More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181760&id=511199104&l=c8696a5fc5
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Home at last. . .
Well the team finally made it home! It was a long journey--fraught with baggage problems, sickness, delays--but after many hours we arrived back in Wichita on Saturday night, June 12th, about 10:00 p.m. I don't know about the rest of the team, but after being back home about a week, I'm just barely starting to get back in the swing of things. My mind is "bongo la la" or brain asleep. I feel like my heart and mind are still back in Africa, while my body is here in the U.S. trying to run on auto pilot.
It was good to see friends and family again and get back into our normal routines, but it takes awhile to process our experiences in Africa, and so it seems we are double-minded at the moment (but not necessarily in a bad way).
How was it?--everyone seems to want to know. And there is no short answer. It was wonderful, and eye opening, and shocking, and extreme. It was heart wrenching, sad, thrilling and rewarding. It was exhausting, uplifting, encouraging, and thought provoking. We will be sharing with you all more in the days and weeks ahead as we process what we've seen, heard, and learned. God will continue to teach us in the days ahead as we remember events, people, and circumstances. We only spent two weeks in Tanzania, but we bring home memories to last a lifetime.
Pray for the team members as we acclimate to our "life as normal" in the U.S. And pray also for Steve, Peter, Rachel Marty, Scola, Polycarp, and the other people in Tanzania that touched our lives while we were there.
We learned after we got back home that Polycarp's friend who was in the hospital passed away. Keep his wife and children in your prayers as well.
Asante sana (thank you very much).
It was good to see friends and family again and get back into our normal routines, but it takes awhile to process our experiences in Africa, and so it seems we are double-minded at the moment (but not necessarily in a bad way).
How was it?--everyone seems to want to know. And there is no short answer. It was wonderful, and eye opening, and shocking, and extreme. It was heart wrenching, sad, thrilling and rewarding. It was exhausting, uplifting, encouraging, and thought provoking. We will be sharing with you all more in the days and weeks ahead as we process what we've seen, heard, and learned. God will continue to teach us in the days ahead as we remember events, people, and circumstances. We only spent two weeks in Tanzania, but we bring home memories to last a lifetime.
Pray for the team members as we acclimate to our "life as normal" in the U.S. And pray also for Steve, Peter, Rachel Marty, Scola, Polycarp, and the other people in Tanzania that touched our lives while we were there.
We learned after we got back home that Polycarp's friend who was in the hospital passed away. Keep his wife and children in your prayers as well.
Asante sana (thank you very much).
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Packing up and moving out
Today is our last "full day" in Arusha. We did some final shopping and then went to Picasso's Cafe for lunch. Some ate potato soup, others chose hamburgers, or salads.
After we came home we started packing. It is with some sadness we are leaving. We've enjoyed our time here and will miss those people we have met during our stay. In other ways we are homesick and ready to come home again, where water is plentiful and clean, electricity is usually available and traffic is not as dangerous and roads are much smoother. Praise God for potholes. Whenever we encounter another pothole in the U.S., we will remember the rough roads here in Arusha, and be grateful that most of our roads are paved and smooth, compared to here, where the majority of the roads are full of potholes and huge craters! The road to Steve's house (which is on the side of Mount Meru) is exactly what you would expect if you were climbing a mountain--rough and rocky. It is not that far from the main road, but you can definitely feel the bumps and jostling as you come up the hill to his house. He's told us we were "squashing his tires" which is true. The right rear tire has a slow leak, which causes us to have to refill it many times during the week. We have indeed "squashed his tires."
After we came home we started packing. It is with some sadness we are leaving. We've enjoyed our time here and will miss those people we have met during our stay. In other ways we are homesick and ready to come home again, where water is plentiful and clean, electricity is usually available and traffic is not as dangerous and roads are much smoother. Praise God for potholes. Whenever we encounter another pothole in the U.S., we will remember the rough roads here in Arusha, and be grateful that most of our roads are paved and smooth, compared to here, where the majority of the roads are full of potholes and huge craters! The road to Steve's house (which is on the side of Mount Meru) is exactly what you would expect if you were climbing a mountain--rough and rocky. It is not that far from the main road, but you can definitely feel the bumps and jostling as you come up the hill to his house. He's told us we were "squashing his tires" which is true. The right rear tire has a slow leak, which causes us to have to refill it many times during the week. We have indeed "squashed his tires."
