One of the things you are forced to deal with quickly in Africa is the fact that clocks and watches serve an entirely different purpose on this continent than they do in the Americas. As American children are nurtured into a life of productive citizenship, we are taught the clock, like the bank statement, has the power to administer cosmic justice in your life which can leave you out of a job, without a meal, or sleeping on the couch. If we miss the clocks's call, we are subject to a wrath directly proportionate to the time we have stolen from that cold, ever-ticking harbinger of judgment.
Forget culture shock. In Africa you experience something more like a step into another dimension - a visit to the twilight zone where things seems like they can and should operate normally, but simply don’t. People wear watches because they’re cool and they fit around their wrists and should simply be there. Clocks hang on walls just because every office needs a clock to be an office, right? “Hours of operation” is a loosely used figure of speech which alludes to the idea that someone works here rather than serving the logical purpose of telling you when they will work here.
No one is exempt from this unwritten African law.
Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a way to levitate over this chasm of perspectives. As best we try, our ministry gets sucked into the quagmire of whenever. Commerce has been swallowed by the beast. Government - as anyone could well imagine, never had a chance. And so we prepared to set out for our last village expedition into the Southern Mountains, with a plan to spend time with the pastor who has been standing for Christ in a village with roots deep in witchcraft and ancestral worship.
We were looking forward to getting out to the village and walking with Pastor Moshi, talking with the men he is leading, and getting to look deeply into how the Gospel is taking root and where strength is needed. This village will be the epicenter of a move of God that burns throughout some of the most remote areas of Tanzania. And we were ready to hit the ground running, arm in arm.
But there was one minor detail that needed to be ironed out. In recent months, the Tanzanian government has been cracking down on "work" activities by non-residents or visitors. Ministry, regardless of whether it is volunteer or for profit, has been deemed a "work related activity," and so we would have to wait on proper permitting. The good news was these permits are a one day process. The bad news was that based on the African clock, one day events can happen repeatedly - in this case for ten days straight - and still fall reasonably within the prescribed time for the job.
Oh, but Thank You Jesus for being eternal, and for not being led by time. You know Romans tells us that "God works all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose." Good thing we are in business for him, because the only way waiting ten days for a one day permit seems reasonable is if God was orchestrating something special in the background. You see, there is a residency permit in Tanzania that allows you to live in the country for 2 years, to take part in "work related activities," and for the most part act as quasi citizen of this fine nation. And at the end of our ten days of African clock-watching, those of us new to the team all had a form of this residency permit. Never mind that it is valid only for 3 months because we were leaving back to America in that time. Never mind that in order to apply for residency permits in Tanzania you must be outside of the nation's borders - we never stepped off Tanzanian soil and still were permitted. Never mind that approval for residency sometimes takes up to 12 months. We were approved in 10 days! And now we're in the system. Sweet deal.
In case you don't already know, let me tell you how things go with the God I serve. He is pretty much awesome. Every time he does something it is more incredible than I expected. Every time I am ready to describe what I see him do, I am blown away by the ways he moved that I didn't see. Even in my pain and trouble, he has been closer than anyone I have ever known. And yes, even in the midst of this African time-warp bureaucracy, he was there. He was there from the immigration office in Tanzania, all the way through our 2 day, 16 hour drive to the village. He was there as we crossed makeshift bridges in the truck, with the trailer in tow. He was there as we drove over spike-like bamboo shoots. He was there as we pulled into the village and met not only the budding church, but also as the drunks and castaways came to see what all the buzz was about.
He is always there. He is always there and always doing something awesome we don't see. In this case, by the time we left the village, nearly three weeks after we began the process of permitting and waiting, he had prepared for us and Pastor Moshi a wonderful platform to move into the next phase of our ministry. With help from Moshi and a passerby who happened to come through the village while we were there (thanks, time-warp) we identified 5 new unreached villages which we are setting out for in the coming days. The village's biggest maker of alcohol gave his life to the Lord and publicly shouted to the village that he was turning from his addiction to Christ while we baptized him. Then the former king took his place as a son of God and did the same.
According to my Google calendar, this trip ran a little late. I'm glad God obviously doesn't sync his calendar to mine.
What a trip.
Email AFRICANFIVE@gmail.com to receive this newsletter.
In case you don't already know, let me tell you how things go with the God I serve. He is pretty much awesome. Every time he does something it is more incredible than I expected. Every time I am ready to describe what I see him do, I am blown away by the ways he moved that I didn't see. Even in my pain and trouble, he has been closer than anyone I have ever known. And yes, even in the midst of this African time-warp bureaucracy, he was there. He was there from the immigration office in Tanzania, all the way through our 2 day, 16 hour drive to the village. He was there as we crossed makeshift bridges in the truck, with the trailer in tow. He was there as we drove over spike-like bamboo shoots. He was there as we pulled into the village and met not only the budding church, but also as the drunks and castaways came to see what all the buzz was about.
He is always there. He is always there and always doing something awesome we don't see. In this case, by the time we left the village, nearly three weeks after we began the process of permitting and waiting, he had prepared for us and Pastor Moshi a wonderful platform to move into the next phase of our ministry. With help from Moshi and a passerby who happened to come through the village while we were there (thanks, time-warp) we identified 5 new unreached villages which we are setting out for in the coming days. The village's biggest maker of alcohol gave his life to the Lord and publicly shouted to the village that he was turning from his addiction to Christ while we baptized him. Then the former king took his place as a son of God and did the same.
According to my Google calendar, this trip ran a little late. I'm glad God obviously doesn't sync his calendar to mine.
What a trip.
Email AFRICANFIVE@gmail.com to receive this newsletter.
