Where's Waldo?

Have you ever felt like you were playing "Where's Waldo?" in real life? That is how I felt today except that instead of wearing a hat and a striped shirt my Waldo was dressed the same as everyone else —which included having a full head covering! Needless to say it was difficult! Ok, and I didn't even know if she was there.

Today I went to the Munaadi, the big twice-a-month market in the next town over. I was hoping to find Mama S my neighbor who apparently left her husband a week ago. As we drove around the village of Sambwa Peter, our leader, hopped out of the car to ask passers-by if they knew where her family was. After following a few false leads and coming up empty handed, I decided to head into the maze of the Munaadi hoping to find her or someone who would know where I could find her.

Need any shoes? Most items are just sold in big piles you dig through.
A lot of it is leftovers from thrift stores which end up out here. It's quite amusing!

These planks of wood under tarp are actually benches for a restaurant!
Women cook food in the center and sell it to the venders and customers of the Munaadi.
Mat stops at one just about every time he is here!

After roaming around for a few minutes I knew we were going to need some help—divine help! The girls and I prayed that God would guide us to where we needed to be and if Mama S was there we would find her. Only a few minutes into our seemingly aimless wandering Thailie began to sing the song of the Israelites— "It's hot! I'm tired! Why are we here anyways? I don't think God is answering our prayer! It feels like we are just wandering around!" *Cue teaching moment* "You know Thailie, sometimes with God we don't always understand what He is doing and it can feel like we are just wandering around" I began to explain, "but then, God answers our prayers and we look back to see that He was working all along!"
So we continued to "wander" and we continued to trust. After a lot of staring eyes and shouts of "wazungu!" (Translation: "white people"—oh, so tactful and not a bit obnoxious!) we saw a familiar face, not Mama S who we were hoping for, but Florencia, our good friend and "house helper". She asked what we were buying and I tried to explain nothing but that we were just looking for our friend. I have no idea how much was understood, but she decided to join our "wandering"—which, to be honest, made it a lot more awkward to roam freely.

We headed into the "produce section" with Florencia. Yeah, that's a
random chicken by the bicycle. Totally normal.

I was tempted to be discouraged, feeling like she was hindering me from turning in random directions, but I shook the notion reminding myself that I was trusting God to get us where we needed to be with or without company. A minute or two later I looked up and said, "Hey! Is that Baba S?" The girls confirmed that of all the people in this crazy place, headed right towards us was our next-door-neighbor, "Mr. Waldo"!
We stopped and greeted him. I asked if Mama S was here or where she was staying —anything I could find out. He said not yet... something about a dress... something about Sambwa... Ugh! This stinkin' language thing! Life would be so much easier if I knew what he was saying and didn't have to play charades just to get my questions answered! After a few minutes of this Florencia motioned that we should keep going, but I still didn't know where to find Mama S. "No!" I thought. "This may be my only chance to figure this out so I am not going to let this language get the best of me!"
I tried again. He still didn't understand but this time Florencia got it! She explained to him and they proceeded to have a conversation in Swahili which included where she was staying! As we walked away I told Florencia to remember everything he said so that she could tell Peter, who could then tell me!
Just think, if God hadn't led us to Florencia I would never have figured out what's going on or where she is staying! Ha! So much for "wandering aimlessly"! (Thailie was very animated retelling every detail of the story to everyone of how God answered our prayer! How great!)
So, after some translation we found out that Baba S is glad that I have been looking for his wife and wants us to visit her. Peter thinks this is a good sign of our friendship with them; that even during these troubles they want us involved.
Well, our "Search for Mama S" will proceed and we trust we will never be truly lost. Yet, as we continue to pray for them we will remember that they are truly and hopelessly lost apart from the light of Christ.

"And Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth and the life..." John 14:6

Boys Will Be Boys!

I think it is safe to say there are some days out here when Mat is just having way too much fun!

Omari and Mat taking aim

Mat has been building relationships with the neighbor boys by doing everything boys, young and grown, love to do. They have hiked up into the mountain, built fires, roasted meat, made slingshots, bows and arrows then put them all to the test.

Arrows and slingshots at the ready!

The target they made

Victory! The crew rejoices after Mat beheaded a snake.

"I'm Really Going to Miss Her!"

