Green, David Tanzania
Green main pageMarch 2006 Prayer Letter (Click here for Acrobat pdf version)
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Myself at Uhuru Peak (the summit). It might prove I got there if you could recognize me! |
Dear Friends,
Another letter is overdue. Sorry for the delay – not caused by pressure of work; rather the opposite: uncertainties. I returned to Tabora in mid January after a marvellous holiday with my daughter Sheron and other friends in Kenya, ready to start the next English Course. But there were no students ready for me. As I write now, 6 weeks later, it looks hopeful that a course will start before the end of February.
Teaching English
So what went wrong? Well there may have been some problems and muddles with publicising the course – not unusual in countries which lack resources which we take for granted. But the main reason is No Rain – or far too little of it.
How does rain affect the teaching of English? Simple, if you live in a society where some people depend totally, and others depend at least in part, on subsistence farming,
No rain = no food. No food = no money. No money = no chance
of paying school fees. No fees = no applicants for courses like this.
Incidentally, I’ve received more pleas for help with school and other fees in the past 6 weeks than in the previous 18 months in Tanzania. Famine threatens.
One advantage of this delay is that I was able to spend the last week of January with Martin and Sue Fannon, Crosslinks mission partners in Musoma (250 – 300 miles north of Tabora, and a long day’s journey by coach), where they run well established courses in Information Technology, English, typing and secretarial skills – and to very proficient standards in Mara Diocese. It was encouraging to see that my teaching efforts are along the right lines; but I picked up many tips from Sue and saw where I can make plenty of improvements. Martin helped me immensely with my computer. I may well want to visit them again some time!
And now I have a new class, just started, drawn initially from the staff of the diocese’s Health Clinic, next door to the Bible School, who want to improve their English, in order to raise their nursing and medical qualifications. A couple of Koreans are wanting to join, and there’s a chance that others from the Government Hospital in town may come along too. It means that I will have to teach them in the afternoons (which I don’t fancy), because they work in the mornings. But pray with me that it will all work out.
Rain
Maize planted in December and January has been dying; and many are hungry. But praise God – there’s been nearly 5 inches of rain over the last 10 days. Much of it came really well – dribbly, drizzly, typical English rain – not a downpour all at once, taking away topsoil and drowning seedlings. If it continues like that – moderate amounts, fairly frequent, for 4 to 6 weeks – there could yet be a reasonable harvest.
Holiday
Yes, it was wonderful. Before Christmas I joined a party from Macmillan Publishers (from their Basingstoke, London and Oxford offices) organised by the company’s representative in Tanzania, Khalaf Rashid, to climb Kilimanjaro. They were a most friendly and welcoming group to be with, and we all reached Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa (19,162 ft, or 5,896 m), and in perfect weather conditions – except for the dust. So there was drought on the mountain too. (Some pictures are attached, for those who receive this letter by email.)
Then a quick trip to Ngorongoro Crater – magnificent wildlife – before going on via Nairobi to western Kenya to join Sheron for Christmas at Rondo Retreat Centre in the Rain Forest near Lake Victoria – a beautiful setting for a lovely Christmas with Godfrey and Elisabeth Dawkins of Trinity Fellowship and other friends. Sheron will be working with Trinity Fellowship in Nairobi when she finishes her Swahili Language Course after Easter. (But even in the Rain Forest they had sprinklers working on the lawns. Kenya looked more drought-stricken than Tanzania.)
Back in Nairobi we spent a most happy and memorable New Year with James and Edith Gitao and their family. James and Edith were – and still are – members of St. Mark’s Church, Westlands, Nairobi, where I was vicar in the ‘70s. Canon Peter Machira, the present vicar, and many friends there also welcomed us. It was a special privilege to spend a morning at Akiba School in Kangemi, one of the slum areas of Nairobi – ‘Akiba’ is the Swahili for ‘Storehouse’ or ‘Investment’: the Lord told Edith to invest some money she had, not in property, but in founding and funding a Christian school for some of the city’s deprived children; and God has blessed it.
A final, restful weekend with Mike and Pauline Harries on their farm near Thika (Mike was my Best Man when Irene and I were married at St. Mark’s 30 years ago). Then Sheron started Language School and I returned to Tabora.
Future – for family and me
Kathryn (my eldest daughter) with husband Steve and (my grand-)children Joel and Anya will leave Derby and move to Uganda, to work with New Hope Ministries.
Ros is getting married to James Dennison in June. They met in Nottingham 2 or 3 years ago, and they will be living in Basildon, Essex. They have opted for a tropical beach wedding at Diani, just south of Mombasa. Mike Harries has agreed to come and officiate.
Myself. This English course will finish just in time for me to get to their wedding. From there I plan to come back to England – possibly via Uganda, to see Steve and Kathryn’s new home.
Then what? Settle in England? And if so, where? Or return for another year in Tanzania? Our new Bishop Sadock Makaya has invited me to return here; and with half my family resident in East Africa (though not very close to Tabora) I feel very torn. Pray that I may know where God wants me to be, and what He wants me to do. I’ve been reading Psalm 25 which says “The Lord instructs sinners (v.8)…the humble (v.9)…the man who fears him (v.12) in the way chosen for him.” Well, I qualify on the first premise anyway!
With my love to you all,
David Green