Welcome to Tanzania!

Greetings from Tanzania!

What a busy two weeks this has been!  It started with our three day journey to Tanzania. Normally it doesn’t take that long to get here, but our itinerary this time included two LONG layovers; one in London and one in Dar Es Salaam (in Tanzania). So, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to be in London for a few hours! We took “The Tube” into the city and quickly took in a few of the sites. Olympic fever was definitely in the air! Travel to and from the airport took about 3 hours total, so we didn’t have much time to look around. We made it to the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, saw the Eye of London, and Westminster Abby (though we didn’t get to go inside). Then we went over to Buckingham Palace and walked around the outside square. An Olympic bike race had taken place there a day or two before, so there were guard rails up all around where people had stood to watch. Levi and Meleah got a kick out of the palace guards standing so stiff. It reminded them of a Garfield movie! ;-)

Our layover in Dar was not as fun – 12 hours in the airport restaurant! The staff there was very compassionate. They let us stay in the room with AC, watch Olympics, and eat from the buffet. At one point I fell asleep with my head on the table. . . I think I was out for 2 hours! Jet lag was gnarly at that point! The kids did SUPER on the LONG journey. We were proud of them for sure!

Arriving in Kilimanjaro and reuniting with our friends was so wonderful! It was great to see the families doing so well. Meleah and Levi jumped right in with both feet. The hesitation that they had the last time we came is gone! From day 1, Mimi has been out playing with all the little girls her age. There are a few differences in culture they are figuring out as they go along, but for the most part she is really enjoying having kids around to play with any time she wants. Sadly, most of Levi’s friends left the day we got here to go visit their home villages for a few weeks since they just started a break from school. So he won’t get to play with them for a bit longer. There are a few kids here that are his age; one is the base leaders’ daughter whom he’s known since he was a baby. It is so fun to watch them interact and grow up together J.

Just a few days after we arrived, the base hosted the East Africa Regional Conference for YWAM staff. So we really hit the ground running. We enjoyed fellowship with people from all over Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Southern Sudan. There were few a Mzungus (white foreigners), but most of the staff were from within Africa - serving their own nations with great passion. They were very inspiring! There were times of worship, intercession for various countries around the world, speakers sharing encouraging and challenging messages, lots of great food, and hanging out together. One afternoon a group worked with Jeremy and planted about 100 trees from one of our nurseries! He was able to share his vision and the purpose/need for the trees to be planted. They all got very excited about the project. Only bummer was that Jeremy and Mimi got a cold and were down sick for the first couple of days. Overall, it was a GREAT week!

Now we begin the process of settling in! Life here moves much slower than at home, so we are needing to be patient, and allow things to come together one piece at a time. We got a gas burner and refrigerator yesterday! They were being used for the conference, but are back in our little apartment now and I am SO HAPPY! Our phones have taken a lot of work to get set up, but I think they are working now.  Jeremy needs to go get a new driver’s license in the city. That is a two day – all day – process. Then we can go to the store and get the food and supplies we need to “feather our nest”. Maybe by the end of this week we’ll be settled in!The staff is taking this next week off to rest after the conference. So, that allows us to do our stuff and get ready for what’s next.

Jeremy is already working on the tree planting program and looking forward to setting up meetings with key people here. I will be getting ready for a Mini Discipleship School the base is planning to hold for their primary school graduates (equivalent of 8^th grade graduates in the States) who are ready to move on to Secondary School (High School). I am very excited to spend time with these kids who are at such an important stage of their lives! I think the program will run from the end of September through November. And we are excited to begin preparing for my dad and sister to visit in September!

Well, this is getting long, so I’ll save the rest for another time! We’ll check in again next week.