Bob Huffman wrote:
(Lindsey, his granddaughter is typing this, so forgive me if I misspell a name, as his handwriting is rather difficult to decipher.)
Greetings to all my encouragers in Titusville, FL. To: Al, J.C., Paul & Marilyn, Eldou and Georgie, Jean Sevair Delores, Joe Leet, Bob & Verna, Bob Bates, Bob Nelson, Charles Massey, Wayne Tuihei, Ike Rigell.
All I can say is wow and wow again. I am definitely out of my comfort zone. So much poverty here and prices so high. Diesel fuel about $8.00 per gallon. Groceries very expensive, wages very low, so many people with no jobs. How blessed we are. Yet people here seem to be happy and content.
They really respect senior citizens here. I really get a lot of respect. Nearly tempted to move to Tanzania (Not!!) People are very courteous, helpful and want to do everything for us.
Work at church (HPCC) has went well. Painting, foundation for water tank, seminars and teaching went well. Kids love attention and affection.
Thanks to all for notes of encouragement and prayers.
Love in Christ,
Bob Huffman
Connect Christian Church has partnered with ACM International missionaries in Arusha, TZ for the last five years.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
"Reflections from our team" - Wednesday morning
Daryl Huffman wrote:
One of my prayers is that I can bring home their enthusiasm for the lord, their dedication to the church and the sacrifices they make. One example of sacrifice shown to us by the Tanzanians is that it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s home. On Tuesday we were invited to Festo’s home. It was ten feet by ten feet for Festo, his wife and child to live in and consisted of a bed, couch and table. The kitchen was in a communal hallway that other tenants shared. The bathroom was four pieces of tin wrapped around some sticks located outside of the building. From Festo’s house we went to Revina and James’ house who also wanted to share a drink with us. Offering guests a drink (coke or water) is how they show honor to guests as it is all they have to share. There were eleven of us were in their one room home so we accepted their offer as it would be offensive for us to decline. They purchased 11 sodas at a cost of 3000 shillings ($2.75US), to us this seems like nothing, to them, Revina is a teacher and makes about 15,000 shillings a month, so this was almost one weeks wage just to share a soda with us. Talk about sacrifice, this is one truly impressive gesture and so many of these people have this attitude. How do we obtain this type of sharing attitude for ourselves?
Neal Huffman wrote:
As part of the Sunday worship service, the Haven of Peace congregation wanted to honor the previous mission team from Jefferson Street Church that had been working with them all week. They took a special offering for the pastor from the US team. They placed the pastor at the front of the worship pavilion in a chair while the congregation came by and placed offerings in a basket. The Masai tribal members were dressed in their native garb that was beautiful in color and splendor. The women had long blue colored print tribal wraps on with long silver earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. As the local pastor prayed for the American pastor and his team, the tribal members stood up and got in line to give. Several of the women removed some of their jewelry and placed it in the basket as their offering. I was touched with their giving when from appearances they have very little if anything to give. I was incredibly humbled by their heartfelt attitude in giving their prized possessions when I, many times have given out of abundance with an underlying selfish attitude. God forgive me.
One day we taught on parables. The first parable we shared with the pastors was on the Good Samaritan found in Luke. We would read the verses, have them translated into Swahili, and then come back and expound on the underlying points Jesus was attempting to communicate to the Jewish leaders and people of the day. Our goal was to share with them about who their neighbor is since that is the question that the Good Samaritan story answers. We shared about how the Jewish Priest walked on the other side of the road away from the beaten man. We shared about how the Levite walked on the other side from the beaten man. We shared about the Samaritan (who was disliked by the Jews) took care of the beaten man and paid for his care from his own money. The good Samaritan treated the beaten man as his neighbor. After we shared, we asked if any of the congregation had questions. One man stood up and very respectfully asked the following question: “One day, I was walking down a road with two women from my village on our way to a meeting, in the distance we could see a man being beaten and robbed by men with knives. In our fear, we hid in the bush. Were we wrong in not helping this man?” Wow! At that point Daryl and Neal looked at each other hoping the other one would respond. We prayed, responded, and God blessed our time with these pastors.
