Hujambo, Habari, Bwana Asifiwe, (Hello, what's new? Praise the Lord!)
(part 1 of 2 installments)

I have just returned from a wonderful 2 1/2 week trip to Tanzania with Bishop Marcus Lohrmann, Asst. Bishop Dennis Maurer, lay pastor Bob and his wife Addie Brandt from Pemberville, and our Lakeside Lutheran Chautauqua organist ever since I've been attending (1972), Laura: Stellhorn of Sandusky. The purpose of our trip (other than my getting another country) was to attend the ordination of 7 pastors and the commissioning of over 150 lay evangelists who have completed a 3 or 6 year study program. Laura's church, Zion Sandusky, (where Pr. Dagefoerde began his ministry), contributed over $10,000 to this program. I was especially interested in this trip because we were to spend several days at the AYA Secondary School, which our church has supported with over $4000 from the Shigley bequest.

As you know, I've been on many trips, but this trip was unique. It was also not always easy: It is a very dirty country with way too much litter (I tried to point out that you can make rugs out of plastic bags and they could get millions of them free out along the streets and highways. One stork was using them to build her nest, which made the nest very colorful.); bathroom facilities are not what we would like (the norm is squat toilets* and no hot water except in places that specifically cater to Western tourists); bottled water is a must and one is never too sure of the food; a real nuisance are bugs and lizards (Lizards at least run the other way, but the mosquitoes and flies head right for you). I'm the only one that regularly used insect repellent, and I got the most bites by far. Most nights we slept under mosquito nets - the real "fun" is when they are inside with you. Other than that it was great. And I really do mean that.

At this point I must tell you about our hosts, guides, interpreters, tour planners and friends. They are a couple of missionaries from Germany, Reinhard and Ursula Friedrich. He was a parish pastor for 25 years, became "burnt out", and decided to go to Tanzania. They went there in 1992 and spent the first several years there full time, as director and teacher of the TEE program, which trains pastors and lay evangelists for the Dodoma Diocese. Since he officially retired a few years ago, they spend 6 months in Germany and 6 months in Tanzania, and are incredible people to get to know.

Now a little about the history of Tanzania and missionary work there. Dr. Livingstone, I presume, was the first African missionary. Actually the Roman Catholics did most of the very early work but no native priest was ordained unti11946. Slavery and the slave trade were rampant in East Africa just as in West Africa. Most of the trade in this area was conducted by Arabs, with the help of some natives and chiefs. One of the things the missionaries tried to do was buy the slaves, and then set them free.

In 1880 Tanzania became a German colony and that's when the Lutheran Missionaries invaded. (I don't know when Coca Cola was invented but Ursula says that the general rule is, "first comes Coca Cola and then the missionaries.") The Germans did much for the country, including building railroads, churches, and schools. Tanzania even adopted the German word "schule" for school After WWI the British took over the country as a protectorate but didn't really do as much for the country as the Germans did. (The Brits were much more involved in neighboring Kenya.) The Anglicans came in and took over most of the Lutheran Churches and schools. After WW2 the British left and told the German missionaries they could come back and have their property returned. The Lutherans and Anglicans still work together regularly.

Today Tanzania is about 50% Muslim. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church and the Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant church with 3.5 million members - about 10% of the country.

After landing at Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport, we spent 2 nights at the New Safari Hotel, a historic hotel that has been purchased and refurbished by the ELCT (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania). On our first full day there, we visited the ELCT headquarters in Arusha and got an overview of the church in general. Then we visited a Lutheran Hospital, which is the only one in the country to do complete hip and knee replacements. There we met a patient who had been attacked by a lion. The ELCT operates 20 hospitals in the country. We also visited a seminary.

The next 2 days were our safari days. We visited Lake Manyara National Park and then spent a whole day in the Ngorongoro Crater which is 12 miles across. We saw all of the main safari animals except cheetahs. For 2 nights we stayed at a very nice Lutheran Hostel at Karatu ($22 per night with breakfast-. double room with bath).

We then spent a long day driving (bouncing- 80% not paved) on the Cape Town to Cairo Hwy. to get to the AYA School. This is what I was particularly interested in on the trip. It is a secondary school with 180 students, costing $380 per year for tuition, room, and board. However, many are on scholarships. The school has an open enrollment and is about 30% Muslim. (One young man we met has converted to Christianity recently.)

On Sunday afternoon, after worshipping in the nearby town of Kondoa , we had a 2 1/2 hour session with the students. They asked us questions and then we did the asking. Students all wear uniforms, both in and out of classes. They were also extremely wen-behaved, interested, and eager to learn. The next morning I sat in on an English class taught by a young blind woman. Again I answered many questions. I took pictures along from our church album and they were very interested. Addie Brandt with her Poloroid camera turned out to be very popular, going through ten rolls of film. All classes are conducted in English except Swahili. It would be no better using Swahili in classes because many students speak tribal languages. Most signs in the country are in English. We stayed in the headmaster's house, which had been renovated but there was no hot water and one bathroom was full of roaches and the other full of ants. They did spray our rooms for bugs every night before we went to bed, but unfortunately they never cleaned away the hundreds of dead ants.

Our worship service at Kondoa (a town of about 20,000 about a half hour drive from the AYA school) was very similar to the other 2 formal Sunday morning services that I attended. All of the churches were at least partly open air. Basically men sat on one side and women on the other although there were a few crossovers. The choirs processed singing. The liturgy followed the same form as ours, although the music was different. I looked through their Swahili hymnal and about 60% of the songs were old German hymns and the others traditional Protestant and African songs. The people pick up their own numbered offering envelopes as they enter the church. There are generally two offerings taken. For both of them, all file up to the front of the church and deposit their offering in baskets. The first collection is their envelopes for their home congregation and the other is for some outside cause such as hospitals or the poor. Following the service all gather outside in a circle for an auction of non-monetary offerings, such a rice, sugar cane, or peanuts.

One afternoon and evening we visited a Masai (very primitive) village. The evangelism team was there first with generator, PA system, and electric guitars to get the service started. It was held in a structure of sticks pounded into the ground around a big tree for shade. People sat on benches made of sticks bound together. Much music and short sermons are the norm for Masai services. I again brought my church album pictures and they were very interested, but it was difficult because they don't speak English. After sundown the "Jesus" video was shown on a sheet screen stretched between 2 poles. We didn't stay for the whole movie because we had a 1 1/2 hour drive back to AYA over very bad roads, so they gave us some bar-be-qued goat to take with us. When they slaughtered it, the village children came running to get the blood and kidneys, a real treat?

Back at AYA the next morning we took part in the dedication of the new administration building. Carl Gingrich of Arcadia, who spends much of the year in Tanzania working on various projects for both the church and a business consortium, was instrumental in completing this project, along with a significant gift from St. Peter's, Norwalk. At the reception following the dedication, we all joined in eating the ceremonial mbuzi (goat), hot off the grill.

Judy Pfaffenburg

Part 2