The following blog entries are notes that I took while on my recent trip to Tanzania.  They are in a rough form and kind of lengthy but I decided to post them as is.

Friday Night Feb. 22, 9:42 P.M.

Mosquitoes - 0

Reed - 1

I am in a village near Same Tanzania struggling with feeling a bit discouraged and alone. It has been quite a trip to get here. On Wednesday a group of 7 of us pulled out of the Petersburg church and headed for Dulles. Pretty smooth trip, a little bit of snow on the way but traffic treated us really well. When we got to Dulles, British Airways told us they wanted to switch us all to a United flight because of baggage problems in London. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal since not all of our group was at Dulles yet, some were already at the gate for the British Airways flight, and we didn't have a lot of extra time. We finally got it all squared away and were on our way. I sat next to Ronnie Hardin on the flight, and slept for about four hours or so.

We arrived in London about 7:00 am. We split the group up, Pastor Phipps, Martha Philips, Agnes Wolosuk and I decided to stay at the airport while the rest toured London a bit before our evening flight. The four of us made our way to the gate, and had been there a while (I worked on some e-mails, and a mileage report) when Martha noticed that her luggage tag said the destination of her luggage was London, and not Dar es Salaam, like the rest of us. We went to British airways counter and after a bit were able to track down here luggage in Terminal 3. This meant that Martha and I had to go back and retrieve it and then come back to terminal 4. Sounds easy enough but it meant a lot of lines, security, customs, etc. A bit of walking (I figured a little under 2 miles), a bus, and a train ride. British airways said they couldn't help us with this, so Martha and I made the trip and were back in under two hours. The rest of the group arrived back from London a while later and we made our way to the gate where we found that British airways for some reason had canceled Tom and Lynda Bunches tickets to Dar es Salaam. Barbie worked with them at the desk and finally got them on the plane with their luggage.

I slept some on the flight and had the privilege of tasting the weirdest pickled lime sauce that came with my dinner. On our decent into Tanzania we had an incredible view of Mt. Kilamanjaro from the plane. It was amazing to see it towering above the Serengeti, glacier and all. At the arrival we were greeted with classic African heat and the smell of body odor (some of it was definitely our own). Cleveland Kisaka got us through customs and immigration in about 2 minutes! We discovered though the three boxes that I had packed with books, school supplies, and shortwave radios were all missing. We filed a form with customer service, were greeted outside by Dr. Kisaka, and hopped on a bus, in order to catch the 9:00 am bus to Same. We got on the 9:00 bus, and headed out. We stopped for lunch at about 1:00 and after another two hours or so of riding got to the place where Willie Kisaka and Dr. Bendall were waiting for us. We got out used the restroom and got some drinks.

While we were there Bendall and Willie told us a story. On there way down they met a woman who needed to was pregnant and needed to go see a doctor. Her baby was dead inside of her but her doctor that she had seen had given her a wrong diagnosis and told her to go home until the delivery. She was very sick. They put her in the bus and headed down the mountain, but she did not make it. They took her body off of the bus and Willie found a truck to put her on and said to the driver he would pay him later. Bendall and Willie asked for everyone to donate $10 to help pay for her body to be carried back to her family.

Afterwards all 14 of us piled into to land rovers to head to the meeting site where i will be preaching this week. I was a little disappointed to find out that I was being dropped off there while the rest of the group continued to Chome. I had originally thought I would spend a night or two in Chome and was really looking forward to it. We got to the meeting site which was some benches spread out under a massive Baobab tree and a small decorated booth for preaching.

After some introductions and a song from the choir that brought tears to my eyes, Richard told a children's story and then preached a sermon from Acts 3. After Richard told the children's story Willie pulled me aside to talk about the evening meeting which would start at 7:00 (it was about 6:00). I realized I would need to go prepare, so Willie introduced me to Elijah who is my host for the week (I am staying in Willie's house he recently bought, and plans to start a pharmacy in, it is still under construction). I will be eating all my meals at Elijah's house. We went to his house, plugged in my laptop and I began to work.

