Color has Come!

I didn't remember to photograph the murals WITH kids working, because it's a bit of a three-ring-circus to have a dozen kids working with oil-based paints and turpentine. We are on our way!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

In two weeks I'll fly to Istanbul, then LA, then Portland, OR.
My mom and dad and brother Michael will meet me.
I'll have 2.5 weeks to enjoy visiting friends, family, churches, and the Pacific Northwest.
Here are some things I'm anticipating:

1. Cold: a change from Fahrenheit 80s to 40s. I'm excited to bundle up... a bit nervous too, to see how my body reacts.
2. Dark: a change from 12 to 9 hours of daylight.
3. Love: I'm so excited to hug and spend time-in-the-flesh with dear people. Already I feel loved by people wanting to plan time with me, and people purposing to preserve my health by keeping my plans sparse! (Thanks mom!)
4. Abundant Stores: I've heard shopping is a bit overwhelming when one goes back home... but I'm excited for the accessibility of unique tea and other special items.
5. Mountains: The ocean is glorious, but my eyes are used to seeing mountains, and haven't seen one since Kilimanjaro! Here I come Mt. Hood!
6. Rest: With report cards, Christmas musical, mural painting, and teaching, I've been busy... I'm looking forward to no work responsibilities and a bit of hibernation, bear style.
7. Celebration: I've been thinking of the marvel, that God, the creator of mountains and us, saw us in the cold and darkness of our sin and separation from him, and became a Man so that we can be with Him and have abundant life and eternal rest. I'm looking forward to celebrating at the churches I'll visit and with my family, including a mid-night mass at the Portland Grotto Christmas Eve.

MURALIFIC!!

Grade 2 Students finish drawing their design
for Grade 1 Mural, with help from a mom.

Plan for Grade 1 Mural

A few years ago, when I was in Bolivia, I was asked to paint Psalm 23 on the wall in the living area of Bolivian Youth Ministries. Since then, I've had the privilege to paint murals and facilitate kids painting murals in Sunnyside, WA. Now I have a group of students at HOPAC in Tanzania who have designed six murals, one for each primary classroom. We are at the stage where their designs are being drawn on the walls, with the stage they've all been waiting for coming soon... PAINT! It's exciting to see colors and ideas going up on the wall. I'm happy and intrigued to see that God has put all these murals in my path, and I wonder what may be in the future. And yes... each one does have a mermaid.

Papaya Knocking

Sometimes a basket of papayas, or a bag of tomatoes or peppers, just shows up at our door. Beka, the gardener who works for our landlord, enjoys using some of our yard for fruit cultivation. Sometimes he leaves us a gift, a very welcome and sweet surprise!

Nature Table

The nature table is a place to put intriguing items found in nature. There's no instructional intent, besides encouraging discussion about the wonders around us. I just put the table out for the first time this year... Giant seed pod, rock with hole, fish bones, sea sponge, black Hawaiian sand. These are all finds I've picked up in my wanderings, things that show God's work in the details.
I'm pleased because the kids have caught the idea and ran with it... They have added unique leaves, flowers, a bird nest... These two sweet girls put together a "mango smoothie" for me, out of a baobab seed pod, stick, and flowers. I love this class!

You Too Can Clash Like This!

I've wanted to mention clashing for a long time. It's been on my list of things to blog about all year. Originally the photo in my mind was of a beautiful Tanzanian woman garbed in a panoply of patterns and colors that flow behind her as she carries a basket of bananas down the dirt road. That photo has never been taken, however many opportunities I've seen. So, here am I, feeling liberated and joyful in the freedom of color and pattern that I have here in Tanzania.

Pretzels Around the World!

This is one of my favorite Saturday mornings ever. My mom, dad, brothers, two friends, and I spent two hours on Skype baking breakfast pretzels. What are breakfast pretzels? Imagine hot, soft pretzels, filled with apple bits and topped with cinnamon and sugar! My family was on our annual Fall beach trip, in a cabin we rent from friends. I was in my home in Tanzania. But, it felt like I was with them in the beach cabin  for the two hours, as we talked, synchronized recipes, and sculpted our pretzel art! God's blessing come in the most unique forms... spiral, infinity sign, smiley face, traditional, heart, and ring!

