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Easter has come and gone but the Lord is still alive! Here in Kondoa, there were no Easter eggs and no chocolate, but a church choir of 30 adults arrived by bus on Saturday morning, all the way from Dar es Salaam. They were very tired, and even more exhausted when they left on Monday, but the joy they brought when they burst into song was powerful. On the Saturday night they presented a drama spanning a time of a few days in history – the days that changed the world for ever. The church was packed, mostly with young people, and the message was clear: Jesus has broken the power of sin!  (On a lighter note … it always amuses me that big strong men love playing loud, rough Roman soldiers complete with helmet, sword and short red skirt!)

On the Sunday morning there were two services as usual, packed to the rafters and lasting 3-4 hours each. The first offering of the visiting choir was the Hallelujah Chorus (in Swahili), unaccompanied in four parts, beautifully sung and invigorating. I am sure that Handel would have heartily approved. Our two parish choirs also contributed to the service. Bishop Given preached simply and challengingly on Luke 24 (the walk to Emmaus).  His points:

Have you recognised Jesus?

Have you invited him in?

Have you told others about him?

 

Rains and Sickness

Many of you rejoiced with us about the abundant rain at the beginning of the year. Suddenly the rain stopped! What is God doing? We are now getting welcome bursts of rain, two to three days at a time, followed by another long bout of extremely hot weather. That is hard on the crops, so the harvests will be patchy. In our garden, we are harvesting peanuts right now and are very thankful for a good crop. Peter has worked hard in the garden (see the photo above).

These three day downpours have been causing problems too. In some parts, houses and crops have been swept away which leaves many families desolate with nowhere to go.  Last week the rains here brought a flash flood. The chocolate swirling waters of the river rose almost to the point of sweeping down to flood the Bible School, but the Lord protected us.

Cholera hit Kondoa town in March. Fresh food outlets were officially closed. People from surrounding villages were afraid to come to town for fear of infection. There were some deaths, but the local authorities kept it in control. The students at Bible School panicked a bit, but we are thankful to God that no-one on campus got ill with cholera.

Further updates from the Akesters will be shared next week.