Back to Michigan for a White Christmas

Sunday Sally and I begin our flights (5) to reach Detroit.  It was not on our 'radar' of plans to do this but because of changes in the health of our parents, and our responsibility to honor our parents, we felt it was wise and prudent to make this trip.  

This past week Sally's mom (Gloria) was hospitalized after experiencing a stroke.  She is currently in rehab and doing well.  We thank God it was not a massive debilitating one, but a stroke is a stroke.  In fact, in the medical field, we call them 'brain attacks' as it is like a heart attack in that there is tissue damage and it is serious.  We are so thankful for the excellent care she has gotten and that she is doing better.

Last month my dad (Leo) had hip replacement surgery.  After some complications post-operative, he is doing remarkably well in rehab and hopefully will be coming home soon.  Home now for mom and dad is their apartment in Charlotte, Michigan.  They moved there this year as they were closer to my sister and brother-n-law who are their main support system as well as closer to their doctors.  Dad has been in and out of rehab the past couple of years.  Mom is doing well, but hey, she isn't a young puppy anymore (Sorry mom).  Both of them have regular doctors appointments and need help with things.

So this is our time to physically be there and help them.  We know it will also provide some 'relief' to family members that are the primary helpers of our parents.  We are so thankful for them!  When we stepped out in faith 16 years ago to serve in medical missions in Africa we knew that it would mean leaving many things and persons behind.  Being 8,000+ miles away from our family has been one of the continuing 'challenges' of our journey in following Jesus Christ.  We aren't there to help out when there are small problems or big ones.  It is not easy, but we still believe that God has a plan for us to continue to serve in His kingdom work here in Kigoma, Tanzania.  (I treated 182 patients in out patient department this week, not counting daily hospital rounds)

Obviously, in addition to helping with our parents we will get to see family again, especially our kids!!!  Yeah for Adam, Megan, and Kelly!  Sally hasn't seen Adam since May 2010 (I got to see him in July 2010.)  Haven't seen Megan since summer of 2010.  Kelly since August of this year.  Needless to say we are excited and our kids are too.  It will be a crazy schedule but we know that this is the right time to do this.

We would ask that you remember us in your prayers.  International travel is long; jet lag is no fun at all (we are 8 hours earlier than EDT); not excited for cold weather; will need wisdom on how to divide our time; and good health.  Mostly we want to be there to serve our parents with love and compassion as they have cared for us as all these years.  They are amazing people and we love Mom Jessup and Mom and Dad Pepper so much!

Finally in closing, in this Christmas season, we are so thankful for the support system we have as 'Watumwe' (Kiswahili for 'sent ones' or 'slaves.'  We love being 'slaves' for Jesus!).  Our sending agency (IMB Connect) has a wonderful way of supporting us. Southern Baptist Churches all over the USA voluntarily send funds to support all of us 'Watumwe.'  This month will mark the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering where we see the majority of our support come from Southern Baptist churches all over America.  Next years IMB budget is $324 million.  It is huge.  The majority of it will come from this special offering. We continue to be amazed by the sacrificial giving.  May you be blessed.

Merry Christmas!

Larry and Sally

Update

The past couple of weeks have flown by.  Seems that work at the hospital keeps on growing, with more and more outpatients coming.  Last Monday, myself and another doctor saw over 100 patients.  We are thankful that people are regaining confidence in the quality of the hospital services.  As what seems to be the usual, there are encouraging days and 'challenging' ones.

Thankful my Kiswahili continues to improve.  I still get a problem at times with complicated histories of patients.  Sometimes you ask 'what is the problem today' and they begin with their history of 5 years ago... I have to read just about every evening on some aspect of medicine that either I learned a long time ago, or have never treated.  Am thankful for special gift money that helps me to keep a medical program called UpToDate on my computer.  Has the most up to date information on a wide variety of things in medicine. It's equivalent to having probably 10-15 text books.  (by the way, inspite of how we doctors act at times, we really don't know it all!).

Anyway, this past week was one of treating and counseling.  I try hard to give education to patients on the ward whenever we do rounds.  Together with the nurses we teach about general hygeine, especially about safe drinking water, and malaria avoidance.  More about water later.  But this week was a bit different as I was doing counseling with a married couple about infertility, then with a young man who had a bad case of shingles on his face and had just been tested and discovered he has the HIV virus.  Another young married man about 'family issues' and counseling a young wife about why it was that I couldn't lie and fill out a form incorrectly for her as she was pregnant with another persons child.  Yeah, all that in Kiswahili.  I pray that what I heard and what I said was correct. 

Unfortunately, once again it was a week with death.  A one year old boy died on the ward, after 4 days of treatment.  I can still see his sweet little face as he looked at me while I was examining him.  Some of the children cry as they are used to getting immunizations and so think I am going to give them one.  Others cry because I am white (and I suppose some cuz I'm ugly).  But this little boy looked right into my eyes as if he could see right through to my soul and was saying 'help me!'  We did all that we could but yet early the next morning he died.  And then two days later I had to tell a 20 year old married lady that her 6 month old baby had died inside her.  Don't know the cause of either deaths.  Was able to pray with them.

I hope that it isn't depressing to read this, but I just want to share with you what the reality is.  Life is hard here for Tanzanians.  Disease is everywhere, and because of poverty and other causes, many are late to reach the hospital for service, others go to traditional healers first, then when all seems hopeless, they come to us.  That is the reality.  But we do treat a lot of patients that get better and go home, Praise God!

Oh yeah, water.  The hospital was blessed to receive 4 of the 8 water filters from
Baptist Global Response (http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/blog/?cat=120).  These filters are made in Kenya and work great to provide safe drinking water.  We put two on the ward, one in Maternal Child Health Clinic, and one in Pharmacy.  So thankful for clean, safe, drinking water.


OK, so today (Sunday) we went to Kibirizi Baptist Church.  Took us 45 minutes to find the place (it's 10 min from our house).  There are NO signs anywhere, and people gladly helped us to find three other types of churches, before someone finally said, "go back to the market, turn left and climb the hill. Ask there, they will explain."  Finally we came across a lady who told a youth (yes, she told him to 'get in their truck and show us') who showed us the way there.  We had a great time of worship with the believers at Kibirizi Baptist Church.  After the service we had a 'family' meal all together.  This church and Kalalangabo Baptist get together the first Sunday of the month, then after the service have a meal.  We had ugali (cooked white corn meal), beans, and dagaa (like smelt).  They are a major source of protein in the diet here.  Caught at night out on lake Tanganyika and then sun dried.  Before eating they are soaked in water and then fried in oil with some tomatoes, onions and salt. I really liked them.  This weekend we'll get some when the boats come in in the morning and then fry them like smelt...my mouth is already watering.

