Safari Njema!

It's Monday, and early this morning Pastor Randy, Mark, Stephen, and Brandon boarded the bus with driver Peter for the long journey to Dar. They'll get in to the city in time to shop at Slipway (and I think they surprised themselves with the amount of shopping they ended up doing these past few days), have a nice dinner at Sea Cliff, and then get to the airport for their 11:30 PM flight to Amsterdam. In about 24 hours, they'll be landing in Minneapolis.

May the roads be smooth and the traffic be light today.

I'll miss their good humor and cheerful company. This was one of the most low-maintenance groups I've ever accompanied on this wonderful journey. They were always ready for the next adventure, and we had many. Stephen and Brandon had really studied their Swahili in preparation for the trip and were able to pick up lots of new phrases while here. For first time visitors, they all showed great insights and willingness to be open to the cultural differences they encountered. They were wonderful ambassadors on behalf of Shepherd of the Valley. They are all already talking in terms of "when" they come back again, not "if."

Now I (Kirsten) am settled into the apartment above the Bega Kwa Bega office, across the street from the Lutheran Centre. I am grateful to Pastor Julie Rogness, now staffing the BKB office, for her warm welcome. She says she has plans for me this week--I get to observe the work at BKB during regular office hours, and she says she may have a task or two for me to complete, as well.

This morning I had one of the most valuable meetings of each trip. For the past three or four trips, we have taken time after our return from Tungamalenga to have a follow up visit with Iringa Diocese officials. Today I met with General Secretary Nayman Chavalla for a follow up visit. We reviewed the requests and agreements that we came to in Tungamalenga, asked for more information in some cases, and asked for support in others. I really value this meeting because of the wider perspective we are given. Sometimes the requests we hear in the village may come into some conflicts with diocese policy, for instance, and in reviewing our plans with diocese staff we often receive advice that prevents us from making missteps that we would regret later.

One of the things we talked about was the request to assist in providing water to the village of Mahove. We have some initial drawings and cost estimates for a project that would pipe in water to this remote location, providing five points of access with faucets so that none of the villagers would have to walk more than a kilometer to reach water. When we met in the village with congregational and local leaders, we left them with a list of questions to research. General Secretary Chavalla will arrange a meeting with an Iringa water engineer, and we will continue to evaluate the feasibility of the project.

One last piece of news for today. Last night when we returned to the Lutheran Center for the evening, our cook Petro was telling us that he had taken his wife to the government hospital with labor pains. He was very concerned because the baby was a few weeks early. This morning, he was bubbling over with joy at the news that a healthy baby boy was born overnight. Bwana Yesu Asifiwe!