Glorious sunrises over the Indian Ocean

The eastern sun rises over this nearly silent seascape. Short waves break at the top of the water line. This entire stretch of visible Indian Ocean is a natural aquarium merely a few feet deep as far as the eye can see. Within hours, the tide recedes, the ancient-looking dhow boat lies on its side, and the seabed becomes walkable. For this waking moment, all is right, peaceful, and calm.

The entire AIM team was thankful to absorb this early morning gift.

Reef walking, too!

Early one morning a few of us hired a guide and walked the ¼ mile out to the reef. What amazing wonders of God’s creation!!! Our guide, Josef, did a great job teaching us about the creatures we found there. . .like this sea anemone he called a fire anemone. (Because if you step on it and the quills break through the skin, you will feel like you are on fire or, as Josef says, “You will dance with no music!”) This picture barely does justice to the bright red color and neon blue dots that outlined the star shape and certain quills.

It was a surprise to us that as we saw the tide begin to change, we realized we had been out on the reef for over 3 hours! My, how time flies! So we had to quickly make our way back to the beach before the waters got deep again. Our appreciation of God's creation expanded from this experience; He displays His care and love for us in every simple detail that He shows us in our world. How wondrous is our God!

We enjoyed a self-catering suite at the Royal Reserve in Mombasa. We bought groceries at a local grocery store and worked as a team to prepare meals. However, one of the evenings we decided to indulge in a seafood dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. Each of us ordered a different entree and then shared the fabulous flavors around the table.

AIM retreat in Mombasa

Our scheduled AIM retreat on the Kenyan coast was absolutely wonderful. In addition to spending quality time with God and with each other, we particularly enjoyed our early mornings on the beach: walking, beach-combing, talking, praying.

We came home with several boxes full of shells and memories.

Bob even enjoyed talking to a few of the hawkers, selling their goods--

shells, seafood, jewelry made of shells, sea sponges,

even camel rides and dhow (small boat) excursions!

By the weekend, however, we had a reputation with all the hawkers on the beach:

"Those strange American people who understand when we are talking about them in Swahili

. . .and who don't buy anything."

Lentils (. . .we think)

In our travels we also discovered what we believe to be fields full of red-dusted lentil plants. (Bayo wasn’t sure what the name of this plant is in English; so we are, as of yet, unsure.)

Bayo did explain, however, that people dry these pods. Then they extract the mini bean-like seeds, grind them into a type of flour, and make cakes and things. Apparently, Indian people are mostly interested in buying this very expensive cash crop, and will come from as far away as Nairobi, Kenya to purchase truckloads of them.

We praise God for bringing new crops and new ideas into this region. This crop is ready to be harvested now, at this time of year. Then, as people prepare the soil for the rains that will come in a month or two, beans and maize will be planted for harvest in April.

Pray for the Dareda Valley

As we exited the valley on the way back to Arusha, everywhere we looked, we could see people preparing for the planting season. Please continue to pray for the coming rains!

Heading back home

On our way home we saw a familiar sight: not just a man with a heavy load, but a pastor who is returning to his village, having purchased food (probably maize or beans) to take back to his home. With his Bible tied down on the front of his bicycle and the heavy bags tied to the seat, he must now push his “vehicle” with its heavy load all the way home.

Another common sight on these back roads is broken-down buses or trucks that are parked (or rather, stuck) in the middle of the road. In this case, the bus broken down on the road is the bus on which Bayo was traveling with much of our conference gear! Unfortunately, with the next two buses filled to capacity, he was forced to stay for a day and a half before he could get another bus and get home to his family.

We thank God for such a dedicated ministry partner and friend, who went through quite the hassle.

We have developed good relationships with many of these pastors, and can call many of them by name. It is great to renew our connections and to hear how God has been touching their lives and opening doors for ministry since we last saw each other.

(Hey Bruce! I thought you may enjoy seeing another fellow Gideon! Pastor Marko has been distributing many New Testaments in Swahili throughout the secular high school system here in Dareda Valley.)

As the sun sets in the valley on the last day of conference, many pastors are already on their way home. Again, we can attest that God is at work here among the Iraqw people and their churches.

Though there were some delays and surprises at this conference, we are delighted to have had this opportunity to present new and deeper training for these ministry leaders in this region of Tanzania. Preparations are underway for our second conference on October 12-15 in Katesh.

Prayer time

As we have seen in the past, these pastors understand prayer to be a vitally important exercise. They fully expect to connect with God through prayer, petition and repentance, ...and in this environment it is very easy for us to join right in. There is no language barrier in the Spirit!

