(Delayed by power outages.)
Two weeks ago, I was asked to fill in a last minute to be a Bible study leader for the Arusha Lutheran Medical Center spiritual retreat for the general surgery residency program, which I did this weekend. The program is part of the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons, which is a 5-year residency with a curriculum from the USA, with two, new stipended residents every year. The Arusha Lutheran Medical Center was started by the late Dr. Mark Jacobson, who not only was able to envision one of the best hospitals in Tanzania, but was able to bring it to fruition with a core of the gospel of Christ lived out in medical ministry. When I brought groups to talk with Mark about the Lutheran medical work in the area, there would be a mini Bible study or sermon from this Head Doctor and Director of the hospital. (Mark and Eric died from the same brain cancer.)
The Arusha Lutheran Medical Center
With minimal time for preparation, I drew upon lessons from the Book of Job, I taught in Sweden, with some cultural adaptations. I thought this would help surgeon to walk with patients dealing with suffering, as well as everyone will face suffering at some time in life. The Book of Job is powerful for wrestling with ultimate issues of the trustworthy nature of God; God’s justice; wisdom and who has the insight to speak about justice; the biblical texts that deal with retribution theology (obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings curses)—which are not wholly adequate—especially in light of the counter wisdom of Job (a critique of prosperity gospel theology); does Job (and the reader) fear God for the goodies in life and what happens if they are removed?; when God shows up, God responds to Job’s 23 “Why?” questions with about 65 existential questions to Job and descriptions of God’s control over chaos, represented in two amazing mythical creatures; and the call to trust a trustworthy God with all the unknowns—and more. What a rich book.
So, it was a mutual blessing, where I was able to be a blessing and facilitate six hours of Bible study and discussion, as I was able to build a bit of connections and networking. It seemed well received, and the coordinator even hinted about asking me back next year. Please join me in the first prayer requests of the relatively new Executive Director of the ALMC, Dr. Goodwill Kivuyo, for restored health to their finances. I had a lovely lunch conversation, where I heard a clear expression of a profound faith that keeps him in this calling. I had a sense of a Head Doctor and Director that naturally shares his faith as part of his identity and ministry, in a way that reminded me of Mark. There have been some difficult issues that Dr. Kivuyo inherited, which I don’t begin to fully understand, and I don’t want to misrepresent anything with only limited glimpses. Yet, I know this is an important hospital that has a distinctive profile of compassionate care for the whole person, not just the treatment of diseases.
On Saturday afternoon, we all went for a hike around Lake Duluti, a volcanic crater, that had a very enjoyable 3 km loop around the lake.
Lake Duluti
The retreat included spouses and children.
The hiking group
I had some nice conversations, and made some good connections with 12-year-old twins boys, who can finish each other’s sentences always speaking in English, which their mom says is their first language and actually are having to learn Kiswahili! They sat in the Bible study sessions, and soon I brought out my colored pencils for them to be able to draw while they listened. The next day, I showed them that they were water color pencils and brought out a brush.
At first the kids just stared at me—the only mzungu (white person) in the group—but I slowly made some friends. The time I helped out a mom, I had the blessing of being thrown up upon! Yet, I was glad to give her a break. This was a special time for these very busy people to have a rare 48 hours with family and time of worship and spiritual renewal. I was encouraged to see this community getting a bit of rest from a very rigorous and demanding program, and in my role, encourage them in nurturing biblical grounding of trust in a trustworthy God.
When we got back from hiking, there were perhaps 200 people all fancy. I’ve never seen so many sparkly dresses in one place (yes, but I don’t get out much). Then, the music started! The party was a stones throw from my room, but the decibels averaged in the high 80s or low 90s and peaking at 105 in my room. The comparison of 90 decibels is a power mower or a motorcycle at a distance of 25 feet, and 100 decibels is like a jack hammer or a jet flyover at 1000 feet. The bass vibrated my bed, though I could not sleep—even with earplugs—until the music was turned of at 12:38 am!
Now play this at 90 decibels!!!
I heard that after the hike, many kids were so tired that they were able to sleep, but most adults couldn’t manage to fall asleep until the music ended. In the morning, we awoke to no power, and I had no water. Good thing I showered after the hike! Back at home in the late afternoon, the power has been out twice. Fortunately, I turned on the on-demand water heater prior to a bit of raking in the back yard, and I have a flashlight in the bathroom ready if the power goes out. And before I get this sent, the power goes out again!
One other weird–this is Africa–moment was that I pulled out my keys to open my hotel room door, stepped inside, and then I realized that I used my home key! Yes, my hotel room and my front door key were exactly the same!
Doppelgänger!
One time with my church group of 20 people, we were in a guest house with about 12 rooms of occupancy. We arranged to keep some stuff locked in a room while we went out on a rural trip, so we weren’t so crammed in a vehicle, with roommates sharing 1 suitcase for a few days. We went down all the doors with our keys and only found one room that didn’t have a duplicate. So, that’s the room we used to store our stuff.
Finally, somehow, I just got three mosquito bites on my ankles. It rare that I get a mosquito bite in my house. Hmm. So, I put on some Benadryl gel and hydrocortisone cream. I was the only one who didn’t get malaria during out 3 years living here before, when Anya got malaria 3 times. So, I’m wondering if my fastidious application of Benadryl’s antihistamine has some mitigating effect?!? At least now if I end up for treatment at the ALMC someday, I now personally know the executive director.
Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)