Nikki Rainey wrote:
We are in Africa!!!! I cannot believe this and it is soo much more than I could have ever imagined! Being worried about flying seems soo silly now. In a heartbeat I would do it again and again and again. Each day seems to bring something new that I thought I would never be able to experience. The flying for 26 hrs on Friday and Saturday, the 3 hr church service on Sunday that seemed to fly by, seeing the Masai tribe, holding a Masai baby while his mother is being baptized. Monday digging the ditch so they can have water, playing with all the wonderful and loving children. They have soo much love and joy- all Tanzanians do. It really makes you wonder and feel soo horrible and ashamed that as Americans we always want just a little bit more. Yesterday, some new friends that have become soo dear to my heart, invited the entire team over to their house. James and Raveena invited all 12 Americans over to their humble home. It was smaller than my college door room, but they were soo proud to have all of us over. They wanted to buy each of us a soda. For 10 sodas, it cost 3,000 shillings. Raveena is the only one with an income right now, and she is a teacher – they make 15000 shillings a month. Buying those drinks for us was an entire weeks income. Never in my life have I spent an entire weeks income on a someone who was not family , much less someone I knew for 3 days. I was soo filled with emotion for their acts of generosity. They gave with a honest and grateful heart.
Teaching the children with VBS has been such a learning for me. Some of the children know more than we do. They share their parent’s fire and desire to learn more about Christ. But the first day the children would not respond to me, but we did teach them “duck duck goose”- They loved it! On tues, VBS went very well. We talked about Jesus feeding the 5000. Of course we asked them questions about the story, but one of them was ‘what was the name of Jesus friends. We were looking for ‘Disciples’- but they responded with the NAMES of the disciples!!!!! AHHHhh our kids would do well to remember the first few! Then we taught them ‘Making melodies” They loved it, and they sang with all their heart. Right now as I am writing, the verse that comes to mind is Matthew 18:3-4. “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you by no means will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”- God bless these Children!!!!!
Mary Pat King wrote:
Ok for all you out there who could not believe I would go on a mission trip, I’m here. I have felt the presence of God here. On Sunday we had the privilege of praying over the Masai. I asked God to use me for them. I felt a tingling go through my body, while I prayed for Margarite as she had the flu, and Lale who wanted Jesus to come into his heart. It was very humbling. On Tuesday we stared to really make connections with the people there. On Wednesday Cheri , Deanna and I taught the women of the church. Unlike us they never interrupt or try to talk over anyone else. The humbleness of these people is a breath of fresh air. As everyone else probable wrote, we went to James and Ravena’s house and they gave us soda’s which amounts to ½ of their monthly pay! How many of us would do the same? I love this place, I just pray I come home with more humility than I left with. Praise God!
Lindsey Huffman wrote:
The VBS for the kids we are doing is becoming a hit. Each day more children come from around town to gather and learn about Jesus. We had approximately 70 kids yesterday and are expecting more today. The children here are absolutely beautiful. They are so easy to love on and they crave your attention and affection. A couple days ago after we were building the water tower, Anna took me around her house to the back where the women were washing clothes and dishes. They willingly poured water on my hands as I rinsed the sand and dirt off. Another lady sitting down noticed I had a lot of dirt on my shirt, so Anna took me inside her home and took a clean shirt off of the clothesline, which she used to wipe the dirt off of my own shirt. Wow. After coming outside, Anna noticed a smudge of mud on my arm, so again she took me around the house and personally wiped the mud from my arm with water. It was quite an experience, as Anna is only 10 years old. All of the children are very mindful of their elders, and even their peers. They all look out for each other and respect one another. If one child falls down and hurts himself, another child will come over and tend to him. James, another member of Haven of Peace church asked me yesterday what I was thinking about, “Jesus or home?” I then asked him what he was thinking about and he replied that he was thinking about praying to Jesus tonight and thanking Him for his friends, his strength, his good health, and all of the new friends he was making here. They have so little yet are thankful for so much. The first thing Abel replied when asked what the best gift he’d ever received was “his life and his education”. They appreciate the simple things in life that we so easily take for granted. I love you Mom, Dad and Grant!!