Daily by His grace...

A week about death

Seems that some weeks are better than others.  You've been there I'm certain.  This past week has been emotionally challenging.  Seems to be a lot about death. Thinking about it, seeing it, seeing the effects of it, not liking it.

Sunday we drove to Kigali, Rwanda in order to take Kelly to the airport.  We thank God she is back safely in Michigan.  As we drove into and around Rwanda, I was continually reminded of the horrible genocide that occurred there in 1994.  800,000 to 1,000,000 people murdered in about 8 months.  As I saw youth walking the streets of Kigali, I thought about how they have grown up under the shadow of a horrific time in Rwanda.  I saw old people and wondered how all the deaths that they saw affected them.  I thought about the fact that most likely there were people still mourning while those who committed untold atrocities walked the streets.  We drove past a memorial for some of those brutally murdered.  All that, along with saying goodbyes to Kelly was draining.

Tuesday, Sally and I returned to Kigoma safely.  Praise God!  It is always a blessing to have traveled in E. Africa for 22 hours on the roads without an 'event.'  As I passed the road that goes to our hospital I thought about the 45 year old mom/grandmother that I had admitted to the ward right before we left for Rwanda.  She came complaining of headache and arm weakness with a blood pressure of 300/180 mmHg.  I am not kidding.  On Wednesday I saw her on the ward.  She was recovering from a stroke, but doing well.  The plan was for discharge.  I went to OPD to see patients.  After a while I got summoned to the ward to help.  I was informed that just after seeing her grandchild from across the ward and waving to her, she suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing.  CPR was attempted but from the signs it was clear she had most likely  suffered a sudden bleed into her brain.  The family went from planning her return home to planning her burial.  We were all shocked and saddened.  I had seen and and been touched by death once again.

Thursday morning upon reaching the hospital for our morning worship time, I learned that one of our Baptist pastors, Pastor Timothy Mbiha, had died.  He was about 50 years old.  I had yet to meet him.  At his funeral, I heard some of his life story.  He heard the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in 1980 and decided then and there to receive by faith, the free gift of salvation.  He began serving as an evangelist while getting bible training.  I'm sorry that I do not know his complete history, but I can say that I heard testimony after testimony about his life of serving Christ, preaching the truth of the gospel, of befriending many people and sharing Christ with them.  Many shared about his life of serving his people as pastor of Mwasenga Baptist Church.  He has left behind 8 children and his wife.  We continue to pray for them.

I estimate that over 400 people attended the funeral and burial.  People representing several denominations of churches as well as several Muslims attended.  The gospel was clearly proclaimed at his funeral.  At the end of the funeral service, after all had passed by to pay their last respects, something happened that I didn't expect.   Apparently, as is the custom, the men stood in two columns stretching from the door of the church to the grave.  His coffin was passed out through the door of the church and then was handled/passed by each of about 100 of us men until it reached the grave side. Once again I had seen and 'handled' death.  His body/coffin was then carefully placed on the ground and again the gospel was preached.  It was a humbling experience.  

But what was clearly different from Rwanda and the death of that dear mother/grandmother, was that in the death of Pastor Timothy was the hope of the resurrection.  The promise of Jesus Christ that by faith we receive forgiveness of the penalty of our sins, that we are born again, a new creation, empowered to live a Christ-like life through the indwelling Holy Spirit.  And then, when 'God calls us' as was preached, we leave this temporary life on earth and continue to live eternally in the presence of Jesus Christ.  That is the hope we have.  That is the truth of the Holy Scriptures.  We have a sure hope, and that is the person of Jesus Christ.

I have to say that this week of 'death' has not been what I expected or hoped for or prayed about.  But I know that God has allowed us to pass through the events of this week for a reason that He knows.  In this week of thinking about, seeing death, seeing the effect of death on families, I am thankful that I have a living Lord and Savior that conquered sin and death through his sinless life, sacrificial substitutionary death on the cross, and amazing resurrection!  

Let me close with the words of the chorus from the song "Because He lives."

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know he holds the future,   And life is worth the living, just because He lives!

Continuing to serve, daily by His grace…

Road Trip Again - Please Pray!

I knew that this day would come, but I have been dreading it, in some ways avoiding thinking about it.  You see, it is the day we head to Kigali, Rwanda to take Kelly to the airport.  

We have had a fantastic time with her over the past weeks.  It began with her arrival in Dar es Salaam after her missions trip in Rwanda and Uganda.  Then a short vacation to the island of Zanzibar.  After 4 days of total relaxation, we did the long drive across Tanzania to our new home here in Kigoma.  Kelly has helped us (once again) unpack and set up our house – to become a home.  She is a hard worker, has an eye for things, and is an encourager.  She's learned some Swahili over the weeks as well.  It has been blessed days to have her here for the summer. Every single day has been wonderful – I really mean that.  We savor our days with our kids.  Sally told Kelly the other day, 'why can't you remain small?'

This is one of the hardest things that missionary families face – saying good byes.  It is hard on all of us.  It will be a long series of flights for Kelly to get back to Detroit.  At least Sally and I will have each other as we drive back.  These drives are usually kind of quiet.  Tears are shed, and memories flood our minds.  I'm not trying to be dramatic, just sharing the truth.

When we say goodbye at the Kigali Airport, we won't see Kelly again till her graduation, May 2012.  The last time we saw our daughter Megan was August of last year.  I was blessed to see Adam in July of last year when I went to the USA for a medical meeting.  Sally hasn't seen him since May 2010.  This is really hard…

Our lives continue on by the grace of God.  Ours lives on one continent, and our kids lives on another.  We miss out on events in their lives, and they miss our presence.  We are so grateful for email, and for Skype.  We are thankful that we now can do video skype, but nothing can compare to a hug, sitting together drinking coffee, listening to what has been happening in their lives, seeing the excitement of new discoveries, offering advice, sharing what God has been doing in each of our lives.  We miss that one-on-one contact.  This is really hard.  I'm struggling holding back the tears as I write this, sitting in my chair in the living room, while Kelly does her toes and Sally is packing her things.  I know this is our last night together with Kelly in our home.

We knew about this when we began our life of missions service back in 1995.  Thought it would get easier as the years have gone by, but it has only gotten harder.  Sally and I are so thankful for our families back in Michigan and Ohio, how they have made sure our kids have a 'home' in the USA as well.  They have been a huge blessing to our kids, and to us.

