Celebration and Sadness

Grand celebrations seem few and far between here in the village, but this last weekend was the setting for a terrific wedding for us to enjoy and be a part of.

Saturday I headed with Lauren and the Millers to the local Catholic church. On the way we passed by the house of the groom’s parents, where the reception would take place later. They were preparing the food for the afternoon and invited us to come in. We tried not to stare at the basin they were standing around.

Did you see that?  How about closer…

These were the entrails of some animal—probably a goat—that we were meant to eat later at the reception.  We tried to refocus our energies on getting to the wedding on not thinking about this particular delicacy which would await us. J

We arrived at the church an hour late (the only weddings we have attended haven’t even begun until 2 hours after the scheduled beginning) and were LATE wazungus (white people). This title isn’t easy to come by in this land of “Pole pole ndio mwendo” (Slowly, slowly is still motion)!

Hastily peering in one of the mud-block windows, we caught a glimpse of the priest uttering the final marriage pronouncements. We were surrounded by other late-comers in their Sunday best. One of them, a Mama whom I have gotten to know a little bit, insisted on ushering us INSIDE, which meant shoving past people who were literally jammed into the doorway and the back of the church, and we were kept wondering where we would be able to squeeze. There is nothing like a crowded African church as an argument for small hips! My friend, Mama Euni, shoved some people off of their seats so that we could sit there. Humbling. And not the first time this has happened.

We thought we had come to the end of the service (after all, the bride and groom were married), but the service lasted at least another hour. The Catholics have the best singing around, hands-down, and it was amazing to hear their many voices and harmony sung at the top of their lungs. There was lots of dancing up and down the isle, two offerings were taken, and the priest had people bring up their grain for him to bless it towards the end. Evidently this was a multi-purpose meeting.  Here is the grain people had put outside the door of the church (I thought it was a pile of presents).

Finally, when we thought we might be dangerously close to dehydration due to profuse sweating, the people started dancing towards the front in what looked like the end of the service.  We watched from the back, enjoying the unreserved joy and elation of the moment.  I was taken by surprise when  another older lady came back, grabbed my arm and pulled me up the isle where everyone around me had their hands in the air, singing like crazy, dancing ecstatically.  Really, evangelical or not, there was no option but to dance along. J  They were filled with joy at this happy event.

The GORGEOUS bride

Who said the getaway car was only for the newlyweds?!

After lunch and a nap back home, Amy and I returned to the reception.  A big, dark storm had thundered in, but we all waited out the rain under the edges of the small mud huts and the tarps that had set up especially for the day.  After it cleared, we sat out in the muggy courtyard where they had set up HUGE loudspeakers, a stereo and a microphone.  More dancing, the emcee talking through every bit of it, including compliments for the bride and groom, encouraging things like, “He looks good.  He looks like Obama!”  We ended up missing the rest of it (and those inevitable intestines) as we bowed out early and headed home to make dinner.  I couldn’t help but PRAY that someday many of these people will dance and sing  and celebrate their freedom and forgiveness found in Christ! 

There is no short-cut to good village relations, and weddings and funerals seem to be the main route to get us there. We had another opportunity yesterday, as one of John’s church members passed away in the morning. Only 16 years old, she had died of elephantitis, a rather gruesome and painful disease that had affected her leg. She had been in for treatment, but the leg had burst open shortly before she died yesterday. Because she had been sick, they wanted to bury her right away. The hole was dug, her body buried before the afternoon was over. There were about 300 people at her funeral, and Pastor Pele (a pastor who preaches at the church we go to and the same who helped John get this church going) was able to give a clear salvation message to all of them. This was an incredible opportunity!