I'll Fly Away

We had a lovely first field trip this week. We went to the airport, thanks to the lovely Mission Aviation Fellowship pilots. They showed us around the terminal designated to small planes, including their office. Then the kids were full of excitement as we watched jets, planes, and helicopters land and take off. We paid special attention to the MAF plane in the sky, and when it landed got to tour it, each kid trying the controls. My favorite part was spending relaxed time with the kids on the bus (listening to them spontaneously break forth in song!) and outside at the airport.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

The question this week was, "What is the best design for a foil boat, that will hold the most weight?" It was really fun and relaxing to give the kids time to create their boats. Some went for looks, with boats sporting flowery sails. Others got ideas in books, adding toilet paper roll pontoons and Popsicle stick outriggers. Then, we got to test the boats. Excitement in the room was thick, with cheering, dancing, and really good observations about the features that actually did help boats float with weight. Bottom line: make the boat wide with high sides, or wrap six toilet paper rolls in foil.

Every Day Masai

One of the really cool things about Tanzania is the Masai. The Masai are a people group who have taken modernization in stride, moving with it but keeping their identity. It is very common to see Masai men walking around urban Dar es Salaam, speaking the Masai language on their cell phones and dressed in their traditional red and blue plaid or stripes. Most of the guards who work around my home are Masai; I love to see the group of 8 or so striding up the hill, colors flowing, braids and jewelry shining in the sun . Masai guards are popular, because they're known as a fierce people group.

Visualizing Grace

 I just finished transcribing notes I took in July, from a series of sermons on Grace. I am excited to review passages from Galatians and other books, and be reminded of how God supplies our salvation AND the ability to do works of love. I  feel that Jesus' words in John 15:3,4 apply to me right now: "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you." I feel like His Words of Grace have washed me this summer, because I see the fruits in the joy I feel with the kids and the grace I more readily extend to them via encouragement and patience.

Serious Business

What is the most popular type of transportation around HOPAC? Well, we still don't know... not at all due to a lack of effort. The kids went on their first "almost field trip" today; we went about five steps off campus. The objective was a merge of our Transportation topic with data handling for math. As shown in facial expressions, the kids were very diligent and excited about spotting cars, bajajis, buses, motorbikes, and more. The only thing was, we went out in two groups, with different findings. Consensus is that the first group saw the morning traffic jam, full of cars, and the second group saw the buses come out en force.

A Memorable Day

Yesterday Emily and I went grocery shopping, as usual. On the way home, traffic began to slow about two miles from our house. Soon we were at a standstill, surrounded by five lanes of traffic on a two lane road; drivers get very creative here.

During the next hour we moved about a hundred yards. The road became quite lively, with people vacating buses to walk home, and drivers leaving their vehicles to great friends. One man must have gone too far, because we heard him calling, "Bajaji yangu, uko wapi?" (My bajaji, where are you?) There seemed no hope of a clearing. Even motorcycles couldn't get through.

Emily and I saw that we were near our pastor's house. Somewhat desperate, we paid our driver, gathered our ten grocery bags, and left the gridlock. We were graciously received, with only moderate surprise. They kept our groceries and we made our way home on foot through all the sluggish vehicles, stopping on the way to visit with a friend stuck waiting in her van. Again, the atmosphere was quite festive, with more people than usual, the light of a full moon, and plenty of honking.

Our house mates were a bit surprised to see us back home with no groceries... except the chocolate bars of course. But no worries, we gathered the groceries after church today, came home through smooth flowing traffic, and restocked the mango basket.

Embarking on Our "Voyage of Discovery"

This is a quote from my principal's opening letter to parents this week. He wrote a unique sentence about each teacher. Mine says, "Grade 3 is still Miss Deal's class. She will be taking them on a really imaginative voyage of discovery through their curriculum this year." So off we go! 

The first three days were really fun; it's so nice to feel like I know what I'm doing. And, my new class is very sweet and exuberant. They cheered when we went to art, and when they got to take their first timed math tests. They shivered in anticipation as we began to investigate The Mystery of Christ. They listed all manner of transportation, from camels to golf carts, as we began our topic studies. Almost everyone turned in their first homework. One student came up and thanked me for our first math lesson. Another requested that the class pray aloud all together at the same time. And a student from last year brought me a gecko made out of a soda can. A good first week.

I pray Christ will love and build up these lovely children through me (in part!) this year.

Posted!

Here are some Kilimanjaro Photos! 

(Some photos are from before or after the hike, in Moshi or on the way with my parents.)

Tulipanda Kilimanjaro! (We climbed Kilimanjaro!)

