cpm training: a turning point in my ministry

Tomorrow I’m going to Mwakiwasha village to teach the Discovery Bible Study process and Church Planting Movements.  I’m posting today, partly to (as per usual) let you guys know what we’re up to in Geita, but mostly to ask you to pray over the seminar.

[If you don't care to read about my plans for evangelism in the villages surrounding Geita, I understand -- this is a long post.  But please skip to the end and pray over the requests I've listed.  I very much would appreciate that.]

There will be representatives present from four or five churches in the area, totaling 12-20 people.  We will begin the seminar with worship on Sunday evening and then three days of classes, likely four classes per day with a time of worship each evening.

The first things I’ll teach (and briefly) are:

• Why group Bible study is important (vs. a lone teacher)
• Why obedience-based Bible study is important (vs. knowledge-based)
• How to do an oral inductive Bible study (a sort of 3-column Bible study)

The reason I’m wanting to teach the above subjects quickly is that once we’ve worked through the above material, the remainder of the seminar’s studies will be done in small groups using the inductive Bible study method.  I will very much limit my actual teaching beyond initially touching on these three subjects.

commission and discipleship

Only when we realize mission can not be accomplished by our own authority should we turn our minds towards it.  Evangelism is Jesus’ responsibility.  And our participation in his mission is only possible because of our participation in him.  Jesus does, however, by his authority commission us.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  – Matthew 28:19-20a

Perhaps it would be useful if we listed a few things to which Jesus does not call us in this passage.  We are NOT commissioned to:

• convince people to believe a particular list of doctrines.
• get people into a church building on Sunday morning (or any other day and time).
• plant churches.

We ARE commissioned to make disciples.  I’m not suggesting planting churches is wrong.  Or that inviting a friend to worship with you on Sunday is a mistake.  I’m only listing a few (a very few) of those things which have seemed to take precedence over disciple-making these days.  Even my own mission team here in Tanzania is often referred to as a “church-planting team.”  I much prefer the term “disciple-making,” because our focus isn’t on churches but on disciples.

So what’s a disciple?

Jesus, in this passage,* defines a disciple as a baptized person who is learning to obey all of his commands.

**********

John King, one of my mentors in Christ, wrote a 3-post series for me on discipleship.  You can find his thoughts here:

• introduction to discipleship

• who is a disciple?

• making disciples

**********

You know Jesus never once used the word Christian?  Actually, a pretty good (I think excellent) argument can be made that the word Christian, all three times it is used in the Bible (yes, a whopping three), is meant as a derogatory term for followers of Jesus — and was not how they referred to themselves.  The term believers is used more often (I read 14 times), but never by Jesus.

Jesus only refers to his followers as disciples, students, or learners — all of those being translations of the same word (mathetes).**  I wonder if there’s not something to that?  Christianity has in many ways become about merely believing in Jesus, adhering to particular doctrines, and/or church attendance.  Perhaps we’d be better off simply thinking of ourselves as students at the feet of Jesus?

Jesus’ description of a disciple is both straightforward and clear, but we must not confuse simple definitions with simple tasks.  Jesus’ words absolutely necessitate obedience to his teachings — something many of our definitions of Christian don’t necessarily involve.  I’m afraid we’ve so wanted to distance ourselves from works-based religion that we’ve muddled (if not ignored) the very words of Jesus.

Are we worried we don’t possess within ourselves the ability to be obedient to Jesus’ teachings?  If so, I happily concede this point.  This I see as one more reason it’s so very important we read The Great Commission within its context.  Remember that Jesus couches our assignment (and his description of a disciple) in these words:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

and

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Obedience to Jesus is assumed in the life of a disciple.  But so is the presence and authority of Christ.  Just as participation in mission is made possible only through participation in Christ, so is obedience to his words.

---

This post is the third in a series on The Great Commission.  Other posts can be found here:

• worship (even when in doubt)

• unqualified and powerless for mission

---

* And I do try these days, as much as is possible, to let each passage interpret itself.

** With the exception of referring to the 12 as apostles.

unqualified and powerless for mission

When talk turns to evangelism and disciple-making, we sometimes hear statements like these:

• I just don’t know if I can do it.
• It’s not really my gift; evangelism is not one of my abilities.
• That’s not something I can accomplish.
• I don’t have the proper authority, do I?

