House to House (Part 3 of 3)

Ya Clean Up Real Nice!

As we were out on our house to house visits I began to notice we were seeing people that I recognized from worship.  We would be walking along and see a woman carrying water back to the house and we would stop and greet her.  Greetings are very important in Tanzania.  Eventually, behind her work clothes and dirt covered hands and face, I saw a woman I knew.  A woman I had seen multiple times before in worship.

Wednesday we visited Mama Ufoo.  Her first name is actually Annaamen.  She was out working in her farm plot.  She had a big axe in her hands and she was clearly working hard.  She was barefoot out in that garden, toes deep in the soil.  She clapped her hands together in a futile effort to remove the dirt.  She walked with us back toward her house and welcomed us in.

We had a very nice visit with her.  She is a widow, has been for three years.  Her daughter usually stays with her, but at this time is away visiting her sisters in Arusha.  While her life is difficult she finds her hope in God, being a part of the church has given purpose to her life in these very difficult times.

I sat there in her home, looking at those dirt floors and her dirty, shoeless feet and I thought to myself, I guess if you live here, you just have to resign yourself to the fact that you're going to be dirty most of the time.  I am eager to accept this kind of living for a week in the boundary waters, but it is hard to think that this is her life day in and day out.

On Sunday, I helped out at our house preparing snacks for tea.  We cooked everything in pots over an open fire.  So in the African kitchen, not only do you have to get a little fire going, you have to collect firewood and keep it burning.  Then you have to stand over that fire, smoke and all, stirring your pot.  You use this system to heat water for bathing, for cooking, for your tea or coffee, and for cleaning up again afterward.  You can imagine, just in serving meals and bathing, there is a small fire going all of the time.  In my one afternoon of doing this, my eyes were burning from the smoke, I was hot and sweaty, and my clothes stunk like smoke from the fire.

Then Thursday afternoon I saw Annaamen in the class I was teaching.  It took me a moment to recognize her because she was clean, dressed up, and even wearing shoes.  She looked so nice. 

I just thought to myself how good it is that she has this church to come to.  Hopefully it doesn't sound patronizing to say this, but the gathering of God's people is so good in so many ways.  She has a reason to get cleaned up, to venture away from her physically demanding work, and to join in conversation, faith and laughter with other women.

These house to house visits are teaching me that in Africa being a part of the church is healthy both spiritually and physically.  People need to have a reason to get clean, to get dressed up, to spend time with each other and to join others in worshiping God.