One of my prayers is that I can bring home their enthusiasm for the lord, their dedication to the church and the sacrifices they make. One example of sacrifice shown to us by the Tanzanians is that it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s home. On Tuesday we were invited to Festo’s home. It was ten feet by ten feet for Festo, his wife and child to live in and consisted of a bed, couch and table. The kitchen was in a communal hallway that other tenants shared. The bathroom was four pieces of tin wrapped around some sticks located outside of the building. From Festo’s house we went to Revina and James’ house who also wanted to share a drink with us. Offering guests a drink (coke or water) is how they show honor to guests as it is all they have to share. There were eleven of us were in their one room home so we accepted their offer as it would be offensive for us to decline. They purchased 11 sodas at a cost of 3000 shillings ($2.75US), to us this seems like nothing, to them, Revina is a teacher and makes about 15,000 shillings a month, so this was almost one weeks wage just to share a soda with us. Talk about sacrifice, this is one truly impressive gesture and so many of these people have this attitude. How do we obtain this type of sharing attitude for ourselves?
Neal Huffman wrote:
As part of the Sunday worship service, the Haven of Peace congregation wanted to honor the previous mission team from Jefferson Street Church that had been working with them all week. They took a special offering for the pastor from the US team. They placed the pastor at the front of the worship pavilion in a chair while the congregation came by and placed offerings in a basket. The Masai tribal members were dressed in their native garb that was beautiful in color and splendor. The women had long blue colored print tribal wraps on with long silver earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. As the local pastor prayed for the American pastor and his team, the tribal members stood up and got in line to give. Several of the women removed some of their jewelry and placed it in the basket as their offering. I was touched with their giving when from appearances they have very little if anything to give. I was incredibly humbled by their heartfelt attitude in giving their prized possessions when I, many times have given out of abundance with an underlying selfish attitude. God forgive me.
One day we taught on parables. The first parable we shared with the pastors was on the Good Samaritan found in Luke. We would read the verses, have them translated into Swahili, and then come back and expound on the underlying points Jesus was attempting to communicate to the Jewish leaders and people of the day. Our goal was to share with them about who their neighbor is since that is the question that the Good Samaritan story answers. We shared about how the Jewish Priest walked on the other side of the road away from the beaten man. We shared about how the Levite walked on the other side from the beaten man. We shared about the Samaritan (who was disliked by the Jews) took care of the beaten man and paid for his care from his own money. The good Samaritan treated the beaten man as his neighbor. After we shared, we asked if any of the congregation had questions. One man stood up and very respectfully asked the following question: “One day, I was walking down a road with two women from my village on our way to a meeting, in the distance we could see a man being beaten and robbed by men with knives. In our fear, we hid in the bush. Were we wrong in not helping this man?” Wow! At that point Daryl and Neal looked at each other hoping the other one would respond. We prayed, responded, and God blessed our time with these pastors.
Nikki Rainey wrote:
We are in Africa!!!! I cannot believe this and it is soo much more than I could have ever imagined! Being worried about flying seems soo silly now. In a heartbeat I would do it again and again and again. Each day seems to bring something new that I thought I would never be able to experience. The flying for 26 hrs on Friday and Saturday, the 3 hr church service on Sunday that seemed to fly by, seeing the Masai tribe, holding a Masai baby while his mother is being baptized. Monday digging the ditch so they can have water, playing with all the wonderful and loving children. They have soo much love and joy- all Tanzanians do. It really makes you wonder and feel soo horrible and ashamed that as Americans we always want just a little bit more. Yesterday, some new friends that have become soo dear to my heart, invited the entire team over to their house. James and Raveena invited all 12 Americans over to their humble home. It was smaller than my college door room, but they were soo proud to have all of us over. They wanted to buy each of us a soda. For 10 sodas, it cost 3,000 shillings. Raveena is the only one with an income right now, and she is a teacher – they make 15000 shillings a month. Buying those drinks for us was an entire weeks income. Never in my life have I spent an entire weeks income on a someone who was not family , much less someone I knew for 3 days. I was soo filled with emotion for their acts of generosity. They gave with a honest and grateful heart.
Teaching the children with VBS has been such a learning for me. Some of the children know more than we do. They share their parent’s fire and desire to learn more about Christ. But the first day the children would not respond to me, but we did teach them “duck duck goose”- They loved it! On tues, VBS went very well. We talked about Jesus feeding the 5000. Of course we asked them questions about the story, but one of them was ‘what was the name of Jesus friends. We were looking for ‘Disciples’- but they responded with the NAMES of the disciples!!!!! AHHHhh our kids would do well to remember the first few! Then we taught them ‘Making melodies” They loved it, and they sang with all their heart. Right now as I am writing, the verse that comes to mind is Matthew 18:3-4. “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you by no means will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”- God bless these Children!!!!!
