Since my last entry, we have driven from outside Arusha, to a church on the border of Kenya in the Maasai area, to another church under construction outside Arusha. Flew to Dar Es Salaam where we stayed one night, took a 2 hr boat to Zanzibar where we drove the entire island stopping at 3 churches to participate in their service and film the area. We are finally catching our breath. Tomorrow we go back to Dar Es Salaam to drive 2 hrs to Morogoro where we will be until Wednesday.
Now to go into detail about this church safari we have experienced...
By far the coolest time has been the afternoon in the Maasai area. The bishop who was at the church dedication used to be a Maasai warrior and now is in charge of 400 churches, 40 of which have buildings. We went to his church where we were warmly greeted. We did an interview with him asking about the area, then hung out with the congregation of about 100, with a choir of 30 or so. Clearly being here to film, we need a soundtrack of African vocal groups. This was the time. We set up the audio rig and cameras, and the rest was in the Lord's hands as this choir just began to belt and dance. Pops, they needed you on the organ, but the harmony was beautiful. They marched in signing, following the leader type singing and the chorus was so beautiful as they all sang together. Some of the people were in the native Maasai dress, so they had the beads and neck rings and ear lobe holes, it was incredible. Finally after a few minutes the song changed and two of the guys fromt he back in native dress and spears came jumping through and these guys had some ups! THhe lyrics translated were "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make." Pretty straight forward lyrics.
The amazing thing was that as they began to sing and the camera and mics were set up, we were beginning to attract attention. By the end of their songs, they were about 100 people standing aroundus filming and them singing. Judging from the way the song went, those were the only words, which means those bystanders heard "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make"on repeat for about 5 minutes.
As it was all happening, I took a step back and started laughing at how amazing this was, and how it all came together. When we rewatched it later that night, we realized that we had a beautiful shot. I can't wait to share it with you all, maybe I'll make it an mp3 or something. The church singing here is just incredible.
So, the trip continues, and the amount of footage we have continues to grow. Please continue to lift up our trip, for safety, and health, and that as we create big scenes like the one mentioned above, someone will hear the interview or song that will plant a seed. I didn't think that we would have ministry opportunities, but the hubbub we create seems to attract crowds around the church, so I pray that it plants the seed. Also, for health, I seem to be coming down with a cold, somehow this is happening in Africa, but I pray that it doesn't develop more.
Again, thanks for reading this, sorry there are no pictures, but if you can just imagine what it looks like it will put a smile on your face that will hold you over until I can share it with you.
I wish I could keep typing to let you know what all is happening, but Internet costs money and I don't have much. Zanzibar is beautiful, despite oppression and the culture; God is moving here in a big way.
Peace
Willis
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