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THE
LION'S
See
the Lion of the trit)e of Judah . has
triumphed
t
O &
DAWN BAIRD
Elizabeth
Rachel
& Joshua
May
1994
IN
AFRIC
LOOKING
AT AN OPEN
DOOR
IN TANZANIA
We're back from Tanzania and ready to report and start seeing what
can be done with what we found there. ll start from the beginning and
tell you about the whole trip.
We left the States on the 16th of March via Chicago and Sabena
Airlines. The flight was about half full, I had a whole aisle to myself, and
was able to stretch out and
ge t some
sleep on th e way to Brussels. We had
an 18-hour layover, so we got a day room and some needed sleep. The
flightfrom
Brussels
to
Nairobi
was packed - no such thing as
laying
down
or sleeping. We arrived in Nairobion the 18th and were expecting to be
pickedup at the airport byan M F pilot and flown from there to Tanzania.
Inthat way we would not have had to check in and out of Nairobi,saving
us $30. But in Africa nothing happens as expected. Whilewe waited in
the transit lounge, a driver was standing outside with our names on a little
board. We finally did
get
hooked up with the driver, go t stamped into
Kenya and then 45 minutes later and $30 poorer, got stamped ou t as we
took off for Mwanza, Tanzania. The flight over the Rift Valleygoing to
Tanzania was very rough, but we arrived all in one piece only to find out
that
we could not go on to Kigoma because of bad weather.
Our first taste of Tanzania was Mwanza and it started out nicely At
the airport we had to deal with the Immigrationand Customs people. The
simplest way to describe what happened Isto say that they did their jobs.
There was no hassle, no desire for gifts or money, they simply asked the
questions related to their jobs and welcomed us to their country. Wewere
very pleased We had to stay overnight at
the
New Mwanza Hotel, which
is not so new My room was on the disco side of the hotel, so Idid not
sleep very well at all, but the food was good and the beds were
comfortable. Myimpression of Mwanza is that it isa dirty, run-down city
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with lots of people.
On Saturday morning, the 19th, we completed our
travel to KIgoma. When we arrived
there
we saw as we
were landing hundreds of people around the airport. My
firstthoughtwas
that
Edson,the man who had instigated
this whole trip, had the whole town ou t to greet us. As
it turned
out
there was a political person coming in just
after us and they were there for him. Edson met us with
a taxi and
we went
on into Kigoma from
the
airport.
In Kigomawe stayed at NORAD, which is a Norwe
gian
guest
house run bysome people that are inTanzania
for aid projects. Whilethere we visitedwith someof the
missionaries and
attended
two Wednesday night Bible
Study/Prayer times that they have. Kigomahas Method
ists, Pentecostals (both American and Swedish), Southern
Baptist, and German Anglican Missionaries. We
were
welcomed by all and they
were
very cooperative in
answering many of our questions.
Most importantlywe found out about CalvaryEvan
gelicalAssociation and the men working in it. Thisisthe
African Church group to which Edson belongs, the man
who called
us to
do the Crusade and
Seminars
and
to
possiblywork with on a permanent basis. Firstof all there
was a miscommunication This is not
hard
to
understand
when you
are
dealing across cultures and languages.
CalvaryEvangelical Association
CEA
was not started by
Edson Kamenya. It is a church group that has
been
in
existence and planting churches, to which Edson at
tached himself to have legal status. Edsonand the men
that he worked with have actually only
started one
very
small church in Kigoma.
CEA
has a constitution, as every
church group must, and we got a copy of it to see what
kindof a church we were dealing with. The constitution
had several areas that we discussed with Edson an d John
Mbikulakowho isthe secretary for their work. The two
most important were concerning the secondary position
they give to Baptism and that to be a member of the
church you have to support the Pre-millennialist view of
Revelation It was obvious that neither Edson nor
John
had
really
read the constitution. Oncetheydidtheydidn t
agree with itand we realized they had onlyjoined
CEA
to
have that needed legal religious status in the country.
A third man
that
we met was Justin, whom they
called the Pastor, and he did all
the
secondary preaching.