Mary Pat King wrote:
Ok for all you out there who could not believe I would go on a mission trip, I’m here. I have felt the presence of God here. On Sunday we had the privilege of praying over the Masai. I asked God to use me for them. I felt a tingling go through my body, while I prayed for Margarite as she had the flu, and Lale who wanted Jesus to come into his heart. It was very humbling. On Tuesday we stared to really make connections with the people there. On Wednesday Cheri , Deanna and I taught the women of the church. Unlike us they never interrupt or try to talk over anyone else. The humbleness of these people is a breath of fresh air. As everyone else probable wrote, we went to James and Ravena’s house and they gave us soda’s which amounts to ½ of their monthly pay! How many of us would do the same? I love this place, I just pray I come home with more humility than I left with. Praise God!
Lindsey Huffman wrote:
The VBS for the kids we are doing is becoming a hit. Each day more children come from around town to gather and learn about Jesus. We had approximately 70 kids yesterday and are expecting more today. The children here are absolutely beautiful. They are so easy to love on and they crave your attention and affection. A couple days ago after we were building the water tower, Anna took me around her house to the back where the women were washing clothes and dishes. They willingly poured water on my hands as I rinsed the sand and dirt off. Another lady sitting down noticed I had a lot of dirt on my shirt, so Anna took me inside her home and took a clean shirt off of the clothesline, which she used to wipe the dirt off of my own shirt. Wow. After coming outside, Anna noticed a smudge of mud on my arm, so again she took me around the house and personally wiped the mud from my arm with water. It was quite an experience, as Anna is only 10 years old. All of the children are very mindful of their elders, and even their peers. They all look out for each other and respect one another. If one child falls down and hurts himself, another child will come over and tend to him. James, another member of Haven of Peace church asked me yesterday what I was thinking about, “Jesus or home?” I then asked him what he was thinking about and he replied that he was thinking about praying to Jesus tonight and thanking Him for his friends, his strength, his good health, and all of the new friends he was making here. They have so little yet are thankful for so much. The first thing Abel replied when asked what the best gift he’d ever received was “his life and his education”. They appreciate the simple things in life that we so easily take for granted. I love you Mom, Dad and Grant!!
"Reflections from our team" - Wednesday morning
Daryl Huffman wrote:
One of my prayers is that I can bring home their enthusiasm for the lord, their dedication to the church and the sacrifices they make. One example of sacrifice shown to us by the Tanzanians is that it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s home. On Tuesday we were invited to Festo’s home. It was ten feet by ten feet for Festo, his wife and child to live in and consisted of a bed, couch and table. The kitchen was in a communal hallway that other tenants shared. The bathroom was four pieces of tin wrapped around some sticks located outside of the building. From Festo’s house we went to Revina and James’ house who also wanted to share a drink with us. Offering guests a drink (coke or water) is how they show honor to guests as it is all they have to share. There were eleven of us were in their one room home so we accepted their offer as it would be offensive for us to decline. They purchased 11 sodas at a cost of 3000 shillings ($2.75US), to us this seems like nothing, to them, Revina is a teacher and makes about 15,000 shillings a month, so this was almost one weeks wage just to share a soda with us. Talk about sacrifice, this is one truly impressive gesture and so many of these people have this attitude. How do we obtain this type of sharing attitude for ourselves?
Neal Huffman wrote:
As part of the Sunday worship service, the Haven of Peace congregation wanted to honor the previous mission team from Jefferson Street Church that had been working with them all week. They took a special offering for the pastor from the US team. They placed the pastor at the front of the worship pavilion in a chair while the congregation came by and placed offerings in a basket. The Masai tribal members were dressed in their native garb that was beautiful in color and splendor. The women had long blue colored print tribal wraps on with long silver earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. As the local pastor prayed for the American pastor and his team, the tribal members stood up and got in line to give. Several of the women removed some of their jewelry and placed it in the basket as their offering. I was touched with their giving when from appearances they have very little if anything to give. I was incredibly humbled by their heartfelt attitude in giving their prized possessions when I, many times have given out of abundance with an underlying selfish attitude. God forgive me.
