Wednesday, 03/14/07
We had breakfast at Mlandege guesthouse, and then loaded the bus with all the suitcases that contained gifts for Pommern. Pastor Sagga, his wife Witness, and a retired pastor Israel Keponda join us on the bus. Pastor Sagga will accompany us everywhere on our visit to Pommern, and Pastor Keponda will interpret for us. Pastor Sagga speaks very understandable English, but he is not as fluent as Pastor Keponda.
After shopping for last minute items in Iringa, at 9:45 am we started the 40-mile drive to Pommern. The roads were muddy at times, and at times we had to slow to almost a stop to navigate around deep holes, but our driver said the road condition was good because it had just been graded two days earlier. Along the way we passed a stand where local people were making an alcoholic beer from bamboo.
Although this area of Tanzania is more than a mile above sea level, we frequently see small fields of maize along the road. People are everywhere, walking along the road (or pushing a bicycle), or standing outside their red brick huts that dot the countryside. The village of Pommern is not much different from the surrounding countryside. The houses are more frequent and closer together, but are still surrounded by small maize fields. There are about a half dozen small stores scattered around the village. The village is crossed by a couple dirt roads and numerous walking paths. Small fields of corn that is 8-10 ft tall surround most of the houses in the village.
Arrival at Pommern

Muddy road leading to Pommern Church
The bumpy, rut-filled road was an adventure in itself as we finally headed for our partner congregation – Pommern or Pommerini, as the sign said as we drove into the village. It was the tiny objects blocking the road ahead that first caught our attention. They were people! A parade of people – coming out far from the church and giving us a welcome of a lifetime. Beating drums, dancing with ankle bells, sweeping the road in front of us with tree branches, and throwing flower petals, they led us to the brick church filled with people we have been praying for so long. But that wasn’t the end of the parade. We became the parade! As we entered the church, bright kangas were thrown on the concrete aisle. Women ran just ahead of us – laying the beautiful cloths from the layers tied to their waists. And as we walked up the aisle, fresh flower petals were tossed at our feet.

Welcome party on the road near Pommern Church
The welcome ceremony at the church lasted about an hour. Members of the Gethsemane mission team were seated at the front of the church. Pastor Esther provided a greeting from Gethsemane to Pommern, and the team members introduced themselves and provided a little background information about their role at Gethsemane, pausing after each phrase so Pastor Keponda could interpret. Three choirs from Pommern sang songs, in rounds and harmony, accompanied by dancing and drums but no other musical instruments. It was a tearful, very humble entry into a church filled with loving, grateful people who had also been praying for us and this day we would meet. “BWANA ASE FEWAY” – “PRAISE THE LORD.”

Arrival Celebration at Pommern Church
Visit to the Pommern Dispensary
After lunch and a rest period, we went off to visit the Dispensary (the Medical Clinic). This dispensary is not a separate business or government facility, but rather it is the fourth part of the Pommern parish that we support, the other parts being the church, school, and preaching points. Dr. Godlove and his staff of four took us on a tour which was incredibly kind since they work or are on call 24/7 and see approximately 60 people per day. Payment is required up front and family is responsible to bring and prepare all meals for the ill patient. The conditions are difficult to describe, the lighting is poor at best, and the examination table is a picnic table with a two inch piece of soiled foam. The equipment is outdated, broken, and rusty and sanitation is a challenge. Malaria is the number one disease being treated under these conditions. And with all this said, the staff was positive and joyful. God’s love is everywhere. We are so humbled.
Thursday, March 15
Visit to Pommern Secondary School
Today we were fortunate enough to visit the secondary school, around 4 pm after classes were over. Upon our arrival, students and staff were waiting to welcome us. We were escorted to the headmaster’s office for a time of formal greeting with him. As with all other formal visits, each person must make an entry in guest book.
We proceeded to the front steps of the school where we were introduced to the entire student body lined up in rows in front of us. The students welcomed us with songs and beautiful smiling faces. When this was finished we told them that we had gifts for them. They were very excited! As we opened suitcases and threw soccer balls to the crowd, they erupted with cheers and ENORMOUS smiles. Pastor Esther continued by showing them the gift of jump ropes–she even fired up the crowd by giving a short demonstration. The meeting with students concluded with a final song that brought Pastor Esther to tears.
We proceeded to the teacher’s lounge where we met the school staff. We offered them the gifts we had brought for them and enjoyed sodas and some pleasant conversation. Finally, the students that we sponsor were brought in to meet us and receive our gifts for them.
