he looked like a Tanzanian John the Baptist

The other day my friend Magesa (Jita Bible translator) invited me to go to church with him...in the village. He was planning to preach and lead a baptism so he thought it would be a good cultural experience for me. This would be my first Jita village church service. I was so excited. I woke up at 5:30am, took a motorcycle taxi to the bus stand, found Magesa, and climbed into a van taxi headed for Majita (the area where Jita people live).

"What's a van taxi," you say? Well, think minivan with 9 seats. And then imagine that at every stop, more people climb in. "Just move over" the van driver shouts, when all the seats are occupied. "Just move over" he shouts when people are standing next to each other like sardines. "Just move over" he shouts when all the passengers groan, "there's no more room!" By the end of my trip, I counted 21 people packed into this minivan.

And it was a 2 hour drive over bumpy dirt roads.

But finally we arrived in Bukima, a large village in Jita land. As we walked the half mile to the church, Magesa stopped every two minutes to greet old friends and neighbors. He knows everybody in the village. He used to serve as pastor in this village before he came to work for SIL as a Bible translator. He must have been a good pastor because he still has good relationships with the people.

It was fun to practice my Jita greetings. People were shocked. They didn't know what to think of this white guy who speaks Jita.

We arrived at the church while people were still gathering. We waited until we had a big enough crowd to begin the procession. Since this was baptism Sunday, the tradition is to walk together from the church to the lake while singing hymns.

And so we sang....and walked....and clapped...and sang...all the way to the lake (about a mile walk).

Even though it was still early, the sun was burning hot so we spectators found shade under the roof where fishermen sort their fish and clean their nets.

Magesa instructed the people being baptized to form two lines at the edge of the water. THERE WERE 35 PEOPLE!! Magesa walked out into the lake and invited the people to join him two by two. Friends and family on the shore clapped and cheered and sang and the women chanted their "la-la-la-la-la-lai!" After an hour of dunking people, Magesa finally closed in prayer and got out of the water. He must have been exhausted. Have you ever tried to baptize 35 people, in a lake, on sand, with an active current moving around you? It's hard work.

We walked back to the church building (again, stopping every two minutes for Magesa to greet people). The church was a simple mud block structure with a tin roof.

The inside was adorned with skinny wooden benches and hand-painted Bible verses on the walls. There was no electricity but that never stops Tanzanians from having their sound systems. They fired up the generator, plugged in the sound board, and hung PA speakers from the tree branches.

The people had already gathered in the church and started singing together. I assumed we would join them but instead, the pastor invited us over to his house next door. Two nice ladies brought us chai and bread. So we sat there, enjoying a snack, while the church service continued without us. As we sipped our tea, the pastor told me, "and after the service you should bring a message just for the people who were baptized today." {gulp!}{mind racing}{heart thumping} Eventually, we strolled over to the church building. I was hoping to slip in the back door and find a seat but the pastor insisted that I sit in the front with Magesa. There were three plastic chairs of honor: one for the pastor, one for the special guest preacher Magesa, and one for the out-of-place white guy.

After a few more songs Magesa and I gave our introductions and then Magesa started preaching. He did a GREAT job! Probably one of the best Tanzanian sermons I've heard. He preached about the relationship between fearing God, worshiping God and obeying God. It was Bible-based and God-centered. And he went strong for about an hour. One of my favorite parts of the sermon was that, although Magesa preached in Swahili, he often stopped and explained a particular concept in Jita. So cool! Maybe someday, when we finish the New Testament in Jita, Magesa will preach the whole sermon in Jita!! After the sermon, the offerings, and a few more songs, the pastor asked me to close the service in prayer. Sure, why not?

When I said, "Amen" the children ran outside to play, the women went to their charcoal stoves and the men sat under the tree and chatted. I was able to learn a little more about the pastor and his family as well as the church and surrounding area.

Before long, the food arrived. We enjoyed rice, beans and chopped leafy greens called "mchicha." Twice during the meal I was strongly encouraged to eat more but I was stuffed!

After the meal, Magesa went to visit some sick church members who could not attend that morning. That left me alone to teach the lesson to those who had been baptized.

I prayed a quick prayer, "God help me to encourage these believers with the hope and power of the gospel of Jesus." I opened my Swahili Bible to Titus 2 and read

"11 Maana neema ya Mungu imedhihirishwa kwa ajili ya wokovu wa watu wote. 12 Neema hiyo yatufunza kuachana na uovu wote na tamaa za kidunia; tuwe na kiasi, tuishi maisha adili na ya kumcha Mungu katika ulimwengu huu wa sasa, 13 tukiwa tunangojea siku ile ya heri tunayoitumainia, wakati utakapotokea utukufu wa Mungu Mkuu na Mwokozi wetu Yesu Kristo. 14 Yeye alijitoa mwenyewe kwa ajili yetu ili atukomboe kutoka katika uovu wote na kutufanya watu safi walio wake yeye mwenyewe, watu walio na hamu ya kutenda mema."

And then 3:6

"Mungu alitumiminia Roho Mtakatifu bila kipimo kwa njia ya Yesu Kristo, Mwokozi wetu."

I shared with these new "baptizees" that God has not left us alone in our Christian life. He gives us abundant, life-changing grace everyday. He strengthens us to say no to sin and yes to following Jesus. And God has poured out his Spirit into our lives. The Spirit empowers us to hope in Jesus and obey God. Lastly, I told these new church members that as Christians, we are united in one church. We should help each other and encourage each other to love Jesus and trust Jesus and follow Jesus.

God is so gracious and good. He helped me to preach all this in Swahili.

After my little lesson, I witnessed one of the most unique cultural events of all my time in Tanzania. The pastor read through the list of people who had been baptized and told them they needed to change their names. Right there, on the spot, they had to choose a new name...a biblical name. The guys picked names like Gidioni, Boaz, Matayo, Musa, Paulo, Zakalia, Zakayo. The ladies chose Esta, Elizabeti, Neema (grace). On the ride home I asked Magesa why they changed names and he said many of these Christians were raised in Muslim families and had been given Muslim names. Therefore, when they became Christians, they wanted to separate themselves from that previous identity. Or, sometimes children are named after bad traits of dead family members and they fear that the spirit of that evil trait will follow them until they change their name. It breaks my heart to hear that this Animism still has a foothold in good Tanzanian churches. But this is yet another reason why we must translate the Bible into Jita.

Finally, it was time to go home. But as we were saying our goodbyes, a woman walked into the church building. She was weak and obviously very sick. When she dragged herself to the center of the room, she slumped to the floor and started weeping. She explained that she was sick and asked for the church to pray for her. Immediately Magesa, the pastor, and some of the elders gathered around the woman, laid hands on her, and started praying...out loud...some in Jita...some in Swahili...pleading with God to heal this woman. These Tanzanians see a close link between physical sickness and spiritual warfare. They prayed against Satan, they asked God to free this woman from spiritual oppression, and they simply asked for healing. After the prayer, some of the other church members helped her up and took care of her. It was a beautiful picture of Christ's church!

When we finished saying our goodbyes, we walked down to the lake and found a van taxi that was heading to town. Unfortunately it was being loaded with dagaa (small, dried fish). But we were thankful for the ride.

I'm so thankful to God for this trip. It deepened my respect for Magesa, it deepened our relationship, and it deepened my love and burden for the Jita people. Please pray for the Jita people!