Old Mission on the Mountain

"The first known attempt of the church of Christ to enter Tanganyika was in 1948 when Eldred Echols went to Dar es Salaam to obtain permission to enter and preach. However, permission was not granted. Since Tanganyika citizens could not sell land to foreigners, two farms were found which had been owned by Germans since before World War I. Some American congregations of churches of Christ bought these so our missionaries could enter the country. One farm was at Chosi at about 3,500 feet elevation, which they continued to farm. The other land was at Ailsa, which had been a pig farm, located on the plateau south of Chimala at about 6,000 feet elevation. Here the Tanganyika Bible School was started. It was later abandoned about 1971." (This quote was taken from "The History of the Chimala Mission".)
Recently the Tanzanian government ruled that Chimala Mission still owned the mountaintop land which is more than 200 acres, the site of the original mission. There are plans to send preachers to that area to work with the Christians who are scattered on the mountain. Plans also include the possiblity of growing avocados or other crops to help to support the current Mission property, especially the hospital.
The road up the mountain is very narrow and rough, and we were told that it has been greatly improved in the last few years! We did meet a few trucks carrying rice for processing and the laborers. We saw baboons crosssing the road more than once. There were some houses close to the road, but not very many. The homes must be further off of the road.

The mountain plateau is not visible from below the mountain. The vegetation on the side of the mountain does not make it look like fertile farm land. It is said that the plateau is fertile; what we saw when we got there was tall elephant grass. There was very little under cultivation.

The huts we saw on the way up did not look to be the center of wealth, but here we saw a wooden door and a bicycle.

Next door, was another bicycle.

Following are some scenes from the top of the mountain looking toward the Chimala Village.

We stopped to see what the valley below looked like from the mountain; some people on the ride were also saying they needed to get out and walk their jammed bones for awhile. The ride had many, many sudden lurches and jerks.

There is smoke visible in the center of the land at the bottom of the mountain. That is the behind the mission hospital/school area in Chimala.

Ron is asking Bill Stinson to explain to him what they see.

This may not appear to be so, but on the right is our road down the mountain.

We met a truck load of people coming up the mountain on this curve.

Below us lies the best part of the road.