Greetings from

Jeff In Africa May 2009 (send Jeff an email)

*Jeff's Itinerary

*Why Did Jeff go to Africa?

*What countries is he visiting?

*Who did Jeff go with?

*How can I help?

*Previous Reports from Jeff.

Go To Creation Woods Home Page

Below you will find a chronological report of the trip Jeff took in May 2009..

End of Trip Report. (send Jeff an email

WOW! I am sitting here wondering how to summarize the last month in a brief paragraph or two. My mind is still a bit foggy after the 36 hours in transit, 22 hours in 4 different airplanes and a 10 hour time change. So many impressions and thoughts linger and blur together. We traveled thousands of miles by air and hundreds by auto to minister half way around the world to over 200 pastors in three different African country. Each country and setting was unique and yet there were also similarities.

Words spoken to me during the trip ring through my head like, "We will never be the same." "This is exactly what we need, it is timely." "We have been missing the mark. This is so helpful." "We will take what you have taught us and multiply it many times over."

In all of the places we taught (Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia) our departure was accompanied by strong affirmation that we must come again and inquiries about when we would return to teach again. A day after my arrival home I received an invitation to return to Zambia to teach pastors and leaders from over 200 churches in one district.

In some ways I am guarded - not everyone who says "good sermon pastor" as they go out the door on Sunday morning is genuine and politeness often brings affirmation that is void of substance. Yet I am confident that our ministry over the last month planted seeds from the Word of God that will produce fruit in the lives of those whose hearts are like the good and fertile soil of which our Lord spoke.

Not unexpectedly, the spiritual needs are great and the opportunities to meet them are wide open. This hunger for the Word of God fills me with a great desire to meet what needs I can. Many, if not the majority of pastors where we held seminars are void of any type of formal Bible education and their poverty eliminates almost any prospect of receiving such. Consequently the value of the training we provided is significant for them, and for the people entrusted to their care.

My portion of the cost of the trip was just shy of $4900. I thank the Lord that between contributions from Canaan Church and other friends and family our out of pocket expenses will be covered fully. On the one hand this seems like a very large amount of money. But, how do you measure the value of spiritual investment for the sake of the kingdom of God and eternity. Steve Van Horn, the founder of ITEM said that this trip was perhaps his most expensive ever because the seminars were held in remote locations and ground transportation costs were very high. However, the remote locations reached leaders in the church who have even less opportunity for training than those in more easily accessible location.

"Will you go again?" is the question I expect to here frequently in the next few weeks. There is a part of me that would love to do full time what I did for those three weeks. Yet, there is the practical reality of my life at home, the church, and all the other responsibilities that God has given me at this time. Even with that though, I told Mary yesterday that if the funds were available I would go a couple times a year. So my commitment is to wait upon the Lord and seek Him regarding what is next. Please pray for God's wisdom for me and that I would be sensitive to His leading.

Also, if you would be willing to have an ongoing part in supporting me in this ministry I would be encouraged to hear about that. "Raising Support" is something that I have an aversion to but gratefully accepting support for a ministry like this would be viewed as the clear leading and direction from the Lord.

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement. (send Jeff an email

To view pictures of our trip please visit ITEM's Photo Page for the current trip (http://picasaweb.google.com/dr.slvh) When the page opens click on the "ITEM" LOGO on the left

{Note:You can also get daily updates posted by Steve Van Horn of ITEM by logging into Yahoo Groups, finding “ITEM-Reports” (Group name), and subscribing. You can see new pictures with captions throughout the trip by logging onto http://picasaweb.google.com/dr.slvh}

Portland to Seattle/Tacoma to Amsterdam, Netherlands to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania to Mwanza, Tanzania: Drive Mwanza to Mugumu

Drive Musumu to Mwanza Fly from: Mwanza, Tanzania to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania to Kigali, Rwanda

Fly From: Nairobi Kenyatta, Kenya Depart: 10:10 PM to To: Amsterdam, Netherlands Arrive: 05:30 AM 27MAY

Fly from: Amsterdam, Netherlands Depart: 10:40 AM To: Seattle/Tacoma WA,

USA

Arrive: 11:50 AM

Please pray for an effective ministry and for Jeff to be filled with the Holy Spirit, full of God's grace and an example of Christ's love to those he has gone to serve. Pray for wisdom in sharing God's Word and for health and safety.

Jeff's trip is being funded by donations from Canaan Community Church, individuals and his family. Current estimate for the total cost for the trip will be approximately $4,500-$5,000. Donations can be sent to ITEM and should be designated for "Jeff Mullins Trip." ITEM, 20449 SW TV Hwy #356, Aloha, OR 97006

*Today I took my first Malaria pill. I have to take one every week until I have been home 4 weeks. The side effects are scary - sound like one of those commercials you know - but hopefully they are less scary than getting malaria.

