We lived and worked in Tanzania for four years (2017-2021)
as MCC service workers and then finally the last Reps to close up shop. Paul’s
position as health programs coordinator took him out to the towns of Mwanza and
Musoma in northwest Tanzania, and even through the Serengeti once on a public
bus (not a trip for the faint of heart). However, my position never gave me the
occasion to travel out to the Mara region, the birthplace of the Tanzanian
Mennonite Church (KMT) and all the related Anabaptist churches in this region. Now that we are Reps in Kenya, we have been working on
a visit to the KMT headquarters, since that Tanzanian Anabaptist community is
one of our strategic partners in the two-country program.
Evening at Matavilla resort in Musoma
We finally headed out West on Monday morning this past week,
accompanied by our Food Security Programs Officer James. After an 8-hour drive,
we stopped just short of the border in the town of Migori, where we were met by
our Peace Coordinator William. We had promised the Kenya Mennonite Church
leadership that we would pass by and see their bible college in Migori on the
first opportunity. The church secretary general Rev. Zedekiah and two faculty
took us on a tour of the Migori Mennonite Church compound, which includes a
congregation along with the Bible College (MATCO) and a dormitory. 
MATCO faculty and MCCers
The church
now requires pastors to have theological training, but that’s a challenge
because aspiring pastors also need to work to support themselves. Many of them
are teachers in government schools. So the best model is to hold intensive
courses during the school holiday breaks and then send students home with further
reading and assignments. With Tarime diocese leaders
After talking about MATCO, we took the bible school lecturers back to our hotel to share dinner and more conversation. It was interesting to talk with them about their favorite topics to teach; we also debated whether persecution and violence must always accompany the spread of the Gospel. The conversation was quite deep, and went late!
And then we needed
to head back up to our rooms, for Paul and I to deal with quite a few urgent
emails that had come in throughout the day. Sadly, Paul had been getting a cold
over the weekend, and he was feeling pretty lousy at night. Paul with Bisendo,
KMT development staff
We woke early to head to the Tanzania/Kenya border and
managed to cross without too much trouble, thanks to the help of a clearing
agent to help us fill out all the forms to drive in TZ with our new
LandCruiser. On the other side of the border, a delegation of Tanzanian
Mennonites met us and led us south for about an hour. Our first stop was a
courtesy visit to the Bishop of Tarime Diocese. Bishop Albert Randa spoke a bit
about the history of the Mennonite community there and their current projects,
especially with a Compassion project to support children’s education and
mothers’ employment.
Tarime diocese and Nyarero church leaders
Then we loaded up in three LandCruisers and headed out to the community of Nyarero, the second mission compound established by Mennonite Missionaries in Tanzania in the 1930s. Nyarero is located in a stretch of fertile highland area to the East of Lake Victoria, with a pleasant climate and plenty of rainfall. Maize, potatoes and bananas all grow well. The first missionaries came and established a church, a health center and a primary school on a 56-acre plot of land at the top of a gentle hill. At independence, the first Tanzanian bishop decided it would be better to turn the school over to the government to run as a public institution. Later, the health center was unable to keep up with government requirements and so it also closed.
The first missionary home now serves and the
church parish
The congregation is still quite large and so there is a healthy community around, but they lack any institutions. It was a bit eerie to walk around the compound and see ancient jacaranda trees overshadowing a huge spread of scarlet amaryllis bulbs – clearly plantings left by previous missionaries – yet most of the compound is quite unkempt and unused under old trees.
old trees and bulbs
When we reached the church, our 4 MCC staff members were
entertained by a delegation of about 20 leaders from the local and diocese
levels, making their pitch, and then giving us a delicious late lunch. The Diocese re-envisions the large compound as
a Farmer Resource Center, with demonstration plots for climate smart
agriculture, a modern dairy, a poultry business, and even a recreational area
with a retreat center. They are correct that the compound is a valuable asset
to the church and it could be more fully utilized to benefit the community.