We just got back from Khan's (chicken in the ditch) where we had our last meal together in Arusha. Breakfast tomorrow will be an a la carte affair at about 4:30 a.m. as we have to load the car and head to the airport by 5:30 a.m. We finished our last devotion talking about our time here and how we need to set apart time to commune with God throughout the day and continue to develop our one on one relationship with him. We also talked about our trip and our time here and what we were able to accomplish.
Now there are some of us munching on Scola's chocolate chip cookies. We will definitely miss her cooking!
Please pray for us tomorrow that our journey will be problem free and on schedule and that we will make it through customs without problem. We are flying from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi then onto London where we will spend the night. Then we will fly from London to Denver and finally back to Wichita. Pray also that our bags will not be lost en route.
We hope to bring our stories, pictures, and testimonies back to you and your churches sometime after our return. It may be a few weeks before we're ready to do so. It will take us some time to debrief, unpack, and ponder our learnings before we're ready to share with you how God has impacted us.
For now we had better get to bed, as 4:00 a.m. will get here shortly! Bwana Asifiwa! Praise the Lord!
Safari
We had a wonderful time on safari, except for the fact that 4 people got sick the second day. The first day we went to Lake Manyara. There we saw giraffes, elephants, monkeys, antelope, hippos, dik-diks, and a variety of birds, flamingoes, and guinea fowl.
We spent the night at the Bougainvillea Resort. It was very lovely and had an outdoor swimming pool. John, Sametta, and Ricky decided to go swimming right after we got there. It was not a heated pool, so it was quite CHILLY. They didn't stay in too long!
When 4 members of the team woke up the next day, feeling quite poorly, we assumed it was food poisoning, we just didn't know the source. We didn't know if it was the boxed lunches we had on the first day of safari, or the dinner at the hotel. So those 4 team members didn't enjoy the 2nd day as much, but they hung in there like troopers.
The second day we went to the Ngorongoro Crater, which is a caldera (sunken volcano). We took lots of pictures. We were blessed to see the BIG FIVE, which include the hippo, cape buffalo, lion, cheetah, and rhinocerous. We learned later that it is rare to see them all in one day so we were excited that we were able to see them all.
We returned that evening to Steve's house, tired, dusty, and exhausted, and some still sick. We enjoyed a light dinner of cheese quesadillas and delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies made by Scola. We will miss her tremendously. Steve is indeed blessed to have her help with running the household.
That night during devotions we talked about the wonder of God's creation and how wonderful it is to see the animals in their natural habitat and to see how the circle of life as planned by God is so perfectly choreographed. We saw a pack of hyenas munching on a dead punda-milia (zebra) and birds that perched on the giraffes and other animals, feeding on their parasites. God has it all perfectly figured out.
We look forward to sharing our trip pictures with everyone. Steve is right now loading them all on a CD for us to take home with us.
We spent the night at the Bougainvillea Resort. It was very lovely and had an outdoor swimming pool. John, Sametta, and Ricky decided to go swimming right after we got there. It was not a heated pool, so it was quite CHILLY. They didn't stay in too long!
When 4 members of the team woke up the next day, feeling quite poorly, we assumed it was food poisoning, we just didn't know the source. We didn't know if it was the boxed lunches we had on the first day of safari, or the dinner at the hotel. So those 4 team members didn't enjoy the 2nd day as much, but they hung in there like troopers.
The second day we went to the Ngorongoro Crater, which is a caldera (sunken volcano). We took lots of pictures. We were blessed to see the BIG FIVE, which include the hippo, cape buffalo, lion, cheetah, and rhinocerous. We learned later that it is rare to see them all in one day so we were excited that we were able to see them all.
