Journey

My journey continues in Tanzania. A few weeks have passed since my first blog and many things have changed. I type this message from my new house, a huge blessing! I have begun to get settled here in Mwanza on the African Inland Church of Tanzania compound. I have a small house to myself, set up with a bed, desk, kitchen and small sitting room, and yes running hot water!

Today I was walking up to a friend’s house, the Michmerhuizen family and was thinking about how I could decribe to everyone what has been happening over the last few weeks, and all I could think of was the word journey. The road to their house is not that long, but interesting and I am enjoying the time that I can spend thinking as I walk up for a visit. Journey. As I looked around I was struck by how so many people in this world that are on a journey, whether they are walking up the road or down, whether they are going to church on Sunday morning or selling fruit on the side, they are on a journey. In our lives, we have the opportunity to be involved in many people’s journey. Saturday night, this week was a farewell to a missionary couple working in Tanzania for over 33 years, and even though I didn’t know them at all, I was part of their journey as we all bid them a good trip back to the States.
I was impacted by their work here and am grateful for the relationships that they began with the people of Tanzania and those coming after who will continue the work. We are all on a journey. I pray that as I continue on my journey in the next 6 months, the Lord will provide new relationships to develop and new experiences to embrace. I pray that I can continue to strengthen the friendships that I have already been blessed with at home through emails and phone calls.
To get as many people caught up on what has been happening here I will give a brief overview. I got to Mwanza about a week and a half ago now and spent the first few days meeting with AICT members and visiting the health centre where I will be working. It is called the AICT Makongoro Health Centre, right in the city of Mwanza. There are approximately 30 inpatient beds ranging from young children to women and men. There is also an outpatient clinic where they provide medication and treatments for people who do not need to be admitted to the hospital. I will be working closely with the Nursing Officer and hope to get started soon.
I received my work permit on Friday – Praise the Lord! With all of the prayers and support from everyone back home, the process went smoothly. The Lord’s hand was directly involved with all that happened in regards to immigration. I started language classes on Wednesday and plan on spending more time in the coming weeks with studying and practicing. I am going to be in an environment in which speaking Swahili is imperative, thus an on going prayer request that I will grasp the concepts of the language quickly and feel adventurous to make mistakes as I learn how to interact with Tanzanians . This is all part of the journey.
I have been challenged over the last few days as things settled down, to continue to understand more of what the Lord has planned for me. I go to sleep at night with excitement about what will be ahead of me the next day, thankful for all that has already occurred. Everything here is new for me and that also brings its challenges. As I try to explain to you what is going on, there will be things that I can’t put into words. Pictures will help, but may not fully explain it all. And that is what the journey is all about. We all interact and connect in different ways along our journey. My walk up the road this morning really brought home the fact that it is okay if my journey is not so clear right now, it is when the Lord provides for me my next step that I will be thankful. I came across the following verses in my daily devotions, “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs ... I will save the weak and helpless ones; I will bring together those who were chased away ... On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again.” Zephaniah 3:17, 19-20. Ultimately our daily journeys may not look the same, we may not fully understand what the other person is involved with or passionate about, but the promise that the Lord has given to each of His children is that on the final day, we will all be gathered together and He will bring us home. Praise God!