I won’t argue with those who make these statements; I agree with them.  I think that’s probably why Jesus couches The Great Commission in the words he does (in bold):

Then Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus makes it very clear that our participation in mission is only possible because of our participation in him.

Making disciples is the work of Christ.  And success will only be by his authority, with his power, and because of his abilities.  You and I both are wholly unqualified to be missionaries and bringers of good news — except through our relationship with Christ.  

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus Christ, and it is by this authority that disciples are made.  It is also by this authority that Jesus has commissioned us to be workers and harvesters in his kingdom.

And perhaps some of the best news of all is that Jesus will be with us forever.  Mission will never be our endeavor.

We’ve done a great disservice to mission work everywhere by reading The Great Commission with Jesus’ opening and closing statements edited away.  Much harm has been done to Christianity because of this (false) belief that successful evangelism is somehow a result of the evangelist’s abilities.

I pray we can be unqualified and powerless, so Christ can accomplish his mission through us.

---

[This post is the second in a little series on The Great Commission.  The first post is here: worship (even when in doubt).]

 

educational pontificating

image courtesy of davidajacobs.com

Some time ago I was engaged in an online discussion concerning Jesus’ purposes for coming to earth (there are many).  I offered that I was fairly certain it’s not possible to separate and fully distinguish between those purposes — and that such a western mindset might not be helpful anyway.  But if pushed to sum it all up, I supposed giving glory to God would top my list.

There was some disagreement, though, as others felt the salvation of man was Jesus’ chief priority.  The discussion was intelligent and challenging, yet polite and Christlike.  And then someone posted this:

It is this kind of “educational” pontificating that leaves the lost…LOST.

It is part of the reason the Church is shrinking in the US now. We spend too much time pontificating the mission and not enough time doing the mission.

Is it the “Overall” mission? WHO CARES…the lost still need Him!

Other than the insinuation that those of us involved in the discussion are not very involved in actually reaching out to the lost, I thought this comment was appropriate.  There is an awful lot of time spent discussing and debating the word of God — not that this in itself is wrong.  But there are certainly times when I myself ought to be doing… and am found only to be talking.

man’s traditions over God’s commands

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”

– Matthew 15:1-9

A few thoughts:

• It is entirely possible — and all too common — for us to say the right words without any involvement from our hearts.
  
• I should honor my mother and father.
• I should never put man’s traditions ahead of God’s commands.
• I should never be willing to disappoint God in order to please man.
• I should study carefully to distinguish between that which is of God and that which is of man.
• In missions, we should imbed early in Bible study groups a desire to look to the Bible to know why or how to do anything — not to our denomination’s traditions or commentaries and the like.
• We tend to offer – unknowingly even – our own (cultural and church) traditions when involved in evangelism.  We should strive to 1) know when that is what we’re doing and 2) make efforts not to.
• Doing so will make Christianity “lighter.”  What we are now trying to pass on to seekers is incredibly laden with denominational baggage and cultural traditions.  It’s difficult for them to receive and even more difficult for them to pass on to others.  [Not to mention that we're blurring the lines of what is from God and what is from us, all the while making it difficult for them to be obedient to God.]
• A form of evangelism which offers the Word of God with little other baggage and tradition will be more easily accepted and more quickly reproduced.

**********

We know not all traditions of man are bad, so here are a few helpful questions* we should ask of each one we encounter.  They may help us determine whether to continue in that practice or not:

1. Is this tradition against God’s commands in the Bible?
2. Will this tradition be a barrier to the gospel’s advance in the culture in which I’m living?
3. Does this tradition water down or dilute the understanding of other Biblical practices?

I’ll try to go a little deeper into these questions in upcoming posts.  What are your thoughts?

 

* I found these questions in a notebook as if I’d written them (as an “I will” statement) following a Bible study on this text.  But I honestly don’t know that I’m smart enough to come up with these questions — so this asterisk and comment are here just to state that there may be credit due another individual for these questions, but if so I’ve got no idea who.  If it’s you, let me know…

the knowledge of the glory of the Lord… and water

This post is meant to paired with the previous post: you just never can know about these things.  The two were originally written together, but became too long.

