Easter Celebrations & School Update

May 2, 2014

Another month has come and gone! April went by very fast for me because the first week and a half was spent with my American friends. The last few weeks flew by because of Easter break and fun shenanigans in the village.

I was invited by many of my students to go to church with them on Easter Sunday. It was really nice of them to want me to come with them! I have been to every church in Kazovu village. I have been to Catholic, Moravian, Seventh Day Adventist, and Pentecostal. On a regular basis I attend one of the Pentecostal churches with my headmaster, Kapange and his wife Lucy. I like to make sure I have a female friend to sit next to, preferably one that speaks some English, so she can help me know what the appropriate procedures are for the service. The men and women sit on opposite sides of the church. This is why having a female friend is important. But now that I am familiar with the church culture I am okay flying solo. I feel very comfortable on Sundays with Lucy, who doesn’t speak any English. All of our communication is in Swahili. She is teaching me so much on a daily basis just from having simple conversations. I am thankful for the knowledge I have of Swahili because it is a lot less awkward living in the same house. She is a wonderful gal and I am really happy she and Kapange had come to Kazovu. Anyway, I had already promised Lucy I would go with her on Sunday to Easter service, so I thanked my students and told them I was headed for the Pentecostal church the next day. Little did I know we were headed much farther away than just the other side of Kazovu…

Easter morning I awoke to a frantic house! Everyone was awake and moving much earlier than usual for a Sunday morning. Usually we don’t leave for church until 9:50a.m., getting out of bed at about 8:30a.m. I looked at my watch and thought, “Huh…I wonder why everyone is awake so early?” When I came out of my room Kapange informed me we were headed to church in the next village north, Bumanda. Oh! Okay…“When do we need to leave?” Kapange said, “9:00.” Ha! I had 20 minutes to take a bath, get ready, and scarf down some breakfast. But I made it and I wore one of my bright green African outfits and a new pair of shoes I had bought in Kirando a few days before.

The walk to Bumanda was about 45 minutes. When we arrived, we were warmly greeted by many of the elders and several of our students. Bumanda is the home village of two of my Form 1 students, Pascal and Yohana. They were especially excited to see me in their village and going to church with them. The Pentecostal churches from most of the villages on the coast from Kirando all the way up to Kirongwe were a part of this service (Katete, Isaba, Kazovu, Bumanda, Utinta and Kirongwe). Needless to say, it was a big celebration with about 150 to 200 people. I was asked to introduce myself to the whole crowd. This was a little nerve wracking because of the number of people, but I have practiced my introduction so many times in all the other churches that it just rolled off my tongue! The service was so fun! Choirs from every village sang and danced and everyone would join in with the dancing fun; women taking their khangas and twirling them in the air as they danced around the choir members as they sang. It was quite the show! I even joined in the dancing while at my seat, which caught the attention of well… everyone! As the only white person for hundreds of miles it’s not hard to miss when she dances. They clapped when I started to dance! It was really funny. The pastor delivered what I found out later to be a great sermon about the Resurrection. (He talked so fast I only caught parts of his sermon). Five hours later the service was over and all of the teachers in attendance at the service were invited to a special lunch. It was really amazing of them to do this for us! We enjoyed some rice and beans and light conversation before we headed back to Kazovu. We made our rounds of goodbyes and thanks to all the elders of Bumanda. This was the most interesting, different, and exciting Easter I have ever had…and it was kind of nice to be away from the whole Easter Bunny American traditions (not that I think chocolate is bad - actually sounds amazing right now - but Easter in Tanzania is about Jesus and nothing else. It was refreshing.

School has been going really well. I have finally figured out a system for Form 2 English. I was so frustrated for a long time with this class because it seemed like nothing was working. Then by accident we had a debate in class with the motion of, “Kazovu is better than Kirando.” My purpose at first was to have them practice using comparatives, but it turned into a full-fledged debate! They loved it! It was the first time I saw them enjoy speaking English. Seeing my kids who have never said a word stand up and participate blew me away! Yes! Finally! Thanks be to God for this breakthrough! I had been praying for God to help me get these kids excited about school and comfortable trying to speak English…and here it was - debate! Now, every Monday after school the whole school has Debate Club. Usually the contestants are Form 4 students because they are the ones who know English the best, but every student is required to attend. Now all of Form 2 knows how to conduct a debate. So, my new plan in Form 2 is Tuesdays and Wednesdays we learn English structure and on Thursdays we have debate. The students vote every week on what the motion will be and who will be the chairman, time keeper, secretaries, etc. I am the official observer. I write down the English mistakes I hear and after the debate we correct the mistakes. I have also made it mandatory for all students to participate. They all have to say something during the debate, whether it is a point for either side or asking a question. I keep track of those who talk and those who don’t. The students who don’t talk have to run around the whole school until I think they have done enough (this is my form of punishment because I do not use a stick like the other teachers). The first week I had 10 students run. The next week there were 5 and this past week there were 3. They all know they need to get in their talking before the time runs out or they will have to run…a lot! I also added an extra twist to earning points in their debate. If they properly use the English topics in their debate we are learning in class, they receive bonus points. It is so funny to hear them use, for example, a comparative and then shoot me a glance that says, “Miss Emi, did you hear that? Make sure you write it down.” Thursdays are just so full of joy and fun for all of us in that class! I have found myself in tears of joy laughing with my kids. I give all of the credit and glory to God. He has broken down the wall that seemed impossible to climb with this class and he has given me an amazing way to connect with this group of kids.