Dave and I came up to the house after 5, walked past the freshly dug grave with beautiful flowers arranged on top of it. We entered through the thorn bush fence and were greeted by four bibis (grandmas) sitting on the dirt. They seemed to be most of the funeral party who was left. We said our Pole’s (very sorry) to them, and they greeted with the customary, “Tumeshapoa”—“We have already cooled off (recovered).” This always takes me by surprise, but it is the culturally appropriate response after the body has been buried. We sat with the ladies and the grandfather of Joyce, the girl who had died, and just chatted with them. Joyce and her grandpa had been baptized about a month ago. Her grandpa was so sweet and had life and light in his eyes, even though he was obviously sad. After a time, two motorcycles came up the path with some women, one of whom was wailing loudly. When they arrived, she ran from one little mud room to another, as if searching for Joyce, who we found out was her biological daughter. She had come from Mwanza and hadn’t been able to make it in time for the funeral. It was painful to watch and listen to her as she wailed at the grave, then sat down in the courtyard opposite us, surrounded by others.

The death of young people is so common here. It sometimes seems like if it isn’t one thing--lack of clean water, poor hygiene, inadequate nutrition--, it’s another—poor medical care, lack of basic knowledge of disease, superstition and fear of the spirits. While we get used to hearing about it, we are always grieved to see the reality of another life taken so early. In Joyce’s case, we have reason to rejoice for her. As John said, “Imagine being a Christian for only three months and then getting to meet Jesus.” And for Grandpa, there is also HOPE.

We pray that Isaiah 9:2 would also be true of Kitongo, Tanzania:

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”

May we be messengers of LIGHT and HOPE!

Polls and People

It is election day in Tanzania tomorrow. We don’t get involved too much in politics, but we hear things about the current president vs. his opponents. Some things about elections are similar the world over—big promises, big crowds, tension in the air. Some things take different shapes over here, like yesterday, when the currently-in-power CCM party was handing out brand new 1,000 Tanzanian shilling bills to everyone in the village who came and was going to “vote for CCM.” Don’t get too excited—1,000 Tsh is only about 65 cents, but it is still the equivalent of two hours’ wage. An interesting way to get votes!  For us, election day means lying low and waiting for the results that “we will hear unofficially on Monday, and officially, Tuesday,” according to one of our staff.

Time goes by so quickly that I haven’t had time to write about our friend Jacob, who came out for three weeks. He is from Montana and came to visit our off-campus families and do whatever he could to help. We put him to work!

One of our off-campus homes (the incredible family of Martin and David—you can read their stories on the Mavuno website here).

Enjoying the sunset while he sets up solar panels!

“Crazy face” picture that Jacob wisely skipped out on “in case that goes on the blog.” :)

While he was here, we also celebrated Hannah's birthday.  We now have a 14-year-old on the premises!  We celebrated the gift of having Hannah another year.
Launa and Hannah (perhaps not your typical teenage girls) with the sword
that Launa made her for her birthday.

Not too sharp, because they want to duel and don't have proper chain mail. :)

 
 

It's a Girl!

Mavuno welcomed our fifth girl last week.  Bianca joined us from Forever Angels in Mwanza.  She is five, the same age as Mariam, and has already adjusted so quickly to her new home, her siblings, and her new mama and baba.  Bianca gets along with all the kids and  Milka told me today that "she just wants to obey and do what's right!"  We feel so blessed to have her in our village. :)

I thought you might enjoy some other pictures I took today at Bible club of the kids.  These four of the sisters (before Esther came home from school).  Aika, Bianca, Mariam and Helena.

Lauren tackles Sato after having rolled around in the sand (thus the amazing hair).  This is the Sato that I previously wrote about.  We are in the process of finding her a good family to live with and a new school to attend.  Please keep her in your prayers as she adjusts to a new life and family.

Esther, Michael and Jona share a laugh watching the skit.

One of the local village girls that comes to Bible club.

Michael and his mama.

Two older boys who come to Bible club and also play soccer with us every weeknight.

Discussions of Geographically Opinionated Individuals

As the two girls sat at the table this morning during art, I overheard a congenial, if not somewhat opinionated discussion that caught my attention.

Lauren (forgetting Megan has a combined total of 10 months of American living under her belt): Megan, do you like Tanzania or America better?

Megan: I like Tanzania better because I like the dogs here.

Lauren (horrified): Megan, the dogs are skinny and disgusting!

Megan: I didn’t mean the village dogs, I meant our dogs. Which do you like better?

Lauren: Well, I like here better because of the cute babies...

 and the good weather.