*I have obtained my visa from Tanzania and my passport has been sent along with my application to the Zambia Embassy in Washington DC. I am expecting to get it in the mail any time.

*I am still carrying out my duties as the pastor of the local church while I prepare for my trip as well as filling order lumbers and tying up loose ends.

April 27,2009 - Three days 'til departure and counting: Ok I have the suitcase out and it is time to pack. Many people ask if I am "excited" about the trip. Those who know me well understand that I do not get too excited about anything. However, I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to invest for God's kingdom in this way. Please pray that we will be vigilant to spiritual attacks as final preparations for the trip are made.

May 2, 2009 - Hi - we are here on the ground in Africa but still in route to our first destination. My ability to send reports may be severely limited so please just pray for an effective ministry. We are in Mwanza Tanzania at an internet cafe in route. Thanks Jeff

May 2nd 2009 - Bedtime; Wow, what a day but we are at Mugumu (I think that is what it is a called) where we will hold the first set of seminars. After a morning flight from Kilimanjaro to Mwanza (about 90 minutes) we traveled by private vehicle to Mugumu (pronounced mugum). The estimated distance is around 185 miles and . . .

News alert live from Magu - the power just went out again and I am in the dark. I hear the generator starting again and . . . .wait . . . the lights are back on. Welcome to Africa. The power was out previously for a couple of hours and we were on the generator. . . but wait . . . now we are back on the grid . . .

. . . half of the distance is a rough but decent two lane paved road and about half of the distance was gravel/dirt combination worse than most logging roads in the Pacific Northwest. I did not keep exact track of time but it must have taken us 6-7 hours to get here. Fortunately there was little other vehicle traffic. That advantage was largely offset by heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic - oh and do not forget the livestock - cattle and goats mostly along with a few chickens and dogs. Praise God we made it and were all safe. By the way, the we in that last sentence numbers 9 men. In the front were 5 of us and four were heaped on the luggage in the back of the crew cab like pickup.

Oh, we did cut across the edge of Serengeti national park and I saw a few specks in the distance that were supposedly zebras and other wildlife. We did see some mooching baboons though.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I will be preaching at church service and then Monday we begin the first seminar.

May 3rd 2009 - Good Morning - I am praising the Lord for a good night's rest and getting ready for church service. I only woke once in the night at 3 am and then was able to go back to sleep until shortly before 5. Both mornings in both towns where we have been (actually cities of about 300,000) at 5 am the local mosques broadcast on loud speakers the call to prayer - if I was not already awake, I would have been with that. I am thinking my wake up time will be just before 5 by choice rather than by the droning on the loud speakers.

I will preach today on sources of encouragement and faithfulness in trials and difficulties. I brought about 10 sermons and prayerfully selected that one.

My accommodations are more than adequate but not expensive.

I am not sure what is on schedule today after church. I think maybe a planning meeting for the conference which starts tomorrow.
Thanks for your prayers.

Afternoon Time: Preaching today was an unique experience. The building was . . . a . . . rustic place(see photo Journal) and the people were enthusiastic in singing and praying (dancing and swaying and clapping). I preached on sources of encouragement in the midst of difficult situations. The response seemed to be good and about 8 people responded to an invitation given by the pastor after my message. This afternoon is down time although I will resist the urge to take a nap so I can sleep tonight.

An Afternoon Walk: I took the opportunity this afternoon to take a walk around "town." There are no paved roads. Most of the people were warm and friendly and many greeted me as I walked about. White skinned folks are somewhat of a novelty it seems and the children especially seem to be intrigued. I came across a wood planer and molding operation and asked to take some pictures. There I met a man, Emmanuel Mathayo, who knew a little English. We "conversed" and if I understood him correctly he will be one of the men in the seminar tomorrow. He invited me to his home, which is a genuine extension of friendship in this culture. I went (don't tell Mary) to his hut and there took pictures of his family and home (see photo Journal). The children all wanted their picture taken and more and more kept coming out of the woodwork it seemed. They were very exited to seem themselves on the camera's LCD display and one bold girl asked me for a ball. I did not have one of course, but the father led me back to my hotel through the villages and their gardens and I gave him small gifts for all the children that Malia sent with me.

May 4, 2009: Classes began today in a Lutheran church facility that has dorm bunkhouses, a large meeting room and other buildings. I think they may have some sort of school there. It is an adequate place for our meetings but primitive by American standards (bare concrete floor, hard wooden benches with no backs, no electrical wiring best I could tell)- but then again, we are not in America. There were about 40 in attendance (including maybe 3 women) and everything seemed to go well. We have two translators sharing the duties and one of them is excellent - the other is competent. The response of those in attendance seems to be positive and appreciative.