So I ask, if you would, pray for us.

• Pray for safety as we drive to Rwanda and back.  About 220 miles of the road tomorrow is dirt, really bad, dusty, and dangerous.  The remainder  of the road that we will travel on in Tanzania and Rwanda is paved.  We never take it for granted that we will have a safe journey.  Pray for safety in my driving, in the other drivers, for our truck to not break down.
• Pray for Kelly as will make her long journey of connecting flights to get her to Detroit.  Pray that she will have kind seat mates, safety in flight, peace and comfort in her heart as she leaves us, and opportunities to share her love of Jesus with others that she meets along the way. Thanks Sherri for picking her up!
• Pray for Sally and I as we make the long and lonely drive back to Kigoma.  Pray we will experience the grace of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit as we grieve sending Kelly back to the USA.  God has always been faithful and we know in our minds that he will be faithful again.  
• We thank God for the amazing support system we have that provides us with a great vehicle to make this journey (Toyota 4WD).  Thank you SBC churches for your giving each and every week that makes it possible for us to be here, serving Tanzanians in the name of Jesus Christ.  Providing compassionate Christ-centered care and hope.  All for His glory.
• Pray that Kelly has a sweet time of re-uniting with her aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins and friends.
• This is hard…

Daily by His grace,

Larry and Sally

The Sting of Death; The Comfort of God's Promises

I knew it would happen eventually.  Practicing medicine in a developing country inevitably involves death.  The overall condition of people's lives is much poorer than in the USA for example.  There are many more diseases that are still present, like rheumatic heart disease, typhoid, and TB.  You may recall from my last post about a boy I was treating for complications of rheumatic heart disease and something more.  We decided that he likely had extra-pulmonary TB (TB outside of the lungs) and started him on treatment.  It was touch and go Friday and Saturday.  He died early this morning, 1AM our time Sunday.

I learned of his death when Sally and Kelly and I went to the ward after the church service.  We were met by his mom.  She told me he had died.  I was shocked.  I was sure he was going to get better, but he was really sick.  He is the first of my patients here at Kigoma Baptist Hospital to die.  I know he will not be the last.  I remember vividly to this day the first patient who died when I first began treating hospital patients in Mbarara.  In one week in Mbarara, I had more patients die than I had in 8 years of practice before.  Of course I had been practicing Preventive Medicine Aerospace, but even so, it was shocking.  By the way, it wasn't that I wasn't a good doctor, it was that the diseases back in 1996 were so severe and the patient's conditions were so bad to begin with.  I recall coming back to the ward the day after losing 2 patients and stopping at the door way.  I prayed "Lord God, please I ask you to help me not to become accustomed to death, not to become hardened to the pain and suffering, but also, Lord, I need help!"  God has been faithful to help me over the years to remain with compassion for the sick and their families.

After learning that her son had died, we prayed for her and then we returned home.  I called up Pastor Jackson and asked him what we as a part of Azamio Baptist Church could do.  He asked that I pick him up and we would go to the hospital.  The challenge was this mother had come from the village, 35 kilometers (21 miles) with just her sick son, and had forgotten her cell phone.  Her husband was on a journey to a town several hours away.  We decided that with the help of some of the church members and another pastor we would take her and her son's body back to the village.  After he died, his body was washed and wrapped in a sheet.  Then he was wrapped in another piece of cloth.  Four men sat in the middle seat with his body across their laps.  4 women sat in the back of the truck on the bench seats.  Pastor Jackson sat up front with me.  We stopped just outside of town at a market so a special white sheet could be bought to be used to wrap his body prior to being buried.  The church members contributed to pay for it.  We made the 1hr 15 min drive to the village of Kaseke.  20 km on paved, then 11 km on reasonable dirt road, and the last 4 km on a single track path to the village.

We went as far as we could with the truck and then the men carried his body to the family home, about 200 yards further.  Fortunately someone had been able to reach some family members and there were about 30 people waiting (not sure who all were but some were family and others were people from the village).  His body was placed in the house where it will lay until tomorrow morning when he will be buried.  His father will be back tomorrow morning.  The rest of today and tonight, people will offer their 'poleni' (like condolences) to the family and some will remain and sing throughout the night.  The pastor from Darajani Baptist Church in Ujiji stayed and will help to conduct the service tomorrow and then his body will be buried.  Gadson's mom, father, and 7 remaining brothers and sisters will be comforted by family and friends from the village.

Before we left the family and the village of Kaseke, Pastor Jackson shared some words of encouragement.  You see, just over a week ago, when he went to visit Gadson and his mom at his bedside on the ward, they both made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  The grace and mercy of God are so amazing.  I didn't know until today, on the drive to the hospital, that last Sunday, Gadson and his mom had gone to Azamio Baptist Church to give testimony of their decision before the church.  (We had gone to a different Baptist church last week).  Pastor Jackson told me how that both Gadson and his mom shared that they were happy to know that had received salvation through believing in Jesus Christ.  As a part of that church service, the members took up a special offering to help them as they had come from so far.  Twenty one miles to us Americans is nothing at all.  We might go that far just to go out to eat.  But for this family, it was incredibly costly to get to the hospital.  The generosity of the church family at Azamio was wonderful.

It is always hard to know what to say, and what not to say in the face of death.  Both Pastor Jackson and I shared a few words of encouragement to Gadson's mother.  Pastor Jackson voiced a prayer, and then we came back to Ujiji/Kigoma.

It's been a long day.  I grieve over the death of this young boy, only 12, but looked about 8.  I grieve for his parents and his brothers and sisters.  But I also rejoice in the promises of God that when as a believer in Jesus Christ, our time on this earth is over, we will instantly be in the presence of Jesus Christ.  God promises that as I write this, Gadson is enjoying the wonderful presence of his Savior.  And his family is being comforted by the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God, and by friends.

Please pray for Gadson's family.  For safety for his dad as he cuts short his trip and returns home to bury his son.  For his brothers and sisters as they grieve his death.  For his mom who comforted him day and night at his bedside in the hospital.   For those attending the grieving time tonight and the burial service tomorrow to clearly hear the gospel message.

I ask that you continue to pray for me as I endeavor to provide compassionate Christ-centered care to the people of Kigoma/Ujiji.  My one desire is that Jesus Christ be glorified in all that I do and say.  That people clearly see the love of Jesus demonstrated in our actions, and hear of the hope of Jesus when they come to Kigoma Baptist Hospital.