Lavish lunch at Nyarero
Church
leaders worked with a consultant to prepare a business plan, and we really
encouraged them to leverage the value of the property to get credit and invest
in some of these hoped-for infrastructure improvements. We left the community
over their rough road in a pouring rain and thick fog, heading further south to
the town of Musoma to stay the night. We were grateful to have a 4x4, which we
used to it’s full capacity to travel through mud and stony, steep ground.
We spent most of the next day near Musoma and the KMT
offices together with the church General Secretary and some of his staff in the
church development wing. In order to partner with MCC, the project must focus
on the community and involving participants in planning a project that meets
their felt needs. So there is some work to do to find common ground and develop
a project proposal that is really about community development rather than
restoring a compound as a productive entity. But we felt like we were able to
give more in-person technical advice about how to prepare an MCC project. We
are certainly keen to re-develop a healthy collaboration with the Kanisa la
Mennonite Tanzania. Tour of the Mennonite College of East Africa
Livelihoods project
Tarime, making soap, baskets
and batiks
Our full day in Musoma also included a number of other “side
quests” and learning opportunities. In 1934, the first missionaries established
a bible college on another large compound, stretching from the main road to
Musoma down to the shores of Lake Victoria. The church headquarters offices are
still there, along with student and staff housing, a church building, a
library, and various other structures. We got a tour of the Bible college with
the principal and met a classroom full of certificate students – We are so glad
to see that there were more than 30 students attending an intensive two-week
session of courses. We also met leaders from another church diocese with few
churches but a lot of interaction with refugees from the neighboring war-torn
countries. They were interested in community reconciliation training.
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| James, William and Paul at Matavilla resort |
In the morning, Paul and I took an early morning walk down
to the lake in the opposite direction and I found a whole bunch of other birds
I’ve never spotted in the flesh before, including the brilliant black-headed
gonolek. That evening after work, we went out to one of the “beach resorts”
around Musoma to explore another part of the shore. The lake level has risen
several meters since COVID, and so the resort is in danger of flooding in heavy
rains. But it was still fascinating to climb around on the boulders, feel the
stiff breeze across the water, and again do some excellent birdwatching.
Tumbles of huge boulders seem to be the special feature of that part of the
area along the lake, creating otherworldly landscapes, and the resort had built
some rooms right flush against the rock. It’s also a great environment for
monitor lizards, vervet monkeys and other creatures: The restaurant seemed to
be frequented by more rock hyraxes than customers!Evening on Lake Victoria
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| Rock hyrax |
We left Musoma early on Thursday, and did our best to make
good time across the border and up into the rainy highlands of Kenya. William
and James had some very helpful reflections to share on the visit as we drove,
and it was great to share the journey with them. We left William off in Kisii
to get transport back to his home in Eldoret, and kept driving to the Maasai
community in Olepolos, just a few km off the main road leading back to Nairobi.
Matavilla resort, looking vulnerable to floods
Compassion center at Olepolos
In August, we will be receiving a new group of short-term
MCC volunteers, and two of them will be placed in Olepolos. We wanted to go and
begin to meet the team that leads the community development projects there, to
help make sure that their assignments are well-supported. Olepolos Mennonite Church
was started in the 1990s by couple we actually know, Claire and Beth Good, who
were serving with Eastern Mennonite Missions at the time. They worked with
community leaders to open a health dispensary and a community development
association. They were only there about 10 years, but then the existing local
leadership has taken those foundations to establish a healthy community center,
with a Compassion ministry next to the public primary school.
Parent's farm
The community has
found their own sources of funding to start a secondary school for girls, and
has worked on starting a parents’ farm project. Everything was so well kept and
tidy, an excellent example of a well-cared for compound that is being used to
its potential. We met the nurse, the school head master, and various staff at
the Compassion project. We ended our time with a visit to the home of Prof.
Sena and his wife Mama Saitoti, who will be the host family for our olunteers.
It was such a charming and peaceful home, with a special guest wing in the back.
The family is very aware of multi-cultural dynamics, having lived a long time
in Canada. We felt so refreshed after our 3-hour visit, that we decided we
wanted to drive back to Nairobi and sleep in our own beds, and so we made it
through rain successfully by 10 pm.
