Some thoughts from Iringa...

If you don't mind, I thought I would share some thoughts from our first week in Tanzania:

I'm thankful for all that was done to make our arrival and transition smooth.

Glad that we can have this designated time to fully concentrate on learning language.  Just counted up our new vocabulary and it was over 140 words this week.

We were talking with our language teacher about the Middle ages belief about sneezing and what one says.  He explained that when a Tanzanian sneezes you say ‘afya’ meaning good health.  When they are sick, like with malaria, and sneeze, it means they are getting better.

Days of the week are based on the Islamic method of Friday being the first day of the week.  Totally confusing as Sunday becomes Jumapili, meaning day two.  Add to that the fact that time is based on a system that has 6AM as the beginning of the day, such that 10AM is referred to as 4.  We had experienced that in Uganda but all the signs were still in the way we were used to.  Yesterday we went to the Bible book store and the sign said that the hours were 2-10:30 meaning 8AM to 4:30PM.  At least we figured it out as our teacher had done that lesson the day before.

Glad that our supervisor loaned me his mountain bike.  Got it put back together and rode a bit into town and around.  Made me miss my mountain biking buddies in Lesotho…I don’t think I can meet you at the car wash at 0500 tomorrow.

That every time I hear the call to prayer I am reminded of lostness.

That bargaining in the market is not about the price, as people pretty much have determined what the ‘fair’ price is.  The bargaining comes in how many ‘bonus’ items they give you after buying from them.  Like we bought 3 kg of potatoes, and then after the guy threw in about 3 more as the ‘bonus.’  There is some price bargaining on big items in other shops which is good as I love doing the haggling over the price.

That E. Africans in general are very friendly people and it certainly applies in Iringa.  Everyone wants to talk and are very helpful in correcting or helping our Kiswahili.

That pineapples are huge and are as sweet as candy.  Had a wonderful pineapple, mango, banana and passion fruit salad.

That we are blessed to be in Iringa with the Eardensons and that they love to play games – haven’t laughed so hard in a long time (played Scattegories).

That UMEME (power company) provides us with power most of the time.

That Skype has allowed us to talk to our kids and family!

That God is so gracious to us.  That His desire is for His Name to be known among ALL the nations and peoples.

For His glory and His great Name!

Happy Birthday KELLY!

Happy Birthday Kelly!

We love you.

Hard to believe that 21 years ago you were born. We are so proud of you.

You are a beautiful young lady that lives out your relationship with Jesus. You are a unique special creation of God.

If someone asked who you are I would answer, 'she is MY daughter!' She loves Jesus, loves people, would do anything to help someone, who has the unique ability to sense people's needs and joyfully does something for them, who is funny, fun, joyful, happy, silly, loves coffee and cooking, loves dogs, gets laughs from sliding through the icy snow sidewalks in slippers, lives in flip flops most of the time, sucked her thumbwhile in Uganda and never got worms or stomach issues, is an amazing story writer, gets excited about maps, and much more!

Mom and I wish we could be with you today. Of course mom would make an amazing cake for you and we would sing to you and hug you and tell all sorts of funny stories...

We love you!!!!!!!!

p.s. couldn't help but post these pics. sorry (sort of).

Our new home

Wanted to meet our supervisor - Brad, Amy and their children (Lindsey, Tim, and Micah) live in Dar. We are so grateful that God has given us the privilege to serve with them as they have an amazing 6 years of experience in India before coming to Tanzania.

Brad rode with us to Iringa. Was the

usual E. African roads with all sorts of vehicles but pretty good pavement. After a few hours of driving in a really

hot and flat area we came to some of the hills in the Morogoro and Iringa area. We are living at just over a mile high so it is cooler.

Iringa town is pretty typical of growing towns in E. Africa. We made our first venture into the central part of town to buy fruits and veges at the market and just look to see what is available. Lots of small shops with much of the same things. People are very friendly and are understanding of our very limited Kiswahili.

Our house belongs to the mission and is quite nice. You can see the beautiful gardens that are maintained by Amos (he's worked here for a long time. We are having our language lessons in the house. We've now had two days worth and learning a LOT. Sally and my brains 'hurt' from all

the new information and it's only day two. We are so thankful that we have this opportunity to throw ourselves completely into language learning. It is costly and we are grateful for all that is provided.

Well, we're off to walk to town to do some more looking around, to buy a Kiswahili Bible and to meet some more people.

