“Picture this: You’re standing in one of the most remote corners of Tanzania, East Africa, in a place called O’lerumo. Around you are a few bomas (collections of huts). You’re in a Maasai village comprising maybe 200 people, living more or less in a dozen family groupings. There are no cars here. There are no wells here. There is no electricity here. There is no one here with more than a high school education, and even those who have finished elementary school are in the slim minority. You’re standing in a circle of a dozen people under a thorn tree, praying, and you’re feeling like for the first time you really understand just how nearby God is. Then a cellphone rings and a dozen Maasai reach into their shukas and pull out their phones—some of them have three—and someone apologizes and takes the call. It’s in that moment you’re reminded that the difference between “here” and “there” is not as big as it used to be….”

To finish reading this article please follow this link to the Collide website:
http://www.collidemagazine.com/article/265/opening-africas-creative-space

My most recent trip to Uganda involved a 18 hour bus ride overnight, two border crossings, and a traveling salesman. I had never been to Uganda till a few weeks ago and I enjoyed every bit of the adventure into unknown territory. The 18 hour trip was tiresome but the lovely green Ugandan country side and random herbalist salesman added much enjoyment to the trip.

Uganda is a beautiful country, similar to what I am used to in Tanzania, but significantly greener. English is a major language at least in Kampala, the city I stayed in, so communication was very easy. Except when I would, out of habit, start speaking to someone in Swahili, forgetting that they don’t speak Swahili there.

I enjoyed many things about Kampala. One, was the great relationship that was formed with a lovely couple, Nick and Vanessa. My leader, Sig, had been corresponding with Nick since our tour in Nairobi and we are seeing God knit our hearts together with them in regards to some of the pastoral literature and training that we distribute through Pamoja. There is a large Congolese community in Kampala and many of them don’t have good training materials or pastoral resources in a language they understand well. So it has been really good to connect with Nick and through him connect the Shepherds Staff, in French, with these church leaders. The reports that we have gotten back have been amazing. One woman cried when she received the book and told Vanessa’s mom that she had been praying for this book for 9 years and that God had brought it to her door. Praise God! The Shepherds Staff is provided for free by World MAP to anyone who teaches/preaches to more than 20 people weekly. Nick and Vanessa were very kind to have me to their home for a meal and fellowship. We had a great time sharing about the things God is laying on our hearts and getting excited about the things that we can see God doing through this new relationship between us. Vanessa is Congolese and gave me a fun language lesson on some of the differences between Congolese Swahili and the Swahili in Tanzania. Since half of the Sowers Group are Congolese I was able to come back home and randomly insert some Congolese Swahili into our conversation. They definitely were shocked that I knew some of their Swahili. Very fun!

Another thing that I enjoyed were these fabulous little motorbike taxis, called bodaboda’s. They were a very cheap and fun way to get around town. Because of the large number of these little taxis the traffic is very aware of their presence, making it a fairly safe mode of transportation. This is definitely not something that I would consider in Arusha where there is absolutely no concern for motorbikes from the rest of the road traffic.  In Kampala, I would leave my guest house in the morning, walk to the road, grab a passing bodaboda, tell him where I was going (usually someplace in town), haggle about the price and go. It cost roughly $1 to get from where I was staying just outside of the city into downtown. Not bad! The day I was leaving to catch my bus back to Tanzania, I strapped my one suitcase to the back of the bike and held my duffle on my lap and rode to town that way. Love it!

More to come!

The Sowers Group – World Hope Tour – Kenya

Meet Mike and Christelle – Mike, lead guitar and vocals, head honcho;
Christelle, vocals and Mike’s wife

Meet Oswald – Lead vocals and Mike’s older brother

Meet Kosto – Acoustic guitar and vocals, childhood friend of Mike and Oswald, cheeky

Meet Felis – drummer, comedian, and my Congolese twin of only 9 days separation

Meet Kelvin – Bass guitar, Tanzanian representative

Doing what they do best!

Pamoja Ministries Marketing and Distribution Manager – ME!

Do I love my job????

enjoying the show with daniel, a student at Sunshine School

enjoying some downtime at Java House – does coffee make you smile???

Just a small sampling of our two weeks in Kenya. Pamoja Ministries and The Sowers Group will be continuing the World Hope Tour in Arusha and Moshi over this next month, along with Uganda and Dar es Salaam on the horizon. Please be praying for this continued ministry of Hope and for continued formation of good relationship.

And ‘Yes’ I do love my job!

]]> http://www.lishelfen.com/v1/2009/08/25/chezadance-pictures/feed/ 0 http://www.lishelfen.com/v1/2009/08/19/hope-given/ http://www.lishelfen.com/v1/2009/08/19/hope-given/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:16:28 +0000 Lis http://www.lishelfen.com/v1/?p=206 It has been exactly one week since we returned from the beginning of our World Hope Tour in Nairobi, Kenya. We went with an expectation for each person we encountered to understand the hope found in Jesus Christ. This expectation was met by the grace of God. Praise Jesus!

