October 24, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Greetings and felicitations.

Things are going well here at Msalato. We have had a very good fiscal quarter thanks to the kindness and generosity of others. Our students are doing quite well. Msalato is in a very important period of transition. The school was founded back in the 1960s as a bible school to train pastors in central Tanzania. Over the years the school’s programs have expanded - adding a secretarial program (mostly training people to work as secretaries for bishops and dioceses) and two English language theological programs (a diploma and, most recently, a degree).

Several years ago the bishop of this diocese laid out his vision for the future of Msalato. He believed that it was very important to the future of the diocese and the church. Key to his vision is that Msalato should be an English-only institution — all instruction should be in English, not Swahili (the official language of the nation). There is another school in the diocese that trains pastors and catechists in Swahili. Last year there were 105 students at Msalato - 55 of them were in the Swahili program. This year we have 83 students and 30 are in the Swahili program. So it is clear that Msalato needs to adapt to its new situation. There are several plans underway to add programs. One is a year long English language and communication skills course that will start next August. This will be for new theological students and anyone else who wants to learn. Many people are very eager to learn English in Tanzania and there are not that many skilled and qualified teachers of English here. Another program that might start next August is a teacher’s training program. This would be a one year certificate program for primary school teachers (I think) and would focus on teaching how to teach, not the content. This program will require a lot more work to start up because we need to find new staff to run the program. There is also some steps that must be followed with the government so that the graduates of the program would be certified to teach.

During this important time of transition, Msalato and its teachers and staff could very much use your prayers.

I am leaving Tanzania on December 12 and will spend a week in Europe (which I have never been to) and then arrive back in the USA on December 23. I hope to be able to visit several of my sponsoring parishes during my time back in America. Feel free to contact me (at stephend79@gmail.com) if you would like me to visit your parish and share my experiences in Tanzania. I have permission to return to Tanzania by my employer, the Episcopal Church’s Mission Personnel Office, but am still waiting for my invitation to serve in this diocese to be extended. I get a modest stipend from the Episcopal Church, but serve under the authority and permission of the local bishop here. I do not have a return ticket to Africa yet, I hope to get one once I get permission to return from the bishop. I hope to return at the end of January, which would give me two weeks before the new semester starts.

I ask your prayers for my home diocese, the Diocese of West Virginia, which is holding its annual diocesan convention this weekend. Also, I ask your prayers for a dear friend and mentor, Cheryl, who has been diagnosed with a painful affliction.

Asante sana! (Swahili for many thanks or thank you very much)

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October 13, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Greetings,

Things have been quite busy since I got back from Ethiopia a month ago. The week after I got back we had “Spring” break (we are in the southern hemisphere so the seasons are backward). That was convenient timing because I was able to use that week to try to fix the server which had been acting up for several weeks. I have mostly gotten it running normally now. I did upgrade the software on the server from Edubunut 7.04 to Edubuntu 7.10 and then Ubuntu 8.04. This new version of the software will be supported with updates for five years and will stay on the server for some time.

Once the break was over I started teaching a new class. This class was supposed to be taught by a teacher who ended up going to Virginia Theological Seminary (my alma mater) to enroll in the M.T.S. program. So this class had not been taught at all until half way through the semester. So what was this topic? Nothing too hard… just “God, Creation and the Trinity.” I am teaching this to second year students in the English diploma program. I am already teaching them church history. This is very hard. The student’s want a simple but complete explanation about the nature of the Trinity; however, that does not exist.

My other classes are going well. I am making progress with the first year students. We have moved into the era of Constantine and the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. We spent a great deal of time talking about the structure of the Roman Empire, numerous emperors and their persecution of the Church. It has been slow going but I think that they are learning a fair amount and getting to understand the early church. In my second year church history course we are moving pretty slowly as well but have spent most of our time talking about the Reformation after Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses. Right now we are just finishing up talking about the Reformation in England and Scotland. Next we will talk about the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church’s response to the Reformation.

My other theology course, Ecclesiology and Mission Theology with third year diploma students is going well. It is also moving a little slowly. We just spent several weeks looking at church leaders and government. We spent a lot of time looking at the meaning of apostles, disciples and elders and the Biblical and theological foundations of the terms.

Tomorrow is a holiday in Tanzania. It is the equivalent of Washington’s birthday - it is the birthday of the first president of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. This coming Sunday I will be visiting the village of Zigelli again. This was the village I visited last November and I am eager to see it again. I will share that experience with you soon and more pictures.

Thanks for your interest!

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