Tanzanian hospitality

We were blessed to stay in a brick and cement building, Bayo’s former home, built by Americans during a mission trip years ago. While we did not have modern conveniences, we were well fed, offered warm water for bathing daily, and slept on foam beds (as opposed to the floor only).

Their hospitality did not stop there! In addition to their warm welcome, I also had the privilege of having this little helper who wanted to assist me by carrying my briefcase to the house!

Movie watchers

You know, a child can always find a warm heart and welcoming arms when Val is around. Upon arriving in Sabilo, Hannah and Val made an immediate connection. Val’s lap became a perfect spot from which to watch the evening “cinema.”

Hannah was particularly attracted to Val’s hair. Whenever she was perched comfortably on Val’s lap, she would reach out to touch and admire. Sabilo doesn’t host too many “wazungu” (white-skinned people), so we’re not sure that Hannah had ever seen or touched hair like Val’s.

Two evenings in a row, we showed a movie in Swahili for the villagers at dark. The first night, however, we presented a short children’s movie before the “main attraction” (two different versions of the “Jesus” movie). This is quite an event in a village with such limited resources and utilities. Everyone in the village was invited, and word of mouth traveled quite quickly. Villagers will walk for miles, then stand in the dark for several hours to watch the productions.

Movie nights

The dark African nights provided the perfect setting for an outdoor showing of the Jesus movie. Hundreds watched. One pastor was so excited that he spontaneously jumped up during the movie exclaiming, “This is so true!” in the local tribal dialect.

Because there is no electricity anywhere near this village, movies are very rare. Our car’s battery and some low-power technology helped it all to happen—projector, speakers, DVD player,. . . and of course, the white sheet on the side of the building.

Val's impressions (continued)

Our ministry team has a favorite song. Some of the words go like this:

“If my heart has grown cold, there Your love will unfold, as You open my eyes to the work of Your hands….”

In the last 3 days, my heart and my eyes have been opened to the work that God is doing in the Dareda Valley pastors. God has allowed me to participate in His love for them. I witnessed the sparkle in the pastors’ eyes as they began to understand through the teaching God’s desire to make them partners in His love covenant. With tears, I watched them passionately repent of misrepresenting God to their people.

I saw them reach and grab hold of His covenant truths. My heart filled with God’s love for them. What Victory! --Val

Val's impressions

African children are always eager to pose for a “picha” especially if you let them view themselves on the digital camera screen. They will smile and laugh. I am very partial to the African children. They have the most beautiful smiles! Hannah (posing here on the right) with her brother and a friend lean on a sack of maize or rice outside her home.

This is the home of Hannah and her family. It was the closest place to the church, so we walked past it several times a day. This is also where the cooking of all the meals took place. It is a pretty typical African home in the Sabilo area, constructed mostly from red dirt made into bricks and plaster. The family sleeps inside, but the cooking all takes place on a fire outside. The three mamas who cooked our meals did an excellent job. The food was delicious.

Bob's impressions

Question: How does one portray an ancient covenant- making ceremony dramatically?

Answer: Slaughter a goat and drape its fresh skin across the floor. Gratefully, the cooks did the slaughtering, and our goat lunch was delicious. With a little prior notice, the goat skin was available then as a teaching aid.

In the ancient Old Testament covenant ceremony, the two partners to the covenant exchanged/confused their identities by exchanging robes, belts, weapons, and enemies. I think Bayo looks good in my jacket. . .but, his belt was a little tight.

The pastors spent a good deal of time reading Scripture passages and finding Biblical truth about God’s covenant with man through the Lord Jesus Christ. Covenant teaching changed the way some of them view key Bible stories, like David and Goliath. . .David and Mephibosheth. . .and even the curses on the land because of the Fall. These stories suddenly came alive in a new light!

Sabilo area

For this first conference, we traveled to the village of Sabilo which sits deep in the valley, with a beautiful view of Mt. Hanang.

An enjoyable part of our travels is to see the different varieties of plant life as we go from desert to savannah to the mountains. It is always facinating to see the beautiful vegatation, which is significantly different from our West Michigan flora.

Oh, and have I mentioned that it gets a bit dusty here???

