Final Thoughts and Lessons Learned

With the children of CMC TZ Mission Church after Sunday service.

Watoto: Swahili word meaning children

Missionary work is truly a calling and a gift from God. The missionaries who work in Tanzania are born with this gift, but I realized that I definitely don't have this calling.

Some may see my photos and think “how can these people live under such deplorable conditions?” But this is just the way these people live, and everyone is happy and friendly and constantly smiling. This is their way of life, just as high speed internet and 10 lane highways are a way of life for us. Of course if they can obtain better medical care, cleaner water, etc those things would be wonderful to have. But just because they don't have those things does not make their lives any less substantial or worse than ours.

Despite their many cultural idiosyncrasies that we as westerners cannot understand, Tanzanians have a warm and gentle innocence that radiates from their happy demeanor and ease of carriage. Although Tanzanians often do not own many material possessions, they are also incredibly generous and love to connect with their peers and community. Maybe we can learn a few things from the people of this country.

Please continue to keep the mission and the people of Tanzania in your thoughts and prayers for its continued support and growth both spiritually and operationally.

This trip is now over, but the journey most certainly is not.

Q&A with Missionary Kim Part 3

Missionary Kim visits with Mama Andreas, a member of the church

This is the final installment in the series of questions that I asked Missionary Kim about her work in Tanzania.

1. What are some of the ways you have seen changes in people's lives demonstrated by their acceptance of Christ?

After accepting Christ, many men have stopped drinking and use their money to buy food for their wives and children. Alcohol is available very cheaply here and some men used all the money they had to buy the local grain alcohol instead of providing food for their families. 500TShs of food will not fill a belly, but 500TShs of alcohol will fill one up.

Also, polygamy is an accepted custom here. We cant reject a man just because he has more than one wife. But we can affect how they live their lives going forward. After accepting Christ, the men say they will not take on more wives.

2. How did you get your start in the pharmaceutical distribution business that largely funds many of your missionary initiatives?

When I first started the business, it was truly god's blessing. A medical researcher from Korea had come to Tanzania to conduct research on tropical diseases. He also happened to be a deacon at his church. Since I'd been in the country for a while, I showed him around and got to know him a bit. He had an existing relationship with Shin Poong [SP] (a Korean pharmaceutical manufacturer) and told them about me as a person in Tanzania who is of good faith running an import/export business. He also told SP that if they supported me, their products will be able to gain traction in this part of the world. SP contacted me and I conducted the research to tell SP what kinds of medicines were needed in Tanzania. Despite having no pre-existing relationship with me, SP sent two containers of medicines sight unseen without any upfront payment. I really feel this was God's way of helping me. I didn't know these people at all, and SP's cost of goods was nearly $250,000, a huge sum even today. There was no collateral, nothing. I paid them back over 3-5 years. That's how I started off. But my focus was on the mission so I didn't prioritize the business. Of course I worked hard on the business as well and as the years went by it didn't do too bad.

3. You have a lot of moxie*

My boldness (Korean: 배짱) is all I have. My stupid boldness. I started my missionary work without the formal support of a church. Of course I didn't accomplish everything on my own. But I believe that I was part of God's plan.

*moxie |ˈmäksē|  noun informal

force of character, determination, or nerve : when you've got moxie, you need the clothes to match.

Good Samaritan Hospital and Dispensary

Dr Ezekiel consults with a patient

The room was warm and damp. A slight breeze was coming in through the half open doorway, but it wasn't enough to cool off the stifling humidity emanating from all bodies present. A woman was giving birth and in the room was her mother, the doctor delivering the baby, myself, and another patient who had given birth to twins the day before. All seven of us eagerly awaiting the baby's arrival. I watched in a simultaneous feeling of amazement, disgust, wonder, and joy as the baby's slimy little head emerged from an opening about 4 inches long.(*) The moments leading up to the delivery felt drawn out and painful, but once the head was about halfway out, the rest of its body slipped out easily and the baby started to cry. No anesthetics, no machines. Just the blue plastic bed lined with a few sheets of khangas that the patient herself brought. Doctor Ezekiel expertly clamped and cut the umbilical cord with confident hands and the baby's grandmother collected the soiled sheets to dispose of the afterbirth.

