We
were home a for a few days before leaving again to Liwale for the two
weeks of teaching and public effort. Just before leaving, I was riding
my bike up campus to take some pictures by request of the head teacher
and I saw some white things way off in the field. I thought, why is
there a few sheep by themselves up here. As I got closer and closer I
realized they were birds - big birds! I would have liked to get a
better picture, but was glad to see them at all. This is the first time
I have seen the White Storks here actually at Kibidula.
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| White Stork at Kibidula |
We
were blessed to have a week of prayer and fellowship with Kibidula
staff between graduation and time to travel to Liwale. It was
wonderful. We finished Saturday, and Sunday morning EARLY we were on
our way on the first leg of the trip to Liwale. It was two full days of
travel. We were blessed to see lots of God's beautiful animals as we
traveled including this group of elephants. We saw lots of warthogs
this trip also. We haven't seen any up close before this trip, so that
was a treat also.
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| Herd of Elephants |
We
were traveling with three others in the school of evangelism's
Cruiser. We were packed pretty tight by the time we got there. We
stopped to pick up 11 cases of books on top of having a generator
another big box of books, teaching materials, health expo items luggage,
food, etc. This was the first time Blaston or Owen had been to Dar es Salaam and also the first time either had seen the ocean.
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| The Cruiser before books and mud |
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| Cases of message books- part of Kibidula's publishing efforts. |
The
second day of traveling was very different. There were cashew trees
everywhere. I finally saw cashews on the tree. We also saw jack fruit
trees. Those are amazing. The fruit are often bigger than large
watermelons and on trees! The place we pulled off to eat our breakfast
(bread, fruit and peanut butter we brought with us) had cashew trees,
coconut trees, jack fruit trees and banana trees. It was amazing. It
was smooth travel until we got to road construction or "dirt roads."
Some
of the roads were scary. The rains have returned and mud of various
sorts and various depths was between us and our destination. We
actually lost one box of books when going through one big puddle with
many BIG BUSES coming up behind us quickly. God blessed us so much.
The box came off the FRONT of the vehicle, and down the hood, instead of
behind, so we were able to protect it from the buses, and we didn't get
hit. The books were okay! There were 92 books in each box. Doug had
bought some trash bags in Dar es Salaam, and we covered each box. We
couldn't get a tarp at the time we arrived. I can see God's hand even
in this. If the box had only been under a tarp, the mud would have
messed up the box badly. But the plastic helped to protect it more
during the tumble.
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| Mud |
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| More Mud |
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| This picture was after we lost the box and got it back on. |
When
we got to the "short cut" turn off, I saw a sign for a "pay toilet." I
got some cash from Doug and went that way. I have never seen a toilet
with signs like these. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, I could easily know which was which. I hope I don't offend anyone
with this picture. I asked Doug to go to the toilet and take the
camera with him. He came back snickering.
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| Pay Toilets with paintings |
We
were told that the short cut should only be taken if we had a VERY
reliable vehicle and if we were there after 4 pm to stay close to the
car because there are lions. We looked and looked but saw none. Just
about lunch time, we pulled up in a village because I wanted to buy some
mangoes. As we pulled off the road, someone started walking towards
us. It was one of our students from July 2011 when we did our first
visit to Kibidula. After many greetings and chit chat, I asked about
buying mangoes. The trees were rather abundant in that area. He said
we could get them. I asked at what price. He said only 100 shillings a
piece, but not there in the market. He told us to follow him. We did
and what a treat we got! We bought 20 mangoes from these older ladies
directly under the huge mango tree they came from. Right now you can
get between 1550-1600 shillings per dollar, by the way. So we got 20
huge juicy ripe mangoes for less than a $1.33. Then we followed Yoeli
(Joel) to his house. His wife and he helped us wash our mangoes and cut
them and we ate the last of our bread, with some peanut butter and lots
of mangoes. It was quite hot there and also in Dar. So juicy mangoes
were perfect! They told us that there are times when they see the wart
hogs, and even hear the lions just not far away. But, alas, we saw
none. Yoeli has been sharing the good news about Jesus in this area and
there are several people now coming together and having church under
this tree out in the bush. They have no church as of yet. What they do
when it rains, I don't know.
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| Under the tree where the people have church. |
There is a very large presence (99%) of non-Christians in this area, so to see this growth is very exciting.
We did make it to Liwale after 13 hours of travel. Again there were
cashew trees everywhere. The people had been worshiping under the
cashew trees until the new church got built. The church was getting
dedicated right after the meetings ended. We met with the district
commissioner. He was very happy for the work we were doing and teaching
about health. He was very supportive and helpful. He is the one that
told us that the area was 99% Musl*m! Wow. He said if there was 2
baptisms, it would be a miracle.