One day we taught on parables. The first parable we shared with the pastors was on the Good Samaritan found in Luke. We would read the verses, have them translated into Swahili, and then come back and expound on the underlying points Jesus was attempting to communicate to the Jewish leaders and people of the day. Our goal was to share with them about who their neighbor is since that is the question that the Good Samaritan story answers. We shared about how the Jewish Priest walked on the other side of the road away from the beaten man. We shared about how the Levite walked on the other side from the beaten man. We shared about the Samaritan (who was disliked by the Jews) took care of the beaten man and paid for his care from his own money. The good Samaritan treated the beaten man as his neighbor. After we shared, we asked if any of the congregation had questions. One man stood up and very respectfully asked the following question: “One day, I was walking down a road with two women from my village on our way to a meeting, in the distance we could see a man being beaten and robbed by men with knives. In our fear, we hid in the bush. Were we wrong in not helping this man?” Wow! At that point Daryl and Neal looked at each other hoping the other one would respond. We prayed, responded, and God blessed our time with these pastors.
Nikki Rainey wrote:
We are in Africa!!!! I cannot believe this and it is soo much more than I could have ever imagined! Being worried about flying seems soo silly now. In a heartbeat I would do it again and again and again. Each day seems to bring something new that I thought I would never be able to experience. The flying for 26 hrs on Friday and Saturday, the 3 hr church service on Sunday that seemed to fly by, seeing the Masai tribe, holding a Masai baby while his mother is being baptized. Monday digging the ditch so they can have water, playing with all the wonderful and loving children. They have soo much love and joy- all Tanzanians do. It really makes you wonder and feel soo horrible and ashamed that as Americans we always want just a little bit more. Yesterday, some new friends that have become soo dear to my heart, invited the entire team over to their house. James and Raveena invited all 12 Americans over to their humble home. It was smaller than my college door room, but they were soo proud to have all of us over. They wanted to buy each of us a soda. For 10 sodas, it cost 3,000 shillings. Raveena is the only one with an income right now, and she is a teacher – they make 15000 shillings a month. Buying those drinks for us was an entire weeks income. Never in my life have I spent an entire weeks income on a someone who was not family , much less someone I knew for 3 days. I was soo filled with emotion for their acts of generosity. They gave with a honest and grateful heart.
Teaching the children with VBS has been such a learning for me. Some of the children know more than we do. They share their parent’s fire and desire to learn more about Christ. But the first day the children would not respond to me, but we did teach them “duck duck goose”- They loved it! On tues, VBS went very well. We talked about Jesus feeding the 5000. Of course we asked them questions about the story, but one of them was ‘what was the name of Jesus friends. We were looking for ‘Disciples’- but they responded with the NAMES of the disciples!!!!! AHHHhh our kids would do well to remember the first few! Then we taught them ‘Making melodies” They loved it, and they sang with all their heart. Right now as I am writing, the verse that comes to mind is Matthew 18:3-4. “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you by no means will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”- God bless these Children!!!!!
Mary Pat King wrote:
Ok for all you out there who could not believe I would go on a mission trip, I’m here. I have felt the presence of God here. On Sunday we had the privilege of praying over the Masai. I asked God to use me for them. I felt a tingling go through my body, while I prayed for Margarite as she had the flu, and Lale who wanted Jesus to come into his heart. It was very humbling. On Tuesday we stared to really make connections with the people there. On Wednesday Cheri , Deanna and I taught the women of the church. Unlike us they never interrupt or try to talk over anyone else. The humbleness of these people is a breath of fresh air. As everyone else probable wrote, we went to James and Ravena’s house and they gave us soda’s which amounts to ½ of their monthly pay! How many of us would do the same? I love this place, I just pray I come home with more humility than I left with. Praise God!
