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| Silly Ima |
Sunrise News:
"People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like.
Sometimes tis like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was
short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery, like a beautiful
wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget- her feet. Her feet
were deformed…. One day a sister said to us, “have you noticed her feet?” we
nodded, curious. She said, “Her feet are deformed because we get just rough
donated shoes for everyone, and mother does not want anyone to get stuck with
the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that
have deformed her feet.” Years of loving her neighbor as herself deformed her
feet."
-Shane Claiborne
Things are moving along quite nicely at Sunrise. We have a
new volunteer now, her name is Gerusa, and she is wonderful. The type that
likes to jump in and get her hands dirty, and she is coming at the perfect
time. So many things are changing and I can’t help but feel like things are all
going to work out the way they should. Of course we have God to thank for that.
We have finally extended our garden space, and around 80
cabbage hybrids were planted. Our current garden is starting to bloom, and we
are now able to eat the greens and carrots from there. The farm is finally up
to date!!! The potatoes are now ready for eating so every other day we dig some
up for dinner. The Corn is now finished as far as fertilizer, chemicals, and “piling
up” around the plants goes. The children’s families came out to help us plant
wheat, and that is coming up nicely as well. We don’t have to do any work there again until
it’s time to harvest in about 4-5 months! Our avocado trees were not doing
well, but I used my connections to bring someone in who is an expert. (My new “uncle
in law”.) He came out and said that the trees were looking weak, but also
extended his hand to help us do the needed work to bring them back!
The newest and biggest news is the new addition coming to
Sunrise! The business men from Uhekule, who now work in Njombe, have decided to
purchase us a milk cow! That’s right folks, Sunrise will now be the proud
owners of a cow. A good milk cow can produce around 20 Liters of milk A DAY! We
will obviously use some for the children, and then we will start our milk selling
business. Gerusa and I have even discussed learning to make cheese!
The children are wonderful as usual. We just celebrated our
first birthday of the year 2014; Tumpe is now 14 years old! Like usual we
purchased a new outfit for our birthday child, a new dress! As you can see in
the pictures below!
We will be making lots of changes within the next few months
at Sunrise. New staff will be coming in, as our current staff are around 20
years old and looking to go back to school. Bibi Kay will be returning
beginning of June, but planning to leave by the end of the year for the states.
Lots and lots of changes, and God’s hand is in it all.
Personal News:
“It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.
I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(matt. 9:12-13)
The gospel is good news for sick people and is disturbing
for those who think they’ve got it all together. Some of us have been told our
whole lives that we are wretched, but the gospel reminds us that we are
beautiful. Others of us have been told our whole lives that we are beautiful, but
the gospel reminds us that we are also wretched. The church is a place where we
can stand and say we are wretched, and everyone will nod and agree and remind
us that we are also beautiful.
-The irresistible
revolution, Shane Claiborne
Things are going well with the baby and myself, and also her
father. For those of you who might want to know more about the mystery man here
I go:
His name is Sifeli Nziku, he is 26 years old, Tanzanian
(which means we are getting an oreo baby!) and he is wonderful. Out of everyone
I believe that he is and has been the most excited for this baby. From the first
moment we found out, he has loved her and wanted her, and never second guessed
it; something that I honestly have envied, his sureness about her. While as her
mother, the one carrying her I should have that, I should know that this is a
blessing in a dark time, the light in the darkness, but instead it is something
I have had to been shown, it’s something I have had to see other people fall in
love with first, before I would let myself. This little girl has a special man
in her daddy, and for that I can never be more thankful.
I have to say that over the last few months he has changed,
and changed in so many good ways. It’s hard being in this culture at times,
because women are women and are meant to obey men. You have duties as a wife
and those are to cook, clean, take care of the children, and do not expect any
help from your husband. Your husband probably has multiple wives anyways and
therefore lots of obligations. How do you teach someone that having multiple
wives is bad, when it’s all they have ever known? Their father did, his father
did, his father did, and so on down the line. When everyone in your life has
more than one wife, how would you ever know that is wrong? Since our
relationship began I have told him that it is wrong to have more than one wife.
I have tried to explain that its about more than being with multiple women,
that its about being with someone you love, someone you want to be with all the
time, someone who can be your friend, someone who will be your partner, someone
you want to share your life with. At the beginning of our relationship he didn’t
understand that, not that he was out with a bunch of other girls, but it wasn’t
a conviction for him; however recently he gets it, he sees the pain that it can
bring, he sees the joys of being with someone who you enjoy, someone who is
your friend, someone you can work together with, he sees what loving someone
looks like. I was telling a friend here
that I got lucky that things changed with him, that he gets it and that he
loves me, and she reminded me that it isn’t luck, its God working in this
situation.
He has one of the kindest most generous hearts around. He
loves to give, and give, and give some more. His parents died when he was
really young, around 14 years old, and he quit going to school so he could help
take care of his even younger brothers. He is one of the very few who has
VOLUNTEERED to help at Sunrise, for no pay. He came and chopped a week or two worth
of wood, is helping us on cow fencing projects and whatever else we may need. I
am constantly falling in love with his heart and his goodness.
He is probably the only Tanzanian man to be truly excited
for his coming child. He wants to know everything; when she is kicking, how I am
feeling, what are we going to name her, what week are we at, he wants to feel
her kick, he laughs with me when my belly is moving around from all her commotion,
he thinks her nighttime activity is funny and my constant need to pee, he wants
to be a part of it all, and that is the way it should be. He told me recently
that since I am carrying her for the first 9 months, the next 10 (after she is
born) are on him.
Sifeli does not speak English, but is slowly learning and
will be learning very quickly when in America. He did not consider the fact that
when he got himself a white fiancé, that also meant a whole lot of white
family, I come from a long line of them you know. Just him agreeing to come to America
is amazing, something I never thought would happen. He doesn’t do well outside
his comfort zone, and this will be SO FAR OUTSIDE, but that is what happens
when you love someone, you get sent to America for the biggest shock of your
life.
While plans for the future are not yet set, (when are they
ever) we are working out the details of what our return from America will be
like. But before we can do that we are working on getting his visa so that he
can go with me for the birth of our baby!
The Njombe immigration processed his passport paperwork quickly and sent
us to DAR, with the name of a friend who could help us get the passport even
faster. We arrived in DAR on Sunday night and headed to immigration the next
morning. They processed and finished his passport before the days end and this morning
we went to pick it up. We have completed the online paperwork for the VISA, but
have to wait until Friday for his embassy appointment. We have to prove beyond
a doubt that he will be returning to Tanzania. Please be praying that things
will continue to fall into place, and that he will get the visa. I don’t think I
could enjoy my time home as much if he were not there to share in the joy of it
all as well.