Megan: Yeah, and the balloons (we had a birthday party for Hannah yesterday).

Lauren: They have balloons in America. Lots of them.

Megan: Oh.

Which just goes to show that the learning curve as we head for the States in January is going to be steep!

White girls in their African world

More Ramblings...

Michael, Mavuno child for close to two months now,

 when asked what he wants to be when he grows up:

 “A DADDY.”

YAY, yay, yay!!! Michael, who up until this point has NEVER had a daddy or known what a family is, understands now and wants to be like his daddy, John. What an awesome testimony to the power of GOD through the love of his family!

We are looking forward eagerly to accepting our 8th child into the Mbugua home next month. Bianca will join us on the 7th of October, coming from Forever Angel’s Baby Home in Mwanza (where both Michael and Aika came from as well). As Bianca is five, Milka and John have their hands full of preschool and kindergarten aged children! 

Last weekend most of the family (minus Kate, Megan and Mom) ran the 5K in the second annual Rock City marathon in Mwanza.  As this is the only event of most any kind in Mwanza, it is pretty exciting for us bush people.  Last year, after beating their previous 5K times by more than 5 minutes, we drove the route and found out that it was actually only 3.9 K.  This year, we are pretty sure that it was a pretty accurate 5K, but the African flavor of the race still lingered (which was most of the fun).  Starting time was 7 am, and they actually got the call for “Men in the front, women in the back…GO!” at 8:40.   

Lauren’s 2K was supposed to start at 8 but started right around 9:45, and after about 30 seconds of running, everyone had to stop and wait for the police escort to find out which route he was supposed to take.  I use the term “route” loosely, as there is nothing marked, and if you don’t see someone ahead of you, there is no way to know where to go.  No traffic is stopped, so there are instances where you are risking your life to run. J  In the end, though, everyone had a great time, received a t-shirt and hat (also unheard of here, and we were asked for ours by people hanging around before we could even leave the stadium), and are still stretching some sore muscles!

We had another fire last night. We smelled it during our reading before bed, then by 10:30 the small blaze made by the local fisherman had turned into quite an inferno, burning up a huge section of Mavuno land. Thankfully, we had already burned near our house (before the other big fire) so this one came just about 30 feet from our bedroom window while we watched. It was quite a sight!

The most exciting thing that has happened in a LONG time is that there is a church going up! And that is just the building! John has been meeting with the local believers every Sunday now on a plot of land, out in the sun, and there have been at least 30 for the past month (not including children, who number at least 30). We are so excited about these new believers. They are so eager to learn, only one of them coming from a different church in the area. John is getting to answer questions like, “Who made God?” They are new to almost everything about Christianity, and John is faithfully walking them through the basics of our faith. Bible-teaching and Christ-honoring churches seem to be few and far between, and Jesus Christ is building His church in Kitongo!

While most of you head into winter soon, we head into our rainy season. We continue to pray that not only will Mavuno be a place of harvesting crops, but we will truly be planting seeds of discipleship and faithfulness in the children we receive (as well as our own!). Please pray that we will persevere in a way that would honor Jesus and bless those around us—our families, our teammates, and our village.

September Comings and Goings

It’s been an eventful month! After moving into our new house, a team from Corvallis, MT arrived. We have had some great teams, but we have never had 7 “mature” people come on one team before.  How the kids are enjoying having some grandparents around! We have all been so blessed to have them in our homes and enjoy an older generation (which we rarely get to do!).

While here, they have helped with our parenting conference, an annual event that we use to try and encourage our off-campus parents in child-raising, marriage, and other relevant areas. This year’s conference was SO good, and Wilbur, who taught on Shepherding a Child’s Heart, did a terrific job.

In the midst of running back and forth to the conference and keeping things running around here, we had an exciting fire the other night. It started down by the lake, most likely by a fisherman, and quickly spread. It is dry season here, which means it hadn’t rained in several months, and the grass is tall and crispy. ‘Makes for perfect fire spreading. Thankfully, nothing was hurt and now we have a better idea of the lay of the land where the school will eventually be. The fire burned so slowly that eventually Dave and Dan decided to just light a big fire right by our house and back-burn to the original one. Finally at midnight or so it all burned out. When it first started, we were watching the flames grow and spread quite rapidly from our back porch. Megan turns to me and says, “Mom, you wanna know what I love about fires? Guess.” I couldn’t guess. She whispers in my ear, “Hotdogs and marshmallows.” I guess she thought that the raging inferno was still an excuse for a nice campout!

