Polygamy in the Church....again?

About twice a year I schedule a pastor from America to come and conduct a church leadership conference where he teaches several hours a day on subjects ranging from the qualifications of the pastor to the Works of the Holy Spirit.  Inevitably, there is a local pastor who will come to me and ask advice on how to handle a delicate matter in his church.  Usually, it involves polygamy.

"Polygamy?"  I ask myself!  "But this seminar is about _________!  How does polygamy fit in to that context?!?"

Well, in short, it doesn't!  But, these pastors labor faithfully in far reaching, remote villages where they have little help and support.  Therefore, when they have a chance to get together with 60 or so other church leaders, I can understand why they would want to talk about what is most urgent to their immediate problems.
 
From questions such as these thence cometh my bloggings...

Guest speaker, Pastor Chris Luppino, teaching on Spiritual Gifts while Tanzanian church leadership takes diligent notes.  Isaiah is seen here listening with open Bible seated near the front wearing a pink long sleeved shirt and vest. 

This last May, a local pastor by the name of Isaiah asked to speak to me after the second day of the seminar.  He had planted a church in the remote area of Giatara about ten years ago.  During that time he has faced some hair-raising scenarios, but God has always been faithful.  The one which sticks out in my mind is when the local witch-doctor saw how effective the church was becoming in witnessing to the very people who used to fear him! Because of the obvious lack of respect (as well as lagging income) he came by to curse the church building.

"I will tear down this church!" he was reported to have declared.

I guess he was ignorant of Jesus' promise in Mathew 16 where He said that HE would BUILD His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.  Nevertheless, Pastor Isaiah handled the situation with patience and tact; thus, nothing violent ever transpired. On the contrary, he eventually diffused the 'bewitched' doctor by showing him the love of Christ.  I wish that I could report that he eventually received the Lord, but, alas, I cannot!

Isaiah had shared that story with me during the time I was attempting to plant a church in the village of Mdori where a different witch doctor was trying to intimidate the people of that area.  I am sorry to say that that church plant never did get off the ground...not because of any efforts by the witch doctor; contrariwise, because of the unbelief of the people. And so rings clear Jesus' question of: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8

Anyway...

I knew that Pastor Isaiah had most likely already thought through his scenario biblically and was coming to me for reassurance.

"I'd better be on my toes spiritually...especially when it has to do with polygamy in the church." I thought.

As I stood with him to one side of the building, he began relaying his scenario...

A young Christian man from one of our churches moved away to a remote village to farm some land and make a living.  There was no church of any kind there except for one Catholic fellowship.  Soon he and a young Catholic girl became involved and wanted to marry...thus they did...without permission from her parents.  After a while, she was called back home where her parents prohibited her from returning to her husband.  [tribal laws and obligation are heavily respected; when they are ignored, consequences can be horrendous]  Seven years went by and neither had remarried.  Then, the man met and married another lady.  In the mean time, Pastor Isaiah planted his church.  The man and his new wife began attending and after a short time, she gets saved, and he gets his life right with the Lord!  After a few weeks go by, wife number one returns!  He had never officially annulled his marriage with her.  Now, suddenly, and unexpectedly, he has two wives!

Pastor Isaiah's question then is this--How does this man serve the Lord in the church?  Does he come with both wives?  What do the Scriptures teach about his situation?

I paused for a moment to allow the facts to sink into my ears...I asked a few clarifying questions like:

"In seven years neither ever officially got divorced?!?"  
"In preparing to get married again, he never filed for divorce based on abandonment?"
"Does he truly want to get right with God now, or is he looking for the church to sanction his marriages?"


Afterwards, I asked if I could take that night to think about it and talk to him again the next day.  I didn't get a chance to talk to him the next day...but the following day I did.

"That's how it is!" in Arusha

Growing up in America, especially the mid-west, I have grown accustomed to many colloquial sayings such as: “When it rains it pours!”  Of course, we understand it to mean that trouble is no isolated incident.  It tends to increase both in frequency and intensity before letting up.  The analogy is lost here in Tanzania being almost completely an agricultural society that depends on rain for almost everything.  Rain at any time of the year is a blessing; thus, to use it as an example for trouble is almost seen as a curse in their minds. 

Not only that, but 65% of the electricity in the country is generated by hydroelectric plants.  Having had nearly no rain since September of last year has caused the whole country to be on scheduled black-outs since around December.  That, coupled with mismanagement, the water levels to operate these plants have dropped to within two feet of total shut down.  We reap the consequences of daily (and nightly) blackouts which usually leave us with about 6 hours of power out of every 48 hours.  We are thankful to have a generator to rely on which we can run for a couple hours each day; but, with fuel prices reaching more than $5.50 a gallon, it is a costly alternative.  In this case, the “When it rains it pours!” analogy loses its effectiveness on the average Tanzania because if it did rain, they would WANT it to pour! 

