I wrote in my diary back on May 7th that we had landed in Africa for 51 nights…. As I post this blog, we have done 47! We haven’t been in Africa for this long since we lived here. It was difficult to perceive how it was going to be. As I look back over the last 7 weeks, it has been an immense trip. But, before I summarise, let me tell you what’s happened in the last 2 weeks. I left you on the beach in Pangani….

We arrived in Tanga again to conduct some more leaders seminars. Tanga is a place we know very well and we found ourselves working again with people we worked with 15 years ago! It was a special time. After the bite incident which I have since been told, looked like a spider bite, we didn’t go back to the Panori. We stayed at the Mkonge – not that spiders avoid there but it is much more comfortable, clean and very busy so the little critters don’t have time to make their homes in the rooms! When we weren’t teaching, we used our time to write and read. This has been a priceless asset as I’ve said previously.

After the seminar, we made the long, 8 hour journey back up to Arusha. We ‘splashed out’ on a car again and travelled up with 2 pastors. One is the leader of the Elim churches in Tanzania, Peter Konke and the other is a pastor from Tanga, Thomas. When we first came to Tanzania and did this journey, there was literally nowhere to stop for food or the toilet! It was packed lunch and the bush! Now, there are plenty – hallelujah! We were able to stop a couple of times.

Having been away from Scott & Annelle, our hosts while in Arusha, for almost 2 weeks, it was good to be back ‘home!’ The stay at home was brief, however, as after just 2 nights, we were on the road again to Babati. This is about 3 hours South West of Arusha. We were off to do our final set of seminars.

Babati…… Arusha is awash now with coffee shops, restaurants, swimming pools, hotels etc.. lots to keep your wazungu (white man) need/wants met. Tanga is definitely improving with pools and eating places. In Babati, there is no such thing!! Not a coffee shop in sight….

The thing with Africa is that you ‘cope’ with the hassles and let downs by trying to compensate – going out for a nice meal or having a sun downer over looking the savannah… Believe me, this really helps you deal with stuff that can come your way. In Babati? Hapanna!! (No!) There are no outlets….

The ‘hotel’ was basic at best. Well, what do you expect for £16 per room per night, B & B! The main reason we stayed here was it boasted Wifi! Unbelievable – and, for most of the time, it worked! The service, however, left a lot to be desired. It seems they have no training on how to deal with the public and you sit in the restaurant with hardly a word passed between you. Not even, how are you! It makes you wonder how they get customers.
So, the first night, I order a Margherita pizza – what could possibly go wrong? – it came with peas and carrots on it! I was so hungry, I just ate it and didn’t think too much about it. Maybe it will catch on?

Babati was to bring us our biggest test of the trip……

We finished the seminars on the Friday. Peter said he would like to take us to see a church in Katesh about 70km away. We asked what time, 8.00am was the reply. Early for a Saturday but he said we’d be back for 10.00am so we were pleased with that arrangement because that would leave the rest of the day free – how wrong we were – After a bad nights sleep due to workmen right outside the room re-pointing the wall up to 11pm and an all night disco blaring, the 7.15am alarm call wasn’t quite what I wanted! John had also been awake since 6.45am due to Peter preaching – yes preaching – loudly through loud speakers that are on the roof of his church; our hotel is a 10 minute walk away, it was that loud! However, we were up and ready to go! Then, we get a phone call from Peter to say we are now going at 10.00am. After a mini breakdown, I got over it, manned up and thought, OK we’ll be back by 12 – wrong again! We got to the church at around 11am and sat in the pastors office as you do twiddling thumbs, wondering what was happening, then we were up an off to his house for lunch. Having had food in so many churches and homes, it wasn’t hard to guess what we’d be having, chicken, rice, ugali, fruit etc…. their hospitality is great….After all the greetings and prayers, we were back in the car. It was 2.30pm. John estimated we’d be back at 3.30pm – yet again, we had it wrong. We were travelling merrily along a great road (you can’t say that very often) and our driver turned left – off road, this is never a good sign. I had nodded off so was blissfully unaware of our detour. The potholes in the road soon woke me up and I knew we weren’t on our way to Babati. We were going to another church and, as we pulled up, to our horror, there was a service going on…. The obligatory choir was up and our hearts sank, simply because we weren’t expecting it We were ushered in and while we were watching, trying to smile, Peter turned to John and said, you have to preach! Literally a few minutes before he had to get up! He did, he went into professionalism for the sake of the dear people that had turned up for the service. They were merrily announcing that they knew the day before that we were coming – it would have been nice if we had! – After John’s preach, the choir did a ‘short’ song, which was actually a long one and we were ushered into the office again for more food! I felt like the Vicar of Dibley did on that Christmas special. The people had gone to so much trouble and we were in a very awkward position because we weren’t hungry. We managed a portion that was acceptable but we felt really uncomfortable. We eventually got back into the car and, without anymore surprises, got back to the hotel at 6.00pm – the day gone – the day that we thought we had to write, prepare sermons and have some time together, snatched from our hands. And, we had nowhere to go to ‘compensate!’ John saw a stall on the way home that was selling banana wine – tempting…..but no.