Gethsemane sponsors 32 students, but we were able to meet only 14 of them, because some are in upper grades that are out of session right now, and some are at three schools other than Pommern.The scholarship students offered us gifts of song, a letter they wrote for us to bring back to Gethsemane, and some baskets. Each student thanked us personally for our sponsorship. This was a wonderful blessing to us and to them. We are once again reminded of the gift we have been given to visit these students and to get to know them on a personal level. We live so far apart yet we share the same joy of God’s love for all of us. We took an individual picture of each scholarship student, and struggled to record the name that goes with each picture.
There are classrooms for each of the various “Forms” and the instructors will move from classroom to classroom. The majority of the classrooms hold somewhere between 40 and 60 students. This secondary school covers grades 6 – 12. They have a computer classroom that has a total of seventeen computers. The computers are all very old. Their library is a very small room with just a few old bookshelves. They have received all of the books from Books for Africa that we sent. However, all of the books are still in the boxes. They are in the process of building a new library, but they have had to stop because of financial problems. They need to help some of the students because many of their parents have very little to eat. Some families who cannot afford the tuition grow beans, fruits, and vegetables on land near the school, and provide the crop as their tuition payment. The students come from many areas, including some from Dar se Salaam which is 350 miles away.
As we concluded our visit to the school late in the day, a heavy rainstorm moved through the area. Rain on the metal roof made it difficult to hear. The meeting room was lit only by light coming through the windows, and the generator had not yet started, so the room became quite dark as the meeting progressed. Some of the gifts we gave included solar powered calculators, but it seemed to be too dark in the room to make the work. This area of the country, and even Iringa, does its work by daylight, and activities generally cease at dark. Electricity is not available to 99.99% of the homes. Here at Pommern, a generator provides electricity to the mission house were the team is staying but only from early evening to 10 pm. When the generator stops, no electric lights are visible in any direction. Homes use kerosene lamps, and cooking fires provide a little bit of illumination. Even in the pitch black night, people walk silently through the village.
Visit to Maternal / Child Clinic in a Nearby Village
Sue Angerer and Kathy White went with Dr. Godlove to a Tanzanian Government Maternal and Child Clinic. At this free clinic, the infants were weighed to assess nutrition and development. They were very briefly examined. Nutrition and Family planning counseling was done. The children were given vaccinations as appropriate. The pregnant women were also weighed and measured. They were given Tetanus Toxoid vaccinations to prevent infant tetanus – until the vaccine ran out. There are no safety devices to protect healthcare workers: no gloves, no shielded needles, no gowns, and no goggles. All record keeping is done by hand with paper and ink. Many of the mothers appeared to not be able to read the instructions that they were given to return with the baby. The clinic was clean but supplies were few. The doctor and nurse are shared between Pommern and the government dispensary where the clinic was held. There is no fee for services but the women walk many miles with an infant on their back and often one in tow. Sue and Kathy were pleased to be able to participate in this clinic.
Preaching Point Visits
Our schedules have been full. Today we visited five preaching points. These are small rural areas where people gather for worship led by an evangelist. All of the preaching points we visited today had a dedicated parish house that provided benches an altar for worship of about 40-50 people. Most buildings had no doors, windows without glass, and dirt floors.
An evangelist is not an ordained pastor, however one trains them. Their love of the Lord shows in their service to their people and to us. There resources are limited and they serve very small gatherings of people. We were welcomed at Ifinga, Kihesa, Magereza, and Msinglea preaching points with singing and dancing by adults and children. Words cannot describe these experiences. The evangelists and staff were introduced to us. We in turn introduced ourselves to them. We gifted the evangelist of each area with a daily planner, a hymnal, and Bible written in Swahili and English languages. Their joy and love of the Lord is evident everywhere we go. The warm welcomes have been overwhelming. One preaching point was different from the rest. We were able to meet only the evangelist and staff since this is a local prison. The people have been amazingly gracious. Gifting us with refreshments of soda and treats at all areas. We are feeling much love for God and for us in this place.
At each preaching point, we were offered sodas and crackers. At Kihesa, we were also given a live chicken. One of the women church elders took the chicken on the bus, and we had a great time joking about our new passenger. Eventually she put the rooster in a red and white striped plastic bag, with its head sticking out the top, and we joked that it was in KFC bag. We have not been asked to pluck feathers, so our hosts and guides are taking care of the chicken. A meal that includes chicken is special to these people, and is too expensive for them to enjoy on a daily or even weekly basis. We have been served chicken many times, frequently boiled in a red tomato sauce with green peppers. The chicken pieces are often chewy and difficult to get the meat off the bones. But today we had excellent tender chicken, apparently deep fat fried, served to us at the prison preaching point.