All for His glory…

It's all about perspective.

Two of the Inpatient Wards

This weekend I did my share of complaining and whining.  We went about 70 hours without power because the power company had no fuel for their diesel generators.  We live in a part of Tanzania that is completely dependent on the diesel generators as we are not part of the national power grid.  Our food in the freezer thawed as well as the fridge/freezer, but didn't spoil.  The weather was hot.  I complained. 

Of course, there were those reminders from God, like when I remembered the passage in the book of Philippians about being thankful in all situations; and Jesus' words about how he has given us his peace, and his joy…but still, some of us like to complain, and whine a bit too.

But we had food, we had water, we had a great house to live in with a beach, our daughter Kelly is still with us (she's on summer break), we are healthy, we have the Word of God, we've known and experience daily his saving Grace…as I said, It's about perspective.

"Serving Kigoma in the name of Jesus Christ"

Then today, I was really reminded of how good I really have it.  It doesn't at all sound fair, but this is what I experienced today at the hospital.  After our morning worship time and our clinical meeting, I went to do rounds on the ward.  We only have 6 patients on the ward (we can handle about 36 right now).    I carefully reviewed each patient (3 adults and 3 kids) and discussed what was next in their treatment.  A lady with a stroke that showed all the signs of impending death; infant recovering from malaria and dehydration; lady with acute pneumonia on a chronic one; a child with severe diarrhea and dehydration; elderly lady with a huge poorly working heart; a youth with cerebral malaria.  Each suffering the consequences of serious illnesses – and I was whining about no power…God forgive me for my pettiness.

After ward rounds I went to OPD (Out Patient Department).  What really shook me, brought me back to 'reality' was the 9 year old boy who was struggling to breath because of his heart disease.  He likely has rheumatic heart disease, a consequence of an infection that then turned into a autoimmune disease (were his body mistakenly attacks itself – in his case, his heart).  His mom shared his history of having gotten worse over the past months, but especially in the past few days.  I carefully listened and then examined him.  He was breathing faster than normal, and had a distended belly.  His heart was very big, noisy from a valve dysfunction, and his liver and spleen were enlarged from back pressure from his heart.  He has a 'shida ya moyo' - a problem of the heart that leads to lung, liver, spleen, kidney and other problems.  I finished my exam and explained to the mom that we needed to admit him to the ward.  When he heard it, he tried to hide the tears that came…and to think that last night I was whining that 'it's hot, I can't sleep good.'

I thank God that we have medications to help this acute problem, although he is likely past the stage where heart valve surgery would help him.  After OPD I went to check on him before heading home.  Got an oxygen concentrator for him (a machine that scrubs oxygen from the air to help him) and made sure he had gotten his first meds.  He was a little bit better, and was smiling this time when I saw him.  He and his mom had already been visited by Pastor Jack, our hospital chaplain.

I drove home in my air conditioned truck to our home on the lake, with electricity, and food, and water, and Sally and Kelly.  My heart is working fine physically, but it hurts a bit for this little boy.  I prayed for him tonight and will see him again in the morning early.   And to think I was whining about 'stuff.'

Take a moment to thank God for all you have, and for what He has done.

Azimio Baptist Church (ABC)

We had a great day of worship with the believers at ABC.  Last week, Pastor Jackson came by the house to introduce himself and invite us to worship with them.  Besides pastoring his flock, he also leads the morning worship time at the Kigoma Baptist Hospital Monday through Friday.  He prays with the staff and also with patients.  He has a passion to serve like a chaplain there.

He began the work at ABC back in 1998 where they met in the bamboo walled church building (in the distance behind the brick church).  Later, with help from various people, they were able to build the structure that they presently worship in.  Pastor Jackson and his wife Esther live about 100 yards from the church in the town of Ujiji.  (The church is called ABC because it is located in the area of Ujiji called Azimio). 

Ujiji is a town of somewhere in the range of 150,000 people.  It is said that it is >95% Muslim.  Ujiji is famous for a few things including being the starting point of the slave trade route which reached to Dar es Salaam.  It is also famous for the time in which Dr. Livingston was found by the reporter who is said to have said “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”

We had a refreshing time of praising God through songs.  ABC has a choir that led some of the worship songs, but it was nice to see others in the congregation leading as well.  We were about 40 adults/youth and 20 kids.  It was really nice to see about 20 youth there, probably a 80/20 ratio of guys/gilrs.  After several songs,  we then heard a sermon on the truth that the Kingdom of God has come.  That we need to be about the work of inviting others to come to Jesus, to be doing the will of God every day, not just Sundays, to be overcoming the temptations of Satan and the world, and to live lives that follow Christ.  It was a challenging message.  After the message, there was a time of prayer for those who were sick, with each person prayed over by the pastor.  Finally, a closing song and prayer.  It was truly a wonderful day of worship.

Oh yeah, last Monday, we did get our container turned around by a crane at the port.  With the help of 6 stong guys together with Sally, Kelly and I, we got it unloaded in about 4 hours.  We’ve spent the week re-assembling, arranging, cleaning, etc. to get our home set up.  I think by the end of this next week, it will be looking pretty good.

Thanks for your prayers and support.  We are truly blessed to be here.  Tomorrow morning (Monday) we’ll be heading over to the morning hospital worship time to introduce ourselves and let them know I will begin working the following week.  I’ll post more this week.

Daily by His grace…

Our Plans, God's Plans.

Well, most days we think that we have things 'under control.'  And interesting idea and a bit arrogant to be quite truthful.  I was reminded of that today.  After traveling 1,500 km from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma, our container of personal goods arrived at our house.  This was the container of our things that we packed with the help of our MAF friends in Lesotho last January.  

We were really excited to see the truck arrive and for it to make its way down our rather steep drive to the side of the house.  Our plans were all in place.  Unbeknownst to us, the container got loaded on the truck with the doors facing forward against the front wall of the truck.  Apparently this is done to protect the contents from thieves that will jump on the back of the truck when it is going slowly up a hill and then proceed to cut the locks and open the doors and steal things while the truck is moving!

We were completely surprised to see it loaded that way, as we have no way to turn it around at our house – it weighs 9 tons!  The driver and his helper were apologetic but really they just delivered it.  After giving thanks to God for their safe journey (4 days) and the safe arrival of the container, I told them that even though we were surprised and disappointed, that God knew all along that this was going to occur.  That if we would just continue to trust Him, he would show himself to be faithful as always. At least that has been our experience in our walk with God.  He is faithful, and his plans are always best.

