A YEAR OF PROMISES FULFILLED
A Christmas message was delivered to the nation of Tanzania, through the ministry of East Africa River Mission, declaring Jesus as the only Son of God and salvation gift to mankind.
By Graydon Baker
With the turn of 2017 came a looming promise, brought to the forefront of our attention; a tractor and a school. Roughly three years prior we had stood in front of the Rufiji village and promised to give the villagers a tractor and to build an English school, in exchange for land in the heart of the Rufiji. At the time, the village wanted the tangible exchange to happen immediately. A village meeting was called and angry villagers protested the thought of giving land for ‘nothing but a promise, nothing’ – a contract with a promise written therein. My wife and I, in those days with two young boys in tow, stood alone, traveled deep into the isolated Rufiji against a disorderly jury. We were advised by self-seeking officials that the only clear path forward was to lie; to lie and convince the people that this tractor presentation was mere days away. We knew, however, that we could not afford a tractor, nor had the means to establish a school outright. We believed that God had led us into this setting and before this people, unreached by the Good News of Christ, for such moments as this.
By the support of a Nehemiah prayer, I addressed the unruly Rufiji audience, saying, “I believe two things. One, love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Two, love your neighbour as yourself. We are requesting land among you, to build a safari camp and create jobs for your village. We are promising, for the land you give us, to give a tractor for your fields and a school to provide free English education. If you accept us and our request then we become your neighbours. What kind of neighbour, who loves his God and himself, would cheat those he lives with? So, I refuse to make an empty promise today that I know I cannot deliver. I know we can give you a tractor and a school, but give us three years to do it.” To a people accustomed to immediate gratification and all too familiar with unfulfilled promises, that day in the year 2014 they accepted the request and granted the land. This was our first exchange with the Rufiji.
In December of 2016 construction began on the school. In the months and years leading up to this, East Africa River Mission had been founded to promote this budding ministry outpost to our neighbours, the lost Rufiji tribe of Tanzania, Africa. The land had been developed and officially registered in the country as, Baker & Sons Safari Company Ltd. Supporters of the mission had given both to the establishing of the school and purchase of the tractor. The stage was set, and man makes his plans, the LORD guides his steps. We made our plans. December 25th, 2017, Christmas Day we would present a finished school and a tractor to the village.
Land is a contested commodity in East Africa. The rights of use belong to those who use it and can demonstrate their benefit particularly to the powers that be, contracts aside. Aware of this tenuous relationship, in a system easily corruptible, we invited all the top officials to attend the official exchange of the school and tractor for the land we’d received. Everything was to be done in the light, for all to see, villager and official alike. The tractor was to be given as a gift to the village, and the school opening with the gift being the free English education for all ages.
The school was given a name, ‘The Rufiji Lighthouse’. Established at the edge of Mloka, a village in the heart of the Rufiji, standing between the village and the Rufiji River, built along the main route where villagers cross over the river to farm on the other side; The Rufiji Lighthouse was positioned as a beacon of truth and source of hope, a light in a place once consumed by darkness alone. Not only were the whole village of Mloka and the local government officials invited to the presentation, but also the district Rufiji officials including the top district government official, the Rufiji Commissioner, equivalent to a U.S. Congressman or Canadian Member of Parliament. All officials invited accepted the invitation.
Christmas Day, December 25th, 2017, our land was surrounded by men decked in Tanzanian military fatigue carrying government issued AK-47s. The Rufiji District Commissioner brought with him twenty members of his office, together with a high-ranking army officer and his personal security for the event. Into our isolated wilderness, known better by the elephants and lions than the average Tanzanian citizen, black SUVs carrying the politicians arrived down our bush road, and on their tails followed the media. Such a stir was caused by this gathering of officials, that the national media outlets caught wind of it and they too arrived in our little village Christmas morning.
The Honourable Rufiji District Commissioner cut the ribbon to officially open The Rufiji Lighthouse, amid a sea of cameras to our anterior and politicians of various offices to our posterior for the photo opportunity. One cow and two goats were slaughtered for the occasion and spiced rice freely flowed to the mouths of the village on Christmas. To an ancient people steeped in Islam and Witchcraft, this day normally came and passed without cheer. But in 2017, on the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth, Immanuel was marked in the minds and hearts of the Rufiji tribe with an exclamation!
With the national media cameras focused on the podium, on a stage we had built a week ago to sit the honourable guests, with the animistic Rufiji villagers in attendance, the Christmas message was delivered to the country of Tanzania. After a long-winded speech from the politician, our company was given the microphone to speak on behalf of the tractor and school we were gifting – the apparent purpose of the event. In truth, what man intended for less, God intended for much more. It was not the gift of the tractor, nor was it the gift of the school that took centre stage on December 25th, 2017. In an insignificant village, where nothing of great notoriety has ever come from, it was the gift of God’s Son that emerged as the true purpose of the event. By God’s design, just as we had addressed the village of Mloka three years prior, in request for the land, now we came back to fulfill a promise made. In the first speech to the village we employed the words of Christ in appeal of our character and intention. In this, the Christmas Day speech to the village, we spoke of the Christ behind our first appeal, the Word of God, to the village, the district, and the nation of Tanzania.