We returned that evening to Steve's house, tired, dusty, and exhausted, and some still sick. We enjoyed a light dinner of cheese quesadillas and delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies made by Scola. We will miss her tremendously. Steve is indeed blessed to have her help with running the household.
That night during devotions we talked about the wonder of God's creation and how wonderful it is to see the animals in their natural habitat and to see how the circle of life as planned by God is so perfectly choreographed. We saw a pack of hyenas munching on a dead punda-milia (zebra) and birds that perched on the giraffes and other animals, feeding on their parasites. God has it all perfectly figured out.
We look forward to sharing our trip pictures with everyone. Steve is right now loading them all on a CD for us to take home with us.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Shopping in Arusha
Today the team hit the streets of Arusha to do some shopping. There was a fine mist during the day and overcast skies. This was actually fine with us as we didn't have to battle the hot sun. Our assistant driver was unavailable in the morning, so all 9 of us crowded into one vehicle. We called our adventure, "A day in the life of a sardine." We loaded some black crates on the top of the vehicle to hold our wares, as there was no room in the vehicle for any extra things. We shopped for shukas, spears, fabric, cashews, coffee, and other gifts. Stan met a man on the street who was homeless and looking for a job. He talked to him and prayed with him. During our devotion tonight we reminded ourselves that we need to continue with our goal of being ambassadors for Christ, both here in Africa while we're still here and also when we get home as we share our adventures, our lessons, our answered prayers, and how God transformed us.
We ate dinner (fortunately we took 2 vehicles as Polycarp, our driver showed up in time for dinner) at a place called Khan's or affectionaly referred to as "Chicken in the ditch." It is a place where they grill the chicken out on the sidewalk and there are a couple of cement tables along the wall of the building. They offered delicious salads, naan, something called Zanzibar pizza, and chicken. We ordered our drinks at the walk up window. The smoke drifted over our table as we discussed the events of the day.
Tomorrow our safari company is picking us up at 8:30 a.m. to take us to Lake Manyara, then the following day we will be visiting the Ngorongoro crater, which has been called the 8th wonder of the world. I won't be updating the blog tomorrow, so you'll have to check for updates on Wed. night/Thursday morning (Tanzania time).
We have been blessed by the many friends we've met, the people we've been able to pray for, preach to, share with. They have touched our hearts, and our spirits. We can hardly wait to come back and share with everyone our adventures. Wish us a safari njema (good journey) tomorrow.
Asante sana (thank you).
We ate dinner (fortunately we took 2 vehicles as Polycarp, our driver showed up in time for dinner) at a place called Khan's or affectionaly referred to as "Chicken in the ditch." It is a place where they grill the chicken out on the sidewalk and there are a couple of cement tables along the wall of the building. They offered delicious salads, naan, something called Zanzibar pizza, and chicken. We ordered our drinks at the walk up window. The smoke drifted over our table as we discussed the events of the day.
Tomorrow our safari company is picking us up at 8:30 a.m. to take us to Lake Manyara, then the following day we will be visiting the Ngorongoro crater, which has been called the 8th wonder of the world. I won't be updating the blog tomorrow, so you'll have to check for updates on Wed. night/Thursday morning (Tanzania time).
We have been blessed by the many friends we've met, the people we've been able to pray for, preach to, share with. They have touched our hearts, and our spirits. We can hardly wait to come back and share with everyone our adventures. Wish us a safari njema (good journey) tomorrow.
Asante sana (thank you).
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Church in Ngarenaro
Today the group went to church in Ngaranero, a slum on the outskirts of Arusha. We first took a tour of the village. We meandered through narrow dirt paths, that were full of rocks, ruts, water, and drainage. Watching your footing was a necessity as the paths were very uneven. We also had to dodge other people on foot along with piki-pikis (motorcyles) that used the paths as well. The houses were very close together and the path just meandered around aimlessly. It was hard to keep any sense of direction on which way you were going. We finally found a pump in an open area where people were paying to get some water. They carried the water in large plastic buckets back to their homes. There were several stores and places of business in the village. We found it interesting when we saw a guesthouse called the Obama Bar & Guesthouse.
