We had exciting weekends these past two weekends. Last Saturday we went with a group from Msalato to St. Philip’s Theological College for a games day. We drove our packed car to Kongwa early. We wanted to hike and picnic in the beautiful hills there before the netball and soccer matches began. I was very excited to bring my family to visit this place which is so important to me. My first experience of Tanzania and of teaching happened at this little college. Some of my students are still there and greeted us. I met Ezekiel’s wife and children and visited with Timothy, Edward, Kenneth, Second Jotham, Beatrice and Mary.

Our hike was great fun. There were many students from Msalato there and we marched in a long line up the hill, following the “bomba” water pipe to the spring. There we ate our picnics in the shade of an enormous fig tree. Monkeys played on the hillside trees opposite us. The spring is filled with pollywogs which amazed the children. They were very large!

The games were a success with the students. Everyone enjoyed the friendship matches. Our women won their game of netball. The races were evenly split between us and them. They beat us in the soccer match. There were rumors of ringers on the St. Philip’s team…

On Sunday we were invited to be the guests of honor at St. Paul’s (Paulo Mtakatifu) in Mvumi. I preached on Luke’s the “Great Dinner” parable. I also stressed the gospel’s themes of community and giving up everything to follow Jesus. I wanted to link my sermon with the fundraising effort of the parish churches. They are trying to build a rectory for the pastor, Daniel Mazengo. The church gave us a rooster and some katenge cloth as gifts. Henry named the rooster “Jimmy.”

I went hunting on Thursday night. The moon was out and the antelope stayed away. We went to a parish who had invited us to hunt antelope. The deer have been decimating their crops. We only shot dik dik. We cooked one over a large bonfire and had a feast at 1:00am! It was absolutely beautiful. We did see some antelope, but they ran away. We also heard hyena laughing in the dark, saw a fox and a civet. There were many night birds flying about too. I am so happy that the men keep inviting me to join them on these adventures. Robyn Appleby, a missionary English teacher from New Zealand, joined us. I kept telling her, “see, I told you hunting is fun!” I think she really enjoyed herself. The best part is experiencing Tanzania in the night. The moon was so bright we didn’t need to use our flashlights.

Saturday, yesterday, I helped Given Gaula take a box of Bibles to a little church nearby. He had preached there last month and noticed no one in the congregation had Bibles to follow along when the lessons were read. He ordered a box of 20 Swahili bibles. We bumped down a dirt road and saw the church with a crowd out front. There was a group of 25 waiting for us. The ladies drummed and sang us into the church. We danced with them and then made speeches and handed out the Bibles. It was a lovely little church. Now they can read the Word and study it for themselves! My presence there lifted their spirits. The Tanzanian Church members love to have tangible reminders of the larger World Anglican Communion. The church on the ground doesn’t give a fig about the political issues that threaten to divide us. They send you their greetings and love every time I speak to any church. They love you! Think about them next time you get fired up over these issues - it makes you wonder to who’s glory is the war of words (Satans?)