Expecting the unexpected - a trip to Umalila

Expecting the unexpected and prepared to go with the flow, I set off on Wednesday morning to the beautiful rural countryside of Umalila, where the Malila people live. As I drove, I enjoyed the views over rolling hills and patchwork fields, but I did not enjoy the road! Most of it was rocky and rough, such that I never went above 30mph and often was going much slower than that. However, this area is not far from Mbeya, so after just an hour and a half of driving, I had already arrived at the village of Jojo, where my colleague, Majaliwa Mwangwale, lives and where he was waiting for me at his little office. Mwangwale is a delight to work with, with an almost unceasingly cheerful countenance, a cheeky smile, an open and honest approach in communication and a real ability to teach. Unusually for a Tanzanian, he also likes to be on time, so after greetings, some discussion about plans and a quick lesson in how to read Malila for two youths who came to the office, we set off to the main town of the region, Ilembo, to visit the Church of God Bible college, arriving over an hour before we were scheduled to teach. This meant that we arrived in time to have lunch with them before we began – a mountain of rice and a substantial bowl of beans.

There were just under 20 students (all men bar two) and a couple of members of staff. The students came from five different language areas, all of which we work with, so it was a great opportunity to show them the materials available in their languages, including New Testaments for three out of the five, which have been, or will be, launched this year. We discussed with them the benefits of using local languages in ministry, and how to use these languages side-by-side with the national language of Swahili when in a multilingual context, as well as teaching them the basics of reading their languages.

We returned to Jojo, and after a short walk (in which I was followed much of the way by a curious group of giggling children), we had dinner. The food had been prepared at lunchtime, but was still lukewarm on account of being kept in hot pots (these work on the same priniciple as a thermos flask, but are for food), so I enjoyed my plate of ugali and greens, with a banana.

The plan for the evening was to show the Jesus Film in the Malila language, so once we had finished dinner (by which time it was already dark) we headed to the centre of Jojo with all the equipment I had brought with me from the office. What I hadn’t realised was that we would be showing the film outside! We ran an extension cable from a nearby café and set up the projector and my laptop on a table in the middle of a clearing, to project onto the white wall of a building. My poor laptop got covered in dust, but it was worth it to see the crowd of over 100 people (including many children) avidly watching the story of the life of Jesus, even though it meant standing for about 2 hours. Thankfully, despite my lack of technological ability, all the equipment worked a treat, and everyone could hear it in their Malila language. I could hear youths in the crowd discussing what some of the words meant – although they all speak Malila they have started to mix many Swahili words in with their Malila, so some of the Malila words used, though known by older generations, were not understood by the young adults. Of course, I couldn’t really understand any of it, but as I have seen the film before and know the gospels well, I could guess most of what was being said!

By the time we finished it was about 10.30pm and we headed home – I was staying at Mwangwale’s house, where I had a comfy bed and a room to myself. The pillow was like a rock, but at least there was a pillow, and though the toilet involved a little walk across the courtyard, at least there was outside lighting. All in all a very comfortable situation, and I was well taken care of, with water to bathe morning and evening, if I wanted it. For this, they prepared a bowl of warm water, which they put in the toilet room, so that as you washed, the water could drain away down the long drop toilet. Their bathroom was the nicest that I experienced while there, being in a cement outhouse, with a ceramic basin for standing on (as opposed to dodgy wooden planks over a big pit) – not unlike the long drop toilets I remember using in France on a school trip!

However, though the plan had been to stay at his house for the duration of the trip, this was not to be. The second night we stayed at the home of the pastor to who’s church visited to conduct a Bible seminar. Mwangwale had tried to say that we already had plans for me to stay at his home (particularly because I had already explained to him about my special dietary requirements), but the pastor insisted and rather than risk damaging the relationship, we went along with the plan.

