Sunday, July 27 "Farewell"

Today was our last time to worship with the Christians at HPCC. Bob Wallace from North Carolina preached, and he was accompanied by a team from his church. They moved the service time up slightly to accommodate the baptisms, and in so doing we missed the Muslim call to prayer which usually interrupts the services. (A small mosque is just a few yards from the church.)
Just after the service began, 2 bus loads of Maasai arrived. The women in the group were attired in traditional dress, complete with elaborate necklaces and headdresses. They were really beautiful. Many had babies cradled on their backs, whom they nursed, as necessary, with no hint of self-consciousness.
As soon as the service ended, we formed a caravan of private vehicles, taxis, and the 2 buses. At the last major intersection, one of the Maasai buses was rear-ended by a dump truck. We all pulled over to wait for the police. It was clearly the fault of the dump truck, but one of the Maasai women appeared to have a slight concussion from the impact. (We knew Satan wouldn't stand for this going smoothly.) Eventually, we all arrived at the Buckners, then walked the short distance to the beach. The tide was going out, so we walked several yards into the ocean before it was deep enough for baptizing.
The first to be baptized was the leader of the tribe, a large man with 4 wives. Soon multiple baptisms were going on simultaneously. Bob, Craig, Don, Billy, and Rodney were all baptizing. It required group effort to counteract the waves. Afterwards, we formed a huge circle on the beach. As near as I could tell, there were 30 baptized with 40 or so Maasai all together. Praise God!
I need to backtrack briefly to tell you that at the end of the worship service Pastor Alphonce had Craig sit at the front of the church with a basket in his lap. Then these incredibly impoverished, dear people lined up to put money in the basket for JSCC! We were moved to tears, especially when several Maasai women removed their jewelry and placed it in the basket. I'm thinking that might become seed money for the next JSCC Tanzanian mission trip.
Tonight the rest of our team from the Ziem House will come over for fellowship. Also, Pastor Alphonce and the Elders of the church will come here to meet with Craig. In the morning we will tour Danielle's school at 9:00. Then, we'll go to HPCC for a farewell service, and most likely, a meal. Finally, we're off to the airport and on our way home. This has been an incredible experience, and we're so grateful to all of you who helped make it possible.


Here's a list (off the top of my head) of things we've accomplished:

Delivered supplies to Buckners
Fellowship with and encouragement to Don & Rochelle
Becoming acquainted with African Christians
2 Marriage Enrichment Seminars
2 VBS (African & missionary kids)
Babysitting for the missionaries
Instruction in how to teach by Laura
3 home visits
Visit to Pingo church
Providing transportation for Maasai baptisms
Monetary gift to Pastor William to help build new church
Tuition paid for Janet
Monetary gift to HPCC
Sunday School building completely refurbished
Towel racks up and minor repairs at the Buckner's
Money and transportation for sick baby and injured young man
Established relationship and encouragement for interns from Moberly, MO (also money)
Participated in 26 Maasai baptisms, 4 HPCC baptisms
Patronized Mama Jackie's shop (I think this qualifies!)