This morning at 6:15am (Tanzania time…which is 9:15pm Owatonna time) I sent my family a text: “Tanzania has roosters.” I know this because after a solid 24 hours of travel, I wasn’t planning on getting up at 6:15am. The roosters, however, had other ideas.

But at that time of the morning there were things I discovered:

• Tanzania is a beautiful place, full of lush, green plants that surrounded our hotel in Arusha.
• There are birds here whose call is unlike everything I’d ever heard before.
• Tanzanian coffee, even the instant kind, is very, very good.

Our group grabbed a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and then packed up and brought our bags down to the ground love. Our drivers loaded them up and after a group photo and a prayer, we loaded up and headed out around 9:30am.

Our first stop today was at a place to exchange our US dollar for Tanzanian money (commonly called t-shillings). After that, we drove to a place called Shanga. Shanga describes itself as a social enterprise. It is a non-profit organization that employs people with disabilities to create unique and high-quality handmade jewelry, glassware and homewares incorporating recycled materials. These products are sold in the Shanga shop in Tanzania, as well as around the world, with profits being reinvested back into developing opportunities to employ more people with disabilities.

Frank met us to give us a tour. First he showed us some simple sign language, so that we could communicate our gratitude and to those who are creating the items, and so we could express our admiration for their good work.

We saw demonstrations of weaving with a giant loom, of sewing, of glass blowing, of creating art out of pieces of broken glass, and of painting these amazing little pieces of art. All the things we saw were beautiful. And we learned about how this small community of people have created a place of beauty, grace and collaboration.

After this tour, we grabbed lunch and stopped at a little roadside restaurant for lunch. Then we were back in the van for the two hour drive to our hotel for. On the drive, we traveled through the areas where the Masai tribe live. We saw members of this community walking along the road, taking care of their cattle and moving from place to place. The Masai are famous for their semi-nomadic lifestyle, their vibrant red garments and their rich traditions. It was amazing to see them.

Our goal for the rest of the afternoon was to relax and recover from a pretty fast-moving couple of days. We are all still feeling the effects of jet lag, and having a chance to take a breath was much appreciated. (I may or may not have intended to take a 30 minute nap and woken up 90 minutes later.

We ate dinner here at the hotel and experienced Tanzanian drummers and dancers, had a quick meeting to talk our our schedule for tomorrow and the group returned to their rooms to get rest for tomorrow.

The beauty and the landscape were amazing. In a single 2-hour drive we saw arid scrubland, we saw small mountains in the distance, we saw small towns and farms. We drove past a military base and past a giant coffee plantation. We saw beautiful art and we saw amazing plants and birds.

“How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” – Psalm 104:24

Today I was reminded that sometimes you have to leave where you’re at…step out of your comfort zone, and experience something brand new to be reminded of the beauty and diversity of creation. These things exist around at home…but we stop seeing them when we get used to them.

One of my hopes for this experience for myself is that I learn to see the world fresh again…because fresh, and new is how God created the world to be.

Tomorrow, we head to the Ngorngoro crater, a national park and wildlife refuge area that promises to be full of things I’ve never seen before. Then on Thursday we head to Singida to begin meeting our partner ministries and making new friends. I’m looking forward to it.

Please continue to keep our group in your prayers for safe travels!

In Christ,
Pastor Todd