Kwaheri Tanzania!!

Amani Home For Street Children

Our last couple days in Tanzania have been at a more relaxed pace. We spent all morning yesterday  with the kids at the amazing Amani Home for Street Children.

Later we enjoyed a peaceful lunch out on a huge deck that hangs over a big river gorge with a great view of Mt. Kilimanjaro at Kaliwa Lodge.

We climbed further into the hills later that night for dinner at Kilemakyaro Lodge. We sat outside as the sun set and reflected on our amazing and life changing adventure during these two weeks.

Brrr!

After the sun went down it became quite cold out but that did not stop Jada, Jillian and Molly from taking a dare to run and jump into the swimming pool with all their clothes on. If they accepted the challenge, they would each receive $50 and could choose which of the places we have visited to donate the money. The three soggy girls all chose to give the donation to the Amani Home for Street Children!


There was this moment, out there on a dirt playing field at Amani Home for street children. Out there on that dirt patch with almost no grass. This moment when the difference narrowed between these African children rescued from a life of horrors on the street, which often resulted from even worse horrors they have escaped from at home, and our suburban kids from safe, comfortable homes in the US.

There was this holy, extended moment, when the differences between us melted away. We were competing against each other. We were laughing and high-fiving. We were kids playing in the sun. 

Children of God. Just that. 

For me, these vision trips are about those moments. More than any other thing, including supporting schools or orphanages or even churches. For me it is about a curtain being torn from top to bottom. About a barrier being crossed. About a God daring us to see how far away from home we can go and still find a neighbor. These moments cannot be forced. They cannot be scheduled. These moments are given. And when they happen, every time, it takes my breath away.

Kids at Kikoro Primary School

The Least of These

On the way back to Moshi after our safari we stopped in to visit Hai Vocational Training Center. This is an amazing Lutheran outreach where students go to learn the trades of tailoring, carpentry or masonry.  These students create exquisite pipe organs from gorgeous local woods back there in the forest. They also build fine guitars, wonderful handbags and all kinds of other handcrafted items. Oh, and they also build the buildings in which they attend class!

Today was a very full day. We began in busy Moshi Town exchanging currency and visiting some great shops.  From there we made our way toward Machame and walked through the local market in Kwasadala. The sights, sounds, smells and vibrant colors of this sprawling local market can be a bit overwhelming for first timers. Our group marveled at the nearly perfect looking fruits and vegetables for sale. Many of them seemed unrealistically large compared to what we are used to. I will have some pictures to post of the market when I get the chance to download them from my video camera.

Next it was off to the Neema Orphange Centre and Helen Mcnulty School in Kalali. Both the orphanage and the college are run by the Lutheran sisters of Ushirika wa Neema and the campus has matured under their care with beautiful landscaping. As usual, our group was drawn to the children and spent the morning moving from house to house to interact with the different age groups. I will let the following pictures tell the story.

 We departed from the orphanage to move further up the mountain where we visited Machame Lutheran Hospital. While the skilled doctors and nurses provide excellent care at the hospital, this place is a striking reminder of how good we have it in the US compared to so many places in the world.

Our group got a kick out of learning that a "private" room in the hospital means only one roommate and your family must provide all your meals and even some of your care!  A "regular room" puts you in a large ward with about twenty beds.

Next we visited the nurses college on the hospital campus. We were greeted there by dozens of nursing students all gathered to express their deep gratitude for the donation of "Inspiration Hall" by members of our group, John and Carol Zillmer.



A group of nursing students sang for us. Their singing was so moving and powerful it would have been worth this whole journey just to hear them! Two students were chosen to speak words of gratitude on behalf of their school. John also gave some heartfelt remarks. It was a moving and emotional time in that wonderful new campus center.

After the nurses college we climbed back into the bus with a new guide, Mr. Muro. Muro is a scrubby looking little guy who would be easy to look past if you didn't know him. Muro is a palliative care nurse. He visits patients scattered all over the lower slopes of the mountain in that region.  It quickly becomes clear how important Muro’s work is on this mountain.  

Mr. Muro on the left

There are fourteen hundred such patients scattered throughout the area surrounding Machame Hospital and Muro knows exactly where each one of these people is to be found. You probably know flashier people than Muro, but you don’t know anyone doing more necessary or meaningful work than he is doing, day in and day out.





We visited both of the Houses for Health homes that were provided by the 2013 Vision Trip group. Both families were so proud and grateful to welcome our group to their safe, dry new homes. We also visited a family suffering from chronic illness and living in a terrible house not conducive to health and healing. I believe our Vision Trip 2014 group will have something to say about this situation.