Good Samaritan Dispensary, the medical clinic founded and operated by the mission, sees a wide variety of cases. Most involve prenatal care and delivery, infectious disease diagnoses and treatments (typhoid, malaria, schistosomiasis), sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV counseling. Ezekiel told me that AIDS prevalence in this part of the country runs around 20-30% mainly due to lack of education on preventative measures and a culture that condones sex with multiple partners via polygamy.

There's certainly lots more I can say about this clinic, but for now, please pray that the patients will find healing, that the existing staff will have enough knowledge to make wise and informed decisions, and that the work of the clinic will become a witness to the power of Christ in this remotest part of the world.

(*) This is why men pay for women when they go out. Guys, we'll pay for your dinner once you have a slithering little creature slide out of your nether regions in the name of reproduction.

Mama Kinara

Mama Kinara, left, kisses her youngest daughter as her oldest daughter looks on

With her broad smile and friendly demeanor, it's easy to forget that Mama Kinara has the stretched earlobes and white beaded jewelry characteristic of the Wataturu tribe. She and her family have been attending CMC Tanzania Mission Church for 8 years. Before accepting Christ, her husband Kinara was known as the man who would get drunk and pass out on random street corners only to be found by other villagers so that his frustrated wife could fetch him. He now proudly owns a large plot of land that he farms with his wife and seven children and has cut back significantly on his drinking. Mama Kinara is Kinara's second wife. Since accepting Christ, Kinara chose not to take on an additional wife after the death of his first wife. Mama Kinara and her husband attribute many of their life's positive changes to their acceptance of Christ. Their family is a proud testament to the power of God's grace at work.

Q&A with Missionary Kim Part 2

Missionary Kim and Missionary Ahn under the papaya tree in their backyard

By popular request, here are some other details that Missionary Kim shared with me regarding her ministry. In addition to the church they established in Makungu in 1997, Missionaries Ahn and Kim also started and manage the Good Samaritan Dispensary founded in 2002, the VETA Nuru Kuu Technical School founded in 2006, and the Good Seeds Microloan Project founded in 2008.

1. How did the Good Samaritan Dispensary come about?

When we first came to Makungu, a woman named Mama Kitabu (Kitabu's mom) would come and observe us. We couldn't communicate, but each morning she would bring us fresh water that she carried on her head in a bucket. We were so grateful. All we had to offer in return was bread that we had brought to eat ourselves. But we needed to eat it too, so we were only able to offer her maybe half a loaf. She had never seen bread before. We showed her how to eat it by putting a bit of sugar on it. The bread was so tender compared to the boiled corn and grains they traditionally eat here and her children loved it. After our initial time in Makungu, we posted a local Tanzanian missionary to work there and we returned to Dar es Salaam. However, this missionary had twin boys and one had died and so we returned to Makungu.

When we returned, we expected Mama Kitabu to visit us daily, but she only came once and didn't come again. We heard that her child had been sick and later we heard that the child had died. That made Missionary Ahn and myself consider "What did God really want us to do here?" and we prayed about this. At the time, the nearest hospital from which to obtain antibiotics was six hours away on a bicycle and the roads were terrible. There were no locally available antibiotics and these pele were dying without ever hearing the gospel. So Missionary Ahn and I decided to build a hospital. The clinic was actually built in 1999, but we couldn't find a doctor willing to work in this rural part of the country until 2002. We had no money and no supporters, but we built it on faith.

2. How did the VETA Nuru Kuu Technical School come about?
Because of the low rate of literacy here, the gospel was always shared orally. But in order to teach the gospel properly, you need to be able to read the Bible. Then the word will travel from your mind to your heart. That's the idea. When Missionary Ahn and I decided to start the school, she said "When you first came to Tanzania, wasn't it to originally help me start a school and that was the first thing you wanted to do way back then?"

