Journey Into Africa

long hair at 55?

2012-01-30T17:58:00.004+03:00

I have long hair again, not since I got married 30 years ago have I had this much hair. Some say I am too old, others just ask why.

. . my 10 reasons:

1- wanted to see if I could do it

2- when it is HOT here I can put it up, which is most of the time

3- I can go several days without washing it and you can hardly tell how dirty it is, for when I am in the bush or we are rationing water, probably should not have told you that one

4- hair cuts are $35 here so I am too cheap to do that every few weeks

5- I like to change things and you can do lots of different things with long hair

6- I pretty much go against what is the norm and since people expect us 'mature ladies' to have short hair, I do not

7- we don't have electricity all the time so needing a hair dryer or curling iron is not something I want to worry about

8- my man likes it long

9- ah I like the feel of long wet hair down my back on a warm African evening as I relax with Ron, enjoying a hot cup of tea

10- most of all I always wanted to be like my treasured grand mother who used to have beautiful long grey hair that she wore up on her head, for 93 years

buildings keep going up

2012-01-23T16:50:00.003+03:00

Ron came to Tanzania East Africa to build stuff, and he has been busy since the day we arrived. From missionary housing to the school dining room & kitchen, from 2 round rondavel's to house apprentices & teams to bush church's have been constructed. Here are the latest facilities to go up and start being used, all at the bush Community Health Evangelism Project Site in the Matale area.

This is the CHE Widow & Orphan admin building where we base monthly times to get the sponsored kids and mama's together to receive teaching & food. This is a terrific community effort to help those in their villages that are in real need.

This is the choo (latrine) on the site.

And here is the cook house for this work. When the kids come for the monthly gathering or when a CHE training is going on they come from miles away for the day. No going home for lunch here. They start up the fire, fill the pots with rice & beans or ugali & nyama, and feed all in need. Sharing what you have is just part of life here Africa.

Simple structures but oh what a blessing to have shelter to serve from.

the Serengeti

2012-01-15T10:08:00.004+03:00

We took our first trip of 2012 to take Wendy to language school. Our travels took us through the Serengeti and the annual migration of wildebeest. It was an amazing sight, over 2 million animals all slowly trekking in one direction. But along the way we had some troubles with flat tires, and in this huge park there are no handy service stations. In the end Ron changed 5 tires and we had an unplanned overnight stay in the park. We have lots of funny stories of that 24 hours but what happens in the park stays in the park. :-)

Thankfully we reached Musoma to drop her off before school began.

And we got to enjoy relaxing one evening on the shores of Lake Victoria.

No we did not get in the water, it is full of parasites!

Here are some of God's wonderful creation.

what a hard, fun year --

2012-01-02T14:10:00.002+03:00

Looking back on 2011.

My first year as team leader.

Our 4th year in Africa.

Moved into a house with an indoor bathroom.

My first time on a "piki piki" since high school.

I let my hair grow long like my precious grandmother had.

Getting to spend more time out in the bush with the mobile medical clinics.

Ron still just loves hanging out with the kids.

Was served & actually enjoyed my first 'sour milk'.

Ron perfects using his sling shot chasing the owls from our yard.

Was at the first of many Widow & Orphan CHE event's, led by Heather & Sarah.

Made our first pinyata for a team party, it was a giant red peanut M&M!

Talking to our kids more on our magicjack (thx rebecca).

Had a terrific rest at the coast.

Learning to go green with our rain water catchment & solar equipment.

I think we both grew younger this year?!

chairs

2011-12-26T10:36:00.005+03:00

I enjoy chairs, different & interesting ones.

So here are some of the special places I enjoy here in Africa.

This small sofa is where I start my days, praying & reading His Word.

Here is an iron chair I found at a used furniture store.

I get to sip tea mid morning & watch the beautiful weavers that live in our yard.

This seat is for greeting the dogs each day.

They sleep in the house & get loved on before they go out to guard the yard for the day.

A goat chair, yes from real goat hide.

Under the Banda we keep these cause if they get wet you can guess what they smell like, yuck.

But it is a nice place out of the sun or rain to eat lunch outside.

My favorite is a rocking chair, but they are uncommon here in Africa.

This was made from a picture, not perfect but on the uneven cement floors it will do.

Afternoon is another good tea time for me.

Iron work is common and usually cheaper than wood.

So we like to sit by the fire at night, the stars are amazing in this half of the world.

Love this big red reading chair.

And of course I need a blanket every evening, any time of the year.

Our newest addition.

This is a great place for me to do what I love this time of the year.

A quiet place to dream & plan.

A peaceful place to watch the owls & butterflies.

A simple place to Be Still with Him.

A calm place to hear the breeze through the trees.

When I sit and take a deep breath,

my different CHAIRS become anchors for my soul.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-20T09:24:00.004+03:00

While missing my kids who are back in the states, I am blessed to have sweet times of celebration with friends here in Africa.

This is our training center staff Christmas Party. Ron & I are with some of our wonderful partners in this work; Julius, Lulu, Olias, and Joseph.

Merry Christmas to all, as we remember the birth of our King!

thank you Sara

2011-12-12T15:49:00.004+03:00

We had a really fun gal with us for the past 4 months, Sara. She is one of the apprentices who came to Africa to live and work and be part of the team for a bit. I am so grateful for her smile, fun attitude, hard work, willingness to be outside her comfort, and terrific eye when taking photos. God sent her to our team at the perfect time and she has blessed us. Here are some shots others took as we all did life together.

Sara & Margaret became fast friends.

This southern gal is always ready to pose.

Playing the accordian in Tanzania, really?!

She dearly loves these kids.

Wow, coffee to go in Africa, another first!

THANKS for coming, and we pray for you on the next leg of your journey.

an african party

2011-11-28T11:50:00.003+03:00

Don & Anne visiting from the US, getting to know our Tanzanian friends.

What a fun time sharing the joys & challenges of this work.

Goat being prepared for the guests- kill, skin, clean, roast!

Ron likes roasted goat, nyama choma, and usually eats my share.

The almost completed admin building for our new CHE project site.

This small structure is a foundation for much work.

Prayers & encouragement from Pastor Don.

Prayers for this land and these people to be salt & light to their world.

Community Health Education trainers seeking God's blessings & guidance.

These are hearts committed to transforming their communities.

Mama Janet, my sweet friend, gets her training certificate.

Blessing this work is a real blessing to us.

playing 'corn hole'

2011-11-14T09:10:00.005+03:00

Here is Lulu getting the hang of this game.

All of us need something fun to do after a long hard day at school or work. So Ron brought a game here to Africa from our family back in the United States, corn hole. He made the board & Judy made the corn bags.

Next we needed to teach them the rules. That was interesting as they are good at making up rules for things. First they were subtracting the low score from the high score?? Doing that the game never ends, oh brother. After a few days and laughter we think they have it.

Here you can see the students in the background watching & learning & getting ready to get in the game.

These days you can find someone throwing a bag just about any time of the day.

Ron & Steve get to enjoy it for a bit too. Not long after they began, students came to jump in. Even the mama's get in on the action, which is unusual here.

The staff stay on long after their shifts are finished just to play & laugh a bit. John & Loserian want to win this one!

You know we even get to teach them that God wants us to play & have fun, to work together with others to accomplish something, to cheer each other on.

I think God is smiling down on this Corn Hole Game.

jenga

2011-11-07T12:20:00.004+03:00

Jenga in kiswahili is build, and Ron is busy overseeing that work out in the bush. The second Community Christian Church of Tanzania has its foundation done.

On the same site a second building is going up for the administration of the Communities CHE Widow & Orphan Assistance project. The walls are ready to go up this week.

Local leaders include on the left Joseph the CMF CHE trainer, Daniel the church pastor, Joseph another church planter, and Chui the fundi or contractor.

We love this land that God has created & set aside for this work. And we pray our help will assist these people to have a place to teach God's call to Love One Another.

His Creation Restores My Soul

2011-11-05T14:49:00.006+03:00

elephants

the sea

starfish

fish for a feast

baobab trees covered with giant ferns

sunrise

rested & ready to return home

mobile clinic

2011-10-11T19:00:00.007+03:00

Childhood immunizations. Something we take for granted in many countries. Here in Tanzania the government pays for the medicines and the nurses to do the injections but they do not have the resources to transport these clinics into some of the most remote areas. So we are helping.

Every month in 4 of our rural church areas we have our local leaders get the word out that a mobile clinic will be coming. We pick up the medicines & nurses and drive the rough roads to get to the tree under which we hold the clinic. The mama's come with babies, we weigh them and keep track of their growth as we get them the immunizations.

These shots are life saving in a country where many are not immunized and where people are generally undernourished so their bodies cannot fight common diseases. During our last clinic, a local 3 year old died from measles. In fact 1 in 5 of the under 5 year olds not immunized dies in this part of the world.

One of the beautiful babies.

We help were we can, even loading the supplies.

A nurse getting things ready in the back of the cruiser, our clinic.

Dads helping weigh the kids on a scale hanging from a tree.

Pre natal visits including HIV testing is a big part of this preventative work.

A happy mama, giving her child a chance at life, coming to the clinic.

Just like all kids, it hurts!

Their medical supplies, syringes, charts- in a cardboard box.

Medicines for common illnesses that you never see in most countries these days.

One of the sweet kids holding his chart and eye infection medicine.

Another day here in Africa.

little moments

2011-09-26T20:11:00.010+03:00

this is really a sign leading to our hotel for the night, really it is

ron is trying to lead a donkey, not sure what he was thinking

the beautiful site God gave us to begin the CHE widows & orphans project

steve & the kids playing with what they have, bottle caps

at a preschool the kids out front waiting to see us while the teacher comes to welcome us

rebecca holding a baby goat, maybe a good next pet for her 2 little boys?

two of our precious children in the nursery school on the training center for 15 weeks while their parents are in class

don't miss the joy & beauty in those 'little moments'

so little food

2011-09-13T15:14:00.009+03:00

There is drought & famine in East Africa. You have probably seen it on the news, pictures from Somalia. All of the eastern part of the continent is suffering from missed crops, no employment, and sky rocketing food prices. That includes Tanzania.

Our Community Christian Churches of Tanzania saw the need to help the hungry right here. We prayerfully asked a partner organization, IDES, for help purchasing food. And with that assistance, the CCCT churches got to work.

A community leader, CMF staff, and good friend, coordinated the manpower and communication and getting the food to a central location. You see Ron & Steve (our nieces husband) helping Joseph carry a heavy 100 kilo's of unga.