 

I’m no genius when it comes to physics and fluids and the like.  But I do know that water has a leveling effect.  It always wants to rest at the same level.  The milk in the handle of the milk jug will always be even with the milk in the jug.  And you can’t fill one side of a glass more full than the other.  You also can’t make a pile of water (try).  Because fluids level.  [We even use fluids in these things we call "levels," which we in turn use to find out if other things are level.]

And that’s how all of our water systems work.  There’s a big tank that holds lots of water really high.  And if that water is allowed to travel down a pipe, it will continue to travel through that pipe (up or down) until it either leaves the pipe or reaches the same height as the water in that big, original tank.  That’s how water comes out of our shower-heads.  Those shower-heads are still lower than the big tank from where all the water comes — even though the pipes that feed those shower-heads might be under our houses.  [This is also why your toilet has a tank that holds water above the bowl.]

While we’re on the subject of water and leveling…

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
– Habakkuk 2:14

A couple of ideas on this verse:

• Just as the water in the sea doesn’t pile up in one place, neither should the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.  If we have this knowledge, it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that it flows to those places where there is none.  That’s how water works.  And mission ought not work differently.  [Though we definitely have tendencies to "stockpile" the knowledge of the glory of God in certain countries and buildings.]
• Notice it is the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of God that will one day fill the earth.  We don’t read that the glory of God itself will one day fill the earth.  That’s because it already does.  God’s glory is already present in all places and among all peoples.  It is their knowledge of this glory that is lacking.  Our task, then, is to make God’s glory known in every place.

May the knowledge of the glory of God fill the earth, even as the waters cover the sea.  And may we be used in that process.

the missional challenge

During the month of August, I’m taking “the missional challenge.”  I’ll be honest, I don’t know a great deal about this challenge, other than the fact that it’s advertised as “31 Days to Align with Jesus’ Mission.”  I generally am not a fan of 31 days to align with something, 7 principles of a highly effective something else, or the 5 steps of salvation.  But I was looking for something different to do with my morning Bible study time, and this opportunity presented itself.  I thought I’d give it a shot.  Dr. Dave DeVries, over at The Missional Challenge, has put together a 31-day program in which participants are led to understand what it means to be missional, and then to answer that calling in their own lives.

Take a look at the introduction to “the missional challenge.” — especially if you’re wanting to try something different and purposeful in your Bible study time.  The first challenge (August 1) is here; and you’ve easily got time to catch up (you’re only a day behind).  This first day took me about 20 minutes, and was definitely worth the time involved.  I was asked to summarize the mission of Jesus by looking at nine scriptures in which we find mission statements for his coming to earth.  I’ve attached my mission statement summary from these verses:

Jesus came to earth in submission and obedience to his Father.  He came to give greater meaning to, and a proper interpretation of, the laws of God — and to demonstrate in the flesh these intentions and expectations of the Father.  Jesus came to seek a human race that is lost, to serve us, and to offer his life for us, so we can be saved and experience the joys and freedoms of true life.

At least go have a look at the site and consider committing yourself to a 31-day study of mission.

And how would you summarize Jesus’ mission statement?

interview with a missionary — part mbili

This is the second post in a 2-part interview of which I was recently a part.  You can find the first part here.

What has God shown you while living in Africa?

I’m going to name two — a positive and a negative, if you will:

• God has shown me that my life is infinitely better when I set aside time each morning to pray and read my Bible.  I’ve tried lots of times in my life to do so, but had never been consistent and disciplined with that practice until a little over a year before I left the states (when I started reading my Bible every day).  And then when I arrived in Africa, I added a written prayer list to my daily routine.  It’s really been a blessing that I wish I’d taken advantage of earlier in life.  [Related is that I am now doing 3-column Bible studies, or some version of them, a couple of times a week.  These studies stress understanding what I'm reading and being obedient to put it into practice -- I believe the Holy Spirit is using these studies to transform my life and mind.  You can read here about how to do a 3-column Bible study.]
• This one may come across as pessimistic and depressing, but, living in Tanzania, God has shown me (and continues to show me) many abuses of religion and Christianity.  Hierarchies and power-grabbing.  Oppressing others in the name of Christ in order to get ahead.  Blatant disobedience to God by those who call themselves Christians, and this sin either being excused as culture or simply ignored as if it’s not a problem.  I’m not suggesting there are no actual Christians here, or that every church is corrupt — but I am saying that overall the church I see is not representative of the Christ I serve.