The day concluded with a dinner at Pastor Sagga’s house. He and his wife serve us a meal of rice, beans, pork, chicken, cucumbers, lemons, and watermelon. In addition to the 11 team members, we were also joined by several church elders, our driver and conductor, our interpreter, and several elders and workers from the parish.
Friday, 03/16/07
Visits to Preaching Points Mbeya, Masege, and Ukumbi
Today we are scheduled to visit additional preaching points, and we have asked Pastor Sagga that we have time to spend at the school before the end of the day. We start out on the bus ride to the first preaching point, but the heavy rains we experienced the night before have made the roads very muddy. We travel only 5 minutes before we encounter a lumber truck that slid to the side of the road, sunk into the mud, and rolled on its side. The driver and local villagers are unloading the lumber so they can pull the truck back on its wheels.
A few minutes down the road, and we encounter another lumber truck that has sunk into the mud and is listing to one side. The driver is on his knees in the red mud, trying to jack up the side of the truck so he can put planks under the wheels and get going again. There is practically no space for our bus to pass him, so our driver Nicholas has us all get out of the bus and we walk in the mud past the stalled truck. Nicholas and Kulwa spend 15 minutes leveling the mud beside the truck. Then Nicholas inches the bus ahead and navigates around the truck and succeeds in passing it without slipping into the ditch. We all board the bus again, tracking in lots of red mud with us, and we are off again. After a few miles the road improves and we are moving steadily ahead. We encounter one more truck that is stuck in the mud in the middle of the road, but Nicholas drives the bus through the fields to bypass the truck. Surprising, the soil in the field is quite solid in spite of many inches of rain the day before.
After an hour and half of driving, we reach the first preaching point of the day, Mbeya. We had to take a roundabout route to reach Mbeya, but Pastor Sagga says it is only a one-hour walk from Pommern. This is a mission preaching point that has been established more recently. It is situated on a high ridge with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. A small but enthusiastic crowd that sings for us and escorts us into their church greets us. The building is a small, primitive structure made with poles that are covered with mud or plaster. It looks beautiful to us, but they would like to build a better brick building. As with all the preaching points, the evangelist provides a short report in Swahili, which is translated into English, phrase by phrase, for us. Their outreach efforts include house visits and events at the church. They have about 30-40 members.
Pastor Sagga is the pastor for Pommern, as well as the District Pastor for perhaps 7-10 other parishes. Pommern has 10 preaching points, and the average parish has seven preaching points. Bicycles work OK for an evangelist who only needs to travel from the main church or the pastor’s office to the preaching point once per week or so, but it is clear to us that pastors and District Pastors need motorized transportation. Pastor Sagga indicates that pastors get physically worn out after a few years of travel to their preaching points. The former pastor of Pommern, Pastor Golden, had a motorcycle but he purchased it himself so he took it with him to his new parish and new District Pastor position. Pastor Sagga has no motorcycle and no other vehicle. Cars are not practical in this environment because of the poor road conditions; the only vehicles suitable for personal transportation are Land Rovers or similar 4-wheel drive vehicles. Pastors who have never had any type of motorcycle or other vehicle are unfamiliar with maintenance, the need to change oil, etc. so other parishes that have provided a motorcycle for their pastor have also arranged to have it serviced in Iringa.
Our Second Visit to Pommern SchoolLate in the day we toured Pommern Secondary School. The secondary students take standardized national tests each year, and the Headmaster indicates that Pommern ranks in the top 1% of schools in student test scores. They are accomplishing this with minimal facilities and equipment. We visited late in the day, when no electricity was available, and the large, crowded classrooms were quite dark. Cement floors, dark blackboards, and windows on only one side result in very low light.Textbooks are shared among students. Typically, a student gets to “check out” a textbook for three days. Then they turn it in so other students can use the book. The library is a small dark room, so dark in fact that we are barely able to see the librarian standing across the room. The library seems to hold many various textbooks that have been donated over time. Some of the books are on shelves, but many books remain in large boxes scattered on the floor.This is a boarding school, with dormitories for the boys and girls. The dormitories are reminiscent of crowded army barracks. Dormitory rooms hold 12-24 students in bunk beds. In some dormitories, a twin-sized bunk bed serves four students, two in each bed.The kitchen facilities consist of two structures: an open shed where water is heated over a wood fire, and an enclosed building where corn meal/flour is added to the water in huge pots that hold 50 gallons or more (a lot like booya pots), that are heated over wood fires. They are making ugali, the staple food for the students. The students rarely get the rice, beans, or potatoes that we are served at all our meals. Two strong young men stir the ugali pot with canoe paddles. They do this for an hour, and then make a second pot to feed all the students. A separate small shed houses two milling machines, one to crack the corn kernels and a second milling machine to make flour (corn meal). Flour is everywhere, on the floor, machines, and on the wall. Conditions are not at all sanitary, but this is offset somewhat by the fact that the ugali is heated for an hour prior to serving.
