Greetings and salutations from the road! We have begun our journey towards Tanzania and the Mwanza Bible Institute (MBI). The first leg of our journey consists of a drive to the Chicago airport from Grand Rapids, which will be followed by several flights and layovers (including a brief overnight) before reaching our final destination. We very much appreciate your prayers for God’s grace to us while traveling, as we hope to be refreshed and energized rather than exhausted during our time at MBI.
We especially covet your prayers for us because we’re bracing for a long journey. In fact, let me recount the scene where we first learned of how long our impending voyage would be. (Note: this recounting is purely from my own recollection, and may contain paraphrases and imperfections.)
Scene: Meeting room in Calvary’s new office space on the lower floor, where the children’s classrooms used to be
Characters:
Cindy – Our wonderful leader
Gayle – The voice of our team (for the purposes of this scene—perhaps not unlike Peter in the gospels)
The Rest of the Team – the other eight individuals on the team.
Act 1
Team sits around large table in meeting room, with Cindy at the head. Various important-looking paper handouts lie on the table in front of each team member, along with some orange peels and other snack remnants. Everyone looks to Cindy with rapt attention as she speaks.
Cindy: So I’ve now arranged the final flight details for us. It looks like it will be a travel time of 50 hours on the way there.
The Rest of the Team: [Stunned silence]
Gayle: HOW LONG!??! FIVE ZERO!??!
Cindy: Yes.
Gayle: …Wow. I’m speechless, which is a rare thing for me.
The Rest of the Team: [Continues stunned silence]
End of Act 1
In all seriousness, we are obviously hoping for a good journey despite its length. As we travel, we are also thinking of our families, prayer partners, and everyone who has supported us for this trip—we’re so thankful for you all. My prayer is that your sacrifices for our trip will not be wasted, but that God will use this to help build his church in Mwanza and beyond.
Blessings on you, dear readers.