The day I ate matunda ya pori.

As Pastor Hafermann said on the way back to seminary this evening after worship with the Masai, "Today was like walking into a giant family gathering."  From the beginning, this day was something different.  As the Mchungaji mobile rolled on into the village we were welcomed not by the usual crowd of women and children, but by the village men.  So many moreni and wazee came to shake our hands and welcome us to their village-which just felt more close knit than the normal community.  This was really one of the first times outside of soko that we have been able to sit with the men for a long time.  Hospitlaity in the form of food was extended as usual. The Masai are incredible.  Tea and goat met us soon after entering.  If I can find goat in the US I may consider giving up the whole vegetarian thing for good.  We caught up on the news of Kilosa and other current events and were brought by Johanna-this giant beast of an evangelist-to see the riverbed from which the village gets it's food.  Right now, there is little standing water, but if one digs just a little bit she is able to strike a lot.  The cattle were brought through as the tour continued.  Everything revolves around the cattle.  Church even speeds when we can hear them coming and waits for many to be watered before it begins.  This, of course, has given birth to a strong relationship with the animals.  They are treated with very much respect.  

On the way back, I kind of fell behind to try to find people to talk to.  There were some moreni herding with whom I spent some time.  Then I found these two young kids, maybe 5 or 4 staring at the other wazungu as they walked by, so I snuck up behind them and growled.  The shot off so fast.  The moreni behind me were cracking up.  From time to time, rumors spread among kids that we are vampires and things.  So I live by Zero Mastel's "If you got it, flaunt it!"

Church took an especially long time to start today as there were many registering for baptism.  This was fine because we were able to get to know people through Steve's picture taking and fly catching ability.  Ha.  He does amazing in the villages.  It is so cool to see.

Worship was held under the shade today.  This time the men sat on one side and the women on the other.  Sara gets to be an honorary man when we are in these situations.  Anyway, there were these beautiful trees under which we sat.  The congregation was split under two small groves so we were quite spread out.  After the introductions of the guests (ritual hospitality) and a very passionate speech from this older minister about Mabogeri, we went ahead and butchered the song, "Hakuna Mungu kama Wewe."  Wartburg choir strikes again!  

There were a lot of baptisms again today.  From all age groups and both sexes-wazee, moreni, watoto, and mothers.  People are so happy to be baptized. Christianity is so vibrant here.  Peter noted that the sermon called to mind a new testament image as Mch stood in between the two shaded areas and preached to a bunch of people just sitting and resting in the heat of the day.  We could actually understand most of the sermon today.  Which is good because we take our final exam in two days.  Communion in this village, and in some other Masai places, really feels like a meal.  Especially among the young men, who talk when they receive it as many are doing so for the first time.  It is very inviting.  I really like that after baptism and communion, Mch explains what just went on.  This really makes liturgy the work of the people.  We could take a page out of this book in the states.  So many people just do the sacraments or listen to the rest of the liturgy with very little understanding or reflection. Here, people's brains are engaged and awakened by these things.  They really come to understand and find meaning in these things.  In many of these villages the literacy rate among adults can be between 40% and 70%.  The verbal teaching is so important and Church becomes so vibrant through it.

After service, there was dinner and a show.  We finally got the warriors to sing and jump for us.  Steve has s video, I sure he will post it.  If not, I will show it to you all when I return.  

The village is in the stages of establishing itself and it needs 2,000,000 shillings to buy some land.  They are very close to it.  So we got a tour of the land, full of trees and sand.  A beautiful place.  I really hope they get it.  On the tour we spoke to this somewhat awkward evangelist who honestly just doesn't realize that we can't always undersand him.  So he will just talk and talk and talk.  Ha.  It was another enriching day.  

