My month in Tanzania was the hardest spiritually by far in the race. I entered into Tanzania just hating it for no reason. I felt down emotionally and spiritually. So my team leader Sarah challenged me to find five Thankful's every day. So here are some things I was thankful for while inTanzania.
Trying to Shower in the rain. When we arrived at our new home at 10pm on Saturday November 3 we had running water and were so excited for a month with real showers. Turns out the water gets cut off every other day. So after a long bus trip we were all sad to learn that. So God sent us a little bit of rain on Monday night. I got all soaped up and the rain stopped. So we all trekked inside and had a dance party.
Playing a sheep. On Thursday November 8th we went to a school and did a David and Goliath skit. I was one of Davids sheep. I was a great sheep, with a perfect baa!
I got to preach. Every week we needed a person to do a lesson on Friday night for the prayer meeting. I have never done that before and while it wasn't super awesome, I did share what God gave me and felt my confidence in Him grow.
I got to hike a waterfall! Our first Saturday off our contacts son took us to this beautiful creek with waterfalls and a natural pool. I fell in the water at one point and got soaked. So I took off my skirt that I was searing over my shorts and left it on a tree to dry. When we went back for it it had found a new owner. Which leads to my next thankful.
Great team mates. I have been so blessed in teammates this whole race. I no longer owned a skirt because of leaving it behind to dry. So Mikala stepped up and gave me one of hers, and Courtney gave back the skirt I had given her. I can't even express how much that meant to me. They were so loving in letting me "mourn" the loss of my favorite skirt and then fix me up with new ones.
Living in a Masai village. Our second week in Tanzania we lived in a village under two huge mango trees beside a lazy river. To say it was the most amazing camping trip ever would be an understatement. We also got to walk to a Masai church and worship with them. While we lived there we did church services and helped moved bricks for a new church building.
Seeing wild monkeys! The day after moving bricks we went to the church site and cleared the land. While taking a break one of the men saw some monkeys and we ran to see them. They were so cute with their little brown faces.
Celebrating Thanksgiving with my "family". After teaching kids how to use computers at a school we came home and got ready to go out to dinner. At dinner we made pilgrim hats to wear with our napkins.
God giving me strength and grace. I really had to depend on God to show me when to have grace and where my thankful's were. I love that when you really need His help and ask for it that He ALWAYS comes through.
I had so many different things to be thankful for each day. If I hadn't been looking for them I might have had a Terrible Tanzania instead. So My last thankful from that month is a team and team leader who challenge me to grow and find something each day to be thankful for.
One last thing to be thankful for is being FULLY FUNDED!!!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported me this past year! You guys are amazing!
