Today I met with Mr. Mbwambo, the site foreman for Chasa Investment Ltd. Contractors. We signed a contract for the foundation and a water tank underneath one of our mango trees.

Afterwards we measured out the placements for the Staff House foundation and the 50,000 liter water tank. Also, we decided where we will be putting up the Contractor’s office and supply shed.

So we took a small but important step along the way to establishing the physical presence of the Lake House of Prayer. It is my hope that we can completed the Staff House around the middle of next year.

Thanks once again all you who support this adventure in various ways. As we say in Swahili, “Mungu akubariki sana kwa ukarimu kwetu” (God bless you for your generosity to us).

Today I spent most of it, waiting. Waiting for my car to get repaired. I should say part of the wait was spent walking around a goodly portion of the city of Mwanza looking for a couple of car parts.

The walk, in a way, was fascinating, going through alleys and side streets I’d never been on in my 16 yrs. in Mwanza. I followed the mechanic and my ‘guide’ going to numerous little hole in the wall shops showing our part and getting shakes of the heads till finally we found our place and bought the parts.

My mechanic has been at his trade for many years and today, it seemed to me, he was coming up against the modern technology of the car repair world. Tanzanian mechanics can do wonders without nothing. I remember breaking down in the middle of the Sengeti with of broken tie-rod. After getting the car to the hotel a mechanic tied together the tie-rod with rubbers strips. I made it home even though the wildebeest were passing me up on the road.

My mechanic made some bushings himself to replace the old worn out ones before I took the car to the computerized wheel alignment shop. The mechanic there complained that the homemade bushings were throwing the computer off. This issue is still not resolved but at least I got my car back. Sometimes the modern world and homemade do-it-yourself methods don’t mix very well.

I left the parish, Mabatini, that I established with the people after 11 years of struggle together. Since then I have taken a one year sabbatical to prepare for the new apostolate of the House of Prayer and spend the last year living at the Bishop’s House preparing the ground for the beginnings of the new adventure of the Lake House of Prayer.

During this time I have had little contact with the people of Mabatini Parish, as is the custom in the Church which says when the former Pastor moves on don’t come back to allow the new regime to go its own unique way without interference.

Yesterday I attended the funeral of one of the elders of Mabatini Parish when I was there. He was someone I depended on for advice and support, especially when I was alone. Many people attended the funeral mass and burial, many from Mabatini, some I haven’t seen for awhile. I am thankful for the deep affection we had for each other as we greeted. Some would say, ‘You have remembered Us’. And I would think the same, ‘You have remembered Me’. Sometimes it is good to renew one’s history with the people you have struggled with. To remember and to be remembered.

As we move toward starting to build the foundation of the Staff Housing I am trying to get the water situation in a good space so we can build without having to worry about having enough water. Today we found out the Water Dept. tore up and disconnected the water lines of many of its customers, including us.

This is a great problem for us, and anyone who wants to bring development. Corruption, lack of proper communication and the overwhelming demands on an outdated system all contribute to going back to carrying water on one’s head.

I’ve called a contractor to make some measurements for catching rain water. Perhaps we need to think about drilling a well too. When the system is not cooperating and instead is creating unnecessary road blocks, one starts to look at alternatives that give some independence. Now, do we get the rain to fill our tank? Perhaps looking at drilling a well in the future is not such a bad idea.

The first thing one thinks of when moving into a new place here in Mwanza is…water. Is there water? Where is it coming from? Is it from the Water Dept.? Is it from a natural spring? Is the spring drying up?

We are using a lot of water because of the trees and plants we have planted. My  personal water use is minimal but even then I need to be careful. I am reminded on this every morning now when I see women lining up at a water faucet and waiting for the water to start flowing so they can put their buckets under the facet to live another day.

I’ve decided to build a 50,000 liter underground water tank so when the water does flow we can create a good reserve. We will also be catching rain, when it does fall to supplement the Water Dept. contribution.

