greed (also called White Elephant by some) in which we select presents one at a time and may 'steal' gifts from other people when it is our turn to choose one. These kinds of games are often a bit awkward in cross-cultural settings, in my experience. I did notice that the Tanzanian children seemed especially reticent to take a gift from another person. And David, who plays this every year seemed almost heartless when he would swoop in to get something he wanted. Despite some slight awkwardness though, it was quite amusing. Rebecca had purchased all of the gifts in advavce instead of having people bring them and she has made some selections that were particularly appropriate to people. Zoey and Sharon both ended up with very nice dresses, and I got a very cool Kamba shirt.

Rebecca and I took some nice long walks around the grounds and golf course in the morning on Wednesday before worship and reflection time. In the afternoon the kids enjoyed swimming in the small pool, then we had crafts including finger nail painting and watercolors. Adults and kids both seemed to enjoy these activities. The watercoloring was definitely something that had come from retreats Rebecca and I used to do in Burundi. (Rebecca was in charge of preparing the music as well as many of the activities we did.) On Wednesday evening we set up our projector in the outdoor lounge and watched Zootopia off of our computer. It was like going to a movie.

We left on Thursday after lunch. The food there was generally good as were the accomodations.(We did have a small ant infestation in our room, but they never acutally bothered us.) We got home in the late afternoon and took the rest of the day easy.

Friday was a work day, and since we have been getting all of our quartelry progress reports in over the past week, it was very busy for me. Friday evening we did our Gymkhanna routine although it was packed due to a Christmas party there. We finished the night off with a double feature of 'Merry Christmas Charlie Brown', and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas.' There are still a few more classics we need to watch this year. (Polar Express to name one!).

Saturday we had a long over-due choir rehearsal to get ourselves ready for the big Christmas Lessons and Carols service this Friday. We really needed to go through a number of these sings, but they are starting to sound pretty good. We made Christmas cookies Saturday afternoon because we were invited to MCC Country Rep. Sharon's house for a Christmas party Saturday evening. We were told to bring some favorite holiday food, as well as a song or story to share. Rebecca and I worked up a nice duet and David sung The Friendly Beasts as a solo. There were a number of expats there including the two German young women who did child care for us. It was a very nice event which we had to leave earlier then we would have liked because the kids were getting tired out after a few hours.

Sunday was a bit insane, as there was a huge Sunday School Christmas party but the head teacher was very sick and could not come. Rebecca found herself in charge late on Saturday and had to squeeze in a quick shopping trip for food and beverages as well as works up some activities and music on a powerpoint. I was there to help with all thing technical.

Fortunately the teacher had planned to have a special guest come in and do a puppet show. It was very amusing, which was good, because there were about 50 kids in attendance that day, and keeping them in their seats for over an hour proved challenging.

We were exhausted when we left but had planned a very special afternoon treat. We went and saw 'The Last Jedi' which was playing in 3d at a new movie theater in town. In a word, it was AWESOME! We all loved it and talked about all the way on the long ride home.

When we got back to the house I pulled in the driveway and saw a hedgehog run into the garden. David promptly jumped out and caught it. Although they all look alike, this one was a dead ringer for 'Quiver' the one David set free. We kept if overnight, fed him some cat food, which he ate happily, then escaped out of his enclosure during the night.

Life is full here, and often amusing, for that I have no complaints.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all a good night!

Training Trainers and a Week Full of Events

David with "Cammo 4.0"

I am now fully in the habit of writing this weekly blog on a Monday, rather than a Sunday night. For some reason I am more exhausted on Sundays. Probably because we are out for most of the day and then need to work until late in the evening to be sure that Rebecca and I and the kids are ready to begin the week again at 5:30 am with uniforms, bags packed, lunches made, etc. There is little room for error as we live quite far away from school and work.

Last Monday, I had mentioned that I was in Karatu after a complicated process of leaving the house after losing my keys. I did end up traveling up by taxi and took a daladala back.

I was up there for a training-- a pretty common development activity. We call them TOTs or training of trainers, because much of the work we do in training is to create a multiplying or cascading effect as those trained will train others in their community.

The training I was involved in last week was for a recently launched maternal and child health program in Ngogongoro crater region. The training was meant to prepare facilitators to train traditional midwives to motivate women to have facility-assisted births, complete all of their antenatal care visits, and breastfeed exclusively for 6 months. It was my job to recruit the main trainer and approve the curriculum. I was happy to find a very capable community health person with an MPH who was really up to the task named Bernadetha. As a bonus, she herself was Maasai and although the training was in Swahili, she could speak Maasai as well. (This was especially good because the project is taking place in a Maasai community.)

