Day 1: Legho Village and Papa Deo

I don’t think any one of us knew quite what to expect as we entered the mountain village of Legho, but in hindsight we simply should have read the sign as we walked in.

In a slight change of plans, we journeyed a few hours by bus to the village of Legho. Accompanied by 3 men from Midland Texas, who were helping build a new health center there, we set out for an adventure before the adventure. I won’t say they were older because that would be rude, but they were full of Dad jokes, deep wisdom, and stories of life to the full in the 1970s. They were truly a delightful surprise and I am sad our time with them was limited to this short trip.

We traveled first quickly through the busy, ‘anything goes’ highways connecting the larger towns of Arusha and Moshi, then slowly through increasingly rural, dirt roads into the foothills, and then even more slowly when our bus could no longer handle the incline and slick red clay and we continued on foot. After about a mile, we reached the top of a small ridge that held great views of the valley below and the higher mountains beyond. As we crossed into the camp we walked under a wooden, hand carved sign hanging above that read:

Legho - Mountain of Praise and Peace

I thought little of it at the time, but it truly was Praise and Peace that met us there.

As the sign said, Legho was a place of praise. There was the simple, surface level praise of spending a day and a night at such a beautiful place. But deeper than that was a praise shepherded by Papa Deo - longtime friend of Beyond, patron of the mountain, and instant friend and mentor. Praise at seeing in Jesus in all things. Praise at a recently random group laughing, singing, drawing, and story telling together as true friends. Praise at celebrating 3 birthdays this week. Praise at being here to learn and rest and challenge ourselves on the mountain. Praise from and for Papa Deo and Legho and Tanzania.

Just as powerful as the praise was the peace in the village. Peace from being in a sacred place. Peace from seemingly limitless time; time to eat slowly and savor a cup of coffee, time to tell the long version of the story, time to say nothing as you listened. Even peace to sit in traffic on the way back (or at least mumble a little less than we normally would). Peace was in that place.

We now prepare to journey to the mountain - checking gear, hydrating, going over medication and routes. But amidst everything we have prepared and packed, we now carry with us a praise and a peace that I know we would not have without Legho or Papa Deo.

~ John Ziegler