What is the biggest cultural difference between America and Africa (or with what cultural difference have you struggled the most)?

I’m not sure of the largest cultural difference between the continents, but I definitely struggle most with fatalism and defeatism and the like.  It bothers me so much to see a people who are resigned to live poor and sad lives, unwilling to search for solutions to problems, unable to dream, and in which any optimism is the result of an expected handout.  Not all of Africa is this way, but many seem to be — at least to some extent.

Not that I think Americans have the right answer: “I can do anything I set my mind to.  It is within my power to achieve all things.”  We even pull scripture out of context to back up our beliefs: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Paul says such in the context of being content in all times.  I mean, we make it say almost the opposite of what he intended.  ”I can accomplish running a marathon through Christ, who strengthens me,” rather than, “I can be content even if I lose the use of both of my legs in a horrible car accident.”

Tanzanians, I don’t believe, struggle so much with thinking they can accomplish it all on their own.  I think they struggle more with believing there is no single power large enough (of themselves or elsewhere) to overcome death and sickness and evil spirits.*  And everything that happens is due to some outside spiritual force.  So either 1) I have no ability to change my life, find success, or think creatively, and should be resigned to suffer because that’s just the way it goes, or 2) I need to constantly be appeasing the spirits, maybe grabbing hold of a couple of different religious systems, so that I have more power against evil.  [I'm over-generalizing, but you get my point.]

What have you learned about yourself from living in Africa?

I like to write.  I knew before moving here that I kind of liked to write.  But now I realize it’s one of my favorite ways both in which to relax and to think through issues.  I think, for now, writing has taken the place of team sports in my life.  I’m sure that sounds strange, and some of you are wondering how playing a sport could ever have been as relaxing as sitting and writing.  But others are wondering how writing could ever offer the same challenges and rewards as playing sports.  Anyway, for me, it just fits right now.  There are a lot of hobbies I lost in moving to Africa, and I’m glad writing has stepped up to fill some of those voids.

What have you learned about congregational ministry while in Africa?

I’m not there yet.  I’m studying the Bible with some folks, and I’ve visited some established churches, but I’m not currently ministering to, or in, any congregation.  The one thing I can say that I’ve learned, I’m not sure I learned FROM africa — I think more the ideas merely developed more fully while IN africa — but it is this:  The ministry of the church to the lost is different than the ministry of the church to the church.

* This struggle with power over evil is one reason I think presenting the gospel (only or even firstly) as Jesus dying for our sins is a mistake in this culture.  The idea of sin and guilt is a concept that isn’t fully (or at all) present here.  So we’re offering a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.  We ought to start with the creator of the world, a power so great that he has already defeated evil once and for all — and we can live in him.  Once it’s established that God meets the (already present) need for an all-powerful, yet loving, creator, those who are giving their lives to that God will come to realize that he has ideas concerning right and wrong, and it will become important to be obedient to him.  Sin and guilt will be understood, and the fuller purpose of Jesus’ coming as well.  But I think we make a big mistake when we start there.

interview with a missionary – part moja

image courtesy of photobucket.com

I was recently interviewed by a college student concerning my current life as a missionary on a foreign field.  I generally try not to be a blogger who posts interviews with himself (especially the ones that ask what I’m listening to right now and who the last person with whom I spoke on the phone was), but many of you ask to read more about our lives here in Tanzania.  So I thought this interview would be alright, though I’ve tweaked the interview itself, cutting and pasting here and there, etc.  I’m planning to post it in two parts, because I went into such great detail on this first question:

What expectations did you have concerning missionary life that have proved unrealistic?

