Iringa Hope visits 2013: Sunday At Ihemi

Today we went out to Ihemi for church. It is a pleasant 45 minute drive down the hill and then south west out of town. When we got to Ihemi we were met by Askali, the district Pastor, and Mama Mbembe (the widow of the first Pastor we met at Ihemi). We are always happy to see Mama, she is such a nice lady and we have known her for over 12 years now. The Pastor had expected us since we sent a message to Ihemi with Onesmo Nzulumi, a member of the Iringa Hope loan committee. After a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries we went to visit the Sunday school.

Visiting the Sunday school is a favorite thing for us to do. The children recite their lessons, sing songs, and seem to enjoy Sunday school. Today there were about 60 children there. We sat and listened for awhile, then the teacher asked if there was anything we wanted to tell the children. Since we have been giving Easter eggs to the Ihemi Sunday school children since 2005, we realized that the current classes had no recollection of how the tradition was started. Once again we told them about the frozen winters in the northern hemisphere, how the return of spring with baby birds hatching from eggs reminds us of new life, and how Easter eggs remind us of the new life we have in Christ. Getting an Easter egg is a big deal here. On Easter Sunday over 150 children will show up to get an egg at Ihemi! Pastor has said it's a great evangelism tool.

Tom's bag of candy was given to the Sunday school teacher to be handed out after class was over.

Back at the Pastor’s home folks were gathering for chai (today there was coffee for Tom - someone remembered!). We talked with many old friends, exchanging information about things at Ihemi and with our families. One thing we did not know – Ihemi started to build a “seminary” or secondary school last year. They are close to finishing one long row of buildings and hope that they can start classes next year.

It was after 10:00 by the time we headed over to the church service. The service was great, as always . There were motion choirs, various other choirs, announcements, and introductions. Tom gave the sermon today. He talked about why we give, a topic that fits well with the Thursday evening series he is giving on Radio Furaha.

We all danced outside for the auction. Sandy bid on a bag of sweet potatoes for Tom (because he won't eat them). Then Tom bid higher and says it is “for Pastor.” Everyone usually stops bidding and waits for the Wazungus to decide who wins. Today Tom won so the Pastor got some sweet potatoes.

After the auction Pastor Askali suggested we go visit the school site. The school is being built across the highway and about two miles down a dirt road. As we drove we asked why they were building so far away. They explained that the government requires you to have at least 20 acres of land and the property close to the road was too expensive. They have 60 acres at this location.

We took a look at the building. The walls are up and they say they have made the doors and windows and have them in storage. They need to get the money for the roof and floors and then they will finish this building and start the school. It seemed a little sparse to start with this, but one of the Ihemi board members on the project is the headmaster of the local school, so perhaps he has more planned than we think.

We went back to the Pastors home for lunch. By the time we left it was 3:00. Nelson Nyalusi rode along with us back to town. Nelson is an Ihemi student who is studying chemical engineering in Dar Es Salaam. He will stay with friends in Ipogoro until Tuesday when he takes the bus back to school. We also gave our friend Aloyce a ride back to his house. We greeted his children who were home from boarding school, then we headed for Iringa. A long day, but a good one.