Day Seven: Wild Wednesdays at SOTV

We left the house this morning at 9 AM and returned home at 9 PM.  Great day!

We started the day at Shannon Park Elementary in Rosemount.  Whereas Rosemount Elementary is an older, traditionally built school, Shannon Park is very new, built with an open layout.  John showed these kids where Tanzania is, and then we listened to them make morning announcements.

We planned for a tour lasting 30 - 45 minutes at this school and ended up enjoying an hour in the company of Principal Mark Guthrie.  A kindergarten teacher called us into her room, and when she heard John was from Tanzania, "Karibu!"

This kindergarten class learns a little Swahili each year, so the teacher pulled us in for an impromptu lesson.  John showed the students his flight pattern on the map and we had a quick conversation about life in Tanzania.

After the elementary school, we popped into Shepherd of the Valley's Celebrating Preschool classroom with Carol Read and the 4/5 year olds.  These kids have also had an introduction to Tanzania -- they could all tell us that they were "tano" or five years old.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Shepherd of the Valley pastors at Doolittle's, thanks to a couple of members who give the pastors a gift card each year.  Thank you, pastors, for including John this year!

The conversation ranged from preaching styles and philosophies, to the issue of how Muslims and Christians get along in Tanzania.  We talked about our partnership and the importance of the scholarship program.

Back at church, John had a wonderful hour long conversation with Kari Slotten about the process Shepherd of the Valley went through to create its Vision statement.  Kari talked about her work as project manager for the implementation of the vision. We talked about how strategic planning works in Tanzanian parishes.

John has many ideas to consider!

From 3 PM until 8 PM, John had a schedule (designed by Youth Director Katie Heilman) for addressing confirmation classes.  Each hour, he would give a five minute greeting in one room to the eighth graders, then a five to ten minute greeting in the sixth and seventh grade class, then return to the eighth grade room for a 35 minute discussion in small groups.

He was always surprised at how quickly the five minutes went by!

At each group, John introduced himself and talked about the importance of the scholarship program provided by Shepherd of the Valley.  

Do all of you students attend school?

In Tanzania, only ten percent of kids your age would be attending school.

To attend secondary school in Tanzania is a big challenge -- students have to travel far to the nearest secondary school, they have to live in dormitories, they have to find the money to pay the fees.

In Tanzania, school is not free as it is in America!

School may cost $380 US Dollars.

But the parents' income may be only $400 per year.

How can they pay school fees and still have money to eat?

Thank you for the scholarships you provide.

Even myself, I would not be a pastor without your support.

There was an hour in there when John was able to enjoy pizza with Pastors Randy and Chris.

He ended the evening with the Senior Choir, who learned the song we've been singing all week.

Loving Lord, you are a part of me.

Loving Lord, you are my friend.

All the way along the journey,

Hand in hand, I walk with you.

Tomorrow:  John meets with SOTV's human resources director to learn about how we recruit, hire and manage employees; then we meet with Children's Ministry staff to go over details of our Sunday and next Wednesday activities in Godzone; then lunch with children's and youth ministry staff.  I think we need an afternoon off, so we may cancel the tentative plans we had to visit a farm in Rosemount.  Then dinner guests.

Pamoja, na wewe.

Pamoja, na wewe.

Katika safari yangu

Nitembee na wewe.