Oh and last night, after sitting around for a while I decided to head to the common room...good idea. I sat down and said hi to this young person thatI have never seen before. Celuscious is his name, his aunt works in the kindergarten here and he is in form five at the secondary school studying history and swahili and english. We spoke for a real long time about government. This kid was brilliant, very interested in obama and what I thought about everything, But also had so muc insight on everything. And he told me about his struggles because he is from a very very poor family. He told me about going to school and how blessed he has been to be the first one in his family ever to make it into secondary school.  There was even a time when he had to go home for months during the year because his family needed help, but he still managed to pass his exams.  Very bright.  The exams are very strenuous here.  There is not enough money in the nation to send every one to school so after primary school there is a national exam for enterance into secondary school.  Then there are exams after form 2 and then after form 4 to enter into 5 and 6 which is basically like junior college.  After that, you are basically drafted by the government to go to college.  On top of it there are a ton of fees and corruption as someone with amazing grades and no money will not be permitted to continue but a Bush type can go on.  Like a more extreme version of donating a wing in the US.  People's future depends on this stuff so hearing about the difficulties is wrenching.  

But ten minutes into the conversation he said "Tim, I think we are friends. I want your phone number and email and adress. When you go home, we will still talk." This is how friends are made here. it takes like 10 minutes. People treat each other differently here. Good night.

Got tired towards the end of this...sorry

Today was a very normal day.  It may be one of the last and I really appreciate it.  We are all so mixed right now.  We leave in like 18 days or something.  I am getting excited to come see you all and perhaps make better sense of what has happened here.  Yet, I am of course going to miss this.  It is odd to be in this state.  I figured it would be close to leaving the states but it is very different.  Anyway, today we had Elibariki and Omega as teachers.  It was kind of a frustrating day. Sometimes Swahili just doesn't come.  But Bariki is patient and Omega is good at sleeping in his chair outside so it was fine.  We talked a little about black magic in the afternoon and they told us all bout people riding strainers around like witches ride brooms and riding hyenas like cars.  They were really curious about witchcraft in the US so we told them a little about the occult.  Quite an interesting afternoon.

The other day I forgot to write about Friday and Saturday.  Friday, Sara, the Swiss students, Omega, Kadeghe and I went to the orphanage.  This is run by the Catholic Church.  It is amazing in Tanzania the way that religion falls into all other aspects of life. It is especially connected to social work.  Wonderfully showing the image of a God who serves before being served and who asks us to do the same.  

What an amazing experience. Wrenching if you let the fun subside. So we just up the fun level. I don't know what it is, but it seems that in everything that I do with kids, the craziest ones are attracted to me. In the summer I thought it was because I am the only one who gives them the time of day. But maybe there is a natural attraction now that I think about it. During church too all the craziest ones flock to me. And as soon as we got there, this kid, Kasiim, with newly peed in shorts ran to me and said shoulders shoulders in Swahili. All the others found these soft gentle kids and I got a wild man. It was amazing. I am not complaining at all. I wouldn't have it any other way. Others get annoyed but that is really what I like. I just threw him in the air, and used him as a wheel barrow and yanked him off the fence a bunch of times and ran around with his pee pants on my shoulders.  This kid was incredible. The other kids were wonderful and eventually they came but he got really jealous and stole my hat, so I keld the others but played with him. Freakin king of the playground. We are going back next week.  The experience really exceeded expectations. Afterward, we spent the evening at Luka's place.  Way fun. It was a feast, fish and goat and rice and beef, ugali. Fresh mangos from the trees outside, fresh pineapple and jackfruit. Oh and Pepsi. It was so nice.  Luka is really amazing. and his house is beautiful. he has been building it since 2003 and many of you probably helped him with it.  It has been harder than normal to get to know Luka this term because he had a lot on his plate with getting married and the two deaths, but recently we have connected much more.  

Saturday Peter and Steve and I spoke at length with Barry from Australia about religion.  I don't think he is particularly religious.  He was particularly glad to hear about our perception of religion here. We talked about he resistance to conservative Western Christianity and about how back home the anti-imperialism Christianity is taking root among students.  

Sunday I asked Mch about the theology here. He said that they are not very much for the lofty theologians.  Theology of the cross and practical contextual theology is more central.  I will think about this more when I write the religion paper.  

