Mesmerized by Africa
by Carol Whippler - Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Iron Mountain

When asked, “What are you going to do in Africa?” people usually presume you will doing mission work or building projects if you are connected with the church. But for John & Joan Lillie, Pastor Steve & Cindy Cowen, Sharon Ray and myself, Carol Whippler, it was to visit our family of faith in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We also looked forward to getting to know each other better. We were six different people with varied backgrounds and expectations as we began our “safari” or “Journey” on December 28, 2005.

This was not a “vacation,” but as Joan put it, it was an “experience.” The purpose of our visit was to continue to build relationships with our companion congregation, Kijitonyama Lutheran Church. As we traveled, sat in airports, walked, talked and ate on 2 long flights, we grew to know each other better. It seemed that God was reminding us of the value of relationships here and abroad.

As a worshiping community at Our Saviour’s, we look at our physical worship space and appreciate it. We looked at our companion church’s building and rejoiced in its structure. However, the church is not a building, it is a community of believers open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and the witness of our faith in Jesus Christ, alive in the hearts of people of every nation. Christ commissioned us to be “fishers of men and women, and not watchers of the aquarium.” Traveling and sharing our journey with members of Kijitonyama on a crowded church bus over very bumpy roads, eating in a variety of homes, visiting with the Bishop and staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, the Eastern & Coastal Diocese, as well as rural and city pastors and evangelists, taking in the beautiful sights of game parks and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as a humble Masaai village, opened our eyes to a new country and a new family in Christ.

In most African countries the national language is Swahili. English is the language used in schools, and then their tribal dialect. So we did not find this a great hurdle in communication. As we met family members, we saw the importance of the immediate and extended families and friends. Older members are honored and highly respected. We laughed when John & Joan were named Baboo and Bebee (Grandpa & Grandma). The pastor is held in high esteem. We were welcomed into so many homes as honored guests and shown gracious hospitality and true love.

I can’t begin to tell you about all we saw on our journey: the sights along the way, crowded city streets, boys in the road hawking their wares, people walking with plastic buckets on their heads (water, vegetables, fruit, stones, sticks for fires), bikes strapped with eggs in a large carton or charcoal for cooking. As we looked out the bus windows we saw Maasai herding cattle and other natives tending goats and donkeys. Everywhere the results of drought could be seen. Homes differed from nice plaster houses to cement blocks to stick and tin to mud huts. We had a different experience on the island of Zanzibar, which is 99% Muslim. Native dishes and meat challenged our appetites. None of us had “goat withdrawal” upon returning home, yet we knew the honor our hosts gave us in slaying a goat for us.

All of us will never forget the most valuable experience yet – to praise Jesus in song, dance and worship. Looking out at the sea of black faces at each worship, we never found ourselves outsiders. Everywhere we saw the happy faces of our family in Christ from the youngest to the oldest. As we entered the New Year with 2,000 members at Kijitonyama and celebrated the baptism of little Moses by Pastor Hiza and Pastor Cowen, we knew that our congregations’ relationship continues to grow. The memories of our visit will never dim for me as I recall the faces of those I met. I think I can speak for the others as well. We look forward to another visit from the elders in 2007 and then to a visit of another delegation from our church after that. Start saving your money for this will be one of the greatest “experiences” you will ever have!

God bless,

Carol & friends