baird robert dawn 1994 zaire

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THE

LION'S

See

the Lion of the trit)e of Judah . has

triumphed

t

O &

DAWN BAIRD

Elizabeth

Rachel

& Joshua

May

1994

IN

AFRIC

LOOKING

AT AN OPEN

DOOR

IN TANZANIA

We're back from Tanzania and ready to report and start seeing what

can be done with what we found there. ll start from the beginning and

tell you about the whole trip.

We left the States on the 16th of March via Chicago and Sabena

Airlines. The flight was about half full, I had a whole aisle to myself, and

was able to stretch out and

ge t some

sleep on th e way to Brussels. We had

an 18-hour layover, so we got a day room and some needed sleep. The

flightfrom

Brussels

to

Nairobi

was packed - no such thing as

laying

down

or sleeping. We arrived in Nairobion the 18th and were expecting to be

pickedup at the airport byan M F pilot and flown from there to Tanzania.

Inthat way we would not have had to check in and out of Nairobi,saving

us $30. But in Africa nothing happens as expected. Whilewe waited in

the transit lounge, a driver was standing outside with our names on a little

board. We finally did

get

hooked up with the driver, go t stamped into

Kenya and then 45 minutes later and $30 poorer, got stamped ou t as we

took off for Mwanza, Tanzania. The flight over the Rift Valleygoing to

Tanzania was very rough, but we arrived all in one piece only to find out

that

we could not go on to Kigoma because of bad weather.

Our first taste of Tanzania was Mwanza and it started out nicely At

the airport we had to deal with the Immigrationand Customs people. The

simplest way to describe what happened Isto say that they did their jobs.

There was no hassle, no desire for gifts or money, they simply asked the

questions related to their jobs and welcomed us to their country. Wewere

very pleased We had to stay overnight at

the

New Mwanza Hotel, which

is not so new My room was on the disco side of the hotel, so Idid not

sleep very well at all, but the food was good and the beds were

comfortable. Myimpression of Mwanza is that it isa dirty, run-down city



with lots of people.

On Saturday morning, the 19th, we completed our

travel to KIgoma. When we arrived

there

we saw as we

were landing hundreds of people around the airport. My

firstthoughtwas

that

Edson,the man who had instigated

this whole trip, had the whole town ou t to greet us. As

it turned

out

there was a political person coming in just

after us and they were there for him. Edson met us with

a taxi and

we went

on into Kigoma from

the

airport.

In Kigomawe stayed at NORAD, which is a Norwe

gian

guest

house run bysome people that are inTanzania

for aid projects. Whilethere we visitedwith someof the

missionaries and

attended

two Wednesday night Bible

Study/Prayer times that they have. Kigomahas Method

ists, Pentecostals (both American and Swedish), Southern

Baptist, and German Anglican Missionaries. We

were

welcomed by all and they

were

very cooperative in

answering many of our questions.

Most importantlywe found out about CalvaryEvan

gelicalAssociation and the men working in it. Thisisthe

African Church group to which Edson belongs, the man

who called

us to

do the Crusade and

Seminars

and

to

possiblywork with on a permanent basis. Firstof all there

was a miscommunication This is not

hard

to

understand

when you

are

dealing across cultures and languages.

CalvaryEvangelical Association

CEA

was not started by

Edson Kamenya. It is a church group that has

been

in

existence and planting churches, to which Edson at

tached himself to have legal status. Edsonand the men

that he worked with have actually only

started one

very

small church in Kigoma.

CEA

has a constitution, as every

church group must, and we got a copy of it to see what

kindof a church we were dealing with. The constitution

had several areas that we discussed with Edson an d John

Mbikulakowho isthe secretary for their work. The two

most important were concerning the secondary position

they give to Baptism and that to be a member of the

church you have to support the Pre-millennialist view of

Revelation It was obvious that neither Edson nor

John

had

really

read the constitution. Oncetheydidtheydidn t

agree with itand we realized they had onlyjoined

CEA

to

have that needed legal religious status in the country.

A third man

that

we met was Justin, whom they

called the Pastor, and he did all

the

secondary preaching.