This day workers from the churches & CMF gathered along with people from over 800 needy families as we prepared our hearts & hands to help. Local leaders spoke of God's love and provision when we look to Him for all of our needs. Prayers were offered as thanksgiving for what was about to take place. And we were not without singing & dancing as a celebration for the event.

The work began with measuring beans . . .

and handing out oil. . .

and finally dumping the corn into bags.

The areas were set up by church, having a list of those in need living in that village. Carefully the food was handed out and recorded as one by one a family member came to receive enough food for the next few weeks.

It was a day of new sights & sounds, learning & serving, joy & weariness for all of us, including our guests my niece & her husband. Laughing with the children, smiling to the mostly mama's who would be traveling home with the food, and listening to lively conversations in Maasai language that we do not understand filled the day.

Mama's walking home with 20 kilo's of corn balanced on their head, as we pile into the cruiser to ride home.

Life & work here is full of contrasts but for now we help who we can.

Another grateful day in Africa, seeing new churches caring for their villages.

the gift of friends

2011-08-29T12:14:00.003+03:00

When we were coming to Africa our first prayer was to have real friends. We were not surprised when God quickly answered that request. Sosi & Spora have been cherished friends for the past 3 years. We know and love their kids. Have shared many meals & laughs together. And they have met our families as they come to visit. Finally we got to spend time with Sosi's mama. She now recovers from falling into a fire so cannot use her hands much and needs to be carried to get out of the house.

On this day she is waiting for her visitors outside her home. She was one of 8 wives. Lived in a group of houses with other wives of 1 husband. Had 9 kids. She does not know how old she is, but thinks about 300 - HA! Her humor shows as she spends time wondering why she is still alive. She knows Jesus, but wonders why he still wants her around. No homes for the elderly here, family and neighbors take care of each other. That is the African way.

Her hands holding some extra milk money left by her visitors, now her new friends.

yikes- bats & snakes

2011-08-18T12:02:00.003+03:00

Here are some things Ron gets to see when he is out in the bush.

This is the first BAT. Just at dusk as he is relaxing with a cup of Chai

he looks up in the tree near the truck and sees this fellow.

This snake was along the road as he was driving between Church Planter

homes. So he was in the truck and could safely stop and take a picture.

Anyone have an idea what kind it is, we don't know??

One trip I was glad not to be a part of.

more faces of africa

2011-08-02T10:12:00.005+03:00

big bird!

2011-07-26T09:44:00.002+03:00

Ok, out in the bush here in Africa you can see some very interesting animals. This prehistoric looking giant bird is a Kori Bustard. Ron saw this on one of his recent trips out camping in the rural parts of the country. Average size is about 40 inches- yikes.

Locals say this bird is good to eat. Now how do you get one when there are no guns or bows used. Do you think you could chase this guy down and kill him with your panga (big knife)?

a hard days work

2011-07-21T16:21:00.003+03:00

We have cows on the training center to supply milk during school. But with the drought there is very little grass to feed them. So we located 500 bails of hay.

Ron & Bill helped, but mostly these guys carried & stacked it all into the 'barn'.

Not quite like Iowa but still a hot scratchy hard days work.

Here are the cows getting a taste, and they are lov'n it!

good african friends

2011-07-17T18:54:00.006+03:00

Ruth & Elinipa. What fun gals! Up at 5 am to ride 4 hours to decorate a church for opening day, sitting on a pile of bricks toasting with some HOT chai before the celebration begins, then after a 4 hour service we chowed down some meat & rice before a 4 hour ride back home.

Still laughing 13 hours later!

july 4th fun

2011-07-14T15:02:00.006+03:00

We have to make a special effort to celebrate our American Holidays, like the 4th of July. This year we were at the Wash's home with their family and friends, and an American Flag made out of legos.

And of course no party with kids is complete without sparklers, who ever found those. This is Oleg enjoying the fun.

Me & some of the girls, Heather and Tami. I look like the mom with her middle school kids, yikes.

Eating under the banda, not a tradition in the US but it is here.

Ok, here is my gift from a Tanzanian friend, my chicken. I think I was supposed to take it and deal with it, but that is what I have other Tanzanian friends for :)

Robert our school cook graciously took things in hand and here he is cutting the chickens throat, again I should know how to do this.

And now he is plucking the feathers after dipping it in hot water. Then he cleaned it and Ruth fried it to take to picnic. Not exactly like southern fried chicken, but it was good.

Happy Freedom Celebration America!

resident FALCON

2011-07-04T09:03:00.004+03:00

Here he is, a new found friend here on the center.

He looks like a Peregrine Falcon.

How cool is that!

Fun to be on the look out for him when walking around :)

The world is full of His Glory!

a week of celebrations

2011-06-26T18:55:00.003+03:00

The last 7 days have been a fun & busy time with all of our african friends.

We had the Blessing of taking a car load (12 people) to the opening of the Enkewa Church out in the bush.

This is the first bush church building for CMF TZ and Ron to help get built.

Many of our african friends seen here are singing and dancing their way into the building.

God is growing his church through many of these people, each week seeing more people come to Christ.

During the 4 hour service, many of the young ladies were very interested in Heather's long hair, so they had fun braiding it.

Heather & family joined the team here in Tz last January, and we love sharing this work with them and their 4 kids.

Along with training church planters, we also have planned times to disciple the graduates as they work to grow their churches.

Here is a group of church planter's who have been growing together, as they sing Praise for God's Blessings.

More of our friends and co workers in this work, Elinipa & Ruth, having Chai after decorating the church for the celebration.

They always add laughter to our times of work here in Africa.

The church as we drive home, ending a 13 hour day traveling & singing & laughing & eating!

This is the first of many church buildings we hope to help get built for the new believers to worship in.

Then just a few days later we are back at the center honoring a group of graduates as they finish 15 weeks of studies.

They sing to us and share with us their hearts as they prepare to go back to the bush to teach others the life God wants for them.

We always love seeing the children share what they have learned.

And on the right you can see a proud grandpa watching on.

A final picture of the 6 families as they say their goodbyes and get ready for the new life of bringing others to Jesus.

A Wonderful Week of Celebrating African Style!

little Amos

2011-06-15T09:19:00.005+03:00

Here is the newest member of the CMF staff family, little Amos! At only 4 weeks old he was very alert, smiling and making small contentment sounds. The beginning of life is such a beautiful thing, all around the world! Their home is near the training center so it was a short walk to see this cute little guy. He has an older sister & brother. Their dad works at the center as a driver and grounds keeper.

We are very blessed to have these gentle people as part of our staff. The training center would not be all that it is without our Tz workers. It was a joy to take the expected gifts of a baby blanket & hat, and a kanga for mama. And they shared the usual bottled warm soda's with us

Anodi, the very proud baba (dad) showed us his shamba (garden or farm), 2 cows, 4 rabbits and 15 chickens. As we tromped through his dry fields we talked about me growing up on a farm. He asked, "did Joe your son herd your cows (as african kids do)?" We smiled and said no, my dad took care of them. He had a puzzled look as that is certainly not the Tanzanian way.

This month he is on likizo (vacation) but it is no vacation as we know it. He is taking care of his land, harvesting his beans, so he has much work to do. African's usually take their vacations to do other work.

A wonderful day celebrating life with friends and co-workers.

buildings going up

2011-06-05T12:33:00.005+03:00

These past weeks have been exciting times seeing physical structures going up, in the name of God's Kingdom Work.

Here is a Community Christian Church of Tanzania church building being finished. A partner church in Colorado Springs provided the funding, while this community gave materials & labor. This building will house a church family of over 300 on Sundays & be a nursery school site during the week!

Ron has also been able to travel to Ethiopia and help the CMF team outside of Addis Ababa with a project. He spent 4 weeks setting steal & bricks for additional housing on the teams compound. Great time renewing friendships, guiding short term team members, and just getting to swing his hammer!

Another completed project was a block of pit latrines for the preschool on the CMF training center back in Tanzania. Now the kiddos will not have to run across the land and try to make it to the main latrines. This facility is right outside their classroom.

Jenga (building in swahili) to have the place to do this work is what God brought Ron here to do, and he loves his job!

Home with the BOYS

2011-05-23T13:30:00.007+03:00

Ron and I have been in Ethiopia for a few weeks helping the CMF team there with a construction project. We stayed on their compound and as most center's in Africa, they have dogs. It made me miss ours.

Here is Wingu, (cloud in swahili) one of the protectors at our house. He is a rodesian ridgeback mixed with golden lab. The gentle giant is what we call him.

Then there is Kivuli, (shadow in swahili). He is the brother, ridgeback but mixed with rotweiler. This is the small 'kali' or intense one of the two

Ron is still working out of the country, so at night when the power is out and it is very still & dark, I am sleeping really well knowing these guys are on the watch.

While we were gone, they could be heard howling at times. Our neighbors would say, someone go see 'the boys' cause I think they are lonely. The staff did a great job taking care of them, but we kind of spoil them, if you know what I mean.

neighbor couple

2011-04-25T12:30:00.004+03:00

Here is a male Reichnow's Weaver right outside our living room window gathering grass for his home. Always on the move so he is hard to photograph.

Now you can see the female Weaver on our hedge watching the male hard at work. Nature quite often gives us a good example of the best way to get things done. :)

Last post for a bit as we are off to help our friends with CMF in Ethiopia and will probably not have this kind of internet access. So enjoy these images of TZ & we will be back again in about a month.

creepy

2011-04-23T09:33:00.002+03:00

don't like everything here in Africa

monitor lizard coming way too close

not at our house thankfully

a bush blessing

2011-04-12T11:59:00.016+03:00

Last week Ron & I went back to the bush. One of our favorite places to go. It is very rural and herding animals or planting crops is 'bout all you see.

This time we get to be part of a celebration for one of the

Community Health Evangelism projects. They have built a chicken house and have begun raising chickens as a small

business.

One of the members of a local CHE group is proudly feeding the chickens, to get them to gather for everyone to admire. Joseph, one of CMF's trainers for CHE, his daughter Gracie and I were standing in front of the kuku house.

It is in the most basic things of life that many of these people place value and receive joy. Learning new ways to provide food and income for their families is one of them.

Here is most of the group that is working in the community to learn some of these new better living ways, and then they turn around and teach their neighbors. In addition to the physical lessons they share spiritual truths too.

I was honored to get to say a blessing during the day, to ask for favor as they continue to learn and share their work. It was a challenge but I made it through doing it all in Kiswahili. Not everyone understood me, as many only speak the Maasai language, but that is way beyond what I can do.

This beautiful little one is Joseph's grand daughter.

