Western Michigan Christian trip to Tanzania - 2016

We just got done hosting a team from Western Michigan Christian High School. They're actually probably in the air somewhere, arriving home to the USA in a few hours. I thought I'd share what our schedule looked like while they were here. We kept them very busy, but wanted to fit in as much as possible during their trip. 

We have another group coming in 3 weeks time! They will have a different schedule than below, but some of the elements will be the same. 

Saturday, May 14

9:05pm                             Arrive Dar Es Salaam

                                             Orientation - cultural rules, expectations (if not too tired)

                                            

Sunday, May 15

7:30am                             Rise & Shine, Breakfast

8:15am                             Leave for Church - help set up for church

9:30am                             Worship at God's Tribe Church

11:30am                          Help pack up church

12:30pm                          Lunch & pack 

2:30pm                             Leave for Mikumi  (dinner at Tan-Swiss)

Monday, May 16

6:00am                             Breakfast

6:30am                             SAFARI – Mikumi National Park

3:30pm                             Leave for Dar

                                            

 Tuesday, May 17

7:00am                             Breakfast

8:00am                             Mbezi Chapel Preschool - teach lesson, craft, game, songs

10:30am                          Nuru Center - working with adults with disabilities

2:15pm                             Karama - learn about Gretchen's position with Karama

3:30pm                             Sala Sala kids club - help with the volunteers who lead this club

6:30pm                             Dinner & Debrief                       

Wednesday, May 18

7:00am                             Rise & Shine, Breakfast

8:00am                             Mbezi Chapel Preschool - teach lesson, craft, game, songs

10:00am                          Visit some Karama artisans: Mabinti, Africraft, Nzito

6:00pm                             Dinner at home

7:00pm                             Life Group - our church small group 

Thursday, May 19

7:45am                             Primary Assembly

8:10am                             Mbezi Chapel Preschool - teach lesson, craft, game, songs

10:30am                          Wamama Kahawa - learn about this small business

11:30pm                          Lunch @ HOPAC Snack Bar

12:00pm                          Grade 2 - plan teacher party

12:30pm                          Go through donations for the orphange

1:15pm                             Assist a service Learning class at HOPAC

2:30pm                             Fish Market 

5:00pm                             Home to change

6:30pm                             Dinner at Addis in Dar

Friday, May 20

9:00am                             Leave for city center : Hindu Temple visits

1:00pm                             Lunch on Kisutu street

2:00pm                             Textiles market/Sokoni/purchase ferry tickets                  

6:30pm                             Dinner  

Saturday, May 21

7:15am                             Rise & Shine, breakfast

8:15am                             Meet at HOPAC, head to Green Pastures Orphanage

12:30pm                          Lunch

3:45pm                             Ferry departs for Zanzibar

Sunday, May 22

8:00am                             English worship @ Christ Church Cathedral

                                            Zanzibar tour: stone town, slavery memorial sites, etc

3:45pm                             Ferry departs for Dar              

6:00pm                             Arrive in Dar - home for dinner

Monday, May 23

8:00am                             Pack 

10:00am                           Kunduchi Beach   

3:15pm                             Home to shower & finish packing

5:00pm                             Early Dinner

5:30pm                             Leave for airport

10:20pm                          Depart Dar es Salaam 

Grand Rapids Christian High School Vision Trip

We have a few friends who teach at Christian High. Almost all of my former youth group students from my time at Plymouth Heights attend GRCHS. So naturally, we suggested a trip to come visit us during their two week "Winterim" term, hoping it would actually happen but thinking realistically it probably wouldn't.

Guess what? It DID happen and it was AMAZING!

The group that came to visit was fantastic. They had humble, grateful attitudes and were ready to learn. They asked insightful questions and were willing to let their ideas/thoughts/hearts be molded and changed. Even the first day, when they were completely wasted after travelling/being jet lagged with little sleep and dealing with the extreme weather change, they did not complain. They may have taken a few cat naps that day, but they pressed on and were obviously ready to embrace their week here.

First day tour of HOPAC on no sleep - they were troppers!

One of our many goals was to introduce these students to what "missions" actually looks like. It can be incredibly vague, and often we think "missions" is living in a mud hut in an African village with half-naked children running around. (See my LAST BLOG POST for more thoughts on this). So throughout the week, we had different missionaries come and share a meal with us and tell us about their call into missions and what they ACTUALLY do as a missionary. We also met with local pastors and friends who have incredible ministry happening here. We heard about church planting, training local pastors, village ministry, teaching, training programs for girls to learn sewing/business skills, Young Life Africa, coffee house buisiness providing jobs/income, midwifery/mother care, and more. It was amazing for me to even hear the stories of some of my friends and their experiences. It was inspirational.

