Six weeks from today Jannice and I will be on a flight back to America for a visit.  Where does the time go and why is it going by so fast?  It will be so good to visit with everyone and see our new grand-daughter.  But, we will have left so much unfinished and on hold.  In Africa they say “slowly by slowly”.  That phrase used to irritate me somewhat, but now, I’m trying to rinse some of my western mentality out and replace it at times with, “pole pole”, pronounced, poe-lay poe-lay, Swahili for, “slowly by slowly”.

Before we ever came to Africa, I believe the Holy Spirit began to really speak to me about where we were going and what we would be doing.  Not just go to Africa and to be missionaries, but specifically, where I was to go in Africa and what I was to accomplish there.  In the United States this all made perfect sense.  We’ll just get off the plane and get to work and take care of business.  In my mind, the mind of a dreamer, I had this all worked out and I even had a yearly time table to have things accomplished.  I think I even had Jannice convinced.  By my clock we should have everything accomplished in three to five years and be back in America to relax and enjoy the rest of our retirement.

Like Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story”.

I love maps.  I think I got it from my dad.  There was always a worn out Rand McNally Road Atlas next to his chair or at the dining room table.  I got my first really good map of Tanzania soon after we arrived here.  When I got it, the Holy Spirit all but took my finger and pointed to a place on the map and said to me, “THERE”!  “But, God, there isn’t anything there at “THERE”. “THERE” happens to be a place on the Massai Steppe about 250 miles South of where we now live, in what is known as the Kitwei Plain at an elevation of about 7,000ft.  We have lived here now for six months.  But, just only a couple of weeks ago did God reveal the village we are supposed to help.

When we first arrived in Tanzania, we knew that for the first year we were here, we were to build relationships with those people who God placed in our paths.  After all these years, I’ve finally listened and let God pick my friends.  What a solution to the many problems we face together as a society.

We live close to the city of Arusha.  There is much western influence there because it is the starting point for many Safaris.  In Arusha there is a shopping area that is geared to the westerners.  They have pretty tight security, offer many western selections for restaurants, groceries shops and they even have a Woolworth’s.  I don’t think America still has a Woolworth’s.  Anyway, in this shopping center there is a shop that sells Massai beadwork.  When Jannice and I first came to Arusha by ourselves, we took time to visit this shop.  The lady who helped us began to explain the idea behind the shop and how everything worked.  She said she also was a Maasai.  She was very good to us and took a long time to explain that there were ladies in a Maasai village who made this beadwork and it was brought to Arusha to sell, and the profit went back to the ladies in the village.  This lady’s Christian name is Margret.  Over the months we have been here, we stop from time to time and visit with Margret, because she is one of the people we knew God placed in our path.

Only a couple of weeks ago while in Arusha, I felt like we should go and visit Margret in the shop where she works.  There were very few customers and we had a very pleasant conversation.  Every time we would start to leave, Margret would stop us and bring up a new topic to discuss.  Finally she began to reveal to us the many personal problems she was facing.  The beauty of it all was the fact that she knew that God was on her side.  She had been married to a Muslim man for the past eight years and the relationship between them became abusive.  Margret knew that she was in a wrong place as a Christian and she did not feel that she was pleasing to God in this marriage.  She divorced her husband and chose to serve God totally.  Woven throughout the conversation was where is your family?  What is the name of your village?  Where is that located?  Once she had answered my questions about her village, I could hardly wait to get home and look at my map.  Oh, thank you Jesus.  Her village is exactly where the Holy Spirit pointed my finger.  The village of Partimbo.  So “THERE”, is the village of Partimbo, about 250 miles South of where we currently live.  That is about an 8 hour trip by vehicle.  We hope to be able to visit there before we return to America for our visit.  The next few newsletters will follow “On Our Way to Partimbo”.

Please take a moment to look at our picture page.  These are pictures of our recent visit to Mkuru.  Mkuru is the village where the Maasai women do the beadwork to sell at the shop in Arusha.  The village is about 60 miles from where we live.  It takes about two hours to travel one way.  The roads aren’t too bad, but there are three river crossings where I held my breath.  I don’t know what I’ll do if there is water in them the next time.  We were invited to a Lutheran Church there.  They were excited to have a Muzungu (foreigner) at their service.  I just received a phone call from the village chairman of Mkuru.  He would like to meet with us.  This is indeed progress.

Jannice and I would like to thank you all for your kindness and generosity.  The River of God Ministries is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.  All gifts to The River of God Ministries are tax deductible. 

Jesus is Lord of All