Two weeks ago I started a Memory Verse Program at Kazovu Secondary School. Sara, a permanent volunteer in the Rukwa region designed it and helped Alex, Lindsey and me to get our hands on some copies so we could do it in our schools as well. The MVP program is for students who want to do it. It is in no way required, but highly encouraged. Each student receives a packet of verse cards, one side in English and the other side in Swahili. The student may choose to memorize the verse in whatever language they want. In order to finish the program they must memorize 25 verses. Once completed, they will receive their very own New Testament. I was so excited about starting this because I have not had the opportunity to start a Bible class. I want to get the name of Jesus spreading around the school grounds. I have helped begin chapel at our school which is now every Friday (Awesome!).

The MVP program could be such an amazing seed planter of God’s Word on these kids’ hearts. I made the announcement at morning assembly two weeks ago. To my disappointment, only one student seemed interested. So I just kept praying for God to bring 10 students to the program. By the end of the day I had 25 students! By the end of the next day I had 35! Never underestimate what God can do! Every day I have seen kids walking around our school campus with the cards in hand, memorizing, sharing with their friends and tracking me down in order to tell me the verses they have learned. Even some of the other teachers are doing this program. One day I walked out to the water tank in between the administrative building and the classrooms and I saw a teacherr sitting on the side of the tank memorizing verse cards and another teacher was doing the same thing next to the offices. It brings so much joy to my heart to see all of these people desiring to know God’s Word. I know these verses are planting seeds that one day God will harvest.

At this point the first one who signed up has finished the program. He is a Form 2 student and one of my absolute best students! He is such a sweet boy and works so hard in school. I can also see him growing in Christ more and more every day. When he told me his 25th verse I asked him, “What have you learned from all of these verses?” He replied, “I have learned that God is everything to me and my life and I believe in Him.”…Wow.

Thank you Lord, for what you are doing in this young man and for the amazing plan I know you have for him and for giving me the opportunity to be here with him at this time.

God is doing some incredible things. It may seem small, but I know whatever God did in Hotto’s heart was no little thing. What he is doing in the hearts of all the other students is huge. I ask you to continue praying with me for this program. The students have until June 3rd to finish and I have many kids half way through. Pray for God to be made known to them through His Word and that they would bury it in their hearts so they would forever know there is someone who is more powerful than any other. There is Someone who knows what they are going through - their struggles and pain. He is the only one who can take it away. There is someone who is waiting for them to run into His arms. There is Someone who loves them so much that He gave his life in order to save them.

Jesus. Oh how he loves us. How he pursues us. How he is always patiently waiting for us to come running to him no matter how many times we turn away.

He died to save us. How can this be? I will never fully grasp the extravagance of the gift of grace. I will never be able to pay back the debt I owe to Jesus Christ for his sacrifice.

All I can do is give my whole heart, and my whole life to serve Him.

Emily

Spring Break 2014

I just finished an amazing 11 days with the other two American teachers from the Rukwa region in Tanzania. Alex, Lindsey and I started together in September and during Christmas break when we were reunited we had the idea that sometime during April it would be really great if we could see each other again. They both were very interested in coming to Kazovu because I could not stop talking about it during Christmas! It truly is an ideal spot for “Spring Break” so to speak. White sandy beaches and crystal clear blue waters in the summer season of Tanzania… fabulous! We were so thankful to have permission from Steve and the leaders of VST for this trip (a trip for Alex and Lindsey). All VST schools had the week off after exams so it was the perfect time for them to come. They left from their villages on Friday the 28th and set off for Sumbawanga. Once there they hopped on a bus to Kirando (the biggest village near Kazovu). They found a guesthouse there and I left Kazovu on the boat the next morning in order to meet them and escort them to Kazovu.

Our days together were filled with amazing food (spaghetti, popcorn, banana bread, soup, and the best beans ever that I taught them how to make), incredible weather for the beach, laughter, and unbelievably wonderful fellowship. We enjoyed cooking together every day and found it was much easier to cook when three people were working together rather than just one. We all would agree it was a nice switch from the ugali and beans we eat on a daily basis.

We went to the lake every single day! We brought my deck of 5 Crowns and books to the beach and enjoyed long hours of relaxation in the sun (only minor sunburns ☺). A couple times we went at night and brought a thermos full of tea and enjoyed the beautiful sunsets and cooler temperatures. One of those nights we took supplies for a fire and had a bonfire on the beach. Lounging on the sand around a fire with a cup of tea and watching the stars…it was incredible! The whole concept of resting on the beach and having fires with no intention of cooking is a totally foreign concept here so it was nice to be the three crazy white girls instead of just one! I don’t think anyone saw us except for a few fishermen because the section of the beach we went to is always unoccupied.

We spent several afternoons in the village too! We went to visit my Form Four girls, Mariam and Jelina and ended up attracting a dozen village children who came and played with us at the girls’ ghetto. It was so much fun to see them smile and play random but hilarious games. A little girl named Pepe was afraid of us at first. She would stand at the gate and refused to come in but I got down on her level and asked her to sit with me. She agreed and I put her on my lap. I started to sing the song that my dad used to sing when I would sit on his lap. “All the way to Boston all the way to Lynn, watch out Pepe or you’ll fall IN!”  I held her and made it seem like she fell between my legs when in reality I just caught her and brought her back to my lap. I have never heard a more beautiful laugh or seen a more beautiful smile than I did with this little girl. She stayed with me for a couple hours before we had to go back home and start cooking. The next few times we came to the village Pepe was not afraid anymore. In fact, she came running towards me yelling, “MAMA! MAMA!”

