Mwanza Maandiko

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Today was a very full day in Nyakaliro. We did the 6:30 ferry again, got a punctured tire en route, but still made it to Nyakaliro by 8:15. Amazing how much pavement speeds up the drive. While I was interviewing Institute students and their spouses with Samson, Ferdinand, Elias and Paulo, Dan was listening to sermons from the students. The service began at 10:00. I preached on the qualifications for elders from Titus 1:5-9. Not only did the text give me an opportunity to encourage the Nyakaliro church to think carefully about whom they send to Nyakaliro, it also was appropriate for the pastors who came along.

Following the service, the pastors went back to Elias' house to help him work through some tensions that have been surfacing in the church. While they were doing this, I mingled with folks in the church then did some paperwork that I had brought along with me. Dan listened to another sermon.

We had a quick lunch with Elias at 2:00 and made it back to the ferry for the 3:30 crossing. During the drive the guys filled me in on their conversations with Elias and were very happy with the outcome. We also talked about who we would recommend to work with the new Sengerema ministry. I'll post more on that later.

It is interesting to watch how growth happens. I'm blessed to watch these young churches handle new and difficult issues. Today they talked a lot about asking God for wisdom and looking to see what He said in the Bible. That's not a bad foundation. Today was a flurry of formative activity for the pastors and the churches they lead. Thanks for praying!

Monday, November 23, 2009

The trip to Nyakaliro and Lusolelo yesterday was a blessing. Both churches have an obvious joy in their worship services. And folks are always so gracious in accepting me as a guest. I enjoy preaching in both places. One aim was to encourage Elias and Jonas in their labors to build these churches on the solid foundation of the gospel, and to encourage the believers to pay close attention to their teaching.

Before the service, Elias and I talked about how the church might move forward in sending someone to Sengerema to lead the new church there. Elias had some good ideas on how we might do this. On Wednesday, Pastor Paulo, Pastor Samson, Dan, and I hope to interview those who are interested in this opportunity, including their spouses. We'll pass our thoughts on to a church committee who will conduct a second series of interviews, before making a recommendation to church.

When we communicated this plan to the church, everyone erupted in cheers. I wasn't able to stick around after the service to ask Elias why the cheers, but my guess is that there was a lot of tension about having a public vote between two candidates and the new plan relieved that tension.

This is an important time for the Nyakaliro church, and for all the churches really. This is the first time that they have taken the lead in sending someone to live in a distant location and begin a new ministry. Please pray for them in the coming week.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

It's been a few months, but I'm looking forward to preaching tomorrow morning. Lord willing, I'll be in Nyakaliro and Lusolelo preaching from the first four verses of Titus. To make it by the 8:00am service I'll need to cross on the 6:30am ferry. The cool morning drive should be pleasant and quiet. Should be.

Titus' ministry on Crete intrigues me. He and Paul preached the gospel there and established churches in several cities. Then Paul moved on, leaving Titus to finish the job. He was to "straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town." We generally take the "straightening out" to be the appointing of the elders, but I wonder if it involved more. Following the instructions about the necessary character and abilities for being an elder, Paul provides Titus with much more instruction that he is to give the young churches. He warns about false teaching, provides gender and age-specific instruction for believers, reminds how the gospel results in changed thinking and living, and instructs how the believers should live in secular society. Paul emphasizes that Titus is to teach all these things, presumably as he was "straightening out was left unfinished." Sounds to me a lot like the down-and-dirty world of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Recently I finished reading Encountering the Chinese in preparation for a trip to that part of the world next year. It's a rather dry read, but filled with helpful information on things like greetings, meals,time use, making friends, decision-making, education, and "face". I figure if I'm going to spend some time in another country, I might as well learn at least some generalizations about how the people there think and behave. Perhaps it will help me not be such an "ugly American." Intercultural Press has books on many cultures around the world. Use the search engine to find information on a country that interests you. Or, if you want something about learning cultures in general, try Craig Storti's The Art of Crossing Cultures.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I got in a full day of work on the doctrine of the church for the February Institute session.