We teach often that ‘sometimes you win, sometimes you learn!’ This wasn’t the first time we’d been caught out but it was the first on this trip. Thankfully, we are already laughing about it and talking about the lessons we have learned. The biggest one – you must be in control of your life, if you give it away, anything can happen and usually does!!

So, we turn our heads towards our return to the UK. We are full of excitement for what we have learned here, for our vision for the future but also for what we are going to be doing for the next few months in the UK. We can say that God has been very good to us and, if our dreams come true for Africa and for the UK, if what we have been dreaming about for years is finally about to come to pass then, our adventure has only just begun…..

We cannot wait to see our kids, our friends and family. I cannot wait to have a nice bubble bath and a meal that doesn’t contain rice!

Signing off from Africa…… thanks for sharing these 7 weeks…I will keep you up to date with our plans and maybe one day, you will be in Tanzania with us……

Back in Africa #3

We have been here for 5 weeks now and I am writing this blog from the beach in Pangani. It is a beautiful spot and one that I have been to be before many years ago! 1999 to be precise – I was here with the kids and some friends while John was travelling to Rwanda. I visited the lodge that we stayed in and, unfortunately, it is closed and run down at the moment. There are plans to renovate so I look forward to seeing it when it has been restored. As I look up, I can see coconut trees blowing in the breeze and, with the Indian Ocean behind me, it is a writer’s paradise.

I have had 2 ‘firsts’ happen to me since I last wrote – one horrendous, the other, amazing….I will get to them shortly.

We left Arusha for our trip down South on the 4th June. We stopped in Moshi which is about an hour and a half from Arusha. We made a stop here so that we could check it out for future reference. We liked it, it is a much quieter place than Arusha which is somewhat chaotic especially in town. We are remaining open and flexible to where we will do what we want to do here and so, everywhere we go, we wonder…..

In Moshi we stayed at a place called TPC which has to be seen to be believed! It is East Africa’s biggest sugar factory – it employs 10,000 people, has its own school, hospital, football league and lodge to name but a few things and it also boasts its own electrical and water supply. It is a massive project and it excited me and John with what is possible when you put your mind to something.

After TPC, we went into Moshi town and stayed in yet another hotel (it soon loses its ‘romance’) the highlight here though was that you could see Kilimanjaro from the hotel! I never tire of staring at that mountain. John treated me to lunch in a ‘food court’ in an outdoor park – it cost the grand total of £3 for food and drink – he knows how to take a girl out on a date!! He also had a £1 haircut – If you’ve seen the movie, ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ – Ruprick – (you know who I mean, no idea how to spell it!) I needn’t say more!

Transport has been our biggest challenge while we have been out here because anyone who knows Tanzania knows that, if you don’t control a situation, you never know what could happen next. We have been in many ‘cars’ (I’m sure some of them wouldn’t be allowed on the road in Britain). So, with this in mind, planning on how to make the long trip to Tanga, was another challenge. We went to the bus station which was completely manic. Touts were everywhere wanting our custom, we stuck out like sore thumbs. We eventually got ‘guided’ to a stand by a policeman and so we thought we were in safe hands. We purchased tickets which cost about £10 for the two of us. (for a 6 hour journey?? we should have known better) Anyway, we checked out the company with Innocent, a great friend who’s opinion we trust and he said, ‘no, don’t do it!’ If a Tanzanian says no to a bus company, then who was I to argue! We hired a driver from the hotel instead which of course cost us a great deal more than £10 but, I am alive to write this blog! So it was worth the cost.