So, on Thursday morning I repacked my rucksack and off we went, to the village of Itizi, about a 20 minute drive away, back in the direction of Mbeya. To get to the church itself, we turned off the main road down a path, which the Land Cruiser could just about pass along, though at one point Mwangwale had to get out and move a goat happily eating grass on one side of the path, while tied to a stump on the other side of the path!

My goal through the seminar was to help people understand the book of
Ephesians, especially the idea of being in Christ, clothed with his righteousness, and therefore saved by grace alone. Knowing that my audience would be mostly church members, with maybe one or two pastors, and people with an oral learning preference (as opposed to a literary learning preference based on reading and linear thinking), I had tried to prepare my teaching in a way that would communicate into such a context, by weaving a story to put Ephesians in context (rather than just listing a set of facts about the author and context) and by using illustrations and drama as well as using the Malila language as much as possible. Although I taught in Swahili, all Scripture passages were read in Malila and my colleague translated key teaching points into Malila. I had also hoped to include some group discussion based on reading a few verses and thinking abou relevant questions, but I realised that this wouldn’t work, as hardly anyone had a Bible, and although we gave them Malila Scriptures to use, reading was a struggle for most of them and they weren’t used to answering comprehension questions. As well as unpacking grace, my hope was that I could also share a few principles for careful reading of Scripture, so as we went I also shared tidbits like the importance of reading Scripture in context, or that when you see a ‘therefore’ you should look at what comes before or if a word is repeated regularly then this can give you a clue as to what the theme of the passage is about. We also taught them how to read Malila (for those who were already literate in Swahili) and explained about how to use footnotes, introductions and pictures, to help them understand what they were reading.

The seminar was two days long, and there were about 15 people present, mostly ladies, as well as there being a number of children popping in and out. It was the first time I’d tried to do something quite like this, and I shall continue to ponder on whether this is something worth doing more of. I certainly enjoyed it, and it was a real privilege to explore grace with them. The thing that seemed to touch people most was the drama, which centred around a woman without a child and how her friend was able to comfort her by talking about who she was in Christ and the hope we have in Him. When we asked people what they learned through the drama, here is what a couple of ladies said:

“Through the drama I have learned that going to a witch doctor will not help. We need to depend on God and be patient.”

“Sometimes in ministry, if we meet someone who doesn’t have a child, we say, ‘You’ll get one!’. But we shouldn’t say something will happen that we ourselves can’t give. Rather we should remind them of the blessings they have in Christ, our salvation, everything we have in Christ. We can’t do anything.” 

For lunch, everyone returned to their homes. We went to the pastor’s home, where I continued to experience warm Malila hospitality. On the first day, lunch was ugali and chicken, with honey on the comb for dessert. While people may not eat meat on a day-to-day basis in most rural areas, they will nearly always provide meat for a guest, and usually chicken. Knowing this to be the case, and that provision of fruit and vegetables is often scarce, I had a secret stash of carrots and raisins with me, which I consumed at various opportunities! The second day it was ugali with fish, pork and eggs, and a cup of something like soured milk or yogurt (which I had to decline, as I am lactose intolerant). I’ve never before been provided with such an abundance of protein within one meal here in Tanzania! I thought I took a good big lump of ugali, but they still tried to encourage me to eat more – I don’t know how they put away so much food in one sitting! I also got to try some local seeds, just bigger than a 2p piece, that we put on the hot charcoal that we warming ourselves with, until the seed started to crack open. You could then split it open and eat the centre, a bit like eating a chestnut – it was delicious. I was given a bag of the seeds to take home. I will have to experiment with baking them in the oven, as I don’t have a charcoal stove! In the evening we were given rice and fish, and the next morning’s breakfast was cold, leftover rice (it’s very common here for breakfast to be the previous evening’s leftovers) and wholemeal bread, with a steaming mug of sweet, black tea.

