Giving Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving in America and I find myself sitting in our SIL office in Tanzania, reflecting on how blessed our family is.  Even though Thanksgiving in Dar es Salaam is quite different, I know that God has brought us here for this time. 

Here, it is summer, not the traditional autumn season when we celebrate Thanksgiving.  But I am thankful for the green lushness that is appearing as a rainy season has begun.  New life is sprouting around us, and it is a gift.

Here, Thanksgiving is not celebrated, as it is an American holiday.  Today is business as usual.  Everyone is at work and school and there is no 4-day holiday.  But I am thankful for the people from the many different countries that I am blessed to be surrounded by.  I work with people from around the globe who all have a heart for Bible translation, how amazing is that?!?

Here, we have no family to celebrate with and we miss them so much!  But God has blessed us with close friends, even though our time here has been short.  I am so thankful that God has provided friends for each person in our family that we can enjoy spending time with and that we are able to celebrate Thanksgiving with today.  (And yes, we can get turkey here, though it is not common!)  J

Here, almost everything is different from what I am used to for Thanksgiving.  But I am thankful that God is my constant, never-changing rock.  So although I am surrounded by the unfamiliar, I know I can count on Him, leading me step by step down this unknown path, with the promise that although His ways are not my ways, and I may not always understand them, His plans are for always for good—not just for me, but for all of us who know Him.  And I find that the biggest reason to give thanks on this day.

Sunday Drive...Tanzania Style

Last weekend we were blessed to be able to travel with some friends to Mikumi National Park.  The park is about 4-5 hours from where we live in Dar.  The main road actually runs through the park, and often you can see animals just off the side of the road.  Driving through the park itself, we had an excellant guide who really had an eye for spotting animals off the path.  If it hadn't been for him, we would have missed the lions, leopard, and lizard.

The Clendinens and the Stamps traveling through Mikumi National Park

The giraffes really seemed to like to pose.

We saw this guy before we even entered the park.

I love these baobab trees that are all over Tanzania!

There were many elephants throughout the park, we even saw some babies.

One of the highlights for me...you can't even see the smallest cub hiding behind the mother in the center!

Desperate Cries

Craig recently returned from Mbeyatown, Tanzania, which is where a large part of SIL’s work is taking place. While there he was able to help with some of the training for our Tanzanian staff.

On Sunday, as Craig walked about a half mile from the guest house up a dirt road, he could hear music. He veered off the road to a rustic building and the music grew louder. He walked inside a very humble building and there were about 30 people worshipping and praising God.  Craig was touched by the fact that not only was the praise so intense and heartfelt, but the women were on their knees, on the hard concrete floor, crying out to the Lord. Their cry was desperate and passionate.

After the services, Craig had a chance to talk with Pastor Joey, who has pastored this little church in Mbeyatown since 2002, and, his story was similar to Craig’s.  Joey, a Tanzanian, was a trained engineer who received his degree in engineering in Dar es Salaam.  As a successful engineer, he had his own consulting firm in Mbeya.  Then God interrupted his comfortable world. The Lord told him to serve full time in ministry. You can imagine what his family thought when he told them he was going to leave his well-paying job to serve SIL as a volunteer and then start a church…they thought he was crazy. (We know several of our friends thought we were crazy when Craig walked away from the practice of law to serve in ministry!)   

Pastor Joey’s little church started out in a small rental house right next to the mosque in town.  However, God had also provided Joey another piece of property across the street from the mosque.   Joey decided to use this property to build the church. Well, the folks at the mosque were not too happy, and complained to the local government about the church being built, and Joey was forced to take down everything that had been constructed. Since then, they have been working with leaders in the town, and now after 8 years, they expect to receive a permit to begin construction!  The pictures you see are the present location of the church.  Joey and this little church trusted God and persevered through the tough process of obtaining the permit! Pastor Joey took Craig over to the property and he was blessed by being able to pray over it. 

We can all learn from Pastor Joey and this humble church that desperate prayer can bring perseverance for the joy of the cross.  We thank Pastor Joey for sharing this story and for his work in helping advance Bible translation in Tanzania. We are sure Pastor Joey would appreciate your prayers as the construction process begins. (Already, a theft has occurred of a portion of the building materials.  Fortunately, however, the police investigated and were able to recover all of the materials for the church.)

What obstacles do you face in your life? Are you on your knees crying out to God? We know that our perseverance does not come from the strength of our own hands, but in our desperate cries of dependence…while on our knees, often from the hard concrete floor.

Places We Love...

