Good morning!

I'm writing to you from our new accommodations at the Arusha Resort Centre --- which was probably quite the place in its time. No matter, the bed is comfortable, the water's hot, the toilet flushes, and yes, as you can tell, they do have internet access!!

I bring you greetings from the your brothers and sisters at Kijenge Lutheran Church, Arusha: Pastor Isaiah Solomon and the 1100 who worshiped yesterday! We attended parts of both morning services. The first began at 8 (to which we arrived late) and lasted until 11 --- the 400 plus who came for the 10 a.m. service simply waited for it to be done. It was a high festival day.
Bishop Tom Laiser was the preacher for the occasion. Not only was our new partnership/udugu blessed and commissioned, but it was harvest thankoffering day and the new parish 4-wheel drive vehicle was blessed. (For those of you who are wondering, my prius would not make it on these roads!)

A couple of us were seated behind the altar at the first service, and from there it was easy to see that it was like the Easter crowd and then some at Salem: with not an empty seat to be seen in the place. The music, the singing, is like nothing you've ever heard. (From what I could tell, people carry their own hymnals, if they have one. Many just sing from memory.) All of the service was spoken in Swahili: we were grateful to have gifted translaters who helped us to keep up with the service.

Some highlights:

Our new relationship was 'commissioned' and we were warmly welcomed with a special welcome song which was sung twice during the service. We received grateful applause when we said we had been praying for them ever since we first heard their name. They especially loved the dolls and the banners! When I said "God Bless You" (Mungu a bariki) in Swahili I was greeted with laughter and applause... maybe I said it wrong? I hope not; I tested it on my hotel maid that morning and she said I had it right. But then they would not want to insult us here!

The harvest thankoffering included actual 'fruits from their labor' including grain, beans, fresh eggs, sugar cane, and four live roosters (whose legs were bound so they could not roam the sanctuary during worship.) All of these were auctioned off after each service.

While much was unfamiliar, we recognized "Faith of our Fathers" which was sung as the Bishop walked to the pulpit to read the Gospel and the cadence of the Lord's Prayer.

Between services we were treated to a feast of chapata (looks like lefse: every culture has its flat bread), bread, watermelon and ox liver -- evidently a delicacy served to special guests here. After the second service the meal was much less exotic!

Before returning to our hotel in the late afternoon they drove us out to their 'second site' where construction has been underway for a facility that will seat 1200 since 2002. With inflation doubling the cost of materials every few months, it was only prudent for them to move in stages: obviously very slowly. Many of their worshipers live on less than a dollar a day and their relatively generous offerings cannot begin to accomplish th is important goal. At their second site, they are currently worshiping 400 plus at two services in a classroom at a local accountancy college that seats 130.

We knew ourselves profoundly blessed yesterday. I wish you could be here to see and hear and feel and yes, even smell all of this (for that is different, too.)

Today promises to be full --- our driver comes shortly to take us back to Kijenge so I must sign off.

I say to you as well: Mungu a bariki (God bless you)!

Pastor Janet