Searching for the Bishop
The Diocese of Central Tanganyika covers a large area and has 200 parishes. Bishop Mhogolo travels to every single parish every year to do confirmations. This means that he’s not always close by as he often spends days at a time on the road. Enter a challenge. When we need to make a transfer of US dollars to TZ shillings so we can withdraw funds for everything from health care to funds for Mama Lishes to salaries, we need to have Bishop Mhogolo sign a cheque. When he’s in town or at home in Nala, this generally isn’t too difficult to get accomplished. However, at one point during this year Scott and Noel had to drive to a village about an hour or so away from Dodoma to get a signature. They arrived in the middle of a confirmation service and were invited to go to the front of the church and introduce themselves. They were then invited to stay for the rest of the service and to the post-service lunch. It was only during lunch that they were able to explain to Bishop Mhogolo why they were there. He laughed and signed the cheque. Noel and Scott finished their lunch, thanked everyone, and returned to Dodoma to try and get to the bank before it closed.
Another time, Noel and John Joseph headed to another village to get a cheque signed only to arrive and find out that Bishop had already left and was on his way to the next village on his itinerary (he usually visits two villages a day). They headed to that village and were able to get their cheque signed.
Recently, we needed to get two USD cheques signed and because Scott, Nikki, Daudi, and I had been planning to use the CK vehicle that afternoon, we all went with Noel to the Bishop’s house in Nala to get the cheques signed. When we arrived, Irene (Bishop Mhogolo’s wife) met us outside the house and said that the Bishop was home but he was out planting. The Bishop and Irene have a fairly good-sized home farm and so while we couldn’t see the Bishop, we at least knew the general direction to go to find him. So we headed off to find the Bishop, Irene leading the way and Noel, Scott, Nikki, Daudi, and I following close behind. We walked through the papaya trees, past the rows of grapes, and after walking for a few minutes finally saw the Bishop planting cashews. He knew that Noel had been coming, but was a bit surprised to see the rest of us. We told him that we were Noel’s entourage! Bishop Mhogolo laughed, wiped the mud off of his hands (planting cashews is messy work), and signed our cheques. We chatted for a few minutes and then we headed back to the car and the Bishop returned to his cashews. I can’t quite imagine something like this happening in New York…
Willy’s New House
Willy and his family just moved into their new house in the Chang’ombe neighborhood in Dodoma. They have been living in a small rented house in the same neighborhood for quite awhile, but have been saving their money so they could build their own home. They started to do that earlier this year and now have a lovely new home right across the street from the one they’ve been renting. We visited the house a few times while it was under construction and last week we were invited back for a special house blessing service which was held the day they officially moved in.
Scott, Nikki, Daudi, Pastor Noah, John and I all attended the service – a good showing from the CK office! There were also friends of Willy and his wife Mary from their neighborhood and from their church, Chamwino Mjini. The Reverend Canon Sudayi, parish priest of Chamwino Mjini, led the service, but he asked Pastor Noah to lead parts of it as well. I’d never been to a house blessing before and I think it’s fairly safe to say that I probably won’t go to another one that will be quite like the one at Willy’s house, but I guess you never know! The service opened with a prayer and then continued with a Bible reading and a homily before ending with the singing of “My Jesus I love thee” in Swahili (of course). We did all have to introduce ourselves at one point during the service. Some things never change! After the service ended, we all had dinner together in the sitting room of Willy and Mary’s new home. Willy and Mary’s kids, Tedi, Queeni, Tumaini, Imani, and Elizabeth, are all very excited about their new home (as are Willy and Mary!). We were all delighted to be able to share the special day with them. A real blessing for all of us.
Willy and his family in front of their new home. From left to right: Martha (Willy and Mary's niece), Tumaini, Imani, Mary, Queeni, Elizabeth, Tedi, and Willy
Here are a few more photos just for fun:
Here is Noel pretending to cook dinner. He saw me taking pictures and immediately volunteered to stir...
Sometimes it's hard to get both John Joseph and Willy to smile at the same time for a picture.
See what I mean?!
And because no end-of-the-year post would be complete without pictures of kids, here are two pictures from our distribution in Gawaye:
This little boy was waiting to get his new uniform!
A Carpenter's Kid in chekechea (kindergarten) clutches her zebra socks as she waits to get her new shoes.
And, finally, a Christmas surprise: Videos!
The Carpenter's Kids in Gawaye say hi! (Literally, hello our friends)
The Carpenter's Kids in Mahoma Nyika sing about God's grace as they wait for the supplies for the distribution to be brought into the church.
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