This thought has been coming to my mind as I have realized the friendship that is forming with my neighbor Mama S and I. She is the same neighbor that had the baby when we first moved here, she and her husband were the ones we invited to Christmas, Thailie and Nia play at their house almost everyday —most of the time multiple times a day. She helps salvage all the cooking mishaps I have, lends a hand with sweeping, borrows tomatoes, water and oil when she needs it.
Just yesterday I was caring for our teammate's two girls while Mat took their parents to the hospital in Kondoa. Overwhelmed with the chaos, I went to track Nia down. She had gone outside wearing only a shirt and her undies - I knew where to find her though. I grabbed her boots and a skirt and headed to Mama S's. There Nia was, sitting on a stool, drinking uji with Mama S and Baby S. "Karibu Mama Nia! Karibu nyumbani!" She stops what she is doing and rushes to grab four stools. Looking behind me, I see Thailie, Abigale and Sara had followed me in. She fed all four uji and warmly welcomed us to stay and sit for awhile. I sat and finished my morning coffee thinking how nice it was to just sit with a friend while Mat was gone and things were getting crazy at the house.

Thailie and Nia chatting with Mama S waiting for chai to cook.

We speak different languages, come from totally different cultures, world views, and religions, yet I couldn't help but think, "I'm really going to miss her." There is going to come a day, most likely after our two years with TIMO is up, that we will pack our bags and, apart from physically visiting Busi, we will never see or talk to them again. It was sobering.
That was just yesterday. Today, one of our regular boys, Salamani came in to get treated for a gash on his ankle. (We've been doing minor bandaging/fist aid so they come here when someone is bleeding.) As I cleaned the wound he told me Mama S left for Sambwa. Her family lives in the next village and she visits them from time to time; even this past Munaadi I tagged along with her and saw her brother-in-law's shop, sat with her sister-in-law and met a few brothers. But Salamani's countenance made me wonder if there was more to the story. I asked about her husband Baba S, he said he was at home - again normal, but something didn't seem right. I asked when she would be back. He said tomorrow, his brother said today. Then Salamani just looked at the ground. "Something's up" I thought.
Later that day I walked to get tomatoes and onions from the market and saw Baba S outside a shop with some other men playing a local game —similar to mancala, but more complex. He greeted us, I didn't think anything was amiss. We went about our day as usual, I didn't think much about Mama S, knowing she wouldn't be stopping by today. As the day progressed we had our typical kids in the window, an occasional egg seller, and a neighbor or two stopping by to see how we are doing. The last of our visitors was Bibi A. (The other couple we invited to our Christmas event) she stopped by and brought us a gift —of goat liver. Gifts exchange back and forth here regularly. It is a way to keep up relationships and have reasons to visit friends. She stayed awhile. Finally, just before she left she told me Mama S wanted to make sure I knew that she went to Sambwa. I was trying to understand through a great language barrier the rest of what she was saying. Finally as she spoke again she made "face-slapping" motions. I asked if Mama S was coming back, her reply was simply, "sijui" —she didn't know.
I understood now and my heart was saddened greatly. We were told that in Africa it is very common and almost a give-in that wives are beat. We had heard this from many outside and western sources but never saw any direct evidences of it. Baba S and Mama S were two of the happiest people we knew, and not just in Busi. They were always friendly, welcoming and hardly without a smile. It is hard to picture the two of them fighting, let alone having a fight heated enough to cause abuse.
About four or five months ago Babu A's daughter-in-law took her two kids and "left for Sambwa" —she hasn't been back since.

These are the smiles we remember and hope to see again.

Please pray with us. Pray for our wisdom, their reconciliation, and ultimately salvation.

What We Do Around Here

Here are some pictures of some random things we have been doing around here.

OUT AND ABOUT

To accomplish e everything on a supply run, local transportation is helpful. Mat and the girls in a matatu also called a tuktuk.

Thailie mailing off a few letters.

"This is how we do it!" Yep. This is how you file your taxes in the bush! Which actually doesn't work so you have to frantically call your mom to bail you out by printing them and getting them in the mail. Yeah, lesson learned!

If you look closely you can see the phone on the bike seat - this is the precise location it needs to be in in order to keep the signal. The phone picks up a slight Internet signal. Then we set up a wifi hotspot and sometimes if we are lucky enough, no clouds or wind, and no one touches the bike, we just may be able to check our email!

The kiddos with their buddies at team day. (Baraka, Nia, Sarah, Thailie, Abigale)

AROUND THE HOUSE

Rainy season presents many benefits as crops begin to grow bringing the village its livelihood. It also brings some challenges — like trying to dry clothes during a season where it rains day after day.

Indoor clothes line —Day 3

We have been living it up making tacos and chili twice a month. Mat bought a hand meat grinder on a supply run so now we are able to purchase cow meat at the big market on the 10th and 27th. It has been so great having the option of ground beef again!

Mat and Kim cleaning up the meat prepping it for the grinder.

