Feast of the Transfiguration

Lord, keep this nation under thy care
and guide us in the ways of justice and truth.

In the last six days I've prayed this prayer in three different nations: Saturday in Maine, USA; Sunday in the Schipol airport, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Monday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Since Tuesday I've been praying it in Tabora.

All of my flights took off and landed right on schedule. Sunday night in Dar es Salaam two of Bishop Makaya's daughters met me at the airport and directed me to a hotel. Monday morning I arrived in Tabora at 10:30 am as scheduled. A contingent from the Diocese met me, including Editha Makaya (Mama Askofu, "Mrs. Bishop"); Mrs. Samaga (the wife of a diocesan priest); and 3 clergy. I am being comfortably lodged in a guest house in the Diocesan compound.

For a couple of nights I was sharing the guest house with Canon Peter Warr, a businessman from Kent, England, who has come here for 2 long stays last year and this, to help get things organized to build a diocesan secondary school and promote rain water retrieval projects. I will have the guest house pretty much to myself from now on, except this coming weekend when 2 priests from the US arrive to take part in the Sunday's ordination service at the Cathedral.

The last rainfall was in April, and the next will probably be in November. The crop hasn't been good, and food shortages are being reported, made worse by a railroad strike that just ended yesterday. Nevertheless, I can hardly turn around without someone feeding me. Yesterday I had lunch in the home of Fr. Anthony Samaga and his wife Winifreda. The Church of Our Father and the Bradshaw family have been sponsoring Anthony to attend St. Paul's Theological College in Limuru, Kenya; and also sponsoring his daughter's nursing school education. Last night I had supper in the Bishop's house.

There is a custom that when an "honored" guest comes to the house, the host takes the guest out to the yard where the chickens are, and hands the guest the chicken and an knife for the "honor" of slaughtering the chicken. So far I have been spared this custom. I explained to Anthony that lobster is the only food I eat that I've previously seen alive with its face on it. Another custom is that the honored guest eats the chicken's gizzard. I did my duty.

Prayer requests from the Tabora diocese:

For the church planting effort. This is a geographically large diocese, in which many villages have no church. The diocese trains church planters at the Bible college, commissions them, issues them a Bible and a bicycle (one each), stations them in selected villages for 3 years at a time, paying them about $40 a month with the expectation that at the end of that time there will be a new congregation there. There is a great need for more church planters.

For the Diocesan youth Conference, September 4-7, here in Tabora.

For the efforts of the Bible College, to train catechists, church planters, and local missionaries. At present enrollment is lower than the Bishop would like.

For the effort to launch a secondary school. Peter Warr has committed himself to raising the funds (mostly from England) needed to build the school, hire teachers, and provide scholarships. It will take several million dollars. They don't just want a school; they want it to be the best possible school in Tanzania.

For women's education, especially for economic self-reliance for women and a greater "voice" for women in this society. Women (and children) till the fields, carry water, and earn income for their families, but men control the income. Carrying water long distances is a time-consuming job. Having to carry water for their families becomes a "job" for children that precludes their getting an education. There is no point drilling new wells; that just results in lowering the surrounding water table. On the other hand, the rains that fall, starting in November, are so plentiful that if that water can be harvested from rooftops into storage tanks, women and children would be set free for more fulfilling activity.

For persons with HIV/AIDS and the widows and orphans of those who have died of AIDS. The government provides retro-viral medicines (ARV), but no other support to those affected. There is such a stigma about AIDS here that it is hardly ever mentioned by name. If it is acknowledged at all, it is simply referred to as "the virus." But many people prefer to die quietly, with their neighbors thinking they drank themselves to death, than to have it known they had "the virus." The Diocese supplies food to those living with AIDS, advice on healthy diet, hygiene, etc. The Diocesan clinic here in Tabora holds a Saturday support group (play; health education) for children with AIDS. I hope to make it to as many of the Saturday groups as I can.

For children's education, especially for orphans of parents who have died of AIDS.

For funds to pay for the education of the children of rural pastors. Education isn't free here. Many families literally have to choose between food and education for their children. The rural pastors are not paid well enough to send their children to school. Overseas donors are contributing to a fund for the children's education.

For myself, I ask these prayers:

For the grace to retain the little Swahili that I am learning. Most of the people I've met so far speak very good English. By the time they've heard my words translated into Swahili, they've already understood me in English. But I want to be quicker on the uptake. People address me in words that I know, but I'm slow to recognize what they're saying and respond appropriately.

For the Holy Spirit to give me the words when I preach and teach. It is humbling to be around such Spirit-filled people-- and I'm talking about the laity just as much as the clergy, or more so. What can I say to encourage them and build them up?

Tomorrow (Friday, August 7) I'm going to Nkinga to attend Victoria Samaga's graduation from nursing school.

On Saturday (August 8), I will address a retreat for candidates who will be ordained as priests at Sunday's service.

On Sunday the 16th I will travel with the Bishop to Kahama deanery and preach at a confirmation service at which one additional person will be ordained a priest, a candidate who can not be at the August 9th service.

On August 31 I will preach at a Eucharist for diocesan and cathedral staff.

Some more notes on the cultural transition.

I've been a gringo in South America, and a haole in Hawaii; here I'm a mzungu ("white person"). The Bishop strongly advises me not to go exploring outside the diocesan compound alone, at least here in Tabora.

At night the compound where I sleep is guarded by a watchman armed with a club and a bow and arrows.

Starting around 10 at night, the feral dogs start howling. Before they're done, at around midnight, the chickens start tuning up. The roosters are going strong by about six am.

A few afternoons ago, while sitting in a room with some people, I heard a sound, from a neighboring house, of a woman screaming. No one else seemed bothered. When I asked if something was wrong, the others stopped talking and listened; then someone said, "It sounds like someone possessed of a demon." Another said, "Yes, that's what it usually sounds like." Then they shared anecdotes about a woman who came to a recent service in the Cathedral who went into a spell and had to be carried out of the church. No big deal; just another person possessed of a demon.

Aside from the feral dogs, there are stork-like birds that compete with the dogs for the local equivalent of roadkill. On the day of my arrival a baby black mambo snake was found inside the door of my guest house, and unceremoniously killed by the Bishop's chaplain. There are also pythons in the area; I haven't seen any live ones, but at the clinic I was shown the skin of one recently killed there. Chickens and guinea fowl graze in the dirt yard of the diocesan compound. There are some lizards with unusual colors, most of them camera-shy and fast-moving. At least one lizard lives in the guest house, and I'm always glad to see him. I assume he's keeping the mosquito population down.

Tabora has a reputation for unusually friendly relations between Christians and Muslims. Religious differences are potentially volatile. The founding President, Julius Nyerere, did his best to make sure that elections would not be based on the religion of the candidate. In the rest of the country, there is a slight Christian majority, and Muslims can become hyper-sensitive when the country is ruled by a Christian president. In Tabora, Muslims are somewhat more numerous than Christians. One reason the Anglican Church is regarded as favorably as it is, is that the services it provides (health, education, etc.) are provided with no questions asked about the religious background of those seeking the services.

Here ends this wordy, rambling entry. I hope it gives you some idea of of the Diocese's holistic mission here and my evolving role here. I have not ceased to pray for the people I left at home and to give thanks for their making it possible for me to be here.