And our journey to Minnesota begins!

Flight 1 - Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Flight 2 - Amsterdam, Netherlands to Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Our last meal in Tanzania - Sea Cliff Casino Restaurant

Cheers to a wonderful trip!

Dessert!

Ships on the Indian Ocean.

View from our dining table. 

View from our dining table. 

View from our dining table. 

Tuesday, January 26th - Dar Es Salaam

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the Wista Inn and headed to an outdoor mall named Slipway, where Jan and Jenny spent some time.  The rest of the group got on a boat on the Indian Ocean and traveled to an island called Bongoyo. 

Website link to:  Wista Inn

Website link to:  Slipway Outdoor Mall

Website link to:  Bongoyo Island

It is hot and sunny, so we rented a Banda(tent) and enjoyed a few hours on the island. Our lunch was fresh lobster caught today with chips (French fries).  Not much meat on the tails, but very tasty!

Banda on Bongoyo Island with PJs feet.

Lobster on Bongoyo Island.

Ferry boat to the Bongoyo Island.

Boat coming back to Dar.

Returned to the mainland to do some shopping, had pizza for supper and now we’re back in our rooms playing cards. 

Monday, January 25th - Dar Es Salaam

Monday was a very long day on the bus back to Dar Es Salaam, but most of the way there we saw beautiful countryside of lush hills and trees.  It was good to be on a paved road again, but Tanzania slows their drivers down by having many, many speed bumps!  The closer we got to Dar, the drier the land and countryside became. 

We came into Dar at rush hour, so we were able to see lots of the town.  We were surprised there were many nurseries selling trees, plants and more.  Lots of bus traffic for those heading home from work.  It is very hot and humid here, so we changed our day to go out to Bongoyo Island and have more of a leisure day prior to our departure home tomorrow. 

We have all had a life-changing experience with our sisters and brothers in Christ at Mgama and will always have them in our hearts and in our prayers.  We are looking forward to home and reuniting with our family and friends.

On the way to having lunch, we got to see our final look at elephants, giraffes, warthogs, zebras, impalas and some moose-looking animal we had not previously seen.

We are sad to say good bye to these beautiful animals!

Our view of the countryside from the bus window.

Bodo Bodo - Three wheels better than four?

Our view of the countryside from the bus window.

Lunch at TanSwiss Lodge

Sunday, January 24th

Today was our last day with our sister parish Mgama.  It was an incredible experience for all of us.  The people of Mgama have such an appreciation for all that the congregation of St. Paul Lutheran has done for them. Their Sunday School Children were covered in one of the 96 mosquito nets purchased by our Sunday School to share the blessings because of Bega Kwa Bega. 

After the worship service, we had sharing time with the women.  It was a difficult day for us to say farewell to our friends at Mgama, but we know lasting relationships were formed. 

Enjoy our final day through the pictures we’ve sent. 

Mosquito Netting

Beautiful solo by choir member!

Welcome!

Presentation of the Kangas (African garment)!

Read more about Kangas by clicking this link: Kanga

Gifts from us to the members of the Congregation!

Gifts from us to the members of the Congregation!

Video Uploads!

Saturday, January 23rd

Today we spent the entire day with our sister Parish in Mgama.  We began with our partnership committee meeting.  The Senior Pastor and Associate pastor, along with all of the Preaching Point Evangelists, met with us to discuss their needs and projects, so we know where our gifts can help the most.  As a group, we will prayerfully discern where we want to help.

Following the meeting, we presented all the gifts we have collected – hats, crosses, mosquito netting, books, hoes, children’s toys, etc.  The village was so excited and thankful!  We also presented hats and kitchen gifts to the women who cook our meals in the village.

Next we visited our last two preaching points.  We were again overwhelmed by their welcome of singing and dancing.  They also have their own bell choir.  Young people wear bells on their ankles and dance as everyone is singing.  We present gifts at each parish point, but today we received gifts from them – corn, a chicken and a basket.

Bell Choir

New church building at one of our preaching points. 
It's about three times the size of the church they are currently in.

We were so excited to see our banner hanging in their church!

Bebe (Jan) with "Saccos", a loan recipient on her farm acres.

Another heartwarming welcome to Mgama. We are always filled with such joy!

Typical African meal at one of the Pastor's houses.

Another day full of God’s Grace and Love!

The children always have smiles and give us so much joy!

Kathy the pied piper with the children they love to follow her!

Friday, January 22nd

We began our day visiting Isimila Stone Age.

This site of prehistoric man and tools they used, was discovered in 1951 and is over 600,000 years old.  The pillars you see show the sand pillars that have been formed by wind and water erosion.  Our tour guide was an intern studying archaeology.  It was quite a hike down into the dig site.

Website Link to: Isimila Stone Age Site

In the distance it looks similar to the Grand Canyon!

Look in the clouds what do you see?

Guide at Isimila

Prehistoric tools found in archeological dig from the University of Chicago.

Isimila Stone Age Site

Pillars in Isimila.

Then off to Mgama, our sister parish.  We were once again welcomed with song and dance.  What a joyous feeling!  We were able to meet with the Secretary of one of the Micro-Finance Chapters at one of the preaching points.  We learned how the SACCOS loan program is working for her.

Giving gifts at one of our preaching points.

Then we visited another one of our preaching points.  In 2008, they were worshiping in a thatch-roofed building, and now have built a new brick church.  The church is built with 4,500 bricks, 2,500 of which they made themselves!  They will eventually add a floor and windows.  It is a very small church with 12 members and about 50 children.

Another eventful day!

We are on our 10th day of our mission trip - Thursday, January 21st

Today we visited Tumaini University, a beautiful growing campus started by a vision of the Blomquists' and the Langness' in the 1990's. A student population of 4500 with dorm space for up to 600. There are many additional buildings on campus since our visit in 2008. 

They offer several different majors for the students to study. We were given a campus tour by Itiweni Luhwago, who is a staff member directing the Iringa Hope-a micro finance bank working with the village parish programs. These loans provide funds for crop seeds, fertilizers, building materials and requires the loans to be repaid. Borrowers are able to pay school fees, improve their housing and improve nutrition from profits. 

Website link to: Tumaini University

New campus building being built for Applied Science Department.

In the afternoon we split our time at the market to purchase the mosquito nets bought from the offering from our Sunday School. 96 nets will be presented to the parish as gifts. There were also 25 field hoes purchased from individual donations. 

In the evening we were once again given such wonderful hospitality from a family that Pastor Janel met through House of Prayer Church, and then visited them 10 years ago on her first visit to Africa. The family served us a traditional African meal that was sooooo delicious!

We will soon be heading home to Minnesota with the joy of our Tanzanian Christians in our hearts!

Ruaha National Park Safari - Monday 1/18 and Tuesday 1/19

We spent the past two days in the Ruaha National Park, touring four different Safaris and covered many miles of scenic territory. 

We stayed overnight at Camp Mwagusi.  Camp Mwagusi was located on a beautiful river and our Bandas (sleeping tents) were wonderful with verandas overlooking the river.  We had great sleeping arrangements.  The hospitality and food were beyond any expectations we had!

Below are pictures of several of the animals we saw. 

Website link to: Ruaha National Park

Getting unstuck. It is the rainy season!

The main dining hall at camp.

Our Bandas

Lots and lots of Baobob trees!

Baboon

Warthogs

Zebra

We saw lots of elephants!

Kudo

Male Lion - but also saw four females that are not in the picture. 

We counted giraffes each day and the final count was 115!