Let's Start Talking Party
As you know, we have a group here from the Let's Start Talking program. The group comes from Texas. They teach English using the Bible. They recently had a 'party' for their readers. Anna was a leader at the party leading the activity, "Hokey Pokey." Of course, none of the Africans had ever done the hokey pokey. It was quite fun to watch.
We have received word that our shipping container has arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania off the ship and awaiting all of the final approval of paperwork. We are hoping to have our container on Monday of next week. We are praying that our house gets finished painted before our furniture arrives.
Area Churches of Christ Update
Lyambogo Church of Christ got new benches. They had some but they number of local kids filled all of the benches. It is good to have extra room to fill those benches!
We visited the Mbuyuni Church of Christ on Sunday Morning. We took along with us Don and Sue Logsdon, the LST group, and our family. So, when we all got there, we filled the building with 'mzungus' and natives!
The Gospel Meeting at the Tukuyu Church of Christ resulted in five baptisms.
The Gospel Chariot was in Ubaruku this past week with lessons each day on the Church of Christ. I visited the meeting on Friday. While there were many people there at the meeting, there was many more out a ways from the actual meeting. They could hear easily because the truck carries loud speakers so there was quite a crowd. I am also proud of all of the area congregations which came together all week to support the meeting in Ubaruku. There was one baptism on Friday. There were several people who signed up for Bible Studies.
We attended the Mission Church of Christ yesterday.
Secondary School Update
In March of this year, the secondary school at the mission suffered a serious blow when fire took a large portion of the school girl's dormitory. There were no injuries, but the dorm was seriously damaged. We have worked diligently to restore the building to be able to house students again. You can see the updated pictures in our report site. The bunk beds are currently being built and are scheduled to be completed by the time the secondary school girls return to school on September 9.
The primary and secondary school is currently on school break for a national census where everyone is to return to their homes to be counted.
Wagner Family Update
We are settling into our lives here in Chimala fairly well. We are suffering some 'cultural stresses' due to the differences we experience here, but all-in-all, things are going well. Jonah has discovered a new natural talent for science!
A few of us went to Matema Beach on Saturday with the LST group. I have traveled to several places and I think that the drive south from Mbeya to the Malawi border is one of the best in the world. The road down to the Malawi border was nice, but when we turned off the road to head to the beach - the road was ROUGH! We had a few obstacles as well.
When we finally arrived, the beach was fantastic. Lake Malawi is a large inland lake which has fresh water. This is the lake which is the point of contention between Malawi and Tanzania. Tanzania claim half of the lake, but Malawi claims the entire lake. The problem arose when they discovered oil and gas under the lake. The question became - who owns the resources? There was discussion of war between the two countries, but both country's leaders have assured everyone that there will be nothing like that.
The beach itself is fantastic. There were a few tourists there but it was mostly open. We had lunch at the Lutheran Mission center at Matema Beach. We ate chicken and chips. There is also a large problem at the front gate of the mission. I'm just glad it's not our container!
Chad Wagner
To see the report with pictures included, please click here.