On a lighter note, we are all settling in to the house. The kids, who have all shared a (large) room, now are split up into three rooms. They have already posted “no boys” and “no girls” signs on their doors—maybe pent-up from years of having to share.  To a Tanzanian, the idea of having children in separate beds is unthinkable—every child sleeps not only with other siblings, but at least two to a bed. Even in the hospitals the children share beds (even on the maternity ward two women AND THEIR BABIES share ONE bed, and we’re not talking even a twin sized one). So while it is nice for the kids to broaden their boundaries, it is hardly necessary. We’re thankful!

It is also Ukwaju season here (pronounced Oo-Kwa-Joo). We have a big tree right next to our house that produces this fruit. It is the natural version of sweet tarts, only it’s tarter and not quite as sweet. However, it is a delicacy in these parts and the kids have been busy making Ukwaju candy and ukwaju-ade and anything else they can think of. The little girls were making me laugh the other day, putting the ukwaju seeds in, lots and lots of sugar, water, stirring and stirring, tasting, sticking their fingers in it…you get the picture. And they were making it for our guests, who had no idea so many hands had “seasoned” it. In the end they even left the red stirrer in, just for looks.  Kate meanwhile licked around the entire edge of the sugar bowl in case she hadn’t had enough yet.

The boys are equally enthusiastic, picking it eagerly, mashing it, making lots of candy, eating most of it, selling some to their sisters and other unsuspecting customers. The older girls (Launa and Hannah) skip the whole ukwaju process all together and just make coffee candy. There’s something for everyone.

And Michael and Aika, our new kids on campus, are doing well and adjusting to their family.  Here is Kate with a black baby and Aika with a white one!

Last thing:  A HUGE thank-you to all of you blanket-makers out there. 

 I think all the children for the next five years shall be properly "blanketed"! 

Home sweet home

Well, we have moved for the last time (HA!). Our 10th move in Africa happened two days ago, into the house we will most likely (Lord willing!) live in for the rest of our days (here, anyways). Not that there has ever been anything to whine about—God has always provided so greatly for us!

We moved from the “team house,” where we have lived for the past 1 ½ years, to Staff House 1. We are the first move of the big house shuffle, with the Millers moving into the team house, and our prospective second parents move into the house the Millers are in.

The house is amazing—plenty of room for this growing-up family, a quick walk from Tanner’s and the Mbugua’s first family home, and an AMAZING view of Lake Victoria. We are so grateful to the Lord for this provision. We don’t live here for the view, but we’re not gonna complain either!

 Chris and the gang

One of the biggest blessings for our family was having some amazing people come and help us. Our friends, Chris and Lindy Thompson, from Nairobi, arrived for 10 days and worked their tails off the whole time! Chris and Lindy have a ministry, Only Servants (click here to see more!) that serves in several different ways in Kenya. We first met them when they invited us to stay with them while we waited for Kate to be born. We didn’t even know them at the time, but we sure got to know them as we lingered in their house for a month waiting for the girl to arrive! During that time we became good friends, and God has deepened that friendship as we have continued to mooch off them when we go to Nairobi. So to return the favor, they came and WORKED the whole time they visited. What a blessing these guys were for us…God knew exactly WHO we needed and He sent them!

 Lindy ponders a curtain dilemma

Now that we are moved, we are praying we can settle in quickly and get on with the other building (kids, people and houses!) that is going on at Mavuno. School should start up again here soon for us (the kids said today they were ready, so that is a good indicator that I need to get in gear!) and we have a team here, as well as a parenting seminar for all of our off-campus parents.

Pictures are coming--we have no internet at the new house so it makes for difficult blogging!  I CAN get cell phone reception if I stand on a chair on the back porch. :)

God is good…ALL THE TIME!