Jesus Film cycle stories

Tanga

We woke up super early to head to the bus station to catch our various buses for the Jesus film cycle. Our staff team, who were headed to Mtwara, were to leave at 5am from the hotel, but their ride never showed up! Josephat (life ministries staff) came to their rescue, but the Mtwara bus had already left. They caught up with their bus- thank God! the rest of us were all praying that they would make their bus. We also had a bit of confusion with our bus to the bus station- we went to a closer bus station rather than the main one downtown- which caused a bit of panic and confusion, but all was well in the end. Teams to Mbeya, Iringa, Dodoma, Tanga (my team) and Morogoro.

My team was made up of Melanie, Petra, Jeremy and Eunice. Our Etheopian evangelist Helawie joined us on the bus. The bus ride was quite pleasant- they passed out free water, pop and cookies during the ride. The bus stopped at one point- it was the bathroom stop. Mel, Petra and I got off and were shown to go with the other women- in the tall grass of Tanzania, we squatted to do our business. Mel had a bit of difficulty with this situation, and all of a sudden we heard the bus start driving off! So I ran to flag down the bus and we got back on. I think the African's had a good laugh at us Mzungus.


The funniest squattie story, by far, is what happened in Mtwara to Mike, our Project director and National campus director. (If you didn’t know, or hadn’t already figure out, a squattie is a basically a hole in the ground that flushes like a toilet, if it’s a nice one.) (The toilets and squatties on campus in Dar didn’t flush, so it was pretty nasty to go.) In Mtwara, where Mike was for the Jesus film cycle, they only had squatties. One night, he was riding the D-train at about 4am. While using the squattie, all of a sudden, his knees gave out. Let’s just say that he didn’t fall forward. One of Mike’s favourite expressions on the trip was, "It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity to trust God".

On the bus ride to Tanga we got to know our new team a little better. Melanie and Petra had been in Malawie for the Campus cycle. Before we knew it, we were in Tanga. Our Jesus film co-ordinators were waiting for us and quickly loaded our gear into the back of Mr Emmanuel’s white VW truck, and brought us to the place we would be staying. Mama Minja, as we called her, provided us with room and board for our stay in Tanga. A few other women lived on the property also. Some of them cooked our meals. Two girls, both names Felista, came with us to the Jesus film showing every night. They were hilarious. We nicknamed them Clown and clown junior. They only spoke Swahili, but they learned to sing the song "How wonderful is your name, O Lord". All the next day we could hear them singing it. There was also a cute little gentleman of a boy- about 2 years old who lived there. Joseph was very shy, but eventually warmed up to each of us, and in turn, he let us hold him.

The food in Tanga was especially amazing. After the ‘variety’ of food we had at the Msbazi centre and on campus, this was such a treat. It was all home made, and they made us what ever we wanted to eat. Chipatis every evening (a fried flat bread), peas, rice, beef in tomato sauce, and a banana stew. The fruit was especially tasty in Tanga, and we were served fresh papaya juice in the morning also. We ate in the family room and watched football on tv. I got hooked on a Filipino soap opera (dubbed in English) that is quite popular with the Tanzanian students. One night Mama Minja put in a Mr Bean video- the christmas one. Mama Minja nicknamed Jeremy Gibongi, which means big and fat. She called the rest of us by our proper names, but would ask "where’s Gibongi?", "Gibongi, why aren’t you eating?" Jeremy took one for the team by eating 6 plates of food in order to satisfy our hosts, who prodded us to eat more, when we visited others for a meal. Jeremy took a lot of teasing, especially by Helawie.

Petra was getting a bit restles, and the other girls were feeling a bit sore from the hard beds we slept on, so we girls started doing ‘squattie’ exercises (basic floor exercises) on the floor on real African mats. I watched how these mats were woven and cut in one of the villages we showed the Jesus film in. They have make-shift wracks to dry palm leaves on. Then it’s braided and made into a cylindrical shape, of which one side is cut and ends made nice.
I shared a room with Eunice, my Filipino daughter – I was everyone’s mom on project. For some reason, I kept calling Eunice Anet, without even realising what I was saying. I even wrote ‘Anet’ in my book while recording medical supplies. It was embarrassing, and made Eunice feel bad too. I was glad to have her as my roomate and on my team, as we got along well, in our messy room. We talked openly about our concerns and thoughts. We read two books of the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to each other, which was quite the challenge when the listener had a tendency of falling asleep.

It was quite the culture shock we experienced that day: going from a luxury hotel with air conditioning, white fresh smelling sheets and warm water, to a clean and more rustic accommodations with squatties. Then to a mud hut village, where our truck drove over a large tree trunk while we went bush whacking through very high grass. It was quite the adventure. Driving down the dirt roads on the back of an old truck, we saw people, animals and buildings that were just going about their bussiness. It felt like we were going back in time, except for the numerous cell phone advertisments everywhere. I often wondered what these African cities were like 50 years ago.