The three years I served in China before coming to Tanzania helped to remove many of the unrealistic expectations I might have otherwise had. However, I was still not prepared for everyday life to take so long.  I tried to prepare myself for it; I knew it would be the case.  But I failed.  I had been in Africa a couple of times, and for several months, prior to moving to Geita.  A lot of that time was spent in nearby Mwanza — which I knew was a larger city, but thought would be similar.  In some ways it is.  But not many.  Everyday tasks just require a great deal more time than ever before.  Some of this is cultural, but much of it is simply due to goods not being available in stores (or being very expensive) and city services being poor at best.  Some examples:

• We constantly run out of water (or within 200-300 liters of it), despite the fact that we’re on city water.  In a typical week (if there is such a thing), water from the city is turned on for four hours, two days a week.  So depending on our water usage (and whether we have visitors — equals extra showers, more dishes, etc), I could easily spend 4-6 hours of my work week getting water myself or having it delivered.  And getting it myself requires time spent by Carson or Calvin (as they have means of moving large amounts of water, and I don’t), eating into their work days as well.
• Being without electricity can obviously change one’s schedule a great deal.
• There’s no such thing as running to the market, or into town, for ten minutes to pick up a few things.  If I go near their stalls or storefronts, there are at least 7 or 8 vendors I am expected to go and greet, and many people along the way want to stop and chat.  Only a short conversation is needed, and I consider this a real benefit of living in small town Africa — but it easily turns ten-minute trips into 30.
• There are many goods which, in order to be obtained, require trips to other cities (oats, canned vegetables, coffee, frozen chickens,* etc) — and others which are much cheaper in those other cities (almost everything, from bulk toilet paper to soap to nearly every food item, etc).  Mwanza is the nearest city, and (now, due to a new paved road and an extra ferry across the lake,) is about a 2 1/2 hour journey, one-way.
• Car repair is also in Mwanza, as are many of the government offices we might need to visit.  [Geita, however, has just become its own region, and is the capital of that region, so these offices will "soon" be coming our way.]  Our insurance office is in Mwanza, and even our post office box is there (none available in Geita right now, and there exist zero large boxes at our post office anyway — for our team to share).
• A meeting time is not a meeting time.  It’s usually a suggested time at which you might think about starting to go where you’re going.  So if I’m told someone will meet me at 10:00 am, I have begun to expect them after 11:30.  I used to try and find something useful to do during that time, while waiting at the specified location.  Now I just show up a little late myself (still always first, though, no matter how hard I try).  Not only does the waiting take time, but it prevents me from scheduling three meetings a day.  Literally, two one-hour meetings can take an entire work day.
• We make our own bread, process our own meat, and almost all food is cooked from scratch.  In the states, I always had an option to stick a frozen pizza in the oven or eat a bag of chips.  Here, if there are any frozen pizzas, it’s because Christie made them Monday because she knew she wouldn’t have time on Thursday because of Bible study.  If there are any chips, they’re homemade tortilla chips (from scratch, which is quite a process).

I should be clear that much of the time spent “living” is in some way or another related to wanting to be comfortable.  If we only ate rice and beans every day like the Tanzanians do, we wouldn’t have to process pigs and make our own bread.  If we bathed with damp rags every three days (not trying to be rude, but honest) or washed (owned) less clothes, we wouldn’t require nearly the amount of water we do.  If I didn’t own a truck, I wouldn’t need an insurance office in Mwanza.  So, in fairness, I should admit that it would at least be possible for us to live differently.

However, I’m still not sure how much time it would save.  Because, were we to decide to live like some of our fellow Geitans, we’d necessarily walk everywhere, cook outside over charcoal, and fetch water from a bucket every time we needed it.  So in some ways, those things which make us comfortable actually increase the time available for work and ministry.  It’s not like the Tanzanian women don’t spend much of the day cooking.  I think living here simply takes longer, no matter who you are.  The guy with the bank account has to wait in a 10+ person line, and the guy without has to do the same at the cell phone store.  [If you don't have a bank account, you keep your money on your phone -- read more about that here under "mobile money."]  Christie and I, then, have decided to fall a bit on the comfortable side, despite the time involved.  We have pizza once a week, take showers daily, use the internet, and have an indoor kitchen.

So living in Geita takes a great deal more time than I ever imagined it would.  And that time has to come from somewhere — time spent working, studying, with family, relaxing, exercising, or sleeping has to be cut (or some of each).**  That’s frustrating to me, because I sometimes feel like I’m not accomplishing as much as I should.  I suppose much of that is because I compare my work week to what it was in the states.  Probably a bad idea.  Africa can be a tough place for someone who is driven.  Especially when that someone has generally determined his self-worth and value by his own accomplishments.  As you can probably guess, Tanzania has been good for me.  I’ve been forced (wish I hadn’t needed to be) to find my worth elsewhere — and I’m learning that God loves me (and so do my wife and friends), no matter how many things I get done in a day.

interview with a missionary — part mbili

* Interestingly enough, frozen chickens in Mwanza cost the same as live local chickens in Geita — and have more meat on them.  I kind of enjoy slaughtering animals and processing meat, but if buying frozen chickens yields more meat in less time (if we’re already in Mwanza with a cooler), I’m going to choose that option.