He

was a

real

authoritarian

and o n ce h e ma de a

decision

he would

not

back

own on

it

for

th

sake

of

hi s

reputation. We

came

into some conflict with him during

our

Crusade

and Seminars

because he would

not allow

for another opinion. The Crusade started off really well

for the first two days. We had 300 to 400 people in

attendance But from the third day on. the number of

peoplefelloff to half and then less

than that

We

though

that it would be a good idea to stop the Crusade on

Sundayand then

goon

to the Seminarthe nextwee

Justin would not have it The Crusade was i

afternoon, because people work during the day

when we started

th e Seminars

we want ed them

afternoon also for

the same

reason. But Justin ins

and the other two

went

along with it.

that

he w

continue

the

crusade

in the afternoon and we

wou

our Seminar in the morning. We never exceeded

attendance during those Seminars. We never forc

issue while

we

were

there

Whatever

we

did

was

decisions.

When

we discussed th e Constitution

simplyshowed them

what

we believed the Biblesai

they responded. I feel that Edson and John w

probably go with whatever they see as the truth,

think that Justin would go onlywith

what

he could

or

control

I

s aw tha t

none of th e

other

Missions, or C

groups, offer anything in the way of Christian Edu

for the people in the pews. They had preacher tr

and pastor training, but nothing of

what

we were

inZaire with the Theological Education Program.

would be a

great

opportunity for us in this area.

Kigomalooks a lot likeBafwasende, but on a b

scale and, unlikeZaire, almost everything works.

are

two banks, a train station, a port, and an ai

There are many little stores and a large market, ju

Zaire. Iwould say that there were more things ava

inZaire,when everything wasworking, but

the

pric

bet ter here for what is available. The economy

different from what Iam used to, because inTanzan

can go both ways with the money. You can buy

money, the Shilling, and you can turn the Shillings b

and ge t dollars. None of the other African countrie

Ihave been in would go both ways likethat. The p

here are differenti Theyare more independent, fre

are not awed byWhitePeople, nor do theyseem to e

th e White Man to provide everything. The kids are

A fish dinner at Allys Restaurant in Kigoma, Tanzani



less trouble, you can actuallywalk around town without

being accosted by a pack of them.

Inour discussion with these men they had a lot that

they wanted from us in terms of financial help. We

expected this and the things we talked about were all

legitimate needs. Theyseem ready to be responsible for

their part of what we might be doing together, not with

the att itude that we owed them because they are poor

Africans, but because they want to work together until

they can take care of themselves financially.

Mikeand Ihad planned to leave Kigomaon

April

4th

byAirTanzania and flyto Dares Salaam. Wewould spend

t h e 5 th t h er e to s ee w h at is available a nd t he n

o n th e

6 th

fly to Nairobi to

connect

with our flight to th e States on

th e

8th. Ed Buellwa s going to catch

th e

passenger boat

from Kigoma, to Bujumbura, on Sunday the 3rd, and go

o n into

Zaire

until t h e 15th.

On Fridayth e 1st. Good Friday,after Idid myseminar

Istarted having

some

pains in my stomach. These pains

go t worse an d worse until Iwas doubled over with them.

T h e r e

w e re n o m i s s i on

d o c t o r s

in

t

a re a s o I

w nt

t o

t

local hospital under the care of

th e

African Doctor there.

I had an I V an d a shot for pain, and ex-rays. Let me

assure you that any needle that

went

into my body was

brand new out of a sealed package. The doctor thought

t h a t I

h ad

a

b o w e l o b s tr u c ti o n .

Mike

an d

Ed

f o u n d o u t

about a U.N. plane going to Nairobi on the next day,

Saturday the 2nd. Iwon t giveyou any gruesome details,

bu t bythe next morning, otherthan feeling like Ihad

been

thru

th e

wringer, Iwas fine. Butjust to be safe,

we

took

th e U.N. flight to Nairobi. We missed

th e

visit to Dar es

Sal aamI

From Nairobiit iseasy enough to connect with the

flight to Brusselsand then on to Chicago, right? Sorryl

First

of

all

our

tickets were

thru

an

organization

call^

Raptim which gives special discounts to missionaries. Our

return d ate o n th e tickets was

fo r th e

22nd which was

ZAIRE

The Port at Kigoma, on LakeTanganlka.