One day we had about 40 kids following us around Kazovu’s tiny market. Holding our hands and dancing around. It is hard to explain what I feel in these moments. It’s as if nothing else matters in the world. The only thing I want to do is make the moments last forever. My heart is so full of joy. I see these children as my own. They are my family and I love them with all my heart.

Every night we had a Bible study together. This was extremely wonderful and a valuable time for us. In a country where it is difficult to communicate and at church we get a sore bum from the benches, the fellowship we had with each other during this time was amazing. We were able to dive into The Word and encourage each other. We read through the book of James, a few chapters from Galatians and 1 Timothy. Alex and I have been independently reading Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest every day, so we continued reading together during our daily Bible study. We were able to share so much with each other and pray specifically for what each of us need as we jump into these last few months in Tanzania. One moment in our Bible studies I was so blessed by was when we opened up and shared what we truly are struggling with in our villages. We laid hands on each other and prayed. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving as we prayed and He gave us the words to pray for each other.

There was a theme to our week together and it revolved around the book The Circle Maker. I had finished reading it a while ago and gave it to Lindsey. She read it while together and now Alex has it. One of the major things I took from this book was how God honors bold prayers - bold prayers - asking God to do the impossible while lacking no faith that He will come through. I like the last verses in James that show what a prayer of faith should be; “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” – James 5:13-15. This is a prayer of faith. There is no room for doubt. So many times we pray for God to do incredible things but in our hearts we doubt that God will actually answer. God wants us to have full faith and trust in Him to the point where we can pray to Him and be confident that He will answer us. If He chooses to answer today, tomorrow, in ten years or in one hundred years, He will always answer. Alex, Lindsey and I are praying bold prayers for our villages. We are down on our knees praying our schools will have so many students we can’t see the floor. We are praying every single student that comes into each one of the classrooms would feel God’s Presence with them and experience Jesus personally. We are praying these students would be the ones who transform their schools, families, villages and country. We are praying for these things every day and we are confident that God is faithful. We may not be around or living to see this happen but we know without a doubt God is moving right here and now and He will win. God will win.

It is quite hilarious how our travel plans change so much here in Tanzania. Steve told us this would happen when we were getting ready to leave the USA, but I didn’t understand how it was possible to have plans change so much. It is now just a way of life. The original plan (Plan A) was for Alex and Lindsey to leave on Saturday the 5^th from Kirando. We found out the bus doesn’t run on Saturday. So we went to Plan B, which was to leave on Sunday the 6th. So we packed up and went to the boat station only to find out that the boat wasn’t coming. Then we went to Plan C, which was to leave the next day (7th). We woke up to rain and lots of wind. I was not about to get on the boat with the waves cresting, so we went to Plan D, which was to leave on Tuesday (8^th). This plan actually worked. We were able to get on the boat and arrive in Kirando where Alex and Lindsey did some market shopping and we went to a guest house together. I stayed with them so they could find the bus office and make it to the bus stop the next morning. We enjoyed one final night together and some food at a local restaurant. For some reason everything was funny during our conversation at dinner. We have all enjoyed talking about some of the things here that were so foreign to us when we first arrived but now have become a part of life. Our friends and family back home might see these in us when we return - pronunciations and word order in sentences that are normal here for Tanzanians speaking English - we have adopted these since we are surrounded by it so much. We had a good laugh reflecting on the phrases.

Alex and Lindsey left by bus the morning of the 9th and I spent the day in Kirando. I had tea with a friend and we visited a bunch of people in Kirando. It was a good way to pass the time since I had 7 hours to kill before the boat left. The boat started loading up at 3:30pm. On the boat, a man wanted me to move over a little so he could pass and I totally missed the piece of wood that goes across the boat to sit on and fell backwards into the boat. I managed to hang on by my legs but that just made the situation with my skirt even worse…so embarrassing. A very nice Baba came to help me up but it was too late. It was entertainment for those on the boat, which was thankfully very few. I can laugh about it though - accidents happen! The boat ended up being full. My guess is about 60 people in a boat made for 30 comfortably. We were riding low and slow! But we made it.

I remembered I had been invited to a celebration in my village so I stopped in to greet them and ended up staying for a couple hours. They kept bringing me more soda and amazing food! We ate chicken, beef and rice! WOW, MEAT! They sat me down at a table with the important leaders of the village and enjoyed each other’s company. Many people were dancing and there was an auctioning of cakes. It was a celebration I honestly don’t really know what it was for, but I had a great time!

School is open again and I’m getting back into the swing of things. I am still teaching Form 1 and 2 English and soon will be starting a new Bible verse program with interested students. If the students memorize 25 verses they will receive a Bible. I would appreciate your prayers for this program. I am praying that many students would want to participate and learn about Christ through the memorization. I also am beginning to teach a boy named Joseph whom I met on the boat. He finished Form 4 at a different school but the academics were so low and he desires to know more English. He will hopefully be coming a couple days a week after school.

