Mission Report: Matebete, Tanzania, May 2014
By Reverend Evan Pyle
Pastor of the Workers Together With Him home church
As my daughter Christine and I were walking along another dusty path in Matebete, she remarked about how the people of that place navigate. There are no streets and certainly no street signs. They navigate simply by following well-worn paths. Similarly, they navigate many of their turns in life by following well-worn paths. While modern life has certainly intruded and obscured some of these paths, the Maasai of Matebete have retained traditions and ways of being that make their culture so unique. I am sure that most Americans would find the idea of following such a narrow path confining. I find that following Old Paths (Jeremiah 6:16) is liberating and restful. I enjoyed experiencing that peace afresh through my daughter’s eyes, and all the more so because of the warm welcome and love poured out on us from our friends there. (Read Evan's sermon Old Paths here)
I bring greetings from Patrick Kinana, the chairman of ITO, as well as from the ITO board members. I also bring greetings from our many friends including Papa Paraboy, Laoni (Monica), Filipo (many thanks for transporting us to and from the airport), Irene Lobara, her mother Dorcas, Eliakim Kurupasi, Teten (who kept the whiteboard full of interesting images), George Oripu (thank you for helping Irene with the interpretation), Ruti, Meri, Esta, Pita, Mishac and many others. We briefly saw our friend Rev. Paolo Kurupasi our last night before leaving to return home.
This was the first time I have presented a seminar of my own material from beginning to end. To say I was nervous would be putting it lightly. I was especially concerned that the time and resources required to present this teaching be worth it. But in my weakness God showed his strength and anointed the teaching and its listeners. I was filled with wonder and admiration more than once to hear others basically re-preach the lesson at break time. Honestly, though, the success of the material has to be attributed to the original teacher, the Lord Jesus. The seminar, which I call Learn of Me (Matthew 11:29), sets forth parables and teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew in nine lessons. Jesus always gets to the heart of the matter, and though we may know his teachings well, he never ceases to surprise, deepen and confront us at our very core. I am excited about the material and can see the value of “taking it on the road” to others.
The efforts of Workers Together With Him, largely through Tim’s teaching over the years, have borne fruit in Matabete that becomes more and more visible. Denominational divisions and bickering have been healed and they worship God as one people. I pray that similar fruit may be seen where we live and worship!
Here are PHOTOS from the occasion.
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