“On one occasion an expert in the
law stood up to test Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?”
“What is written in the law?” he
replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered: “Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength and
with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“You have answered correctly,”
Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Luke 10:25-28
I’ve mentioned how God had laid it
on our hearts to reach out to the villagers and so we came up with an idea for
service projects. We want to teach the kids about loving Jesus, and loving
others which sometimes is a foreign concept in their culture. Before we left we
read the story of the Good Samaritan and discussed ways that we can help
people. I told them where we were going and why and asked what things we could
do for her. They all had great answers like, help her fetch water, work in the
shamba, help her clean, or help her wash dishes. Angel and I had purchased a
cabbage and some oranges to take to her. When we arrived at her house she was
so thankful just for the visit, and refused any offer of help.I insisted that
we were here to help her with anything she might need, but she continued to
refuse with tears in her eyes. She had been working on shelling her corn when
we arrived and so the kids just started to pick stuff up and help her, even though
she was refusing. It was one of those ‘I’m a really proud momma’ moments. We
were on a mission and we weren’t taking no for an answer. It took all 17 of us
about an hour and a half to finish; I can’t even imagine how long it would’ve
taken her alone. The kids really enjoyed it and are excited to continue our
Saturday service projects. We also took food to an older man this last weekend,
he didn’t need anything that day but we are returning with the kids later this
week. The kids are so excited about serving!
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| Ziada, Sesi, Hosea, Priska, & Elenesta |
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| How to shell the dried corn. |
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| Priska & Ziada with our new bibi (grandmother) |
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| The whole smiley crew! |
My language skills have greatly
approved over the last few months, and I am excited to say that I can carry on
conversations for a while now. I still feel like I can only speak a little
Kiswahili, but I am told by Tanzanians all the time that I am doing well. I
know a lot of vocab and now I would like to learn the proper way of saying
things.
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| Emma & Ziada |
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| Planting potatoes! |
We had an away football game last
weekend, and so we decided to take the kids to the game. We all pilled in the
truck and went to a nearby village to watch the game. Angel and I are used to
all the stares we get at these games, and the children that follow us around,
but are kids seemed less than thrilled by it all. Some of them stayed far away
from us after we got out of the truck, while some clung to our sides claiming
their turf! The game was a tie, and not a very exciting one at that, but the
kids enjoyed getting an adventure out of the house.
Last Friday was the Standard 7
(grade 7) graduation. It is a huge ordeal here, with lots of work and preparation
put into it. Angel and I were among the honored guests, and were given seats in
the front underneath the tarps. The graduation was to start at 10:30 AM, we
arrived around 11:00 AM, and the actual start time was 12:00 PM (Pretty good for Tanzanian time). There were 27
children graduating and the ceremony lasted 4 hours. 4 hours of sitting on a
wooden seat. You would think at some point you would get used to sitting on
hard seats for hours on end, but you just can’t train your butt for that sort
of thing. It was exciting to be a part of the whole thing, and a new experience
which is always nice to have.
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| Dancing before the ceremony. |
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| Some of the primary school kids |
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| Dancing with my bibi friend! |
Living in a small village of 1400
people, in the bush of Africa, creates a great environment for lots of harmful
gossip. These people, who claim to love Jesus, are the quickest to judge, and
the quickest to throw the first stone. There are a lot of strict rules that
they claim are their “culture”, but no one knows that reasons for them; it’s
just the way it’s always been. I am very open to their culture and have adapted
to most of their ways just fine, however there are some things that are harder
to accept, and I am not really sure that I should either. They don’t touch
their children after they are 2 years old; no loving, no kissing, no physical
affection of any kind. “It’s just the way it is” and it is the most heart
breaking thing to see. These children are craving the love and affection that
no one is there to give them. They love to be around Angel and I because they
know that means endless amount of hugs and kisses and love. They are missing
the part in their bibles where Jesus LOVED. He LOVED. And sadly it’s not just
these villagers that are missing it, it’s a worldwide problem of people
forgetting the whole point of it all….To just LOVE.
We were at a football game and
one of our good friends from the village had a little too much to drink. He
could barely walk and was lying in the grass after the game. Angel and I
grabbed him and escorted him all the way home; we just wanted to make sure he
made it that night. We started to hear from some villagers that that was not
our concern. It is not our job to make sure that a drunkard makes it home at
night, because he is a drunkard and a sinner. I’m wondering at what point
people who claim to be Christians and go to church at least every Sunday,
sometimes more, can sit there and say, “You can’t help that man, he is a
sinner.” When did we as Christians, forget that we are all sinners, and all
fall short of the Glory of God? Angel and I aren’t here to change a culture,
that was never our intention, but we are however here to bring Jesus to a
hurting place, we are calling it “The Jesus Culture”.
There are so many beautiful
things about these people and this place, and we don’t want to change what makes
them all those things, we just want to bring a little light to the darkness.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on
its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
-Matthew 5:14-16
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| Angel and I with our favorite Bibi. |