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| Another little friend. | | | |
There
were LOTS and LOTS of bugs. We were told it was because the rains were
starting and the bugs really come out. I saw all kinds of bugs. I
wish I had taken more pictures. Some of my pictures are missing. We
got a LOT of use out of our mosquito zapper each day and night. Doug,
Joshua and I slept in the same bed under a mosquito net each night. We
were trying not to touch it (because the mosquito can bite through the
net) and yet give each other a little space. It was trying for certain,
especially in the heat. But we survived.
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| One BIG silver praying-mantis type bug. He wasn't so long, but BIG. |
For
the first time we also saw and tasted cashew fruit. The cashew nut is
on the outside of the fruit and it has an oil in the nut case which will
cause severe pain and itching. So to get that nut out is a trick for
sure. The fruit is SUPER juicy, but not so nice. I am glad we got to
try it. It smells like a strawberry, but it doesn't taste that way. We
were told if you eat much, your throat will hurt or swell. not sure.
We only took a bite.
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| Cashew Fruit and nut. |
Joshua
got to translate a LOT on this trip. Here is is translating into
Swahili for Owen during the cooking sessions. People really enjoyed
learning how to cook new foods more healthily. Doing a cooking school
outside under the cashew trees is a very different experience.
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| Joshua translating |
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| Evangelism students |
The
mornings were usually for giving classes to the local evangelists. We
taught about health and medical missionary aspects. Others taught about
family life, nutrition, and what it means to be a real Christian. We
had 12 students in the beginning but by the end of the two weeks there
were over 20. This is inside the new church. It is big. Attendance
wasn't big for the afternoon evangelism efforts. The loud speakers
blared the seminars far and wide though. We started with a health topic
each night (me and Joshua), then a cooking class or family life, then
the main message then Doug would have another hour for video projector
health lessons. Then we did the health expo. The people were hesitant
to come, but they did come. Forty-five came the first day. They were
so happy to meet us and learn so much about health. The attendance for
the meetings started to grow a bit. Then we had another health expo.
Fifty five came this time. The rain ran us indoors the first day.
People didn't want to go in the church. They were afraid of what might
be going on in there. When the rain came, they went in and started
saying things like, oh, this is a nice place. There isn't anything bad
in here. Some said they had been listening to the meetings from behind
the trees, but they would start coming now. God can even use the rain
to be a blessing.
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| Health expo |
The
health expo was a great tool to open hearts that would not come to any
other meeting. We made a lot of friends. Hundreds of books were taken
by people. People were asking for message books as we walked down the
road after the first week of meetings.
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| One of three who were baptized |
At the end of the meetings THREE were baptized
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| This is Ester. She was a VERY friendly little albino girl. |
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| Evangelism students who came to the seminars with us teachers |
On
our way back, we stopped and had lunch with another previous student.
After we were done, Joshua came in trying to get me to come see the
monkey. They had a monkey from the wild that was now a pet. He was a
bit over friendly. Joshua and I petted him and played with him a bit.
Joshua was in love with him.
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| Joshua's new friend |
We
made it back to Dar es Salaam around 9 pm. It was a very long day of
travel. We spent two nights there. We needed a day for some things
that needed to be done. We had some trials on this trip, like breaking
two kindles, dropping the case of health expo items from the luggage
rack onto someone's motorcycle, paying for damages for that, and some
other issues (like people wanting their palms greased.) But God got us
through without more troubles, which we could have had. The long days
of travel and lack of sleep caught up with us and we all three had our
share of sickness. I am almost well now. Lack of sleep is rough on the
immune system.
After getting back to Kibidula, I, Tamara,
started attending the Nutrition/Cooking classes that Owen taught here at
Kibidula. We made some new friends and it really inspired me to start
doing cooking classes again (greatly changed since we are in Africa and
without many tools!) I am praying a lot for wisdom and skill to make
some plans to be a blessing to those that want to learn to cook more
healthily here. I would appreciate prayers.
Doug has been busy
while I have been in class. He has removed the two plastic bowls that
were our sinks, and put in the sink Mom gave us before we left. (We
brought it in the container.) Today he finished the last of the cement
grinding to install it. Our counter-tops are cement. No termite issue
here. We are recovering from the cement dust now. The sink looks so
nice. The water isn't hooked up to the new faucet, but that will come
in time.
Yesterday we put together the little greenhouse frame.
One piece got lost somewhere, but Doug was able to make it work anyhow.
So soon we will have a protected place for starting seeds and some
other plants.
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| Greenhouse frame being moved to the garden. |
I
have lost a lot of pictures somehow. They help me remember what to
post about. I don't know how that happened, but it did. We will start
teaching again on the 7th of January. We should be home (Kibidula) for
two full months for teaching! I started back giving piano lessons to
some of the children here.
They have to wait until I am here and available to come for their
lessons.
The lady that is translating our materials is still working at it. When there is no power, she is limited (using a laptop.)
All is well. I see God working and guiding so much. It is a blessing to have the opportunity to serve Him here.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support.
