Friday was a quiet day with a dinner out with the Jee family who took them to Denny's family restaurant followed by 10-pin bowling.  We understand John was the winner twice over and wants to play more!

Saturday was the last parish event with St Stephen's on this trip.  We had a picnic together at church and then gathered in the chapel to give thanks, say goodbye and bless them on their way.

It has only been 2 weeks but there were several people who teared up on saying goodbye - such has been the impact of John and Tito's visit to us.  We hoped "to deepen our relationship" - clearly that has happened and it is very good.

Tito said, "Kariboni (welcome) to Kondoa."  We say in return, "Kariboni back to New Zealand."

Three major events today:
1. Midweek service at St Stephen's;
2. A Lunch meeting with two of the trustees of the Henry and William Williams Memorial Trust;
3. A dinner with Bishop Kito of Te Tai Tokerau.

We started with the midweek communion service where John preached.  At the end, a parishioner asked for prayer for vertigo.  Tito, John and Ian prayed for her.  She said she felt something 'move' in her ears.  We heard on Sunday that the condition had greatly improved.  Praise the Lord!  Bwana asifiwe!

Then it was off to the airport to meet Hugh McBain and his daughter, Caroline, who are two of the trustees of the Henry and William Williams Memorial Trust.  The trust gives significant support to Kondoa Diocese and they grasped the opportunity to meet our two representatives of the Diocese.  We were welcomed by Bishop Kito and his staff to Rangihoua, his church office where we met and had lunch.  Then back to the airport to drop off the McBains. 

In the evening, Bishop Kito hosted a dinner for them.  He is another supporter of Bishop Given and was pleased to meet the priests and hear about their context.

Monday was a complete rest day after a very full week with many new experiences and many new faces to meet.  In the evening, Tito and John cooked Ugali and Mboga for their hosts and insisted they eat with their hands to the great amusement of both parties!

Wednesday offered a repeat visit to Mainly Music and the toddlers.  Lunch was a special Tanzanian meal cooked by their lunch hosts, Toni and Herb.  In the afternoon they made another visit to the Op Shops to engage in conversations with volunteers and customers.  Finally, in the evening, they joined the Lloyd's  homegroup for a Bible study on John's Epistles.  They were asked to lead the study to give an African perspective on the passage.

An important part of building relationships is the meals in parishioners home.  Today John and Tito visited Gerry and Linda Hay.  In addition to good conversation, they had a surprise for them.  The Hay family likes Jetskis and took our guests out on the water!

In the evening, there was great delight as Iri and Kate Mato had come up from Gisbourne to see Tito and John.  Kate and Iri were CMS Mission Partners in Kondoa for some years and had a strong connection with our guests.  So it was a chance to catch up with old friends.  The Matos stayed the night to attend worship in the morning before heading home.  In addition, Tina Megaw a friend of David and Jen Pearce (also former CMS Mission Partners to Kondoa) had come up to meet John and Tito.  Tina's husband Ian visited Kondoa earlier in the year.

The evening meal was a barbeque where our friends helped cook.

Further pasrish involvement with a visit to our Selwyn Centre - a  social programme for Seniors.  Following this they had lunch with the Henderson family and in the evening gave a presentation on their Ministry Context.  A recording of that event is below.

Our small mid-week service of 18 people enjoyed meeting our new friends.  Tito preached and they taught a song in Swahili: "Asante sana, Yesu" (Thank you, thank you, Jesus).  After lunch it was back to the Op Shop to meet more of the volunteers and customers - building relationship and in some cases sharing about Jesus.  In the evening, the Scott family had them around for a meal getting to know them and sharing stories from their lives.  Andrew Scott texted afterwards, "We had a fantastic time tonight, remarkable men!!!  The kids really enjoyed it too!!"

Today, they visited the Wednesday session of mainly music then the Parish Op Shop where they were able to meet with staff, volunteers and customers.  In the evening, we had a combined home group meeting of the two home groups which had been supporting Kondoa church workers. 

In the morning, Tito and John took part in our mainly music programme for mothers and preschool children.  After the staff meeting it was off to visit the Bishop of Auckland, Ross Bay.
We took time to see the view from one of the volcanic cones in the city and to look at the Anglican Cathedral and the old cathedral, where John tried out the lectern.

After a rest day with a walk in a local reserve, Tito and John visited "3DC" the innovative youth club involving young people in 3D design and 3D printing with an intention to connect with the 3rd world.  Not only did they engage with the young people including Stan below right, but they were able to share their faith with one of the adults.

Finally after a wait for 8.5 hours in Nairobi and 22 hours in Bangkok, the two priests arrived but no baggage - it missed one of the flights!  After all the delays it was a drive back to Whangaparaoa for them to join in with the Volunteers Thank You Event at Church.   Finally a chance to sit down and relax and get an early night.

But wait ... a phone call three hours later from Kenya.  The plane is delayed in Nairobi with a fault.  Now they won't make the connection in Bangkok. 

Tracking the DHL courier parcel from Pretoria to Tanzania, we took the decision that they should receive their passports back on Wednesday and be able to fly that night.  Tickets bought .... passports in hand ... a message from John: "We have checked in and are waiting in departure." 

Today, after trying since July, we learnt that our friends from Kondoa Diocese have been granted visitors' visas to New Zealand.  It has been a trying business getting to this point after two applications and now time is short as we are near the end of the year.  How quickly can their passports return from Pretoria?  When can they fly?