David Green - Tanzania |
 |
October 2007 Prayer Letter
Dear Friends,
Ten days back in Tabora, and the first week completed of the next English Course ….
But so much has happened since I left England 4 weeks ago, on 3rd September.
“Climb Mount Kenya”
We made it! It was fantastic! And the thanks of the whole team go to everyone who has sponsored and supported us by your giving and with your prayers.
There were 7 of us from CMS (Church Mission Society), including Sila Matu from CMS’s Nairobi office who was able to join us for the first 2 days; and there were 8 from Vision Africa, another charity working in Kenya. Also in the party were Meirion Tanner, our co-ordinator from World Expeditions, and Moses and Stephen our Kikuyu guides who did an excellent job – Moses from Rift Valley Safaris, and Stephen whose life is leading groups up the Mountain. We came from every part of the U.K., Gibraltar and Kenya – ages from late teens to 70, and with varying spiritual persuasions. Our short evening gatherings, with a Psalm or a reading and prayer, gave us a right focus.
Rift Valley Safaris (or was it World Expeditions?) planned for us a most imaginative route, climbing from the East side of the Mountain, up Chogoria Road, and then descending to the north-west on the Sirimon Track. After a frosty start each morning, every day of the climb started gloriously clear and sunny. Cloud bubbled up by midday, followed by a variable quantity (and quality) of precipitation in the afternoon – a 40 minute sleet/snow/hailstorm (not pleasant!) on the 3rd day, and unending English drizzle as we descended the Sirimon Track 2 days later. So the Mountain treated us to every variety of its weather; but we survived it.
After leaving our transport on Friday afternoon, 7th Sept., we climbed along the track through bamboo forest then open moorland to our first campsite near the Chogoria Gate of Mt. Kenya National Park. The next day we saw, at a safe distance, a herd of buffalo and a fine bull elephant as we climbed through moorland to Lake Ellis for our 2nd night. The next day was long and tough, with the storm, and a steep, boggy descent of 1,000’ or more – precious altitude we would have to re-climb – down to idyllic Lake Michaelson, surrounded by towering cliffs, for the 3rd night. But it was worth it, for its secret beauty and the glorious sunrise next morning; and it helped us to acclimatize.
On day 4, by lunchtime, we reached our campsite near Simba Tarn at the base of Pt. Lenana. Despite more sleet that afternoon (not much, thankfully) Moses and Stephen allowed us little rest. They made us climb a ridge to the south-west, up to The Tooth, from where we had magnificent views down Haugsburg Valley to the south and Teleki Valley to the west, and the 3 summits, Batian, Nelion and Lenana, enhanced with the dusting of snow on them, just peaking through cloud. Again it was worth it!
Back to Simba camp for an early 4th night: up at 4.0 a.m. (very cold!!) to start the ascent to Point Lenana (16,335’/4,985mtr.), our final objective. (The topmost peaks, Batian and Nelion, are precipitous rock – for experienced mountaineers only.) It was a slog. But sunrise was stupendous – just 10 minutes before we clambered to the summit – and the views on all sides were magnificent. Particularly poignant for me was the discovery of a bronze and enamel plaque (a bit weathered), put there by my friend Alf Chipman, of CMS Australia and Bishop of Mount Kenya West Diocese in 1994, commemorating Ludwig Krapf’s sighting of Mt. Kenya in 1844 – the first ever CMS missionary and the first European to report the existence of this snow-capped peak that straddles the Equator. The plaque commemorates also Richard Carles, another personal friend, a fine Christian supporter of the Church in Kenya, who farmed on the slopes of the Mountain and welcomed my family and many others to enjoy the beauty and refreshment of his and Joan’s lovely home, and who himself died of oedema (mountain sickness) on Mt. Kenya in 1976. It was 35 years, almost to the day, that I last stood with Alf Chipman on top of Pt. Lenana – 12th Sept. 1972, if I remember rightly.