The school started out as a three year elementary school aimed at teens and older youths who had missed their opportunity to attend traditional schools. We taught them in three years what is covered in seven years at regular schools. There were children who went to regular Tanzanian schools for years but couldn't read any Swahili or English and could barely write their own names, but they would come to our school and learn to read after just a few months. The parents were thrilled about that, but this was a very small minority. This was because once they completed their elementary school education, it added no value to the family's livelihood. These teens were the most useful people of their households. They can farm the land, tend the cattle, fetch and transport water, and most importantly, run errands. This role is very important since the infrastructure for communication is not too good here so the youths were used to relay messages to people scattered across the towns. And the school was holding onto this most valuable source of communication. The people of Makungu have lived this way for hundreds of years, and thought school was a good for their children in theory, but couldn't afford to have them tied up for three years and not work. And the effort required to run the school successfully was too substantial to warrant this type of reception. So we came up with the idea of a one year technical school. Here, people would not only learn to read, but would also learn a trade that can result in income. We currently teach sewing and incorporate classes related to Christian doctrines into the curriculum.

3. How did the Good Seeds Microloan Project come about?
In 2005, Missionary Ahn and I attended a seminar for missionaries in Pasadena CA held by a well regarded Christian organization called OM. There was much talk about the “ｰRice Christian”｡ｱ in China during this semina– ? people who only come to church when they get a something for free, like rice. But we didn't wan“ ｡ｰrice christia”s,｡ｱ we wanted something different. So we started the microloan project by offering somethiwofold. On one hand, we offer the gospel, and on the other hand we offer them a way to survive. We wanted to give confidence. We wanted them to see this microloan as God's money and see it work in their lives and transform them.

It's like a revival meeting when the loans are given out with the whole town gathering and the elders “ｰpraising the Lord”｡ｱ We instruct them on how to use and not use the loan money. Matthew 13:8 says that with a small seed, you can reap a crop 30-60 times what you invested. Of course money has its inherent problems. But I believe that even with theseroblems, this is God's work and I have confidence that things will work as He intends. If God is willing, things will work and if He isn't, then it won't. We went through four rounds of loans. During the first round, we charged 7% interest. The bank was charging 24%. We were paid back 100% in round 1, 98% in round 2, 76% in round 3 and 88% in round 4. Obviously, we lost some money, but we see this as part of God's work. Some people say we're profiteering from being missionaries. But what we were doing was giving people empowerment.

As an example, one bucket of peanuts can be bought for 1200 Tshs in the rural areas about three hours away on bicycle and sold at the weekly Makungu market for 2800 Tshs. They may not sell all their goods, but if they manage to sell everything, this is big money for them. Our microloan enabled people to purchase these peanuts at a lower price and with a bit of extra effort to obtain them, sell them for a profit. And we have seen some people succeed at this.

Part 3 of my interview of Missionary Kim will be published shortly. If you have anything specific you'd like to ask, please let me know and I'll do my best to include their answers :)

Random Baby

What am I supposed to do here?

Khanga: large piece of traditional Tanzanian fabric worn by women serving many functions including skirt, top covering, and baby carrier

The baby was literally dropped in my lap by a little girl no more than five years old wearing a tattered green dress. The baby was partially wrapped in a khanga and writhed and cried as it stared up at me, the freakish white person. My mom explained that part of the custom in this country is to greet female visitors by having them hold the baby of the household. We were visiting a member of the church and I was seated near the entry door of the church member's house. The giggly little girl quickly disappeared and I was left holding the unconsolable baby. I could see my own reflection in his large brown eyes.

Crime and Punishment

Cows being sold at the weekly market

There was loud commotion outside with men yelling at each other and people running around. The evenings here in Makungu are usually very quiet save for the blaring of the evening talk radio. But this night was definitely different. A young man of about 23 years old was apprehended for stealing tomatoes, probably about a bushel. Old traditional laws still have a grip over this small agrarian town, and the typical punishment for theft is either to cut off the thief's hands or to burn their bellies. This particular young man was tied to a stake and about to be burned alive. Just before the fire was set, his wife came to plead with the townspeople for his release. She offered two cows in exchange for his release and the young man was set free. The commotion was caused by the townspeople rushing over to feast on the cows that were slaughtered in exchange for the pardon of the young man's crime. This man's family paid for a bushel of tomatoes with two cows. Crime does not pay; especially if you get caught.