And I am holding the youngest child of James, another of our CMF staff. We had a special day with our friends; seeing their work, praying for them, and of course sharing a roasted goat!

the dhow

2011-03-29T12:49:00.004+03:00

We had the blessing of a short trip to the coast, just Ron & I. Solitude was the name of the game where we went. No internet, no electricity (generator for 5 hours a day), no cars (but ours), no motorboats.

Decided to go out in the traditional boat called a dhow. Yes that is right, we went out on the ocean in that, once the tide came in and once I had taken my 'motion sick' pills :)

Our trip was to a sand bar out in the middle of the water, with trees that are mostly under water when the tide is in. It was magnificent.

The population was gaggles of birds like these greater flamingo.

We also saw crab plover, little egret, and black heron.

Here are some 'marching' yellow-billed storks.

I just sat letting the waves wash over me while I listened to the sounds of nature and soaked in the calm of this place.

We experienced a wonderful quiet, around us and in our souls.

A whole different kind of sabbath --

rain water

2011-03-19T17:11:00.003+03:00

Yes, it is raining lots this week.

We just got our water catchment tank finished so it can fill up.

Here is Jackson, the fundi who built it.

He sewed bags together to make a form, then filled it with saw dust, and covered it with the cement.

After it cured 3 days he took the bag & saw dust out.

He literally goes inside and scopes it out.

Sort of like paper mache?!

Here it is, next to the house, connected to the gutters.

Rain water tastes wonderful!

yikes, be careful with that pressure cooker

2011-03-07T10:37:00.004+03:00

We live in a country where the meat is not corn fed or even grain fed like we are used to in the west. So we who want tender meat have to have tricks up our sleeve when in the kitchen. I have marinated & brined & slow cooked and those work pretty well. The best by far is the pressure cooker- what a nice tender piece of meat you get.

. . . but you have to be careful. Last week I was cooking a beautiful beef 'fillet' (pronounced fill it) after marinating it over night. It was dark outside by the time I was making our meal so Ron & I were hungry. After cooking this 1 kilo piece of 'nyama' (meat) in the pressure cooker about 40 min, I turned off the heat and let the steam out of the pot. I was explaining to Ron that you have to get the built up pressure out before you open it so it won't explode.

Well, I did not wait long enough and when I turned the handle to open it, it exploded right in my face. YIKES! The juice flew all over the cabinets, the meat flew across the kitchen, and I got caught in the crossfire! I quickly ran to the sink, pulled off my shirt (hoping the guards were not right outside the house) and splashed cold water on my face and neck.

You can see I got burned, Ron cleaned up the kitchen including the meat bits on the ceiling, and we ended up enjoying the wonderfully cooked meat.

Burns in Africa, it could have been bad, but it only hurt the first night, and the special burn cream I had been carrying around with us for 3 years now came in handy.

Lesson learned: no haraka (quickly) when it comes to pressure cookers, only pole pole (slowly).

we begin again--

2011-03-04T14:02:00.007+03:00

School begins again for 6 families and 13 children. I wanted to share some of the people we get the joy of knowing and being with for the next 17 weeks.

This is Mataio, he is Maasai.

This is Yakobo with his son, they are Digo.

These 3 ladies are all from the Maasai tribe and do know know Swahili, so their husbands translate for them.

And of course the kids. They do not know Swahili either, but their smiles & waves & laughter say it all.

By the end we will find ways to communicate and share our lives with each other, us learning from them as they learn from us.

speckled mousebird

2011-02-21T09:43:00.003+03:00

Ok, so I got a book to learn about all of the wonderful birds here in Africa. My goal is to see how many of the species in the Birds of East Africa book I can find. The beauty & variety of birds here is pretty amazing.

God reminds us to 'look at the birds', to rest in the amazing creation here for us to enjoy. All we have to do is stop a bit, and see what is right in front of us sometimes.

So here you go, mousebirds watching ME on the window grate right outside the window. Pretty cool!

faces of the BUSH

2011-02-14T09:15:00.004+03:00

Ron went to the Bush last week. First trip since returning from the US. It is a hard 3 days, but it is always a reminder of why we are here. We see it in the people. Here is a young man who has been orphaned by disease so he is living with friends He wants to someday teach the younger children of the village. This day he helps Ron rebuild a latrine/choo that has blown down. Don't be fooled by his face, he is not angry, just serious.

Here is a women's meeting after church. They gather to share and learn and support each other, all under a simple tree. This is part of the congregation that is working with CMF to construct a building to use for meetings on Sunday and then as a classroom during the week.

And here is Joseph's mama. She is Maasai. She is maybe 80 years old, they often do not know their age. Ron has a bracelet and I now have a walking stick beaded by her hands. They don't always smile for pictures but she has a warm welcoming heart.

Ron returns tired & dirty & grateful for what we learn from these people.

owls

2011-02-10T19:36:00.003+03:00

Got to love the 2 giant owls living in our yard.

They are supposed to eat the rats and snakes, right?!

. . . water continued

2011-02-03T09:07:00.002+03:00

A reminder that each day brings the unexpected here on this continent. Our water situation is not as settled as we thought. Now we get news that the flow might not be enough for the needs as we grow the work here at the school. And we are again concerned about bacteria in the water. So we move forward testing & treating & measuring the water that is coming.

We do have water coming out of the bore hole. We can use the water for cooking & cleaning, for the animals, and for the garden. We are thankful to have a better situation than we did a month ago. We pray for God's guidance for the future.

And we praise Him for what He provides as we consider our options.

precious water

2011-01-27T19:31:00.003+03:00

Water is precious here in Africa. On the training center we need a steady flow of it to keep the school running. We have been without it coming from our well (bore hole) for many months now. It is hard to explain why we did not have water: the water table changed, or the pump (pictured here) was not working, or the water was contaminated from neighboring fields, or it just ran dry. So many opinions after much inspection and debate.

Now after another inspection. another measurement of the water level, another test for contamination after a chemical shock, and replacing the pump and pipe twice (pictured here) ---we actually have water flowing freely. Once we get a clean test we can stop trucking water and seem to have a good 20 meter depth supply.

What happened? Only God knows for sure, but we are grateful for all of the prayers offered up for our water. And we are so thankful for the generous partners who are paying for all of this work and repair to keep us supplied with this water. This water keeps us teaching how to share the message of the precious "living water" with so many who thirst but do not know.

first injury

2011-01-15T17:46:00.004+03:00

We are back in Africa! It is so wonderful to be here. Our first week has been getting settled into a different house, which is great and a lot of work. All of our things from the other place had been moved before we got back, so we had furniture and boxes of stuff to sort through. One evening we decided to enjoy the upstairs balcony. You can see there is a terrific view, but it is through the security grate that is on every window and opening in every Tanzanian house. It can be in the way but on this day we were glad to have it. Once out we closed the door and realized we were locked out. Great!

It was late in the day so we were pretty much alone. We looked back through the window and could move the screen but the grate on the window prevented us from using that escape route. The view is over peaceful farm land, but it was quiet out there too as every one was at home as they usually are when it gets dark. As we looked through the cross bars it looked like a good way to climb down. So up over the side Ron goes!

Something we thought about later, maybe not good to climb down right where the swinging door is. Too late as Ron is half way down and the door swings and he has to grab on for dear life till it swings back for him to stand on. It was then that he winced, and felt a sting across his left chest muscle. But he did make it, got down and back in the house to unlock the patio door.

We love the patio in the late afternoon after a busy day, but we don't lock that door any more till we go to bed. So glad friends sent along a bunch of ibuprophen to get Ron through his first 'back in Africa' injury.

. . . departing images

2010-12-31T01:11:00.007+03:00

-snowing finally here in Denver, but I'm ready for HOT

-amazing time in Mexico, got my girl MARRIED this year!

-loud show at the SUMMIT, my son the drummer

- the girls in DOWNTOWN Denver

- adding up the score, the Richmond CUP (golf)

- family at THANKSGIVING, how do you say 'Worsheshire'

- so beautiful near GOTHIC, the answer is 'food fight'

- learning to FLY fish, oh really learning patience

Our time in the states is over and we are going back to Tanzania East Africa with lots of fun memories with family and friends. Thanks everyone for sharing your lives with us. It has been great. Now we are ready to get back to work. See you back here in 2012!!

grateful for . . .

2010-11-27T00:35:00.003+03:00

- good friends sharing their home with us

- starbuck's short soy chai

- daughter's determination

- hot hot mexican food

- husband's warm hands holding mine

- internet communication

- son's artistic expression in music

- indoor bathrooms

- life in Africa

- parents encouragement & support

- a chance to serve

- the love of my Lord

good stuff everywhere

2010-11-11T22:21:00.010+03:00

Sunrise- Estes Park CO
Sunrise- Arusha TZ

Hiking Gem Lake CO
Exploring the Indian Ocean TZ
Ron walking in CO
Jane Ann cuddling in Ethiopia
Big cat watching in TZ
Big buck resting in CO
Mt Kilimanjaro TZ
The Rockies CO
We had a terrific time at Estes Park last weekend, soaking up the beauty. But there are beautiful things and people all over the world. Spent time being grateful for here and there.

2 months

2010-11-02T03:16:00.002+03:00

We are now on a 2 month time line to get back to Africa. Here are some of the things we need to do or finish before we jump on that plane:

teeth checked and cleaned
update our legal papers
receive our new passports
finish our immunizations
clean out and close out our storage unit
get new calendars (i love doing this)
send off christmas notes
complete our annual report for churches and CMF
me get new glasses
recheck our cholesterol levels (see if diet & exercise have helped)
meet with team mates here in the states
help Joe get moved into an old house downtown (Ron doing repairs)
sell the car we are using
shop for tools, clothes, gifts to take back
quick trip to visit mom & sisters in Minneapolis
get some new music into the iPod
celebrate Christmas with kids in Estes Park
quick trip to Montana for Ron to do Blessing Ceremony for friends wedding
get back into physical working shape (too much good food!)
get copies of updated family pics & frames to take back
bone up on our Kiswahili

Oh my gosh time will fly by-

the beach

2010-10-19T05:28:00.005+03:00

I like the beach. It brings me into a calm place when I hear the continuing crashing and gentle lapping waves. Seeing the unending blue water is reassuring. The breeze rushing over me is peaceful. The birds and other beach animals are joyful to watch. The sun rise and sun set over the water are awe inspiring times. The whole idea of what the in and out of the tide controls has a wonderful mystery to it. Being at the beach and taking in everything that is so beyond little old me nurtures my soul. I just wanted to share some of the wonderful 'beach' times I have had recently.

a favorite place

2010-09-29T03:27:00.002+03:00

We got to stop by a favorite place today, fisherman's terminal in Seattle Washington. A place where the working fishermen dock their boats is also a place of remembering those who lost their lives while fishing, and has a special place to enjoy tasty seafood.
It seems so personal to see the memorials left by families, and wander among the individually named docked fishing boats. These are ordinary people working in hard physical conditions. Growing up on a farm I feel affinity with simple work using your hands. It is important but sometimes forgotten work.
And the yummy food at Chinook's included halibut fish 'n chips and blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Good memories from the day, and from our 3 years living here.

my son the musician

2010-09-13T19:55:00.002+03:00

One of the cool things I get to do while in the states is see and hear my son play music.

