Hello everyone! Just a quick blog while I wait for the internet to come back up… an often occurrence here!
We are all doing quite well and are healthy for the most part – a luxury right now for our squad. We are one of the only teams on the squad without a wide spread hit of malaria… we only have one person with it… that is a miracle in itself! We’re definitely not out of the woods just yet so please pray for continued favor for health as we wrap up the last two weeks of Africa.
To share what I’ve been learning the thing I’ve found the most fascinating about Tanzania revolves around the everyday activities. I realize how far removed we are in the U.S. from the normal agricultural processes that defined the times when Jesus walked the earth. As I walk the streets of Sumbawanga I get a better glimpse of Jesus’ parables. Women toss grain into the wind to separate the chaff, and everyone understands first hand that it is a mystery that one seed sprouts into a plant and produces 100 fold. I taught last Sunday on Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seeds and even through a language barrier I felt everyone was on the same page – describing the scene I knew each person there understood first hand. I wonder if by removing ourselves from so many of these everyday processes we have also removed our ability to fully understand the intricacies of Jesus’ stories. As I walk the streets of this town I am grateful for the opportunity to step back 2000 years and many more miles away from what I know as normal; here I get a glimpse of the environment I believe Jesus encountered and experience His words through whole new eyes.
