The Steffensens World

As I write, I am filled with anxiety for my Degree students as they take the first exam of exam week. They begin with my class, New Testament I. I never realized how hard it is to give a test. I struggled over the questions, I sought the essence of what I would like these students to know, and I worried that they would prepare properly. One student is suffering with boils, another with stomach problems, yet another lost his sister-in-law to malaria last week. One lost his son the first month of class and his wife the second month. All are present and all are sitting the exam on time. God bless them!

Joseph Ailo, a Maasai who is one of my degree students, preached this morning in chapel on John 6:1-15. He spoke of the three responses noted in this gospel before Jesus feeds the 5,000. There is Philip, who worries about the money; Andrew, who worries about the small amount of food not being enough; and the unnamed young boy, who offers the five loaves and two fish he has. Here are the disciples, who have witnessed the authority of Jesus in his miracles already, yet they still don’t really believe or realize who he is. Their faith gets lost in the worldly details. The boy just gives what he has, to let Jesus do with his gift as he will. This hit me straight in the heart this morning. After five months, with all of the highs and lows we have experienced, there have been many times when I wonder what I am doing here. What have I dragged Kirk and the children into? Tanzania is a beautiful and amazing country, but it is also very dangerous. BUT: didn’t I answer a call? I need to remind myself that I simply offered my gifts to God to use. He called my family here, for whatever purpose in their individual lives. I was called to offer my education and my Spiritual gift of teaching to the Church. It is just my small offering to a world full of need. “Here I am, Lord.” My students give everything of the little they have to seek the opportunity to study. My difficulties are not much compared to theirs.

We have had a very busy month. We visited the village of Mvumi, where I preached in honor of a fundraising event for a parish rectory. The parish and Fr. Daniel Mazengo welcomed us with a feast and a rooster for a gift. Henry named him “Jimmy.” Jimmy lives in a coop with two lovely hens next door to our home. The following weekend Kirk, Greg, and Charlotte traveled to Kiteto Christian College in Kibaya. It’s in the Mt. Kilimanjaro Diocese, about three hours from Msalato. The KCC English missionaries had visited us with some broken computers. Kirk and the kids went to help them and were able to fix all of the campus computers. Kirk and his computer skills have been desperately needed blessings to Central Tanganyika. He enjoyed experiencing another mission community, worshipping at the cathedral and helping them in their time of need. Now KCC can finish their semester with proper papers and exams.

This past week we had the SIM Pastor’s Books Set conference at the Lutheran Cathedral in Dodoma. I went with a group of ten from Msalato to collect 8 sets. It was a powerful experience to meet and praise God with eighty pastors from all denominations. It was a celebration of the book set blessing, but it was a time of fellowship with many Christians and form new friendships. I was enthusiastically greeted by some Assembly of God teachers from Kongwa, the Lutheran Bishop, former Msalato students, and the Moravian contingent from Tabora. My family hosted Robert Anderson, a Danish Moravian missionary, and his daughter Emily, who is Charlotte’s age. They traveled twelve hours to come to the conference. They stayed for three nights with us. Charlotte and Emily are best friends from when they first met at language school in August.

I must now mention Charlotte’s ministry. I have noticed that her optimistic, can-do nature has become a blessing to other missionary children. Emily Anderson is ten years old and lives in a very isolated village, hours from any town. She has not made any friends among the local children. Her parents worry about her. Emily is the oldest of four children, so she does have her sisters and brothers to play with. Charlotte welcomed Emily as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. They had actually only spent a total of ten hours together in August. Within a few seconds of arriving the two of them where arm-in-arm and off to play in Charlotte’s room. They didn’t waste one moment over the three days. Charlotte had the energy to fill this friend with experiences to last her until we visit them in January. Charlotte is also best buddies with a home-schooled girl from Texas. She also plays with a Dutch girl and a German girl she knows from school at CAMS. Charlotte acts as a little sister to Jenny, a fifteen-year-old girl from Minnesota. Charlotte’s enthusiasm and ability to enjoy whoever she is with helps these girls to blossom here in Tanzania. I have always admired Charlotte’s refusal to clique. Especially in fourth grade in the US, she may have been forced to join in or have been pushed aside socially. It has been wonderful to watch her gifts be a blessing here in Tanzania.

At the college, we are now in exam week as I mentioned above. It has been an extremely busy semester for me as the new teacher. I had many lectures to prepare and many levels of students to work with. I have learned to preach and enjoy it! I have experienced the fellowship of both the college community and the larger mission community. Next semester will bring its challenges, but I am definitely ready to handle whatever the college needs me to do. I will miss the students these two and a half months, but I am ready to recharge my batteries. I will begin to prepare for the second semester’s classes, but I will also be using the break to gather the histories of the ordained women in Central Tanganyika. I hope to use this research to record this history which is being made right here. No one has written anything down yet. I meet on December 4^th with the first woman dean who oversees the parishes in Dodoma.

Thank you to all who prayed for Kirk when he was ill with malaria. He is well now, but he is slightly anemic. Although he’s better, he needs to mind his nutrition and rest for the near future. As the rains arrive, we are all on the daily anti-malarial drugs. Please pray for our family’s health, safety and our mission work. We ask for your continued prayers for the Anglican Church of Tanzania, the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, the Canon Andrea Mwaka School, and Msalato Theological College.