Lindsey Huffman wrote:
The VBS for the kids we are doing is becoming a hit. Each day more children come from around town to gather and learn about Jesus. We had approximately 70 kids yesterday and are expecting more today. The children here are absolutely beautiful. They are so easy to love on and they crave your attention and affection. A couple days ago after we were building the water tower, Anna took me around her house to the back where the women were washing clothes and dishes. They willingly poured water on my hands as I rinsed the sand and dirt off. Another lady sitting down noticed I had a lot of dirt on my shirt, so Anna took me inside her home and took a clean shirt off of the clothesline, which she used to wipe the dirt off of my own shirt. Wow. After coming outside, Anna noticed a smudge of mud on my arm, so again she took me around the house and personally wiped the mud from my arm with water. It was quite an experience, as Anna is only 10 years old. All of the children are very mindful of their elders, and even their peers. They all look out for each other and respect one another. If one child falls down and hurts himself, another child will come over and tend to him. James, another member of Haven of Peace church asked me yesterday what I was thinking about, “Jesus or home?” I then asked him what he was thinking about and he replied that he was thinking about praying to Jesus tonight and thanking Him for his friends, his strength, his good health, and all of the new friends he was making here. They have so little yet are thankful for so much. The first thing Abel replied when asked what the best gift he’d ever received was “his life and his education”. They appreciate the simple things in life that we so easily take for granted. I love you Mom, Dad and Grant!!
One of my prayers is that I can bring home their enthusiasm for the lord, their dedication to the church and the sacrifices they make. One example of sacrifice shown to us by the Tanzanians is that it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s home. On Tuesday we were invited to Festo’s home. It was ten feet by ten feet for Festo, his wife and child to live in and consisted of a bed, couch and table. The kitchen was in a communal hallway that other tenants shared. The bathroom was four pieces of tin wrapped around some sticks located outside of the building. From Festo’s house we went to Revina and James’ house who also wanted to share a drink with us. Offering guests a drink (coke or water) is how they show honor to guests as it is all they have to share. There were eleven of us were in their one room home so we accepted their offer as it would be offensive for us to decline. They purchased 11 sodas at a cost of 3000 shillings ($2.75US), to us this seems like nothing, to them, Revina is a teacher and makes about 15,000 shillings a month, so this was almost one weeks wage just to share a soda with us. Talk about sacrifice, this is one truly impressive gesture and so many of these people have this attitude. How do we obtain this type of sharing attitude for ourselves?
Neal Huffman wrote:
As part of the Sunday worship service, the Haven of Peace congregation wanted to honor the previous mission team from Jefferson Street Church that had been working with them all week. They took a special offering for the pastor from the US team. They placed the pastor at the front of the worship pavilion in a chair while the congregation came by and placed offerings in a basket. The Masai tribal members were dressed in their native garb that was beautiful in color and splendor. The women had long blue colored print tribal wraps on with long silver earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. As the local pastor prayed for the American pastor and his team, the tribal members stood up and got in line to give. Several of the women removed some of their jewelry and placed it in the basket as their offering. I was touched with their giving when from appearances they have very little if anything to give. I was incredibly humbled by their heartfelt attitude in giving their prized possessions when I, many times have given out of abundance with an underlying selfish attitude. God forgive me.
One day we taught on parables. The first parable we shared with the pastors was on the Good Samaritan found in Luke. We would read the verses, have them translated into Swahili, and then come back and expound on the underlying points Jesus was attempting to communicate to the Jewish leaders and people of the day. Our goal was to share with them about who their neighbor is since that is the question that the Good Samaritan story answers. We shared about how the Jewish Priest walked on the other side of the road away from the beaten man. We shared about how the Levite walked on the other side from the beaten man. We shared about the Samaritan (who was disliked by the Jews) took care of the beaten man and paid for his care from his own money. The good Samaritan treated the beaten man as his neighbor. After we shared, we asked if any of the congregation had questions. One man stood up and very respectfully asked the following question: “One day, I was walking down a road with two women from my village on our way to a meeting, in the distance we could see a man being beaten and robbed by men with knives. In our fear, we hid in the bush. Were we wrong in not helping this man?” Wow! At that point Daryl and Neal looked at each other hoping the other one would respond. We prayed, responded, and God blessed our time with these pastors.