It is crazy to think I only have 10 more weeks. I honestly don’t like thinking about it, so I am choosing to see it as 2 1/2 months… makes it sound longer. God is doing amazing things. I can see Him moving and transforming this village, even though it may seem small in human eyes. I know that in God’s eyes it is HUGE!

May God receive all the glory and praise!

Happy Easter everyone!

Emily

Please Pass the Cottage Cheese?

March 6, 2014

Happy March everybody!

As usual I find it so crazy that last month has flown by, just like the others. I look up at my calendar and see all these crossed off days and think to myself, "Wow! What happened to the time?" It seems like it was just a few days ago that February began. I have been in Tanzania for six months. I continue to be amazed by God's blessings and faithfulness to me throughout each one of the past months and I continue to have faith He will do the same in the next four.

I don't have much to report from the last few weeks but I do have a few stories to share with you:

I am still teaching Form 1 and Form 2 almost every day of the week and in the evenings I cook, clean and spend time with students and teachers. Sometimes the days kind of blend together because not much happens but I try to find ways to mix it up as much as possible.

First of all, I am happy to announce the chickens no longer live in my house! OH, YAY! I was really tired of having to clean up their mess every day. Its amazing how many times and places they had emptied themselves in my house. The students helped us to build an outside hut and the chickens have adapted to it very quickly. Because the chickens are no longer inside I do not to have a student help me clean. The biggest issue had been cleaning the chickens' room.

I am still doing all my own cooking, which I like but it is a very time consuming activity. There are many times I wish I could just throw something in a microwave. I usually eat rice every evening and make enough so that in the morning I can eat the rest of it cold with a cup of tea. It's safe to say that my diet is not the best; strictly due to the fact there is no way around it. Because I now do all my own cooking I rarely eat fish. To buy fish I have to go to the fisherman during the day. I am at school during the day, so it is not often I eat fish (maybe 3 times per month). Go ahead and just remove the protein section of the food pyramid and then I'm okay. The plan is for the headmaster and his wife to move into my house so the houses are a little bit more balanced. Also, once I leave they will have their own house, which is how it is supposed to be for headmasters. I am looking forward to this because Lucy (Kapange's wife) will take care of all the home duties, cooking cleaning, etc., so I can teach and be with the kids. It will be nice to have the help.

A quick story about milk: A couple times per week young girls from Isaba come to Kazovu to sell milk (Isaba has one cow, Kazovu has none). They know the teachers here will always buy some so they make a point to stop here first. Something I didn't know was that Tanzanians really enjoy cold, day old milk. (Now, please remember we don't have refrigerators or any way of keeping milk cold, nor do we have the process of pasteurizing or homogenizing milk.) So when they drink milk it is pretty much cottage cheese and tastes like rotten eggs. I was unaware of this when I ate dinner with my headmaster and his wife the other night. My experience with milk here was that you boil it and make it into tea, which is really, really good! So I thought when Lucy gave me a cup of milk it was boiled and had sugar in it. I took an extremely big gulp of the chunky sour milk and almost threw up. I was not ready for that! The next day I couldn't teach because of stomach pains. So the lesson in this is - don't drink chunky milk!

As I wrote in an earlier post, the girl students have moved into the village. They no longer live at school and it is more difficult to find good opportunities to spend time with them outside of school. It was so easy when they were a stone's throw away from my house. When they left I knew I had to be bold, making the effort to go into the village alone in order to find ministry opportunities. Every time I see God using that first step for His glory. Something good always happens when I put my own desires and selfishness aside and make the move to go into the unknown. Before the girls moved I don't think I ever went to the village alone. Not that being with other people is a bad thing, but I realized I relied on them way too much. Even though I knew how to communicate with the villagers to an extent I always let the people I went with do all the talking. I knew they could speak better than me. But now I go alone as much as I can because it forces me to use Swahili on my own and I think it is also showing the villagers I am comfortable and confident. Sometimes I will go to the village with no destination in mind. I will just walk to the market and try to find some students to hang out with. Many times I will go to students’ homes and just visit with them. Some of my Form 4 girls, Mariam and Jelina, are always excited when I drop in for a visit. They are such wonderful girls! Random trips to the village have also helped me to connect with students that I haven't connected well with yet. Many of my Form 2 students have a very low level understanding of English (we are working on it but they are behind). So they have been afraid to come to my house after school hours. Now I come to them. It's amazing how much more open they are! They tell me to come to their homes all the time and we will talk (mostly in Swahili) and then I'll teach them a little bit of English or review what we learned that day in class. As I walk home after each one of these amazing afternoons with my students I just think, "Wow, God set that whole thing up. I'm so glad I took the step to go to the village."

I have to tell you all about the other day at the lake. First of all, the last week has been the hottest I think it has ever been in Kazovu. I would bet it was around 95 and humid. We are all begging for rain again! Anyway, because of the heat I went around to the teachers asking if they wanted to go swimming. A couple of them said yes and we went together to the section of the beach near the village. We were having fun when some village kids started to swim out to where I was in the lake. I was pretty far out and they wanted to see if they could make it. We started swimming together and racing each other. When we came back to shallow water I played with the smaller kids, bouncing them around in the water three times and throwing them (like what my dad and brothers used to do to me when I was young). "Moja, Mbili, Tatu... Nenda!" "One, Two, Three…Go!" They loved it! I think there were about 25 kids swarming all around me waiting for their turn. My arms became so tired and sore but it was worth it! After about an hour the sun started going down and I knew I needed to get going, so they all escorted me back to my house. On the way back we sang songs and danced and they kept saying to me, "Mama yetu, Mama yangu." "Our mother, my mother." In which I would respond, "Watoto wangu." "My children." I can't help but feel pure joy and happiness when I see them smile and hear them laugh and sing. I see all of the children of Kazovu village as my own kids, but I also know they are the Lord's children. He created each one of them so special and unique. I pray every day they will grow up in the knowledge of Christ and how much He loves them.

