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.