This is short version of the Tanga story: First night- Jesus film in a Muslim village where a crazy man tried to cast demons on us, but 20 people came to Christ anyway. Second night we could have been killed, but God delayed us, so another car smashed through the barricade on the road, and we drove right through. The third afternoon, the truck broke down, but after an hour of waiting, someone came with a replacement part. The fourth night, in another mud hut village, a woman who hadn’t walked in 20 years received Jesus, was prayed for and got up and walked and my team prayed for a the healing of other sick people and a demon possessed man. The fifth day we went to a Wedding, where Ann taught us how to really dance. The sixth day we visited the famous Tanga caves. Seventh day, I got to play a keyboard in the church (I didn’t see any real pianos in Tanzania, so I can’t move there), eighth night Jeremy had a total breakdown, in the maturest way possible, and we were reminded that he was only 17. Ninth day we went to an Orphanage to show the Jesus film, in an area with lots of thieves. Next day we travelled back to Dar on real African buses- there is no such thing as personal space. An extra day of Jesus film cycle, and joined by Jenny Meg. and Anet, we rode in Helawie’s truck to his Ethiopian pastor’s house to visit and pray. Then drove down some sketchy mud roads to Lukas’ house for wonderful meal.

A typical night at a Jesus film site started with a long drive on the back of the truck, sitting on the JF equipment and singing songs in Swahili while lush green scenery of palm trees and boulders and corn fields, while passing people walking or carrying large loads on their bicycles. At the site, we would break into smaller groups to invite the locals to the Jesus film and to share the 4 spiritual laws with them. The communication was done in Swahili by the Jesus film staff and local pastors and church people. We learned how to say "Karibuni Cinema ja Jesus" (welcome to the Jesus film. Sometimes we were given a snack, and Jeremy’s job was to finish our half-empty pop bottles. Then we would set up the screen (hook the sheet to the poles and hammer the stakes on the end of the ropes into the ground) and set up the projector and microphone. While this was happening, the children needed to be distracted from getting in the way. I ended up with the children duty job, and it became my permanent job. I taught them some children songs and some clapping games too. The children at the orphanage particularly liked "Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah, praise ye the Lord". Before the film began, Lukas would shout into the microphone: Hallelujah! And the audience would respond: Amen! This would banter back and forth until Lukas was super excited. We would start the film after the sun went down, around 6pm. Some nights we would sing a song into the microphone also. The old reel to reel projector was fun to operate. The ‘winder’ on ours didn’t work, so one of us would have to stand and turn second reel so the tape would wind up properly. We would show 3 reels. While the reels were being switched, one of us would give our testimonies- a 1.5 minute testimony! We would say a line in English, and then Lukas would translate it into Swahili. It was quite the challenge to condense ones testimony. I found it especially challenging because I’ve always been a Christian and never got into the ‘wrong crowd’. I can’t remember a time where God wasn’t a part of my life – and this became the theme to my testimony. During the evening, the 6 of us took turns, in pairs, to pray. Some nights the praying was more intense than other nights, depending on the needs of the crowd. After the film was over, or just before the resurrection, Lukas would preach in the microphone, pray the sinners prayer, and then ask those who prayed it to raise their hands. I sometimes wondered if it was the first time these people had prayed the prayer and if they understood assurance of salvation. Then we would pack up and drive home for supper, the girls sitting inside the cab for a safely precaution. We were lucky to not experience the cold night temperatures that the other teams, who were inland, experienced during the JF cycle.

Tanga was very hot and humid, but we were used to this. I was used to having a layer of sweat on my skin all day long. It just became the norm. We did go to the beach in Tanga two times. white sand and palm trees and the ocean itself made a beautiful picture. We had quite a bit of free time during the mornings and early afternoons, so I read a lot. I finished Bill Brights biography and then read Corrie ten Booms biography, "NoHidding place". I was feeling a lack of strong leadership and missing some of our other team mates. I longed for an intellectual discussion, so I read some more, and remembered that God is my leader. God gives strong leadership and authority. He totally filled that void in my heart, and I was able to do my jobs as finance and health person.

I was so blessed with an awsome team. We had great laughing moments and more serious moments where God was really working through us. When we were in the mud hut church praying laying hands and praying for healing of the sick people, I knew why God had chosen these people to be on my team. We definetly had a faith stretching experience and learned a lot about spiritual warefare. We learned to pray African style, meaning everyone prays out loud at the same time. We also learned to pray 'in Jesus name' to cast out evil spirits, and after a shopping trip to Muyenge, we prayed over all of the artifacts and carvings we bought.

So that ends the Tanga update-- I hope to post some more stories and pictures next week.

Mungu Akubariki