Cindy Blesener and her husband Mark, along with two other members of Fish Lake made up our most recent group to travel to Iringa to visit our partner congregation in Tanzania.  Cindy gave the following talk on Wednesday, December 17, 2008, as part of our Advent Mid-Week worship series entitled, Seeing God:  Meet God in the Unexpected this Advent.

"I was a bit apprehensive when Pastor Dale asked me to speak tonight. I thought “Why me?” When he suggested that I speak about seeing God in Africa, I decided “Why not?” So I say “Karibu”, welcome. We saw God at work everywhere in Tanzania, and once I started thinking of all the places I saw Him, my trouble now was in keeping this short and sweet.

When the first group from Fish Lake travelled to Africa to meet our partner congregation in Wasa, something began tugging at me, and the more I heard from them, and then the second group that went, I knew this was something that I wanted to do also. Mark and I talked it over and we soon decided to go on our first mission trip.

I wasn’t too thrilled about flying that far, since the last time I had flown the flight was a little rocky. We had hit some turbulence, nothing major, but panic and fear set in me. I began to sweat and I had a white knuckle grip on the arm rests. I remember thinking how on earth could I ever fly half way around the world to Africa when I was scared to fly a measly 3½ hours? But when we stepped on board the plane for Tanzania I prayed as I always do when I fly, and an incredible sense of peace and calm came over me. Our flight was great with almost no turbulence at all. God was working!

While in Dar es Saalem we stayed with Emelda’s family. For those of you who don’t know, Emelda is a friend that LaDonna met through her first trip to Africa. Emelda’s son, Patrick, bought a car because he knew we were coming over to Tanzania and he wanted to be able to drive us around himself. Most families there don’t own a car, so this was a major expense for him and his family. I’m sure he probably sold the car shortly after we left, but it was a blessing to us not to have to worry about transportation while we were in Dar. Patrick brought us to his sister’s house, Christina and her husband Jordan. They had a modest home that Jordan had built, a few cows, turkeys, chickens, and dogs. While we were there friends and family kept coming over to meet us, greeting us with hugs and handshakes. There seemed to be a constant flow of people coming and going throughout the day to meet us. Maybe to them we represented God’s love, I don’t know, but they made us feel very special and loved. Emelda’s daughter, Rebecca, came from Arusha to meet us, about a 10-12 hour ride. With all the extra guests there wasn’t much room for sleeping. They gave up 2 bedrooms for us, themselves sleeping on the concrete living room floor. They also cooked wonderful meals for us, I’m sure it was much more than they usually make for themselves. We left Sunday morning feeling loved and touched by God. We took a family picture before we left. Patrick has a 3 year old daughter, Lucilu. Before we took the picture she found a picture of Jesus that Christina had hanging in her home. Lucilu made sure that Jesus was included in the family picture, and she proudly held it next to her. We definitely saw God in their home.

Sunday morning we went to church at Mbezi Beach Lutheran Church where Pastor Muro presides. We were brought up front to sit and of course the service was in Swahili. There are no bulletins but the service is all in their books. I don’t know what their books are called, but they’re similar to our service hymnals. Since Mark and I had never worshipped in Africa before we were obviously a little bit lost, and we must have looked confused. A man came over and sat between us to share his book with us. He told us when to stand, when to sit, when to go up for communion, and he pointed out where we were in the service. With his help I was even able to sing along with the hymns, even though it was in very broken Swahilli. Through the help of this stranger we felt like we belonged there and I saw God working through him.

While we were in Iringa we met Jenni’s friend Aidan, the shopkeeper. She met him on her last trip to Africa. Aidan runs a shop that sells beautiful wood carvings, batik paintings, pictures made out of banana bark, greeting cards, and many other gifts. Whenever we would go shopping in the town Aidan would find someone to watch his shop and he would come along with us, making sure we got fair prices for the things we bought. If there was something in particular that we were looking for he would help us find it. Any time Jenni bought something Aidan was right there to carry it for her. Keep in mind that Jenni was buying things for her apartment, so at times she had quite a few items. Now I’m not so sure that this part in particular was God working through Adian, or more like good old male hormones at work, since Mark and I carried our own purchases! But it was just comforting to have Aidan with us, we felt safe with him along. The day we left Iringa to come back we invited Aidan to supper with us. He brought gifts for LaDonna and Mark & I, signs from his shop that read “Karibu-Welcome”. I was very touched by this gift, and I saw God working in Aidan.