But we can’t stop there. Down again some 2,000’ to camp for a quick late breakfast; then off again, up & down & up & down, through drizzle and bog for 8 hours, 13 miles, to our 5th campsite near Judmeier Hut on Sirimon Track. Did we flop!
6th morning, brilliant blue skies again; last views of the now distant peaks; a lovely, gentle walk (except for sore feet!) through beautiful forest – with sightings of Colobus and Sykes monkeys, baboons and dikdik – to Sirimon Park Gate, where transport was waiting to take us to our final campsite at Naro Moru, where hot showers awaited us – What luxury!
Next day, Thurs. 13th, was our first cloudy morning; and as we drove back to Nairobi, Mt. Kenya was hiding its face in cloud. How gracious God had been to us! And top marks to our guides – Moses, Stephen and Meirion; also to Sila Matu of CMS Nairobi and all who had a hand in planning this venture for us, for their fault-free organisation.
Kibera, Nairobi
- home to some 700,000 people and the largest slum south of the Sahara. After lunch when we were back in Nairobi, Sila took us to meet Rev. Richard Mayabi, vicar of St. Jerome’s Church in Kibera, who with his wife Patience have made this their home. He welcomed us to his cramped, dark office – there’s no electricity laid on in a slum; and he with his African colleagues and Collin Smith of CMS told us how they shared their faith, laid on sewing classes and training in other skills, so that people can earn some money – and self-respect – instead of living by prostitution and petty crime. And the church is growing.
There had been heavy rain the previous night, and it was raining again as we walked, or slithered, warily along muddy paths between 1- or 2-room shacks. People greeted us cheerfully and assured us that rain and mud were much better than the dry dust and smells that usually fill the air. Children were playing in the murky stream that flows through Kibera, and that doubles as the sewer. A girl slipped over in the mud and got up laughing at the state of her blue – and now very muddy brown – skirt. The church’s Mother’s Union secretary sat at her front door which opened onto the muddy path – she was reading her Bible, helping a woman with her sewing, and blessing passers-by in the name of Jesus.
I wanted to both weep and shout Hallelujah at the poverty in which these people share, and the hope and love they share with others. It is for the support of such people that we went climbing – but what a cushy option we chose compared with them!
On Saturday 15th, as the CMS party were arriving home, Sheron and I went out with John Mwangi, who works for our friends Godfrey and Elisabeth Dawkins in Nairobi and is pastor to an African Inland Church. John took us to his church in a much smaller slum (but no less “slummy”), adjacent to the salubrious Parklands district of Nairobi, where John’s church runs a feeding programme for children. It was such a similar scene – poverty and mud, laughter and God’s love.
Tabora & English Teaching
On Thursday afternoon 20th, I reached “home” – late, but safe and sound, and warmly welcomed by Bishop Sadock and the staff and friends here. It was soon work again as usual. The next English Course started on Monday 24th, with 40 students, nearly twice as many as we have ever had previously. Many are in their early teens, but some are in their 30s, and 1 or 2 are over 40. My Tanzanian colleague and I have agreed that we must divide them into 2 classes. But this means that either we double the hours of teaching we give, or we cut down considerably on the content of our teaching. This first week we have doubled our hours, teaching both mornings and afternoons, about 5 hours a day. I realize I won’t be able to keep that up; but nor do I see how to cover the same content of teaching in sufficient depth for the students. I need wisdom to know how to solve this dilemma. Please pray.
Climate
I think Tabora is as hot and dry as I have ever known it. Kenya and U.K. may have had an extra lot of rain in recent months, but certainly not this part of Tanzania. Water is already in short supply, and the next rains are not due until the end of November. Pray that the water will not give out, and that good rain will come in good time.
With my greetings and prayers,
David Green
P.S. For those receiving this letter by email I hope again to send a 2nd email – later this week – with pictures of Mt. Kenya and Kibera, to be opened if you wish.