Mountains of fun

2010-09-07T19:43:00.010+03:00

What a great time over Labor Day weekend in the mountains. We were at my brother-in-laws cabin between Crested Butte and Marble- an absolutely beautiful part of Colorado. Getting to spend a couple of quiet days in the midst of God's perfect creation was a gift in the midst of our busy time in the states.

We borrowed our friends 'bumble bee' to get us over the Africa like roads to get there. There were 9 of us in a small rustic log home with the comforts of an out house and wood burning stove. Saturday was fishing the mountain stream and sharing time in the sun on the deck and of course a corn hole competition. Dinner was a group effort to prepare fish, potatoes, and salad- yum. Then we laughed our way through half of the night playing Catchphrase. Unfortunately the guys won with FOOD FIGHT. 3 big dogs also shared our space as we juggled into our sleeping arrangements for a few hours.

Sunday's morning sun warmed the cold air as we woke to a ruckus from the dogs encountering a porcupine and a golden retriever's face filled with quills. Yikes! Pliers and patience got most of them pulled out. After breakfast we head out to the falls. The sight and sound and even smell of it was amazing. As we headed back, ideas of a short cut over the stream ended with me toppling backwards into the freezing mountain water. Oh my gosh it was cold. Thankfully just a sore back and wounded pride were the only causalities.

Everyone else had to head home while Ron & I got to stay till Monday. Suddenly all is quiet, I am wrapped in blankets close to the stove to get warm, and calm peaceful tired overtakes me. We nap, and eat, and crawl into bed with gentle rain tapping on the tin roof- ah a reminder of Africa. On the long slow trip home we enjoyed the view and treasured the memories.

Missing Africa

2010-08-31T00:49:00.002+03:00

We return to Tanzania January 5th. That makes our time back in the states about half over. It is going fast when I think about spending time with our kids. But some days like today I think about our home now which is back in Africa, and I miss it. The familiar feel of our foam mattrice bed inside the mosquito net, the laughter of Ruth who takes care of our house, the cool hard cement floor, our dogs (Wingu & Kivuli) running to the back door for a treat, the pitch dark outside at night, being called 'mama josefu'. All things I had to get used to, but are now a comfort to me.

In some ways I even miss the bumpy ride to town, getting dressed in the night to go outside to the bathroom, beans & rice, the never ending sights & sounds of people and animals walking along the side of the roads, dung beetles dive bombing us in the evenings, even lighting candles when the electricity goes off.

Enjoying this time but holding on to the thoughts of our return to AFRICA.

family fun times

2010-07-23T04:30:00.003+03:00

We have had lots of good times these past 2 weeks visiting family and friends during our travels.

Here are Ron's parents and our rock star 'Joe' at a family picnic before we took off on our road trip.

Our first stop was Dubois Wyoming, where my 86 year old aunt Leota shared her beautiful home and the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in! We should all be so energetic at that age.

Then we flew through Montana on our way to Minnesota where had a great time visiting my mom and sister's home. Cataract surgery for mom, golf, Compatable Technology International, Twins baseball and 'Despicable Me' filled our days.

Here are the gals; me with my sister and mom and niece.

On to Indianapolis . . .

first furlough, first road trip

2010-07-07T02:20:00.003+03:00

Monday we start our first road trip and we are excited.

Here is our schedule:

July 12 in Wyoming
July 13-15 in Montana
July 16-22 in Minnesota
July 24-30 in Indiana
July 31 in Missouri
Aug 1-2 in Kansas
Aug 4-22 in Iowa and Nebraska ( where I grew up )

If you want to catch up with us just give me a call: 720.224.3743

We are back in Colorado for a month and then take off for the Northwest 5 week trip. I will be working on that schedule soon so you west coast people hang on, we are coming!

Pray for safety as we travel to enjoy some good conversations and lots of laughter along the way.

to each his own

2010-07-05T05:09:00.006+03:00

Starting this week we are in full gear having fun on our US home assignment. Here is Ron learning to fly fish at Cottonwood Lake in Colorado. What a perfect day to soak up the sunshine and embrace the beauty of this place. We love Colorado and it will always be a haven for us to recharge our batteries.

Ron is patiently working to tie on a tiny fly and about 20 minutes later he casts out about 3 times before needing another fly. He did catch 5 or 6 fish and really felt successful. After working most of the day with lots of gear including magnifying glasses just to see the tiny equipment , falling twice in the deep muck with waders on, and getting major sunburn on his ears, he had a great adventure.

Not my idea of a fun time. The frustration would have set in at about the 1 hour mark. My day was the best, sitting on the side of the lake having wonderful conversation and reading a good book. And of course soaking in the cool breeze and mountain majesty. Oh, I got sunburned too. You would think it was our first time in the mountains or something.

Thanks for a great time Nancy & Hunter!

changed

2010-05-31T22:04:00.002+03:00

This week we are off to the mountains outside of Colorado Springs. Looking forward to the beauty and quiet. But also will be contemplating our past and dreaming about the future.

We have changed. It is interesting to face the transformation that we were told by many people would happen. For the past 2 1/2 years we have lived in another world. The reality is life is a continual journey to be molded by our experiences and relationships as time moves on.

Our family & friends have also changed, that is just what happens. Nothing ever stays the same, but it is much more evident when you go away and come back. Now we learn each other again.

So we will celebrate and grieve the past, and then dream and prepare for what is next.

Scary and exciting times!

. . . we are back

2010-05-17T03:48:00.002+03:00

After an April full of team meetings, travels through Kenya, and packing for 7 months away- we are finally back! It is wonderful and strange to be here.

Some first impressions:

-thank you to my sweet TZ team for having me come back early to spend some precious time with Nicole getting things in place for her wedding, we are having a terrific time full of fun memories!

-the older I get the harder it is for me to be away from my husband, my life jacket & anchor, my cheer leader & coach, my bed warmer, my laughter, my MAN!

-things that seem a bit strange: nobody is walking, it is light before 7am, you don't need cash to buy things, I miss hearing & speaking Swahili, it is COLD, soooo many choices!

-time moves so quickly that I feel like I am in slow motion!

-tough to live without a computer and car, so am totally thankful to have both in place now!

-though I seem to be crossing many things off of my to do list each day it gets bigger, but that is part of the fun of this our home assignment: the unexpected, the surprises, the changes, the challenge of keeping up with what ever comes next!

Up next: Nicole's wedding shower and Joe's big show on Saturday the 22nd!

Ron the pastor

2010-03-21T17:56:00.004+03:00

Ron my husband of 29 years is a dad and grand dad, a brother and a really good friend. He came here to be a carpenter and build facilities at a school, but gets to do so much more. He is the taste tester for the cook, always asked to try something fresh baked. He is the ambulance driver for pregnant mama's. He is a teacher, showing the Tanzanian workers everything from painting to building a picnic table. He is a master flat tyre changer, even in the bush while the truck is balanced on big rocks. He is an avid reader now and a golfer when he gets the chance.

Now he is a pastor or mchungaji in kiswahili.

We had a group of our staff graduate from a 10 week training on environmental issues, and Ron gave the challenge. He talked about how it was now their job to share with in their village what they had learned about caring for environment, to better take care of this world God created for us. Using Mark 12:31 as the charge to love and help our neighbors.

He also had devotions with our staff last Monday, sharing from 1 Corinthians 3:9 how they are to work for the Lord in all that they do each day. It is not about what we do, cutting grass or feeding the cows or shopping for supplies or translating at the school, but about doing it the best we can as God's fellow workers.

Next up, he is going to do the ceremony to marry his daughter in June. That may be the most fun and the most difficult yet-

is that a dead person in the back of your truck?

2010-03-11T12:30:00.002+03:00

What happened today? Could be a flat tyre delaying you for hours, or a family in from the bush at your doorstep for a place to stay, or a bad stomach from who knows what you ate keeping you close to the bathroom all day, or no electricity the one day you put a chicken in the crock pot for dinner, or a major acid burn from a nasty Nairobi eye beetle. This time it was something very different.

A knock at the door and an ask for help led Ron on a night journey. He drove to the nearby clinic and picked up a workers sister-in-law who had just died. Three guys from the training center carried her out covered with a blanket lying on a foam matrice, and slid her into the back of the cruiser. Ron receives a paper saying the woman died at 5pm, I guess in case he gets stopped or something. And off he goes to find a hospital with refrigeration until the funeral. No one really knows where to go. So after many stops and some time for Ron to wait in the truck alone with his cargo, they find a place that will take her. A very old man hobbles up wheeling a gurney to the truck, they lift her off of the matrice and keep the blanket to take back to the clinic. Home they went, the guys grateful for the help. Minus Ron's assistance they would have had to 'pay' a taxi to come out and take her into town.

Interesting what we take for grated right?!

every day is a surprise

2010-03-05T19:35:00.004+03:00

Peter and Joloisa, past school graduates were back at the center to attend a Micro Enterprise class. During the week, mama not feeling well was taken to the hospital. A couple hours later baby number 4 for them was born. Mama had never had a baby in the hospital before.

They named her Natingena! A Maasai name meaning 'one of learning & wisdom'.

How fun is this!!

yikes the first snake

2010-02-23T20:20:00.002+03:00

So I hate snakes and have been waiting for one to show up, I knew it would. Today was it. As I walked up to the house, Ruth, our house help stood at the door and said 'nyoka ndani choo'. Are you sure there is a snake in the outdoor bathroom? We went out back, opened the door, and on the outside of the tiny window screen was what looked like a big black long worm. Till it moved and I knew what it was, oh brother.

Of course my phone said no service when I tried to call Ron's phone, so I had to quickly walk up the hill and try to find him. Finally I located him on a ladder on the second floor balcony of another staff house trying to get the birds and a big owl out of their attic. I didn't care what he was doing, 'Ron kwanza nyoka'. He yelled kweli? We both laughed that we were talking to each other in Kiswahili, saying first snake and really?

