Tena [Again]

-My Room With A View: Trading the Indian Ocean for the Udzungwa Mountains-

Tanzania Oyee! [Oyeee!] Tanzania Oyee! [Oyee!]

In just over three weeks I'll be heading back to Tanzania for my second full summer there. My fifth visit in seven years and what will be my longest consecutive stay in one place . . . 10 weeks at Ilula Lutheran Hospital. If Ilula sounds familiar,  it is because I was there for part of a week last year shooting an informational/fundraising video for the Saint Paul Area Synod. If you want to get an idea of what life at Ilula is like, you should check it out.  

Where last year my primary aim was to study Intermediate Kiswahili in Mombasa, Kenya the objective this summer is to learn about/practice Pastoral Care in a Clinical setting. In less technical jargon, I'll essentially be training and working as a Chaplain with my peers in the ELCT. I'll be living in a guesthouse at Ilula for most of the ten weeks that Ill be in-country, shadowing/working with the Chaplains there, and doing some studies/reflective exercises with church leaders back in Iringa. While untraditional to say the least, this project should satisfy ordination requirements in the ELCA -should that be in the cards- while allowing me to further my own interests in African and Global Christianity. 

With less than a month before I head out there is still a lot up in the air. The plan of action outlined above is more theoretical than concrete. In all honesty, I have some wasiwasi [worry] about it all, previous experience tells me that plans will somehow [luck? providence? divine intervention?] fall into place once I hit the ground. While having a goal/guidelines in mind, being able to go with the flow will be key. Although I've been to the Iringa area several times, I've never done anything like this; I'm definitely taking another leap of faith into the unknown. . .

What makes it feasible is knowing that I do not leap alone. This is a move I'm making with support, both financial and in spirit, by people here in Connecticut, Saint Paul, Wisconsin, and Tanzania. As a close friend  just wrote, "[I] have a calling to work in Africa . . . in at least some capacity, and it seems that others recognize that as well." While I have a case of the pre-trip jitters, I think the primary feeling I have is deep humility in the face of, and great thankfulness for, all of that support. 

Salaam. -p