This is mission ministry in its basic form – circuit riding in an old Hiace van, beat up and rattling, breaking down frequently, moving slowly through African bush country and through the mountains. We are five days on the road and have never exceeded 25 MPH. The mountain roads are twisty, rutted, and washed away from the rains. All in all, a very bumpy ride. The views are beautiful but we find few people in between villages. We travel very slowly with a bishop, an American priest, two driver-mechanics, and a contingent of sixteen other choir members, priests and assorted children. They sing constantly in Chigogo, the local language. I am beginning to dream in some semblance of the Chigogo language! We see few animals – baboons, a leopard, some lizards.
The first destination was DeBarro Parish with Fr. Samual and his wife Maria. They were all gathered to receive us. It was so joyful. The visit started with an hour of praising God, singing and dancing and worshiping in beautiful Chigogo fashion.
Then we ate. God must be protecting my digestive system because I have not gotten sick on the road (I see where they get the water, old wells with hand pumps. And they cook with this water). I eat ugale, which is a pasty bread, rice, some potatoes, very tasty greens, some chicken (coocoo in Swahili) and an occasional banana (ndizi) and mango (embe). They were very proud to serve me tambi – I looked at it and recognized African spaghetti. There are a lot of starch and carbs, hard on my system but that is what they have so I eat it gracefully. Courtesy requires me to eat the plate clean.
We worshipped in the little dug out church. Digging our the church allows them not to have to construct high walls. I preached from Acts about how the believers live as one and got along. I talked about who we are, who we were, and how we are now together and what that means. This is kind of like an introductory tour – they get to know us and we get to know them. It is a very good visit with many questions.
I stayed in a little room in a little hut. They had worked hard to give me a space of my own and I was grateful. It is good I prepared for such things and I am told that they were very pleased to hear me snoring. Breakfast was hard boiled eggs and chai tea. We exchanged greetings and were sent off rejoicing in the Lord. There is something about a personal visit that gives meaning to brotherhood.
CK Foreign Missions 