Nonetheless, it makes sense in our minds…especially right now.  Not only have we gone through extended black-outs since November 2010, but also, we have spent more than $10,000 in vehicle repairs since returning to the field in February of the same year.  This is, of course, because it is 10 years old…and…the majority of its life has been spent being driven in the bush where the roads age a car at a yearly ratio of about 2 to 1. 

On Monday morning, I brought our vehicle back into the garage where I have developed a long-standing relationship with the management and mechanics.  They have proven themselves to be trustworthy in their analysis and reliable in their repairs over the past seven years.  Well, I was hoping that they could help me by fitting a new belt on our A/C when the mechanic and I uncovered a short list of major and minor problems ranging from replacing the A/C pulley and bearing up front, to re-welding the chassis in the back.  The chassis will have been re-welded three times in the last six months.  This time it came dangerously close to crushing both the break line and the power steering line which run along the chassis under the wheel well.  It would be superfluous for me to list all of the new-found damages here…but I would like to now refer back to the “When it rains, it pours!” principle. 


After leaving the car at the garage, I perilously made my way back into town by using the over-stuffed, lawless, public transport buses.   Once there, I withdrew our monthly pay from the bank.  Afterwards, I met up with my partner in ministry, Aaron Shipe, who was in town with his roomy, safe, comfortable vehicle.  After getting a quick lunch together, we returned to his car to find the drivers-side door lock ‘compromised’ and both of our bags missing from the back-seat floorboard!  Mine had about $1,200 in Tanzanian shillings—the bulk of the paycheck which I just withdrew!  We stood stunned!  We had just 30 minutes prior been warned by a Tanzanian lady selling tangerines on the street that it wasn’t safe where we were because of robbers prowling around.  It was because of this, we decided to move the car forward two blocks and park it directly in front of a bank where we supposed ample security cameras and personnel would deter the average robber.  We were wrong!  Like it or not, we had been robbed—what was done was done!

After finishing a story like this, the average Tanzania would conclude by saying: “Ndivyo hivyo!” which basically means: “That’s how it is!”  I concur…but I would like to add that, for us, right now—it’s not only raining: it’s pouring…like it or not! 

The Arusha Factor Part 2

Oh yes, the Arusha Factor!  That is, after you rehearse every possible scenario that could happen to a guy on a bike and how best to react to it, you have to remember that you can't factor in everything all the time.

Thus, I turned into the right lane and  was immediately struck by a small SUV type vehicle attempting to pass me on the RIGHT--during my right hand turn! 

She hit me with the front left fender of her car and then she must have veered to the right as to not run me over completely.  My right leg was sandwiched between the car and bike for a moment before I went over.  I hit the pavement with my head first and slid on my helmet and the top of my right shoulder with most of the rest of my body in the air hanging over me right beside the car as it went off into the ditch and I came to a stop behind it having slid about 6 feet or so. 

At least 20 people from all around saw the whole thing and rushed over to us.  I was nervous at first because I have heard stories about how when people get hit like that, a seemingly compassionate rush of onlookers scuttle over and go through the pockets of the half dead so they may steal phones, wallets, and whatever else they can get their hands on before 'real' help arrives.  But, it wasn't that way with me--although, I'm not sure why.  I was in town two weeks prior to this event with my car when someone swiped my blackberry cell phone right out of the front seat with both Shawn and Jamison seated inside the car looking on.  I had stepped out of the car only for a moment.  So, folks have no qualms with boldly stealing from westerners. 

But at that instant, while I laid in the dirt (I had slid from the pavement to the dirt)  there was a vehicle coming down from the bookstore where I had been heading.  Driving it was a Tanzanian whom I knew well, a good Christian man named Joakim.  The compassionate crowd intercepted him from afar and then loaded me into his car.  After playing short game of '20 Questions' he rushed me off to the nearest hospital which was about 15 minutes away. I was, at that moment, concerned for the welfare of my bike; but, I knew that I had to leave it for the traffic police who were on their way to write a report.  After that, I didn't know what would be the final fate of my poor Honda 650! 

As it turns out, after taking x-rays at the hospital, I hadn't broken any bones...just suffered a sprained ankle, knee, and hip.  They released me after about 2 hours.  The total cost of my first hospital visit in the country of Tanzania, including meds, was less than $15! 

The next day, I had to go to the Traffic police station and file a report.  I ended up having to stay for about 6  hours while they got the ladies story straight as well as mine...it wouldn't have taken so long if she would have gotten her story a little straighter sooner!  It helped that my rendition agreed with the officers report who went out to observed the crash sight...who also took reports from several witnesses at the scene.  

After the first three hours, I looked out the window and saw it--my bike--and it appeared in good shape!   They had moved it to the wrecked vehicle storage at the Police Station.  The only thing that we could find wrong with it was that it had a few scrapes and the two rear blinkers were smashed...though they both were still in perfect working order even in their limped state.  But, there doesn't seem to be ANY mechanical damage to the bike nor to the frame.  It's a tough bike!  I can probably get the whole thing fixed for less than a $100! 

So, other than suffering through a few weeks of having several annoyingly sprained joints as well as sore neck, back and leg muscles, my over all expenses right now have reached a whopping $115!