Arrival in Tanzania

God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.” Jeremiah 18:1-2

When God sends us, He doesn’t tell us why, or what will happen when we get there. He wants our obedience. “Yes, Lord.” And He gives us the tools to do His will.

These are some of the thoughts we shared last night, Thursday, when we finally arrived in Dar es Salaam, more than 30 hours after we began our journey early Wednesday morning.

We began the first leg of our trip from separate cities and it was a joy to have the team united in Minneapolis. And thanks to Rhonda and Andrea’s first-hand knowledge of Minneapolis, our 5 hour layover was spent making a visit to the Mall of America via light rail transit. Most of us welcomed this last chance to stretch our legs before the long flight to Africa, instead of squirming in an airport chair for 5 hours.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers for safe travel. We arrived at Dar es Salaam on time and with every one of our 22 checked bags intact, something we certainly did not expect. It was a weary wait at the airport last night for our visas to enter Tanzania, but we were so thankful to have arrived with all of our luggage that the trip to the guest house where we spent the night seemed very short by comparison.

We were greeted this morning with our first sight of the Indian Ocean as we shared a light breakfast in an open-air patio and then boarded our bus for the final leg of our trip—200 kilometers to the Lutheran Junior Seminary (LJS) in Tanzania. The 3 ½ hour drive was filled with the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful east African country. We arrived at LJS shortly before lunchtime and will spend the afternoon unpacking and settling in. Tomorrow, Saturday, we will see Mikuni National Park, just a 2 hour drive from here. Armed with cameras and binoculars, we will have many stories of the day to bring home with us. When we return in the afternoon, we are all looking forward to our first visit to the orphanage. The following day is Sunday, when we will have the opportunity to worship our Lord with our African brothers and sisters, before we begin our preparations for our surgical mission, which starts Monday morning.