July 23, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I have just learned that at the most recent meeting of the Commission on Ministry and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, which took place more than three weeks ago, that they will not be interviewing me for Candidacy for Holy Orders, ever again. This ends the path that I have been on since 1999. I now must try to discern what I will do with the rest of my life. I will almost certainly have to leave West Virginia in order to get a full-time job with benefits. I would appreciate your prayers for me and my family during this time.

Also, please pray for the students who will be coming to Msalato for the new semester in a week or so. The new term begins August 4. Thank you for your prayers and support.

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July 13, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I have finally found the time to edit and post hundreds of photos from the past month. I still have about a thousand pictures from my safari that I need to sort through, but these are the key ones from Msalato.

Pictures from a goodbye and thanksgiving party from a wonderful missionary who has been here for a couple of years. View them at http://stephencday.com/RobynParty/.

Pictures from the blessing and gifting of bikes to graduating pastors from this diocese. See them at http://stephencday.com/bikes/.

Also, you can view somme pictures of the staff and students of Msalato cleaning up the front entrance to the college. Check these out at http://stephencday.com/fire/

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July 13, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Here are three links to videos I took while on safari with my father in Ruaha National Park. The best way to view these is by downloading them to your computer and then viewing them with either Quicktime 7 or VLC (aka Video LAN Client). To download them right-click (or whatever the equivalent is on your computer/operating system/internet browser) and select save.

http://stephencday.com/leopard.m4v
http://stephencday.com/lion.m4v
http://stephencday.com/zebras.m4v

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July 6, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Sorry for not blogging in a while, but things have been quite busy. The term has ended at Msalato and the graduating students have graduated and some are being ordained right now. On Wednesday, June 25 my father arrived in Dar es Salaam. We came to Dodoma on June 27 and then left for Iringa on Monday, June 30. We then went to Ruaha National Park and stayed at Foxes Lodge on July 1, 2, and 3. We returned to Iringa for one night and then got back to Dodoma late yesterday. So I will blog today or tomorrow about all of that. But until then I would like to invite a special guest blogger - my father. He will be leaving Dodoma tomorrow and flying back to the states Monday night EAT.

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It’s hard to imagine that almost two weeks have past since I first set foot in Africa. While awaiting my luggage (nearly the last pieces to be presented) I spotted Stephen outside the arrival area. He was sporting his new “shaved” head haircut. At night, Dar es Salaam seemed like many other large cities - lots of traffic (driving on the left), lots of people and buildings, bad roads, etc. Upon awakening, I discovered a crystal clear sky, an infrastructure outgrown by population, a vibrant commercial center, and a nation of friendly folks. In the section of Dar in which we were shopping, business is transacted from a series of 10 ft. store fronts. Looks like you could find most of what one might want - just no Wal-Marts or anything approaching 1% of that size. Interesting names too. I remember “Mississippi Grocery” for example.

Next day, we traveled by bus to the interior (Dodoma, where Stephen’s school is located). I had known this was a 6 hr+ ride. What hadn’t occurred to me is that that’s almost as long as the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam (7:01). Dodoma is much smaller than Dar, dustier, same lack of up-to-date infrastructure, same store fronts, same friendly people. Stephen’s school, Msalato, has just graduated its class and the campus is quite quiet. The staff still on site seems genuinely interested in its mission of training folks of all ages for various aspects of life in Tanzania (including training for the priesthood as well as other church leadership positions). The facilities are generally well built and maintained. I can tell that there’s often a lack of funding to complete all the physical plant expansions that have been attempted over the years. From what I gather, funding of operations is an ongoing area of concern.

Within the first two days I was here, two faculty members prepared dinners for us as well as extended family/friends. I was touched.

By means of a couple of 8-hr bus rides plus a pair of short 2-3 hr. hops in a 4 door pick-up (at twice the posted speed limit), Stephen and I were able to enjoy three days on Safari. However, I’ll let Stephen fill in any details regarding the Safari as he chooses.

I’m impressed with Stephen’s work, his dedication, and the folks I have met in Tanzania. The infrastructure shortcomings are to be expected in a developing country and can be overcome as development continues.

Phil Day

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June 20, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Below is an article that will hopefully be published in some form in my home diocese requesting additional support for projects here at Msalato. Feel free to distribute this as you wish.

Greetings from Tanzania,
I have been in Africa for eight months and will be here for another six months. I am serving as a computer technician and teacher at Msalato Theological College, which is located about ten kilometers outside of Dodoma, Tanzania.

Tanzania is located in east Africa and is directly south of Kenya and is on the Indian Ocean. To the west of Tanzania is Uganda (northwest) and Rwanda. This country was once part of the British Empire; therefore, the Anglican Church has a very large presence here. According to official figures the Diocese of Central Tanganyika (DCT), which includes Dodoma, has approximately 500,000 members and that is just one of more than a dozen dioceses in the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

Msalato Theological College is a diocesan school that trains pastors and other church leaders for DCT and other dioceses. Students come from around the country and several come from neighboring Kenya. There are three main academic programs at Msalato: Diploma in Ministry, Diploma in Applied Theology and Degree in Theology. The Diploma in Ministry program is the only one with instruction in Swahili (the official language of Tanzania) and lasts two years. The other diploma program is similar, but instruction lasts three years and is only in English. The diploma programs are designed for students with educations varying from Standard 7 to Form 4. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. I was not familiar with the British school system, which Tanzania uses, until I came here. Standard 7 is comparable to completing some of middle school and Form 4 is similar to a high school diploma. The final and newest program at Msalato is the degree program and is three years of English instruction and for students who have already completed a theology diploma program.

