Simbiti Makes Her Smile

Here's a lady from the Simbiti tribe, one of the languages the office is translating the Bible into here in Musoma. She's reading a booklet that teaches people how to read in their mother tongue. (Many people can read and speak Swahili, but only speak their mother tongue.) These booklets prepare people to read scripture in their mother tongues.

I love the smile. I also love that I got this photo from a post by one of our Tanzanian translators. Both the smile and the post show me that the translation work brings joy. That encourages me, as I support the work by teaching a group of kids!

May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace
in believing
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Seven Happy Birthday Blessings

1. Monday: Surprise birthday party at an LVLC family's home. I know it LOOKS like Christmas, but that's just because the kids enjoyed piling stuffed animals on my lap and gracing my head with a Santa hat. 
2. Breakfast: hot coffee and homemade carrot cake... fresh coconut, pineapple, dates, and all!!
3. Classroom: Sneakily decorated by a mom the night before... during a rain storm.
4. Phone calls: Mom took the morning shift and Dad the evening.
5. Presents: Jokes, a hand-drawn kangaroo rat, tea, fruit leather, and more!
6. Verse: "The old is gon, the noo has com." I think it's still phonetically OK, so I don't feel bad about my teaching. And I appreciate the reminder of spiritual rebirth from this 1st grader.
7. Dinner: A tasty, saucy pork dish at a nearby roadside cafe... maybe Ronit and I will become regulars and it will be like Cheers, where everyone knows our names.

Makuburini

Makuburi means grave in Swahili. My friend Pascaria invited me to come celebrate the making of her brother's grave. (He died in 1998, but the family was just last week able to make the sculpted cement grave cover.) I was at work during the making of the grave, but came afterward for the food part. Pascaria asked me to take photos of all the family cooking and eating. It was fun to have a job!

After a big meal of duck, rice, and soda we walked 15 minutes to the grave site for more photos. I'm pictured here with one of Pascaria's sisters and her niece, the daughter of the deceased. Thankfully, I remembered not to smile, my normal reaction to a camera, since these were somber pictures.

I appreciated being included and the opportunity to spend time with Pascaria's family.

Still Flapp'n

I was happy this week when my friend from Dar sent me this picture of the wings I painted on her wall last November. It's fun to know that they're still in use.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
2 CORINTHIANS 3:17

Helium Balloons of the Spirit

As in the last term, we start each day with  a devotional from Jesus Calling,  by Sarah Young. One morning this week we read this one, "Live in My light." (Yes, I know it's not the month of May.)

The kids heard the metaphor of shame, guilt, self-pity, etc... being rocks in a backpack weighing us down, then they immediately made a new metaphor: love, mercy, forgiveness, etc... must be helium balloons that lift us up when we trust in Christ's death for our forgiveness.

So I think we have a new modern-day parable. I'm sure Jesus would have spoken about helium balloons when he taught about freedom from sin, only in His time period no one would have understood!

House Tour

Welcome to my home. My housemate, Ronit, put this little video together. You'll even get to see me and our guard dogs, Zevi and Chui... though they aren't looking very ferocious. (The vehicle isn't ours; we were just borrowing it for a night.)

We're really thankful for our lovely home. It's cheerful and manageable to care for, a good price and convenient location. I'm really thankful for Ronit too, because sharing the house with her is a big part of it feeling like a home. God blesses abundantly.

Cat's Cradle and a Cat

I'm teaching a mini history unit on first peoples of North America and Australia (the two countries currently represented at LVLC). This week we learned about the Plains and Southwest Native Americans.

We learned about buffalo hunts and pueblos. The kids got to try shooting a bow and arrow, basket weaving, and playing Cat's Cradle, which Plains children played.

In art we focused on compositions that emphasize an important detail. This is sort of the LVLC mascot, Orio the Cat.