We are unable to tour the computer lab, but we are told that the school uses notebook computers. They need to operate on battery power when electricity is not available. The computer lab teacher indicates that he teachers PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
Evening Meal
Our evening meal is to be served at the house of one of the parish members. It is getting quite dark as we walk through cornfields from our guesthouse to the parish house. A widow named Maria with five children plus two orphans serve us a meal of rice, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, and cooked cabbage. We are seated (about 18 of us) at a series of tables stretching the length of the living room. Kerosene lamps at each end of the connected tables provide the only light. Newspapers cover about one-half of the walls; most are in English but some are in Arabic. There are doorways at each end of the room, covered by curtains. We can see out a back door, where a group of people is gathered around a fire. Probably this is where they cooked our meal. This widow has opened her house to strangers, provided us with a much better meal than they normally eat, and she then gives us a gift basket.
Saturday, March 17
Planning Committee Meeting
Elders, evangelists, and other church members met with us in a “planning committee meeting” at the church. For the past three days, we have been hearing of the needs of individual preaching points. In this meeting, Pastor Sagga combines all of the preaching points and parish needs into a very comprehensive report, which he provides to us orally and in writing. It is clear from his report that outreach is an ongoing effort. They currently have 11 preaching points but are planning to add two more. On a typical Sunday, Pommern has 700-1000 people worshiping at the church and preaching points.
Some of the needs of the Pommern parish are the transportation for the pastor, construction of buildings at preaching points, education (continuation of scholarships we have been providing), office equipment, medicine for the dispensary, and development of projects that can generate income for the parish. Project ideas include the possible construction of a dormitory and Tumaini.
University (resident fees would go to Pommern) and cultivation of crops to generate income.Pastor Esther briefly explained our process for looking at their needs, which includes spending time on this visit to better understand their situation, followed by discussion with the Gethsemane congregation and council, and further consultation with Pommern. We have been very careful not to make any commitments at this time. They understand that we are at the beginning point in discussing their needs, but they are extremely grateful for the help Gethsemane has provided to date, including scholarships, metal for a preaching point roof, etc. (Various items have been purchased with the $1000 / year that Gethsemane has provided to Pommern as our partnership commitment to the Iringa Diocese.) The Diocese head office stated unequivocally that 100% of the amount that Gethsemane designates goes to the Pommern parish. Overhead, such as expenses the head office incurs in arranging and managing trips like this one, are covered by a $100 fee which each of the mission team members is donating to the head office. At the conclusion of the planning committee meeting, we gave gifts to the three evangelists associated with preaching points that we did not visit. The Pommern parish evangelists and elders then overwhelmed us with gifts of baskets and kangas for individual members of the mission team, for Pastor Dant, for Pastor White, and for Gethsemane as a whole. It was very humbling to receive such generous gifts from people who have so little. As the meeting concluded, the elders and evangelists escorted us back to our guesthouse with songs and dancing. It was such a noisy affair that a couple dozen kids gathered to see what all the excitement was about. A certain associate pastor was seen joining in the dancing.Sunday, March 18We attended both Sunday services at Pommern church. At the 8:30 am start time for the first service, hardly anyone was in the church, but over the next half hour more and more people streamed in until the church was almost full. Pastor Esther presented the sermon, with phrase-by-phrase translation by Pastor Keponda. We present gifts to the evangelist for Pommern parish, who preaches when Pastor Sagga is at one of the preaching points or at a different parish in the District. We present the Pommern Parish with the St. Johns Bible that was signed by Gethsemane members. The day’s activities conclude with a dinner. We have an uneventful trip back to Iringa over some muddy roads, and we have arrived safely in Iringa at 6:00 PM.
Next
We travel to Ruaha National Park tomorrow, where we will stay two nights before returning to Iringa.
Posted on March 18th, 2007 by MissionTeam
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