One of the stores in Iringa is called Neema Crafts. This store trains and employs handicapped men and women and they make all the crafts and gifts that are sold there. In one room are sewing machines and weaving looms where they make beautiful quilts, clothing, purses, and scarves. Another room is for beading where they make jewelry and turn ordinary flip flops into beaded footwear. In another area they make paper out of maize and, yes, elephant dung. The paper is then made into greeting cards, picture frames, stationery, and lamp shades. The last place we were shown was way across the back parking area where they took glass bottles, broke and shaped them into different sizes, and then made them into beautiful jewelry. You didn’t see handicapped people here, in fact I couldn’t tell you what most of their disabilities were. What we did see was very gifted craftsmen who took pride in their work and had a purpose in life. I did notice that our tour guide was missing his left arm just above his elbow. But he still used that arm, and he was so enthusiastic while he showed us around. He was very proud of this place and what was being done here. You couldn’t help but see God everywhere at Neema Crafts.

We spent a couple days in Wasa visiting with our partner congregation and all the preaching points. Each time we arrived at a location we were greeted with the most exciting singing and dancing, sometimes the music was accompanied with drums. It brought tears to my eyes every time, who were we to deserve such a welcome? In church Sunday morning at our Wasa church the girls’ choir sang. There were 7 girls, I’d guess about 12-14 years old. When they sang it sounded more like a choir of 20 girls. They weren’t bashful at all! They sang loud and proud, filled with God’s love. We also went to church that Sunday at the Ihoasa preaching point. After church we were invited to one of the homes for hot milk. We were there probably for a half hour or so. The entire time we were in the house there was a group of children outside, about 15 or so ages 6-16, boys and girls alike, singing and dancing their hearts out. At times when we looked outside we’d see a cloud of dust rising from the ground. This was from their spirited dancing and foot stomping. It was so neat to see these kids gathering together and spending time doing something as simple as singing. They didn’t need video games, TV’s, or shopping malls.

We were also treated to some wonderful meals during our stay in Wasa. The day we arrived it was about 4:00 in the afternoon. By the time we went to bed that night around 9:30 we had been served food and/or drink 4 times! Keep in mind that they can’t just run to the store to buy food at the last minute, it’s all grown and prepared fresh. Much time and pride is put into the meals they prepared. Sharing meals with them in their homes and just spending time visiting with them was a real treat. God was everywhere in Wasa.

We also saw how He brought all different religions together. We learned our driver, Huruna, was Muslim, yet here he was driving us Lutherans around, and in the evenings he sometimes shared meals with us. Most mornings we awoke at 5:00 a.m. to the Muslim call to prayer that was broadcast over loud speakers throughout the town. While we visited in Wasa we stayed across the road with Father Msofu at the Catholic compound. Here we were housed and fed, and shown the trade schools that he supports at the compound for boys and girls who can’t afford to go to secondary school. The night before we left Wasa, the nuns prepared a feast for us and all the Evangelists were invited to join with us. Religion didn’t matter, we were just all God’s people.

And it wasn’t only in the people where we saw God in Tanzania. We also saw him in nature. In Iringa town some of the streets were lined with tall trees bearing beautiful purple flowers, the Mgunga tree. Flowers grow year round here and I saw some of the biggest geraniums, amaryliss, and calla lilies that I’ve ever seen. We also went on a safari at the Ruaha National Park. Here we saw God’s creatures in their natural habitat roaming in the wild, no fences, cages, or scheduled feeding times like the zoos around here. We sometimes had to stop for a giraffe or zebra crossing the path. While on our safari we saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions, wart hogs, hippos, baboons, impalas, jackals, kudus, water bucks, and many other animals along with dozens of different birds. We were there during the dry season. The grass was all brown and the river was pretty dry. It hadn’t rained for months. When you looked around there didn’t seem to be food anywhere for them to eat. But there are hundreds of animals living there and somehow they know where to go to find the food they need to survive, some being created to be able to go for long periods of time without food. At night as we were resting we could hear the hippos grunting to each other, and birds were constantly singing. In the mornings Mark would get up early and watch the sunrise. I was up for one of them, and it was amazing. Ruaha was a place where we felt at peace being among nature and all of God’s creatures.

I could keep going on and on, for it would have been much faster for me to tell you where I didn’t see God working in Africa. He kept us safe on the roads where driving can be very eratic. He kept us healthy where getting sick can be quite common. He showed us love and kindness through the people, even though there was a language barrier between us. He changed my life. While we were visiting at the Humara Orphanage I bought a CD they had made and were selling as a fund raiser. After we had been back home for a couple of weeks I decided to listen to it in my blazer on my way to work. Just listening to their voices brought back so many memories of our trip, and before long I had to stop playing it, because I couldn’t see to drive through all the tears in my eyes. Tanzania touched me in a way I can’t explain. I’ve tried to think of a word that describes it, but there just isn’t one. This wasn’t just a trip, it was God working in me, and I can’t wait to go back there again to visit our new friends and family.

There’s a Christmas song that compares life in our land of plenty with the desolation and poverty in Africa. It asks “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” I have no doubt that there are celebrations like no other in Africa where they will be celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has blessed them with His amazing love.

God is truly everywhere, all we have to do is open our eyes and ears, and look and listen. Merry Christmas and Mungu Akubariki-God Bless You."