Steve and Barnabas in Tanzania

I thought you might like to hear some of the stories from my travel home during the middle of a global pandemic.  Some of you may have seen some of the photos on my facebook feed, but I have some more that did not make that feed.  I am also going to talk about what I am doing now that I am at home and in self imposed quarantine before I go to stay at my folks home.  I am also going to ask for your help to decide what I should be doing on the blog during what will be an extended break. Let's start with what was happening in Tanzania before I left.  The government had encouraged people not to gather in large groups and given some basic guidance along those lines.  They closed all school and  universities.  They required everyone coming in to Tanzania to go into a 14 day quarantine at a place the government set up.  This meant expensive type hotels that many of the Tanzanians returning after being overseas could not afford.  The government howev...

When bringing teams over to Tanzania, they always want to take pictures of the baobab tree (I have sometimes called it the balboa tree because that is how many locals pronounce it).  Various species can grow to be 98 feet tall and 112 feet in diameter and they have been carbon dated at 1275 years old.  They are so distinctive that it is a reference point for things like bus stops (my bus stop is at one of these trees before you start up the mountain).  They are known as great water sources and food for elephants, Bee Hives and monkeys love to live inside of the hollow center. What I have always loved most about these trees is the folklore surrounding them.  My favorite story is about how it used to be the most beautiful tree in all the world.  But it lorded it's beauty over all the other plants and tree. It even lorded it beauty over the animals and did not allow them shelter or water or to eat it's leaves.  This angered God because He had made this ...

Sorry for the play on the TV show name but it seemed appropriate for today's discussion.  As I have talked about some in past blogs, one of the things I get to do a lot of is walk.  I normally walk 5 miles (total-3 at the site and 2 in town to the bus station) one way each time I go to the site.  I normally get to walk 2-4 hours around town depending on where all I have to go and that is a trip I make every day when the Doctor does not have me on restrictions.  All this walking has had some really great benefits.  I have lost a significant amount of weight-how much I have no clue as I have not looked for or seen any scales to weigh myself with.  I can tell you my current blue jeans have about a 3 inch gap in the front from jeans to stomach. One of the things I was not expecting to happen as quickly as it did, was that all this walking has worn out my shoe treads.  Both shoes have some pretty heavy damage but my hikers were showing the worst of it. ...

I have another confession to make:  I have never read the Bible starting with Genesis 1:1 and reading in order until Revelation 22:21.  I have participated in Disciples I and II, I have participated/lead Bible studies on just about every book of the Bible and I am positive I have read from every book doing the reading tracts that come with most new Bibles.  But to say I read it all from beginning to end and in order-NO I have not.   When I laid out my spiritual preparation for becoming a missionary, and sought the council of my minister, Rev. Kanipe. I really looked at a lot of great Christian texts on being a missionary, the history of missionary work, the changes over time.  There were two books I had the privileged of reading before I started the latest leg of my journey.  One, Rev. Yon, gave me a copy of when he went to Seminary called Cross Cultural Servanthood .  The second was one through a Bible Study lead by a friend call...