She expertly led the group of 11 participants, some were nurse midwives others were members of the community, to think about what the particular barriers were in their context to women practicing "health seeking behaviors" like the kind of actions we were promoting. It was fascinating to hear the group share and reflect on their experience. It was also good to see Bernadetha not coming as an expert with all the answers, but truly a facilitator to help them solve their own problems.

The group was interested and enthusiastic. For them I think they see the particular challenge of bringing about changes in behavior in a community like the Maasai who strongly hold onto tradition, not unlike the Amish in the US. All of the facilitators are Maasai themselves and they live with a foot in both worlds in a way. They see the need for certain cultural practices to change, but they are also aware of the complex cultural institutions that keep them in place.

Among the participants was at least one Maasai elder, who serves on our partner's board of directors. It was good to see him listening and reflecting on what was being shared.

I stayed in Karatu for two of the five training days heading home on Tuesday afternoon. I got home in time to drive to a school play that David was involved in. It was an original script prepared by the drama teacher about the writing of Roald Dahl that the 3rd-5th graders have been reading. (David read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) It was a very clever production with a fabulous backdrop. The story took a short journey through about 7 of his stories. Some, like "Matilda" I had never heard of, other like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and the BFG were familiar. The kids sang and danced. David had a few lines that to be honest he looked a bit petrified to be saying.

We enjoyed watching it, but ended up getting home quite late in the evening. We repeated the same routine on Wednesday. Thursday we were very happy to be home for dinner. On Friday the kids got out of school early but had to wait at work with us while we finished the work day then went to Gymkhana for a swim and dinner.

The weekend was fairly busy as well. There were competing events on Saturday. We were invited to a wedding of the son of the Mennonite Bishop of Arusha. I felt some obligation to have someone represent us there, but did not think the kids would be very well behaved if we all went. so I went in the afternoon alone while Rebecca took the kids to a Christmas fair. The wedding lasted about 2 hours and was a very lively event. There was a live band even out in the parking lot as the bride came out of her car.

The music inside was much more lively than we have in the US in a traditional wedding and the bride and groom actually danced down the aisle with their entourage. The choir also danced when they were singing. Despite all the movement, the bride and groom did their best to not smile at all. This is because, I was told, a wedding is seen as a solemn event and they should not look like they are taking it lightly. I still sensed that they were really into it though.

Once I was done, I took a rickshaw to meet Rebecca and the kids at the gigantic Christmas fair which is held at a coffee plantation called TGT. It is also a kind of club like Gymkhana. I had no idea how big it was, but heard it is considered the event of the year. It was gigantic! There were so many food and merchandise boutiques, art, handicrafts, performances, etc.

I arrived just on time to see an amazing dance performance by the dancers from the Ibuka Dance Foundation based in Arusha. A choreographer based in the UK (he was French named Johnny Autin) who did physical theater came and worked with the group for a week and created a piece that was nearly half an hour long. They used used tires as props and the dancers had a physical virtuosity that reminded me so much of the downtown dance I used to be into in New York City when I was dancing and choreographing myself. I wish I had a video to put up. It was as good as work I have seen by David Dorfman or Doug Varone(for those of you who are reading this with a dance background.) I was impressed that there is a group of Tanzanians that has familiarity and ability in this particular genre of physical theater.

We went from the fair to a big farewell dinner for some new friends at our church. It was a good chance to build community and talk to friends we have been getting to know as most everyone we know was there. Another night getting home late.

Sunday was actually a lot of fun because the worship team asked me to play djembe for some of their songs. I was happy to oblige. We were also officially welcomed into the church as new members. Rebecca was teaching Sunday school that day as well, so I feel we have been integrating and making ourselves useful pretty quickly.

Christmas break has already started for the kids, so they do not have school on Monday. We will be going as a family on an MCC team retreat, more about that next week.

David has been continuing to cycle through pets. We let his hedgehog go free on Sunday because of out of town events coming up when we knew we could not feed him. (Also, quite frankly, he was really stinky!) David is currently on "Cammo 4.0" his 4th chameleon that he is keeping on the tree outside our back door. The problem is, they tend to wander off after about 4 days. I guess there just is not the kind of bugs they like there. He is sad about losing the hedgehog but will get to dog sit next week. Hopefully that will cheer him up.

Christmas Preparations with a Smattering of Swahili Wisdom

The beginning of the past week seems like a blur to me. I do know that the kids had a short school week because Friday was a National Holiday (Islamic). The work week was also largely uneventful as we are in the season between reporting periods and partners are busy implementing activities and not in frequent contact. I am excited about a new proposal that is being finalized to implement a child protection program in 18 Lutheran schools. The program will provide instruction to teachers on alternative forms of discipline instead of corporal punishment -- which is frequently used here, despite some attempt by the government to limit it. To a great extent, I believe teachers are simply practicing what they have learned from their own experience as students. Some of the stories we hear make it seem shockingly arbitrary.