We wrapped up this very full day with a great German dinner at a cool lodge hidden back in the forest. Tomorrow will be a long day at worship as we celebrate the retirement of Rev. Urio. Everyone in the group is doing well. Our teenagers are doing a fantastic job representing Prince of Peace!

Serengeti Sunrise

No internet tonight so this is just a quick post from my phone to say we had an incredibly full day and everyone is doing well. I will catch up when we get back to Moshi tomorrow.

OK, I'm back! This has been one of the worst trips for internet availability in awhile. We are safely back in Moshi after an incredible few days out on safari. We covered many miles on all manner of roads, trails and sometimes just out there driving through the bush following nothing but the signs only our three expert driver/guides could read. Buzzards circling, tracks left in the dust, a group of hyenas seemingly on their way somewhere, these are markers on a living road map it takes a lifetime to understand.

We drove through the Serengeti while the sun was setting and came across such wonders as dozens and dozens of hippos splashing in a river while making joyful hippo sounds resembling crazy old men laughing at their own jokes. We saw tens of thousands of zebras barking and playing chicken with our Land Cruisers as we passed by.

We drove through the Serengeti at sunrise and watched the plains come to life in a way that felt like the dawn of time. We sat with lion prides as their young played and the males asserted the hierarchy. We enjoyed large groups of elephants that never hide their affection for one another or their joy in being alive.

Their is so much I could write about our experience out there but I will let a few pictures here tell the story. Click on a photo to enlarge it. I will replace these with higher resolution photos when we get back home and even add some video clips. Remember this is just a tiny sampling of what we have seen in the last couple days! These are just a few of my shots but we had 18 people out there taking pictures from 18 different angles!

Brothers 

When mom lets you play in the mud!

Keep it down up there!

Loving sisters

We also visited a Masai Boma out in the Ngorongoro lands and were warmly welcomed into their village, their culture, and even their small homes homes made from sticks, banana leaves and cow dung!

Brent's more of a runner than a jumper!

Kathy joined right in

The Plains

We are all safely tucked away at the Serengeti Wildlife Lodge during an evening thunderstorm after a long day of game driving in the Serengeti plains. The weather has been beautiful all day and we are thankful to now have the rain knocking down the dust for our long day on the dirt trails tomorrow.

Going on safari is like fishing. You know the walleye and northerns are in the lake but that is no guarantee they will present themselves. So it is with cheetahs, leopards, lions and elephants. We know they are out here in the Serengeti, but 6,000 square miles leaves a lot of room to hide. even for elephants!  

So were we blessed to come upon a family of three active cheetahs only half an hour after leaving the lodge in the morning. We spent nearly an hour with them as they moved about in and out of trees and off through the bush. Many pictures will follow of these majestic cats when we get back to Moshi in a couple days and have better internet (hopefully).

As fortunate as that encounter was with the cheetahs, a few of our teens were beginning to grumble about all the driving through bumpy, dusty trails in the Serengeti without seeing another spectacular creature for several hours. What the kids don't realize is that a game drive in the Serengeti is like fishing. I have met plenty of folks on their tenth or eleventh consecutive day out on their safari, still hoping to get a close look at a cheetah. We are on safari for two days and we spent the whole morning with a family of three incredible cats!

As usual, Tanzania delivered as we came upon a leopard getting himself settled up in a sausage tree for a nap. This completed our "big five" sightings (lion, leopard, black rhino, elephant, and water buffalo), which again, is something that cannot be taken for granted on safaris that last for weeks.

Shortly after seeing the leopard, we found ourselves next to a big group of elephants taking turns rolling around in a mud hole (elephant selfie above). We were so close we had to duck to keep from getting splattered with mud! Surrounding this whole scene were thousands of zebra as far as the eye could see. Some late season rains have caused bigs segments of the great migration to turn back to this area to enjoy new grasses in these plains.

As if all this were not enough for one day (or lifetime for that matter), the Serengeti piled on and we found ourselves viewing a pride of lions with about 8 or 9 tiny cubs feeding on a zebra kill. The trees above were filled with giant vultures waiting their turn.  The elephants also had baby's in the group so they were not comfortable with the lions in the area and began to move the lions off the kill. My friend Peter, one of our three stellar safari drivers, was heard saying, "let's see who is REALLY king of the jungle!" Peter really loves elephants.

All in all, it was another amazing day filled with blessings beyond measure that ended with a gorgeous sunset followed by a rainstorm. Many pictures to follow when we get to some decent internet.

God's Amazing Creation!

It has been a couple of long travel days but we have experienced amazing people, places and creatures along the way.

Traveling from Moshi to Karatu we passed through the amazingly busy city of Arusha. More than half a million people and still only two traffic lights in the entire city.

