Arthur and I have been arguing for some time now that some western theologies radically misunderstand Tanzanian theologies, particularly with respect to the theme of prosperity. We have been arguing that westerners tend to see anything that mentions ‘prosperity’ as part of the ‘prosperity gospel’, a teaching that manipulates people into […]
It’s hot here at the moment. We go to bed sweaty and we wake up that way. So when I’m indoors at home, I wear different clothes to when I’m outside: shorter skirts, or shorts and a T-shirt. When I go out I still wear my longer cotton dresses, but […]
On arriving in Tanzania in 2013, we were greeted with a new communications reality: mobile internet. Tanzania had started out with mobile internet rather than waiting for wired infrastructure. Unlike Australia, mobile data bundles quickly became cheap and plentiful. By the time of our first home assignment, advanced smartphones were […]
It was one of those events where we had enough cultural knowledge to misapply it. Our church was having a sports day on a public holiday. They said it would start in the morning, but what ever actually starts on time in Tanzania?! We figured we’d go around early afternoon […]
My friend I was showing me her photo album and she asked me if I thought she looked fatter in a picture from 3 years ago or now. What a question! I was stammering, feeling awkward as I tried to work out what to say. So I asked her, “What do […]
We were at our friends’ place and they also had some younger people over. It was 3pm, so lunch time, and I gave Callum some roasted (plantain) banana. All of a sudden I realised these young people were staring at me, and remarking to one another. They started looking jumpy, […]
We’re getting a pretty good feel for the rhythms of our church now. The service is meant to go from 10am until 12:30pm but it’s only finished on time once of the times we’ve been there. Everyone’s always quite concerned about that though, and there’s lots of talk of keeping […]
Meet Jesus at uni 