The Eads to Tanzania

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Sweya Traffic Jam

I was stuck in traffic today on the way back home. I got this picture before things cleared out.

 

Satan, the Origin of Evil, and Elections

Today, I taught on Satan and the origin of evil or "Shetani na Chanzo cha Uovu." I taught at Sweya and Shadi today. I was pleased with the thoughtful questions that were asked.

An unrelated matter, today was also election day. All regions of Tanzania are choosing local leaders for the villages and towns.

Gamboshi

Most of the people in our village of Sweya believe that someone came back from the dead last week.

I have not taken the time to write about an incident that happened right in our village of Sweya last week, but I thought that I could put a word in now.

It is said that there was a girl who had died back in 2005, has returned again to her family. In the traditional religions, it is explained that ones who use evil magic (they are called wachawi) are able to snatch people, making it look like they have died. Those who are believed to be dead are brought to a place called Gamboshi in order to work as a kind of slave for the wachawi. It is believed that sometimes people are able to fight their way out and return from Gamboshi (as in the case with this girl). I have been talking with folks in the neighborhood about it as it has come up, but Rob has had a great opportunity to connect with this girl's family over the last week, and has posted about it here and here. 

I would encourage you to read it in order to get a better understanding of the kinds of spiritual ideas dominate the thoughts of people here.

Lights On

Yesterday evening, I went out to Shadi to see that the solar has been finished in our house, and we had lights working in the house!

After the concrete walls dry, the painting will take place. When the paint dries, we can start moving in. It looks like it will be a week from Saturday (7 Nov).

Car Crash

No, we were not in a car crash, but we could have been. 

We were returning home today from town, thinking about everything else that the day held. Ahead of us, but headed the same direction, was a Suzuki Escudo driving slowly, swerving in and out of his lane. I tried to decided if I would stay behind him or pass him, not knowing if he was drunk, still learning to drive, or just playing with his friends.

I passed him and and gave a short honk as I drove by (Everyone uses their horns here a lot more than they do in America; it isn't taken so personally here).

We were almost home when we realized that there was just one more thing that we had to do. So we turned around and headed back the same direction that we had just come from. As we approached the same area where I had passed that swerving Escudo, I saw that a crowd had gathered. Slowing down we saw that there were two cars in the drainage ditch alongside the road. One of those cars was the Escudo.

I parked the car and got out. As I walked over to where everyone was standing, I realized that the cars were just 250 meters away from where I had passed this car.

The Escudo had rolled over on its roof. The damage looked like there wasn't anyone who was going to have survived. The second car was behind the Escudo, likely run off into the ditch, but it appeared that all of its occupants were in good condition.

We were reminded that God is constantly protecting us during times like these. We thanked him for our safety. We prayed for those in the accident that they would receive the care that they needed.

Pray for your missionaries and their safety on the roads. One of their greatest daily dangers are the roads that they traverse each day. Thank God for how he protects them each day and pray for their continued safety.

Tanzanian Wedding

Dan and I(Jana) were invited to a wedding in Shadi that was held today. To hear more about the bride and groom look here. This was the second wedding I have been to in Tanzania. Here is a glimpse of the day in pictures...

These women escorted in the groom (behind to left) and best man (closer to the right).

 

After escorting in the men, the women went back to escort in the bride and her attendant.

 

The groom met the bride at the door of the church, lifted her veil, and they walked down the aisle.

 

The wedding guests- several packed inside and outside

 

There was a part of the ceremony where the bride and groom fed each other cake, and invited others to be fed cake. Kara (who made the cakes) was one of those asked to come forward to be fed cake (pictured below).

 

This was a picture I snapped at the reception. The cooks circled around the reception area gelegele-ing (high pitched trill).

Got a Spare?

I snapped this picture the other day as this guy was driving by in town. He is riding a Dayun, a Chinese-made three-wheeled motorcycle. They are all over the place here, used for transporting goods, people, and, I guess, other Dayuns.

The Value of Ethnography as Preparation for Cross-Cultural Ministry, Part Two

To earnestly contend for the faith against false belief, one must know what those false beliefs are. 

In order to teach truth, we must often contrast it with the lies that pose as its substitutes. One of the greatest values of ethnography (writing about a new culture) is that it prepares the missionary to present the gospel in a way that confronts false beliefs of his hearers.

Intentional culture learning informs a missionary of the ways that the gospel will be commonly misunderstood. The missionary, through purposeful conversation, learns of commonly-believed lies that must be confronted in order to clearly present the good news of Jesus Christ.

This is just a sample of lies that are commonly believed in my area here:

• God is distant and unknowable. He does not care to have a relationship with us.
• Each tribe of people is its own race. That is to say that it is believed that there was a different "Adam and Eve" for different kinds of people.
• People commonly believe that people are born with either a good spirit or a bad spirit. When they do what is right or what is wrong, they are just acting in accordance with their nature from birth.
• There are certain people that have special access to power from the spirit world (i.e. waganga or witchdoctors) and can use that power for or against others.
• Every problem in life has a spiritual, personal cause.
• Most often our problems are caused by secret curses that are placed on us by neighbors or family members that are jealous of us, or they are caused by offending the wishes of our deceased ancestors.

You can imagine that presenting the gospel or discipling young believers would have some different emphases here than they would back in America. Yet, I would have probably begun teaching my lessons and making my presentations of the gospel with the same emphases as I had in America if I had not learned that these lies is present here. But I don't think that I would have learned about these lies and the way that they distort one's view of the gospel for quite some time unless I had been given the opportunity to intentionally learn about Sukuma traditional beliefs at the beginning of my time here.

So, one of the greatest values of ethnography for me has been to get the opportunity to think hard about how best to teach the gospel here.

Pastors Meeting

I will link to Rob's blog today for an overview of our time in Sengerema with the pastors and some of the institute students today.