Want Fries With That?

There aren't any fast food chains in Tanzania ... none. Which means pretty much anything that's handed to you to eat starts looking awfully good- and tastes delicious, too.

We were in Kwedigole during a rare (maybe not even every 20 years) triple event: a circumciscion, a wedding (the bridge came with a 400 cow dowry ... the average is 6-7!) and a ceremony marking a warrior's transition to becoming an elder, all occuring simultaneously.

With that many guys standing around, wasn't long before we started having Masai Big Mac Attacks. This 50-second video is a quick visit to The Bush Drive-Thru.

And No, no one complained or pouted that their waitress was too slow, or that their steak wasn't cooked to order, and nobody demanded to speak to the tribe's chief because somebody in the kitchen forgot to add mustard.

Maybe those short stabbing simis everybody carries had something to do with it.

Video Updates

Yesterday I posted a few more short video clips from last year's trip to Tanzania at youtube.com

Take a look if you get a chance.

Baptism (people actually clapping in church?!)
There Is A Fountain (thanks to McD for "naming that tune" ... my Englsih not so beddy good)
Favorite Swahili Church Song

Uh oh ..... Uh Oh!

I got one of those little weather report extensions hooked up to my Firefox.

According to the latest data, it's snowing right now in downtown Anderson.

Soon as I get back from buying bread and milk at Publingle's I'm climbing on board Ben, battening the hatches and throwing out both anchors, and then hunkering down to wait out the storm.

It looks clear outside to me, but then who am I to question what's on the interweb?

ps. Can you stir fry bread in milk and call it won ton?

I Don't Get It (... and why I'm gonna quit trying to)

Sometimes people will pray and ask God to give them "a sign" to help them know His direction for their lives.

Other people look for critical answers from Heaven by flipping open their Bibles and interpreting whatever verse they come to as a divine revelation of God's plan for their lives.

Now I never jab my finger at random Bible verses to find answers but last night before going to sleep my Bible did just happen to open to ...*

I'm not one to ask for signs ... cause it usually takes hitting me upside the head with the sign post before I get the message. But around 3:00 AM this morning, let's just say both sides of my head were swollen like pumpkins.

Yesterday I got it. Yesterday I realized again that God's plan is so much bigger than mine, and I should forget all about trying to add my puny input or suggestions. I can't see the Big Picture ... though maybe I'm getting better about seeing the artist's signature inside the picture.

Things started off when the real mccoy stopped by unexpectedly during lunch. In a few minutes I was talking about Africa (again), drove home fired-up and ended up e-mailing Vernon at 9 PM (that's 2 AM in Dar es Salaam) about visiting TZ again ... though I didn't expect a reply before the end of the week.

But then I was up at 2:45 this morning (gotta wonder why) and there's not much to do in The Electric City at that hour, except check e-mail.

Vernon had written back "Shikamoo! Sisi hatujambo" ["Greetings! We're fine"] at 5:45 AM Tanzania time to say he was up so early because he was about to walk out the door for a 3-hour dirt bike ride through the bush to Mwanza ... the same place where last week 15 of 50 young people in the congregation accepted Christ and had their lives changed forever.

Travelling alone by motorcycle on six-hour round trips through rural Africa is awesome enough, but here's the exciting part: construction on a new 2-story, 12 classroom educational building at Vernon's church, and a new 150-seat church building in a "blowing and growing" neighborhood in Arusha, is about to get started.

A new building and a new church ... both in a country where the average annual income is less than $700. ... it didn't seem humanly possible. And Vernon added an overt hint about being there for the opening.

Talk about miracles and the importance of staying focused. Talk about how God's plan is bigger than anything we can imagine. God always answers prayers ... especially when leaders are committed to preaching and sharing the Gospel to countries and communities where so many people are anxious and ready to receive Christ.


God willing, I'm gonna be there to see both buildings when they open.

Recent news about Vernon and Mary's mission work in Tanzania here.

PS. Ever had a song that keeps popping back up ... and you can't get it out of your head? This one's at the top of my playlist ... though I hope it doesn't pop up while I'm driving.

