Steve and Barnabas in Tanzania

It has been some happening weeks here in Tanzania since my return or more importantly the return of my laptop from Nairobi.  After getting a week behind in my work with the repair of my laptop and then the trials and tribulations in getting it back in my hands, I had to spend a large amount of time working to prepare for visitors from the States and several issues we had to deal with on the site.  So I am a little late again getting to the blog and when this happens I normally sit at my computer with conflicting ideas and topics to cover and never really sure what should be talked about first.  So I am doing a little bit of a combo here. Let's start with the video I prepared for the FDM USA banquet which can be seen on youtube: To answer the number one question I am hearing about this video-yes I have lost some weight while I have been here.  Walking everywhere tends to help with that and I have been very good about my sugar as I cannot get medicine here so I w...

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...

Before I get started on this week's blog entry, let me thank everyone who helped make the first Barnabas Bear Newsletter a huge success.  I am hearing stories of a Chick-Fil-A in New York that printed the newsletter at their cost and gave it to customers purchasing a kid's meal.  Another story from California is a church kindergarten that sent printed copies home with all the kids.  Thanks to all the folks who sent encouraging words concerning the newsletter.  We will continue to do them and I will look at doing them more frequently if we continue to get such great feedback.  Those events happened because you, my friends, shared the newsletter with others and shared it with others, but it started with you. Now to this week's blog.  Yes Communication and Banking do go hand in hand here in Tanzania.  You see while there are real banks here, they charge for everything.  The reason is that unlike more developed countries, where people get loans for ...

As I am two days late with this blog and part of that is due to falling sick to some very small sardine like fish in a soup that was absolutely no fun while traveling from Yulansoni to Singida and then a day later to Arusha, I am not doing a normal blog but instead a couple of small items I thought were interesting.  Please feel free to comment if you run into similar situations. First a note about traveling while having a stomach problem-they don't stop for bathroom breaks or at least nothing that would help.  It used to be they stopped at a midway point for a significant amount of time but since they finished paving the roads they no longer do that on the 6 hour trip to Arusha.  They did make one very quick stop-not nearly long enough for me to risk getting off the bus for.  The second travel day while not pleasant was much better than the first that was at the height of my problems. Speaking of traveling on buses:  It was interesting that a policewoman ca...

I am not one to normally write about everything that happens in my life-hence the reason I am not a great blogger.  I have made a commitment to do better both on Facebook and here on the blog to "talk" more.  That being noted I have been here in Arusha, Tanzania with William and Martha Makali for three days now and am getting into the swing of things.  Normally when I make these trips it is go, go and more go because we only have two weeks to accomplish a lot of tasks.  This trip is slower from the perspective that I am not working on tasks as much as a way of life change and that does take time. When I first got here after a full 24 hours of flights and layovers I was welcomed by 80 degree F temperatures at night after having a daily high of 40 at home.  The first day I spent getting adjusted to the heat and getting on the right time schedule which really meant falling asleep throughout the day as I tried to study my Swahili text.  Needless to say my n...

It is hard to believe that just over a year ago, I found out there may be a need for a full time missionary with Full Dimension Ministry in Tanzania.  A lot has happened since that moment. From being trained as a United Methodist Individual Volunteer Missionary, to our first public announcement in April 2013 at the annual banquet.  Just in the month of December I topped out on my fundraising need and the first third of the truck money needed was raised.   Pastor Smoke had a wonderful message today from the sermon on the mount talking about those who are blessed.  It is a word I have used a lot lately as I write thank you notes.  I have felt it too!  The wonderful support of my extended church family to get me funded so quickly.  The encouragement of my friends has been such a great boost to my life.   If all of this was not enough to make me feel completely assured that I was on the right path to do what God wants me to do, the send off ser...