Nikki Rainey wrote:
We are in Africa!!!! I cannot believe this and it is soo much more than I could have ever imagined! Being worried about flying seems soo silly now. In a heartbeat I would do it again and again and again. Each day seems to bring something new that I thought I would never be able to experience. The flying for 26 hrs on Friday and Saturday, the 3 hr church service on Sunday that seemed to fly by, seeing the Masai tribe, holding a Masai baby while his mother is being baptized. Monday digging the ditch so they can have water, playing with all the wonderful and loving children. They have soo much love and joy- all Tanzanians do. It really makes you wonder and feel soo horrible and ashamed that as Americans we always want just a little bit more. Yesterday, some new friends that have become soo dear to my heart, invited the entire team over to their house. James and Raveena invited all 12 Americans over to their humble home. It was smaller than my college door room, but they were soo proud to have all of us over. They wanted to buy each of us a soda. For 10 sodas, it cost 3,000 shillings. Raveena is the only one with an income right now, and she is a teacher – they make 15000 shillings a month. Buying those drinks for us was an entire weeks income. Never in my life have I spent an entire weeks income on a someone who was not family , much less someone I knew for 3 days. I was soo filled with emotion for their acts of generosity. They gave with a honest and grateful heart.
Teaching the children with VBS has been such a learning for me. Some of the children know more than we do. They share their parent’s fire and desire to learn more about Christ. But the first day the children would not respond to me, but we did teach them “duck duck goose”- They loved it! On tues, VBS went very well. We talked about Jesus feeding the 5000. Of course we asked them questions about the story, but one of them was ‘what was the name of Jesus friends. We were looking for ‘Disciples’- but they responded with the NAMES of the disciples!!!!! AHHHhh our kids would do well to remember the first few! Then we taught them ‘Making melodies” They loved it, and they sang with all their heart. Right now as I am writing, the verse that comes to mind is Matthew 18:3-4. “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you by no means will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”- God bless these Children!!!!!
Mary Pat King wrote:
Ok for all you out there who could not believe I would go on a mission trip, I’m here. I have felt the presence of God here. On Sunday we had the privilege of praying over the Masai. I asked God to use me for them. I felt a tingling go through my body, while I prayed for Margarite as she had the flu, and Lale who wanted Jesus to come into his heart. It was very humbling. On Tuesday we stared to really make connections with the people there. On Wednesday Cheri , Deanna and I taught the women of the church. Unlike us they never interrupt or try to talk over anyone else. The humbleness of these people is a breath of fresh air. As everyone else probable wrote, we went to James and Ravena’s house and they gave us soda’s which amounts to ½ of their monthly pay! How many of us would do the same? I love this place, I just pray I come home with more humility than I left with. Praise God!
Lindsey Huffman wrote:
The VBS for the kids we are doing is becoming a hit. Each day more children come from around town to gather and learn about Jesus. We had approximately 70 kids yesterday and are expecting more today. The children here are absolutely beautiful. They are so easy to love on and they crave your attention and affection. A couple days ago after we were building the water tower, Anna took me around her house to the back where the women were washing clothes and dishes. They willingly poured water on my hands as I rinsed the sand and dirt off. Another lady sitting down noticed I had a lot of dirt on my shirt, so Anna took me inside her home and took a clean shirt off of the clothesline, which she used to wipe the dirt off of my own shirt. Wow. After coming outside, Anna noticed a smudge of mud on my arm, so again she took me around the house and personally wiped the mud from my arm with water. It was quite an experience, as Anna is only 10 years old. All of the children are very mindful of their elders, and even their peers. They all look out for each other and respect one another. If one child falls down and hurts himself, another child will come over and tend to him. James, another member of Haven of Peace church asked me yesterday what I was thinking about, “Jesus or home?” I then asked him what he was thinking about and he replied that he was thinking about praying to Jesus tonight and thanking Him for his friends, his strength, his good health, and all of the new friends he was making here. They have so little yet are thankful for so much. The first thing Abel replied when asked what the best gift he’d ever received was “his life and his education”. They appreciate the simple things in life that we so easily take for granted. I love you Mom, Dad and Grant!!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday at the Indian Ocean
Sunday was so amazing. Worship in Tanzania is ALWAYS impressive with all of their music, rhythm and obvious love for the LORD…and us! Midway into our service a bus pulled in and unloaded a Masai tribe. The ladies were dressed in beautiful outfits with large dangling earrings and lots of bangles around their ankles. Leading them into the worships service was the tribal leader, a very large man! After service we all loaded into taxis and vehicles to head to the ocean. A few weeks ago, Matthew, pastor to the Masai had preached to them about salvation. Being in the bush, with no available water, they were unable to be baptized. Arrangements were made for their journey – “safari” to Dar for their baptisms. Once we reached the ocean, we witnessed 30 Masai tribesmen and women commit their lives to the Lord. The tribal leader was the first…it was truly a gift from God for us to experience their baptisms. As many of you know, Bob was so honored in 2006 to baptize Mark (formerly Rashidi). God truly gives us more than we could ask or imagine! By the way, Mark is currently our project manager (a VERY rough terminology) for our work projects.
