Cart Witnessing

The brothers in the congregation set up a public witnessing cart every Wednesday at Butimba Corna. Tons of people pass by, either walking or riding the daladala. People know who we are & always ask us for books or magazines. A lot walk by & look but are afraid to take anything because they think we are selling them. Once we tell them they are free & take what you like then they take them & what's even more amazing to me is the amount of people who actually stand at the cart & read them. I like to see the amount of people who are interested in the intriguing questions on the front of the magazines. It's like they either have been wondering that same thing or its a question that gets them to start thinking a little bit more. I was hiding my phone while taking pics but I wanted to get a few pictures showing the interest. 

Daladala

So, the daladala, I think I've mentioned before is pretty much a van that has 6-7 rows. They pack it as tight as they possibly can. More people = more money. It's basically the main mode of transportation here, cheaper than a taxi & safer than a pikipiki (motorbike) One ride is 400 tsh (20 cents) per person which can get you at least 20-30 mins down the road. We can take it from one side of our territory to the next without having to pay more. And we can take it from where we are in Nyegezi to Mwanza mjini (downtown)

So to get a ride is a hassle sometimes just because everyone is trying to get you to go into their daladala. It's like a game show. Especially if they see wazungu (foreigners) coming. They all gloat to each other that they have Wazungu on their daladala. So this one experience I had was with a daladala driver. Jill (one of my roommates) & I got to sit in the front with the driver, which is a rare occasion. As we were getting in the driver told the konda (they call the guy that rides in the back & collects the money) that we don't know Swahili. I looked at him & said we know Swahili. His mouth dropped open. Then of course he started talking about how he wanted a mchumba mzungu (white girlfriend) Everyone asks if you have a boyfriend. It's best if you just say you have a boyfriend or husband because then they will stop bothering you. So I said I have a boyfriend. He became quiet after that. So I used that opportunity to talk to him a bit more, asked him how long he had been driving. Just leading into conversation. Then I asked him why he thought wazungu can't speak Swahili. He said because normally you guys don't learn our language. So he started asking questions how long have I lived in TZ, where did I learn Swahili. So I told him I learned in America because there are many refugees who are sent there & he's like oh yeah & they don't know English. I said yes & we learn their language to teach them the Bible in their language. I told him I was a Jehovah's Witness & I asked have you ever spoken to them? He said never, I've seen them but never talked to them. So I gave him the Watchtower Who are Jehovah's Witnesses? I said this explains about our beliefs & answers questions you might have about our religion. He started reading it as he was driving. I told him if you read that when you are driving & we get into an accident it won't be good. He laughed & put the magazines on his dashboard & he's like okay I will read them later & then I can focus more. So we talked a bit more & the konda was just talking weird & making fun of our name I guess & the driver got stern & corrected him & said they are called Mashahidi wa Yehova. It's nice to have those who respect what you are doing. But it is amazing how many here have not heard or talked to Jehovah's Witnesses. This other terroritory out in Sweya we went to, I made a return visit of a young girl I placed a tract with. Well she wasn't home but her brother & sister were & they had never talked to Jehovah's Witnesses so I gave them magazines & another family in the same courtyard the mama told me her baba was a Jehovah's Witness downtown. I got the name of the area & his name. It would be nice to meet him. When you meet so many people who never talked to us shows just how much work needs to be done & increases the urgency of how much little time is left. But I always have confidence that Jehovah knows those who have the heart condition & no matter how big the territory is, he will draw them to us. 

Kipindi cha Dini

So at the schools they teach what is called Kipindi cha Dini. It is basically a religious class. Teachers of all different religions come in & whoever wants to attend can. So JW kids attend our class & whoever wants to learn with them can. 

Our group when we first started out, just sitting under a huge tree outside 

Finally made it inside for the kids who actually wanted to learn and not just stare at the wazungu (white people)

We had a couple bouncers at the door because kids kept trying to get in

Expiriences

Sorry for late posting. No salio or credit for the internet means no blog. But I'm getting back on track now. Figuring out due dates for everything.
Anyways, many things have happened. Last Saturday a young sister & I got invited into a house, a father & his two sons were there. What caught my eye at first was these huge houses built of cardboard and taped together. I guess the youngest son made them from scraps he found. But they were amazing because of their detail & he added trees & umbrellas & chairs, cut out windows. A complete dollhouse. But I fell in love with the plane he made! It had perfect measurements, from the nose to the tail. Even the wheels were proportioned correctly. It amazes me still what people with great imaginations can do with little to nothing.
The baba of the house started out to be quite a forceful preacher. He talked & talked, without taking a breath it seemed. His thoughts were all over the place. So the sister tried to get into our presentation of the tract Will Suffering End? So we asked him that question. Again he just went round & round throwing stuff out there. So, this thought came into my head to ask him. I said baba, do you read the Bible? He was like, "Oh yes of course I do." Then I said, "Great! So show me from the Bible the answer to that question because the answer is found in the Bible." He got his son to bring him the Bible, he opened it randomly & just stared. Then he tried to preach again without using the Bible. I said, "Baba, show me from the Bible the answer to that question." He had no clue. So I was like, "Let me show you. The answer is found in Revelation 21:3,4." We read it. He stayed silent. He just stared. Then he said, "Well I am in trouble now." We sat with him awhile. Asked thought provoking questions and looked up more scriptures. One came up about where people go when they die. He thought that they go to heaven. So we asked him, when we think of Gods purpose for the earth. What did he tell Adam & Eve to do? To fill the earth & subdue it forever. But they lost that privilege when they disobeyed God. So God created us to live on the earth. Why would he create us here if he wanted us to be in heaven with him? The baba again stayed silent. His son spoke up & said because he wanted us to know him & serve him. I'm like, God created us on earth to know him, while he lives in the heaven? That doesn't make sense So we got out the magazines to leave with them. All of a sudden the baba brings out two issues of the Watchtower. One from 2006 & one from 2013. The only two he had ever received. They were very used. You could tell read or studied over & over. It was amazing to see. We told him the magazines come out every month if he would like to receive a copy. He didn't know that was possible & was excited to receive them. So we made a plan to come back.

The hospitality here is beautiful. Everyone in the congregation is so giving even though they don't have much to give. We have been invited over for three meals already. One was a complete surprise to us because we were just going to a sisters house for the meeting for field service & afterwards we met back at her house & she prepared a meal of noodles, (which are more expensive than beans or rice here so that was very kind & generous of her) meat, & hard-boiled eggs. After the meal about 10 of us sat in her small living room & we showed the sisters our pictures of our families, the places we came from, pictures from the recent Swahili Assembly in TX. They were amazed and loved it. 

Then later I met this baba of a sister in our congregation who is 92 years old. It was fascinating to listen to his stories about the one grade school he used to go to before he went to war. He also showed me his Kitabu Cha Ukoo (family tree) that he made. It showed pictures of his parents & his siblings. It listed each sibling & the names of the children they had. Also the ages of the deaths in the family. But it was really cool to me. I could've sat there & listened to him talk all day. 

Another day we went out into fields to preach, the area where a lot of farmers live. A sister had made a few return visits there. This one house there was a cute baby named Pasco. Now I officially know 2 people named Pasco. He was adorable & had the sweetest smile. 

Also below I posted pictures of some of our kids & our group that normally walks to & from our house on Sundays