Tanzania trip Nov 2023
The first thing that hits you is the traffic (not literally of course, although there were times …). Dar Es Salaam means ‘City of Peace’, but it seems that all of its 10 million inhabitants enjoy being out on the roads all at the same time, all using their horns to warn you of their presence! Peaceful is not the word I would use.
On our second evening, the car we were in had a puncture, leaving Fabian and I to find other forms of transport to get home. This meant crossing a three lane highway on foot. The speed and unpredictability of the various cars, trucks, motorbikes and tuk-tuks made this an apparent impossibility. However, Fabian seemed to make a way where there was no way, and I followed in his shadow, trusting that he could somehow sense which of the vehicles would slow down for us and which would just keep going.
I was in Tanzania at the request of Fabian, who leads a group of churches around the country, and has many good friendships with leaders across the city of Dar Es Salaam. He has been involved with some of the training that I’ve been doing for two years or more, and he was excited to introduce me to his friends and to share some of the things that I’ve been teaching him.
The first question I had from one of the pastors on the way from the airport to Fabian’s home was to explain the situation in the middle east in terms of biblical prophecy! Straight in at the deep end. Actually, I’ve found it a really helpful conversation to highlight how we are tempted to use the bible in unhelpful ways, and so this was how we began our conference time together.
The conference took place at Fabian’s church. It’s a venue that has been condemned by the local government as unsafe due to the potential for flooding. We arrived in some of the biggest rains they have experienced at that time of year, and there was a river running through the building. During the first day, we had to take a break because of the sound of the rain made it impossible to speak, and the conference delegates had to huddle in the corners to avoid the rain coming through the roof. No one seemed particularly fazed though, and when the heavy rain stopped, they reassembled as if nothing had happened.
The delegates had come from around Dar Es Salaam, and from other parts of the country. Two pastors came from Arusha, which is a 12 hour bus ride away. Another came from Morogoro, where his first part of the journey is to take a motorbike taxi for 3 hours across footpaths, until he can finally get to a road. Even then, he had to take another 2 busses for 3 hours each to find his way to Dar!
The training I did with them was to help them see the bible through the lens of one overarching story, with everything interconnected. Although this is new for most, it actually makes intuitive sense for them, as the Africans are all story telling people. They appreciate the power that stories have in a way that us westerners are only just beginning to grasp. During a question time halfway through the third day of training, one of the pastors said that he had learnt more in two days than in two years at bible college. This was without doubt an exaggeration, but it goes to show how just linking the bible together as a story can have a powerful impact on those whose minds are tuned this way. Another pastor said that he wanted to give us some land so we could build our own training centre in Dar, for the sake of the many pastors who have not heard this message!
So, we finished our training together with great joy on the fourth day, with celebrations of cake and dancing and of course the most important thing, the certificates! I’ve had to learn that this is a very important part of the training week. I get dressed up in a suit, and each delegate gets a certificate, a handshake, and a photo. These things matter in this culture, to the point where those who did the course with me last year have heard about the certificates, and written to ask why they didn’t get one, and if we could at least send them the certificates now.
So, with the course finished, we said our goodbyes and swapped phone numbers. The offer of the land to build a training centre, while being super generous and kind of them, gave me the opportunity to articulate what I’m really hoping for out of these times. I’m looking to find trainers. I don’t want to spend my energy finding money for buildings and upkeep. But if I find people who catch something from what I teach them, who see how important the message is, and who want to begin sharing and teaching wherever they can, then I want to do everything I can to get behind them. It’s still early days, but there are some who are already going out to teach some of this material, doing it in their own ways, with their own emphases. I’m trying my best to stay in touch with them, and equip them as best I can, give them whatever resources they need, and encourage them to freely give.
When we start to see ourselves in the biblical story, it changes everything! It gives people a fresh sense of vision for who the church really is, and what we are called to in these times. It gives us hope that nothing that we do in Jesus’ name is in vain and fuels a passion to take the message of the gospel into the darkest places.