It has been a challenge for me to teach using material prepared by someone else, but I think it will be easier now that I have seen how Steve uses the material - there is much more in the teaching material and handouts than is possible to cover in class and he selectively chooses what to emphasize. I felt ok with my first two classes today, but have prepared for tomorrow and am now more at ease. Hopefully all will go well.

Efforts to communicate with the homeland have been fairly fruitless to date. We are in a remote location - only dirt roads, power is off often, access to internet is very limited, . . . Steve says this is a new experience for him and this is his 34th trip to Africa. We are still trying to find a place to get on line for more than just a quick email with a quite expensive connection but . . .

May 7 2009: It is about 6 am and I just finished reviewing material for class and reading my Bible as is my habit whether at home or away. It was especially challenging today. I woke about 4:30 and got up shortly thereafter since I could not get back to sleep. I got my things, opened a couple of windows and crawled back under the mosquito net that hangs over my bed and is tucked under the mattress. At 5:00 the call to prayer from the local mosque blared out as it does each morning and shortly thereafter the power went out. I retrieved my small LCD flashlight and finished my work. At 5:45 the power came back on. This is very typical. Power is our probably 1/2 of each day. The hotel where we are staying in Mugumu Tanzania is fairly modern and has a generator, so when the power from the grid is out in the evening we usually have lights anyway. That is nice. I cannot tell you if we have power during the day or not because where we have classes is not connected to electricity.

My mornings are occupied with getting ready for class, cleaning up and writing home (although the sending stuff home has been severely limited). At 7:30 Steve and I take breakfast together here at the hotel. We have come to be on a first name basis with much of the hotel staff and especially the cook at waitresses. Most of them claim to have faith in Christ, but a little probing seems to evidence that they do not understand too much. I usually have a couple eggs, some fruit and roll with butter and jam along with coffee. The coffee is instant but it is not too bad. Steve asked early in the week and they got Cornflakes and oatmeal for him for his breakfasts.

Class start at 9:30 and we are picked up about 9:00 and driven about a mile to get to where we teach. There is usually a couple of songs, always with no instruments and from memory. Sometimes it is unison singing and often it is responsive singing, where one person sings a stanza and then every joins in and then it kind of overlaps. Usually there is enthusiastic clapping and swaying. Sometimes clapping is so loud it hurts my ears and a few of those singing, especially the women, do this thing with their tongue by moving it back and forth rapidly and make this warbling sound that is hard to describe with words. In other words it is an experience different than my norm.

We teach for a full hour and then take short breaks. Three lectures are followed by lunch and then two more sessions, one a lecture and the second a question and answer time. Some hot topics have been associated with women as pastors (there are 4-5 women in class but not sure if they are pastors or not) and casting out demons and such. We have also talked much about false teachers. I enjoy being able to address the questions by opening the Bible and having them look at what it says.

Lunch is usually rice and a small token meat.

Evenings pass rapidly and much of our time has been spent trying to locate a means to communicate home. Now we have a wireless modem and can buy phone cards to use it. We just got that working last night and our card ran out before I got pictures updated. Tonight we hope to get another card and I hope to be able to upload pictures for you. Dinner at the hotel usually takes nearly an hour from ordering until the food arrives (you know they have to go kill the chicken and pick the rice =). But the food has been yummy for the most part. I was surprised last night though at what I saw. I have twice had "chicken skewers with salt and pepper" according to the menu. The first time it was white chicken meat and veggies skewered and good. I noticed then that at the end of the skewer the food somewhat resisted coming off. The second time I ordered it was different, I am not even sure it was chicken as it was darker meat with smaller bones. None the less, it was good. But I began to notice the skewers, One end was bent over at a 90 degree angle and had a little knob on the end - to keep the food on I thought. Then I noticed the other end - it looked like it had threads on it, like a screw. Aha! I recognize this. My food had been skewered and cooked on bicycle spokes.

The training we are providing seems to be much appreciated by those in attendance and the translator indicates that it is very profitable for those who are attending. Please pray that we would be able to communicate his word clearly and faithfully and those in classs would be able to comprehend what God's Word says.

May 14, 2009 As most of you may know, I am not a "numbers guy" when it comes to counting heads. Yesterday I said that I though we had 50 at the seminar, but I later learned that we fed 78 at lunch - wow! I guess I am not very observant.

My Rwandan Routine: I thought you might be interested in how my day goes here. We are kind of settled into a regular routine and will be for the next couple of days.