We were blessed to be able to visit Zanzibar last week, which is a small island just off the coast of Dar es Salaam. It's only about a 2 hour ferry ride, and you are there! Zanzibar is home to beautiful beaches and snorkeling, many spice farms, and Stone Town (the historic area).

During the tour of the spice farms, you get to see many of the wonderful plants that thrive here, like cinnamon, vanilla, lemongrass (above) as well as many delicious fruits.

The waters around Tanzania and Zanzibar are many beautiful shades of turquoise.

Prison Island, another small island close to Zanzibar, is home to a turtle rescue.  Twice a day, you can feed the turtles!

A Protecting Hand

I have to admit that this was a tough post to write.  Craig actually wrote most of it last week and I have been avoiding even looking at it. 

There are many things in Tanzania that people could say make life stressful and it seems that it is different for each person.   Not knowing when and if you are going to have power and water is hard for some.  Other people have trouble adjusting to cooking here or shopping in the markets when you aren’t used to that.  The language and the culture are very different from what we are accustomed to in the states and that can be tricky.  But, I think the one thing that I personally have struggled with the most is the traffic.  It overwhelms me, and Craig is the one driving! 

In Tanzania, the roads are for everyone.  So, combine the heavy trucks and personal cars on the road with all of the public transportation (which includes buses, motorcycles, bicycles, and bajajis) and then a large amount of people walking and an abundance of livestock with few or no traffic lights/signs/street lights and no real specific traffic rules….you get the idea.   I had been both amazed and thankful that despite the chaos of daily traffic, I had not seen any accidents. 

Then it happened.

We were on our way to the office, and had just turned into the entry way.  Suddenly, brakes screeched  near us on the road.  I looked back to see people reaching into ditches to help others out.  I wasn’t sure what had really occurred at first.  But then we saw the dala dala (public bus) tipped over into the ditch.  It was filled with local children on their way to school.  People were helping them out of the windows.  It tore at my heart.  Normally, that is something where we would have rushed  to assist.   However, unfortunately, it is not safe to do that here.  We just had to continue into the office compound, behind the gates to safety, and wait.  We learned later that not only had the bus tipped over, but a piki piki (motorcycle) had slid underneath the bus and its driver had been killed. 

The whole event really shook me up.  Emotionally, I was struggling anyway, feeling a bit homesick—but that tragedy was difficult to come to grips with for me.

However, a family shared an amazing story a few days later.

Their son was on his way to school, and normally travels in a bajaji (a covered cycle).  On the morning of the accident, he was having trouble catching a ride.   Then, a motorcycle taxi stopped to pick him up. Just before he got on the cycle, a bajaji pulled up.  It was brand new, no stickers (you need to understand that vehicles here are required to have insurance and safety stickers…and with all the dust and rough roads, nothing ever looks brand new!)   He later learned the cycle he almost rode on was the cycle that went under the bus.

 As we heard this story, we thought about how many times in our lives that God had protected us. And, I am sure that there are so many we don’t even know about!  It is so important to be able to look back at those times, especially when we struggle in our circumstances or don’t understand, so that we can be reminded of His faithful protecting hand.

The Quarry Kids

The quarry at Sala Sala

Although we have only been in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for a short time, we have already seen God do some incredible things.  We wanted to share one of the stories with you that is a tribute to God’s faithfulness and his compassion to the poor and marginalized.

One of the local international churches meets at HOPAC, the school that Anissa attends.  The pastor, Shaun Graham, recently shared his vision for one of the communities very close to where we live.   Before the Grahams moved to Tanzania, the Lord gave them a verse in 1 Samuel 2:8 that says “He raised the poor from the dust...” One day, Pastor Shaun went for a walk behind the HOPAC campus and discovered thousands of people living in a disused quarry.   It doesn’t get much dustier than that.  With that verse returning to his mind, Pastor Shaun and the church started a children’s club that attracts more than 150 children from that area called Sala Sala.

Using sports, creative arts and free play, the church volunteers interact  with the children weekly and seek to show them God’s love.  Pastor Shaun told us that for Christmas last year, all of the kids were sent home with a big bag of rice. For most of these families, this was the only food they would have for the holidays.  This act of kindness has now opened the door to be able to minister in one of the government schools. One of the school leaders knew of Pastor Shaun because of the kids club and has now allowed him to teach in the school.  Even better, the classes have been more highly attended than anyone expected!

Every day we drive by that quarry and see the poor of Sala Sala and are reminded the verses in Samuel and see how God uses his people to reach the lost and the broken hearted

What verse has the Lord recently laid on your heart?

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