These last couple of months had their fair share of challenges. I would never say it's been easy but all the challenges and hard things that have happened, and are happening now, do not compare to the positives I have just written down. Even through the storm, God has continued to make His Presence known to me and to those around me. Never once has He left me alone in this journey and I know He never will. God never said this life would be easy but He did promise to never leave us.

I read this in my devotional the other day:

"I am leading you along the high road, but there are descents as well as ascents. In the distance you see snow-covered peaks glistening in brilliant sunlight. Your longing to reach those peaks is good, but you must not take shortcuts. Your assignment is to follow Me, allowing Me to direct your path. Let the heights beckon you onward, but stay close to Me. Learn to trust Me when things go "wrong." Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on Me. Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far outweigh them all. Walk hand in hand with Me through this day. I have lovingly planned every inch of the way. Trust does not falter when the path becomes rocky and steep. Breathe deep breaths of My Presence, and hold tightly to My hand. Together we can make it!" - Jesus Calling

I would like to encourage all of you to trust in God right now no matter what your circumstance. Sometimes putting full trust in God during the hard times is easier said than done but I also know God is honored when we choose to give Him control of our struggles, circumstances, difficulties, problems and shortcomings. I know that in times of need I would rather have the God of the Universe handling my life than me. If you have a burden right now, leave it at the cross. Jesus doesn't want you to carry it anymore. 1 Peter 5:7 "…cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

May God bless you and keep you!

Mungu Ibariki

Emily

Side note: I will be coming back to America on July 6th. I will be leaving Kazovu around June 23^rd (all VST schools close around this time for a two-week break) and I will start my journey to Mbeya where I will meet up with Alexandra, my friend teaching at Ninga Secondary School. Together we will go back to Madisi and do some finishing up of things and head to Iringa. There we will have some fun shopping and touristy things. We both wanted to do something touristy before we left so we are going on safari in Iringa. In Dar we will go to an island in the Indian Ocean (not Zanzibar) to spend a day on the beach. Afterwards we will go to the airport for our flight which leaves at 3:00a.m. July 6th. This is still a long ways away. I still have four amazing months left and I love it!

Beach Day and Missing Anne

While all of you are bundled up with a cup of coffee and shoveling driveways, I spent the day at the beach! All of the teachers and many of our students went to Kirando this weekend in order to take passport sized pictures of the students. I don’t know exactly why but that’s okay. So today has been an amazing day of relaxation and enjoyment.

I started the day by sleeping in until 9:30am! That was amazing! Then I grabbed some bread and tea that I made last night and crawled back under my mosquito net and watched a movie on my iPod. Then I decided I would go to the lake. Not only was it a gorgeous day for swimming, but also hot enough to wash my clothes and lay them in the grasses to dry (they dry within 1 hour). So I put all my dirty clothes into the large washing dish and also packed along my iPod and my Bible. Mixon and I set off for a long afternoon at the lake. He follows me everywhere so I knew he would tag along. While walking I experienced a feeling that could only be described as “vacation”. Walking in the sand on a hot sunny day with the smell of sunscreen just screams vacation. Today really felt like a vacation of sorts. I went to the section of beach that is usually unoccupied so that I could be the weird American going to the beach just to rest and get some rays (and that means I’m still wearing an appropriate t-shirt and a skirt…let’s not get crazy). I spent about an hour washing my clothes and the water was perfect for it, not too many waves. Then I put them out to dry and sat on the beach listening to music and reading the Bible, making sure I was staying appropriate when the fishermen would pass by. Then it became too hot so I jumped in the lake and swam for a while. Mixon ran along the shore trying to figure out how to get to me without getting wet. Sometimes I pull him into the water just to see him swim back. He climbs on my shoulders to avoid touching the water. He’s kind of like a baby. After an hour or so I got out to get warm again and to enjoy just resting on my khanga on the sand. It was fabulous!

I left the lake when I started to feel my skin burn… sunscreen only does so much in this climate. So I picked up my clothes and walked back home. I did get a decent burn on my arms and shoulders but nothing terrible. If anything it just makes my watch tan look even more attractive ☺. I hung up my swimsuit, picked some vegetables from my garden for dinner and cleaned rice. Now I am ready to cook this evening. I have found I really like to eat rice with onions, tomatoes, green peppers and green vegetables on top. Really good!!! But I can only make it when I have the peppers from Kirando (Kazovu doesn’t have them). I have one pepper left so I am going to use it tonight.

