We arrived safely in Kigoma and were greeted by Harold Knepper, From Hope of The Nations, one of Harold’s right-hand men, Sylvester along with Aggrey, who will be our media man. What didn’t arrive was the team’s personal luggage and since there is no flight from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma on Thursday, we would not see our luggage for two days. Yet, God is good. All nine of ministry containers with our VBS supplies made it!
Harold’s wife, Coni, had a delicious home-made meal waiting for us as we sat outside on the porch of their beautiful compound (home)looking over Lake Tanganyika and enjoying the colors of God’s creation as the sun was setting.
Taken to our home while in Kigoma, at Hope of The nations new Bible College we were blessed with a cold shower (no hot water on campus)after 47 hours of travel and got to sleep in bunk beds, with mosquito nets, of course. This is Africa, after all!
A 6:00 Muslim “Call to Prayer” was our alarm clock with the roosters crowing in the back ground. Jack and Dan cooked a nice breakfast for us, Zakiya led us in a morning devotional and off we went in the jeep for a full day! We visited the training center where we met the beautiful family of Moses, another staff member. At the training center woman and men are trained to sew for income, so we went to the local open-air market to buy traditional African print material and took it back the training center to have “traditional style” clothing made. We prayed a protection of blessing over the training center against any evil attacks surrounding them in Kamala. Moses and his wife, Deanna, are standing strong in their faith and sharing God’s truth in their bible studies.
Next we were off to the Primary School, also in Kamala, to plan for the three day VBS (Vacation Bible Studies) camp; meeting with the 18of Hope of The Nations club leaders, with whom we’ll be introducing 120children, ages 6-12, to our Lord, through songs, worship, journaling, art &crafts and games.
Than back to the Collage campus for a quick dinner, finishing up prep for camp, and had our daily debriefing sharing our highs & lows for the day.
We’re all tired, catching up with travel exhaustion, getting our bodies on Tanzania time and adapting to the cultural change. We are blessed, though, and ask for prayer!
Susan Mister, Team Blooger