Well, I had an idea to go to the Port Authority as the Tanzania rail ends here and they do some shipping from here.  They have a 50 ton stationary crane that they use to off load rail cars.  They don't work today but tomorrow morning we will go there with the truck/container and pay to have them pick up the container, turn it around, and put it back on the truck.  Then back to the house to begin the unloading.  Then the work really begins.

I would ask you to pray that the crane works, that we have favor with the staff there as we have to get permission for them to lift the container, that they won't over charge us, and that no one gets hurt in the process.  Also pray that no one gets hurt unloading the container.  It has a lot of heavy stuff, and it has to be lifted down from the back of the truck.  There are no ramps and no lifts here.  I plan to hire 6 guys to help us.

All that to say, I am thankful that God is in control and I am not…

Be blessed,

Larry

Blocked roads and beautiful sunsets

It is a comfort to know that God is in control of all things.  As I sit here writing this update, I am viewing an incredible sunset over Lake Tanganyika.  It is our 3rd sunset to watch and it is incredible.  God is so good!

We arrived Wednesday evening after a long 22 hours of driving over two days.  The last 350 km of road (I use that term loosely) was sand and dust.  Probably half of the time it was only one lane that was useable.  In spite of that, we made it without one problem.  God is so good!

We arrived to find the Millers here working hard with some guys doing the final repairs on the house.  We are so thankful for the two weeks of hard work they did to get the house ready for us.  As I write this, they should be back in Dar es Salaam.  The night we arrived, we were blessed to have some time of fellowship with other like-minded folks working in this area.  It was a blessing.  God is so good!

Blocked roads…yep.  Found out from the driver of the container truck that another truck broke its axel and has completely blocked the road – that dusty dirt one.  He still has about 250 km to go so will spend the night with the truck, and God willing, the other truck will be moved to clear the road and he will reach here some time tomorrow.  God is so good! (This one is hard to say but it is TRUE.)  I am challenged once again by the Apostle Paul and by James as they write to remind us to give thanks in EVERY thing and that these things serve a greater purpose of God.  God willing, we will unpack the container on Monday.

We thank you for your prayers for our safety in travel.  We had a few 'close calls' along the way with a kid running out in front of our truck, and nearly hitting deep holes in the side of the road.  

Tomorrow morning we will worship in Azimio.  We look forward to that.  Thanks for praying.  God is so good!

Daily by His grace…

Almost Home! 930 miles to go...

Back from a restful 4 days on the island of Zanzibar.  Kelly (our youngest daugher) arrived from her missions trip in Rwanda/Uganda and we went to the island.  She'll spend the rest of her summer break with us.

Tomorrow morning, 5:30AM, Sally, Kelly and I head out from Dar es Salaam toward the far West.  We have a little over 1,500km (930 miles) of African roads to travel to reach Kigoma.  I tried to point out our trail on the map.

For over a week now, our house has been being repaired by David and Dorthy Miller and their daughter Cheryl.  We are so thankful for the hard work the Miller's have been doing to get our place ready for us to arrive.  God willing we will arrive on Wednesday (July 6th) before dark.  

Our container of household goods hopefully will be on the road tomorrow from Dar and get there maybe by Friday.  Then the fun begins with unpacking it off the back of the truck as there is no crane in Kigoma big enough to lift it off the truck.

Our path will take us through the middle of Tanzania over a variety of terrains.  For those who have never driven in E. Africa, imagine driving on a two-lane American country road, but with semi-trailers, other trucks of various sizes, busses, taxis, cars, bicycles, cows, goats and people, all sharing the road.  That's what we'll be doing for the next two days.  We expect to have two full days of about 11 hours each of driving.

We are excited about finally getting to Kigoma to begin the ministry that God has called us to there.   We really ask for your prayers for:

• Safety and alertness as we drive, and that our truck will function well.
• Safety of other drivers that we meet along the way. Remember it's 1,500km of two way roads.
• That our container of our 'things' will be able to be loaded tomorrow and arrive safely in Kigoma
• Safety for the Miller family as they head back to Dar es Salaam on Thursday.
• I know that's a lot of requests for safety but the reality is that driving these roads is dangerous.
• That we will enjoy the grace and peace of Christ as we drive.  
• It will be a time to talk with Kelly to get all of her news from the last 10 months.  We also have some great pod-casts from some of my favorite teachers (Piper and Keller) and some fun 'News from Lake Wobegon'

Not sure what the internet situation will be when we arrive there, but we'll post some pics and update as soon as we can.

Daily by His grace,

Larry and Sally and Kelly

Happy Anniversary Sally!

Yes, it is true.  That is Sally and I, just a bit younger.  28 years ago on the 18th of June at Henry Ford Memorial Methodist Church in Detroit we got married.  Family and friends from school were there.  My brother-in-law, Barry Smith co-officiated (sorry that sounds like it was a game of some sort) the ceremony.  We had the reception in the basement of the church.  It was a hot and humid summer day in June but we were very happy and very much in love.  I can say we are still very much in love and very happy.

We met at in the Fall of 1981 at Michigan State University where I had just started medical school and Sally had just started her Masters degree.  We fell madly in love and I nearly flunked out of medical school from spending too much time with Sally.  After a stern 'talking to' by the assistant dean of the medical school where he told me to choose either medicine or her, I chose her (and got my study habits in better shape).  We had long Autumn walks among the trees at the MSU campus, enjoying the beautiful fall color of the leaves and her beauty.  After just 6 weeks we decided we should get married.  There's still an argument about who asked who first, but I have learned that Sally is usually right.

We praise God for his mercy and grace and patience with us.  We decided early on to work on loving Jesus more and more and that would result in us getting closer and closer to each other, and to God.  It has worked.  I thank God every day for our marriage, for God blessing me with a God-loving wife and best friend ever.  We are so thankful for the three children God has blessed us with.   Our prayer is that our kids too will experience the joy of a long marriage that is God centered and God blessed.  We are thankful too for our family and friends who have encouraged us and blessed us over the past 28 years. 

I love you Sally!

Urgent Request! Calling on all people to pray for the Blind.

