What a welcome we received! In our previous visits, we have travelled via Arusha and found it very helpful to stay with friends on a mission complex, but this time we went via Dar Es Salaam. Staying in the centre of town, there was a pair of large speakers on top of a mosque nearby, and because it is the month of Ramadan, the prayers went on late in the evening as well as starting briefly at 4am.
The early morning found us back at the airport boarding a Cessna Grand Caravan, flying 1 1/2 hours to Dodoma. It was fun being in a small aircraft, close enough to the ground to be able to see interesting land features - harsh mountains, tiny settlements with the odd bright blue roof scattered amongst the bare iron sheets, little rolling hills dotted with houses, a tortuously winding river sparking in contrast to the dull green lowlands. All accompanied by the excitement of, "Who will be there to meet us in Dodoma?"
So what a lovely surprise when it was Bishop Given, plus Christine and Peter Akester opening their arms wide at the arrival entrance of the capital's areodrome. We felt like foreign dignitaries approaching a welcoming party :-)
On the way back to the Bishop's house, we lingered in Dodoma central, buying Bibles as presents for the villages we would soon visit. Then on to greet Lilian (Mama Bishop) and give her the well-travelled, cast-iron mincer I had brought for her. A mincer in this part of the world means you don't need a kitchen wizz, or electricity, just a sturdy table to clamp it to. When I wrote to her three months ago to say I had been given one for her, she had forgotten that she had mentioned the need of one when we were there back in September. She wrote back, "Praise God! I was just at the market in Dodoma yesterday and could not find one to buy."
While there, I prayed for her niece, who is at home from school because of having caught typhoid. She is the third child to catch it in that household recently. Children often don't see the need or forget such tiresome things as always brushing their teeth with boiled water. What comes out of the tap is so much easier when you are rushing to get to school on time.
Well, I think I will post this while we still have electricity and internet access :-)
Blessings,
Helen
The early morning found us back at the airport boarding a Cessna Grand Caravan, flying 1 1/2 hours to Dodoma. It was fun being in a small aircraft, close enough to the ground to be able to see interesting land features - harsh mountains, tiny settlements with the odd bright blue roof scattered amongst the bare iron sheets, little rolling hills dotted with houses, a tortuously winding river sparking in contrast to the dull green lowlands. All accompanied by the excitement of, "Who will be there to meet us in Dodoma?"
So what a lovely surprise when it was Bishop Given, plus Christine and Peter Akester opening their arms wide at the arrival entrance of the capital's areodrome. We felt like foreign dignitaries approaching a welcoming party :-)
On the way back to the Bishop's house, we lingered in Dodoma central, buying Bibles as presents for the villages we would soon visit. Then on to greet Lilian (Mama Bishop) and give her the well-travelled, cast-iron mincer I had brought for her. A mincer in this part of the world means you don't need a kitchen wizz, or electricity, just a sturdy table to clamp it to. When I wrote to her three months ago to say I had been given one for her, she had forgotten that she had mentioned the need of one when we were there back in September. She wrote back, "Praise God! I was just at the market in Dodoma yesterday and could not find one to buy."
While there, I prayed for her niece, who is at home from school because of having caught typhoid. She is the third child to catch it in that household recently. Children often don't see the need or forget such tiresome things as always brushing their teeth with boiled water. What comes out of the tap is so much easier when you are rushing to get to school on time.
Well, I think I will post this while we still have electricity and internet access :-)
Blessings,
Helen
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