Steve in Tanzania

I arrived safely in Mumba, Tanzania after an overnight bus ride from Mongu to Lusaka, then I flew to Kamama in the northern province of Zambia, bussed to Mbala and took an $11 taxi ride 21 kilometers on a bumpy road to the border.

At the border there was no guard, just an empty guard house, so I went through the gap in the fence and walked about a half mile to the other side of “no man’s land” to Tanzania. It was a warm day so I got a bit warm myself, not dripping though as the altitude is pretty high and it was not humid. I stamped in (the passport) on the other side and met my new friend, coworker Jeff Friesen (interesting Menno connection here with his great grandparents having come out of the Ukraine through China and India, at one point serving as pastoral missionaries in India for several years). His grandmother was born two weeks after the family left China and crossed the Himalayas. Sounds like a Joseph and Mary story.

The trip to Mumba was uneventful with the exception of a bumpy road. We had a late supper of chicken, peanut sauce and rice. After having an omelet for breakfast, chips and juice on the plane for snack, one hardboiled egg and water for lunch, it was delicious. I will teach them how to make maize meal porridge and oatmeal pancakes before the week is up. My cooking skills are coming in real handy! Ha.

The view out my window is more like Switzerland, than Mozambique or Zambia. There are lots of pine trees here on the Bible school campus and the wind blowing through them with the cool clean air make me think of Heidi in the Alps, we are only missing the milk goats. Only the clay brick walls and thatched roof on the little shed give it away. It is pretty amazing though, to have internet and be online with a little phone like device and wireless to the computer. The house has solar energy and batteries. This will change within the year as the reason for this couple to be here is to install a hydro electric generator for the campus and nearby village. It will be a separate, off-the-grid electrical system.