As we headed back to the house we started bringing the guys, our guards down to help, and as they heard what was going on they quickly picked up sturdy sticks. Once back of course it was off the screen and we could not find it. Oh great! More guys came and questions of if we really saw a snake or just a lizard were flying, all in Kiswahili. I said no way that was a lizard. With one man up on the block fence and 1 by our back gate and 5 banging on the bush behind our choo with big sticks, finally I hear 'hapa' and they aggressively start beating the 16 inch snake that did fall out.

I knew it! They laughed, threw it over our back hedge onto the road, and said 'pole' for not believing Ruth and I. What kind was it, was it a baby, where was the mama snake? Who knows. Here they beat them and chop them beyond recognition. We need to work on that so we can see what we are dealing with. But really who cares- the first one is history.

But I am not looking forward to heading out to the outhouse tonight in the dark.

ok, back writing

2010-01-31T21:02:00.002+03:00

it has been 2 months since i last wrote. not sure why i have been absent. no good reason except other things have occupied my time. i had a terrific visit with my 2 sisters and mom. our computer was over heating and needed some repair work. ron and i took a quick trip to zanzibar for a recharge. our camera died and we just last week were delivered a new one from the states. tomorrow we start our 3rd short training class of 2010. after a 2 year drought we got rain almost every day of december and january. one team member returned home. just finished meeting a couple from the us here on a vision trip to consider joining our team.

but now i am back sharing our journey into africa, to include more pictures when i learn the new equipment. see you soon on this our 3rd year on this adventure--jane ann

extremes

2009-11-22T20:50:00.003+03:00

After over a year without any measurable precipitation causing the worst drought some say since 1965, we are getting RAIN!

The water fills the ditches that that have been empty since we arrived along the drive through the training center.

It is interesting to see how dry and dusty and brown it can be and then in a matter of days how green and wet and flooded this land can get.

At times we get so much rain so fast that our roads become like rivers with the sounds of rushing muddy water outside our back door.

Here are some of the staff, trying to stay dry during one of the many down pours we have seen. And they are decked out in new rain gear-thank you Jim.

We don't pray for it to stop, but it could slow down a bit.

what's new

2009-11-15T17:04:00.004+03:00

Kids are busy running around the center- playing and learning and having fun. Each day they are off to the preschool where they learn numbers and letters in English, play games and sing songs, and work with new things like play dough and bubbles. All this preparing them for government schools at age 7.

Rain has started, how wonderful is the smell and sound of it. And what beautiful things come with it, like my favorite flower the lily.

Mama's are helping prepare the food on a Saturday, peeling banana's they boil like potatoes and use in a stew. You need a lot of prep when you are cooking for 14 students, 17 kids, 10 center staff, and 4 or more school staff each day. Can you imagine doing that over an open fire?

And this week we are moving into our first Rondovel. It is the first of several housing facilities planned for guests and teams and interns and single missionaries. Ron is excited to see his first project going from start to finish done and used by his mother-in-law in about 10 days.

Much to be thankful for as we head into Thanksgiving but here school carries on.

cement floors

2009-11-01T11:12:00.002+03:00

Our Tanzanian home has a cement floor. Yes, that grey mottled looking cement. Throw down a few rugs and I don't even notice it. The 4 steps out our back door on the way to the outside bathroom are also that smooth cement. It is easy to sweep and you don't really notice the dirt and dust so much. So basicly I like them.

But when it gets wet, look out. This morning Ron had his first scare. After a misty day break he was on his way out and down he went. I am talking about hard cement steps. At first you don't know what happened, and then you begin to survey the damage for broken bones, and finally you realize how sore you will be the next day. Thankfully no major injuries. I have had 2 accidents so far, also without any trips to the hospital.

And the inside of the house is the same way. African women are amazing in how they are able to work so hard, including mop floors with a rag in their hands while bending at the waist. They don't like mops and no squatting down or kneeling for them. But I have seen them go down on the wet floors too. Yikes!

I like them, but they are scary. It sure causes me to slow down, which is making me very African!

power

2009-10-26T06:24:00.005+03:00

I am trying to get this post written before our power goes out. Today is an off day. So was last night, and Wednesday night and all day Friday. We are on what they call a 'load shedding schedule' with our electricity. I also need to get busy and make coffee for Ron. Tanesco, our electric company doesn't always stick to the plan. But it has been amazingly close for the last week. Following a plan is usually not the African way. We have a generator we can get going which is loud, takes gas (at $1 a liter or $4 a gallon) and does not have enough power to run everything. But it helps. Something I never did in the US, plan for when we have electricity. No laundry today, no hot water today, and no Internet in about an hour unless we crank up the generator for a bit.

Lots of people here don't even have electricity, so no problems for them.

Just another thing for me to think about as I start my day.

September- viewing Africa with new eyes

2009-10-08T19:14:00.002+03:00

We had a terrific month when our daughter, Nicole, was able to visit us for the first time. A friend said have fun seeing many things again with new eyes, and we did just that. She reminded us how wonderful our house keeper, Ruth, is. And she helped us remember that a flat tire is just plain hard work, no matter how many times it happens. She thought driving on the right side of the car is different but sort of a challenging change. To her our puppies are no longer puppies but big rough lovable boys. And everywhere you turn in Africa there are new creatures to discover and enjoy.

She also told us the best things in Africa are not things because they don't have many things. She loved that people are happy without having much stuff, love to talk and laugh, and are pretty willing to share what they do have. And she would describe life here as 'not easy, or uncomfortable'.

We have the best family and are amazed at how each of them bless our lives, whether right beside us or half a world away.

moleskine

2009-08-22T20:12:00.002+03:00

Well, I love my moleskine. For those who don't know, it is a calendar/journal. I know, it is nuts that I like it so much. Not sure why but I enjoy having them, looking at them, writing in them, carrying them. Calendars are one of my favorite things, that is all there is to it.

Organizing the day, the week, the month, the year feels so good. Sure things will change, that is why I write in pencil, and why Nicole uses so much white out. She loves them too. Writing lists, checking off what gets done, making notes of the things that come to mind. It is all good.

I have tried those fancy electronic ones and it is just not the same. I like the feel of turning the pages. I enjoy looking back. I want to look ahead. It feels good to write, how often do we get to do that anymore.

I have never had a 'moleskine' before and I definitely think it is the best so far. It is a book, I love books, that keeps me organized and I can have it with me all the time. Crazy I know but now I am a happy girl.

hunger- WHAT DO YOU DO

2009-08-15T14:07:00.004+03:00

YOU COME

YOU GREET

YOU CARRY

YOU ASK

YOU LOAD

YOU HOPE

YOU WATCH

YOU PRAY

YOU UNLOAD

YOU SACK

YOU WAIT

YOU DRIVE

YOU BALANCE

Mt. Meru

2009-08-10T20:28:00.006+03:00

We look out our back door and see this beautiful mountain every day.

A friend and teacher at the preschool on the center, Olias, took us to see what is up on this mountain not so far from our home.

After a 45 minute drive on typical difficult African roads we arrived in a different world.

Misty fog hung in the air and cold wind brought us shivers.

Here Olias takes us to visit a local Maasai man and his boma.

We had no idea that this hillside was home to so many people living in their traditional tribal ways.

They even have their cows living inside their home along with the rest of the family- really!!

On our way home we stopped to see another surprise, Colobus Monkeys.

They are shy so they usually run from people.

What a treat to get to watch their antics.

Who knew they lived so close to our home.

Mt Meru. Something new for us each day.

hunger

2009-08-01T13:04:00.002+03:00

It is hard to think about being hungry. I grew up on a farm where you always had food. So when we hear talk of a famine the worst some people have ever seen here, what does that mean?

*children with kwashiorkor (a form of malnutrition that occurs when there is not enough protein in the diet)

*mama's walking over 2 hours to ask for food because they have none

*women digging for small bitter root grass in the fields to cook for their children

*men leaving for big cities looking for work, leaving their wife/wives and children home with nothing, gone for months sending home as little as 10,000 t shillings (8 dollars)

*no government help coming

*no harvest this past year, little the previous year, and nothing growing now

These are our neighbors, people we see walking the roads every day. As we drive by they smile as they carry buckets of water or firewood on their heads. You ask them how they are they say 'we are good' but my kids are hungry.

So we have gotten some funds, from a famine relief group in the states called IDES. These next weeks some school kids, widows, and pregnant mama's will get food. How do you decide who, how do you say no to some of them? We work through the local community groups who know their neighborhoods and the most needy, they make the decisions. Our staff will be helping with the maize flour transport and distribution.

This can be a sad place, it is a hard life, yet they melt you with their smiles, it is Africa.

Why so tired?

2009-07-16T11:34:00.003+03:00

Many days can send us home for a quick nap with our dogs. This week it is framing in cement counters for kitchen cabinets at the school, high winds creating white out conditions on the roads covered with 3 inches of thick dust, an unplanned 3 hour meeting with Maasai men requiring 4 hours of travel on bad dirt roads, instant coffee after remembering closed stores on Sundays, chasing dogs digging in the mud around our newly planted avacado tree, a party to say goodbye where decorating and cooking is a 2 day event, explaining to a metal 'fundi' in Swahili how to build a back yard chair yet not knowing what you will really get, testing for Malaria but relieved at only a chest cold, learning you will be doing the ceremony for your daughters wedding.

Ron, my husband loves it here. Just let him sleep!!

One Year

2009-06-07T08:53:00.011+03:00

June 6th we finished our 1st year in Tanzania and that is amazing to think about.

Sharing some of our blessings-

Becoming friends with the guards who watch over the center and even help us walk our dogs.

Seeing our banana tree grow from my size when planted 9 months ago to having our first fruit.

Witnessing lions resting right on the road.

Watching our first Rondavel for additional housing on the training grounds being built.

Celebrating with 2 training classes and sending 10 families back to remote villages ready to share the story of Jesus.

Sharing days of building repairs out in the bush.

Enjoying the first flowers from our 'trumpet' tree after it being run over, chewed on, and knocked down 3 times by our dogs.

Laboring with loads of gravel just to get to and from the store.

Helping a mama get her malnourished baby to a hospital for much needed care.

Enjoying the beautiful beginning of another day.

it's a celebration

2009-05-31T17:52:00.003+03:00

After several months of classes teaching 5 families about literacy, Farming God's Way, marriage and family, leadership, Community Health Evangelism, and Bible- we had a big party to celebrate their graduation.

African parties are full of singing and dancing and music. They

grow up dancing, each in their own tribal way. It is fun to see how they express themselves so freely, I envy that.

Then there is the food! We had roast kuku (yes chicken), pilau (rice and spices and beef), mince (hamburger like patties) , roasted bananas, deep fried potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, oranges and watermellon, and of course keki (cake) and we even had ice cream (they rarely get that). And always there is warm soda in bottles- coke, orange fanta, and sprite.