Here’s the irony. So the blind guy can see, yet those who say they can see are really blind?  So the story in John’s gospel is narrated (Chapter 9).  A middle-aged guy who was born blind is miraculously healed by Jesus and can now see fully.  When the religious leaders get wind of it (especially because Jesus did this on the Sabbath) it gets really crazy.  They are the religious guys who are supposed to ‘see’ the way of God and lead the people, yet they can’t see that the Messiah has come in their midst.  The guy who was blind, now sees physically with his eyes, but also ‘sees’ with his heart that Jesus is God and his Savior.  If you take the time to search the bible, there just aren’t stories of the blind being healed before Jesus appears.  I am fascinated by the irony in this story, but also saddened as it is a modern day commentary.  More on that later...

Just a short digression…  In the Apostle Paul’s writings to the young believers in the city of Corinth (his second letter to them) he reminds them that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of people so that they don’t see the beauty of Jesus Christ.  They are unable to see and comprehend the gospel of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).  They are spiritually unable to see, and that is why they remain in darkness.

Hence, my urgent request for people to pray on behalf off the blind.  (Christians call that interceding prayer, or intercessory prayer, where you ask God on behalf of someone else for the will of God be done in their life.) 

Sally and I serve in a place with a lot of ‘blind’ people.  Allow me to share with  you a brief story.  Today I sat in the store front of a young 30-year-old father of two who is ‘blind.’  As I was waiting for our new truck tires to be installed, I struck up a conversation.  Sally says I talk to every one, something I inherited from my dad which I am very appreciative of.  Anyway, this young man is a fascinating self-made businessman. 

He shared with me about his life (he’s Indian by descent but a second generation Tanzanian and a ‘not so good’ Muslim by self description).  He told me about his family and several of his desires for his life, his business, and his family.  We discussed a number of things including my life and why Sally and I have served in Africa so long.  The conversation naturally turned to ‘religion’ and I had the opportunity to share with him about my love of Jesus.  He seemed very interested, even if we were interrupted every 2-3 minutes by phone calls (he really is a good businessman). 

I explained to him that I wasn’t about promoting religion, but all about finding a relationship with God.  That got his attention as I got the impression that he was used to foreigners that promoted their religion.  He hadn’t heard about this whole thing of relationship with God. In that moment the Holy Spirit reminded me of the story of the rich young ruler that came to Jesus, which I was able to share with him.  And then we talked about how that every person has a ‘god’ that they are worshipping and for the young man in the story it was his wealth that was keeping him from having a life altering relationship with God.  The story got him thinking, but then unfortunately it was time for him to leave on a journey. 

I pray for him as he continues on in his life in his state of blindness.  God, I ask that you open his eyes to see you!

I close with these humble requests:

 

Please pray 

• for blind people that you know.   

           Our pastor (Dr. R.R. Creech) once said ‘if you are not talking to God about people, you probably aren’t talking to people about God.’

• That God will open their eyes to the beauty of Jesus Christ

•  That they will ‘see’ their own God-dishonoring lifestyle (sin) and turn to God for forgiveness and new life

• That they will have visions of the living Christ and believe in Him

• Please pray too for those that you know that say they can ‘see’ but are ‘blind’

• Thank God from the depths of your soul that you are no longer blind.  Thank Him that today you woke up seeing once again.

o   Thinking of the ‘religious’ types that seem to be able to see the speck in your eye but don’t see the plank in their own (read in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7:3-5)

• Pray for brothers/sisters in the faith that are having a hard time seeing the real beauty of Jesus Christ, his life, his teachings, the fact that he is fully God.  If you want to see God, then study Jesus – it’s that simple.

In closing, I really want to encourage you to open a translation of the Bible that you can read and read afresh John chapter 9.  While you’re at it, read 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 too.


Lastly, thanks to all of our churches who graciously give to the Lottie Moon Offering and through out the year so we can buy new tires, and in doing that, share the good news of Jesus Christ!

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.  (John Newton)

Language Evaluation

Thanks for your encouragement and prayers.  Sally and I had our 'mock' exam for language and communication on Friday.  It went very well!  We Praise God!

As we expected there were those moments of 'head scratching' but then the light went on and we were able to communicate.  Each of us had a time with the head of the language school and our language coordinator.  We shared our history (where we were born, family, work history, relationship with Jesus Christ, some Scriptures, and what we hope to do in Kigoma) then they had time to ask some questions.  Also had a one page written quiz covering some grammar as well as translating.

Don't know if you ever made tin-can/string communication devices when you were a kid (like the screen bean pic)?  After careful planning and construction, the real test came when you stretched out the string, and invariably you would say "can you hear me?"  Am thankful that we were able to hear each other, and communicate.

We still have a long way to go.  This is one of those language plateaus.  The danger is resting on the plateau, instead of pushing harder.  By God's grace, we'll do just that, one day at a time.  

Think our next evaluation will likely be mid June before we head to Kigoma.  OK, back to language learning…

Daily by His grace.

Test and Final Test

We are approaching the end of our Primary Course in Kiswahili (4 months).  The past months have been intense to say the least. Five days a week of class (5hrs/day) plus conversing, plus reviewing and homework and more review.  Through formal teaching along with immersion we have made real progress.  The 'immersion' part at times has felt like the word implies – drowning…  OK, maybe I am exaggerating a bit.  Our school has provided us with a variety of teachers.  We have compiled a vocabulary of at least 1500 words, not counting the multitude of verb derivations.  Our grammar has changed weekly (for the better most weeks), and  we are now at the point of doing a mock-exam this Friday, followed by our final exam for the primary course on May 27th.

We would really appreciate your prayers for us this Friday and the final two weeks.  We don't end learning Swahili after then, it just means that our language evaluation is done for this phase.  I always say 'when you stop learning, you are dead.'

We'll let you know our results.

Daily by His grace…

"I will speak your name!"

When you hear of someone speaking your name, what do you do?  What do you think?  I like to read, as well as listen to podcasts.  Some times you come across stories that really speak to your heart.  I heard this one, but not sure of the source of it.

In a certain village in Africa there came a disease the struck most of the villagers.  When it was over, nearly all in the village were blind.  Word of the problem reached a mission station some distance away. The doctor there set out to reach that village to see if he could help. After a long journey he arrived and began the process of determining what had caused this dreaded blindness. After some time he discovered that he had the means to treat the people and cure the blindness.  He worked hard day after day, God blessed his efforts and people were able to see again.  

When the doctor completed the work he was slightly taken aback that no one expressed 'thank you' to him for all the work.  Upon investigating, he discovered that there was no word in their particular language for 'thank you.' He could see that people were very happy to be able to see again.  As he was preparing to leave, one of the elders of the village came and shook his hand, and looking him in the eye said "I will make your name known. I will speak your name. You have done so much for us."  As the doctor made his journey home, he realized that what the elderly man said was profound.