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| David sent a photo of the dinner he made for himself: teriyaki steak, snow peas, roasted potatoes |
The other notable events of these past two weeks all involved things I’ve done with women, ironically. Back in October, my dear friend Katie, from Arusha days, encouraged me to sign up for a 3-day women’s retreat at the beginning of May over the holiday. It was sponsored by Pure Joy, Intl a group of American Christians who see “Missionary women” as their unreached people group. They host a retreat twice a year in far-flung locations and open the invitation to absolutely any missionary women who can get themselves there. Once you arrive at the hotel, all expenses are paid for.
The team absolutely lavished us with gifts and tokens of love, crafted and
donated by supporting churches back in the US. They even asked in advance if
there were any special things they could buy each of us in the US that aren’t
available where we serve. We heard an amazing story about some llama meat that
was acquired by missionary connections from Peru, taken to the US, and then
brought out to a Bolivian missionary in Kenya!! Others were delighted to find
salty licorice (for a Finn), nice knitting wool, and other really specific and
lovely tokens of care. The hotel meals
(fully provided) were amazing, and we took advantage of the roof top pool for
laps twice and the gym in the mall one time.At Pure Joy retreat
For me, one of the most valuable aspects of this time was
the opportunity to deepen some relationships here in my new community. It was
really a gift to have the whole week with Katie (who came a few days early for
some errands), and we took advantage of the opportunity for intentional time
together. My roommate was Steffi, a long-time German missionary who has served
in Tanzania and Kenya for more than 15 years. We’ve known each other slightly
since 2019, and then better when we joined their small group bible study last
year when we arrived in Nairobi. But I also enjoyed more informal time with her
on the retreat. I found at least 5 other women from our new church here in
Nairobi and had meaningful conversations with just about all of them – more
than is possible over a quick cup of tea after church when they are chasing
their kids, etc. In particular, Stephanie, another ordained woman a few years my
senior, intentionally invited me to share a long lunch with her so we could get
to know each other. I also found a number of other Rosslyn parents at the retreat.
On the last evening, a number of us went up to the roof top restaurant to hang
out and chat; really a novelty for me these days to have time just with women! With Katie and Steffi
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| Glow in the dark mini golf |
On Saturday, Paul and David picked me up from the retreat
just after lunch – ironically the hotel was part of the big mall (Village
Market) that is closest to our house – so easy for me to get to! The guys
wanted to play a game of mini-golf before heading home, so it was nice to hang
out with them.
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| Rosslyn women's choir |
Our Saturday was also very full. In the morning, David participated
in a volleyball tournament at school and I was glad to get to watch him play. Sadly,
his team lost, but they tried hard! Paul was at a church men’s event that
morning. I spent the second half of the morning at church women’s Garden Paint
party. We met in the beautiful vast garden of one member, who gave us a very specific
lesson on how to use water colors to paint an abstract galaxy. What a great way
to spend a morning, sitting with other ladies, casually chatting and creating. On left, David going up for a spike
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| Tumbo at piano |
Our charismatic and very busy director Andrew Tumbo was the last to
arrive, and as soon as he showed up, we got down to doing some fun singing. A
few of our members are proper professionals and two women sang an amazing,
haunting duet from Saigon Girls. I was
really proud of David for being willing to mix with all these strange adults
and try to read music along with Paul. He even offered up a solo rendition of “Wagonwheel”
at one point. We finally did get to bed around midnight, exhausted and
satisfied.
Flowers to thank Tumbo
for a great season
I think God has heard my prayers about feeling like I didn’t
have much stable community here yet. In the past two weeks, in spite of lots of
work and travel, he was providing an abundance of opportunities to really
connect with people and start to feel like we have a social foundation.
Bonus photos:
Family band ;-) 
Tarime visit 
Thick fog from Nyarero 
Mara region landscape .jpg)
Excellent fresh fish from Lake Victoria
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| Swamp flycatcher, a new one on my life list |
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