** A “work day” for me is (when possible) seven hours (instead of eight), and I wake up a lot earlier than I used to.  I’ve not (and am not willing to) cut family time.  And my exercise, study, and rest times have stayed about the same.

superheroes and martyrs: common missionary misconceptions

I need to set a few things straight.

I am not a superhero or a martyr.  Nor is it likely that I will ever be a superhero or a martyr while here in Tanzania.

In my recent surfing of ministry blogs, I found there are some missionaries who would lead people to believe they are serving while every day in the midst of great peril.  Now, let me be clear: there do exist some missionaries who are serving while every day in the midst of great peril.*  But the majority of us are not (nor will we ever be) in that category.  It wasn’t so very long ago, during a three-year stint in China, that I would read all kinds of scare stories from other servants about the dangers involved in being “undercover” missionaries in a communist country.  It is true that Chinese believers attempting to share the gospel with others can be in serious danger of relocation or even prison.  But the missionaries themselves are in little danger beyond the possibility of being sent back to the United States.  [On my first night in China, I cried myself to sleep while praying that I myself would be "found out" and sent home.  However, God did not grant my wish, and I'm so very glad.]

One thing Christie and I strive toward is transparency in our work.  While it makes a good story that missionaries in Tanzania are suffering greatly for the cause of Christ, it is generally not true.  I’m no Stanley, and Christie’s no Livingstone, I presume.  Sure, there are things we give up and difficulties we face — but these are often and largely overstated.  I want to be honest about our situation here, and so, I’d like to clear up some exaggerations concerning the lives of missionaries in Africa.  I hope those of you who financially contribute to us will not pull your monetary support after reading the following list.  Even more so, I hope those of you who regularly pray for our family and ministry will not pull your intercessory support upon discovering just how easy we have it.  All the same, I feel it is my duty to straighten out these common missionary misconceptions:**

• The government is not angry with us, or even distrusting of us.  In fact, I’m friends with a policeman, and have had several pleasant conversations with government officials.
• There are no cannibals near where we live.
• There are no lions near where we live.
• There are no government dissidents with guns near where we live.
• There ARE monkeys near where we live… but they don’t seem to be dangerous (though I am still VERY afraid of them).***
• We do not live in a grass hut.  We live in a nice, concrete home with a tin roof, wooden doors and working windows (with mosquito screens).
• We have electricity at least 5 days a week — and even more during the World Cup.
• We have indoor plumbing and water available to us at least 6 days a week.
• Malaria is like a really bad flu.  It is generally, for healthy people, not life-threatening.  And none of the Harrison clan has had it yet.
• I don’t wear a loin cloth, and Christie doesn’t go topless.  Neither do the Tanzanians with whom we work.
• No one in our family is in any danger of being sacrificed to pagan gods.
• While I often do use my bike as a means of transportation (diesel is $5/gallon), we have a 4WD truck.
• We don’t eat rats and generally don’t eat bugs.  [Right now I'm enjoying coffee and cinnamon toast.]
• We have medical facilities, trained doctors, and a pharmacy in Geita.
• Very rarely does the local Tyrannosaurus Rex attack our village and eat our young.  For the record, his name is Ted, and he’s largely misunderstood.

What else have you heard about missionaries in Africa?  Do you have any questions about our lives here?

* There certainly are missionaries who serve in dangerous places.  And there are also missionaries who have been forced to give up much more than Christie and I, in order to serve in their locations.  This post is characteristic of my thoughts and opinions, based on my own experiences in China and Tanzania, and is not meant to be representative of the lives of all missionaries in all places.

** Perhaps at another time I will share with you a list of those things we indeed have given up in order to be in Tanzania.  Bacon is not on that list, or I would not have come to this place.

*** Monkeys and baby dolls… monkeys and baby dolls.