What a challenging story!  When we look intently at what Jesus has done for each of us, when we read the gospels to know Him, when we ask God to give us understanding of who He is and what he is like and what he has done, how can we not also, like the elderly man cured of his blindness, say to God – "I will make your name known.  I will speak your name."

That is really what Sally and I and others in our group are here in Africa to do.  To speak of the mighty name of Jesus, to tell of all that he has done, of his love for all, and of his fulfilling the law perfectly, and then dying on the cross in our place to make a way for us to have a restored relationship with the Father.  To do that in the heart language of the people that we are here to serve.  

Our section of our organization has as a motto "Shatter the Darkness" (you see the logo on the right side of the blog).  It comes from Psalm 96:3 where the writer implores us to "Declare His glory among the Nations…" It's another way of saying "I will make your name known."

I want to encourage you to do just that in your home, in your villages, in your workplace, where ever you are.  And if you have never known Jesus, I want to encourage you to get a version of the bible that you can read easily, and start reading about Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John as a starting point.  Ask God to show you just who Jesus is and what he is all about.  You will be amazed.

In closing, I want to thank you for praying for us as we traveled LONG distances to our meeting in Nairobi and back.  We only have one flat tire, and that after we had parked for the night.  All our people arrived safely, even the special guests from America.  We went away encouraged, uplifted, refreshed from the teaching, the discussions, the fellowship.

Daily by His grace, speaking His name…

Off to Kenya

We head out Friday morning for Kenya for our annual meeting with others in
our E. Africa region. We'll be at the Brackenhurst Conference Center in the
highlands of Kenya - a beautiful venue surrounded by tea estates. We'll be
there to share our experiences in ministry, to be challenged by our guest
preacher from the US, and be ministered to by a great group of people coming
out from the US. This meeting also gives us opportunity to talk with our
leaders from our regional HQ (South Africa). And for many of us, it is a
time to get medical/dental/eye stuff done that we can't get done where we
live.

What Sally and I like the most is the time to talk with others. We all have
stories of what has worked and not, of mistakes made and what went right.
It's also a time to just have fun together. Some of our people are working
in rather remote areas so this is a time to 'hang out'. And we love the
times of group worship.

This will be our first time to drive 'up' to Kenya from Tanzania. We've
made the trip many times from the Uganda side, but not from here. It will
be three days of driving to get there.

As you are able, please pray for:
- safety on the roads. That the truck will not break, that the roads will
be reasonable, that we and other drivers will be alert.
- for safe travel for the folks coming out from the USA and those from South
Africa
- for all of us to be refreshed physically and spiritually
- for understanding as we learn new things from the Word and from our
leaders
- for safety in the food that we will eat. There is a great staff there but
there is always the risk of food borne illnesses

I'll share more after our meeting.

Daily by His grace...

P.S. We've now completed 12 weeks of Kiswahili language school!

Prayer Request for our Family

Sally and I would ask that you remember my dad (Leo) and mom (Wanda). Dad
was just readmitted to the hospital Saturday with strept pneumonia. Mom has
strept throat. In January my Dad had pneumonia and was hospitalized. He
was just discharged from rehab this past week after two months of PT. He and
mom just moved into a new apartment in the same town as my sister Gloria.

We know that God is sovereign over all things and we trust Him as always.
But it is really hard to be 8,000+ miles away when your family is in times
of trouble. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm whining, just stating a truth.
I know it is not easy for my sister and brother-in-law to be in the thick of
it all every day either. On Friday, they had just gone up North to see
Barry's mother as she had just had a stroke. She passed away on Saturday
and while there, they got a call that dad was sick. We were glad that our
two daughters were at my sisters this weekend and were able to help out
some. (We are really blessed as Gloria and Barry have taken care of our kids
since they came back to America and have made their house our kids house.
They even have a room for our girls in their house.)

When we left the US for full time service over here, we knew that times like
this would come. They are hard on the whole family. We trust God and are
praying for healing for my dad and mom, peace for mom as she sees her
husband in the hospital once again, for strength for my sister and her
husband, and wisdom for the health care staff. Pray for us to experience
the peace that surpasses all understanding, and that that peace will guard
our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:4-6).

Daily by His grace (today, moment by moment by His grace),
Larry and Sally

What have you put into someone's heart today?

Words are so interesting and powerful.  We use them for such a variety of reasons.  To inform, to command, to instruct, to rebuke, to hide, to share our heart, to help, and unfortunately, sometimes to hurt.  As a doctor, I have my own language.  In theology we have our own language. Even in the ‘church’ we have our own language.

As we have been progressing through these weeks of Kiswahili language study we have been learning how easy it is to say things in a variety of ways.  I suppose it is the same in English.  Sometimes you just flat out say what you want to say. But usually, we say things the polite way, or at least in a little less harsh way.

Today, Sally and I had the assignment to each prepare a Bible story to narrate, and a Bible study to teach.  Our language and culture supervisor was here with us to offer encouragement and to add to the instruction of our teacher.  We had both finished presenting our stories and I had shared my lesson. Sally was on the next to the last sentence of her lesson when we entered into a discussion on how important and common it was for Tanzanians to encourage one another.  It is an essential part of their culture.  In her lesson, Sally was ending with a ‘challenge’ for the student.  In English the word “challenge” works (to invite someone to do something that will be difficult or challenging), but in Swahili, the corresponding word ‘changamoto’ doesn’t work. It means challenge, but in a negative way. Sally was wanting to encourage the student to memorize Scripture.   Turns out the verb she needed to use in Swahili is -tia moyo.  Literally ‘to put into the heart’ meaning to encourage.

I really like that.
Some other ways it can be said is:
Tutiane moyo – “Let’s encourage one another.” Used when a group or family are facing some difficult situation.
Umenitia moyo – “You have encourage me”
Jipe moyo – “Encourage yourself”

That discussion naturally led to the other phrases used in Swahili like:

Usikate tamaa, jipe moyo – don’t lose heart, encourage yourself  (tamaa = desire)
Umenivunja moyo – you have broken my heart
Umekatisha tamaa – you have lost desire
Amekata tamaa – he has given up hope

Then we got into the ways to say that a person has died.  Much like English, Swahili has blunt, polite, and more polite ways to say things. You can probably tell which is which.