If your laptop won't do video, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the audio mp3 version.

*- Proverbs 31:8-31

College Football Recap

Clemson vs Boston College
Doesn't matter what the referees said; during that reception attempt inside the Tiger's Red Zone the Boston College receiver lost possesion of the football during a mid-air collision with one of two Clemson defenders. After hitting the ground it seemed clear enough that the other Clemson players had come down with the ball.

Critical mistake by the officials and besides, the video replay was insufficient evidence to overrule the call on the field.

Georgia vs USC
Spurrier's offense is explosive. The problem is it's still too early in the season for the new starting players to harness and control the awesomeness of their overall potential.

The true highlight of the game came right before a commercial break in the third quarter, when a kid in the stands pulled up his Gamecocks t-shirt and showed the Clemson Tigers shirt he was wearing underneath.

Which goes to show nobody likes Georgia, not even the people who live there.

Florida St. vs Troy
After yesterday's debacle I've changed my prediction about the results when the Clemson faces Bobby Bowden's team next week in Tallahassee.

The Tigers are gonna chew up Doak Campbell Stadium to the tune of FSU's infamous war- chant ... and leave the Seminoles singing castrato in front of their hometown crowd.

Monza Monza

The Grand Prix of Italy will be raced tomorrow morning at Monza, and broadcast live at 7am on speedtv.

So what if it's one of the granddaddys of all F1 racing, and one of the two most demanding races on the Formula 1 circuit?

The 1966 classic film Grand Prix includes the notoriously-banked curves, which have not been actually used during a race at Monza since the early 1960s, so to me Monza has always been something of a ripoff.

But the steepness of those long curves seem to reach to the clouds and are spectacular to see even if the movie-race is fake; the Monza race sequence by itself makes the entire movie worthwhile.

The real action will come at the end of tomorrow's race, when Ferrari "reads from a white sheet of paper" who their drivers will be for next season. Could be aging veteran Michael Schumacher's most humiliating moment, just as he's about to retire after earning all but one F1 world record.

Might be shameful on Ferrari's part, especially after Schumacher's incredible tenure at the stable of the prancing stallion ... sorta like what happens to Jean-Pierre Sarti [played by Yves Montand) in Grand Prix.

Who says life doesn't imitate art?

---

Whadya say, is it too late to do a Saturday Playlist? Sure, why not. The neighbors are already restless.

"What I Like ABout You" - The Romantics

"Black Magic Woman" - Santana live in South America. (Everybody who drops by The Blue Book must love this song, judging from the reaction it gets. It's amazing.)

"Up-Tight (Out of Sight)" - Stevie Wonder

Friday Video Adventures

Along the 90-mile dirt "road" to the Masai village near Kwedigole, Vernon and I passed through a small village that had a connection (I forget exactly what) to David Livingstone, the guy of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" fame.

Although his body was returned to Westminster Abbey in London, Livingstone's heart was buried in Africa.


Here's a short clip of Daniel's congregation singing in Masai during an open-air service. More about Daniel in the next few days.

I always thought David Livingstone was a fascinating guy, and not just because we share the same birthday.


One afternoon Vernon, Mary, Tom and Joanne's son Jonathan and I took their dirt bikes (import taxes make cars staggeringly expensive in TZ) over to Kwa Kuahinia, a dustbowl of arid land bissecting the Tarangire National Park, not far from the Serengetti plain.

That meant during the dry season, game living within the Park migrates through the areas where we'd be riding. Sounded like a great opportunity to see wild animals up close.

As the bikes were being unloaded Vernon and Mary told me that two weeks before, a tourist riding his bike through the same area had been snagged by a lion, and warned me to not to get "in the bushes" ... because lions knew what trails game animals used during migration, and sometimes waited beside them for lunch to be delivered.

"Bushes" means any growth more than knee high: a full-grown lion or lioness can hide behind a dried stick of brush that couldn't conceal a bowling ball.

I grinned and thought to myself, "Do they think I fell off a coconut truck?" (It helps if you understand the Missionary sense of humor).

Then about about two hours later, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, Vernon abruptly stopped and announced the time had come for my "Initiation."

