It might not
FEEL like Fall here yet (96F yesterday) but we see signs that we are moving
into our “Fall”…. Rainy season. We have
the field in front of our house completely plowed now and it will be planted
with maize in the coming weeks. We have one tractor here (John Deer) and hired
another to get the job done. We are planting alfalfa and beans at the front of our
compound to use all the cultivatable land on our 50 acre Village. Pray with us
that our crops might give a good yield to feed our children. The weather is quite hot but the breezes of
the afternoon and evening, cool the air and also stir up the dirt. We are
looking forward to good rains to settle the dust and water our crops.
Recently we
were invited to bring our “watoto wadogo”… small children… to a farm that
supplies our Village with milk and eggs. We took 16 of our children aged 3 to
6. What fun we had. Many of the littlest ones were afraid of the cows so we
held them so they could look. Even they liked the calves. We then visited the
chickens and they were able to “pick” eggs from the hen nests. Most of them got
into this despite the noise of the chickens. Not a single egg was broken… but I
do have to comment that the eggs here have a pretty tough shell. I must say that I think the most fun of the
entire trip was “washing off their shoes” by stepping in a small cement
depression filled with water! We were then treated with a “snack” of omelet,
popcorn, cookies, and boxes of juice!! We were pleased at how even the smallest
ones said thank you to the people who served us. It is an effort to pile 16
children into two vehicles and haul them on a terrible road up the mountain
with sketchy directions (go past 
Life is
quite busy as we continue our work here at Rafiki Village Tanzania. We have
taken in two new boys (who would love to have some sponsors) and they are
adjusting well to life and school here. The smallest boy; I never saw him smile
before he came to Rafiki, and even when he had been here a week or two, but this past week
he is playing and smiling and running with his brother and his new “brothers”
in his cottage. They both love school and are very attentive. I am even beginning
to hear them greet me in English. I got a big hug from the smaller one last
week which was such a joy.
Kent is
finally able to teach a Bible Study at the local medical school. He is teaching
every Monday night on the book of Habakkuk. We are praying that the medical
students will see how to live out their faith as bondservants of Christ as they
go about all of Africa as trained physicians. During the day he teaches in a
training program for teachers run at our Rafiki village which includes daily
Bible lessons. This week, one of our local pastors concerned about the
spiritual training of district medical officers, opened a door to start another
study in the evenings for this group which should be very productive.
Day to day
life here is never boring or dull. We try to get into town at least once a week
for supplies and food and to the outdoor market in Kwasadala at least once a
week for fruits and vegetables. Shopping is tiring and dirty but some of the
joy of living here. We enjoy the people we meet each week and as they get to
know us …. Even with little language communication.. we make friends. We are
now feeling quite a home in Tanzania.
