Decisions Made and Spurring Others On

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24 is a great verse on exhortation and inspiring others to press on for the work of the kingdom. As we have worked here in Tanzania for over six months, we have felt the Lord calling us to do just that.

Carolyn and I have been personally overwhelmed by the friendships, housing, provision and all the open doors to the Tanzania government in the few short months we have been here.  We know it is all because of the faithful prayers of our friends and family.   As you may recall, our commitment in Tanzania was for one year—this was based on many factors. One of the main factors was the belief that we were coming to Tanzania to start the work of government relations and advocacy, inspire others towards this goal and then hand the work over to our Tanzanian colleagues. In other words we came to stir others. We came to inspire but frankly our Tanzanian staff have inspired us!

We are grateful for the talented and gifted staff here in Dar es Salaam who engaged very quickly at both the local and highest levels of government.  God has also opened many partnership opportunities with other organizations in Tanzania in dramatic ways.  If we are going to see every language have a translation project started by 2025, the national colleagues must take more and more responsibility of the work in each country.  We desire for them to become the primary face of SIL in Tanzania. 

We have never been more inspired by the work here in Tanzania, however, after much prayer and seeking of Godly counsel,  we feel the Lord leading us to take a consultant role with our staff in Tanzania and Uganda and head back to the US. We will still have a part time role with the leadership and staff in Tanzania and Uganda and Craig would work remotely with a few trips each year to Africa.  We say we will be working part time with Uganda Tanzania because an amazing thing happened during this process-- God revealed an even bigger role for reaching the remaining languages of the world through the ministry.

Many of you in Northern Virginia may remember Alemayehu who became the first national to serve as an SIL national director back in 2007. His story was an incredible story of how he as a young man was persecuted by the communist in Ethiopia for his faith in Christ. We are excited that Alemayehu has now been chosen to become the regional director for East Africa.  With that role, he has asked Craig to join his regional team and help him consulting in the area of government relations, leadership training and partnership! We praise God for this amazing opportunity to expand our work throughout  Africa. So not only will we continue to focus on Uganda and Tanzania, but our work will expand to all of East Africa!

                                           Alemayhu visiting with us in Dar.

As John the Baptist said, “I must become less and he must become more. “  With God’s hand, we have lit the fire, we have stirred the pot, and the kingdom is advancing. Praise God!  It is so exciting to be a part of God’s work! 

If God allows, our plan is to return to the US in the fall, and continue to serve the people of East Africa in a consultant role.  Please pray for us as we continue to serve here in the remaining months. 
We love you all and thank you for your continued faithfulness!

Vocabulary Lessons

Even though we only had about a week of “official” language school, we are slowly learning some basics to help us communicate in Tanzania.

In Kiswahili, knowing how to greet someone is essential.  And greetings extend beyond simply, “Hi, how are you?”  Most people are familiar with the greeting, “Jambo” but we have learned that will often mark you as being a tourist.  Officially, you would say “Hujambo” and the reply would be, “Sijambo”.  There are many variations on this, but more commonly you would greet someone with “Habari za….”  This means, literally, what is the news of…  So it can be what is the news of the day, work, the family, the school, the possibilities are endless!  And you never ask just one, they can keep going!

Some other basic phrases that we use often are “asante” which means thank you, “karibu” which can mean you’re welcome or just welcome, and “pole sana” which means I’m sorry.

Although many Tanzanians in the city speak English, there are many basic words like these that make interactions easier.  One of our favorite dukas (store) has some great guys that work there who are always trying to teach us new words.  Not only are they the nicest guys around, they make shopping there so much more fun. 

Then there are the traffic words.  Dar es Salaam is never short on modes of transportation.  There are dala dalas (buses), piki pikis (motorcycle taxis), bicycle taxis, and bajajis (like a motorized rickshaw).

Certainly, Tanesco (the electric company) and Dawasco (the water company) are important words to know, since you are often dealing with issues with one or the other. 

The part of my new vocabulary that I haven’t been thrilled with, actually has nothing to do with learning Kiswahili.  It’s all happening in English and at times is troubling.  Living in a third world country means that talk of hospitals and clinics is commonplace.  Malaria, amoeba, worms and deworming (not just for your pets, but your family too!) and unknown diagnosis are also pretty typical.  And just recently, I’ve gotten to add the term “flesh eating bacteria” to my list of discussions (thankfully not for our family, but you can certainly keep another family in your prayers).

Living in Dar es Salaam has made me realize, in many, many ways, how much I have taken for granted while living my life in the United States.  And, despite the difficulties we often face here, I know that we are blessed beyond measure.  God is working mightily in Tanzania.  You can see it in the number of translations of His Word that are being completed, you can hear it in the praises, and you can feel it the joy that manifests itself in the His people.  And the best news is, He’s not done yet!