Later, we went to the church, a small building that held about 40-50 people. After a wonderful worship service which included a special performance by the choir and the childrens' choir, Stan, Connie & Ricky all shared a brief teaching with the group. Carol & Vernie taught the children--they had about 50 kids crowded into a small room about 10 x 10 feet jammed with wooden benches. At the end of the service, after the children had returned to the main sanctuary, they had all the children come up to the front and the entire congregation prayed for them. I thought that was unique and special. The pastors prayed for protection, guidance, blessing, and wisdom for the children. I guess this is something they do every week.
Then we went out to eat at an Indian restaurant called Big Bite. The entire team ordered several entrees and shared them amongst the team. It was very filling. We enjoyed butter chicken, veggies and rice, garlic rice, grilled spicy chicken, tofu mixed with cheese sauce, and tofu with spinach, and naan--a thin flatbread. It was all delicious. We were joined by Polycarp, our interpreter, and Peter and his daughter, Rachel. Peter was the pastor of the church in Ngarenaro.
Then we came home and had a double wedding vow renewal service. Stan and Connie were commemorating 5 years of marriage, and John & Sametta are getting ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We bought several dozen roses and held the service out in Steve's back yard in front of the bird of paradise plant. Peter officiated and his daughter Rachel was our flower girl. Each spouse repeated their vows to one another and the guests "trilled" in the background, making a joyful noise to celebrate the event.
We then had a delicious dinner of spaghetti, homemade bread, and some poppyseed cake.
Now some of the team is watching a movie, while others have gone on to bed to get some much needed rest.
Tomorrow we are going out in the town of Arusha to do some souvenir shopping. Please pray for our safety and that we can find the items we are looking for. Many are shopping for thank you gifts for our benefactors who helped us get here to Tanzania. Let us take this moment to thank all of you for your monetary gifts, your words of encouragement, and your prayers.
We appreciate you!
Later, we went to the church, a small building that held about 40-50 people. After a wonderful worship service which included a special performance by the choir and the childrens' choir, Stan, Connie & Ricky all shared a brief teaching with the group. Carol & Vernie taught the children--they had about 50 kids crowded into a small room about 10 x 10 feet jammed with wooden benches. At the end of the service, after the children had returned to the main sanctuary, they had all the children come up to the front and the entire congregation prayed for them. I thought that was unique and special. The pastors prayed for protection, guidance, blessing, and wisdom for the children. I guess this is something they do every week.
Then we went out to eat at an Indian restaurant called Big Bite. The entire team ordered several entrees and shared them amongst the team. It was very filling. We enjoyed butter chicken, veggies and rice, garlic rice, grilled spicy chicken, tofu mixed with cheese sauce, and tofu with spinach, and naan--a thin flatbread. It was all delicious. We were joined by Polycarp, our interpreter, and Peter and his daughter, Rachel. Peter was the pastor of the church in Ngarenaro.
Then we came home and had a double wedding vow renewal service. Stan and Connie were commemorating 5 years of marriage, and John & Sametta are getting ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We bought several dozen roses and held the service out in Steve's back yard in front of the bird of paradise plant. Peter officiated and his daughter Rachel was our flower girl. Each spouse repeated their vows to one another and the guests "trilled" in the background, making a joyful noise to celebrate the event.
We then had a delicious dinner of spaghetti, homemade bread, and some poppyseed cake.
Now some of the team is watching a movie, while others have gone on to bed to get some much needed rest.
Tomorrow we are going out in the town of Arusha to do some souvenir shopping. Please pray for our safety and that we can find the items we are looking for. Many are shopping for thank you gifts for our benefactors who helped us get here to Tanzania. Let us take this moment to thank all of you for your monetary gifts, your words of encouragement, and your prayers.
