It is 12:30 and we are on the bus waiting to leave for the bush. Our translators are not there, and it is crowded with people yelling and pushing. We are trying to think of how to stop the bus if our translators do not show up. They finally do, thankfully. It is now 2:05 and we are finally pulling out to leave, of course our translator is off the bus getting something so he runs after us. Two minutes later the bus stops for gas, again, in typical African fashion of being prepared. The bus ride is supposed to take 1 ½ hours and there is no room for our legs and it is quite uncomfortable. The bus seems to stop every few minutes to cram more people on just as you think there is no more room.
By 4 pm we arrive at the town (I still do not know the name of it). It is surrounded by the Highlands of Tanzania and corn and sunflowers fill the fields everywhere you look. It turns out the pastor couldn’t get ahold of our contact in the village and we had to wait a long time for her to come. Of course when the pastor came, her house was about 100 yards from where we sat. The house is a small 4 room brick house with dirt and cement floors. Theresa and my room had the dirt floor and two chickens roasting in it (I am surprised we didn’t wake up to chicks one day). The room smelled of dirt and was very stuffy, but had a roof that didn’t leak.
Day one of ministry: We do some door to door visiting the local church members. We talk to them and encourage them, pray for them, etc. We went to the local hospital to pray for the patients. The doctor walks up to us and greets us, and starts walking to where the patients stay. We get to a room, and he looks confused. Theresa and me look at each other, wondering what is going on…he turns to us and says “I forgot, there are no patients other than this woman who was just dropped off here.” She is a 37 year old woman who is suffering with HIV in its later term. She has a 7year old child looking after her, while the other 3 are off at school or are being taken care of by another family. The doctor says she can’t take the medicine because she doesn’t have food…we prayed for her, and she broke down in tears saying she had no one. Theresa gently washed her feet off with baby wipes.
Day two of ministry: We had a two hour church service, the shortest one yet! Theresa and I were asked to sing a song, so we got up and sang one. At one point I almost lost it because a herd of goats, cows and donkeys walked by outside the door. Each of us preached, and things went fairly well.
We went and visited a man who we led to Christ the previous day. When we got up there, he said that he was in a lot of pain from his knees down, and couldn’t feel his feet so he couldn’t come to church. He stood to greet us, and you could tell he was in a lot of pain. We prayed for him, and when we were done Theresa asked how his legs were feeling. He looked up at us and stood up and eagerly walked about 10 feet with a huge grin on his face proclaiming that he could feel his feet!
Next, we went to another woman’s house next to a mosque. She was led to Christ by our translator, and she said she wanted prayers because her head and chest was in a lot of pain, and all she could see were shadows. We prayed for her and she looks up and points to Theresa; at this point Theresa and I are quite confused because our translator (as usual) wasn’t translating for us. It turns out that she could clearly see Theresa and realized there was a mzungu in her house! Two people healed in one day: the lame to walk and the blind to see! It was awesome to see the Holy Spirit at work. God still does heal, and I look forward to seeing his healing power with my friend Nicole and even myself in the near future.
All in all, the time in the village was good. I spent much of the time walking around the village looking at all the beautiful creation of God. Let me tell you, if you want to see some beautiful scenery come to TZ. At night, we would look at the stars hoping to see a shooting star and pondering the works of God. Thinking how at home people were looking at the same stars (I just got to see them first, and probably much more brightly). By 9/9:30 we would be in bed because there was nothing to do, it was great. I enjoyed the peaceful (albeit boring) time in the village, but am glad to be back in Iringa.
Praise: My blood sugar has been really good this month, with only a few highs! It has been below 100 a lot of times, and 120 is probably average. Praise God! Perhaps the prayers from my pastor last month is working.
Prayer: Please pray that I can have a peace of mind regarding a few things, and that my energy level will increase.
I love and miss you all heaps!