Kilosa and possession

The worship at Mabogeri today was so encouraging.  This is the village in the Kilosa area where there was the great conflict just weeks ago.  I have written extensively about it so I won't go into the details of the conflict itself.  I will say that today was something wonderful.  That is not to say that the conflict has gone away, but there seem to have been improvements.  There is much to be done, but today was a day to rejoice in what has been done thus far.  For example, the goats are basically all gone.  Yet, half of the cattle have returned.  Granted 800 were stolen so there is still a huge loss, but these little victories are certainly things in which we can meet each other in joy.  I feel like we have a very special bond with this place.  

The first time that we came, there was no way that the normal hospitality could have been shown.  Today was different.  As we entered the village, there were even Masai men out and about.  They are not hiding as intensely anymore.   So, the hospitality which was shown today was incredibly radical.  We were welcomed by a small group, not because the masses were in hiding but because they were preparing for ibadaa.  Just two weeks afer our first visit, we were welcomed with plates and plates of half cakes and cups full of the Masai ginger milk tea.  We met the familiar faces and caught up like old friends, as best we could.  When we walked away to play with kids, they followed us close behind with benches and found shade for us.  Now that we can talk to them hospitality is even easier to see and understand.  It just amazes me, we were so welcomed just TWO WEEKS after all the trouble.  I can't even express it.  After service we were welcomed again to the table for a huge meal.  These people are so resilient.  Hospitality is at the center of who they are!  I asked Pastor Hafermann if there is something in the Tanzanian cultural roots that creates this hospitality or if Christianity has something to do with it.  He said Tanzanian are ok but really the Masai are the ones for whom hospitality is most central.  This is very obvious.  So I asked where it comes from and if there is some sort of myth at the root.  If it is a reflection of foudational cultural stories or theology or just a result of life.  Of course, all of these things can be answered with a yes.  Things are never so easy.  For the Masai, there is practicality at the root.  People may travel to see them for three days on foot with little food.  Hospitality is shown because it is a necessity.  This harkens back very much to the biblical narrative where another traveler once said that "Foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."  They work for the other and make themselves vulnerable because they realize that people are very important and that there could be a loss of life if not for their hospitality.  Mch. mentioned also that the story of the midnight visitor in the NT is central to these people's understanding of God.  The Masai do not turn people away.  

Church today was something else.  It is still clear that there is a sadness in the air and many of the people were very thin and tired.  But burdens were set at the door for Church and picked up with a new strength when it ended.  Pastor preached on the antitheses in Luke.  Focusing especially on the "I no longer say to you an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth..." part.  This needed to be said in a village so hurt.  And it was amazing to see the young warriors nodding to this!  with no compartmentalization, church does something different to people here than at home.  People won't listen to this service and then pick up their guns right after church.  At home people will hear this in church and then go directly to vote for a war happy candidate.  yuck.  Oh, and the Wartburg Kwaya or the Obama four sang again today.  Getting real tired of Sanctuary.  But the people are always happy to have a guest kwaya.  

After service was so interesting.  While participating in the auction we could hear a deadened shrieking in the church.  So we followed everyone inside where a young woman was convulsing and screaming on the floor.  It appeared to be a possession.  She kept saying that she wanted to kill her children.  Apparently, she has been this way before so the pastors think the demon may be depression.  But either way, she needed something.  So the pastors and the evangelists laid hands on her and began to cast what ever it was out of her.   They claimed her in the name of Jesus so many times.  Mch says that when he has seen possession the people have bodily control to a certain extent but no vocal control.  This is why mch says it may have been possession: at one point when Mch was skeptical he said "I don't even think she wants to be healed." The voice screamed but the head pleaded for healing.  So they laid hands some more and after much screaming she calmed down.  In the past she just calms down but this time she repeated that Jesus is Lord and that she belongs to Him. The whole while Steve and Sara distracted the children in the church while Peter and I helped to clean up.  The overall attitude was not one of amazement but that it would be better to carry on with life as normal.  So that is what we did.  Personally, I don't know what I think about possession, something weird happens and I will make no judgement either way, but I do know that that woman was suffering.  Peter and I both felt physically driven to prayer which rarely happens to me and a great huge love for her overcame us both.  Regardless of what happened, she needed attention and love and found it from the faith community.  It was an odd experience to say the least.  I don't know what to think.  I just know it was odd and strange things happened in that church and within the Wartburg students...

