“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift (1 Cor 9:15)!” 

We are not quite finishing our first day outside Moshi, Tanzania and have got a lot done. Our arrival was uneventful and the village director with his wife were faithfully waiting for us outside the customs area. A lone custom's officer was presiding and asked why we had so many suit cases (seven each loaded carefully and weighed multiple times) to which we replied that we were moving to Tanzania; he sighed cheerfully and waved us through. Our home had been carefully prepared for us and became a big mess as our suit cases were unloaded today in the living area. All day a cool breeze blew in through the open windows presided over by the grandeur of Kilimanjaro peeking out from the short rain cloud banks. It felt really good to be at the end of a complicated chain of living arrangements since the sale of our house in Bismarck. The work on our house in Florida had just been completed the day before we left.

With our arrival here we thought about all who have gone before us investing their lives for the kingdom of God starting with David Livingston. For anyone interested we would recommend two books which are probably out of print but can be procured through second hand sources: one is the chronicles of his startling exploratory expeditions much of which involved Tanzania (then Tanganyika) and the other is Paul White’s famous series based on Jungle Doctor. The latter starts a classic series based on his experiences in a small village south of here named Mvumi near the current official capital, Dodoma. We feel so privileged to be joining the ranks of probably thousands of missionaries who have labored in various types of work in this country of 48 million people (with a current orphan rate of about 6.25% or around 3 million). After we did the main sorting today Peggy went into to town with three other ladies from the Rafiki village to buy groceries and I stayed behind to get the house in better order-I already miss my tools but will have to build up a small collection here. Our mosquito net for the bed is adequate but we need a bigger one so that it is easier to get in and out of bed without mosquitoes getting in. Thankfully the risk of getting malaria here is low but very real, none of our resident children so far have gotten malaria even though we discover holes in their netting form time to time.

Thankfully we arrived late on a Friday evening so we have the weekend to prepare for starting on Monday. Peggy will be starting immediately as child care director and I already have week day Bible study teaching assignments made plus overseeing the progress of our selection of local teachers who are taking ten week courses on how to teach the classical Christian curriculum. Sometime late this week I will go into town to the KCMC medical school and hospital to see what the administration has in mind with the medical students.

The second night has now passed and we are starting to get settled in with the usual surprises-baby frogs coming up through the toilet for instance. Outside roses are blooming with many flowers. It is dryer outside so we have to use a garden hose to keep the flowers looking good. This morning we went over to the dining hall to greet all our resident children which is what we call them here. Tomorrow I must get busy learning the names of all the sixty odd children which are part of the Rafiki village. Peggy still remembers some from our trip in February. This morning in going through Psalm 112 (quoted in 2 Cor 9:9) I noted that the blessing pronounced on the man who fears the Lord and greatly delights in His commandments is also linked with freely giving to the poor. This is part of practical righteousness. What an opportunity we have here to do just that.