The project will also implement safe school clubs (modeled after peace clubs) in schools for students to address issues of bullying and harassment. The club meetings will provide a space for students to discuss issues with each other and with a trained adult mentor. The third leg of program will facilitate meetings with administrators and parents' associations to develop and disseminate a written child protection policy.

The other somewhat interesting work day event happened Wednesday, when we helped to empty MCC's long-used storage container. If you have not lived overseas, it might be hard to imagine how ubiquitous these enormous shipping containers are. Once they are not seaworthy, they end up being used in any number of ways, including as houses, smalls dukas (shops) on the side of the road, storage units for farmers, etc. MCC has had one for a while, but we will need to empty and get rid of it, because the property it is parked on belongs to some missionaries who are leaving town.

Sharon our Country Rep. was out of town, but the rest of us at the office went over Wednesday morning, emptied the container, and stored the contents at our houses. Rebecca and I have a shipping container next to our house which is available to us, so some of the stuff went in there. The really great part of this was that the family that was leaving was also selling an almost new trampoline, and Rebecca and I bought it as well. We helped take it down, and took it to our house during the move. We have not set it up yet, and are thinking of doing that as a Christmas surprise for the kids.

The best Christmas surprise though will be the arrival of Rebecca's parents, David and Jean Sack, who are planning to be out here at Christmas and will also go on our short vacation with us to the beach! (That story will have to wait until it happens.)

Back to this week...Having Friday off meant that we could finally begin preparations for Christmas. It is a family tradition to begin setting up the tree the day after Thanksgiving. This year, we decided to wait until the weekend of first Advent. We are really into Advent and Rebecca usually makes an Advent wreath with 5 candles and (if possible) we buy chocolate-filled Advent calendars for the kids. We were able to get some of these this year, even in Tanzania! Lots more imported goods are available here, than were in Burundi.

Finding a nice Christmas tree was a bit harder but Rebecca did manage to get one during a shopping trip in town. It is not real, and really does not look very real, but we were happy to have it to decorate (Charlie Brown would be proud). We did have a friend bring out a Christmas suitcase filled with all of our Christmas stuff (Thanks, Rebecca H) and on Friday afternoon we decorated the tree, put up lights and other decorations including stockings and 4 creche sets. Rebecca also got the kids to make some paper cut-out wreaths that we hung on the door. Oren and David were both into decorating and it was a nice thing to do on our day off.

In the afternoon we met some friends at Gymkhana. I also brought our squash rackets and played with Oren and David. (It was their first time.) I used to love the game and the squash court is old but well maintained. Reminded me of childhood at the American club in Bangladesh. David and Oren both really enjoyed it as well.

We ended the day with a family game of "7 Wonders". It was the first time we ever played it as a family because we thought David would be too young. But he actually won it! (We also played Settlers the day before which is what you see in the photo.)

Saturday we got off to a slow start, but then did some adventurous visiting. We had met a family at our church and decided to go out to their place which was nearly an hour away. We were interested in connecting with them because they have 4 kids and one is Oren's age and one is David's. It was nice to visit them despite the somewhat treacherous driving conditions on unpaved roads. They are definitely a missionary family (which mainly means they get a lot less screen time than our kids.) But Oren seemed to hit it off with Harry and David had a blast on their trampoline with the 3 younger kids.

Sunday was church as usual and I was helping in Sunday School. After church we met a number of friends for lunch, followed by another social event-- Oren invited his classmate Abraham, and his younger brother Barack (yes, he was born in November 2008) to come over to make Christmas cookies.

It would have been fun for me to participate in the festivities after church as well, but it was at that moment that I realized I had lost the keys to the pick up and needed to leave early the next morning to Karatu for a training session. I searched for hours, then went to our office, where we have a box with spare keys. Sadly, the spare key box was locked. That key was locked in the desk of the office manager, and the keys to her desk were with her at home. All this happened in the two days while we are getting a new key system in place at the office.

Since I was bringing all the curricula and supplies to a training, I could not afford to be late. With plan A and plan B thwarted, I decided to get a taxi to drive me there, for $100. (I had way too much stuff for a daladala trip.)

When Rebecca got to work the next day she called me from Arusha to say the guard at our office had found the truck key in the parking lot. She also tole me that Lucia, our finance officer, shook her head and offered a bit of Swahili wisdom with the proverb: Kifu cha nyani, miti yote huteleza --- which could be translated: When death comes for the monkey, every tree is slippery.   I think it is about the inevitability of fate (or else it is about avoiding dead monkeys falling out of trees:-)