We've had a couple of very busy days. When I last wrote, we were at the Uhuru Lutheran Center, which is a conference center and hostel in Moshi.
First, a geography lesson. Moshi is on the flatlands at the very edge of Mount Kilimanjaro. Old Moshi is up the slope just a bit – a kilometer or three from Moshi. The Germans established a government center in what is now called Old Moshi; when the British took over after the first world war, they moved the government center down the hill to what is now called Moshi. The Kikarara parish of the ELCT is located in Old Moshi.
Our hosts from the Kikarara Parish arrived on Thursday morning and collected us and our luggage at about 10 AM. One of the parish members owns a hotel in Old Moshi, and our gear was deposited there. Next we visited another church in a neighboring parish (Kiborlioni), where Pastor Godbless had been an intern many years before. After the tour, we sat down with the hosts from that church for "sharing some water", which turned out to be sodas or juice and roasted peanuts. In this part of Africa, it is traditional hospitality to offer your guests a drink of water, and to refuse is poor manners. After we had all washed our hands and had a nibble or two and a couple of welcoming speeches, we bade them farewell.
Next stop was the Kikarara Parish Church, where we got a tour, and saw the nearly completed parsonage as well as the sanctuary and other buildings. After we toured for a while, we went and shared water again – hand washing, sodas, juice or bottled water and some roasted peanuts. We sat and chatted with the Elders and others present, and then there were some speeches – a couple of Elders and Godbless welcomed us, and Rick thanked the group for our warm welcome.
We loaded up into our vehicles and made the short drive up one of the steep, bumpy main dirt roads of Kikarara, and stopped in at Meli Secondary School for a tour. Meli is a government-run school, but the Aids Orphans Fund we established two years ago helps many of the children who attend here. We got a tour, and walked around a couple of classrooms. Net we adjourned to one classroom that had been set up for lunch, and had a buffet lunch with the teachers and staff of Meli and the Kikarara elders. It was now about 2:15 PM, and after we had eaten our fill (and more), we had Some More Speeches, from the school headmaster, the elders and Pastor Rick. About 3:30 PM or so we moved outside and the whole school assembled and one of the older classes did a little drama for us. Next: More Speeches, mostly from the headmaster, and the obligatory thanks from Rick. We gave the school a dozen soccer balls, and made our way back to our cars.
We drove up the mountain for a nearly an hour, and got to a closed gate crossing the road. This was one of the starting places for climbing the Mount Kilimanjaro; this route is now closed, but it still offered a spectacular view of the peaks, who came out of their cloud cover for a few minutes. After some picture taking (and no speeches) we headed back down. Partway down we stopped at the very first Lutheran Church in this area – started back during the German Period (1880s-1918). The original church is still standing and in use; services are held in the newer, larger sanctuary next door. There was a great view of the plains below – we could clearly see Moshi, and we could see all the way to Kenya in the far distance.
We headed back down; the vehicle I was riding in had brake trouble (due to the steep, bumpy dirt roads), so we re-shuffled the passengers around and headed down. We stopped at yet another church that is shepherded by Godbless Mumkwe, and waited for all the cars to gather. This church is called Kitonyohu, and is a satellite of the Kikarara parish. Their choir was practicing when we arrived, and the sun was setting on Kilimanjaro, and it was wonderful. The choir did a couple of numbers for us, and once we had all re-assembled, we drove down the mountain to the house of Mr Paul, and Elder at Kikarara. We had a fabulous dinner with the Elders, and yes, there were More Speeches after dinner. Once we had said our goodbyes we were transported to the hotel. I was concerned that I didn't have the energy to get undressed before I fell asleep, but somehow managed.
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