By the time I get to my room in the evening between 8-9 I am pretty tired and if I try to read or even watch a movie (as I have a couple of times) I cannot keep my eyes open. Rwanda is 9 hours ahead of home and I think I have adjusted to the time change, but my daily clock is slightly shifted. (Tanzania was 10 hours ahead). So I try to stay up until at least 9 and get to bed between 9 and 9:30. Usually I wake up in the night but force myself to say in bed until at least 5. I am up by 5, even though my alarm is set at 5:30. I do a few exercises, shower, read my Bible, pray and review the lessons I will teach for the day.

Sometime after 6:00 they have coffee available so I go get a cup and return to my room and add to the email I am writing to Mary for that day. By the time I send it to her it is usually 2-4 pages long, usually just chit chat and mundane details of my day on the other side of the world. Then a 2nd cup of coffee. Then I add a few words to this page.

Some time about 8 Steve and I go down to a covered, but open area where there are tables and chairs and room for about 8 people to eat breakfast. Breakfast includes bread, butter, coffee, tea and fruit, usually banana. However the owner told us that she would get pinapple and papaya if we wanted. So we have asked and may get those fruits today. They also prepare an "omelet" which they prepare as we would in the States, but it consists only of eggs, no fillings. They typically give three pieces of white bread to each person, I always ask for only one.

After breakfast we return to our rooms to get ready to go. Brush teeth, put on tie and coat (yes even me), tidy room and put stuff in suitcase . . . I then go down and wait for the ride and usually end up talking to someone as I wait. The set time for our pick up is 8:45 but it is usually later, sometimes much later. When the Toyota van arrives it is a short trip of 2-3 miles to where we meet in a large circus type tent. There are plastic lawn chairs and wooden benches with a stage in the front. Not sure, but I would guess it will seat up to 500 people.

Class is scheduled to begin at 9:00 but we start when we start. After we start each of the days four classes go for 60 minutes plus or minus 5 minutes and separated by 10 minute breaks. Steve teaches two class and I teach two. Between the 3rd and 4th class we take about an hour for lunch. At the end of the day we have a question and answer time for about an hour. During breaks and lunch, the pastors often greet me with an handshake or embraces and express appreciation for what I have taught them.

We arrive back "home" at the Chez Rose about 5 and take a half an hour to prepare emails and updates and then walk a couple blocks to the internet cafe where we get an hour of internet time for 400 Rwandan Franks (~$0.70). I usually take 15-30 minutes and Steve uses an hour or so. Nearby is the New Planet Cafe where we eat dinner. This is an open air restaurant, as most are here, and it takes about an hour from time of ordering until the food arrives. The food is good and the prices are reasonable. Last night I had a hamburger and fries for about $3.50. The burger was real meat, like homemade, not like fast food. It is dark by the time we trudge back home and the clock has ticked away to be after 8 p.m. On our return trip we pass by banks with guards sitting at the doors with shotguns and there are various stores along the way, including a grocery store where we buy bottled drinking water. And then it is almost time for bed again.

Before retiring, I unfurl the mosquito net and tuck it in around all four sides of the matress. I rest my head on a lumpy pillow and squirm and wiggle to get my head comfortable between the pillow lumps and likewise with the bed mattress which is supported with wooden creaky slats. When head and body is comfy, I pray myself to sleep. - Altogether a full and pleasant day with the realization that I have been able to share God's Word and trust that He will use it to build His kingdom.

May 15, 2009 Today we complete the seminars here in Kigali, Rwanda. It is hard to believe we will be 2/3rds done with the work we have come to accomplish. Of course I am looking forward to being reunited with my wife, kids and church family, but there is such a need for people to learn the Word of God and such an open opportunity to teach and have the Word received with great joy and enthusiasm, it is also hard to depart.

ENGLISH	SWAHILI - Tanzania/Kenya	KINYARWANDA - Rwanda	BEMBA - Zambia
Hello	Jambo	Muraho	Shari
Good Morning		Mwaramute
How are you?	Habari yako	Amakuru	Mulishani
I am fine.	Muzuri	Meza	(N)difye (b)wino
Good/ok	Sowa	Neza
What is your name	Jina yako nani	Witwande
My name is		Nitwa
Thank you (much)	Asante (sana)	Murakoze (cyane)	Natotela
Good bye		Mwirirwe am Muramuke pm	Shalenipo
Praise the Lord	Bwana Asifiwe	Imana Ishimwe	Lesa acindikwe
Welcome	Karibu	Murakaze
God Bless you	Mungu Akugariki		Lesa amipale
Where are you from	Unatoka wapi
May I photograph		Nshoboragufotora
Small	Kidogo	Gato	Akanono
Wait			Lolela

Tanzania	Rwanda	Kenya	Zambia
Shillings	Franks	Shillings	Kwatcha
$1 = 1300 Tshl	$1 = 557 Rfranks	$1 = 72 Kshl	$1 = K5300