It is nearly 2 months since we returned to the United
States, and that marks the end of our term. Now we are trying to settle into our
retirement in the US.
Four years ago we were making final plans to travel to East
Africa, and now we look back on our time with thanks and satisfaction. We are
grateful to the Tanzania and Kenya Mennonite churches for receiving us warmly
and inviting us to serve among them. We are also grateful to the many persons
with whom we have worked side by side, and who have become like brothers and
sisters to us. And we have felt God’s presence and grace as we traveled and
served. We are also grateful to those who have contributed financially to our
support and made our time possible.
Now we have reached the end of that chapter. Many have asked
us who will replace us. The answer is, no one will do exactly what we have been
doing. We have provided training materials for the bishops and pastors to use
and they will pick up the responsibility to train their leaders. We told them, “Here
are the tools, they are now in your hands.” They have been given materials they
can use, and we have provided training in how to use them. Our task was to
plant seeds, others will water and harvest.
However, we have not completely disconnected from East
Africa. We are grateful for the trust Eastern Mennonite Missions has put in us
in appointing us “non-resident volunteers.” We will continue to write study
materials that have been requested, and may make a trip or two in the next
couple years to give additional training and encouragement to leaders who are using
the materials.
Not all dioceses are using the materials. We know of 3 or 4
places where they are being used. One is in Sumbawanga, in far southwestern
Tanzania. Our last report is that the pastor has 5 training locations where he
us using the materials to prepare leaders for the new churches he is starting. Another
is in Musoma, where a group has completed a series of studies and had a
graduation about a year ago, with plans to start a new group.
In the past 4 years, we have traveled about 45,000 miles,
led 23 trainings (10 in Tanzania, 12 in Kenya, 1 in Uganda), and completed 13
Bible study courses of 10 lessons each.
At the request of local leaders, we have also organized
translation of the Confession of Faith in
a Mennonite Perspective, into Swahili and Luo. We also sponsored
translation of What is an Anabaptist
Christian? by Palmer Becker, The Holy
Book of God by David Shenk, and assisted with translation of the Sister Care manual for the women’s
seminar.
On our last Sunday in Tanzania, we were blessed by one of
the church elders with a verse that is our experience and testimony, The righteous will flourish like a palm
tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old
age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is
my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92:12-15). Truly God
has been faithful, and for that we give thanks.
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| Farewell at Morogoro Mennonite Church - African kitenge cloth presented by the women's group |