Hayupo hai – he is not here alive
Amefariki dunia – he has died earth (really hard to translate this one but common)
Hatupo naye tena – we are not with him again
Tumemkosa – we have missed him
Ametukimbia – he has run from us
Amekufa – he has died (least polite)

I am sure that there are other phrases like this that I will learn when we get to Kigoma Baptist Hospital and begin working.

So back to the topic of this blog.  Have you been encouraging others with your words and actions by putting good things into their heart? Or have you been discouraging – putting bad things in their hearts?

When we learned this Swahili phrase today, it made me start thinking about what I had put into Sally’s heart today.  It is SO easy to put something there, it’s just that I don’t always purpose to put something good there.  Isn’t that strange that we have such awesome opportunities to be heart doctors with our words, and yet often times we are just lazy.  Unfortunately, sometimes we are just plain mean and put bad things there.  God help us.

By the way, He does care a lot about this topic.  It’s addressed in a variety of ways in several places in the Word of God. Jesus taught about the power of words, how they were manipulated and misused by some of the religious leaders as well as the common person.  The Apostles wrote often about encouraging one another (“Tutiane moyo”). In other parts of the Bible, we are instructed to be careful with our words, to guard our tongue, and that we will all be held accountable for every word that has come from our mouths. (That’s a staggering fact.) The truth is we have opportunity each and every day to do something good.

A word to moms and dads.  We have such an awesome opportunity (and responsibility) to put good things into the hearts of our kids no matter how old they may be.  Please keep in mind that kids and adolescents are especially vulnerable to bad things put in their hearts, but also very responsive to the good things. Please don’t miss out on putting good things there. Would you commit today to proactively seeking opportunities to put something good into their hearts. One a day?

For all of us, we have opportunity each day to be heart menders/helpers or heart breakers. I pray you choose the former.

Daily by His grace,
Larry and Sally

p.s. If you want to see some really cool stuff, take time to do a word seach/study in the Bible on the word “heart”.  You’ll be surprised and certainly be blessed.

Can You Think of 50 Reasons Jesus Christ Died?

How far did you get in making your list?  It is tough, but if you really think hard and search the Scriptures you will find so many reasons.  As we approach the greatest days in our Christian calendar, Good Friday and Easter, I want to urge you to consider doing something.  
 
On the Desiring God website you can download John Piper’s book “Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die” for FREE.  It is in PDF format and not so big to download (less than 1MB).
 
I copied the following right from the Desiring God website page.  You can also download the accompanying study guide for free as well (I posted the links below).
 

In this book, revised and updated from the previously published The Passion of Jesus Christ, John Piper has gathered
from the New Testament fifty reasons behind the crucifixion of the Christ.
Not fifty causes, but fifty purposes—in answer to
the most important question facing us in the twenty-first century:
Why did Jesus suffer and die?

 
I would encourage you to read a section a day (they are only 2-3 short pages) as your devotional over the next weeks.  I will guarantee that you will be blessed.  I have read this book the past 4 years and each time I have been blessed and humbled.  I pray that you will be also.
 
Daily by His grace,
Larry and Sally
 
LINK FOR BOOK:
 
http://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.desiringgod.org/resources/documents/2289/bpojc_all%20(1).pdf
 
LINK FOR LEADERS GUIDE:
 
http://www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/books_b50r/b50r_leaders_guide.pdf

Looking back...

It's good to look back occasionally. Someone has said that at least you
know where you've been. We've now completed 6 weeks of intensive immersion
Kiswahili language study. In many ways I feel like that baby elephant,
looking back not sure what has happened, but thankful there is someone with
me to show me the way forward.

One day this week I was asking myself just exactly how far had we
progressed. We had just come out of Thursday evening bible study at church
and neither Sally or I seemed to have gotten ANYTHING from it. Sure we
understood the bible passages, but what the leader had said, might just as
well have been Chinese. Then the next day, a big rain storm came as our
class was ending and we invited our teacher to stay and have lunch with us.
As Sally was preparing Shepherd's pie, Sayi and I were in the sitting room
talking. I was actually surprised at how easy I was finding myself
discussing things with him, like issues that youth are facing, problems of
married life in Tanzania, and other things. Now I know that our teacher
knows where we are in our language skills and I am sure he was modifying his
part of our conversation to adapt to my skills, but even so, we really
seemed to be talking with each other. I praise God for that.
He is a really nice guy who has grown up in a difficult situation yet has
seen God bring him far.

Then today in church, it really seemed that Sally and I were getting things.
I know we have a looooooong way to go, but yet today, things were clicking.
I looked back at my first week of notes from classes and now laugh at the
things I wrote, equivalent to "See Dick run. See Spot run..."

This past week we had the privilege to write out and then share our
testimony with our teacher, Sayi. We had to make a lot of corrections, but
he really felt that what we wrote helped him to understand who we were, what
God had done in changing our lives, and why we're in Tanzania now. Now
we're working on re-writing it and learning to really share it more
naturally than reading it. It is exciting to think that soon we'll be able
to teach the truths of God's word to Tanzanians. Man, I get excited when I
think about teaching them about THE Truth, the person of Jesus Christ.
Soon...

Lastly, I have to share a funny with you. I love to laugh. I really
believe it is good medicine. Well this week, the last thing our teacher
taught us was a song about the parts of the body. It's kinda like "head,
shoulders, knees and toes" if you remember that song from primary school.
He had us standing up and doing the motions of touching our head, eyes,
nose, etc. as we sang it. Well, right in the middle of the song I just
broke up laughing and couldn't go on. It was a bit disrupting to the
teaching moment, and he looked at me like what is wrong with you. I kept
laughing. OK, so I got ahold of myself and then shared that in the middle
of the song I just got this picture of myself doing a consultation with a
patient in the hospital, and then not remembering the name of a body part,
having to turn away and sing the song to myself to remember what to write in
their file. We all started laughing and laughing. He suggested that
perhaps I could learn the parts well enough to not have to use the song as
patients might think I was a bit strange. It was a good way to end the
week, with laughter and then a meal shared.

We truly have come a long way in 6 weeks. God has blessed us with 4
different wonderful teachers who have been patient and have encouraged us as
we plod along. God has helped us to learn so much. We've surpassed 600
vocab words, we're reading and writing, and slowly getting better. I don't
say that to brag at all, but to praise God for his many blessings.

Please continue to pray for us as we exercise these 50+ year old brains. I
am grateful that it is possible to remodel the brain at this stage in life,
that God created each of us in such a way. And pray for us to continue to
know his presence with us as we continue forward in language learning. It
won't be long and we'll be in Kigoma! To Him be the praise and glory!

Daily by His grace...