We appreciate you!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Remembering Marty
Today was the first anniversary of Marty's death. We all went to her gravesite in the morning. Steve bought several dozen roses and we laid them on her grave. I was reminded of my first time in Africa and Marty had gone out and bought roses and placed them in our rooms to welcome us to Africa. A few tears were shed as we remembered her life and legacy. Her grave is on some land that Peter owns. He and his daughter came with us. Her name is Rachel Marty (named after Marty and her daughter Rachel). He explained to us how difficult it was for his daughter when Marty (whom she regarded as her grandmother) passed away. Her own mother had died just a year and a half before Marty's passing. So at the young age of 5, she has already lost two dearly loved people. Marty's body lies next to Cecilia, Peter's wife. We comforted ourselves with the knowledge that she was in heaven, and that she had fought the good fight.
We also got the chance to meet some of Peter's family, including his father.
Later, we went to the grocery store and did some shopping. We stopped at the coffee house to buy some coffee, but they didn't have the kind that Steve recommended, so we plan on going back there on Monday. We also got some gelato which was delicious. We had such yummy flavors as vanilla, double chocolate chip, mango, coconut, and coffee. It was delicious!
Later we came back to the house with some new tennis balls for Sheila, the dog. We grilled some hamburgers on the grill and ate dinner and then after devotions watched a movie.
Tomorrow is church in Ngaranero at Peter's church. Vernie, Carol, and Tina are going to teach the children and Stan, Ricky, and Connie are going to do some preaching. Please pray that we are effective in our teaching and that the Spirit of God anoints us all as we share with the Tanzanians.
We also got the chance to meet some of Peter's family, including his father.
Later, we went to the grocery store and did some shopping. We stopped at the coffee house to buy some coffee, but they didn't have the kind that Steve recommended, so we plan on going back there on Monday. We also got some gelato which was delicious. We had such yummy flavors as vanilla, double chocolate chip, mango, coconut, and coffee. It was delicious!
Later we came back to the house with some new tennis balls for Sheila, the dog. We grilled some hamburgers on the grill and ate dinner and then after devotions watched a movie.
Tomorrow is church in Ngaranero at Peter's church. Vernie, Carol, and Tina are going to teach the children and Stan, Ricky, and Connie are going to do some preaching. Please pray that we are effective in our teaching and that the Spirit of God anoints us all as we share with the Tanzanians.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Suffer not the little children to come unto me
Today was another exciting day. We started the day off with some french toast for breakfast. Then the women headed back to the nursery for another day of playing with the kids, telling them some bible stories about Jesus, singing some songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children." They are all so precious. They told us their names again, their ages and their favorite fruits. One boy's answer was CHOCOLATE! And another girl's answer was SPAGHETTI.
The men (Stan, Steve, John & Ricky) stayed at Steve's house and did some more work with the solar panels and did some steel work. Later Sametta and Tina helped to plant some flowers and plants along the side of the house. Carol & Vernie ventured for a walk outside the compound. Connie took some pictures in her role as official photographer and spent some time writing in her journal and reflecting on her experiences so far.
Connie & Stan ventured out after dark to see the constellation the Southern Cross.
Polycarp was feeling better today so we praised the Lord for that. We were thrilled that he felt well enough to accompany us to the nursery. He did another great job interpreting today.
We visited with Isack (a local regional pastor) who came by to visit. We were disappointed that we could not visit with Asnath (his wife) as she was picking up her daughters from boarding school. They are currently working in Dodoma though their home is in a remote Maasai village named Mairowa. Isack presented us all with necklaces with a map of Africa and told us to be sure and come back and help Steve as he was now alone and needed help and encouragement. He also hoped that we would never forget Africa. I don't think that anyone could ever forget Africa after visiting here. It definitely captures your heart!
Tomorrow we plan on visiting Marty's gravesite. I'm sure this will be an emotional time for Steve as well as those of us who knew Marty. So please pray for God's presence and comfort to be with us as we go.
