Thursday: Painting, Politics, and Shopping

On Thursday, the team tackled the painting of the dining hall and some landscape/parking lot repair work in preparation for the Tenth Anniversary Celebration.    The hall was painted cream on the inside and DBLCH green on the outside.    The team got up early and worked hard until an afternoon lunch.   Despite the rain, they toured the DBLCH farm in Kidetete and visited the Bread of Life Secondary School.  

We met the District Commissioner of Iringa District at a local coffee shop.   Due to a conflict, he could not be with us on Friday’s celebration but wanted to meet the team.    This provided Mpeli and Neema with real solid opportunity to build relationships for the children’s home and secondary school.   We also were met by a member of Parliament.    Both were very gracious as they shared with us their appreciation for the genuine partnership of DBLCH, Eastern Industrial, and Teleios Ministry and real opportunities to serve the larger Iringa community in Christ’s name.   The District Commissioner was preaching this Sunday at three services in the local Lutheran church.  

 

You learn so much about each other shopping.   The team was turned loose on the local craft vendors to display their negotiating skills.    In a short time, they had won the admiration and appreciation of the vendors for their negotiating skills and their great attitudes.    Only a few incidents with Bonnie chasing off a “deceptive vendor” and Floyd getting serious with a wayward vendor.   All in all, the team had a great time haggling with the vendors and got some great bargains.