A View From the Tent

Gary and Judy Woods (Arusha, Tanzania) recently returned from a trip deep into the bush to meet another unreached people group, the Sandawe. Here are some excerpts from an account of their adventure:

“We were driving on a cow path, scraping tree limbs for several hours. I wished I had a chain saw along with us, as the so-called ‘road’ was not a road at all. When we came out of the bush the people in the town were surprised. They said, ’Where did you come from?’ We told them where we had passed, and they said, ‘No one has ever driven through there, and no white people have been out here before.’ ”

“When we arrived at Baaba, we put up the tent. The children had never seen a white man, and for sure had never seen a tent. They were all amazed!”

Gary and Judy were also amazed by all they saw on their journey:

“I saw new scenery, new kinds of houses, new trees, and new food. The Sandawe are related to the Hadzabe (pygmies), but they are more developed. They wear western clothes, and live in mud brick houses. They speak a click language. I tried to form the words with the click, but I couldn’t do it. It gave them a good laugh! They estimated that there are about 200,000 Sandawe, but only 30 Christians. They hunt, and love meat, but also eat a certain kind of caterpillar (fortunately this is not the season for them!) I had brought some beans to eat, and one man said, ‘We don’t eat seeds, we like meat!’ “   

Two of the Sandawe families will attend the next church-planting course. A total of eight families will arrive on Aug. 15, and be ready to start the course on Monday, Aug. 17. The Woods are thankful for the supporters who have made it possible for these students to come and prepare for church planting. The students are from four different tribes. Those who are scheduled to come to the course have a call on their lives to plant churches in these places, and the course will provide them the help that they need to get started to fulfill their call.