Susan's impressions

This was a very interesting time for me as we presented the training in Sabilo. This time I worked very closely in preparing the materials to present to the pastors coming for the conference, so I was well-invested before we ever traveled into the bush. Bayo is such a gifted leader who makes sure that the translation is “sure and clear” and well understood by the pastors attending. We are working with a culture that is not as strong in written language as we are in the States (They struggle to learn by reading alone.), but they are very strong and gifted in oral language and love a good story. I learned early to use a lot of descriptive language and weave the stories in the Bible like visual parables. They very visibly brightened up and became very engaged.

I was very excited to see so many women pastors at this conference, clearly about 20%, which is really encouraging. They listened intently and followed along in the notes provided for them in ki-Swahili. Every day the women made a point of stopping to speak to me, and on our last day I was able to pray over them and bless them and their ministries.

At one point in our training we gave a demonstration of the Old Testament steps of the Covenant. I provided the explanation while Bayo and Bob acted out each of the 8 steps. You can see here that Bob is wearing an African wrap (called a Shuka) given to him by Bayo, and Bayo is wearing Bob’s coat signifying the exchange of robes as described in scripture. On the floor in front of them was goat skin describing another portion of the covenant. But in this case, that goat skin was FRESH! You guessed it,….goat was on the menu for that day’s lunch, and the “Mama” who butchered the goat saved the skin for us to use in our illustration! That’s just not an experience likely to be found in the States! --Susan

Pastors in conference

The conference stretches these pastors. We teach them spiritual insights that God has taught us, as well as supplying them with valuable tools for further Bible study and meditation on the Word.

When it’s breaktime in between sessions, pastors take the opportunity to socialize with their peers from all over the Dareda Valley. These conferences have drawn them together and given them opportunity to develop new relationships that cross geographical and even denominational barriers. They enjoy lively conversations, discussing what they are learning and how to apply it in their own churches and communities. It is also a time for rest, some of them even sitting right out in the sun (even in winter coats!), taking a cup of chai, or simply taking a quick nap in the grass.

Great Teamwork!

Bayo and I make a great teaching team. I love working with him. The pastors respond well to energy and excitement and Bayo likewise does a great job of presenting the translation with the same level of emotion and fervor. Even though many of the deep spiritual concepts are difficult to convey, their eyes really light up when they “get it.”

Faustin Bayo, pictured here wrapped in a shuka of his tribe, is a good friend and ministry partner. The Iraqw people populate much of this valley in which we have been holding our conferences. This apostolic leader has started 17 churches throughout the valley since he was called of the Lord. He also identified and raised up pastors who could help lead those 17 churches when he was away at Bible school.

It is the hope of AIM to be able to teach him how to train other leaders to do the same thing—leaders reproducing more leaders. . .who reproduce yet more leaders.

Bayo is strongly respected among these pastors and churches and has a natural leadership ability. We are praying that with God’s help Bayo will be able to create a network of such apostolic leaders that will connect the villages across the Dareda Valley, so that in time strongholds of Christianity will extend out to even wider regions of Tanzania, bringing repentance, freedom, and redemption of the people and of the land. Then we can anticipate seeing Tanzania flourish.

Bayo has been instrumental in the process of developing and translating material about the truth of God’s covenant for this conference. After much work, sweat, and tears (at times), our translated materials are finally ready for 150 pastors to arrive. We pray that these materials will provide them a strong, transformational resource both to use at this conference, but also to take home for application in their lives and ministries and for teaching among their congregations--for His Kingdom and His Glory!

Conference venue

This is the Lutheran church in Sabilo. Bayo was happy to explain that he was the church planter who helped this congregation get its start a few years ago!

Pastors began to arrive: some on foot, a few on bicycles, and a handful in the back of a pickup from the distant villages of Gendabi and Gitting.

Our arrival

The roads, likewise, were powdery sand inches deep! We had to pop our Suzuki into 4-wheel drive more than just a few times to get out of the sand pits. Sometimes, we even chose to drive onto the shoulder of the road where the earth had been packed down by walking traffic.

But we made it!

Village of Sabilo

Two churches in the little village of Sabilo were willing to host this month’s leadership conference. Despite neither having electricity nor running water in the village, we readily agreed.

As we neared the area, the green color of the valley began to be shrouded in red, powdery dust which coated everything. . .including us.

Nearing Dareda

Five hours down the road, as we overlooked the valley again, excitement rose as we saw the green-ish hue over the area. Even in the dry season that parches the African plains, light sprinkling rains from time to time have eased the desperation here.

Many farmers could be seen in the fields, already anticipating the coming rains and preparing their fields for planting maize and beans. The banana plants are bright green and bearing fruit.