We had the students and kids, their guests some of who arrived on pikipiki's (motorcycles), most of the teachers from the past 4 months, a short term team here from Pikes Peak Christian Church in Colorado Springs, the center staff, and us the CMF missionaries.

It was with lots of joy and also saddness that we honored them, their hard work, their desire to transform their villages back in the far reaches of Tanzania, their serving hearts. You see in this short time together we have become friends. And as they leave to begin their work out in the porini (bush), we are never sure when we will get to see them again.

We are grateful for their friendship. And we send them out with our love and encouragement and prayers. Maybe we will see them again and can laugh, and eat, and sing & dance together once more.

wazungu??

2009-05-26T18:28:00.006+03:00

This is Lorivi.

He is scared of us, can you tell?

This little guy has never been around white people before.

His parents call us wazungu (white people).

We call them our rafiki (friends).

Saturday we must say kwaheri (good bye).

Ok, we look funny to him but he is getting used to us.

His mom & dad graduate tomorrow.

We are happy for them but sad to see them go.

Wonderful times with beautiful people.

RONDAVEL

2009-05-17T20:27:00.008+03:00

rondavel- a traditional african round house made with local raw materials

Here is Ron at the site of our newest project. This is the beginning of our first of several rondavels at the training center. You can see where the foundation is being constructed with blocks by a local 'fundi' and his crew. Next you will see the walls go up.

Plans are for a group of these to house CMF apprentices on the training center. They will come learn and work and experience African living as they make decisions about their futures in long term cross cultural work. We hope to use the housing for short term teams as well.

I will keep you posted on the progress!

moms . . .

2009-05-10T18:54:00.003+03:00

Just a mosquito bite--

2009-04-30T09:20:00.007+03:00

No, here it is more than a bug bite.

Female mosquitoes often carry parasites.

Malaria is real and serious here.

Over 3,000 kids DIE every year from it.

There are drugs to prevent you from getting sick.

Most people in Africa cannot afford it.

You can cut your chances of getting sick in half by sleeping under nets.

Most people in Africa cannot afford those either.

Two of our staff and two of our students kids have been treated for Malaria this past month.

It is just accepted that people get it and some die from it in this country.

This is all hard for me to think about, coming from a place where people think they have the right to any and all medical care to keep them from getting sick. And in the western world it just doesn't happen that people die regularly from preventable illnesses.

So what to do:

Ron & I do take drugs to avoid getting sick, we can afford it.

We do sleep under a mosquito net trying not to get bites.

Ron has been the transport for several Malaria treatment trips to the hospital recently.

CMF is distributing nets to people who are at high risk for getting sick.

The school has drugs to treat the adult students while they are in school.

Guess this is all part of living in a third world country.

Sometimes just staying healthy so you can help the person that is right in front of you is what you are called to do.

April color

2009-04-21T18:06:00.002+03:00

This beautiful Hibiscus was just planted a few weeks ago, but with a little rain and warm days it is healthy and growing into a splash of color in our front yard. It gives me a pause, a breath, a calming effect as I walk by on my way to another day.

After a day of practicing Swahili with some of the students, medical consultations about malaria and infections, running to town for kerosene lanterns, patching walls in the cookhouse turned into a guest room, cooking bones for the dogs and stuffed peppers with left over beans and rice for us, and scheduling to move our offices from town onto the training center next week.

--I need the peace a beautiful flower can bring!!

Guarding the yard

2009-04-05T15:40:00.002+03:00

We have 2 dogs, 9 month old brothers, who are Rhodesian ridge back and yellow lab mix breed. They are not really puppies in size but can be in how they act. The fight and run and jump but mostly just with each other. They are pretty mellow with us.

The white one is Wingu which means cloud in Kiswahili, and the brown one is Kivuli or shadow. We feed them corn meal or rice mixed with meat that we cook every day. They love to go on walks around the center and outside on the roads twice a day.

Their main job is to watch and protect the house and yard. We live out in the country so there are lots of animals roaming about. The boys have cornered lizards, cows, dung beetles, toads which can be poisonous, cats, other stray dogs, chickens, and 4 hedgehogs so far. Those are the most fun since they seem to find them only in the middle of the night and Ron has to go outside and throw the hedgehog over the fence to calm the dogs down. I think it is because they are here that we have not seen any snakes or scorpions so far.

We also have them here to alert us to strangers who might not be friendly. It makes me feel safer with them here, since they do bark at anyone coming through the gate who they don't know or are not sure of. When the dogs see we are ok with the visitor they wait beside us till we say it is ok.

Having them with us, taking care of them, going for walks in the neighborhood with them, all have been a good distraction for us. When the days are filled with work and problem solving and trying to figure something else out with only the few resources at hand, it is nice to have the boys here always happy to see us.

They are a little spoiled; yes they are in the house in the evenings, yes they get up on the couch when we aren't sitting there, yes they get big bones to chew on when they have been good. But I am not the least bit afraid when the electricity goes out at night and Ron is gone to the bush for a few days, cause they are by my side.

Blessings!!

2009-03-29T10:32:00.009+03:00

Old Kitchen!

try cooking for 30 people in here

New Kitchen!

partners in the states made this possible- thank you

Eating Outside!

sitting on the steps to eat in the rain or hot sunshine

Eating Inside!

wonderful place for comfortable fellowship

Ron and I are tired and happy.

We are seeing God's Kingdom grow 1 brick, 1 window, 1 chair at a time.

Can't wait for the students to enjoy this when they get back for classes on April 14th.

See how the lilies of the field grow--

2009-03-15T16:35:00.002+03:00

I have a good friend who reminded me before I left for Africa that we are told to 'look at the birds of the air. . . and to see how the lilies of the field grow'. The wonders of this earth are meant to be a gift to us.

We have enjoyed the beauty of the wonderful animals that roam this country for sure. But I need to be more aware of something special about this place, there is some kind of flower in bloom every day of the year here.

I want to open my eyes to the creation I get to experience each day. So in March we get the Juanulloa! It is a vine that we noticed growing on the side of our house last summer and thought it would be nice to let grow and cover the white stucco walls. Well I never knew we would get this fun burst of color.

At this time of my life I am just discovering my passion for flowers. I enjoy the smell and colors and shapes, and arranging them to have in my house. I have even thought working in a flower shop would be a dream, maybe someday. For now I will try to share some of the amazing sights of Tanzania throughout the coming year.

Traffic Police

2009-03-08T12:32:00.003+03:00

Roads and driving and traffic in this country are like nothing we can describe. One recent visitor said as were we traveling along 'in America we would not even call this a road'.

Well, interacting with traffic police is another interesting part of living here. Yesterday Ron & I were driving through Arusha to run errands. The police stand along the road since they don't have cars, and decide who to wave over to the side. We were motioned over this time.

The police officer says 'hello, how are you' in English. OK should we speak English or Swahili, we greet him with 'habari yako' and then use English. After looking at Ron's drivers license he says 'I need to look at your insurance'. He comes to my side of the car, looks at the sticker and says 'it is expired on February 28th'. 'You must pay 20,000 shillings (about $17 us)'.

'OK' we say as we realize this staff truck did not get it's insurance sticker updated. As we get out our money he says 'since I do not have a receipt you will have to go to the police station, so what should we do?' Ron says 'I don't know, what should we do?' He says with a funny look on his face 'OK, I will just give you a warning'.

But then he looks directly at me and says 'why don't you just give me half, OK?' I say 'I don't understand what you want me to do'. He stops for a minute and then says with an exasperated sigh 'OK just go'.

I think he was looking for a little extra money on the side. That is pretty common here. But he probably thought this silly old white woman does not get it and it's not worth the hastle. That's fine with me!

What's cooking?

2009-02-24T16:03:00.013+03:00

The favorite meal for most Tanzanians is nyama choma or meat roasted over the fire. So Ron and his kaka or brother Jim went to work and built this jiko or grill in our front yard by the bonda.

We had our first American nyama choma with hamburgers and hot dogs and it was a real treat. But what meat do they roast here? N'gombe or beef is a favorite (not hamburger), or they also enjoy kuku or chicken.

But another common food is mbuzi or goat. We have been served roasted goat which is special; to bless us, at a sharehe or party, or thanking us for helping in their communities after the immunization clinics. Some of it has been good and some has been cold and tough and hard to eat. It has a very strong greasy smell. And that is all you get, just meat. When finished eating you are given a warm bottle of soda to wash it down with.

I don't think twice before eating it. It is interesting what you can do when someone is sharing with you from their heart. But . . . you probably won't see a mbuzi roasting on this jiko!

You never know

2009-02-14T12:45:00.004+03:00

Don't brag about tomorrow, since you don't know what the day will bring. proverbs 27:1

This has been a good week, lots of planning and organizing for the coming months by the team.

So you think you are getting to know what you are here for.

Then comes this last Tuesday.

Ron gets a call at 5 pm. One of the church planter students is at the nearby clinic, is in labor, but needs a ride from the clinic to the hospital to get a C Section. Off he goes with directions to a clinic he has never gone to before. When he gets there he doesn't really know who he is picking up. After looking around he finds "the group" which is 8 of the students and wives including the mama having the baby. They talk briefly, remember Ron is still learning Swahili and none of the group speaks English, and then they all pile into the back of our big Toyota Landrover.

With a brief stop at the center to check on the other kids, they all stay in the car and head off to the hospital Ron has never gone to before. Now it is dark and in Africa the roads are very rough and narrow and there are no signs or street lights. And Ron has a car full of people laughing and trying to tell him where to go, all in Swahili, while the mama is in labor. He finally calls a friend for directions and locates their destination.

At the Mt Meru hospital he lets the whole crew out and finds a corner to park in. Then he walks through all the wards and can't find any of the people he dropped off. Again no signs, no English. So he waits and walks and then bumps into one of the students. They 'talk' and he thinks the mama is staying the night and another mama is staying with her. This is Africa and she is admitted to the hospital; no insurance, no money, and no medical history since they usually have their babies at home.

On the way home the rest of the bunch are all talking and laughing and having a great time. Ron said one of them even said in Swahili 'I am so tired of laughing that my head hurts'. Ron understood that! These people are so relational and happy that this group of students who have only been together for 2 weeks are helping each other through this whole experience.

Oh, Ron got a message at 5:30 the next morning saying that the mama had a 7 pound baby boy without a C Section at 1 in the morning. That was about 4 hours after he dropped her off at the hospital. She came back to the training center with the little one that morning, both doing great.

. . . so we really don't know what the day will bring here in Africa!!

A month of first's

2009-02-09T15:25:00.021+03:00

Our first staff Christmas Party!