The men (Stan, Steve, John & Ricky) stayed at Steve's house and did some more work with the solar panels and did some steel work. Later Sametta and Tina helped to plant some flowers and plants along the side of the house. Carol & Vernie ventured for a walk outside the compound. Connie took some pictures in her role as official photographer and spent some time writing in her journal and reflecting on her experiences so far.
Connie & Stan ventured out after dark to see the constellation the Southern Cross.
Polycarp was feeling better today so we praised the Lord for that. We were thrilled that he felt well enough to accompany us to the nursery. He did another great job interpreting today.
We visited with Isack (a local regional pastor) who came by to visit. We were disappointed that we could not visit with Asnath (his wife) as she was picking up her daughters from boarding school. They are currently working in Dodoma though their home is in a remote Maasai village named Mairowa. Isack presented us all with necklaces with a map of Africa and told us to be sure and come back and help Steve as he was now alone and needed help and encouragement. He also hoped that we would never forget Africa. I don't think that anyone could ever forget Africa after visiting here. It definitely captures your heart!
Tomorrow we plan on visiting Marty's gravesite. I'm sure this will be an emotional time for Steve as well as those of us who knew Marty. So please pray for God's presence and comfort to be with us as we go.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Link to photos
Check out our team photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=177291&id=511199104&l=91170c17ca
Mungu akubariki (God bless you!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=177291&id=511199104&l=91170c17ca
Mungu akubariki (God bless you!)
Today's adventures
Today the team split up into two groups. The women went to visit St. Cecilia's preschool. This is Peter's preschool that just opened in January. It is named after his late wife. The women went with Polycarp, our interpreter. We visited with Peter about his vision for the school. He showed us the grounds, the buildings, the new classroom which recently had a tin roof installed. We thought we were going to install the roof while we were here, but it was already done. Peter also shared with us his desire to dig a well. The cost here for digging a well with a machine in order to provide for clean water is $12,000. If he digs the well himself, it will be much cheaper, but the water will be unclean and not usable for drinking as he would not be able to dig as deep. There were about 33 children enrolled at one time, but now the number has dwindled to about 20, with 16 being present today. Many of the families cannot afford to pay the small monthly fee that covers basic expenses and salaries for the two teachers. The small room contained some benches and small tables, and no supplies that we could see. There were some charts on the wall with some English words as English language is one of the subjects they teach there. We were blessed by the children and their eagerness to engage in our Bible storytelling efforts. Polycarp was definitely enthusiastic about his role in interpreting, and turned out to be quite the actor as he enacted some of the stories. Vernie also came into her element as she was an excellent teacher and interacted well with the children. Peter even invited her to stay in Africa and work at the school full time.
The men stayed at Steve's house and worked on the solar panels on Steve's house. They visited the lumber shop and built some more secure brackets for the solar panels. Steve hopes to install at least 2 more solar panels in order to reduce the cost of electricity that he has to pay each month. We praise God that there were no accidents--no one fell off the roof, though there was one member who slipped and almost fell. Apparently, there is a slippery patch up on the roof.
We drove to dinner tonight and had to drive through a rough part of town. Steve warned us about the dangers of hanging out in this area, and immediately locked the car doors. Not two minutes later, as we were stopped in traffic, someone came up to the vehicle, bumped into it, and ripped off the sideview mirror. We were shocked and saddened by this thievery.
We look forward to visiting the nursery school tomorrow. The men will continue to do some labor at the house that Steve needs done.
Continue to pray for our safety and for God's will to be done in us and through us.
Also, our interpreter, Polycarp, was not feeling well this evening so keep him in your prayers that he will recover and be able to go with us to St. Cecilia's tomorrow.
Bwana Asifiwa!
The men stayed at Steve's house and worked on the solar panels on Steve's house. They visited the lumber shop and built some more secure brackets for the solar panels. Steve hopes to install at least 2 more solar panels in order to reduce the cost of electricity that he has to pay each month. We praise God that there were no accidents--no one fell off the roof, though there was one member who slipped and almost fell. Apparently, there is a slippery patch up on the roof.