Our final destination was Pangani for a couple of days on the beach before our seminars started in Tanga. We tried to get a bus again but it was absolutely packed to the rafters and so we said, ‘thanks but not thanks, we will get a taxi tomorrow!’

Slightly disappointed that we weren’t making the beach that day, we quickly resigned ourselves that that was the way it was and we stayed in a place we have stayed in many times before, the first time being 1997. The Panori – The same staff are still there now but it is very run down and it was here that I had my first ‘first’ and it was the horrendous one!

During the night, I felt like I was being bitten all over the place, thumbs, ear, hand, arm and I couldn’t figure out what it was but then it/they went for my eye and I started to scratch it thinking it was a mosquito bite. When I woke up – although I’m not so sure I slept! – I couldn’t open my eye, it looked like I had been in a boxing ring. (see photos). I asked John if he’d hit me but he denied it so I just accepted that it was a mosquito! I donned my sunglasses for the next couple of days and, even now, 3 days later, it still isn’t quite right. I do have two red marks on my eye which has convinced me that it wasn’t a mosquito. I don’t know what it was but it has made my likelihood of going back to the Panori rather unlikely!

The next day, after a long and arduous journey, (taxi driver got lost), we eventually arrived at the beach and all of the previous days ‘woes’ melted away. Emayani Beach Lodge. What a stunning place. And here is where my number two ‘first’ happened.

Near where we were staying, there is a turtle project that was begun by a German couple. They are working with a neighbouring village and are helping to protect the turtle which is very endangered. We were told that at 5.30pm on this particular day, the turtles were about to hatch and run into the ocean. This we had to see. We had seen it on David Attenborough’s TV show, ‘Africa,’ but, to see it in real life, was amazing! 150 baby turtles running to the sea. It was great. Saddened to hear though that the statistic of survival is 1 in a 1000! Only 1 will make it to adulthood. All the more reason to support projects such as ‘Maziwe’ What a privilege. http://www.friendsofmaziwe.com if you’d like to know more.

It is the wonder of East Africa, you go from moments of despair (bites, buses and getting lost) to moments of elation in a matter of 48 hours. It never ceases to amaze me. I sit here in the evening breeze of Pangani wondering what our final two weeks will bring…..Thanks for reading and I will see you then……

We’ve been in Tanzania for 3 weeks now. It has felt good to be back. The worst thing is missing our family and friends. Although, with the invention of FaceTime, Skype and social networking, keeping in touch is much easier than it was 15 years ago. Being able to see the kids
faces and have a conversation some how makes them seem closer than they are. When we lived here before, we had to rely on ‘snail mail’ and a sometimes working internet! It has much improved.

One of things that I had forgotten, is that this part of Tanzania gets cold! I know you don’t believe me – because everyone thinks all of Africa is hot all of the time like I once did! It is their winter. It’s weird. I am writing this in boiling sunshine yet last night we had a fire in our room (intentional of course!) and I am sleeping under heavy blankets with my socks on! When it’s hot, it’s hot and when it’s cold, it’s baridi sana! (very cold).

Since I last wrote, I have had the privilege of speaking at a women’s seminar on a mountain in a village called Loita. Every time we arrived, someone would come and carry my bag for me. Servanthood at its best.

Arriving was a challenge. As I said it was up a mountain, and it took about 45 minutes from the main road. You couldn’t call the track up the mountain a road – you would be done by the trades description act! We just went with the flow as the car threw us about. As we made our way up there, we came across a group of boys who had blocked the road with a stick. It had suddenly become a toll road! They were supposedly fixing it for us but, to be honest, I couldn’t tell! We paid 400 shillings – about 10p! Some other boys cottoned on and we ended up going through two or three – and on the way down! Our driver ‘argued’ and refused to pay again on the way down! At least they were having a go at earning a living… I think if we’d have been driving, we’d have paid them all….

The seminar began and, as I listened to them singing, I was overcome with the emotion of the moment. I had to pull myself together as tears came into my eyes. I was overwhelmed at the honour of being able to speak to this group of ladies. Ladies who have little in this world, yet they have a deep love for God. Who was I to be standing in front of them? I felt humbled and found it an incredible blessing to help them grow a little more in their faith.