5895 meters... 19,341 feet above sea level. My mom, dad, and I climbed Kilimanjaro last week with the help of our guide, Saumu, and multiple porters including Joseph and Daudi, pictured here. (We used Ahsante Tours, a great company.) The summit day began at midnight with a moonlit climb. The night was austere in beauty, from falling stars to gleaming snow. Each step required deep breathes due to decreasing oxygen. We reached the summit as the moon set and the sun rose, surrounded by 360 degrees resplendent with light, colors, and the textures of glaciers and wind-sculpted snow. Ascending and descending we enjoyed passing through five different vegetation zones. I think I'll add more photos later. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity of hiking and enjoying God's artistry for seven days. I was also very thankful for the opportunity to spend time with our guide and porters, Tanzanians who I learned from, laughed with, and got to practice speaking Swahili with each day.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Mom and Dad are here now! They are a couple of my favorite people. They are enjoying the sights of Dar for the first time... Sights like two goats in a box on the back of a bicycle. Bicycles also carry stacks of eggs, hundreds of bread loaves, cages of chickens, et cetra. Dad likes to see the geckos, birds, and cows grazing along the road. Mom likes the women with tubs of bananas on their heads wearing pretty kangas (sarongs).

One of my favorite sites ever was when I was sitting in traffic, where vendors walk up and down with their wares. I was impressed with the bananas and machetes (pangas), but what really gave me joy was the guy with an aquarium full of tropical fish on top of his head. It is hard to take photos in traffic, so I drew a picture from memory too:)

Eye Contact

Hello All. Since school's been out, I've been a bit relaxed in blogging. I am in Kenya at an SIL retreat right now. It's been refreshing on many grounds: a deeper realization of God's grace, social time with people in SIL that I can identify with, enjoyment of God's creation (including a a mermaid's enjoyment of playing in seaweed laden waves!), and luxuries like lots of vegetables cut up for me at the buffet every lunch and dinner!

Before I came here I stopped with friends in Mombasa at an orphanage for babies. I realized that I've never really held an infant for a long period of time, nor fed one. There were older babies, but I really liked the infants, because they seemed hungry for eye contact, along with the milk. Eye contact is something I can give, so I felt happy to do so:) I was hoping that the eye contact communicated to them a little of Jesus' love for them, even though they don't have a mother to love them.

The Baby Life Rescue center is an amazing place; Selpher and Peter, a Kenyan couple who met during their service with YWAM, take care of up to 10 babies at a time in their home. They have two ladies who come help with the feeding, hand washing, cleaning, holding, changing, etc. Their prayer and aim is to have the kids adopted. Some go into foster care. When I was there I got to go with them to pick up Night and Philemon from the child agency of the government. Night, 11 days old, and Philemon, 1 year, were orphaned days earlier when their mother died in prison. Selpher and Peter have very sweet countenances and humbly love the kids. They would like to move to a larger place, where the kids could have outdoor play areas and they could take in more babies in need.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy...

The fish aren't jumpin' necessarily, but there was a crab crawlin' in our campsite Tuesday night. Rose and I are the last two in the house. Emily and Ali flew home for the summer. So, Rose and I took two of our 6th grade friends for a camp out on Mbudya Island. It was lovely, playing in the warm waves and laying on the sand, gazing up at baobab branches. We roasted potatoes and smores in the fire, hiked across the island, and slept under the stars, enjoying God's beauty. The crab was a coconut crab, and he didn't just crawl into camp; this worker brought him over to entertain us. Big fellow.

I'm enjoying the freedom of an open schedule, and feel blessed by opportunities to visit with people, swim, take more time in the Word... and reply to emails! This week we'll head to Kenya for the SIL conference. It will be good to see people I've met on my travels to Mbeya and Musoma, and hear more about Bible translation.

Basi!

 "Basi" means done.

The year is done!

We finished with a Bible Celebration. See the beautiful banners that highlighted some of the clues to the Mystery of Christ.

Then we finished with food... The kids did cupcake art at our class party. This group of girls had an animal theme.

The teachers had gelatto at our favorite spot: Fairy Delights. It was actually Emily's and my 11 month anniversary of arriving in Tanzania (and almost Rose's too).

I think the year ended well, and I'm excited for the break and for next year. However, now my brain is a bit fuzzy and I feel like resting...

The Year Winds Down...