TANZAN

when Edwas planning to come backand Mikeand I

just supposed to

change

ou r tickets

when we g

Nairobi. We had arrived after noon on Saturday

offices were often. We waited thru Easter Sunday

expected to ge t in to change our tickets on Mo

morning. Guess what holiday the British influenc

pressed on Kenya? Easter Monday Nothing w as

on Monday. So we called around

an d

finally foun

that there was a Sabena flight to Brussels on Mo

night. Mikean d Ijust showed up about an hour ahe

th e

check-in time, presented ourselves an d our tick

the Sabena desk and they put uson standby. We ac

go t on the

ptaneandoff

we

wentto

Brussels. InBru

because we were not confirmed on to Chicago, w

to go to the Sabenadesk again to

ge t onward

to Chi

At this point

we

were

told by the representatives,

r ead

it

from their b o o k o f rules an d conf i r med

it

f r o m

supervisor, that because of

th e

type of tickets we ha

w er e n ot allowed to fly any other flight than the on

the ticket. Theysaid that the people in Nairobihad

in error by letting us on

th e

plane. What wer

options? Stay inBrusselsuntil th e 23rd or ge t on an

airlines. We went to every other carrier in

th e

airpor

s e t tl e d w i th Delta. W e arrived

back

in

th e

States

o

5th. Nowwe are trying to get the money back fo

leg of the journey from Brussels to Chicago.

What now? We will be meeting with

ACM

to di

whatwe found inTanzania and deciding

what

we sh

do next. We continue to feel that God has opene

door for a purpose. There isdefinitely a need inTan

for the ChristianChurchand the kindof church gr

programs that

we ca n

establish. Since we

d on t k

exactlyhow to go about accomplishing this, we con

to need your prayers for wisdom and understand

God bless you for get ting us there an d back with

your prayers an d your financial support.



Introducing Our New

Forwarding

Agent

Lynn Kohlhagen

Greetings from Bob and

Dawn s newforwardingagenti I

certainly have had a lot to learn,

and

I m

afraid

iVe

learned

some

of it th e hard way, but learn 1

have. My name is Lynn

Kohlhagen. I live in Morris,

lli

nois, with my husband, Steve,

and daughter, Anne.

Steve isjust beginning a

new

career as a real

estate

agent. It

follows 20 years in the retail business, and he is really

enjoying the change. We are praying very hard for his

success. At church

Steve

is t h e teach er o f an

adult

Sunday school class called Seekers of Faith. He is

presently having a year off from his Elderduties, but he

stillhas hisShepherding Group

and

isworking on various

committees. Steve loves white-water rafting and is

organizing a trip to raft the Grand Canyon this summer

with some of the men of the church. Healso likesto golf

when he has the time.

Anne isa senior at MorrisCommunityHighSchool.

She is a good student and very active. She is presently

busywith rehearsals for the spring musical, Vie Sound

of Music. She has a part-time job teaching a step-

aerob ics class. Her favori te activities, in addit ion to

music,

are ar t

and ballet. We

are

getting ready for next

fall,when we llbe sending her away to the University of

Illinois at Urbana. Next year we ll be rooting for the

Fighting lllinil

Iama 6th grade language arts teacher at Shabbona

Middle School here in Morris. I love my work and my

relationship with the children. I am also the Student

Council and Year Book sponsor , and help coach the

students who go out for speech. Inmy spare time Ilike

to read mysteries and work crossword puzzles. I mkind

of a homebody, so Iwill enjoy th e time

spent

at

home

working on Bob and Dawn s bookkeeping tasks.

NOTE: With Lynn

handling the

Forwarding Agent

accounts

now all donations are to

b e s e nt

to

h e n

Lynn Kohlhagen

8 1 0

G r o v e

A v e .

Morris IL 604S0

All

donations

and gifts should be made out to

African Christian Mission as in the past

Prayer

Requests

1. Praise the Lordfor new supporting cong

gations at Erie

and

Centralia, IL and Coun

Bluffs, lA.

2. Praisethe Lordfor all of you who support

our trip to Kigoma, Tanzania.

3. Joshua has been diagnosed as havingAtte

tion DeficitDisorder and istaking medicati

for that. Please pray for God to smooth

work ou t his adjustment to the medicine

4. We have seen this opportunity in Tanzan

and

now

we need wisdom

both

fo r t

Bairds, as a family,

and

as members of AC

to

know

what God

w ou ld h av e u s

do nex

5. Pray for us as

we

head into th e summer wi

6

V S

programs and

one

camp, plus

oth

speaking dates along the way.

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baird robert dawn 1994 zaire

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