Here is Lesicar proudly showing off his family. What a fun day sharing food, dancing (it isn't an African party without music and dancing), soccer balls to take home, along with goodies won while playing the cake walk game, and of course pictures.

The kids all loved the balls and the cakes!

Ron's first taste of sour milk!

On a trip out in the bush to talk with some of the church planter students before coming to the school that started January 26th, Ron was given a special food offering, sour milk. He is drinking it out of the gourd used to allow the milk to ferment naturally.

Not his favorite drink but he did not get sick so it was a good day.

This acidic product, the sour milk, can then be kept without going 'bad' as there are not refrigerators/no electricity in the rural parts of Tanzania.

Our first African river trip!

We had family visiting and were able to travel to the Indian Ocean and relax a bit. While boating on the Pangani river we were challenged with a puzzle made from the seeds of the mangrove plant. Here our guide easily put them back together, something none of the rest of us could do.

This part of the country is lush and much different than the dry farming land we usually see each day.

First "Farming God's Way" class was held on the training center. And now we have our first plot of maize growing in God's way. This will be used to teach and train the students on better farming techniques.

Here is our first chicken 'nyumba' house. We had a team come to fund and build it so we can teach the students how to raise 'kuku's' while having this self supporting microenterprise on the center.

And we found our first iced tea, what a treat!

Never thought I would say

2009-01-15T06:09:00.003+03:00

Life on a farm, we are loving it. The other day Ron says to me "the workers are late putting the cows in for the day". And then he says "I never thought I would be saying that".

Here is our newest calf just after being born. He is trying to get up and his mom is helping him.

Our staff are used to animals, many being from the Maasai tribe who are herders and almost nothing is as important as their cows.

Here is John, one of our staff who came in on his day off to help with the birth and getting the little one started eating.

From the cows we get warm fresh milk delivered right to our front door. Another first for us.

I grew up with this and it brings back wonderful memories but it is all new and fun to Ron. Right after it was born the guys looked to Ron, who they call Babu, to name the calf. It was on a Saturday so Ron named him Jumamosi (saturday in Swahili).

Jumamosi getting used to life!

Sosi

2008-12-31T12:18:00.004+03:00

As we close out 2008 I want to introduce you to our Tanzanian friends. Here Ron & I are with Sosi, Spora and their 4 kids. Before getting to Africa we prayed for national friends, and I believe this family is an answer to that.

Ron met one son, Job, along the side of the road asking for a ride to school. They exchanged phone numbers and here we are 5 months later after many meals shared since. We are learning so much from them about this land and these people.

Sosi, the baba (father), and the kids speak English but Spora, the mama does not. So we are practicing our language and getting to know them at the same time. Their home has been opened to us many times and it is always for a big meal. She cooks simple African dishes over a fire while we wait in the house talking with Sosi and drinking chai (tea).

They are always interested in us, our families, our customs. And they want to meet and share their home with all of our visitors. Recently we took them out for a Christmas meal, and had pizza which was a first for the kids and mama. That was fun to see them experience something new. We found out they like their sodas after the meal, and at room temperature not cold.

During our times together we talk about things much as we do friends in the states; the weather and God's praise when it rains, the politics and the new US president, the economy and price of gas which is about $5/gallon now, our kids and what they are doing, and how it seems we work all the time and do not sit back and enjoy our lives as we should.

But we also talk about differences.
~They think African friends do not last while they believe friendships with wazungus (non african people) are lasting because they say we think for ourselves and do not listen to what other people say about someone.
~Weddings are officially recognized when you have a very big celebration, lasting all day with bands riding in open trucks following the couple and pictures at the town square fountain and food and dancing. When people do not have the money for the party, they live together and have kids and a family while saving for the big official event.
~People are buried where their family originally lived, usually out in the bush, so you do not see many cemeteries here in Arusha.
~When someone needs money, the first people they ask is their friends. That is a foreign concept to most of us independent westerners.
~They like us visiting because we do not look at our watches and say we have someplace to go. Instead we just sit and talk and enjoy the time.
~One big part of their social life is their church so that is where celebrations occur, graduations and birthdays and Christmas and for New Years Eve they are at church all night singing and dancing and eating. It is a time to have fun and rejoice over the past year and look forward to the new one.

God Bless and where ever you are for New Years Eve, have a fun time remembering the past and anticipating what the new year will have for you!

Loserian

2008-12-24T15:07:00.012+03:00

Another friend we have is the staff supervisor at the training center, Loserian. Here he is with his family at the center Christmas party. He and Ron work closely together on all of the projects done here with the grounds and facilities. We are thankful he does know some English but we try to use our Swahili as much as we can with him.

He is an outgoing, yet gentle man who likes to have fun and laugh right along with Ron, so they have a good time together. Don't let his youth mislead you, he is very talented in working with his hands and is willing to suggest different ways of doing things. That is not typically the African way.

An example of his ability is this 'bonda' that he built in our front yard without any plans, just knowing it needed to be high enough for me to walk under without hitting my head. There he sits on top finishing the grass roof.

He rides his bike miles to the center at dawn, oversees all the workers here, and then rides home at dusk. When not at work he is an elder in his church, friend who helps with many community construction and repair projects, and a happy dad.

Please pray with us for him as he recovers from an illness not so uncommon in an African country. A way to deal with problems here can be to put something in someone's food to make them sick. It is hard to prove and difficult to identify. He is better and we believe the situation is resolved.

It is an interesting place we live in.

Ruth

2008-12-14T11:12:00.002+03:00

This time of the year it is easy to start really missing family and friends. So I am going to work on honoring some of my new friendships to help me get through this season.

In the past I introduced this special lady to you on my blog. Ruth helps us around the house 4 days a week. She cooks us African dishes for lunch, sweeps and mops away all of this farm dust, gets our clothes washed and hung up on the line, makes food for our dogs (we don't have the stuff in a bag here), makes bread and chapati's (tortillas) and mandazi's (donuts), takes our trash to the compost area, and the best part is she helps us with our Swahili!

She is a singe mom with 2 boys, 10 and 14 years old. She is very busy with her church; sings in the choir, cleans the building, and cooks for any sharehe's (parties). She loves to laugh, and loves to listen to music while she works, and in a culture where dogs are just working animals, she cares for and loves our dogs dearly. She is from Barundi and her father, a pastor, brought the family to Tanzania when she was little. So they were missionaries too. She has 2 brothers living close who help her financially while her parents live in the southern part of the country so she does not get to see them often.

Having house help is new to me, and a bit hard to do. But it is a good job for women in this culture. The unemployment in Tanzania is very high. And without this job she would not have money to feed her kids or pay school fees or to rent her one room where they live. So this is one of those new ways of living that we are getting used to.

When she prays for us at meals, is interested in our family, corrects our Swahili, sings while she mops the floor with her hands, laughs when Ron teases me, and is extremely grateful when ever we give her things we do not use or are even broken we realize what a blessing she is to us.

Alone behind the wheel

2008-11-30T14:10:00.004+03:00

Today I took my first drive alone since we moved here in June. Sounds like a long time doesn't it. Well, I have been driving but each time Ron has been the passenger for moral support and for the reminder to drive on the left side of the road.

You can see here that our truck looks different, doesn't it. With the steering wheel on the right it is like everything is reversed. Do you remember having some exercise where you were asked to write with your non dominant hand and how much you had to think about what you were doing?!

Well, do all that on top of controlling a big vehicle on pot hole laden roads, driving on the opposite side you are used to, trying to avoid herds of cattle and goats and sheep, and then don't forget to watch out for the people walking along side, or the mini vans called dala dala's pulling on and off and stopping right in front of you without warning!!!

Welcome to my new world of driving. When we were in Ethiopia I learned to be defensively assertive on the road, but now I must also concentrate on basic driving skills like shifting with my left hand, and looking at the rear view mirror out the right side and using the blinker instead of the wind shield wipers when turning.

As I drove away Yohana, a guard asked Ron, anaendesha mama/can mama (that is what they call me) drive?

Yes I can now!! But just like in Ethi, each trip is a faith journey.

Good Book

2008-11-20T08:40:00.003+03:00

I don't get many new books here so I love it when one comes from a friend in the mail. If you have not read it yet, I would encourage you to pick it up, spend time with it, and then tell me what you think.

THE SHACK

Don't want to tell much so you can enjoy it yourself, but I loved the way it helped me to 'see' the foundation of my faith in new ways. My taste is for things that are real not fantasy, but this book brings to life the things we imagine.

Have fun and I can't wait to hear your take on it!

Beautifully sad

2008-11-09T14:21:00.015+03:00

During a recent trip out into a rural area of Tanzania for a mobile immunization clinic, we got to experience both the beauty and the sadness of this place. On the drive we saw the acacia trees against the backdrop of the deep blue sky. This is what I had always imagined Africa to be like.

We set up the clinic which included weighing the babies from a limb of one of those terrific acacia trees. So the women came in their colorful dress for the preventive care that is rare in this part of the country.

Here you see a local nurse along with Dr Suzie giving shots. The staff are all volunteers from a nearby village clinic and the doctor is the medical director with CMF who is based in the states but was visiting.

Then we saw another part of Africa I had imagined, 3 malnourished babies that needed hospitalization for survival. The moms just did not have enough to eat with the drought to have the needed breast milk. So they were directed to the closest hospital for help.

This country with all of its contrasts is so so beautiful and can be so so sad.

Road Crew

2008-11-07T17:38:00.006+03:00

The roads in Africa are one of the most challenging things about this beautiful country. Not many resources are put into the roads that are mostly traveled by foot, human and animal. The weather conditions don't help, with very dry seasons that make the soil into a fine dust and very wet times where the rain comes in down pours and washes the soil but leaves the big rocks.

I wanted to show you the 'road crew' that is working to repair our neighborhood paths. They are shoveling the rock that was donated by the local quarry. Then the transport of the rock was paid for by CMF, and labor is by some familiar faces along with some of the residents in the area. With a community effort our roads are getting drivable, for now.

What's in your closet?

2008-10-21T14:24:00.005+03:00

Living in a Tanzanian home gives us a very different look on life. There are no closets in this house. So we have spent the last 4 months with things on shelves and in plastic tubs and put in a few drawers. Since we couldn't hang things up, we didn't iron them either. Well, things are changing at the Richmond place

We just had our first 'closet' made. You get furniture here by having it made based on a description and some measurements or a picture if you have one. Then you see what you end up with, never really sure till you see it. It turned out ok but we had much talking and an additional trip to town with a national friend just to get it delivered out to the center. Again, nothing is easy here.

