Tanzania 2024 - To the South….

Our earliest wake-up time so far: we are supposed to be picked up for the airport at 4:15, so we might have a late-night drink beforehand. The rickety 20-person bus is a little late and also needs to fill up with gas. So we arrive at the airport and basically march through. There are two security checks, the first for everyone when entering the building. Then we stand at the counter and get real, normal boarding passes at check-in and baggage handling. The flight leaves at sunrise and after landing all foreigners have to be checked again and put on a list. Then we are greeted by (Pastor) Magonga, who we already know a little from his visit to Germany, and a driver. Mtwara is much bigger than I thought, it feels like a medium-sized town.

We are welcomed with a nice, big breakfast and then we are allowed to sleep for a while. Then lunch is brought from the school, we eat on the terrace with a sea view and then we drive into town.

Shopping area - bazaar - a thousand impressions - spices, food, especially many types of corn and pulses, dried fish and all other imaginable goods. Of course there is also a large fabric and clothing department, where some of us buy fabrics. But we will only have the tailoring done in Mbesa.

Finally, we pay a visit to the bishop of the parish association, a title that sounds a bit strange to me as a free church member, but corresponds to African culture. A friendly older gentleman, pastor of a local parish and just about to set up his own business as a sofa builder. He took us through the history of how - just during the colonial era (1960) - the land was cleared so that the first small mission station could be built and what the beginnings were like. And he tells us his vision and plans that young people will be able to be financially independent as craftsmen when they move to a new place as pastors to start a parish there. Hence the sofa building business. The short tour of the church gave us a taste of the "choir" - more like the dancing band.

It was impressive to see these ancient beginnings here, the church that was once built for the mission by a German architect is now the site of a vibrant local community whose motto on the door is “God is love”!

And before dinner we went for a quick swim in the ocean, including an overwhelming sunset!