Advertisement
Published: August 5th 2007
Edit Blog Post
It's hard to believe that we've been here three months. In one way, it seems like we just got here, but in most ways, it seems like we've been here much longer. That's not a bad thing; it's just that SO much has happened over these past three months, it hardly seems like one can fit in so much in such a relatively short amount of time.
Since the last update, another teacher's workshop was held for the women in Moshi. Several were not able to make it, due to a local wedding, but I believe there was still much benefit for the ladies who attended. Julie Richardson worked hard to prepare some worksheets, in order to help the ladies learn how to organize a lesson. Teresa Rachels delivered a lesson on how to make application in the Bible lesson. Then the ladies split up in groups of two, chose a lesson topic from a list that Julie had prepared, and the ladies spent some time doing hands-on work, organizing a Bible lesson of their own. This is a great beginning to helping these ladies learn to study on their own, and becoming more equipped to teach.
Last
Sunday, July 22, our family and Jenny, along with Elijah, his wife and 3 children, and Timothy, traveled to Machame. The congregation in Machame is a relatively new work, and Elijah has recently started to travel there on Sundays and Wednesdays to help them out in their worship. The small congregation has no place to meet of its own, and a very kind woman, Mamma Lima, who is not a Christian, has opened her home, so that the Christians can meet. Mamma Lima works with an orphanage called The Joy Foundation, and the depth of her love for these children is very touching. It is our prayer that she will one day obey the gospel. When we arrived at Machame Sunday morning, we found that a group of Europeans planned to visit the service. Apparently, they had some contact with the orphanage during their visit to Tanzania, and were invited to come. George preached a very timely lesson on the church, and hopefully gave everyone some food for thought. Afterwards, Mamma Lima asked us to stay to eat. We had brought along some bread and bananas to serve as our lunch, since we did not know how long it would
be before returning home. We contributed these things to the lunch, it seemed very appreciated. It was very humbling to be fed by people who we know have so little, yet are quite eager to share what they have.
Today, our family, minus Julia and Jenny, traveled to Mtu wa Mbu, near Mosquito River. Doesn't that name sound promising? haha. Julia and Jenny decided to stay and worship in Moshi, since it was Jenny's last Sunday here. Cy Stafford asked if one of the missionaries would volunteer to go to Mtu wa Mbu today, because there were a group of men and women from a local denomination, who planned to visit. They were interested in having a class to have some Bible questions answered, and so George accepted the challenge. It was a long drive - 200 kilometers one way, which took about 2 1/2 hours. George taught class, and Lindsey and I attempted to teach the children. I say attempted, because we certainly were not very successful, due to the fact that we had no translator. We did the best we could - sang some songs in Swahili, worked on learning some of the books of the New
Testament (in Swahili, of course). After some time, a lady came, who perhaps had planned to teach. I tried to persuade her to take over, but she did not feel comfortable doing that. So, I asked her to read the Bible text about the ten lepers. The children behaved wonderfully, and fortunately, were very patient with us. This kind of experience sure serves as a motivation to learn more Swahili! It is so hard being unable to communicate with people. Lindsey and I both were tired after this class, but the children blessed us with warm smiles, which made us think it wasn't a complete waste of time. After Bible class, George preached a wonderful lesson on the church; a basic one, but nonetheless, very needed. After worship, the ladies fed us, as well as the other visitors, and then George taught another class, especially for the visitors, who had some particular questions.
Our weekdays have been busy as well. I stay very busy with running the household, and overseeing Luke and Lindsey's school work. Giving their schooling proper attention is a must. We have finally purchased a Swahili instruction book, which I have been incorporating into the school
schedule. That means I have to study it in order to help them learn. George remains busy studying for and teaching three classes he teaches each week. His Fridays are particularly long, since he gets up shortly after 5, to make the trip to Arusha to teach his Greek class. He has also continued, to the best of his ability, to follow up on personal work classes. Right now it is particularly difficult to keep studies going on a regular schedule, due to lack of translators.
The past two or three weeks have been a little "shaky." We have experienced numerous earthquakes, which have been centered near Mt. Oldonyo Lengai, which is an active volcano. There was actually a small eruption on Friday, the 20th, which resulted in the spewing of small amounts of smoke and black lava (unique to this volcano). Scientists are speculating that this small eruption has released some of the pressure in the earth, which is probably the cause in a decrease in the tremors.
This week Jenny will be returning to her home in Texas. We have enjoyed having her here with us so much; she has become just like family. She has
proved to be a very hard worker, and has walked miles and miles (or should we say kilometers and kilometers) each week, to teach home Bible studies to women. We will miss her very much, but will look forward to her return next year.
Thank you for your prayers, financial support, and words of encouragement. Please continue to hold us up in prayer. We are so thankful to each of you, and are grateful for the partnership we have in spreading the gospel.
May you have a wonderful week.
In Christian Love,
Joy
Advertisement
Tot: 0.214s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 13; qc: 63; dbt: 0.1607s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Ferrell Hinds
non-member comment
Being fed
It was interesting seeing that you were fed a meal when visiting. I am wondering what kinds of food were served? I'm sure it wasn't your usual fare. Also do you cook what you usually have here in the states or have you made some changes because of availability. Yes, the meat van does appear amusing because it doesn't look to be very clean. Also how did the boys rate the most comfortable seats at the meeting? At least they looked to be the most comfortable. Ferrell