Over the Mountain and Through the River (to Build a Church)

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 - 11:05 AM CST

The 2007-2008 missions theme is "Everywhere," taken from Acts 1:8. Our AGWM missionaries find that preaching the gospel "to the ends of the earth" is sometimes a challenge and full of adventure. By Scott Hanson

Scott Hanson

Some places in Tanzania are hard to get to — there are no blacktop or dirt roads, not even a track that a car can drive on. The village of Lifuma in the Mwambao region is one of those places. We joined hands with our Tanzania AG partners to establish a church at the end of the trail.

Our journey started in Dar es Salaam. We left home and drove eight hours to the town of Njombe. The next morning we were off in a car again at 5:30 a.m., bouncing over a terrible road through the mountains heading to Mbwila three hours away. There we left our vehicle and started walking.

Over the mountain

Hanson and his team on Mt. Livingstone

The next seven hours was a grueling marathon of sweat and determination. The first couple of hours were an uncompromising vertical ascent, finally leveling off at the top near a crystal clear waterfall. From there we walked along the top of the mountain at 7,300 feet above sea level. At the 4-hour mark we were met with smiling faces and shouts of greetings. Several of our church members had walked for several hours to meet us on the mountaintop and to carry our bags down to their village.

The next 3 hours were even more challenging. The path was incredibly steep, dropping down 5,700 feet to Lake Nyasa. To make matters worse, it had just rained and I constantly fought a losing battle to stay upright, often finding myself falling down flat.

As we descended, our hosts assured us that we had one hour to go. Unfortunately, they don't wear watches. Their time estimate was optimistic and it took much longer than that.

 Through the river

The last obstacle was to jump across a river from rock to rock. I was so tired that on the first jump I slipped off the rock and into the water and ended up wading across.

Our church members greeted us with joy. We were the first foreigners to walk into the village from Mbwila and the first Assemblies of God missionaries they had ever seen.

Hospitality is integral to Tanzania culture and they immediately began to boil water for tea and catch the chicken to cook for supper. We sat outside our church building with its roof half blown off from a recent windstorm.

As we shared greetings, our hosts ran to put water on the fire so we could have a warm bucket bath. The bathroom was a 3-foot by 3-foot grass enclosure with a cloth over the front for privacy. A bucket bath never felt better! After the bath we sat around talking and laughing as they prepared supper. Although the people were poor they spared no expense, putting on a huge spread including chicken, fish, okra, rice and sodas. After our 9:30 dinner we had a brief service with our believers and climbed into our tent exhausted. Our believers gave up their own mattresses so we could sleep comfortably. The night passed quickly into dawn.

 Preparing to build a church

 The next morning it didn't seem possible that we had to turn around and head back up the mountain. Our work was done. We had brought the funds to purchase a lot and start a permanent church building. While we would have loved to stay longer, there were other people and more villages to visit on the other side of the mountain.

The church people cooked a huge breakfast for us. Knowing what was ahead, I ate and drank as much water as I could. As we gathered for prayer, the pastor said he had a gift for us and brought a big goat into the church. They would have slaughtered the animal for lunch, but since we were leaving, the pastor said we must take it home to eat. It was a beautiful gesture. After praying and embracing each other good-bye, we turned back up the mountain with our goat and began the long trek to our car.

The return journey took nine hours, and we didn't reach the village of Mbwila until after dark. We were grateful to be back on the road where our Speed the Light vehicle would make sure we made it home.

The trip was one that I will never forget – from the physically exhausting hike, to the sacrificial hospitality of our hosts, to the joyful unity in Christ that binds people together from Tanzania and the United States. I have a deep respect for the Tanzanian pastors who make these kinds of journeys every week, deep in the bush, to take the gospel to those who don't know Christ. It truly is a wonderful privilege to serve Jesus in Tanzania.

Scott and Karen Hanson are AGWM missionaries to Tanzania.