Christmas in Dar

We are in Dar es Salaam, the largest city and capital of Tanzania. Actually, several years ago they tried to move the capital to another city, Dodoma, but that was only partially successful. Dodoma is the official capital, though. And it is warm here, current temperature at 6 pm is about 91 degrees. It feels good to stay in our hotel room, which is air conditioned. As I am writing this, I hear the Muslim call to prayer. 

Last week we were at the Mennonite workers retreat at a conference center just outside Nairobi, in Kenya. It was good to meet others working with MCC, mostly, and a few with EMM. We had a speaker who talked about transition and transformation. Life is always changing, even when we like the way things are now. He made a comment that "being touched by God is not the same as being transformed by God. Transformation is a process that comes from a lifetime of obedience." 

Overall we are doing well, being received well everywhere we go. It helps that we have previous experience and many that we did not know before have heard our names and seem able to trust us. Since we came in September, we have been mostly traveling around visiting the various church locations and talking with the bishops and pastors about their leadership training needs. We have one more bishop to go, in the city of Dodoma, where we will be next weekend. Then we will get back "home" around January 2, near the town of Musoma. In mid-January we will begin training seminars to begin to implement the program we have been developing and proposing. That will be done in each of the Mennonite dioceses in both Kenya and Tanzania, so we have plenty to fill our schedules for the next several months. The training seminars will be 3-4 day events mostly with local pastors, who will be encouraged to begin having training sessions with their leaders and congregations. 

Christmas here is not so commercialized but there is a little of that. Still, we have been able to avoid most of that, having a mostly quiet day. It has been refreshing to focus on the true meaning of Christmas without the distractions that so often come with the season. This morning we attended church with the Mennonite pastor, in whose home Beth stayed when she was in Tanzania with the EMU semester abroad program in about 2000. It was good to meet them and thank them for providing hospitality for Beth. 

God bless all of you through the Christmas season and in the New Year.