I’m here in Tanzania!
We had a crazy bus ride getting here! It took 54 hours travelling on a bus to get here and about 4
days… Phewph!
I now have a new appreciation for flat, paved roads!
At times I felt more like I was on a rollercoaster ride, and the
experience ride was at times reminiscent of some great tube rides I’v been on on the lake …
yah I got some sweet air flyn over some of those bumps on the rough “road” to
Sumbawanga. And, despite being the one who drinks soda the least out of my team, I won a soda chugging context – are you proud of me Deanna?
Since we’ve been in Sumbawanga I’ve been teaching English,
teaching computer classes, I’ve preached twice and danced with the church
choir! The dancing here is
phenomenal. Hmmm think ballywood
meets small African village. And
then once in a while there’s a smiling, yet struggling white girl with no
rhythm in the mix.
I love teaching English! Trying to explain the intricacies of
pronunciation and conjugating has been a nice challenge. Aly and I decided preaching could be a
game of tag and we spoke on Isaiah 61 together – the Lord’s Favour, and then last night I spoke about Reflection on our Redeemer and Living in the
Light of our Redeemer – good stuff, words were interspersed with the
congregation’s response of amens and hallelujahs.
This week we’ll be building a house! From the ground up!
Who knows how that will happen but I know it will include some hoes, no
machinery, for sure, elbow grease, and I’m excited. It’s gonna be awesome to build a house for Pastor
Henry and his family! You can throw a prayer up for our team – Shiloh for help
making the house come together because I want to bless this wonderful family
with a new home to live in! Also
please pray for health, and rejuvenation for our team as 3 months in Africa
seems to be taking a little toll on some of the team members.
Pastor Henry and his family are great! They are so sweet and welcoming. It’s great to be welcomed into such a
family There’s about 16 of us all sleeping under the same roof and constantly
many more people around to hang out, be taught computer or English, fellowship,
or help with food prep.
The food has been delicious but takes the ladies a long time
to cook. They use open fires or
charcoal to cook for about 20 people.
The chickens that run around the house end up on our plates some nights
-but they sure are tasty. Ha ha
one of the church ladies came to our rescue as our exclamations rang through
the house (walls don’t reach the ceiling so all noise runs through the whole
house) as a chicken (cuku in Swahili) was terrorizing our room… I was torn… I’m
not ok with the chicken strutting it’s stuff all over my clothes, but too
chicken (haha-pun) to fiercely grab it by the throat and throw it out of our
room.
Wow and I haven’t been home -home for 7 months now. So I’ve come to terms with redefining home, at least for the time being… Home is more where your people, family is, and
there is home, and then there is feeling at home. This month I’ve enjoyed a bit of both. Who knew that home really has little to
do with possessions…
Reminder: all I’ve had with me for the past 7 months is what
can fit in my backpack (those of you who’ve backpacked can maybe understand)-
and I’ve decided to cut back on my small load of possessions to challenge my
idea of what I need…
Wow -I dare you to try it…
