Looking Back on Four Years

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.

Farewell at Morogoro Mennonite Church - African kitenge cloth
presented by the women's group