This past semester I taught two academic classes for students in the Diploma in Applied Theology program. I taught first year students about medieval Christianity and the Reformation. For second year students, I taught them modern church history (although I only got to World War II). I also taught two computer skills classes and an introduction to the Bible course for pre-diploma students.

I am here in Dodoma as part of the Young Adult Service Corps missionary program of the Episcopal Church. As part of that program I was required to raise $10,000 to support my work here. With the help of the people of the Diocese of West Virginia and St. Mark’s in Silver Spring, Maryland nearly $15,000 was raised. The funds over the required $10,000 have been used to support Msalato and the work I am doing here directly. However, all of this money has been used. The largest single item was $1,200, which was used to purchase the parts for a new server that will provide a local email system at Msalato. Other money was used to buy an oven and refrigerator for the duplex I live in, which will be left for the use of future missionaries. More money was used to improve the plumbing in my duplex, which will be of great benefit to future occupants. I was also able to purchase new keyboards, mice and power supplies for the computers here. Those items need replacement quite often here.

As I look forward to the remaining months that I will be here I am aware of numerous other needs that exist here. There is a desperate need for spare parts for the computers here – especially power supplies and keyboards. The electrical system in Tanzania is in very poor condition and although we use a very expensive voltage regulator on all of our computers there are still many power supplies that need replacement on a regular basis. The two computer labs are only a year old and more than ten power supplies have needed to be replaced. At least fifteen keyboards have needed replacement in my seven months here. There are also two classrooms and several offices that need to have network wiring so that students and staff can access the computer network and the Internet. The main server here also needs a spare hard drive, which costs at least $350 and is hard to find. For all these reasons and more I would appreciate your continued support.

If you feel called and able to support the ministry I am doing here, you can donate by writing a check to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia and sending it to PO Box 5400, Charleston, WV, 25361. Be sure to mention my name or Tanzania in the memo line. Feel free to keep up to date with my activities by visiting my blog at www.daysdaze.org or you can contact me directly at stephend79@gmail.com.

Yours in Christ,
Stephen Day

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June 20, 2008 by Stephen Day.

The semester has ended and some students have already left. The students in the pre-degree and pre-diploma courses have graduated and all have been accepted into the full degree and diploma programs. I have a fair amount of marking to do, but I am pleased with the semester. I really enjoyed teaching and look forward to teaching three academic courses next semester - two Church History courses for first and second year diploma students. I will be teaching third year diploma students ecclesiology and mission theology (which is actually mostly systematic theology). These will be interesting challenges.

I have been taking a lot of pictures and will share them with you as soon as I can sort through them. My father is leaving the US next Tuesday and will arrive in Dar es Salaam late on Wednesday night next week. I can’t wait for him to arrive so that I can share this experience with him.

That brings me to my final point - I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents for all of their support for my work here. They have spent thousands of dollars in support of the work I am doing and without their help I would not be here (in Dodoma, not in the metaphysical sense) today. They are very faithful and loving people who have taught me so much.

Well, goodbye for now. God bless.

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June 12, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I have uploaded even more pictures. The pictures are of some of the staff and students here at Msalato Theological College. View them at: http://stephencday.com/TeachersofMsalato/. Enjoy!!!!

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June 9, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I have posted two more webpages of pictures. The first is a set of pictures from a service at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, which was led by a missionary here at Msalato. The second webpage is a collection of random pictures from the past few months. Enjoy these!

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June 8, 2008 by Stephen Day.

I wanted to let you all know that I have posted some new pictures to my website. You can view them at: http://stephencday.com/Prayer%20Walk%20Page/

These are pictures of last Friday’s Prayer Walk. It was a day of prayer here at Msalato and the day began with a prayer service in the chapel. The service was followed by a prayer walk around the campus. The pictures on my site show the staff and students of Msalato walking and praying around the campus. Enjoy!

Also, I have just posted a video from today’s service at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit here in Dodoma. The service was led by the Pre-Diploma and Pre-Degree students of Msalato. The video is from the Offortory when the students sang and dance. You can view or download the 20 MB video at www.stephencday.com/Students-Singing-Dancing.m4v You will need Quicktime version 6 or better to view it. You can get Quicktime at www.apple.com.

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May 29, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Hello Blog-afficianados,

Life is going pretty well here at Msalato. Some money has been found in New Zealand to help cover some of the fees of the students. This will hopefully keep the school afloat for a few more months. I ask your prayers for the continued support of Msalato and for the school to find a long term financial plan.

Today during my Diploma in Applied Ministry, Year 2 class I had an interesting experience. I was teaching about the Roman Catholic Church during the 20th century and in particular the rule of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council when all of a sudden from the ceiling a small creature landed on my desk. This was… an itty-bitty lizard. The lizard crawled around the table for some time and then crawled on me.

This reminded me that we have a lot of lizards here. I can’t imagine that there is anywhere on earth where there are more wild lizards. Every day when I approach the library there are several that scurry along the sides of the building. They are gorgeous and sometimes quite big.

Well, we have only a week and a half left before the end of classes for the semester. I will be giving essay assignments to both of my classes instead of a final exam. For my Reformation Church History course I will ask my students to write an essay explaining the theology of Martin Luther and to explain what they agree with and disagree with. I am not certain what I will ask my students in Modern Church History course to write about.

I ask that you pray for Moses a student here whose father just died. He is at his home village now and should return to Msalato soon. I also ask your prayers for Timothy, a friend of mine. Finally, I ask that you pray for teachers everywhere as they work to conclude their terms and semesters.

God Bless!

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