Preparing for travelling to Masasi

Today, we take a Cholera medicine booster.  Accumulation of items needed for this trip include sleeping bags, travel pillows and self-inflating mattresses along with solar/windup flashlights that have a jack to allow us to recharge our telephones.  We have been amazed at the generosity from individuals and congregations in the Diocese of Montreal that have provided us with funds for the "Sandals for Service" program.  These monies will be used to buy shoes for some clergy in Masasi who walk from village to village--many without shoes.  Bishop Patrick of Masasi has indicated that he will pick us up in Dar es Salaam and we will journey each day by land rover from there to the south of the diocese towards the Mozambique border, meeting the people in the villages and joining them for worship, baptisms, confirmations, and ordinations. Bishop Patrick has indicated that some villages are without water and other amenities to which we are accustomed. We will sleep on the dirt floors of village church buildings.  We are looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new.  We know that we will again be enriched by the faith and hospitality of the people we will encounter.