Monday, October 7, 2013
Dear Friends---Greetings from Makumira Seminary,
  We arrived one week ago  today.  We are living in the same house as last year, and we are living by ourselves.  Four Koreans have been living in the house for several months and it was being considered for us to live with them and all share the house. We are very, very grateful that the administration decided to make other arrangements and that we are able to have the house like last year.
  We also found out the classes we will be teaching.  Tim will continue to teach the worship class and have a senior faculty pastor teach the practicum part with Tim assisting. Apparently there is a meeting this week for the ELCT regarding standardizing their worship, so they want to implement this thru the seminary. Tim is looking forward to working with this very dear faculty member whom we got to know last year.
  I will continue to teach the Introduction to Counseling to Seminary students like last year plus I will be teaching this course to University students who enroll in the new Counseling Degree Program as well. That should be interesting.
 Unfortunately, 2 weeks ago, the University changed the date for classes to begin from Oct. 8th to Oct. 21st.  It was too expensive to change our tickets and numerous arrangements had already been made so we are here quite early.  Being our second year, it has been a much easier transition.  We had made arrangements last year to rent a car from a faculty member's friend who was a car dealer. When we went to make the connection, we learned that the man had sold the car and went out of business----so it's back to dala dala land! (As Tim told someone who asked how we got to church on Sunday, "We went with 28 of our "closest" friends!---It is unbelievably crowded and not safe.)  This really is a big disappointment, but there's one other possibility that we are pursuing, so maybe we will have transportation after all.
   We continue to be struck by the massive poverty here. We recently talked with a student who needed to return for an emergency to campus where his family is staying. He is 2 days away on internship.  He had to ask his intern pastor for money for the bus. The intern pastor only had enough for the first leg of the trip. The student  was unsure of how he would go the rest of the way but was able to find a relative in the city the bus stopped at after the first day. The relative gave him a cup of tea and money for the next part of the trip. The student arrived on campus having only had a cup of tea in 24  hours and no money for his transportation back.   His story is so typical.  We truly have so much by the world's standards.  The haunting question for us is, what is our role regarding giving money--who  do you give to--the maimed beggars on the streets of Arusha... the seminary students who can only afford one meal of rice a day...the requests for tuition money so students can send their children to school (knowing that education is ultimately a key to getting out of poverty)...or the lady at the market who wants you to hire her brother to work in your yard because he has had no work since last year....and these are just the requests from one week....
  Well, there's much to learn and much to think about here.
  On a brighter note, we are thrilled to hear the Buckeyes continue to do well. We aren't having much luck in getting live radio, but the printed news is very welcomed.
 We ask for your prayers and look forward to your emails.  More after school starts,
Kwa her (good-bye),
     Tim & Diane