We are HERE
We know that so many of you have been checking our blog, we are sorry but we JUST got internet access today and we are so happy to tell you that we are HERE. Already our trip is lifechanging and we have so many things to tell you. Several of our team are going to write about different days so that we can get our experiences on more quickly...watch for our updates!!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ready to Go
Well, here we go! I'm shutting down my computer and doubt if I'll have access till we arrive in Tanzania. We had lots of running today. We learned from Ken Henderson and his experiences last month that the Tanzanian money changers have become very "picky". They want crisp bills dated after 2000, especially higher denominations. That meant we had to beg and plead with all the tellers to go through their drawers looking for the best bills. We went to three different banks but finally, it appears that we are all set.
We've been packing and weighing and shuffling and weighing and it appears from the Wallace household that we are within our weight requirements. We still have to add some things to the team bins that are already waiting for us at the church.
Our team is meeting at midnight. We have some team packing to complete then we will enjoy getting to know some of our team members who aren't from NC, complete our team covenant, spend some time in devotions and prayer and leave about 4am for the airport. Our starting flight is at 6am and about 24 hours later we should be arriving in Dar.
Please keep us in your prayers over the next several weeks.
Cheri
We've been packing and weighing and shuffling and weighing and it appears from the Wallace household that we are within our weight requirements. We still have to add some things to the team bins that are already waiting for us at the church.
Our team is meeting at midnight. We have some team packing to complete then we will enjoy getting to know some of our team members who aren't from NC, complete our team covenant, spend some time in devotions and prayer and leave about 4am for the airport. Our starting flight is at 6am and about 24 hours later we should be arriving in Dar.
Please keep us in your prayers over the next several weeks.
Cheri
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My Heart is Racing
My pulse rises each day we get closer to our trip to Tanzania, Africa. I am looking at the picture of Mark (used to be Rashiki; his Muslim name) being baptized and I think, "I can't wait to see him." I think of the friends we'll be seeing at Haven of Peace Christian Church; Alphonce and Esther, David, Grayson, and so many more. I think about Juzer, Nafissa and their girls and wonder if they are still singing the Christian songs we taught them. My heart begins to beat stronger as I think of the missionaries; Don and Rochelle and Billy and Leah and how they have devoted their lives to sharing Jesus with people so far away from us and the "comforts of home." I know we'll only be there a couple of weeks, but God doesn't need much time to do some fantastic things through His people. I am so excited to share two or three weeks of my life with my Christian brothers and sisters trying to make a difference in people lives who may never have heard of Jesus. Wow. What a blessing.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
"Send Off Sunday"
Today at church they asked all the team members to come forward and the elders prayed for our trip. How AMAZING! It is hard to believe that it is actually here. We have asked many people to pray for us while we are gone and many have provided us with a little note that we can open when we are there. It was so nice to greet people today and have them hand us a note..."don't open till Africa"! I can't wait to get a chance to read their encouraging words.
Please continue to pray as we make our final preparations. There is still much to be done and I know we will really be scrambling in the next few days. Pray for many of our team members who are leaving small children at home. I know this is the hardest part about going is leaving them behind. But, our team is ready, willing and excited to see what God has planned for us!
Please continue to pray as we make our final preparations. There is still much to be done and I know we will really be scrambling in the next few days. Pray for many of our team members who are leaving small children at home. I know this is the hardest part about going is leaving them behind. But, our team is ready, willing and excited to see what God has planned for us!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
One week and counting
It is Saturday, one week before we leave and we are busy getting things together. One of our guest rooms has turned into a staging area. Bob has pulled out all of his camping gear, looking for all his "backpacking" apparel for his KILI climb. We seem to have lost our binoculars and a pair of gators. Looks like we will need to do some real digging to find them. Today I picked up a few small items for the children in Africa (baloons, suckers, nail polish etc.)
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