Visiting the Hindu Temples (priest is in the middle of the pic)

One of the things we continued to talk about was both the beauty and the brokenness of what we saw and experienced. It was neat to see the students really grab hold of that. We wanted to make sure that they saw not only the broken things here in Tanzania, but the ways that God's beauty is all around us. Of course in the animals, the ocean, the palm trees, but also in the people, the ministry happening and the ways God is already powerfully at work.

I've previously posted our schedule (SEE HERE), so I won't go into all the details, but I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite moments with this group.

* A conversation on the bus from Mikumi National Park (safari site) back to Dar with a few of the students who were asking incredible questions about systemic poverty, following God's will, entitlement, materialism, faith.

* Being trapped in an open air banda because an elephant was too close to move out of it while we were on safari. He was interested in the trash can, which he tipped over and went through.

* Catching up with two of my former youth group students who came on the trip. Just amazing.


* Discussing spiritual warfare with a few students after hearing about the reality of these encounters by some of the missionaries here. They had doubts and questions, but listened and asked good questions.

* Having 12 people from Grand Rapids, Michigan in our home in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. They've been here! This really is incredible to have 12 more people who have seen and experienced a bit of life here.

* Seeing things through the eyes of people seeing it for the first time. Even after only being here 1 1/2 years, some things have become 'normal' - traffic, bumpy roads, the heat, etc.

* Hearing one of the students say, "I actually never really knew what it meant to be a missionary before, and now I'm starting to understand!"

One of our dear friends and Christian High teacher, Mark VanderWerf, wrote a reflection about his time here with the group:

Mark with Isaac (and a nice photobomb by Kendra!)

"Exploring God’s world, exploring God’s kingdom, and discovering God’s call. Those were our three goals for the Grand Rapids Christian High School Winterim trip to Tanzania…and what a success! Steve Tuit and I and 10 students were richly blessed by Gretchen and Marc’s leadership as they shared their firsthand experience of life in Tanzania. We experienced the rich beauty of Mbudya Island, the rich cultural and religious diversity of downtown Dar, and the stunning beauty of a safari. But more than that, our eyes were opened and our hearts stirred as we experienced some of the deep brokenness present in Dar: false religions, broken families, and systemic poverty. Through all of this, we were constantly reminded that God is at work in and through a whole range of people who have heard God’s call to serve – sometimes in radical ways and sometimes in subtle ways. This trip would not have been at all possible if were not for the amazing work of Gretchen and Marc Driesenga. Thank you guys for sharing your life and ministry with our students! Their lives are changed because of you. Asante sana!"

We had a group visit - will you be next?

Ever wonder what a visit here might look like? What would you see? What would you do? Who would you meet?

I thought I'd post the schedule from the Grand Rapids Christian High School winterim trip here, so you could get an idea. We have another potential group coming in May from Western Michigan Christian, and we hope that in the summer of 2016 our home church, Plymouth Heights CRC will be sending a group. We love hosting groups, but also individuals as well. This is one of the reasons we picked a house with an extra room. If you've ever considered coming to Africa, we encourage you to come! Send us an email!

GRCHS Winterim Trip

7-January, Wednesday

3:30am            Arrival to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
5:30am            Arrive @ ministry center
9:00am            Karibu Tanzania - expectations/culture/rules
10:30am          HOPAC - tour of school
11:15am          Lunch at snack bar
12:00am          Nuru Center - meeting artisans with disabilities
4:00pm            Young Life Africa ministry center  - Ben & Mary Cook
5:30pm            Dinner @ Dunkers (rice, beans, mchicha, cabbage

Debrief/hangout

8 -January, Thursday

9:00am            Wamama Kahawa - Doug & Lyndi Buckley (pastor & owner of coffee shop)
11:00am          Mbudya Island - boat ride, snorkling, swimming
5:30pm            Dinner with the Dunker & Medina families (training local pastors & church leaders)

Debrief/hangout

9 - January,  Friday

9:00am           Head into City Center - our friend Izzy joins us for the day
10:00am          Hindu Temple Visits
12:00pm          Lunch at Chow Patty Indian restaurant
1:00pm            Textile Markets
6:00pm            Dinner @ ministry center (Ugali, rice, banana, mchuzi)
7:00pm            Lola to size for shirts and skirts made from fabric bought that day

