Home Sweet Home

It was a very special privilege to be able to visit Tanzania with Patti and see the work with the Maasai tribe and experience the beauty and grandeur of East Africa.  However, I must admit that it is great to home!  It was truly a blessing to be back with my church family yesterday and I was completely blown away with the surprise announcement that we had exceeded our Lottie Moon goal with a total of more than $105,000. It was also a joy to feel the enthusiasm last night as we gathered to welcome Jon and Kim Durham to our ministry staff.

Today is my birthday.  For those of you who are afraid to ask, I am now 49 years old. They say that you are as old as you feel and I hope it's not true because after two weeks of being in another time zone and then sitting more than 30 hours on an airplane, I'm feeling pretty old right this minute.  Usually though, I don't feel a day older than 48!  I am looking forward to another great year even though my next birthday is a big one.

Again, I want to thank all of you who followed this blog and supported us while in Africa with your prayers and comments.  It was good to know that while we were separated by thousands of miles, we were still one in spirit.
Be blessed.

Finally Home!

It's now Saturday morning and I can hardly believe that the trip to Tanzania which had been planned for months is now over. Thank you all so much for the prayers and support as we traveled. We flew halfway around the world and back without a hitch. The travel was exhausting but everything went smoothly and we arrived home right on time. Praise the Lord.



Continue to pray for Dan and Pam Johnson, they were great hosts.



I am sure that this trip will be fresh in my heart and mind for many years. I hope to be able to visit with the Maasai of Tanzania many more times. I also hope that many of you will share the vision and do whatever necessary to follow the Lord to the ends of the earth and see His handiwork in the most beautiful and remote places on earth.

I will be sharing a lot more information about our trip and our plans to continue our support there in the days and weeks to come so please stay connected. Until then, thank you again for the many prayers and support.

Headed Home!!!

It is 415pm here in Kilimanjaro International and we are waiting to board our first flight which is already late.  The adrenalin is gone now and we are both exhausted but ready to get home.  We fly from here to Ethiopia and then from there to Washington DC with a short layover in Rome.  We are scheduled to arive in Charleston around 2:00 on Friday.  Please pray for our strength and safety.  We love you all and will see you on Sunday.

Safari

Late Sunday afternoon we pulled into Tarangire National Park which is one of the largest wild animal preserves in Tanzania.. It only took a few minutes for us to realize where we were because we stopped only a few minutes from the public camping area to watch a heard of elephant cross the trail. The campsite was nice but completely exposed to the wild animals and it was a little disconcerting to discover that we were the only campers brave enough (or stupid enough) to stay in such a remote place with nothing more than nylon tents for protection. Then, as we were getting settled in, one of the parked rangers pulled up and left an armed guard who would stay with us all night, “just as a precaution.” My anxiety climbed a little more when after Patti and Pam had gone to bed, Dan and I were sitting in the camp talking with the guard when he got a strange look on his face and then said, “I just heard a lion down by the river.” Then I heard it! Sounded a little like a bullfrog but Dan said that the adult mail lions grunt that sound to communicate with the pride. Am I supposed to sleep in a tent where there is a lion close enough to hear him grunt? Laying quietly on my cot, I heard the sound several more times and finally prayed myself to sleep. All was good until Patti woke me up around 4am because she was hearing something “walk around the camp.” She wanted me to get up and go see what it was. Yea right. I chose not to tell her about the conversation with the guard and suggested it was probably a warthog rooting around (we had seen lots of them on the way in). She accepted that explanation and tried to go back to sleep until whatever it was started scratching on our tent. It didn't help her feel any better but I knew that the King of the Jungle would not knock before entering. I felt better..

The next day we spent the day driving through the vastness of the African plain. What and experience? We made a list of all the wild animals we saw and those we hoped to see. It was like being right in the middle of a National Geographic Documentary! Giraffes, elephants, monkeys, baboons, buffalo, warthogs, mongoose, all kinds of impala , and finally, there they were, two bigger than life mail lions lying under an Acacia tree. (Only about 2 Kilometers from where we had camped!) Finally, as we were on our way out of the camp we saw several jeeps stopped on the trail all looking in the same direction. It was another big cat; the all elusive leopard. All in all, not bad for our first ever safari.

The twenty four hours we spent at Tarangeri was indeed a spiritual experience for all of us. The glory and majesty of our God could not have been more evident. We left there late in the afternoon and drove back to Arusha and set up camp there for our last night of camping.

The Church at Losimongori



A packed house

 On Sunday morning we joined the Maasai for worship in Losimongori at one of the largest Maasai churches in the area. The building was small and very primitive with simple benches on a concrete floor, plank walls and a tin roof. The entire building was only about 20' by 30' in diameter. We walked into the room to find that a group of singers (the choir) had already starting singing. The sound of the music filled the valley and actually served as a “call to worship” because over the next hour or so some 80 people packed out the tiny sanctuary. Each one would walk in, bow for a time of prayer and then join the singing.



The Choir



The music was so moving that we could hardly believe that they were singing without any instruments. Every song was a rhythmic melody where one person would take the lead and sing out a phrase which was then repeated by the others in a very together 5 or 6 part harmony. Along with the singing were motions or dances that seems choreographed and rehearsed but were actually only a part of their longstanding traditional worship. This all went on, song after song, until about 11:10. It was all so moving that I remember thinking how glad I was that they were 8 hours ahead of us because I felt sure that all of the angels were gathered around the Maasai churches to participate in their pure worship. One thing is for sure, these people have been training to worship Jesus for thousands of years and now are excited to be able to direct all this beautiful expression to Him alone.