Before each session, we would sit in the pastor’s office where we would eat food that they had prepared for us. Meat, rice, water melon, bananas, avocado, eggs and bread. Hospitality at its best.

Always, my biggest challenges in Tanzania are the food, the toilets and the unknown. This hasn’t changed although I am much braver than I was in 1998!

The toilet on Loita had to be ‘conquered’ because we were there for a while! I got it down to a fine art… I would take a deep breath on the approach, do the deed while holding my breath, put my skirt over my mouth, leave the door open (I’m not proud!) and then run and breathe out! I had it sussed – so much so that I must have gone about 6 times! I was very proud of myself!

I have no problem with it being a hole in the ground – it’s the smell that does me!

We are doing lots of ministry while we are here which we are really enjoying. But what we are also enjoying is having time to read, study and to write. It has been a very long time since we have had concentrated time to do these things. John is working on a re-write of ‘The Royal Law’ and I have been able to write a lot of a book that I started back last year. Time is a precious commodity and we are grateful that we are having time to be creative on projects that have been around for some time. We have set ourselves goals and we are on course.

As we landed in Kilimanjaro Airport, Tanzania, on Wednesday 8th May 2013, my mind went back 15 years as I remembered what it was like when we arrived at the same airport (more like a wooden outbuilding!) on a one way ticket with 2 small children.. I remember standing in a queue watching all the insects flying around, I remember the heat, the smells and the complete unknown of what was to come. We got in a car and the kids, who were 7 and 6 at the time, were silent on our journey. If you’ve got kids, you know that is unheard of. That’s how scary it was. We knew nothing, we didn’t know where to buy food, how to do banking, where the doctors or dentist was, where to get water from, where to buy a car…. Everything that we had ever known was taken from us and we were scared. Thankfully, we overcame our fear – if we hadn’t I wouldn’t be writing from there now. Gradually, we got used to life and grew to love East Africa – there is nowhere like it on the planet. Put it on your bucket list…..

We lived in Tanzania for almost 3 years and imagined we’d be there for a few more. That wasn’t to be and our dreams of having our own orphanage, school, sports arena, International church and a lodge for retreats and travellers went down the drain. Our dreams were cut short – or so we thought…..

Even though we moved back to the UK, we never stopped helping East Africa. We visited regularly – John over 30 times. We have also personally brought over 100 people from the UK on a variety of trips. We can safely say, it is in our blood….

We think that we may have been given another opportunity to fulfil our dream, not a new dream, not a dream that we just thought of but one that we thought had gone. People have often asked us if we miss living in Africa and it has to be said, there are certain aspects that we certainly do miss, the lifestyle, the people, the honour and love of the people, dare I say, the weather! There are also some things that we definitely don’t miss like power cuts, no water, the mosquitoes who truly love me, the dark nights (never a summer evening but, then they are rare in the UK these days!)

Overall though, Tanzania is a great country. We went for a walk today, we walked past where we used to live. It’s changed much but we love it..

We are spending the next few weeks here to think, pray, ponder and dream of a centre that will hold all of the above things… Is it really possible that we get the chance to do it again? It has to be said, that only God knows the how’s and where’s of this. We are trusting Him and the people in our lives who are our friends, colleagues and leaders – we will listen as we seek to move this dream forward.

Will we move lock, stock and barrel back out here? will we have a base in the UK and in Tanzania?Will we continue to receive teams of young people (and older if you like?) and inspire them to help Africa? Some of those questions we know the answers to, some we don’t. We are hoping that by the time we board the plane back to the UK, things will be clearer. If you’re a praying person, please would you?

A trapeze artist cannot get a hold of the next trapeze until he/she has let go of the previous one.

We have had to let go of something extremely precious in order to catch hold of this new trapeze. We are still in a sense of mourning. Yet at the same time, we are very excited and also feel privileged that we are being entrusted with a massive vision to help as many people as possible from the youngest child to the oldest grownup. We know we can do it….. we would love it if you would be a part of it…. even if that is simply following our journey and keeping in touch.
As soon as we know more, we will share it with you…. You can contact us on deb@agapelife.co.uk