The year winds down... Here are my kids on International Day, at the beginning of the year. Two kids have gone and one has come since this photo was taken. They're still as colorful as ever, metaphorically speaking! I'm thankful for their unique personalities and their cohesive group zesty personality. It's made the year challenging AND amusing. Just today three girls explained that, when they got their uniforms mixed up during swimming class, they only had to smell them to figure out whose is whose. They said it like that is the most normal thing in the world. We also had a lovely discussion about Charlotte's Web out beneath the baobab tree and wrapped up our Bible studies by listening to and illustrating "Thief" by Third Day.

My thoughts are a bit disjointed, with all the busyness. This week in school I've written report cards, we're publishing a class newspaper... and in our house there's been lice, a friend visiting from Mbeya, and we're planning for a bonfire on Saturday. It's fun, and I'm glad for the rest and travels and my parents coming!

Bondwa Peak in Morogoro

This weekend Emily, Ali, and I went to Morogoro, 3 hours by bus, to hike Bondwa Peak, pictured here, with the peak part in clouds. We hiked with friends I'd met in Iringa at language school and friends of those friends. The route took us from town, through farming land built on the side of steep slopes (picture 2), up into a misty jungle forest (picture 3). The hike took about ten hours.

I was refreshed to be outside in God's creation, breathing in clean plant-scented air, listening to the sounds of animals and breezes. My legs and back are a bit sore, so I know the muscles are preparing for Mt. Kilimanjaro!

And now I have a different climb ahead: the last three weeks of school. There is learning to accomplish, reports to write, a Bible celebration and a class party to prepare for, and many fun school events like sports day and a whole school water fight. I also get to attend a Tanzanian wedding, dinner with our Greek friends, and have a second try at getting my dental filling replaced.

God Did.

Today we came to Bible lesson 37 of 40, exploring the mystery of Christ. At the beginning of the year I posed the question of who was responsible for Jesus' death. Today I posed it again and Anen raised his hand. "God was... because in Isaiah it says that 'it was the Lord's will to crush Him.'" (Isaiah 53:10). Then other students added that it was for our sins and possible because He is the Son of God, quoting other verses we've studied and memorized this year. The curriculum brought us through the Old Testament, from Genesis to Micah, looking at all the foreshadowing and prophesies, the "clues to the mystery of Christ." It was beautiful to hear that the kids have heard God's Word and that it has not returned void. They didn't even need today's lesson, because they already knew!

He's Pretty Cute Too

I met these two goats on the way to church this morning, along the side of a busy road. I stopped to buy some water at a duka (shop) after that. A fellow customer asked me where I was from, then how is America different from Tanzania. I told him it is cooler and there are less goats on the side of the road. I didn't think to mention that American goats aren't usually graced with quite as groovy hair styles as this particular goat.

Then I went to church. It was good to worship and see fellow members of the body. My favorite thought was from Ephesians 2:10, that we are created for specific good works. Here so many missionaries are doing so many good works, that I compare myself and feel like I should be doing more more more. It made me smile to think that maybe I'm here just to teach kids by day and listen to my Greek neighbor, sipping Greek coffee, occasionally by night.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 

for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand 

that we should walk in them. 

Geckos are Cute Too

Here's another cheery thought... Joah gathered gecko eggs from the playground weeks ago. We share a love of natural curiousities. He kept them in this cup on our window sill. The gecklets/gittens/guppies... what do you call a baby gecko?!!... subsequently hatched and graced our room with gecko joy.

Coming Glory

It's two months and a week until my parents come to visit! It's the same amount of time until my one year anniversary in Dar. As you can see here, they've been training for our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'm very excited to hug them and share Tanzania and our climb.
I'm a bit run down these days... I've been sick one way or another for two weeks. It makes it easier to be homesick and feel discouraged by my shortcomings teaching. (I'm TRYING to remember what grace is all about, but it's hard to do sometimes.) So, it's nice to look ahead to some rest, familiar faces, and immersion in God's restorative and soothing creation.

Robohut

I love Tanzanian fruits and vegetables and chili sauce... but I wouldn't say there is a Tanzanian dish that I'm enchanted with. However, here you see a photo of the night Emily and I went out with a family from school for Ethiopian food... which is DELICIOUS! We have a few Ethiopian restaurants in town, and I very much enjoy eating lentils, tomato salad, injeera (sourdough "tortillas"), and pumpkin wat... all with my FINGERS!

Sunrise on Easter

Easter morning I gathered with friends to watch God's glory in creation and contemplate His glory in the new covenant...

     "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-     not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them," says the Lord.     "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord; "I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hears; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.     No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying 'know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," says the Lord. "For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more."      