We drove to dinner tonight and had to drive through a rough part of town. Steve warned us about the dangers of hanging out in this area, and immediately locked the car doors. Not two minutes later, as we were stopped in traffic, someone came up to the vehicle, bumped into it, and ripped off the sideview mirror. We were shocked and saddened by this thievery.
We look forward to visiting the nursery school tomorrow. The men will continue to do some labor at the house that Steve needs done.
Continue to pray for our safety and for God's will to be done in us and through us.
Also, our interpreter, Polycarp, was not feeling well this evening so keep him in your prayers that he will recover and be able to go with us to St. Cecilia's tomorrow.
Bwana Asifiwa!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Naitolia
Went to Naitolia for the second day today. Was a great day as we shared with the Maasai people in the village. We showed a video entitled, the World Without Christians which demonstrated the effect that the church has on the world. Enjoyed some good discussion and questions within our small groups.
The local pastors also held a small worship service after our video sessions. Isack preached and there was also a healing service. It was awesome!!
We came back and ate dinner at a restaurant called Arusha Coffee Cafe. We heard some kind of monkey which was on the roof (we ate outside) and also saw a bunch of bats flying in a tree as we left. The food was very good.
We are still tired. We got one of our suitcases in today, and plan on stopping by the office tomorrow to see if we can claim it.
Tomorrow the women are going to a nursery school and teaching some English and also some Bible stories using flip charts.
The men are staying at Steve's house to do some work with solar panels. In the afternoon we are taking tours of the city of Arusha, running some errands, and doing some money exchanges.
Keep praying!! We are all having a great time.
The local pastors also held a small worship service after our video sessions. Isack preached and there was also a healing service. It was awesome!!
We came back and ate dinner at a restaurant called Arusha Coffee Cafe. We heard some kind of monkey which was on the roof (we ate outside) and also saw a bunch of bats flying in a tree as we left. The food was very good.
We are still tired. We got one of our suitcases in today, and plan on stopping by the office tomorrow to see if we can claim it.
Tomorrow the women are going to a nursery school and teaching some English and also some Bible stories using flip charts.
The men are staying at Steve's house to do some work with solar panels. In the afternoon we are taking tours of the city of Arusha, running some errands, and doing some money exchanges.
Keep praying!! We are all having a great time.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Trip to the bush
Well we traveled to the village of Noritalia today, a remote Maasai village. We set up a projector and screen (a white sheet hung up with twine and held straight with rocks. We then played 2 videos which were followed by small group discussions and further follow up teaching from the video. We had great participation from the people as they asked questions, made comments, and read Scripture in Swahili. It went quite well we thought and we are looking forward to returning tomorrow when we will show the 3rd video, hear preaching from Isack (a local regional pastor) and worship with the Tanzanians. There will also be a healing service so pray that many people will be healed and saved.
Some of us experienced the joy of using the choo (toilet) which consisted of a hole dug in the ground surrounded by tarps to afford some privacy.
We also saw them butchering and cleaning the goats that were part of the lunch provided to those attending the seminar. We hope to have some pictures posted soon.
We are still tired, running on adrenaline, a little sleep, and lots of coffee and caffeine. I think we are still suffering from some jet lag. So pray that we would renew our strength as we wait on Him and that we would have a blessed and productive time tomorrow out in the bush.
Some of us experienced the joy of using the choo (toilet) which consisted of a hole dug in the ground surrounded by tarps to afford some privacy.
We also saw them butchering and cleaning the goats that were part of the lunch provided to those attending the seminar. We hope to have some pictures posted soon.
We are still tired, running on adrenaline, a little sleep, and lots of coffee and caffeine. I think we are still suffering from some jet lag. So pray that we would renew our strength as we wait on Him and that we would have a blessed and productive time tomorrow out in the bush.
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