Here is a test*imony from last Friday. We had a good time. Thought I would share this one with you.



The four of us headed out in the blazing heat of the day set onward to our destination. In planning to do a children’s health care teaching on keeping your food covered, we thought the soccer field was where we would find plenty of onlookers to take part in the teaching. En route to the field, we watched the children waiting for dahla-dahlas (local transport) throw rocks up at the mango tree. If your rock hits a mango, score, but watch out for the mob of children headed for that same mango. Quickly it dawned on us that we could do our teaching right there. So we went for it…Firstly, attracting the children with a song about peeling, smashing, shaking and eating bananas, and then a failed attempt at playing “electricity” and finally with a teaching about dirty flies landing on our food and that can make us sick. At this point the original 10 had quadrupled and all eyes were on us. We shared a small devotional about our responsibilities, and then thought, “hey, let’s tell these kids about Je*sus”. Just that morning we had been crying out in intercession for salvation for the predominately Muslim village and faith without deeds is after all, dead. Our small friends, who weren’t distracted by dive-bombing fruit, listened to the story of a refugee baby who saved the world and following, five children said that they wanted to get to know him. Woohoo! We continued to sing and dance with the children, they would sing songs and we would pipe in with the one or two redundant Swahili words we understood and eventually did the teaching again as the group reshuffled. Following the teaching we did a short drama about the gifts we have been given as people to share, and when we share them, they grow. Jacob, our local friend, gave a short message that was on his heart. We were about to depart for home but felt like something was still there. Once we realized this, we asked Jacob if there were any questions, one boy about ten years old asked, “Who is Je*sus?” and another asked, “Why do you call him father?”. It is common for there to be skewed teaching within the schools on the Bi*ble as well as many children attend Islamic schools. In both cases, questions aren’t readily encouraged. We closed the time with all the children by praying for Je*sus to show himself through a dream that evening and then of course, we united as bananas and sang again once more before we left.



Since that testimony things have been on a roll here in Tanzania. We have been here about three and a half weeks. I apologize; I still have not posted my thank you notes to all of you who have helped me get here. I have not forgotten you. Soon and very soon.



I am wide awake this evening after a spontaneous improv game night. I sit here writing to you in hopes of winding down my active thoughts. I am sweating through my skirts these days…everyday is getting more and more humid. I don’t know how much more of my sizzling laptop I can handle. Currently, I have white girl cornrows since one of my beloved students restyled my frizzy hair. Monday commences our time at the hospital. We are growing ever eager to be immersed in daily health care. We had to fight for the work permits and as they were granted this week after a two-month process, we are now able to go!



We have been spending these weeks orientating ourselves as a team to the base and the culture. A couple hours teaching at the clinic here, a few home visits there, some jackfruit here, bucket shower under the coconut tree there, applied lectures here, inter*cession and wor*ship there. It has been a gliding descent into the relationship-orientated culture that we are now ever present in.



I found myself this week, daily asking G*od, “We are such a massive team…how can we all be used?” And we are figuring this out. We are not a normal midwifery school that bends over backwards and spreads ourselves thinly so that everyone can be a part of X amount of deliveries, but we focus on the G*od’s will for un*ity and trust in him and pray forth the experience we all need. Also knowing that G*od is going to create facets for each gift to reflect, that we have more illuminate and we don’t want the number of students to hide but create a brighter light. I am seeking to overcome my ideas of what we did as 6 students and 2 staff and asking God to exterminate my small expectations. We are a powerful army and there won’t be any playing “left bench” this year.



Yeah, that’s kind of where I am at.



Some thoughts from this week:

-Mongooses do exist, they are more than a BMX brand.

-Don’t sit under a coconut tree in the wind. They are deadly, branches and all.

-One more ALWAYS fits in public transport.

-SMSing/Texting is a blessing. (I have a cell phone now!)

-Americans can register their travel destinations online, although meeting the consulate at the Embassy is exciting.



Ok, long post. Maybe I will split it in two.

Miss you guys. Callie called me this week AND my family. So much love.

You too can call me/text me and I will respond!

I’m still waiting, 7 days later, for Charlie to respond.

a first little report.

earth to my fellow family and friends. i am now alive and well in tanzania. communication is looking limited. but i want so badly to keep you posted.

my time is running slim on the internet, but in the next five minutes i will do my best to watercolour and little illustration for you...

we arrived safely and happily about twenty four hours after departure from perth. beate, a german midwife and her kenyan husband have been our amazing hosts. they are helping melisa (my trusty sidekick co-leader) and i to set up work in the hospitals and in surrounding chu*rches. the past week has been full of becoming orientated, fighting in pra*yer for our work permits, settling in the second lecture phase and for me--learning to lead.

some exciting highlights have included seeing a tarantula (like memeseeku's) in our classroom, becoming distracted as a class during inter*cession as the monkeys chased each other in the trees and eating a guava off a tree while washing my clothes.

i felt as if i arrived at home when we were bouncing along the road back to the base for the first time. oh how my heart loves east africa.

the village we are living in is primarily muslim. the call to prayer echos through the mango trees of the base every couple of hours. many women cover themselves with a full burka while others just a full head covering or small scarf. we have been diving into friendships this week. one exhilarating moment was when a small team of four girls returned back to a house they had visited the previous day, when they arrived, the woman asked "where is the fifth? i know there were five of you yesterday." there was a moment of confusion when they tried to communicate to the local translating that there were only four, the four that there right then. she was adament. it was clear that G*od had been with them.

We are bringers of his presence. Our value is in his love for us. Not what we do, what we complete, in his love for us.
Let us together, carry this message to the nations.

bless you my friends.