The busses and vans in Africa usually have
themes/names/decorations. Stuff Africans like (common themes used in decor):
Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, and America and in particular Barrack Obama.
Our contacts have been really interested in improving their English, so I told them one thing I had noticed a bit of confusion
and trouble with ‘l’s and ‘r’s… then the next day I saw a taxi named after our
American president Ballack Obama and wished I had had it as en example
prior.
I cannot complain, as we are so very blessed this month that
our family members and many of the church members speak superb English. It’s a
little ridiculous that we are so dependant on their ability to speak our
language… but we are. They are great at it.
In spite of the fact that our community here is very skilled
at speaking it, they have asked us to hold English classes to help them
improve. We have created two classes. One is basically to answer questions,
teach some advanced grammar and conjugations, and work on pronunciation. Tracy
and I have taken lead of the other class which is more basic starting with easy
conversation topics and largely trying to boost the confidence of our students
to speak up more. Many of them know more than they let on.
Me prepping for class:
My class:
Ministry here has looked like many things. We also visit
hospitals, go house to house talking to people about Jesus, do yard work at
local schools and manual labor for our church, hold seminars, speak to students
and pastors, pray for the sick, and teach children’s bible class on Sundays. We
are with a like-minded people here in Tanzania and ministry has been a
blessing.
Bonus side story: The following is a conversation I have had
probably about 67 times since setting foot on the continent of Africa.
‘Mzungu.’
‘Yes, hello.’
‘Where are you from?’
‘America.’
‘Ah… Barrack Obama.’
‘Yes.’
This usually ends the conversation.
Replay 66 times.