At the end of the first day’s seminar, we returned to the pastor’s home, to find that one of the people at the seminar had gone into labour. She had been in labour pains all afternoon and a motorbike had just arrived to take her to the nearest clinic so a midwife could help with the birth. I tried to imagine being in the last stages of labour, trying to balance on the back of a motorbike going over very rough roads, and failed! Instead, I ran back to the church, where I’d left the Land Cruiser, and I took her in that, accompanied by three other ladies. Within half an hour of arriving, the baby was born, a little boy. 

I found out later that apparently the clinic staff had thought we were coming to do an inspection, because of the car and the white person! So they got particularly good service, no questions asked about things they hadn’t brought that they should have done, and no charge. It was such a small thing for me to help in this way, but they were so thankful, honouring me by saying they would name the baby after my dad, Michael, and giving me a gift of local cloth.

We had planned to show the Jesus Film in the church in the evening, but there was a powercut so this didn’t take place. Instead, we sat and chatted around the pot of charcoal, with the room lit by phone torches. I had a whole double bed to myself for the night, while the pastor’s wife slept in a little single bed at the side, with her youngest child. I have no idea where everyone else slept, as the pastor had 11 children, as well as guests! Once again, I was overwhelmed by their hospitality and kindness. I was relieved I didn’t need the toilet in the night, as it would have been a slightly hairy trip in the dark round the back of the house to the long drop, where a pile of leaves sat by the hole to use as toilet paper.

On Friday morning I was determined to get some exercise, so I set off for a walk along the road – I enjoyed the beautiful views and seeing people at work on their fields in the early morning sunlight. The only downside was the dust every time a vehicle passed by and the stares of the people I passed, not used to seeing a white person in their midst, and especially one walking so fast. I then bathed, balancing on the rocky floor of the outhouse, before having breakfast and heading back to the church to continue the seminar. We were able to cover all the material I had planned for the time and I pray that what they have learned will help them understand God’s amazing grace and love better, as well as encourage and enabled them to read the Malila Scriptures. We left, with many kind words said, phone numbers exchanged and a warm invite to return.

As we drove back home the skies were a picture – the sun sank as a big red ball below the soft blue mountains in the distance. I found myself singing, “Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands hath made”. Arriving back in Jojo, everything was in darkness as there was a powercut. I had had a headache all day, so spending the evening reading and chatting by the light of a candle didn’t help, as I strained to see in the dim light. Mwangwale’s wife wasn’t there – she’d had to leave urgently with her younger sister to go to hospital, as her sister had given birth prematurely. Sadly the child died a couple of days later. As she wasn’t around, this meant no food had been prepared. Mwangwale gathered some ingredients and his children (they have four, ranging in age from 6 to 21) prepared dinner, which we finally ate about 9pm. This was to be the pattern for the rest of my time there. (Incidentally, one evening we ate fish, and I discovered that if it’s the right kind of fish, the whole head can be eaten and, to my surprise, it tasted good.)

No work was planned for Saturday morning, so I anticipated some time of rest. I set off early for a walk, missing a turn on my way home so it ended up being a bit longer than planned (nearly 5 miles), but it was beautiful. I bathed and then found out that we were to go to a wedding! Mwangwale’s brother’s son was getting married in a nearby village, close to the village where we would be doing a seminar in the afternoon. So I banished thoughts of reading and catching up on emails, and instead headed to the home of his relatives. Ladies were busy at work cooking food and around me people were chatting away in their languages. Two guests had come from a neighbouring area where they speak the Nyakyusa language, so I played them a portion of the audio Scriptures in Nyakyusa, which they enjoyed listening to. I also had the opportunity to ask about marriage customs. They have the custom of a bride price – when a union is agreed, the groom’s family will have to give the bride’s family whatever they have asked for, which may be something like a cow and some blankets. If I understood rightly, they may then sell the cow in order to buy things for the bride to take to her new home. Before heading to the church, we were served with a bowl of rice, some fried chicken and a soda (all this before noon). Once at the church, we sat on wooden benches at the back, for which I was thankful as even there the music was so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think. The church had been decorated with cloth, and looked very festive. Everyone was dancing as they waited for the bride and groom to arrive. Once they had entered the church we had to leave in order to go to the afternoon seminar.