He
was a
real
authoritarian
and o n ce h e ma de a
decision
he would
not
back
own on
it
for
th
sake
of
hi s
reputation. We
came
into some conflict with him during
our
Crusade
and Seminars
because he would
not allow
for another opinion. The Crusade started off really well
for the first two days. We had 300 to 400 people in
attendance But from the third day on. the number of
peoplefelloff to half and then less
than that
We
though
that it would be a good idea to stop the Crusade on
Sundayand then
goon
to the Seminarthe nextwee
Justin would not have it The Crusade was i
afternoon, because people work during the day
when we started
th e Seminars
we want ed them
afternoon also for
the same
reason. But Justin ins
and the other two
went
along with it.
that
he w
continue
the
crusade
in the afternoon and we
wou
our Seminar in the morning. We never exceeded
attendance during those Seminars. We never forc
issue while
we
were
there
Whatever
we
did
was
decisions.
When
we discussed th e Constitution
simplyshowed them
what
we believed the Biblesai
they responded. I feel that Edson and John w
probably go with whatever they see as the truth,
think that Justin would go onlywith
what
he could
or
control
I
s aw tha t
none of th e
other
Missions, or C
groups, offer anything in the way of Christian Edu
for the people in the pews. They had preacher tr
and pastor training, but nothing of
what
we were
inZaire with the Theological Education Program.
would be a
great
opportunity for us in this area.
Kigomalooks a lot likeBafwasende, but on a b
scale and, unlikeZaire, almost everything works.
are
two banks, a train station, a port, and an ai
There are many little stores and a large market, ju
Zaire. Iwould say that there were more things ava
inZaire,when everything wasworking, but
the
pric
bet ter here for what is available. The economy
different from what Iam used to, because inTanzan
can go both ways with the money. You can buy
money, the Shilling, and you can turn the Shillings b
and ge t dollars. None of the other African countrie
Ihave been in would go both ways likethat. The p
here are differenti Theyare more independent, fre
are not awed byWhitePeople, nor do theyseem to e
th e White Man to provide everything. The kids are
A fish dinner at Allys Restaurant in Kigoma, Tanzani
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less trouble, you can actuallywalk around town without
being accosted by a pack of them.
Inour discussion with these men they had a lot that
they wanted from us in terms of financial help. We
expected this and the things we talked about were all
legitimate needs. Theyseem ready to be responsible for
their part of what we might be doing together, not with
the att itude that we owed them because they are poor
Africans, but because they want to work together until
they can take care of themselves financially.
Mikeand Ihad planned to leave Kigomaon
April
4th
byAirTanzania and flyto Dares Salaam. Wewould spend
t h e 5 th t h er e to s ee w h at is available a nd t he n
o n th e
6 th
fly to Nairobi to
connect
with our flight to th e States on
th e
8th. Ed Buellwa s going to catch
th e
passenger boat
from Kigoma, to Bujumbura, on Sunday the 3rd, and go
o n into
Zaire
until t h e 15th.
On Fridayth e 1st. Good Friday,after Idid myseminar
Istarted having
some
pains in my stomach. These pains
go t worse an d worse until Iwas doubled over with them.
T h e r e
w e re n o m i s s i on
d o c t o r s
in
t
a re a s o I
w nt
t o
t
local hospital under the care of
th e
African Doctor there.
I had an I V an d a shot for pain, and ex-rays. Let me
assure you that any needle that
went
into my body was
brand new out of a sealed package. The doctor thought
t h a t I
h ad
a
b o w e l o b s tr u c ti o n .
Mike
an d
Ed
f o u n d o u t
about a U.N. plane going to Nairobi on the next day,
Saturday the 2nd. Iwon t giveyou any gruesome details,
bu t bythe next morning, otherthan feeling like Ihad
been
thru
th e
wringer, Iwas fine. Butjust to be safe,
we
took
th e U.N. flight to Nairobi. We missed
th e
visit to Dar es
Sal aamI
From Nairobiit iseasy enough to connect with the
flight to Brusselsand then on to Chicago, right? Sorryl
First
of
all
our
tickets were
thru
an
organization
call^
Raptim which gives special discounts to missionaries. Our
return d ate o n th e tickets was
fo r th e
22nd which was
ZAIRE
The Port at Kigoma, on LakeTanganlka.