I was a little disappointed when I asked if I could go and say goodbye to the rest of the group before they left for Chome but was told that they left 15 minutes ago. I don't think I will see them again until Sunday when I meet them in Arusha and we travel to the airport in Nairobi. I was also a little discouraged when I checked my duffel bag and found that my RGB extension cord and presentation remote were missing. I later found out that my alarm clock had also been stolen, I think probably at the airport in Dar es Salaam.

We got things set up for the meeting. It was a bit weird. I just started the meeting. No songs beforehand no introduction or welcome. I preached on how when the ship is going down everything changes. We had the Swahili text references on the screen. But the problem was that we had no light in which to read our Bibles. So I suggested a flashlight, and I would hold it with my neck, while I held my bible and microphone with my hands. It was a bit awkward. I didn't feel the greatest about the sermon. But Jackson (my translator and a pastor of 15 churches and even more companies, he's 24) said he thought it was encouraging because I talked about how all the problems of the earth will be over when Jesus comes. I closed the sermon by asking people to come forward for prayer if they wanted to make a certain change in their life.

After a while a group came forward. I prayed and then afterwards met a woman named Helena (not an adventist) who has had some sort of lung trouble and pains in her chest for the last year, she also has three children. I prayed for her while Jackson translated. After we gathered up our stuff, Pastor Reuben the district pastor (he has 19 churches and 15 companies) all ate dinner at Elijah's house. We had some mango (yum) banana, macaroni, and what they call yams but I know as Edo from Guyana. It is a purplish-grayish root that tastes basically potato like. We talked a bit, I asked about my schedule and then came back to my room. It is pretty clean and new by Tanzanian standards. There is a small bathroom with a sink, toilet (with a seat) and open shower. One of the girls brought me a bucket of hot water for my shower since the shower head is not finished. So now I am cleaned up and writing this.

Trying to process why I feel a bit discouraged, and trying not to feel that way. I think I feel a bit lonely No Jade or Faith, no other missionaries for the rest of the week. I have also allowed some of these small inconveniences to affect me too much, realizing at the same time that this week is going to be hard. I remember reading Isaiah 53 on the plane from London to Dar es Salaam. (I felt like the Lord had woke me up, while most people were still sleeping and the plane was quiet in order to read and pray). Parts from verses 10 and 11 especially stood out "When you make His soul and offering for sin"... I thought about how Christ's life was an offering, how he was willing to do what was indescribably hard and ultimately die, all for our sins. I thought about how I want my life to be an offering, lived in sacrifice so that others can be saved from their sins. Then I read in verse 11 "He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied"... I felt that is what I ultimately wanted out of life, to see the labor of my soul, the fruits for the kingdom it has produced and to be satisfied. I prayed for the Lord to give me an opportunity to do this.

Well I guess He is starting with these little inconveniences, yet it is amazing how my soul even shrinks back from those. I want to go on a mission trip, but I want it to be easy, a good time, a vacation. Lord forgive me. May I value the lives of the people here. May I love their lives more than my own. May I count it a joy to labor for others. Lord I pray that your love would be shed abroad in my heart through the Holy Ghost. I pray that I would be willing to spend and be spent--on Your terms-- for the sake of the gospel. Please give me strength and wisdom in this next week. May I not look to myself, but prayerfully depend upon You. Lord I have three sermons and a health talk to present each day. I am not prepared. Oh Lord help me. Show me what to present, help me to prepare what to present. Above all Lord prepare my heart. May your love shine through, may all my Reedness be crucified. May your Holy Spirit be poured out. Lord I pray for these people that You would save them despite me... Lord I don't feel like I should be here, these local pastors can preach. They know the people, the language, the culture, they can make the calls, Yet Lord you brought me here, help me Lord. May I trust Your purpose. Thank You for your goodness and mercy. Thank You that You are trustworthy. Lord I pray for Jade and Faith. Keep them safe, please bring me back to them. Help Jade not to feel alone. Lord I pray for the group in Chome, Lord may they be shining examples of Christ. May they experience Chirst greater, may they leave here with a fire in their bones that will never be quenched. Thank you Lord for your mercy. Help me to sleep now. In Jesus name, Amen.