With love and in Christ,

Leslie

PS: I am trying to raise money to buy as many as twenty of the SIM Pastor’s Book Sets for the Msalato Library. There are 58 books in the $75 set, including hardback reference books (NIV Study Bible, Bible Dictionary, Concordance, African Bible Commentary, and an Introduction to Systematic Theology. Any two of these would be $75 alone!) There are pastoral and evangelist’s aids. There’s even a beginner’s New Testament Greek. Many are books that could be used as much-needed textbooks for classes here. Let me know if you would be interested in donating a set.

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?)

Today the boys and I went out to our side yard and began to build a labyrinth. I had it in my mind to do one for the campus. Our plot of land around the house is very large and mostly dirt. There is far to much for us to use, so I thought there could be some public use. I had a sketch from instructions on a website, a tape measure, a shovel, a rake and a hoe. One of our neighbors, Pendo (sister of Lilian Gaula,) came to see what we were up to and asked if she could help. She even brought another hoe! We really started digging when she helped. Within two hours we had dug the pattern into the clay pan and the neighborhood children had gathered to assist with watering our lines. A little water sets the lines. We will plant some succulents on the outline, so the path will be permanent. Now we have a new activity for the students. I’ll give a class on what to do - those that passed by were a little stymied. I explained with words such as “meditation” and “contemplation” and then resorted to “peaceful”, “quiet,” and “prayer.” We’ll test drive it soon. Last weekend we added a hedge to the back so we now have a private zone with a new path across the back. This week a labyrinth. Next week? They’ll be taking bets…
My teaching is going well. I have to figure out how to grade papers. I’ve decided I need to write a grading rubric. I’ll post it so there will be no complaints! I’ve had success with the quizzes. Those have gone well and most everybody seems to be understanding the lessons. In three weeks we’ll be giving mid-terms. I plan to ask essay questions - I’m immune to murmurings.

What I miss most about the US right now is green grass and leafy trees. I found a book on the Great Smokey Mountains in our library and savored every picture of green mountains and waterfalls. Today I listened to NPR shows on streaming internet broadcasts. The boys and I sipped our mid-morning tea and listened to “Wait! Wait! Don’t tell me!” We knew all the quiz answers, too. Then “Stained Glass Bluegrass” on WAMU came on. I made a big batch of granola and hummed along. Thank God for the internet! Although the campus is filled with music most days, it feels good to get our soul-food now and again.

Our hearts will be home tomorrow, September 11th. We’ll be praying for peace and for those we lost that day, and those we nearly lost. I give thanks for missed meetings, late starts, and thick walls.
Love, Leslie

I can report that the group going out on mission this year is full of wonderful, faithful, and energetic people. Over the ten days I formed a bond with these twenty-three people that I know will help lift each of us up as we venture out into our individual missions. We spent many hours (often until 9:00pm) meeting with representatives of different mission organizations and of the National Church, ECUSA. There are many people to guide us and support us while we are overseas. We also did team building exercises - my favorite was a scavenger hunt visiting many different churches throughout Manhattan. My team of four was the first to take Manhattan, eating bagels at a deli that flung them over the counter when your order was up. We took our time through ground zero and St. Paul’s, had lunch in Spanish Harlem, and ended up being the last team to finish at Church of Our Savior in Chinatown. (I think that means we won!) Each day began with prayer and Bible study and ended with compline. The late evenings were spent singing by the fire, visiting a pub, playing cards and laughing, laughing, laughing. I tried to make the most of being in NYC. I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw two Broadway shows (Wicked and Chicago.) I stayed up late most nights and got up early. I’m not one to sleep though an adventure! Now that I’m home, it is time to put the information and ideas I gathered together and prepare for Tanzania…after I catch up on my sleep…

May 22 - June 29, 2005

I had an amazing, life changing experience this summer.  After a full semester studying the history of the church, the people of East Africa, and prepping 20 hours of lectures, I went to Tanzania.  I travelled with a small group from Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS).  I was the guinea pig for an experiment to see if the American seminaries could support the Anglican theological colleges of Africa by sending students as short-term supplemental teachers in needed subjects.  The overworked African instructors got a break and the students got one or two weeks of a seminar-style course.  We taught at St. Phillip’s, Kongwa and at Msalato, Dodoma.   Rev. Jacques Hadler, the professor leading the trip, taught pastoral theology and topics in church history.  I worked with the students on the use of metaphor and prophetic voice in the Old Testament.  The lectures on creation, God, and man led to lively discussions.  I learned as much from the students as they did from me!  The experiment was a success and more trips will be in the works soon.

I was definitely not a tourist - I was immersed in the culture of my hosts.  I fell in love with Tanzania.  The people, the food, the pace of life took me in new directions.  My trip left me energized and aching to return.  God has opened a door for me to fully participate in the life of the Church.  I have accepted a position on the faculty at Msalato Theological College.  While touring the Diocesan headquarters in Dodoma, I even stumbled upon a job for Kirk teaching upper level math and science at the international school run by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Canon Andrea Mwaka School in Dodoma.  We will be relocating to Tanzania in June of 2006.

Please enjoy the photos from my trip - it is just a small slice (my camera broke on a bumpy car ride) and only a scratch at the surface of the beauty of Tanzania and her people!  Even the shots taken on our brief safari can’t convey properly the thrill of welcoming a new day with a pride of lions.