Being for the benefit of Mr. Maybee

 Good evening all! I hope this finds you well. Today was another incredibly normal day.  I am simply writing because I realize that in three weeks I will not be here anymore and kind of want to capture most of what happens before I leave.  

It is so stinkin hot right now.  I was totally prepare for the heat and at home I really like it.  But it is crazy. I don't think I have stopped sweating in 48 hours.  The weather would not boher me so much if it weren't for the word that we have to accomplish during the day.  This is very good sitting around and visiting weather, but not good trying to pick up on new subtleties in a foreign language weather.  Ha.  But that is life I guess.  It is just odd to melt all the time.  To lay in bed for a nap and wake up twenty minutes later in a pool.  Really though, it doesn't take away from the incredible exerience at all.  Just makes it slower.  

By the mid afternoon lessons were kind of a joke.  We  are all ready to take our test and not stress about it anymore. In the last few weeks we have all improved immensely and since time is becoming short we spend most lessons just having discussions with our teacher Kadeghe who is this really incredible kid.  He is always willing to talk about Masai life and is so fun in the villages.  

Most of the day was spent in sweaty rest but this evening was really wonderful.  Steve and I went to go climb the water tower and watch the stars come out.  He got to the top and I asked how it was, "A little scary." he said as I was half way up.  At that point, hanging about 15 feet above the ground on a thin rusty ladder, I remembered that I am not so into heights.  The world kind of faded away and I froze. I haven't done that since I was really little.  Strange, I have overcome a lot of anxieties here: picking up chickens, being bit by crap, lonliness and solitude-the list goes on and on.  I guess heights isn't a fear that one just quits, ha.  SO after Steve peed from the top and almost stinkin hit me he cautiously climbed down and we headed to this open field by a baobob facing the mountains.  The stars were so bright and numerous.  Everything was so huge.  The montains fading against the night was beautiful.  It is a strange thing, seeing the stars from this angle.  They are noticeably different.  We watched shooting stars for about an hour and headed back to talk to Eliude a little bit.  We have almost an entire may term left, but it feels like we are leaving so soon.  The teachers and our other friends too are beginning to get all tender and sentimental-gross.  

Couple of days.

Habari za siku nyingi?  Life here has been a very good kind of normal.  Yet, with three weeks left, I am finding myself appreciating these normal times more and more.  It is the community that I will miss in less than a month.  People at home simply don't sit in the back of a truck for hours and talk.  On Monday, I was on my way to a little solitude time when I saw that Jimi the driver was sitting in the back of his truck with Samuel so I went and sat with them all afternoon and talked about what I will tell people when I go home.  Everyone knows we are leaving soon and it is getting kind of tender...sick.  Ha, but they are also calling our stuff.  So that is good.  I am looking forward to returning with the clothes on my back and a few books.  

Tuesday was a really wonderful visit.  Kadeghe came along to a village that he had never been visited before.  The hospitality was immediate as always but a little different as he was treated as a guest as well.  I asked him why the Masai love guests so much. His reply was simply that guests are very important people.  I like this. The fact that there is no great reason suggests a great reason.  People are simply important.  The things that are closest to us are often hardest to express.  Why did you fall in love?  Why do you want to work in your field?  These are the hardest questions to answer, and this is a very profound thing.  People just matter.  That is all.  Wonderful.  Tuesday was also very special as I really spent almost the entire time speaking in Swahili.  We sat with Mwangelisti Philemon and talked about his work and soccer and Obama.  It is good that we are now able to piece things together and respond fairly well.  Nothing has helped like sucking it up and talking to people.  It is really good. Worship was so hot.  Some of these churches are like easy bake ovens with window light bulbs.  I know you are all suffering from the cold at home but here it is stinkin hot.  I kind of like it until typing a blog draws sweat from my brow at 730, an hour and a half after sundown.  The four Americans along with Pr. Hafermann are being called the Obama five wherever we go.  And yesterday we became the Wartburg kwaya.  We all knew sanctuary so we just sing that and Peter goes over the top of it after Sara sings it solo.  It's amazing what no practice can do.  We sounded  surprisingly good and got a lot of the wonderful quick tongue movement squeel noises that we are all trying so hard to perfect.  After service, we bought Philemon a goat.  What a good guy.  When the evangelists come in December for the conference, we are going to play futbol with him.  Well, Steve is well the rest watch.  If Pr Hafermann plays, I am in.

