Dave’s sabbatical

I managed to get through my first hour of teaching this morning having been on the run in the night. Glad I wasn't teaching in the second hour ...  If you can work out the above picture taken from the window of my hotel room, you will guess how appropriate it is! I am learning again about God's strength in my weakness. I think it might have been last nights tilapia fish, which was delicious! My translator this morning was Regina. She is a person whose face radiates with the light of Christ and is such an encouragement to me. She enabled me wonderfully this morning. We were told yesterday that we weren't proper teachers. Teachers would never teach in casual clothes, trainers, etc. My colleague Simon was teaching at the time, so he borrowed a tie and jacket from one of the pastors and everyone felt a lot better, not least due to the laughter shared. Except Simon who shed his new items of clothing quickly before perspiration got to them! Thanks to Trevor Coultart f...

Yesterday I left my hearing aids in my room because I knew that the music in church would be LOUD. It was. Then I forgot that I wasn't wearing them so it was only when I went to bed that I looked for them. These hearing aids are really expensive. Imagine my horror when I could only find one of them. I turned the room upside down and, aided by my torch, the search began. I moved the bed away from the wall, looked underneath every item of furniture, every inch of the floor. Nothing. We were starting a new course in just a few hours and I was tired, so I gave up and went to bed. I woke up at 2am, turned the light on and started searching again, moving all the furniture and checking my bags. Nothing. I eventually got back to sleep over 2 hours later (thanks to my talking Bible!). I was up at 6.45, down to breakfast at 7.30. I joined my friend and colleague Simon, whose immediate response was to pray and then offer to cast a fresh set of eyes on the situation. I said there was li...

This is the poorest Church in one of the poorest areas I've witnessed in many years of visiting Africa. Their building used to be on airport land, with permission. They knew they had to move at some stage but were given 3 days notice to leave or else their building would be demolished. So, corrugated iron, roof trusses, windows and all, they dismantled their building and reassembled it in this poor neighbourhood a few years ago. The floor is bare earth. I asked where the baptistry was. "We have a large lake (Victoria!) just down the road." The pastor's house is ... very basic. It's in the foreground of the next picture with the church behind. They'd like to rebuild, including the pastor's house (next picture is what they'd like to 'renovate' for him), but not any time soon. I was reluctant to take close ups - I didn't want to be intrusive, but I couldn't resist this child playing immediately outside the church with a toy ...

We have arrived in Mwanza after a 4 hour drive. Only 110 miles. We would have got there a lot faster had it not been for 32 roadside police officers, 8 with sargents on 15 different locations! We were stopped several times. Just for a chat. The photo above should not have been taken and had I been found out, BIG trouble. There were other obstacles too: We were very glad to finally arrive at the hotel. The view from my room is of Lake Victoria. A repayment for a long hot drive. The news from little Asimwe (see blog entry Hospital Emergency) is that she has had her operation and was asleep when this picture was taken. Please pray for her and her mother, Christina. Thank you.

We left just after 8am. We are still going at 7pm! We had an hour's lunch at the (fast disappearing) lake in Singida. We passed the geographic centre of Tanzania... Mile after mile after mile..  after kilometre!  But I love seeing Africa - real Africa, not tourist Africa. It's of the earth and gritty, without any pretence. Workers in their allotment ... Or a cheeky chappy filling up his 3 wheeler to transport a bed! Or the charcoal maker taking his product to sell Sadly we passed an accident where one just like this was run off the road and killed not long after we got there  Life is SO fragile here  There is something very special here, in spite of its many challenges,not least the physical beauty of the landscape. We arrived at Shinyanga after dark and travel on to Mwanza tomorrow, thanking God for safe travel and life itself.

Here is the Dodoma class of 2019. It has been such a privilege to teach over these last 4 long days.  Today was graduation with certificate presentations and votes of thanks to the cooks, translators, committee and us teachers. Simon and I were given a Tanzanian shirt each. I am shattered! I've not slept well the last couple of nights and not feeling 100% physically, but God enabled me to more than make it to the end! I left it all out on the pitch, as they say, and loved every minute. Here are some pics of teaching and evidence of my artistic skills... What Greek word is being illustrated by these magnificent graphics, and what Bible verse?!  Group work I know some of you will want updates on Asimwe, the little girl who had the accident yesterday and the pastor who had a bad motorcycle crash.  Asimwe's broken arm is more serious than expected and she will need specialist surgery to put in a metal rod. The fees have doubled! But thanks to the kindnes...

While we were teaching (which is going really well) this afternoon I received a WhatsApp message from Christina, the lady who was my student 14 years ago and who I blogged about yesterday.  Her 5 year old daughter, Asimwe, had been playing at the end of school, slipped and badly broken her upper arm and dislocated her elbow. Pole sana!, as they say in Swahili.  So, I mentioned this to Michael, our host, as we were leaving after the day's teaching was over. His immediate response was, "we must go and see her", in spite of today being his own daughter's 8th birthday. There are many hospitals here in Dodoma, but in spite of not being able to afford the fees, she took Asimwe to the best one, which is on the enormous university campus just outside city. 25 minutes later we arrived at this brand new, but mostly empty, huge hospital. Just as we got to the emergency department Christina was there, naturally looking very upset. She immediately took us to see Asimwe who ...