From Dar es Salaam to Iringa – by God’s grace

We set out this morning for Iringa, some 8 hours from Dar. I don’t know about you, but before I drive I always pray that God will protect us and other drivers. I did that this morning. We know how dangerous it is to travel African roads and that there just aren't service stations in every town.

We left the guest house in Dar and drove over and picked up our supervisor, Brad. We were on the road by 8:30AM. It was already 80 degrees. By about 15 miles down the road the a/c quit working. No problem as we just rolled down the windows. After about 2 hours of driving we came upon an accident with traffic backed up. We sat for a while, and sensing it was going to be longer, I shut off the diesel engine. Well, when it was time to go it wouldn’t start. Wouldn’t crank over at all. Didn’t have the ‘click, click, click’ of a bad starter, just nothing. I knew that the truck (Nissan Patrol) had been worked on with a rebuilt alternator and a new battery. After the usual looking under the hood, examining fuses, and general ‘kicking of the tires’ we decided to push start it. Thank the Lord it worked.

About an hour later I notice that the tachometer and the speedometer are doing weird things swinging back and forth and the digital odometer is flashing. Not a good sign, even though the engine seems to be running fine. About then we come across another accident, what looks to be quite serious, with a motor cycle flattened in the road and a SUV off the side of the road. Just as I put on our 4-way flashers, our engine stops. I try restarting while coasting and it is d-e-a-d. All I hear is a strange electrical sound somewhere under the dash. Brad gets out of the car and runs back to the accident area telling others that ‘my friend is a doctor’ while I am trying to get out of the way of the hordes of people that are running up to where the accident occurred. Now, one does not usually want to be in such a situation and at times in Africa, there have been mobs that turned on vehicles and their drivers if they think you were responsible, or even if you just happened to be in the area. I look back and Brad has disappeared into the crowd. I can’t get our truck to do anything and I proceed to look under the hood again.

Meanwhile, Brad is ‘ministering’ to the driver of the other SUV and finds that the motorcycle driver dove off his bike and had only a scrape on his leg. The bike was flattened and the SUV had a flat. It was repaired by the mechanic driver (many people in Africa have drivers – our mission doesn’t do that). The police simply say that since the bike was moved off the road, there was nothing they could investigate and left. Then the most amazing thing happened. The owner of the SUV and his driver/mechanic drove up to our truck and proceeded to help us sort out the problem. Took our battery out and exchanged it with one of theirs, diagnosed that we had a faulty shorted out 4-way flasher relay, push started our truck, put our battery back in, and then paid a ‘helper’ for his work and left. He simply said ‘God has protected all of us’ and left in his SUV! What an amazing way in which God chose to protect and provide!

We made it to Iringa by 6PM. It is higher altitude (a little over a mile) where it is cooler than Dar. We are staying in a mission owned house. We unloaded our bags and the groceries we had brought and then headed over to the Eardenson’s house for a delicious supper, topped off with home made apple pie and coffee. After an hour or so of delightful conversation including recounting how God has done amazing things in each of our families lives in the recent past, we headed back to our new home, tired, but so thankful that God has done amazing things to show us once again how awesome He is.

Tomorrow we meet with the language school director and begin our 16 weeks of school. Brad is going to help sort out the truck issues with a local mechanic that our mission knows, and later we will walk to town to have a look at the market area (where you buy fruits and veges) and other small stores.

What a day. God is good, all the time…

First Day in Tanzania

We are so excited to be in Tanzania! Don't kid yourself, it was really hard to leave our mission team and family in Lesotho. They are awesome people that have loved, taught, encouraged, and helped us serve the Lord during the past 22 months. We love them!

Well, we made it from Joburg to Dar es Salaam without a problem. All our bags arrived and we were met with friendly faces. Had a really nice relaxing supper with our supervisor and family and some old friends.

Riding in the truck in Dar is what we remember from E. Africa - lots of vehicles, I mean a lot! People, cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, animals, and pedestrians - all trying to make their way down the road, across the road, or somewhere. Pretty much need to be maximum alert when driving.

Dar is hot and humid, like when we lived in Houston - 90 degrees with about 90% humidity. Thankfully there is a wall a/c unit in the bedroom of the guest house.

Today we've already did our business office orientation with Pat and David. Then off to town to get sim cards and a G-3 modem for internet.

Tomorrow we'll likely head down to the town of Iringa where we'll live for at least the next 4 months doing Swahili language school.

More later when we take some pictures to add.

We are so grateful for our support organization that has loved us and encouraged us all the way through this transition to Tanzania. When you remember us please ask God to give us watchful eyes to see what He has for us, for good ears to hear Swahili, and loving hearts to serve here.