So many people are living on the edge, everyday. I am not on the edge, but I can learn from their patience and perseverance.

I am writing this entry from the parish office of Kirumba, the parish in which the House of Prayer is within. I am here because the road to my house is blocked by a soda truck. I was told that the truck’s battery lost power at the top of the hill and went backwards down the steep tiny road (luckily no one was behind it). Only the motorcycles can get around. So we wait, something one need’s to embrace and accept a lot here.

I started the day fixing a flat tire, then I find out the nuts to hold the tire on are stripped. Need to get new ones. I also decide to get some new tires (been getting too many flats).

Many times the life of the Missioner is taken up totally in the small details. Perhaps this is better after all we’re not here to save the world. Jesus is Savior. I am his servant. I take care of the details. He has the Bigger Picture.

Yesterday we had the first get together of people in the area of the House of Prayer who are interested in learning about contemplative prayer. Twenty people came and sat on mats on the floor in our house’s living room.

I gave a short talk on “Taamuli” prayer. “Taa” in Swahili means Light, “Muli” can also mean ‘mulika’, which means ‘to light up’. I sought to share with the people how Taamuli  prayer can help us all bring more quality to all our prayers.

I asked each one what prayers to they use everyday. One woman wakes up at 3am to pray the rosary. Everyone had a strong prayer schedule throughout the day. This fact was inspiring to me since I know how much of their day is taken up in survival tasks such as getting enough water and food.

We spent only 5 minutes in Silent Meditation. What was surprising, and should not have been, is how everyone seemed to enter the Silence so easily. After all, they are all experienced in waiting in the Silence of everyday life as they go about making it through each day, each moment.

I am greatly consoled at God’s Presence during this first gathering for Contemplative Prayer at the Lake House of Prayer. As we make plans to start the building of the physical infrastructure, I already see we’ve started growing the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Kingdom of God within us.

There are many chores and responsibilities to attend to as I move into this part of the Journey of the House of Prayer. The challenge is to engage the above tasks contemplatively, that is from a place of REST within. Throughout the Scriptures there are hints of God’s Presence within the person as a place of REST as she or he engages in the challenges of everyday life.

Being a Contemplative in Action, for me, means to have a prayer discipline that is open to the Spirit’s grace which creates a Silence within which in turn empowers one to discern the proper course(s) to take in everyday life. One is RESTING IN THE SILENCE as one goes about the tasks of the day. I am very far from this way of being but I’m getting hints of understanding what REST really is.

The Lake House of Prayer, being by the lake, has a lot  of mosquitos, the kind that bring malaria. Part of the challenge is to claim the house as useable for human beings and not a home for mosquitos to reproduce. After spraying multiple times and still not making any progress I discovered that the left-over boxes from our various repair jobs were making perfect new homes for our tiny but harmful friends. So, out the boxes go and the spraying continues as we start to see some progress.

I have started to take my morning walks for exercise down to the lake. It is a beautiful walk through massive rocks overlooking the great expanse of Lake Victoria. I am meeting the fishermen as they pull in large nets to the shore in their morning catch of fish. Last morning they invited me to pull with them. So I did. I asked them if they ever had a white man pull with them. They said no. I guest we made some ‘history’ there.

I’ve spent three nights now at my new home. I spend a lot of time doing ordinarily easy chores which would normally take only a short time which now take more. Like water, with no running water I have to haul some from a large plastic tank to my room to put in a smaller tank. From there it goes into a bucket for use in the bathroom.

I’ve been using a candle instead of my solar light because I did not understand how to re-charge it. The side benefit from this ignorance is that I go to bed early and get up early, something that I was looking forward to anyway. By the way, I figured out how to re-charge it so I may stay up a bit more tonight.

For cooking I’m still playing around the edges of fully committing myself to it. I buy a lot of fruit and canned beans and sardines. I need to get serious though about having more of a fresh food diet.

Part of the vision of the House of Prayer is Simplicity. Well, living simply, ain’t easy.