We settled in at Rhotia Tented Lodge in the beautiful green rolling hills above Karatu that remind me of Ireland. Yes, it takes some clmbing through rough red dirt roads to get up to the camp but Africa always makes you work a bit to get to her best treasures. Most enjoyed a restful night in the luxury tents except for Kathy who admitted to being terrified at every critter making noise on the other side of the canvas all night.

It was an early start this morning to make the 2 1/12hr drive to get down into the Ngorngoro Crater. After passing through the misty clouds along the rim of the crater, the day cleared once we reached the crater floor where we saw all kinds of wonderful beasts and birds.

We have now arrived at the peaceful Ndutu Lodge after a marathon of a day in the Land Cruisers. It is a small miracle that I am able to post this from here since we are in the middle of nowhere. After a good night's rest we will move into the vast serengetti plains tomorrow. Dozens of amazing photos to follow when we get back from this adventure but hopefully the two brothers above give a glimpse of what we experienced down in that incredible crater today!  Everyne is well. Thanks for your prayers!

Worship On Kilimanjaro

We climbed aboard the magic bus and started bouncing and spinning and slipping our way up the wet muddy slopes toward the church.  You are gonna have to see video to appreciate this ride which at times became so ridiculous the whole group was laughing out loud. Molly especially seemed to enjoy the ride!

Our First Group Photo!

After tea with the pastor and the elders the service began.  Even the kids in our group agreed that the two-hour service seemed to go by quickly.  The adult and youth choirs sang gorgeous African songs and the Spirit of God surrounded us all even though we speak different languages and come from different worlds. After many years of preaching at Kusheyeny with Stephen by my side to translate, this time Stephen delivered the sermon and I read the English translation as he preached.

After worship we spilled outside for the "offering auction." This is a wonderful tradition where people bring vegetables, eggs, sugarcane, and even bundles of grass for cattle to be auctioned off to other members of the congregation. The purchase price of each item is then credited as offering for the person who brought it. In this way people with a little money are able to support people who have none and support the church at the same time!

While the auction was still in process, my group began playing games with the children of the congregation and before long there was all kinds of laughing and screaming going on all around us. The video clip below will give you a small glimpse of all the fun being had.

During lunch after the service a trumpet fanfare could be heard approaching the room where we were all gathered.  Our group was delighted to see that a large goat had been roasted in our honor and everyone enjoyed at least a bite or two! That goat was well photographed so I won't bother posting a picture here.

Protea Lodge

We departed from the church and slid down the mountain until we stopped at Protea Lodge to hike down to the river and enjoy the beautiful grounds. Tomorrow morning we will head for the red dirt town of Karatu to  be in position to begin our safari the day after that. This may (or may not) be the last post for a few days as internet access is scarce out there in the bush. I may be able to do a couple short updates from my phone if I have signal.

For now, I will simply report that we have already had amazing, life changing experiences together and we have not yet completed our second day! Everyone is feeling good and I could not be more pleased with the great group of people making up Vision Trip 2014!

Kwa Heri for now.

Community of Grace

After a leisurely breakfast we climbed aboard the somewhat funky white Uhuru bus.  Sam rode shotgun, which makes it look like he is driving from our vantage point further back.  We made our way into the busy town of Moshi to exchange money and the group enjoyed their first full-on experience with street vendors.

Our first visit today was at the Ushirika Wa Neema Deaconess Centre (Community of Grace). Everyone appreciated learning about the life of the Lutheran Sisters as we strolled the campus to see, gardens, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, pigs and trees bursting with fresh fruits. The Deaconess Center is a forty-acre Garden of Eden from which life saving ministry emanates throughout the entire region.

The sisters butcher their own cows and make their own communion bread.  They run elite boarding schools and clean toilets.  They have committed their lives to service in the name of Christ. To be in the presence of the sisters is to be humbled.  To know them as friends is to be blessed beyond measure. When you visit there the Sisters promise they will keep you in their prayers after you leave. That alone makes the marathon journey to Tanzania worth all of the effort.

Next we visited a Building a Caring Community site. BCC Centers are amazing ministries that serve physically and mentally challenged children. In many cases these children remained locked in their small huts during the day while their parents go out to try to earn a living. The BCC locations offer a caring daycare for these children and offer educational services to their caretakers as well. We knew we were at a caring place when two of the children being cared for at the center greeted every person in our group with a big hug like we were long lost friends! 





Then it was off to a traditional Tanzanian feast at the home of Frederick and Janet Shoo. We had blood soup, intestines, banana stew and roasted goat! Lisset was the bravest in our group and tried almost everything!

Lisa, John and Carol all made it in today so we are at full strength with 18 people. We're up the mountain for worship at Kusheyeny tomorrow. There has been a lot of rain so it should be a fun ride!