Simply hanging some of our clothes up, and having them wrinkle free, has been fun. But looking at the clothes fill it up I think about what do we need all this stuff for. So a new rule, we only need the things we can fit into this new closet, no more. And when we get something new, something old needs to go. When I say go I mean give it away to the staff here to use or give to someone who needs it.

Ron rolls his eyes at me the thrower, while he the keeper has to go by my new rule. Oh well, that is the way it goes. So here it is, the 'closet' getting filled up and the rest is out of here to help someone else.

A need - water

2008-10-12T16:14:00.008+03:00

Water is a basic need for all of us, but some people have to think about how to meet this need every day of their lives. Here most Tanzanians must travel, usually walk, to a source for water each day. They carry buckets to the source using their donkeys or wagons or just balance on their heads.

At the training center we have a well that provides enough water to share with the people who live around us. But we run the risk of burning up our motor if we run it all the time. So we hoped to construct a tower to put a water tank on for what the community could use, once we obtained the funds.

We had the pleasure of connecting with a group of ladies recently from the states who were in Tanzania for a medical conference and to see this country. While here they wanted to help people who live here in some way, so we were able to organize this project for our neighborhood.

These lively women came with willing hearts to fund and to build the structure needed to provide a basic need, water. In only 2 days they, along with Ron and some of our staff, put this up. They all had fun sharing a few Swahili and English words and learning some African building methods while doing it.

Our neighbors are getting water in a way that will continue for a long time to come, thanks to a few souls wanting to show some kindness and who were willing to share their resources. Thanks new friends!

We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. . . This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. . . Matthew 10:40-42 msg

Hospitality

2008-10-03T18:16:00.004+03:00

Just on the other side of the hedge on the right in our front yard are our Maasai neighbors. When ever they hear us outside they shout greetings in Swahili. Yesterday late afternoon we said back and forth habari za joini which is actually how is the news this evening. You could hear them chopping wood for the fire to cook the evening meal. I asked watoto hawajambo?, your children are they fine, they said hawajambo, they are fine. So far I was doing ok.

Then the father said karibuni chakula, you are welcome to join us to eat, and I said haya asante, ok thank you and went on my way. Later Ron and I were talking and he said, so do they expect us to come over for the evening meal? I thought they were just being friendly but we didn't want to offend them. So I ran up to our teammates who live on the center and asked the culture question- What did they really mean?

I guess it is common to invite people to come over and eat. They don't really expect you to come, but if you do they are pleasantly surprised and will definitely feed you. Many homes do not have much food but what they have they will share. And they are happy to have you sit and visit for hours while they cook the food over the fire. Much different than my invitations. I have to plan it all out, do I have enough food, what will we talk about, do I have enough time, and I have never called across the fence to ask a stranger to come to my house and share what ever food we can find.

There is much I can learn from these people. We did not go over but plan to the next time they throw that offer over the fence.

So quiet

2008-09-28T19:40:00.009+03:00

Living out in the country is how I grew up, being a farm girl. One thing I did not appreciate then but do now is how quiet it is. The silence can make you uneasy if you are used to noise. But it is so quiet that I can actually hear more.

The animals are the first thing I hear; donkeys, cows, and chickens make the most noise.

Then you sense the soft foot steps of the sheep and goats being herded on down the road.

There is activity all around us like chopping wood, crackling of open fires, and the cutting down of dry corn stalks with machetes.

I hear bicycles traveling, and wagons moving, and donkeys carrying sloshing buckets of water, and even occasional motorcycles driving by, or pikipiki's as they call them.

People mostly walk and are talking, and laughing, and singing, and even greet us if they can sense we are in the back yard.

I can hear the breeze and the little birds chirping and the beetles buzzing and the crunch of rocks under foot as people pass by.

I can hear the birds walking across our tin roof, and even the water dripping slowly through our water filter.

Yes, there are crickets and rustling leaves and mosquitoes too.

Night time is drums and singing far off in the distance, and prayers from a mosque miles away.

And at night many different animals can be heard barking and howling and hunting.

The quiet sounds of Africa.

Our Dogs

2008-09-21T19:46:00.007+03:00

Here is my belated 50th birthday present! I have always loved dogs and here in Tanzania there are lots of them, including many just running wild. So we decided to join the fun by getting 2 puppies. They are 7 week old brothers from a rodesian ridgeback mother and golden lab father.

They are a handful right now but we are enjoying getting them used to everything here at the training center. In addition to play they will also serve to help with security living out here in the countryside. When Ron is out in the bush doing construction I will like their company and protection.

In most things we do here we try to think how we can use the opportunity to build relationships, so we are training them using Swahili. Their names are Wingu (cloud) and Kivuli (shadow). The people here are mostly afraid of dogs since they are usually used as guards, so these puppies are different and interesting, a topic of discussion and laughter. People stop by to see these little dogs and that gives Ron and I a chance to talk and get to know them better.

They are great enjoyment for me, a way to work on Swahili, and something we can share with our new Tanzanian friends as we teach the pups to kaa (sit) and kuja (come), and of course they are hearing hapana (no) alot!

reminders

2008-09-07T17:58:00.029+03:00

We are taking our first real break since we landed here in Africa 6 months ago. And we are enjoying this time with our son who is our first visitor from the states. Time has been filled with lots of new sights for Joe.

We spent a day exploring and Ron & I rediscovered some of the beauty here. Words don't express how I feel seeing some of God's creation just living in the wild! It is easy to take this place for granted.

Yet, as we take time to relax I am reminded that is is so easy to get caught up in all we have to do each day that we can miss all the simple wonderful things around us.

It is great to have people around you who help you see through new eyes.

surprises

2008-08-26T18:33:00.003+03:00

What fun getting packages through the mail. It is always a pleasant surprise to get and open and find treasures we can't get here. We really appreciate all that goes into putting together a box and sending it around the world. The flavored green tea, walnuts/pecans, flavored creamer for coffee, chips/crackers, t-shirts, used books/magazines and old western movies on DVD are all treats to treasure. Your thoughtfulness is a blessing.

Another surprise is how long it takes. We have gotten things in 10 days and then we just got one that was mailed on July 5th but just got to us this week. So where was it, who knows. The trail that mail takes from the states to here is a mysterious one that can include short or long stops at various destinations. Don't send anything that could spoil, cause it might while trying to get to us.

We are also surprised to see what the post office will think once the package gets here, before it gets picked up. You see it can also get hung up in customs. First they look at the slip listing the value and if it is over $20 they get suspicious that it is something for resale. Then they may look in it and if things are in their original box and/or with tags they again think resale and charge us duty to get it. So used, out of the box, tags off, even washed and/or worn things work best (not used tea bags please). And label it with the value of used items, listing for personal use/not for resale.

Another surprise is how much I miss the good old U. S. Post Office!

School's Out

2008-08-24T20:13:00.004+03:00

We have finished language school. What a special opportunity we had to meet several families that are beginning their work here in Tanzania and learn along with them the beginnings of a new way to communicate.

After 3 intense weeks learning Swahili vocabulary, grammar, and structure now the real work begins. We have to start talking! Not only do we have new words but we learned much about the way to connect with people here in Africa. How to be respectful and what is meaningful to Tanzanians is as important as what we say.

And we discovered quickly that their laughter and desire to correct us is going to happen all the time so we might as well laugh right along with them and share in the fun. As we move on and are challenged in this new way we continue to be thankful for the journey.

Tumpe Mungu sifa zote!
Let us give God all the praise!

First trip to the bush!!

2008-08-08T09:56:00.022+03:00

We had a wonderful time visiting some of the families out in the bush that have been through the training courses and are working in their villages starting and growing churches. Here is our camp site, inside the boma of one of the families. The first day we traveled about 4 hours to their home, set up camp and enjoyed a relaxing meal around the fire. It is much warmer at this lower altitude so we were comfortable as we slept some while hearing the hyenas during the night.

Tuesday was clinic and teaching so Ron was off to pick up some of the local women to bring back for immunizations. During that trip he had his first bush flat tire and was wishing for a high lift jack out on those rough paths. From that point on he was in 4 wheel drive the rest of the week. I was helping with the shots and HIV/AIDS teaching. Being among these women and children who were chattering in a foreign language was an experience. But many of these kids would not survive without this prevention so it is a real way to show love and compassion to them.

That night I was pretty exhausted so was in bed early when I woke to hear singing and dancing around the campfire. Ron and Todd, another team member, were joined by the nearby families to have some fun. What a great way to drift off to sleep, hearing Maasai praise!

The next day was a clinic in a more rural location as you can see. We did a lot of driving and packing of people into our truck to take them to and from the health care that included treatment for eye infections which are common. Flies landing on the kids faces and little water for hand washing are the main causes. This is the day we were offered something special, nyama choma, or roasted meat and it was goat. It has a very distinct flavor, but I was able to eat it and did not have any after effects, so that was good.

That night we celebrated with some of the graduates from the training center with another roasted goat and singing. Ron and I were presented with our Maasai names but not sure how to spell them, Ron's means happy and mine means blessed. It was helpful to get to know some of the people we will be working with.

Before leaving we prayed and sang over the site of a new church building being planned. It is a honor to get to work with these people in teaching, and health care, and development issues. During the drive home we saw monkeys, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, dikdik, kudu, and many beautiful birds. Maybe we can learn how to get some good pictures of the magnificent creations here.

We have been camping but some of the new experiences included; wearing a skirt the whole time, having tea sitting on stools out in the cow yard, giving people rides that have never been in a vehicle before (and of course having them get sick), and having class outside under an acacia tree.

It seems each and every day is packed full of learning from these people but we pray that as our love for them grows they can see something in us that they can learn.

You can see more pictures from this adventure on www.flickr.com/photos/24785911@N02.

Our shipment has arrived!

2008-07-27T21:14:00.011+03:00

After about 9 months of sitting in a storage shed in Denver, our stuff has made it half way around the world and into the old cook room out behind our house. All 22 boxes made it, though some were broken and taped together. But the amazing thing is everything is in one piece, except our Gatorade exploded so that box is full of orange powder.

What fun finding things we had forgotten about or things we couldn't wait to have here. Some of our treasures include a good knife for the kitchen, zip lock bags, disposable razor blades, drill bits that don't break and screws that the heads don't snap off, our printer, hot cocoa and craisins.

Thelma- the portable cribs and soccer balls made it for the kids. Marti- we can't wait to use the ice cream maker. Jim- Ron's clubs are finally here!

We have already hung our pictures, got our water filter set up, and unpacked the sleeping bags and cooler to use this week on our first camping trip out into the bush. Ron has all of his tools in his shed and my heavy duty fry pan has already made tortillas.

Five months without this stuff and we did just fine, but life will be a little better with a few things from home.