Subject change

On a not so happy note, my good friend and housemate Anne left Kazovu. Just like Baraka she too often became sick. She left last Saturday for Kirando to see a doctor and then I heard that she was heading to Sumbawanga for more treatment. She had malaria and some type of tapeworms. I knew that she was sick but I was expecting her to return within a week or two. So I was not expecting to see Kibona’s wife come and take all of her things out of her room yesterday. Now all that is left is her mattress and some scrap papers on the floor. I have to keep telling myself that there is a reason for this. God has some bigger plan in store by removing Anne from Kazovu. But, I’m not going to lie… it hurts. She was a dear friend and the only other female teacher here I could spend time with. There is a trend here: Baraka left, Winfrida left and now Anne. I was happy today for the time to be alone because it gave me a lot of time to think and pray about this situation. What I have heard from God is that the only thing I can trust to be always constant is Him. Having close relationships is not a bad thing, God wants us to be in fellowship with others, but people will let you down, situations will change and if we put all of our reliance on those people we will crash and burn when something happens. Our strongest reliance should be on the One who will never leave or fail us - the One who is constant in our lives even when everything else seems to be turning upside down.

This new situation presents some opportunities. Now I am living in the house alone with the chickens, the cat, and Mixon. I don’t mind living by myself but it is a lot of work to be at school teaching all day, clean the house, cook and still have time to be with my students outside of school - which is what I really enjoy doing. The room where the chickens live is a disaster every morning and takes a good hour to clean every day. That doesn’t include the rest of the house which also needs cleaning. I really don’t mind doing these things but it is too much for me to do alone and still spend time with the kids. So I talked with my headmaster and he told me to find a student to help me every day. I agreed and see it as a way to bond even better with one of my students. I will be talking with Markrina next week to see if she can be my helper. I am also planning on giving her a bit of money to help with school fees, since she will be doing me a huge favor.

I know that everything will work out fine, it always does! God is thankfully in control of every situation. This presents a new challenge and definitely new opportunities for ministry.

Blessings,

Emily

More Photos

Sunset on Lake Tanganyika

Kazovu students

Having a little fun in Kazovu

Half-Way

February 4, 2014

It has been 5 months since I arrived here in Tanzania. Crazy to see how fast time has gone, but then again I remember how little I knew back in September. I’ve grown in knowledge of the culture and language. I have transitioned from seeing this as a trip to seeing this country as my home. God has done some amazing things these first 5 months. I have no doubt that he will continue to do so in the next 5 months.

School is back in full swing! Almost all of our students have returned (except for Form 3, nobody knows why they haven’t returned yet). I was surprised and so happy to see almost all of my students from Pre-Form returning to Kazovu for Form 1. All but two students from Pre-Form are here! From what it looked like in December, I would have been surprised to have 10 students return. God is giving me more time with them and I am so thankful.

When I returned to Kazovu I was cooking behind my house and saw three of my students running from the path to greet me. One of them, Michael, gave me the biggest hug. Oh, I just love these kids! There are even new students in Form 1 that didn’t come to Pre-Form. I now have 24 students in that class and over 30 in Form 2. The bigger classes are a little more difficult to teach but I would rather have more students in school than less, so I’ll take the challenge. I have noticed that it is very easy to start in as the English teacher for Form 1 because they know me and my teaching style, which is very upbeat. They know I require them to speak English a lot during class time. My first few weeks in Form 2 have been quite different. They are not used to my teaching style and more often than not I will be teaching and they will stare at me with looks that say, “What in the world is she doing?” I try to do many different games and exercises that are meant to help them practice speaking what they are learning on paper but they all seem to lack the motivation to really get into it. It is a daily struggle but I know after a while they will start to know my style of teaching. I know the way I teach is drastically different than how they have been taught in the past. I teach Form 1 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Form 2 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I also do evening sessions with Form 2 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. At the end of this year Form 2 will be taking a National Exam. I want to help them out as much as possible to help prepare for the exam.

Our school now has chapel every Friday! Most all other VST schools have chapel and ours had not. When our new headmaster asked for suggestions about starting in the New Year, I fought for having chapel. I am so happy it worked out. I will be going to chapel with the students and sometimes teaching.

The new headmaster Kapange is wonderful and is already doing great things for the school. He is doing a great job making sure we have all the materials we need for teaching (mainly chalk, pens and paper). You would be surprised how often we didn’t have those in the previous months. He is making plans to fix our electricity, which is fabulous. Not that we really need the lights, but the ability to charge our electronics at our houses would be extremely nice.

The second day we were in Kazovu, Kapange and I went down to the lake to wash our clothes. We had a great conversation and he told me he had already started to pay the bride price for a woman in the village of Ninga (where he was before). I said, “Oh WOW! Very good!” He went to Sumbawanga that weekend to get some supplies for the school and when he returned he seemed different. Yeah…he got married! This is one of the cultural things so drastically different than American culture. It still baffles me. He didn’t tell anyone about it…he just came back with a wife after two days. Ohhhhkay! His wife is an adorable young woman. She doesn’t speak any English but she is full of life and laughter. She went swimming with me and Anne and we all had a blast together! She is my dada (sister) now.

I really have been blessed by the relationships here. The other teachers are wonderful and are my best friends. We now have inside jokes and it makes me laugh so much. Here are a couple examples:

Instead of saying, “the salt is finished” or “my bag fell off the chair” Anne & I say, “Oh, the salt has died” or “my bag has died a natural death.” I don’t know why we started doing this but for some reason or another it is one of the funniest things! Every night before we go to sleep she tells me, “Ok Emi, have a nice death. See you in the morning when death is over.” Now that I am writing it, it sounds morbid and awful, but we say it in a very funny and light-hearted way.

