By Andy Russell; Bruton Parish, Williamsburg; YASC Missionary
Andy Russell, a member of Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, is
serving as missionary with the Young Adult Service Corps in Dodoma,
Tanzania. You can follow him on his blog, Looking Out, Looking In.
So far I have visited three villages during my time here in Tanzania: Nzali, Chilonwa, and Mwitikira...
While I can hardly claim to be an expert, each village visit followed a similar trajectory. To start, we were welcomed by dozens of people, shaking hands, exchanging profuse greetings the moment we hopped out of the land rover. The rector of the parish then received us at his home for conversation and food. Samosas and these lightly fried doughnut things for breakfast, Chicken in a sort of broth and rice for lunch. Afterwards, we typically went down to the church where we were formally welcomed by the rector. An opportunity for us to introduce ourselves, who we are and what we do, to the parishioners followed. Gift-giving and performances of song and dance from various church groups rounded out the visits.
These parishes are models of incredible Christian hospitality. Not going to lie, I felt pretty uncomfortable at first. The overwhelming welcome of a large group of people, getting dance-dragged through the crowd by an older gentleman trumpeting what looked like an antelope horn, being served first before elders of consequence in the life of the parish, receiving simple and elegant cloth as a gift-me, some young adult from the US! At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, this hospitality seems a bit like God's grace: a free gift, in many ways undeserved but completely accessible. Click here to read more.
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Singing and dancing in the church at Mwitikira.
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While I can hardly claim to be an expert, each village visit followed a similar trajectory. To start, we were welcomed by dozens of people, shaking hands, exchanging profuse greetings the moment we hopped out of the land rover. The rector of the parish then received us at his home for conversation and food. Samosas and these lightly fried doughnut things for breakfast, Chicken in a sort of broth and rice for lunch. Afterwards, we typically went down to the church where we were formally welcomed by the rector. An opportunity for us to introduce ourselves, who we are and what we do, to the parishioners followed. Gift-giving and performances of song and dance from various church groups rounded out the visits.
These parishes are models of incredible Christian hospitality. Not going to lie, I felt pretty uncomfortable at first. The overwhelming welcome of a large group of people, getting dance-dragged through the crowd by an older gentleman trumpeting what looked like an antelope horn, being served first before elders of consequence in the life of the parish, receiving simple and elegant cloth as a gift-me, some young adult from the US! At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, this hospitality seems a bit like God's grace: a free gift, in many ways undeserved but completely accessible. Click here to read more.
