TANZANIA
| Morogoro
The
first night that we had here in Morogoro, we were told upon arriving
to dinner, that there would be some Canadians joining us. We were all
excited to see some North Americans that we could speak normal
English to. It ended up being an amazing couple named Rick and
Brenda. They were returning after a 12 year hiatus to a small African
orphanage that they had spent two years with. They were getting to
meet the children that they had cared for who were now all grown up.
After
that night we ended up seeing them every night for dinner for the
rest of the week. During those few short hours every night they told
us story after story about their lives in Africa and what led them to
that point and what happened afterwards. They spoke of incredible
miracles at the orphanage of babies that were told were going to die,
they saw run around and play completely healed. They experienced
healings with the children of aids, sickness, emotional trauma, and
more.
It
was amazing to see a couple so fully devoted to the calling and voice
of God. Their willingness to pack up their lives and move to Africa.
They had planned on only coming to Africa for their 25 wedding
anniversary, but after 6 months they decided to stay for 2 more
years. They packed everything they owned and came and then 2 years
later they returned leaving everything they had at the orphanage.
My
favorite part of their story was when they returned home with nothing
to their name. With everything they had seen they didn’t quite know
how to live in a society filled with so much abundance. So they spent
the first few months sleeping on relative’s and friend’s floors on
air mattresses, then to a friend’s basement apartment. Then God
finally told them to get themselves their own apartment. They only
thing was, was that they had nothing. But after moving in and not
telling anyone they needed anything, people began to call and tell
them they wanted to give them things. By the end, they had a fully
furnished apartment given to them by various friends. What is crazy
is that even though nothing was planned everything in their house
coordinated with color and style! How good is our God?
I
learned so much from our nightly visits with this Godly man and
woman. Their love for this country and for the unreached is
inspiring. They were so encouraging to us all and we all hope that
one day we will meet again.