Jonathan and I have many inside jokes but one we share daily is our creative handshake and we try to communicate with each other using only motions and sounds, not words. It usually grows to be something really funny. He also likes American ‘slang’ so sometimes he will greet me with, “Yo, Emi man, what’s up chill sis?” In which I reply, “Cool bro!” On a more serious note, Jonathan and I have had some of the most amazing discussions about Christ and the Bible. We can talk for hours with our Bibles in front of us, digging into the Word. I know the Spirit is present every time we talk.

The chickens are still running around the house all the time. We chase them away but they still come in. Recently, Anne changed rooms. She liked the room where the chickens were sleeping at night better than the room she was in so she decided to transfer. This has confused the chickens’ tiny brains. We put boards in front of our rooms every night so they don’t enter our rooms and make themselves at home all over the house. We found one inside our bucket full of drinking water! HA! Every night we catch them and put them into the room they are supposed to sleep in.

It is the rainy, summer season here. Some days we will have a complete downpour and cold temperatures, and then other days it’s really hot! Sometimes it’s a mixture of both. When it’s raining we need a long sleeve shirt. When it’s hot we count down the minutes until we can go jump in the lake to stop the sweating! I’m still keeping up my tan, especially the awesome tan lines from my watch! In regards to food, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like ugali now. I guess it just takes eating it every day to develop a liking for it. We usually have ugali in the afternoons after school and then rice at nighttime. We like to eat both rice and ugali with greens from our garden mixed with tomatoes. Sometimes we’ll have fish and I always enjoy it when that happens. Not only because they taste phenomenal, but because I really enjoy gutting and preparing them ☺. Anne always lets me do that part.

Every day we have new guests at our house - two adorable little girls from the village. They are both 4 years old and they come to visit us. They are younger sisters of some of our Form 2 students. We jump rope together and help us to cook too. Anne and I have been teaching them fun songs and they love to sing and dance too! Today they were here while we were cooking ugali and saw my deck of cards sitting on the table. I started to play a game with them that I honestly still don’t know how it works. They would just tell me when to play and I would put a random card down. Apparently I did well. HAHA! They would say, “Mzungu cheza sasa” which means, “European, play now.” They haven’t yet learned my name, so I’m still Mzungu. I enjoy them so much and when we escort them back towards their house they hold our hands.

The girls who were living at school have now moved to the village. I don’t know where their homes are yet but once school starts to flow better my plan is to spend a lot more time in the village with them. I miss seeing them every day after school and playing Go-go with them. I am actually excited for this change because it will put me in the village more often and among the people, hopefully every day. My ministry has just changed locations once the school day ends and I know God will use this for his glory!

Our God continues to move in every minute of every day. In every situation He is here and making himself known. In my quiet time a few days ago I was reading Psalm 116. After reading the first verse I started to sing a song I have been singing ever since:

I love you Lord

and I lift my voice

to worship you.

Oh my soul, rejoice.

Take joy my King,

in what you hear.

Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

My heart and soul will continue to rejoice and worship the one true King all of my days. May God be glorified in all I say and do.

Emily

Back in Kazovu!

January 19, 2014

I have been back in Kazovu for one week and it has been great to reunite with my friends and students.

I was blessed with the gift of traveling from Madisi to Kirando by car and not by bus. Alex, Lindsey and I were all very thankful because we left Madisi with twice as much of our stuff as we first came with. Most was supplies for our schools and also our Christmas gifts and extra clothes we had left at Janelle’s house in September. After wearing the same few outfits for 4 months, it is wonderful to have more options!

I traveled with Alex and Lindsey to Mbeya where we met up with Steve, Justin, Godfrey, Emanueli and other leaders of VST. We had lunch together and split up into different cars. I went with Steve, Justin, Emanueli and Sara in one car going to Sumbawanga. We didn’t leave until later in the evening, so we arrived in Sumbawanga at 2:00 a.m. We crashed at a guest house and the next day Justin, Ntula, Kapange (new headmaster) and I left for Kirando. We arrived late that night in Kirando and found a guest house. The next morning we went into the main part of the small town, ate some breakfast and went to the lake to find a boat. To my surprise I found my friends Madam Anne and Madam Winfrida standing there! I was so excited to see them I dropped my things and ran! We spent the day in Kirando together while Justin, Chriss and Kapange went back to Kazovu to go over some logistical things about changing headmasters. Anne and I caught a night boat to Kazovu later and that was an amazing “Wow, I’m in Africa” moment. The lake was calm and gorgeous as the water reflected the light of the moon. It was a very clear night and so we could see all of the mountains around us, including in Congo. SO AMAZING! We arrived at home and to my surprise I found our house a complete disaster! The chickens apparently went nuts through the whole house and found their huge bag of food, which had exploded all over the floor. All of the pots and pans in the kitchen were dirty and covered in ants and all of the door cover curtains had been removed (Chriss and Madam took them). Sooooo, needless to say, I had a lot of work to do the next day. My dog Mixon did not recognize me at first because it was dark when we arrived. From what I could see they somewhat tortured him because he was terrified of me. I shined my flashlight on my face so he could see me, and he went happy crazy. He was jumping all around and licking my face. I think he missed me just a little bit.

