Africa 2005 reflections - friends from the past
During our days in Arusha, I was able to meet up with several people from my previous time in Tanzania back in 1993. We visited the ELCT office and I met up with my former boss. We also visited a Sunday morning church service at the Arusha Community Church (ACC), the English language church of which I had been a member; there were only a couple of recognizable faces in the crowd but it still brought back some memories.
The best experiences, however, of my time in Arusha and even of my time in Africa is the opportunity that I got to visit with two sets of friends. First were Christopher & Diane Mwakasege; I stayed with them for the four months that I lived in Tanzania back in 1993. They are close friends and I was very happy to see them again and introduce them to Leah and the Grimwoods. The others quickly befriended the Mwakaseges; they found them so easy going and friendly. And the Mwakaseges were so good to us. Diane took us shopping for souvenirs and helped us get good prices for them. They also had us over for tea, took us to their Swahili church and had great conversations with us; it was exciting to hear accounts of Christopher's preaching (he's an evangelist and holds seminars and crusades around the country).
The second set of friends were Sig & Joy Feser, Canadian missionaries living and working in Arusha. They're a dynamic couple, visionaries with lots of great ideas and plans for ministering in Tanzania. Their focus is more on training up the leaders and pastors so that they are properly equipped to minister to their own congregations. The Fesers are leading a small community of missionary workers on a variety of projects, many of which are cutting edge (such as animation production, teaching video distribution with portable DVDs and such). All four of us were amazed at the work they are doing and we had a great time visiting with them and talking with them.
Yes, above all the travelling, the safaris, the beaches, etc., what I enjoyed the most about my Africa vacation was the chance to spend time with old friends and reconnect.
The best experiences, however, of my time in Arusha and even of my time in Africa is the opportunity that I got to visit with two sets of friends. First were Christopher & Diane Mwakasege; I stayed with them for the four months that I lived in Tanzania back in 1993. They are close friends and I was very happy to see them again and introduce them to Leah and the Grimwoods. The others quickly befriended the Mwakaseges; they found them so easy going and friendly. And the Mwakaseges were so good to us. Diane took us shopping for souvenirs and helped us get good prices for them. They also had us over for tea, took us to their Swahili church and had great conversations with us; it was exciting to hear accounts of Christopher's preaching (he's an evangelist and holds seminars and crusades around the country).
The second set of friends were Sig & Joy Feser, Canadian missionaries living and working in Arusha. They're a dynamic couple, visionaries with lots of great ideas and plans for ministering in Tanzania. Their focus is more on training up the leaders and pastors so that they are properly equipped to minister to their own congregations. The Fesers are leading a small community of missionary workers on a variety of projects, many of which are cutting edge (such as animation production, teaching video distribution with portable DVDs and such). All four of us were amazed at the work they are doing and we had a great time visiting with them and talking with them.
Yes, above all the travelling, the safaris, the beaches, etc., what I enjoyed the most about my Africa vacation was the chance to spend time with old friends and reconnect.
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