We arrived at the pastor’s home not long after 2pm, which was when the seminar was supposed to have started. We actually started nearer 4pm. The pastor hadn’t got home yet from the building site of a new church that they were working on. As we waited, I was plied with another soda, which I couldn’t refuse, so I dread to think how much sugar I consumed in total that day! As we waited I flicked through a child’s math’s textbook that was on the table, reminding me of primary school mathematics and proving an interesting Swahili exercise for me too.

We finally headed to the church, were we ended up with about 20 participants, including the host pastor and the pastor of another church. Apparently some popped out at one point and told others that “God is here today” and encouraged them to come! We again used the book of Ephesians, and though time was limited we still managed to unpack the concept of grace and briefly teach them to read Malila. We returned to the pastor’s home as the sun was setting, and were once again blessed with incredible Malila hospitality as they gave us a sack of potatoes, a bag of rice and some eggs to take away with us.

Sunday morning we were due to visit a church, where we would be given time to teach. Before we headed off, I had time for a very quick leg-stretch and breakfast – this was boiled eggs (the ones we had been given as a gift), with boiled potatoes and a banana – a surprisingly yummy combo. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the church, and it proved to be a somewhat hairy journey. At one piont we caught up with a little pickup truck going very slowly, so I beeped my horn a few times and carefully pulled round it – there wasn’t a lot of space to overtake, and the sides of the road slope away quite steeply. Next thing I knew there was a bang – the truck had caught the rear end of our vehicle! We were fine and the Land Cruiser was only slightly damaged, but it gave me a shock. Further along we came to a slight rise, where a lorry was parked in the middle of the road. I slowly and carefully made my way to the side of the road to go round it, trying not to end up in the ditch, and the lorry started to move down the slope. A couple of guys jumped up into the cab, and in my horror I realised that the lorry didn’t have a driver – it had started moving on its own and was coming towards us! Those guys swerved it away just in time and we passed safely.

Surprisingly, the church service actually started on time at 10am. They sang one song and then things were handed over to Mwangwale, which also surprised me, as at the church I usually attend there is at least an hour and a half of singing and notices before we get to the sermon! I shared for a few minutes about our organisation and the importance of reading God’s Word and, encouraged by Mwangwale to do so, taught them the song (in Swahili), “Read your Bible, pray every day”. He then went on to teach, reading the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in both Malila and Swahili, before doing a great job of teaching them from this story. While I couldn’t understand much of what was being said, I could see that everyone was really engaged – a good testimony to how well he was teaching and what a difference it makes when you teach in the local language. (By the way, in the Malila language area, Malila is used by everyone, young and old, men and woman, with Swahili only being used in more formal settings. I see stronger use of Malila than of any other language in the other areas that we work with, so using Malila Scriptures and teaching in Malila are particularly important).

After the service, we were invited into the old church, right next to the newer bigger one, for a lunch of rice, chicken and beans. We ate with the pastor and the retired pastor, both of whom seemed to recognise the need for using Malila in church ministry. Indeed, both the pastor and his wife bought Malila New Testaments, saying that they needed one each so that they wouldn’t argue over who would use it!

And so my time drew to an end. We returned to Jojo, said our goodbyes, and I began the journey home, picking up a lady on the way who was obviously needing a lift, so I was able to enjoy her company (plus that of the chicken she was carrying) as I traversed the rough roads home. The trip had definitely been full of the unexpected, but I rarely felt stressed or anxious, a testimony to how many people were praying for me. Through it I realised that I could cope with and even enjoy staying with a Tanzanian family for several days, adapting to changes of plans and teaching in circumstances very unlike a formal college or workshop setting. Will I do more of this? I don’t know. May God open the door for me, at the right time, if this is indeed something I can and should be doing more of. For the praise of His glory.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:6-8