Now, let me back up a little bit and explain what happened with the headmaster situation. As some of you may know, there were some problems with the old headmaster. I won’t go into too much detail but it was definitely time for a switch and the whole VST leadership could see it. I was told in Madisi we would be getting a new headmaster right away when I returned to Kazovu. This is where Kapange comes in. He is actually Alex’s old headmaster from Ninga Secondary School. They were planning on moving him from Ninga for reasons that are not negative. Sometimes a change in perspective is good for a school. VST leadership sat both Alex and I down in the office building at Madisi and explained the plan. Alex was getting a former Madisi graduate who previously was a headmaster at another VST school and that I would be getting Alex’s headmaster, Kapange. From what Alex told me before I met him, I was impressed. He seemed like a great person and has a love for teaching. Also, it helps that he teaches science. Since Baraka left we haven’t had a science teacher. Long journeys really help you to get to know a person and we definitely had a long journey. I told Kapange all I knew about Kazovu and tried my best to answer his questions. He is a lot quieter than Chriss, but he has a big heart. Upon arriving at Kazovu we ran into a small problem. I live in the headmaster’s house and when a married couple was living here it was okay. Kapange is not married. While in Madisi I spotted the red flag right away. I asked Steve Vinton what to do and he said Anne would come to live with me and Kapange would live in the male teacher house. So, Anne and I now live together in the new and improved Female Teacher House. I am so happy with this new situation! Anne and I have become great friends and it is wonderful to have her as a housemate. She is also a great cook, so I reap the benefits of that as well. She has a radio in her room and listens to it all the time when she is home. We have many impromptu dance parties in the house and it is a blast.

Many of the students are just now returning to Kazovu, even though school opened on Monday. We had about half of our total students here last week. This past week has been one of those typical weeks when I have no idea what is going on. This happens a lot. The students have been cleaning the grounds of the schools every morning until about 10am. They chop at the long grasses with blades and dig out weeds from the dirt pathways to the classrooms. After they finish they are sent to the classroom to study. The teachers are not teaching because we have been getting the schedule prepared and our new Mkuu (headmaster) is learning about our school environment and, honestly, trying to fix many of the problems that were left. Since I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing I found myself studying my Swahili Lesson Book I received from Janelle during the Christmas break. It is a really great book and easy to understand. It is for people who wish to teach themselves Swahili. It comes with exercises and everything! I am now on Lesson 12 and over half a notebook full of notes. I am really enjoying it and I am learning so much! I have done this most days and in the afternoons I spend time with my students when “school” is over. This week things will start to flow a little bit better and start to look more normal. I will be teaching Form 1 and 2 English. I will be teaching every day but only a couple hours per day instead of 7 hours a day as with Pre-Form.

I would like to introduce you to three of my lovely young girls from Pre-Form. They are now Form 1 students and for the past week they have been living at my house. They have a room at the school but because not all of the students have returned, they are the only girls here and are afraid to be at the school alone at night (I don’t blame them). I invited them to come and stay with me. They cook here and sleep out in the main room of the house on extra mattresses we have had in a spare room. Their names are Imelda, Godeliva and Victoria. They are all “sisters”, but in this culture everyone is a sister or brother, so I really don’t know the relation between them. All I know for sure is they are from the same village, Utinta, about 3 hours by boat north of Kazovu.

First is Imelda. Imelda is a tall and gorgeous young lady. She is a very good student and is not shy to try the English she has been learning. She also has an amazing sense of humor and makes me laugh so much! Today she was putting water into a pot to make rice and as she was walking outside she started to dance and water began to pour out of the pot. She said, “Ahla! (common expression) uh-oh, that is very bad.” And then we both started to burst out laughing. Imelda is a twin. Her twin brother is Michael and he was also in my Pre-Form class. Now, in Tanzania if you are a twin there are very specific names you receive. The first is given a name and the second is named Doto. Technically Imelda’s name is Doto, but in the classroom her name is Imelda.

Second is Godeliva. Godeliva, or ‘Gode’, is an absolutely beautiful and amazingly shy young lady. She is small but has the biggest smile you’ll ever see. She is not afraid to use it! Her whole being shouts genuine, honest, trustworthy and pure. She is also a very good student and studies very hard. She is a complete blessing to me and to all those who surround her. Not to mention, she loves my dog and is not afraid of him like most others. I know that she will do wonderful things in her life.

Finally, Victoria. Vicki, Vicki how beautiful and wonderful you are. Like Gode she is also shy but has a smile and a laugh that will light up the room. She is tall like Imelda and has unbelievably gorgeous eyes. Like her “sisters” she is a very good student and will often try out her English with me. She does something really adorable when she knows she made a mistake - her eyes get really big, her jaw drops to the floor and she quickly covers her mouth with her hand. Then she bursts out in cheerful laughter! I can’t help but smile.

All three of these girls have been such a blessing to me in the past week. I never expected to have the opportunity to have them live here with me for a week but I am so thankful. Madam Anne has been in Sumbawanga since Tuesday and so having them here gives me constant company and entertainment. We cook together and in the evenings I help them study by flashlight around our table/desk. Then we read a Bible verse together. As I am going to sleep every night I hear them in the other room praying in unison and breaking off into their own separate prayers. I can’t express the joy in the house during these times. I can feel the presence of God and all I can do is thank Him for capturing their hearts. I pray for them that they will always draw near to God and would go and change the world…because I know they can.

In His service,

Emily