Today we experienced very purposeful hospitality.  It was even more immediate than I think we have ever experienced.  In every village, people come from everywhere when they see the car come to greet us and welcome us, but this place had tea waiting which was new.  We bond so well over the meal.  In some more awkward visits, we kind of wait and pray for the tea to come so we can have table talk with people.  Thus, today was quite a relief.  It is funny, time here is so laid back, until it comes to welcoming guests.  We get welcomed so quickly and ushered around everywhere with an urgent excitement.  Sitting around before the service, talk turned to Obama as always and we listened as Pr. Hafermann explained the two chamber legislative system.  Ha. very nice.  Then we made friends with this kid, maybe 4 years old and Kadeghe, speaking Kimasai, tried to convince him to come to America with us.  He promised him nice wazungu friends like us and candy.  Ha, creep.  But I got the opportunity to play with the kid during service a lot, I think his name was Zaitoi.  The Kimasai names are very hard.  I wish it was as easy to make adult friends.  That we could just make faces at people and hide their money and tell them how strong they are.  Oh well.  It was nice to get him in trouble during the service...he he he.  But I have noticed that older kids are more drawn to me.  Who we would consider middle school aged in the states.  There are always a bunch of boys that crowd around me to talk about soccer and school.  So there you go.  The others are way good with the other kids.  Fair enough.  Ok.

Welcoming the masses to prison

Today was Peter's third strike.  His third time to prison in the past week.  Uh oh.  Today we were welcomed as five white faces and Luka in a sea of guests to the youth prison to celebrate the affirmation of baptism for six young people.  How hospitality is so wholly extended to so many people in such a place is beyond me.  We associate prisons, especially youth ones with such negativity, but we don't often see the faces and the life here.  There are still people growing and developing and falling for the indescribable liberation of the gospel.  The church on the grounds is perhaps the most beautiful one that we have ever seen and it was built by those ignored people who all happen to be our age.  Certainly many of them have done bad things, but is this any reason to forget about them.  No one deserves that.  I think I want to explore prison ministry when I return.  Back to hospitality, simply the logistics of it are incredible as it is usually expressed in sharing of food and life over table conversation.  There were easily 200 congregants today and before the service many of us enjoyed tea.  After the service I sat next to a teacher and had a really wonderful conversation while every single person was afforded a large plate of spiced rice, meat and vegetables and a bottle of soda.  I am still troubled by the justice of this expression of hospitality but can deal better with it since every person gets to eat, they just hold a special meal on Sunday.  

As I sat in the service and looked at the simple wooden cross at the front of the sanctuary, I could not help but think how much more meaning one could derive from it in this context.  Christians follow a Lord who was executed by the state.  A prisoner.  An enemy of Rome.  Christians follow a Lord who's death set an insurrectionist free.  A Lord who forgave thieves from his own throne of death.  As this ironic symbol of salvation hung from the front of the church, I wondered if many had thought this before from my seat.  That each of these young people is Jesus.  The least of these.  From the looks of it, the workers at this prison see it.  They seem to treat the inmates with dignity and respect.  This is rehabilitating.  

During the actual service we watched two nicely dressed young girls, a young boy in a suit, a Masai child in full dress and two inmates in their bright orange affirm their baptisms.  Such a diversity.  It really speaks to the people here and the way the gospel is understood as a leveling tool here.  We all kneel, we are all affirmed together.  Umoja ni nguvu. Na mtu ni watu.  There is so much care for all the stragers among the people here.  This is real hospitality.  It is not only the food but what lies underneath.  It is the welcoming of two inmates and a masai warrior into the adult family along with three more well to do children of God.  Hospitality is about welcome for the strangers all around.  And they are everywhere.  

