I went to the notorious “African bush” and made it back alive!
For the past nine days we went to three different villages around the Morogoro, Tanzania area, where we stayed in our tents that we often filled with dirt and dust. The villages were surrounded by mountains and were much colder than any of the places we have stayed on the race so far. I am glad we were able to experience what I thought the entire race would be like: tenting next to mud huts with tin roofs and taking “showers” from buckets filled with brown water.
The children had varied reactions to us, but it seemed like all of them took a little while to warm up. Some would cry at the sight of us, some would run in terror, some would laugh, but it seemed like most would just stare at us curiously. I can honestly say I felt like an animal in the zoo at times. When we were setting up our tents, it seemed that word quickly got out around the whole village that mzungus were here and they would come and watch. I am not always sure what they were expecting us to do, but they were there in case it happened. I most felt like an animal when I would try to emerge from my tent and you could see heads peering in. They would laugh when I would do something and they would all jump back when I would growl at them. Ok, so I had a little fun with them, because it was starting to get weird for me.
I have found that I am able to entertain large amounts of children with various dancing games and just being goofy, but you still have to be careful because even when most of them have warmed up to you, you can still make the little ones cry.
We had jam-packed ministry for the days we were in the villages with door-to-door evangelism, more testimonies than I can count, and it seems like between the 14 of us that went almost everyone was able to preach a sermon. A couple days we even had two-a-days for church services; gotta get our God fix.
I was blessed to be able to see the beautiful African sunsets, climb a mountain that overlooked our little village, sleep in the crisp air while tucked in my sleeping bag, and eat delicious meals each day. Plus, I was able to celebrate my birthday!
My team is so great and so loving toward me. I have realized more so than prior to the race that I may be a little quarky and come up with a lot of sayings. Well, my teammates decided to put my sayings to use and give me little cards where I had to perform certain tasks (such as demanding that I sing a song during church service, combing Greg’s beard, dancing in front of everyone) in order to get the next card. I am so excited to have all those memories and this is definitely a birthday I will not forget.
It is nice to be back in “civilization” where I have internet, and I am excited to round out our time in Africa. This continent has far exceeded my expectations, but I am learning more and more that expectations just need to be dropped.
Praise the Lord! Bwana Asifiwe! God is good and I am excited to see what is to come.
