Sunday Septmber 24, 2012

Sunday we left Iringa about 8:00 AM and headed back east to the town of Ilula. The Lutheran Church as sponsored a small hospital there which has now grown into a regional hostpital. We were to first participate in the 9:00 AM and then 11:00 AM services with Pastor Dale providing a message and an introduction of the Fish Lake group. The significance of this group is that Chisago Lakes Lutheran Church is the partner church with Ilula church. No one from the U.S. had ever visited Ilula and since we had Ginny and David Johnson with us (Carrie Stiles' parents) they were to be the first to represent Chisago Lakes in Tanzania. We drove up to the church and were met with enthusiasm by a couple hundred church members. We had a quick snack at the pastor's house and proceeded up the hill to the church. The church is an L shaped sanctuary that holds about 300. We were on the front row and it was a wonderful service.

The first service ended about 11:30 AM with the auctioning of a goat to raise money for the church. They used a progressive auction where everyone raising the bid had to donate that amount. If you raised the bid from TSH 13,000 to TSH 14,000 you contributed TSH 1,000. A TSH 1,000 is about 80 U.S. cents. Anyway the bidding reached TSH 24,000 and the church secretary decided that wasn't enough and pulled the goat from the bidding.

Second service was similar with a packed house and great music. After the service (which Tobie, Noel and Caleb sat through completely) we had lunch at the pastor's house. Our next order of business was to tour some of the preaching points that surround Ilula. We took a few bumpy roads out to see some of the buildings and some of their progress toward constructing new and larger buildings. By that time it was dinner and we were Sunday we left Iringa about 8:00 AM and headed back east to the town of Ilula. The Lutheran Church as sponsored a small hospital there which has now grown into a regional hostpital. We were to first participate in the 9:00 AM and then 11:00 AM services with Pastor Dale providing a message and an introduction of the Fish Lake group. The significance of this group is that Chisago Lakes Lutheran Church is the partner church with Ilula church. No one from the U.S. had ever visited Ilula and since we had Ginny and David Johnson with us (Carrie Stiles' parents) they were to be the first to represent Chisago Lakes in Tanzania. We drove up to the church and were met with enthusiasm by a couple hundred church members. We had a quick snack at the pastor's house and proceeded up the hill to the church. The church is an L shaped sanctuary that holds about 300. We were on the front row and it was a wonderful service. The first service ended about 11:30 AM with the auctioning of a goat to raise money for the church. They used a progressive auction where everyone raising the bid had to donate that amount. If you raised the bid from TSH 13,000 to TSH 14,000 you contributed TSH 1,000. A TSH 1,000 is about 80 U.S. cents. Anyway the bidding reached TSH 24,000 and the church secretary decided that wasn't enough and pulled the goat from the bidding. Second service was similar with a packed house and great music. After the service (which Tobie, Noel and Caleb sat through completely) we had lunch at the pastor's house. Our next order of business was to tour some of the preaching points that surround Ilula. We took a few bumpy roads out to see some of the buildings and some of their progress toward constructing new and larger buildings. By that time it was dinner and we were seranadded by the Ilula's "Wake Up Choir" a group of about 20 young adults who sang to us on the front porch of the Guest House. This guest house is associated with the Ilula Hospital next to the morning's church. It was an amazing thrill to sit looking over the Ilula valley an enthusiastic choir singing beautiful African songs. We stayed in a 4 bedroom guest house that night. ed by the Ilula's "Wake Up Choir" a group of about 20 young adults who sang to us on the front porch of the Guest House. This guest house is associated with the Ilula Hospital next to the morning's church. It was an amazing thrill to sit looking over the Ilula valley an enthusiastic choir singing beautiful African songs. We stayed in a 4 bedroom guest house that night.