Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Washing Your Hands - A Message for Your Soul

Weeks ago the committee for our widows project and child sponsorship program decided that we should teach our women and children both physical and spiritual lessons :)  This brought me such joy because the pastors had fallen into a pattern of preaching at the women and children....for hours, and they had agreed as a group that this was a necessary change.  We discussed how Jesus met both physical and spiritual needs in His ministry on Earth and we are called to do the same.

So we started with what some might think are "the basics" but they are SO IMPORTANT!  Our first lesson was this past Saturday and we taught about the importance of washing hands.....and not just with water, which is a common practice, but with soap!  Then the teachers tied in the spiritual lesson about the importance of being cleaned on the inside as well, and the only way we are cleaned on the inside is by the blood of Jesus, which washes those who trust Him with their life.

Megan also helped in a big way by making a suggestion we have been thinking about for a long time (but culturally, we weren't sure the most appropriate way to suggest it).  You see, there are a handful of people who walk with the children to the location of our activity day, but because they aren't "part of the program" they usually just sit there until the lessons are done, eat lunch with us, then leave.  And Megan found a good opportunity to suggest that they too be involved in the lessons, even though they aren't widows in our project, they can still come and learn together with them.  It was especially exciting for me when I was worshipping and praying with the group of adults because there were at least 3 of the women who would normally have waited outside that looked like they had no idea what was going on, in all likelihood they are not believers.  And this might be an opportunity for them to learn about Jesus - not in the traditional way of being preached at, but through learning characteristics of Jesus and how He cares about the whole person - physically and spiritually.

THEN we had LOTS of fun with the kids playing relays with soap!  They had a blast and it was a great tool to reinforce the importance of using soap because the only way to win the game was with the soap!

And then I witnessed one of the most exciting things I've seen here - every single person there (child, widow, guest, and pastor) washed their hands with soap before eating lunch!!  It felt like an amazing breakthrough!

Pastor Luka teaching the children
Neema cutting carrots

Slicing tomatoes with a smile
Neema Christopher chopping onions
only smiles!




















Feeding nutritious food to those in our program

Big Kid Relays
Neema running her heart out


Elia is all smiles!
Reminding them about the importance of using soap to wash hands



John washing his hand
Using soap!!
The kids were all smiles!

Elia washing his hands!







Pastor Daniel, who taught the widows,
setting a good example for the adults
Pastor Luka, who taught the children,
setting a good example for them!


And then all the pastors washed theirs!
Megan washing her hands






Megan with our mom's sponsor child, Mary!

Me with our mom's sponsor child, Mary!

Friday, August 1, 2014

We Had the BEST INTERNS EVER!!

Tuesday afternoon we made the long trek to the KIA Airport to send our awesome interns, Lauren Kolenda and Sarah Underwood, back to the U.S.!

Our goodbyes pretty much summed up the summer - we spent an hour in the car laughing hysterically about sly jokes by Lauren and ridiculous statements coming out of Sarah's mouth :)  Okay, maybe I was the one saying crazy things...but we sang some "Let's get down to business, to defeat.....the Huns!" on the way there and were were giggling so much that the difficulty of the situation wasn't as hard to deal with.

We gave teary goodbyes because these girls have been such a sweet addition to our Tanzania team, and specifically, to our lives!  They worked side-by-side with Megan and me every day for two months and it was really sad to see them leave.

As we watched them stand in line....praying their bags wouldn't be overweight, getting their tickets and passing through immigration, we waved our final goodbyes before the turned the corner to head to their plane.  I turned to leave and Megan stopped me, saying we should wait at least for a few more minutes just in case they come back and need something.  When I tried to leave again after about 3 minutes, she was not budging.  Finally, I patted her on the arm and said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster, "gotta let 'em go, Meg....gotta let em' go."

But in all reality, it was super hard to say goodbye.  We love these girls and had such a great time getting to know them, working with them, and just sharing life together!

Please pray with us for Lauren and Sarah as they transition back into life in the U.S.  From the smallest details of cooking dinner and using the bathroom, to the biggest like the driving situation......A LOT of things are different from where they've been the last two months to where they are returning.  Life is going to be hard for them - someone is going to ask a question that makes them want to flip out, or cry, or maybe laugh hysterically.  Family in the U.S. is GREAT, but it is so hard when you feel like you have family back in TZ.  Pray that their time at school is exciting not daunting, that their reunion with friends and family is soothing to their souls not emotionally difficult, and that when they think about Tanzania and their family here that they have peace not pain.

A final huge thanks to Lauren and Sarah for their awesomeness this summer - love you girls!

Day 1 in the country outside their home!
Sara and Lauren with their Maasai beads!

Our first photo together all summer.....it was 2 days before they left :)

The Tanzania Team!!