Some of the best house help in all of Busi washing the dishes!

The girls wanted to be like mommy as we set out to visit the neighbors.

Thai has been reading through the God's Love Bible story app and after she read through the story of Palm Sunday she wanted us all to "play" it/act it out. Well, it just so happened to be the day before our Palm Sunday so we had a great family afternoon learning about and experiencing the triumphal entry!

Hosanna! Holding our branches, Thailie and I were ready for the Messiah's arrival.

"Jesus" arriving on the donkey!

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

Mat and the kids built a tent to house our movie night.

All set! Popcorn and all!

BABY CHICKS

After much anticipation our first two baby chicks hatched!

TEACHING

Mat has been teaching computers and English in the secondary school. I know what you are thinking. Computers in a village that has no electricity?! Don't worry. Totally practical!

Mr. Adams in front of his chalkboard. Can you guess what he is teaching?

Mat's form 3 class

We opened up our home to give some hands on computer experience along with a game of scrabble to practice English.

Nia Turns 2!

"Two!" Nia proudly declares.

It's crazy to think The Tornado has turned two! Honestly, the day itself was pretty terrible, but we did still manage to get in some pizza, requested by the birthday girl, cake, and presents. From a two year old perspective, I think she had a great day!

Birthday girl with her cheese-less pizza.

One of her birthday presents was her own African dress to match her sister's. Here are some shots. (Gotta love the fancy backdrop!)

Happy Birthday Nia you are a gift to this Family!

How Did You Spend Your Easter?

I spent mine with my whole family!

My grandma just arrived as my younger sister Brittany called from Colorado on facetime, while I was already talking to my older sister, her kids and my parents in Minnesota.

Grammy, parents and my older sister Kristin's family: Minnesota - 8hour difference to Tanzania. My younger sister Britt: Colorado 1hour difference to MN, 9hour difference to Tanzania and me in Africa!

Three Sisters! Africa, Minnesota, Colorado all together! Thanks Apple!

 

Baby S

We are so thankful for our supporters! God has provided us with an amazing support team. I have to say that I heard stories in the past about missionaries scraping by wondering how they would feed their family. While that was a sacrifice we were willing to make for the sake of the Gospel, as for now, we have yet to know any lack! If fact, we have been able to bless others from your generous hands!
Recently Mama S. came home from Tandala (a few villages away). She told us Baby S. had gotten sick and they had to take her to Kondoa. We were sorry to hear it and could see that she definitely was not her happy smiling self.
Well, this continued on for about another week and everytime we saw her she was looking worse and clearly losing weight. Mama S stopped over in the morning and told me she and Baba S were heading out to take Baby S to a doctor. Curious where else they could take her, I asked if they were going to a hospital. She said no. With the language barrier that was all I understood. (If you can think of nothing else today, remember to be thankful you and your neighbors speak the same language!)

Her ear began to swell and deform while she developed some sort of skin condition in addition to declining health.

Later that evening Mama S brought Baby S in and showed me two short scrape marks on Baby's chest. All I caught was something about a doctor and a mango tree. Then it clicked! She took her to see a witch doctor! Reality check! This is not some crazy African story about ignorant national people in headdresses and loin cloths, this is my neighbor who loved her baby so much she was willing to do whatever it took to find the cause of her sickness.
Exhausted, they had done all they could do. We were growing concerned also. Ok, let's be real, we live in Africa— kids die here when they shouldn't. Seeing their situation I wondered what I would do, how I would feel; parents standing by helpless. They had done all they could and still were at a loss of how to help their fading baby girl. Just think, if it were you.
We talked to Peter to see if there is anything we could do. We were getting ready to take a week break in Arusha and were concerned with how fast she could decline in that time. With Peter's help, we came up with a plan to get them to a reputable hospital that Peter was pretty confident would be able to help —which just so happened to be a Christian Hospital.
So, the day we left for vacation, we gave money to Gideon, one of our teammates, to take them on the bus to Pahi. There they were able to be seen and treated. Baby S had some sort of bacterial infection causing skin problems as well as declining health. This required special medication that the other hospitals had overlooked.
On the right medication, Baby S recovered quickly and was almost completely back to her normal self by the time we returned. We were so thankful to have not just the opportunity, but the means also to help out our friends, showing them tangibly how much we care for them.
When we saw them upon our return, they expressed their thankfulness. We could see it in their eyes that they were starting to see the love we have for not just Baby S, but them also.

Baby S on the road to recovery!

I praise God for all that I have and all that I am able to give. I thank God for you all, for being an extension of Christ working through us, softening the hearts of His enemies.