From our arrival on the 29th of July till our final concert on August 9th we had the privilege of performing in a variety of settings: primary schools, high schools, boarding schools, old folks home, early morning prayer meetings, lunch hour meetings, evening prayer services, all night prayer meetings, Sunday services, conferences, radio interviews and weddings. Each place The Sowers Group performed was exposure for the group as well as connections for Pamoja with key leaders in Nairobi. Some very good relationships have been formed and I am looking forward to seeing how God uses them to connect more people with the media I am in working to distribute here in Africa.

Ok… so here are some stories to make this a little more real.

First of all, The Sowers Group (Mike, Christelle, Oswald, Kosto, Felis and Kelvin) are an amazing group of people. Every single day was filled with MUCH laughter! I am pretty sure that Felis (the drummer) could make a living at comedy if he wasn’t already such an amazing drummer. Felis and Kosto (acoustic guitar) would play off of each other and the rest of us were fighting to catch our breath while holding our sides. With the early morning/late night pace the laughter was a great reviver throughout the days.  Oswald (main singer/older brother), who tends to be perceived as the quiet type, breaks out of that mold with over exaggerated imitations of Kelvin and Felis’ very characteristic walks.  Not sure if that sentence communicates well, but it means that each of them walks in a certain manner and you can completely pick up who Oswald is imitating when he exaggerates his steps. Needless to say one late night there was much laughter as the two guys tried to defend their strides.

Secondly, some very cool things are in place regarding the distribution of Cheza!(dance) in Kenya. We were connected with a distributor that supplies outside of Nairobi and another smaller distributor that has locations in the city and supplies to all of the churches of one of the major denominations in Nairobi.

Lastly, at a public high school the team did an acoustic set (due to lack of electricity) for about 300 students. After a few songs Mike got up and spoke them about being grateful for what they have, not to complain and be aware of the blessings that God has given them. When they closed the session two girls came up to one of the band members and said that God had really spoken to them through the music and what Mike had said. They said that their lives will never be the same again. It is amazing what a simple word and anointed music can do in the lives of people. Praise God for how He uses imperfect vessels.

Pictures from The World Hope Tour – Kenya - coming as soon as i can get my internet to upload them

here are some of my favorite pictures from zanzibar. for some reason the gallery setting is cropping them strangely so click on each photo to see the full picture.

Arusha, Tanzania June 17, 2009 –
The Sowers Group will take to stages across Nairobi and beyond to share their beautiful African harmonies and rhythms from July 31st to August 9th, 2009.

The Sowers Group recently returned from their tour throughout Australia and New Zealand where they performed on 63 stages and generated sponsorships for 700 African and Asian children while promoting their new album, “Cheza (dance)”. Following their Kenyan tour, the Sowers are also planning tours in Uganda, Tanzania, France, Switzerland, and beyond.

The members of The Sowers Group have an astonishing personal story of escaping conflict and surviving war. They have moved from country to country (learning six languages along the way) and now they inspire thousands with their music and their message.

As children, Mike, Oswald and Kosto fled their hometown of Bukavu to escape war. They grabbed what possessions they could carry and set out on foot towards Kinshasa seeking safe haven. Thirty days and more than 600km later, they found themselves deep in the Equatorial Jungle, injured, held at gunpoint, and praying for their lives. Inexplicably, the bandits who held them executed others but spared the brothers. The Sowers Group believe they were delivered from that situation in order to tell the story of their people.

The Sowers’ beautiful heartfelt songs of personal triumph bring listeners a message of great hope. Not a shiny, untouchable hope, but a hope born out of hardship and determined belief. Their message will bring courage to the fearful, peace to the anxious heart, and a joy that has a way of getting the most reluctant toes tapping to the beat of their infectious African rhythms.

For more information on The Sowers Group and their Kenya tour please visit:
www.pamoja.info
www.sowersgroup.com.

Pamoja Ministries has been discipling cultures through media since 1990. Under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Sig Feser, Pamoja has been distributing excellent teaching resources including “The Shepherd’s Staff” / “Fimbo Ya Mchungaji” and “Acts” / “Matendo” magazine to Christian leaders for over 18 years. Pamoja also oversees a biblical teaching program (ISOM) on dvd aimed at the local church. Over 1000 people throughout Central and East Africa are currently studying the five trimesters of training. In 2010, Pamoja will release “Nipe Jibu”, a full-length Swahili feature musical filmed in Tanzania. For more information about the ministry of Pamoja, contact info@pamoja.info.

The new album, “Cheza (dance)” from The Sowers Group was produced and recorded by Australia’s Translator Records. The album is distributed in Africa by Pamoja Ministries, and by Translator Records in the rest of the world. Following their 2002 release “70×7” which was very well received throughout Africa, “Cheza (dance)” is the second album from The Sowers Group, and their first global release. For information contact info@sowersgroup.com.