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Published: January 14th 2008
I can't even begin to tell you how good it is to be home again! I haven't slept this good in a few months... Something in the air I suppose... Or just the excitement of being back to work and back into our normal routine. Being Home! ~HOME SWEET HOME!!!
The kids are great... As soon as we got here they ran straight for the yard to begin playing out in the dirt with the puppies again...It's quite different here in the heat of Moshi than it was leaving the cool Texas winter and seeing the snow covered ground in St. Paul, MN as we were going from one airport to the other. The power is pretty good but has been flickering several times a day... it's very unpredictable... but at least we have it most of the time. (this evening not being one of those times, we're running the generator to cook dinner tonight, so I am taking advantage of the power and writing what I can to post it all later.
We arrived on Wednesday evening...I always love the last little leg of the trip, as you fly into Africa... the sun is setting just beyond the
HOME SWEET HOME
The View from the back yardhorizon if you catch it just right the red glowing embers of the last little bit of daylight highlight the edge of a Mountain, it's the most amazing sight in all the world! And that's when you feel as if you have finally arrived! You step down from the plane onto the dark black tarmack of the Tanzanian Airport and walk yourself into a whole new world! Greeted with smiles and hugs all around. It's so good to walk through those doors and know you have people who love you waiting on the other side.
Getting here, unloading the truck, taking the sheets off the furniture... we love coming home! Then after crawling into bed and awaking to a bright new day I began to unpack the suitcases and Brent went downtown to get the ball rolling on getting things turned back on. Then he walked in the house and smiled as he lifted up his black tire stained hands... He had the first flat tire of the year, as he was running around town getting those errands taken care of and food for the refrigerator. Awww life in Africa!
We also had to make a trip into
Arusha right away to get a cord to reconnect the internet and get it up and running. So we went to visit the Samfords while we were there to see the kids and their new home! It seems like they are doing great! It gave our kids a chance to meet their little ones, Aubrie and Aiden. They are living in MgarinToni (sp?) just down from where the Browns and Bakers are currently living on the edge of Arusha.
Funny story: While we were there in Arusha, I found 2 grass mats for sale and bought them to take home to Moshi (an hours drive away) to put in the dining room... Getting them home would be a challenge to say the least. The ladies I bought them from, helped me roll them up together and tie them to the roof with some scrap twine we found laying around... who knows how long it would hold.. but it was the only option we saw... well it broke once, twice, three times... and then a fourth as we stopped the vehicle to get out and re-adjust and go a little further down the road before having to stop and try
to retie the broken pieces again... and then it dawned on me that I had a conga "Wrap skirt" on and the 101 uses for a conga book came to mind.... we whipped it out and tied the mats to the roof with that... and Brent took off his belt and strapped down the other end down with it... and we laughed as it securely made the rest of the trip without even a bobble... Making Due with what's in the car in Africa seems to be a fun adventure each and every time we go somewhere...But I will always have a conga ready, from now on!! ( Should have thought of that a lot sooner!)
We stopped to eat dinner on the way home... and in the dark trees above us cried the Bush Babies of Tanzania! So sweet and tiny! One climbed down near the table and I tried to get a picture... But I never seem to be able to capture them very well! They cry like little babies in the treetops of East Africa. It's a sweet sweet sound!
As always we hit the ground running... going, & sweating... I was telling Brent.. I've
Making it Work! African Style
We found grass mats for sale in arusha and had to tie them to the truck with a conga wrap....to get them home after the twine broke. lost 9lbs. and Brent's lost 12 pounds in 3 days if that tells you anything at all about the sweat levels around here... haha, that and no FAST FOOD to speak of! But its good to be back all the same.
Today the kids and I started the new semester in school. Garrett and Emily picked right back up where we left off and Gracie is doing a great job at learning to read, while Brent took Timothy out to check on the progress of the Nursery school land. Timothy had said that they planted some trees, while we were gone, and tried to do a form of drip irrigation to water them but had used water bottles and wondered why it wasn't working that well. He wanted Brent to come and look it over, so Brent went to get a few buckets and go make a few adjustments.
The Moshi ladies met Sunday after morning worship and Julia(Christopher's Wife) led a great organizational meeting about what we are wanting to accomplish this next year as a ladies group here in Moshi. discussing the good and the bad of last year, and talking about what could be
done more effectivly and what they hoped to accomplish as a whole With our Seminars, Visitation, Evangelism, Helping the Needy, teachers for the children's classes, our train the teachers class, sewing projects, etc.. It is going to be a great year. They are working on setting up a ladies Seminar for Sat. Feb. 23rd covering Women's works in the Church, they are going to take it before the men of the congregation and get it approved. We are getting together again on Saturday to discuss and Plan more for this upcoming year's agenda for the ladies and work on some of our quilts for the Orphanage.
I have been so proud of everything that they have been doing and have accomplished this year, you can truly see the growth, after having been away for awhile and returning... The children's classes this week were amazing... All had great lessons, singing, great teachers, applications and crafts lined out and organized so well... and then I looked up and they had created a new bulletin board... while I was away.. I was so impressed! We have some amazing ladies here! You can truly see where the church as a whole is developing
The Aggie Crew
The 6 Students who came to stay with us in Moshi during the Kenyan Political Uprising. John & The Jensens took great care of them I'm sure! They all left yesterday! and growing in the area of leadership.
We will have more to write about and cover as the week goes by!
We're so Glad to be home and back to work!
Hope the Lord is blessing each of you in all that you are doing!
In Christian Love and Service, Julie Richardson
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