After the final song, the people filed down front and placed their offerings in a basket and then the pastor preached. The final segment was an altar call where they laid hands on the sick and needy and prayed earnestly for them. Finally, as the people exited the building, they formed a single line that resulted in a circle where each one greeted the others and wished them well before departing. Altogether the service lasted for about 3 hours, the temperature must have been 90 with little ventilation in a packed building on uncomfortable benches, but no one complained.

Back from the Pori



Zebras along the road



It has been an incredible five days. It is Tuesday evening and we are back to the Johnson's home in Moshi. There is no way, I can sum up these last five days in one blog so get ready for several blogs over the next few days where I will brag profusely on the majesty of our God as we have seen His handiwork in so many ways.

Wildebeests

First, the drive on Friday through the Pori to Kamakia was incredible. It was hard to believe just how enormous and beautiful the landscape across Tanzania was. The narrow dirty road we travelled for five hours would have been extremely uncomfortable and draining had we not been so psyched at the marvelous landscapes and herds of animals. We saw zebra, wildebeests, ostriches, impalas, camels, and many smaller species of range rovers and even one giraffe. It was almost like being on a safari; at least we thought so until we actually went on safari a few days later. Once arriving in Kamakia, we set up camp with the help of a couple Maasai warriors who stayed with us all night as our guards. The next day we watched as Dan went through the story cloth, sharing the gospel with several Maasai. Dan carefully demonstrated to us how to use the story cloth and other resources to minister to the Massai tribes.





In front of the vast Pori



On Saturday we traveled to Losi, another area densely populated by Maasai. While driving we were carefully noting the number and locations of the Maasai bomas. A boma is a circle of huts where one Maasai extended family lives. These bomas are spread out over the plains and are loosely affiliated with each other. I will say more about the Maasai lifestyle in a later blog.

Sunday we went to one of the largest Maasai churches in Losi. Incredible! More on that later as well.





Sunday night, we spent the night in the middle of Tarangeri national park where on Monday we went on an actual safari. More on this incredible experience later.



Our campsite in Kamakia



We are all glad to be back and are all safe and well. We truly felt your prayers and support. Keep up with this sight as I will go into greater detail later about the specifics of our trip. Right now I am too exhausted to be creative. God bless.



The Pori

It is Thursday evening here and we are packed and ready to leave early in the morning for the Pori (bush country) to spend four days with the Maasai people.  We have tents and all the camping supplies necessary to be pretty self-sufficient.  Our main purpose is to explore several areas where the Maasai live that have not yet been approached with the gospel.  Dan has only been to this area one time on a scouting trip so we are not sure what or who we will encounter on this trip.. I am excited about that because it reminds me of the time we first went into Pullo, Peru and walked around the streets looking for some place to sleep.  I am also reminded of what the Apostle Paul said:  "My heart's desire is to preach the gospel where it has never been heard before." 

We have heard that there has been some rain in the area so please pray that we will be able to get in and out of the area.  It is an eight hour drive from here, most of which will be on dirt roads and paths.  If it rains hard, we will not be able to get in.  If it rains hard while we are there, we may not be able to get out.  Dan has a great strategy for reaching the Maasai with the gospel message and descipling the new believers.  I am convinced that OFBC can be a great asset to God's work here.  We will find out more later.

I will not be able to blog or e-mail until we come out of the Pori late Tuesday.  I am having trouble downloading pics because the Internet here is so slow.  As we are preparing for bed here in Moshi, we can clearly here the Muslim prayers being broadcast from the mosque down the street.  Another reminder of the lostness in East Africa,

Thanks for your prayers.  Keep in mind that camping is not one of Patti's spiritual gifts.  However, I must say she is doing great getting acclimated to the heat and humidity here in Tanzania. We both feel so blessed to be a part of what God is doing here.  i am sure that I will have a lot to say on Tuesday.  Be blessed.

Arusha Pics

The Campus of Mount Meru University

A beautiful Co-ed in the library

Another beautiful co-ed

A study group enjoying the summertime weather

Patti's Perspective

Today was our first full day and was a great day.  Eric told you about our trip and the only thing I will add is that we felt invisible, which is a good thing.  God put up a barrier and we breezed through everything, it was great.  Today was exciting.  We went to Mount Meru University and met  with the leadership.  We got some valuable information for future trips.  We also got to see the Tawi leadership which are the Maasai pastors and tomorrow we will be packing to go in country on Friday. 

Dan and Pam have a beautiful home and we feel very welcome.  So far our accomodations are great.  I will let you all know how camping is this weekend.  Keep praying that God will use us as we go to see the Maasi people.  I am very excited.

Tanzania Africa: We're here!!!

This is a HUGE and beautiful place!  We arrived without a hitch.  Thanks so much for all the prayers while we were traveling,  we truly felt the power of prayer and saw the hand God working in every aspect of our travel.  First of all, we left Charleston just minutes before the winter storm arrived.  Then we made every connection and walked smoothly through all the security checkpoints without question.  The flights were long but comfortable and while we did not sleep much, we were able to talk a lot about the coming week. 

It's hot here.  Really hot!  We got off the plane in Arusha and walked across the tarmac feeling every degree of the 95 temp.  We are staying with the Johnsons in there very beautiful house (provided by the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering) which has all the comforts of home except air conditioning.  Didn't matter though because we slept so hard last night we didn't notice the heat.  A cold shower this morning was just the ticket to get our day started.  It is Wednesday here and we are going to be touring Moshi and Arusha to familiarize ourselves with the important sights that we will be using as we bring teams to the area.  Tomorrow we will spend a day doing the tourist thing and then we are off into the Pori (bush country) to meet the Maasai leaders and people.

Please continue to pray for divine appointments as we move through the day today.  No pics yet but should have some tonight.