TANZAN
when Edwas planning to come backand Mikeand I
just supposed to
change
ou r tickets
when we g
Nairobi. We had arrived after noon on Saturday
offices were often. We waited thru Easter Sunday
expected to ge t in to change our tickets on Mo
morning. Guess what holiday the British influenc
pressed on Kenya? Easter Monday Nothing w as
on Monday. So we called around
an d
finally foun
that there was a Sabena flight to Brussels on Mo
night. Mikean d Ijust showed up about an hour ahe
th e
check-in time, presented ourselves an d our tick
the Sabena desk and they put uson standby. We ac
go t on the
ptaneandoff
we
wentto
Brussels. InBru
because we were not confirmed on to Chicago, w
to go to the Sabenadesk again to
ge t onward
to Chi
At this point
we
were
told by the representatives,
r ead
it
from their b o o k o f rules an d conf i r med
it
f r o m
supervisor, that because of
th e
type of tickets we ha
w er e n ot allowed to fly any other flight than the on
the ticket. Theysaid that the people in Nairobihad
in error by letting us on
th e
plane. What wer
options? Stay inBrusselsuntil th e 23rd or ge t on an
airlines. We went to every other carrier in
th e
airpor
s e t tl e d w i th Delta. W e arrived
back
in
th e
States
o
5th. Nowwe are trying to get the money back fo
leg of the journey from Brussels to Chicago.
What now? We will be meeting with
ACM
to di
whatwe found inTanzania and deciding
what
we sh
do next. We continue to feel that God has opene
door for a purpose. There isdefinitely a need inTan
for the ChristianChurchand the kindof church gr
programs that
we ca n
establish. Since we
d on t k
exactlyhow to go about accomplishing this, we con
to need your prayers for wisdom and understand
God bless you for get ting us there an d back with
your prayers an d your financial support.
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Introducing Our New
Forwarding
Agent
Lynn Kohlhagen
Greetings from Bob and
Dawn s newforwardingagenti I
certainly have had a lot to learn,
and
I m
afraid
iVe
learned
some
of it th e hard way, but learn 1
have. My name is Lynn
Kohlhagen. I live in Morris,
lli
nois, with my husband, Steve,
and daughter, Anne.
Steve isjust beginning a
new
career as a real
estate
agent. It
follows 20 years in the retail business, and he is really
enjoying the change. We are praying very hard for his
success. At church
Steve
is t h e teach er o f an
adult
Sunday school class called Seekers of Faith. He is
presently having a year off from his Elderduties, but he
stillhas hisShepherding Group
and
isworking on various
committees. Steve loves white-water rafting and is
organizing a trip to raft the Grand Canyon this summer
with some of the men of the church. Healso likesto golf
when he has the time.
Anne isa senior at MorrisCommunityHighSchool.
She is a good student and very active. She is presently
busywith rehearsals for the spring musical, Vie Sound
of Music. She has a part-time job teaching a step-
aerob ics class. Her favori te activities, in addit ion to
music,
are ar t
and ballet. We
are
getting ready for next
fall,when we llbe sending her away to the University of
Illinois at Urbana. Next year we ll be rooting for the
Fighting lllinil
Iama 6th grade language arts teacher at Shabbona
Middle School here in Morris. I love my work and my
relationship with the children. I am also the Student
Council and Year Book sponsor , and help coach the
students who go out for speech. Inmy spare time Ilike
to read mysteries and work crossword puzzles. I mkind
of a homebody, so Iwill enjoy th e time
spent
at
home
working on Bob and Dawn s bookkeeping tasks.
NOTE: With Lynn
handling the
Forwarding Agent
accounts
now all donations are to
b e s e nt
to
h e n
Lynn Kohlhagen
8 1 0
G r o v e
A v e .
Morris IL 604S0
All
donations
and gifts should be made out to
African Christian Mission as in the past
Prayer
Requests
1. Praise the Lordfor new supporting cong
gations at Erie
and
Centralia, IL and Coun
Bluffs, lA.
2. Praisethe Lordfor all of you who support
our trip to Kigoma, Tanzania.
3. Joshua has been diagnosed as havingAtte
tion DeficitDisorder and istaking medicati
for that. Please pray for God to smooth
work ou t his adjustment to the medicine
4. We have seen this opportunity in Tanzan
and
now
we need wisdom
both
fo r t
Bairds, as a family,
and
as members of AC
to
know
what God
w ou ld h av e u s
do nex
5. Pray for us as
we
head into th e summer wi
6
V S
programs and
one
camp, plus
oth
speaking dates along the way.
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