Sadly the prosperity preachers continue their drivel day and night, at full blast. After dozens of hours, I still haven't heard anything about Christ's sacrificial death in our place or the new birth. Everything is about rebuking Satan, healing disease, and having a successful life. It's not like you can turn off the television so you don't have to listen to their garbage. The loud speakers force the entire community to listen 24/7, like it or not. And, if that's not enough, another group started up this afternoon about two hundred meters to the east of our house (the first group is 100 meters to the north). So now we have dueling heretics competing for the limited resources of an impoverished community.

The rains have been good recently, with several hours last night and throughout today. This is great for the local farmers.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Over the next eight Sundays, Dan Eads will be visiting other churches in and around Mwanza. You can read about his plans here and his first visit here. These visits will mark the end of his focused training stage. He's done a fantastic job learning Swahili and the local culture. I'm looking forward to seeing how all his hard work will translate into service for Christ in the coming years.

Sadly the prosperity preachers still haven't left Sweya and have cranked up the speakers again this week. Their message continues to be devoid of the gospel while their spirit seems to be anything but humble proclaimers of the Word.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Paulo continued his series from 1 John yesterday in Sweya. He talked about the nature of Christian love.

Since the middle of last week I've been trying to hermit myself away in the Sweya office to work on an upcoming Institute class on the doctrine of the church. More of the same this week, Lord willing. 

The picture to the left is of a bug we killed last week in my office. It's about the length of a pencil. Nasty critter.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

As promised, here is my quick translation of an article in a local newspaper regarding the girl who supposedly returned from Gamboshi. It includes pictures from 2004 and 2009.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ferdinand came home from the hospital today. He is in good spirits and glad to be back home. After his return, it was fun to watch all the children gather around him to hear his stories from the hospital.

I had a meeting with all the Tumaini employees this afternoon to discuss some guidelines relating to our move to the Tumaini property. Every time I meet with the ladies I'm impressed with how their love for the children seems to be growing. What started out as a job is slowly evolving into a ministry for many of them.

On the way home from Shadi, I stopped by Mr. Gembe's home to see if he made any progress with his paperwork to secure Juliana's release from the hospital. He had some success, but the police are requiring another blood test since they did not have a witness for the first blood test. Supposedly this test is to determine whether Juliana is indeed related. He did say that most of her wounds have healed, although they can't do much about the loss of all but two of her teeth. According to Mr. Gembe she still doesn't remember where she has been for the last four years, only that she was beaten, which explains the cuts, bruises, and loss of teeth.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Today Dan and I went to Sengerema for a pastor's meeting. Paulo and Samson were planning to come, but both of them had unexpected things come up that kept them from joining us. Elias and Julius were the only two from Nyakaliro that made it. We talked a lot about the church plant in Sengerema. It seems to be going well, but, as I learned today, a bit of conflict has developed as to who will be leading the new church forward. Two men are interested in the opportunity, and apparently the church is planning to chose one in kind of an election format. You can imagine how this could lead to some tensions and potential hurt feelings.

While I wish we could have problem-free churches, I don't think that's possible on this side of eternity. At the end of the day, I enjoy working through these issues with the guys. Hopefully we can establish a pattern of handling difficult situations in a way that honors God. 

This evening I received a visit from the Gembe family. You may remember that I wrote about their daughter, Juliana, who supposedly died and was buried in 2005. Recently a girl that the community claims is Juliana showed up at the Gembe home in poor physical and mental health. The Gembes and the local authorities confirmed the identification, and Juliana has been recovering at the hospital since she turned up at the Gembe home. My understanding was that the hospital did DNA testing, but I haven't heard if this did indeed happen. Whatever the case, the Gembes now have to file a few legal documents before the hospital can release Juliana to their care. One of the documents is their disinterment consent. I hope to witness that event on Thursday or Friday.