Group Visit: Monday

MONDAY
After a quick tour of HOPAC, Marc took the group to the city center for the day. We live about 30-45 minutes (in no traffic) from the heart of the city and do not get there often. It's crowded, full of businesses, buses, shops and markets. The purpose of the groups trip, however, was mainly to go into to the Hindu Temples and see the outsides of the Mosques.

Other World Religions are prominent here. We hear the Muslim calls to prayer 5 times a day. We see the different styles of dress all around us. We notice the lack of pork in many butcher shops. We dress more modestly as to not offend other culutres and religions. Marc has Hindu and Muslim students in his classes. We have several friends who have converted from Islam to Christianity. It's real.

We wanted to share with our visitors this reality of our friends/neighbors worshipping in temples or mosques and the heaviness and seriousness of what (and who) is truly at work. It's not something you would see often, if at all, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You would have to search out an experience like this, where in Dar it's a part of everyday life for so many. We wanted to share with them that it is not necessary to fear, but it IS necessary to pray. There are so many in our world who are lost and searching for Christ. While we all have idols in our lives that we put ahead of Christ, it's a different experience to walk into a Temple and see a god and witness people praying to it.




After visiting several Temples, the group ate some Indian food, met up with our church friend, Izzy and then ventured into the markeplaces to see textiles, spices, fruits, vegetables and anything else you can imagine. They had a long day and in true Dar fashion, got stuck in traffic on the way home.

While the group were downtown, I had the priviledge of subbing for Marc in his Grade 8 and Grade 9 classes.

We all arrived home and had a delicious Tanzanian meal of Pilau and Ndizi, prepared by Lucy.