10 - January, Saturday

8:00am            Leave for Green Pastures Orphanage - hear from Pastor Douglas
1:00pm            Ministry Center for lunch
2:00pm            Tingatinga art market and Slipway shopping
5:30pm            Dinner @ Addis in Dar Ethiopian restaurant

11 - January, Sunday

8:15am            Depart for God's Tribe Church          
9:00am            Church
12:00pm          Leave for Mikumi from Mlimani City

 Dinner @ Tan-Swiss Lodge

12 - January, Monday (public holiday - Revolution day)

6:30am            Breakfast at Tan-Swiss
7:00am            Mikumi for Safari - lions, elephants, zebra, cape buffalo, giraffe, hippo, croc, etc
3:00pm            Depart Mikumi for Dar
                       

13 - January, Tuesday

9:00am            Wamama Kahawa - plan Bible story for afternoon kids club        
11:30am          Tegeta Market - split into pairs to buy things from the market

12:30pm          Lunch at Steens House

1:30pm            Meet with Shawn Graham (missionary to salasala area)
3:45pm            Salasala kids club (share bible story to 100 kids - 40% muslim)
6:00pm            Dinner @ ministry center with Sheshi & Trudie Kaniki (church planters)

 14 - January, Wednesday

9:00am            Leave for Bagamoyo Town  - Slave Trade History

2:30pm            Return - down time until football
5:30pm            Football at HOPAC
7:30pm            Dinner @ Driesengas with Lucy & Hosea
                         Worship

15 - January, Thursday

9:00am            Sifa Threads - SIFA THREADS
12:50               Benaco school visit w/ Trudie  (government school - read to kids)
3:00pm            White Sands Resort
6:30pm            Dinner @ Dunkers (Chipsi mayai & Mishkaki)
                          Final debrief/pack
11:00pm          Depart for airport

16 - January, Friday
12:00am          Drop off at airport
4:30am            Depart from Dar

As you can see, we kept them very busy, but I think the experience was worth the exhaustion! :)

 

Visiting "Temple Street"

This past week our dear friend, Kelly Buist, was here to visit us and see our work and ministry here in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Marc took Tuesday off so we could make the traffic-heavy trek into the city center. Our destination of "Temple Street", or Kisutu street, is lined on both sides with Hindu Temples. We were able to visit three of those temples last Tuesday.

Somberly we entered the first, removed our shoes and wandered up a short staircase in the almost empty space. As we moved from shrine to shrine, several people entered the temple and approached the different gods to pray. Trying to stifle the sobs I felt rising up in me, I had to look away from watching real and beautiful people pray to very fake and empty gods.

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything...You shall not bow down to them or worship them;" Exodus 20:1-5

As followers of Jesus, we are also "prone to wander" and "prone to leave the God I love" as the great hymn, "Come Thou Fount," recalls. We are all idol worshippers. We might not kneel in prayer to our gods but we certainly do in our hearts.

If we claim Christ as our Lord and Savior, we know that HE is the source of all life and salvation, not these other gods. This is the reason we are here: to share the gospel with those who do not know it. We long for people to know the promise of forgiveness, the hope of salvation and the assurance of our ultimate standing before God. 

^" Jesus answered, I 'am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6

Visiting these temples was a cultural experience, to be sure, but it was also a personal one. Marc and I both have Hindu students in our classes who attend the various temples on temple street. We also both have students who have converted to Christianity, but still go to temple with their families and are struggling to live with the tension that creates.

Will you join us in praying for these students? Will you pray for us to be bold in speaking the truth yet sensitive to the complexity of each students situation? If you feel called to intercede on behalf of our students, will you send us a message and let us know? We would love to give you a specific student to pray for and also know who is praying for them throughout the remainder of this year.

Please send an email to: thedriesengafamily@gmail.com

Thank you for partnering with us in this important, kingdom-building work!

Marc & Gretchen

Gifts left for one of the gods

 

We met this young man in a temple. He asked if we would take pictures with him and his mom. He told us to come to temple every day to pray. Have to admire his boldness in evangelism!

 

She asked us to pray to the god for the picture. I said, "no, we'll just stand here, thanks." She insisted again. I insisted again as well. She still took a picture with us even though we wouldn't pray to the god.