He asked if I thought I could find my way back to the truck: the Initiation Ritual involved me navigating my way without their assistance. By myself. I thought we'd parked about 7 miles away and confidently announced, "Sure."

Vernon said, "Good," snapped his visor shut and thundered off with Mary and Jonathan, leaving me with my engine idling ... and my mouth stuck wide open.

I got lost in about 10 minutes, and ended up having to ride through a Masai village before finally finding the highway, after spending more than an hour of picking and re-tracing my way through boulders, thornbush and lots of deadends.

But I made it, and passed the Initiation.

Back at the truck I told Vernon they shouldn't have teased me with stories about lions eating tourists on motorcycles.

Vernon's and Mary's faces grew suddenly grave. "Oh no. We were serious. We'd never joke about anything like that."

The unhappy, stomach-turning truth is that I'd spent the past hour lost in the bushes, thinking about lions ... and how big their tracks look without bars around them.

Next Best Thing to Being There

This morning I uploaded a 30-second video clip of Patrick preaching in Arusha.

See how many ki-Swahili words you can pick out ...

30x40

I like this image of Judith, though can't help but imagine what'd it be like enlarged to 30x40". Next time I'm gonna load up some film holders and use the 8x10 instead.

Original HP5 6x7 negative developed N in T-Max; digitally scanned for reproduction. No alterations or digital manipulation.

Notes from Ken M.

Just got this e-mail, which seemed worth (a) passing along, and (b) pinning to my forehead:

It is not bad thing to start long and then cut, cut, cut. To the end
of his days, Jefferson thought his long draft of the Declaration of
Independence was superior to the finished product; but I have read both, and Jefferson was wrong by far.

(Nick, no point adding any "Amens") hee hee

Relationships

They can be great and awful at the same time, eh?

Especially the ones that start with companionship, quietly grow into love, and end with you learning more about yourself than you thought existed.

What you're looking for is a relationship that lasts.

Wednesday Night Playlist:

"Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall" - Hope She'll Be Happier With Him

So long old friend. Farewell. Adieu.

Knocked Conscious

There's an old adage in boxing that says, "The punch you don't see coming is the one that's gonna knock you out."

Meaning that even a the quickest glimpse of the right cross that's about to take your head off is sufficient for your body to brace itself for the impact coming your way. Here's a punch I didn't see coming.

One of the three most remarkable men I've ever met is a preacher from Turiani (Tanzania) named Patrick Mgaya.

Patrick arrived to visit us in Arusha after travelling all day on an over-packed bus across unpaved roads that would make your SUV's service department cancel your warranty. He carried a small overnight bag with him but except for his Bible I have no idea what else was inside- because Patrick wore the same clothes during his four day visit.

A sugarcane farmer by trade, Patrick is a very intense man standing about 6 feet tall and weighing probably 150 pounds. He spoke no English and never had never been to seminary, but he was a man on fire with the Gospel.

Patrick prefered eating without a spoon or fork, and seemed a bit mistrustful of conveniences like plumbing, but he preached with an intensity and conviction that could only have come from knowing God and living in a relationship with Yesu Kristo ... and he was always excited to tell anyone who'd listen how Jesus had changed his life.

At home Patrick lived in a hut with no electricity or running water, but planned to buy a 125cc motorcycle because he was already preaching in as many nearby villages as he could reach by walking.

Setting money aside to buy a used $700 motorcycle (the people in Patrick's church give their tithes with chickens, seeds and cloth; how many churchgoers in the US are giving their tithes to Visa and Mastercard?) was Patrick's 3-year financial plan, and he was already more than halfway there ... because he's unwilling to forfeit even one soul to the enemy.

Over the past three years I've met some amazing men who've dedicated their lives to preaching, ministry and sharing the Gospel. They're who I look up to and respect because of their uncompromising devotion to setting their own selfishness and ambition aside, and pursuing God's purpose for their lives.

I can't think of a single person in the secular world that's had as much an impact on my life as these men have.

God has strong warriors in His army ... and sometimes they're found in the most remote, and least likely, places you'd expect.