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Happy Green Grocer

I've been excited to tell about the Happy Green Grocer for some time now. It's such a happy place, full of mangoes and greens and butternut squash! It's nearby too, and the shop keepers are happy! Ali and I went one evening last month and I finally remembered to take a picture.

:)

Mbeya Trip

 Small aircraft!

I went with two friends to Mbeya, in the south of Tanzania, for Easter Break. We got to fly to Mbeya on a small aircraft!

Mbeya is peaceful and beautiful. We hiked up Loleza Peak, pictured here. It was so good to get out on a hike. There are sunflowers everywhere, grown for the oil.

Mbeya was cold, especially to my thin Dar blood!
We stayed with two SIL friends. I got to visit friends who I did SIL training with this summer. Pictured here is a couple who are beginning linguistic work on a new language in the Mbeya cluster project. I also visited families who have young kids, to discuss possiblities for teaching in the future (after I finish my 2 years in Dar). I'm not making any decisions now (even about whether I'll stay in Africa or not), but it's good to hear about possibilities. Please pray that God would guide the exploring and decision making.   


Loleza Peak



Linguists

















Easter Celebration

We just finished with our Easter Celebration here at HOPAC. The students rotated through seven stations,experiencing events in the last week of Jesus' life. I got to share seven times in a row about the last meal that Jesus "ferverently desired" to share with His disciples.

We talked about special meals we share with family and special things we give each other when we part. We connected this to what Jesus gave to remind us of Him: bread and wine. We talked about how He chose to break His body for us, the bread, and to shed His blood for us, the wine. I especially liked talking about "the blood of the new covenant," not like the old covenant that required animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins... but the new covenant where Jesus' blood forgives us once and for all and enables us to have His Spirit to change us.

I am deeply glad for that, because I can not change myself nor earn forgiveness, just as the Isrealites could not for all the hundreds of years of old testament history.

Happy Easter!

A New Thing

Well, it's an old thing... but new for me in Tanzania; I've started to create art a bit. I find that some things, like art and smoothie-making and hiking, take extra effort here in TZ. So, since all the adjustment have taken extra energy, those things have been on a back burner in my life. I sort of rediscovered my enjoyment of art. I also realized or remembered that the process of creation helps me reflect on who God is and what He does in me... because much of my subject matter is spiritual. Also, my pictures are a way of praying back to God what He speaks to me, and sharing it with others.

Under Wing is the piece on the left. It echos a verse in Psalm 17: "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings." I've been very much aware of my weaknesses as I am in a new place and a new job. So, Christ's grace and HIS righteousness (not mine) are becoming more real to me. Sometimes the best thing I can do is rest, knowing He is real and with me.

Cocoon has similar inspirations... but I first thought of it when my friend and housemate, Emily, read me her poem, Butterflies, when I was in a "dark night of the soul."

Butterflies

by Emily Henry

Cocoons-odd shapes and

off colour, hang delicately

from above.

Inside there is a struggle,

a fight, to be free of

this case that seems

to limit it.

Despite being unaware of

what awaits it outside,

it continues to move

back and forth,

pushing and fighting

in its hide

away place that cannot

deliver it.

Movement-of a different

kind-

An opening to let light

and freedom in

and something different

out.

Something new and

beautiful.

Beautiful, not only for colours

clean and bright but the

dark struggles of doubt overruled.

Used by authorization of Emily Henry.

Backyard Som Tam

Here you see our papaya tree is growing up! The fruits are not yet ripe, but green papaya is the main ingredient in Som Tam, a delicious Thai recipe. I harvested a papaya from the courtyard outside my room, grated it all up, then added other vegetables, peanuts, and a sauce. For the sauce I used basil and red peppers, from outside our front door! I also used limes that a student gave me from her family's tree. I enjoyed gathering and using so many ingredients by stepping outside. Backyard Som Tam



POTS!

The field trip we took last week was designed for me. Pottery is not a big thing in Tanzania, but it just so happens that 3rd grade at HOPAC go to a mineral supply company to learn about making pottery.

It links perfectly with Ancient Greek history, which we will study next term, and States of Matter, which we are studying now. I had lots of fun telling the kids about my parents' pottery business and showing their OPB Art Beat footage. We talked about how Ancient Greek history is preserved in part through the vessels found in archeological digs, including the drawings of daily life the Greeks painted on their pottery. We talked about the solids, liquids, and temperatures involved in ceramics.

 

 On the field trip kids got to hand build and experience throwing their own pottery. I felt at home, a little home-sick, surrounded by all the smells and sights of a workshop.