July 27, 2007 by Stephen Day.

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July 21, 2007 by Stephen Day.

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July 19, 2007 by Stephen Day.

I wanted to point out an update on my website and on the links from this blog. There is a link provided here to a page on my website that will, in the future, provide links to pictures I take while in Tanzania. You can also visit the site directly at http://stephencday.com/missionary.htm. That page also lists the parishes sponsoring this missionary work.
Have a beautiful day.

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July 18, 2007 by Stephen Day.

The parish where I did field education during seminary, St. Mark’s, Silver Spring (Fairland), Maryland, has pledged a GREAT deal of support for this mission work. My fundraising is going very well. Thanks be to God and to God’s people!

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July 15, 2007 by Stephen Day.

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July 15, 2007 by Stephen Day.

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July 12, 2007 by Stephen Day.

It has been a busy week.  I have been working to get a lot of little things accomplished so that I can leave by the end of August.  Last Monday I met with the vestry of my home parish, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Saint Albans, West Virginia.  I met with them to discuss the missionary work I will be doing and to ask for their support.  They voted to provide a great deal of support for this work.

Yesterday I sent off all of my VISA application materials to another missionary who is serving in Dodoma right now.  She will get the sponsoring agency’s part completed and submit the application.  The process made me long for the easy process of getting a tourist VISA.  I am applying for a resident VISA since I will be living in the country and Tanzania requires a lot of paperwork.  My father did point out that it’s not exactly hard for anyone to get a Green Card for the United States, so that made me realize that the paperwork Tanzania required is not that much after all.

Next week I will be getting the two immunizations I still need to get – Yellow Fever and Meningitis.  I still need to figure out a way to get anti-malaria medications.  My HMO coverage from seminary isn’t really helpful when your six hours away from your coverage area.  Oh well…

I have started to experiment with the Linux distribution used by the college in Dodoma.  In case you are wondering, the distribution is Edubuntu, which is actually a slightly revised version of Ubuntu that is designed for use in educational environments.  Also, I have been reading a great deal about the work of network administration.  It has been quite a learning process.  I am very eager to get over to Tanzania.

My fundraising is moving along.  I have only met with my home parish’s vestry at this point, but I was able to get a great deal of support from them.  I hope to meet with a few other parishes in the next few weeks and also hope that the letters that were sent throughout the diocese prove fruitful.

I have ordered some materials to help learn some basic Swahili – namely the previously mentioned Rosetta Stone program.  In the next few weeks I hope to get a digital SLR camera so that I can get familiar with it before leaving for Tanzania.  The camera will be essential to document my time in Africa and the work of the Anglican Church of Tanzania.  I do love photography!!

Have a great day!

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July 6, 2007 by Stephen Day.

The first book I got was a guide book to Tanzania. When I went to Burma and Thailand a few years ago I found a really helpful series of guide books – Lonely Planet. So, the first book I got for this trip was the 2005 edition of the Lonely Plant guide to Tanzania, written by Mary Fitzpatrick. It has been very handy.

Next, I found four books on networking and the Linux operating system through the pretty good Kanawha County Library system. Those books are Networking by Example by Barry Press, Networking for Dummies by Doug Lowe, Local Area Network Management, Design and Security: a Practical Approach by Arne Mikalsen, and Linux Network Administrator’s Guide by Tony Bautts.

Also, I have found a few key books from Amazon that are up to date and provide essential information. I have ordered a brand new edition of the definitive guide to network administration – The Practice of System and Network Administration by Thomas A. Limoncelli, Christina J. Hogan, and Strata R. Chalup. I have also ordered a copy of a book about the specific distribution of Linux used at the seminary in Tanzania - Beginning Ubuntu Linux by Keir Thomas. Finally, since I am a student of history, I wanted to learn more about the history of my home for the next year, so I have ordered East Africa: An Introductory History by Robert Maxon.

In the coming weeks I will likely get a few more books to fully prepare for this adventure. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

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July 5, 2007 by Stephen Day.

On Monday, July 2, I was informed by the Rev. David Copley that I had been formally invited to serve as a missionary in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, in the Anglican Church of Tanzania. I have been invited by the Right Reverend Mdimi Mhogolo. I will serve on the staff at Msalato Theological College, which is located approximately ten kilometers south of Dodoma. My job will be to serve as system administrator for the computer network of approximately forty computers.

This news means that there is only one hurdle remaining before I can go to Tanzania – MONEY. I must raise $10,000, either in cash or in pledges, before I can leave. Letters are about to be sent out in my home diocese to seek support.

Within the next week I will be getting the immunizations I need and will order a copy of Rosetta Stone’s language training software for Swahili. Also, I am reading up on network administration and the Linux distribution used at the seminary (Edubuntu).

If you are interested in supporting this missionary work, there are three ways that you can help. First, pray – for me, my family, and the people of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, whom I will be working with. Second, you can visit my website at http://stephencday.com/missionary.htm and donate to me directly via credit or debit card (thanks to PayPal). Finally, you can support this missionary work by sending a check with “Stephen Day – Missionary” in the memo line to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia (PO Box 5400, Charleston, WV, 25361).

Have a great day!!

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