Monday, September 12, 2011
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105).
It was an interesting night for Mike and me. We shared a small room in the home of a teacher from the village. He didn’t have any extra furniture, so someone in the village moved a bed from their home to this man’s home for us to sleep on. When the sun went down, it became dark quickly and all we had were kerosene lanterns to give light in the house. Mike fell asleep while he was lying in bed waiting for supper to arrive, and slept there pretty soundly until morning. It was pretty cold though, and we each only had one blanket. We both slept with our clothes on to stay warm and protect against any investigating critters which we knew surrounded us! It was a unique experience to say the least.
The beautiful view looking down on the valleys of Amani Zurai from the top of the mountain.
This morning some of the women of the congregation brought us tea and chapati for breakfast. The tea was the best I have ever had. The chapati (pancakes without syrup) were good too. We had a bit of time to study in the morning in preparation for our seminar. It was scheduled to begin at 8:00 but didn’t actually begin until 9:00am. We had about 30 pastors in attendance, most of whom were former members of the Anglican church or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). They had left these church bodies because of the liberal teachings promulgated there, and have joined the CLC. About 18 of them had received formal theological training, and others were serving as Pastoral assistants or deacons, or interested in the ministry.
Mike and I decided to do something different to help us ascertain the knowledge of the men we are working with. We gave the men a test on the catechism, going through the Law and the Gospel, the 10 Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and the Ministry of the Keys and Confession. Mike gave the test and since it needed to be communicated into Swahili, it took all morning to give it. We finally wrapped up with the test at about 1:00pm and took a break for lunch. In the afternoon we came back to go over the test. I took the afternoon session and quizzed them on their responses and went through the answers to the test. We wrapped up at around 5:30pm as some of the men had quite a journey back home yet before it became too dark (it gets dark at around 6:00pm there).
Pastors of the Tanga district gathered in an open school room for our seminar.
It was a very profitable day for us and for them. A number of the pastors mentioned to us after the sessions that they had greatly appreciated the presentations and that they had learned much from them. That night, the elderly pastor of the host congregation came by to check on us and he too mentioned how much he had benefitted from the seminar and the review on the catechism. We planned to send catechisms to the pastors and leaders in the Tanga district, but I had an extra one in my pack and gave it to him. He was very appreciative, and as soon as he received it he turned on his flashlight to begin reading through it. After several minutes had passed (while discussion in the room continued) he started nodding vigorously. Pastor Gondwe related to us that he had discovered a point in the catechism which had been made in the seminar and again reinforced that point in his mind! And that is just how the word of God works - bringing light where there is darkness. This was a point well taken as we sat in a place where we could see only by the light of a lamp or flashlight, and where traveling without one could have dangerous consequences!
In Christ,
Nathanael
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