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