Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Winter 2013 Issue | Page 19

singing! – in Swahili. Then I usually have classes starting at 8 a.m. I have
between one and four hours of lecturing, depending on the day. At 11
a.m. we always have a tea break, which is also breakfast for many of
the students and staff. All classes end by 1:30 p.m., which means that
we don’t have to be stuck in hot classrooms as the day gets warmer. In
the afternoons I work from my house on campus, planning lectures and
meeting with students who come with questions about class or essay
assignments. People are starting to wake up in America around 3 p.m.
Tanzanian time, so often I will spend some of my early afternoon talking
to friends and family before they go to work in the morning. We have a
porch and a really lovely view from our house, so Ben and I spend many
of our evenings eating dinner and then hanging out on the porch.
Ben and Elizabeth Locher serve together, in different
capacities, as missionaries at the Msalato Theological College
in Dodoma, Tanzania.

were helping to build. Later, when I was in seminary, I had several
classmates who had been part of the program before entering the
discernment process, so I got to hear about many of their experiences
and adventures before I started thinking about doing it myself.
B: When Elizabeth and I first discussed doing mission work, we
contacted the national office of the Episcopal Church. The Rev. David
Copley suggested that we look into YASC.

What is your YASC assignment?
E: I am serving as a teacher at Msalato Theological College in
Dodoma, Tanzania. My students are mostly young adults preparing
for ordination in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. I am currently
teaching introductory courses in church history, New Testament and
Christian doctrine.
B: I am teaching two non-credit computer courses at Msalato
Theological College to the ordination-track students as well as
tutoring students one-on-one and in groups. For most of the students,
this is the first time that they have used computers, so I focus on basic
skills like typing, using Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, e-mail
and the World Wide Web. I also work on the computer network and
repair broken computers.

H