A change of seasons in Tanzania

Denis got bit on the neck by a scorption (ok just painful)

Another "change of season" is upon us here in Tanzania. One of the things I really enjoyed about living in North Dakota was the vivid change from season to season. Here, the changes are a bit more subtle but never the less real! We are quickly heading into the rainy season. There are so many things to enjoy about this season. There are new birds everywhere... they come to eat the new BUGS!
The children here love the changes too. We have had 2 soccer matches with neighboring schools and this has invigorated the children in their love of the game. We have won both matches which also is fun for the children. We have quite the cheering section from our children who are too young to play and the mothers. Even a quick rain shower doesn't put much of a damper on the game.

At Mama Susan's Engagement

We also seem to have a season of new mothers. We have 4 of the cottages with new mothers. Some are experienced as substitutes in the past and some brand new. The children are very adaptable and quickly embrace the new mothers. Pray with us that these will be in place for a long time as this is what is good for the children and for the Village. One of our mothers is getting married soon and we are all very happy for her even though we will miss her greatly.


 All is becoming green and the gardens are flourishing. The air has a cool edge in the morning hours and when the mountain appears, there is a coat of new snow shining from the peaks. Before too long we will have our "winter" which is my very favorite season wherever I live! The days will be cool and the nights COLD for us... in the low 60s and even 50s. Last "winter" one night we were at 52!! Doesn't sound bad now :). Also not bad compared to ND but remember we have no heaters here.

 Yesterday we had an unusual experience. Some weeks ago we unexpectedly made contact with a Tanzanian couple who were a great help to us when we were here with Bible Study Fellowship more than twenty years ago. We had lost contact with them after they moved to Dar es Salam. They both are very serious Christians and are retires now in a nearby town. During the intervening time the husband came down with a serious illness which resulted in tremendous weight loss. To this day he hasn’t gained back all the weight he lost. He is several years younger than I am and is nearly disabled. The wife one day was going by and decided to come to the gate for a tour because she had heard that we care for orphans. Our village director took her to Peggy for part of the tour and they both had a strange feeling that they had met before. Suddenly the visitor recognized Peggy. Anyway we had them for lunch yesterday and then took them back to their home where they have no running water at the moment. I mention this because we were reminded of the great privilege and mercy that God has given us to be able to serve here in our later years. There were so many things that happened during the interim which would have made it almost impossible to return to Africa at our age. Both of us can still put in a good day’s work and have fairly good health and our thoughts often return to one important word-gratitude! God has been so merciful to us to hear and understand the Gospel and then open the door for us to serve here. We know that any day this could suddenly change, being reminded in correspondence and news about our friends and relatives who are dealing with illness and trials in their later years. Both of us realize that there is nothing which prevents us from being in similar situations. Every day for us is a gift and someone has observed, “that is why we call it the present”.  We finished the Gospel of John Bible study with our resident children (the orphans) this morning and noted that the Lord told Peter in being concerned about what would happen to John in the future, “You follow Me”(Jn 21:22). Gratitude becomes more and more the motive for what we are doing. When I was still in practice I used to give lectures to physicians about happiness and they were built around three important factors which researchers have shown important for true happiness. Believe it or not if we subtract out the 50% which is genetically programed with the additional 10% determined by circumstances, the remaining 40% is linked to gratitude, being engaged in deeds of kindness and having a positive attitude. It is not hard to have a positive attitude when we think of what Christ has done for us and the resource He presently is for us as our Great High Priest. Then we have the promise that God makes everything work out for good to those who love God and have been called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). On top of this we have the daily reminder of the gratitude which we should show when we consider what we see around us every day. The Lord additionally assures us that the practice of our faith is pure and undefiled when we “visit orphans and widows in their distress” (Jn 1:27). So we thank all of you who make it possible to serve in this place and pray that you too in your own service may find that joy which our Lord promises to those who love and serve Him.

Our team minus Pat

Lilac Breasted Roller

Superb Starling

Passion Fruit on the vine