Unfortunately, I was rather tired today so the rest of the service was spent in and out of sleep. Fortunately, the son of an evangelist was sitting next to me so I got to fend of the tired by poking his face through his chair and trying to quiet his laughter.  Once again, he was way impressed with the lip ring.  What a good idea. 

tatu

Our third wedding was markedly different from the last two.  This one took place on prison grounds.  The prisons don't look so menacing here.  They are very open.  The inmates work all around the site.  I have mixed feelings about this as it smacks a bit of slave labor but it also rehabilitates as the inmates are learning skills and discipline.  Also, the prison workers and their families live on the grounds.  Nice houses, each with its own satellite either for television or extra-terrestrial research, line the bumpy road.  It presents itself as a surprisingly welcoming atmosphere.  The wedding itself was incredibly joyful.  We were first taken to the groom's mother's house for something of a miniature feast with ice cold soda.  All visits are getting so much better as we are able to understand much of what is said to us and respond at least somewhat appropriately, and this one was especially wonderful.  We were greeted by some familiar faces and guided from our seats in the back to special seats among the choir where we had quite the view of the action.  Like we never have before.  The choir draped in loose purple robes were dancing to the music and singing with an unmatched vigor when I suddenly realized that my friend malaria still had a little in store for me.  I quickly went to the vehicle and found the reserve roll of savior paper and clenched and ran to the self standing toilets.  Behind three doors were three holes in the ground with blocks on either side for comfort. I had actually been looking forward to conquering these beasts but when I opened he door there was a surprise beast waithing for me.  Out of fated door one there was a long thin green snake who took one look at me and moved very fast to the near corner.  No thank you. I magically had no need to use the hole any more.  So I stepped back a few feet.  Weighed my options with facing the snake head to tiny terrifying head just to ease a fair amount of discomfort and walked in dejection back to my seat.  When later described to Pr. Hafermann and Luka their guess was that it was either a green mamba or a tree snake.  I am content not knowing.

From our seats we can see the bridal party praying with the two pastors and some evangelists.  The party is bigger than we are used to.  It consists of the bride and groom, best man and maid of honor and a ring bearer and flower girl.  They slowly walk as their way is paved with boisterous cheers from the congregation, bride and groom with the traditional straight faces and unmoving arms.  The straight faces are apparently to signify that they are not happy to be leaving their families.  Interesting tradition.  It was a good thing that they were facing away from the family as there were a couple of occasions when the bride, faced forward, sweat being wiped off by her maid of honor, would crack a smile.  The service continued as normal, just more "professional" I guess, and louder.  When we sang a hymn, the pastor who is related to the groom would stand up and dance and speed the tempo up.  A nice favor.  I have noticed here that people are not afraid to make music sound better.  They have no problem standing up and speeding the tempo when the song has become an unnecessary dirge.  

Neither the bride or groom write their own vows but use the traditional hymn supplied ones.  The exchange of the rings is followed by the bride reaching over and intertwining her ring hand with his.  They stay clasped together for a while to allow the minister to place their hands in his for a blessing of the union.  

Now what I really like about weddings here is that there is still the ministry of the eucharistic sacrament.  The wedding serves as the service of word but the sacrament is not ignored.  There is a visible connection between the marriage and the community of faith as we gather around that table of holy hospitality.  After all, that is what the wedding is if it is held in the church.  It is a statement that this union is being made under the care and attention of the faith community.  The wedding is the work of the community and a gift from God.  Just like that meal.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for sacraments (in all their diverse forms).  The weddings here don't belong to the couple, they belong to everyone around and in this there is great joy!

After the wedding, the couple drove off together to the house about 300 feet away while the congregation played instruments and followed the car the whole way.  We mostly danced and watched this enormous baby sit on a motorcycle.  All in all a good day.