God's Provision

so the first week in mkata we helped to finish the school and the landscape around the school for the grand opening which was held one week after our arrival. the latrine had been dug, and all the dirt had been piled around the building. our responsibility was to move the pile and make it flat. our tools consisted of small shovels and many jembe (which is a hoe type of tool). together we 23 people moved this mountain of dirt. it was quite a feat. i still have some blisters on my hands to proved that i did some work. working in my green office in america doesn't offer much training for moving dirt in an african village, but i learned and participated. in america we would've rented a small bobcat and had the pile moved in one day. here it took all week. we all worked together and accomplished the task. and at the end of our days, sleeping on the concrete floor wasn't quite as difficult due to our tiredness. yet the drums and the islamic chants still proved more of a challenge for me.

the day before our celebration of the grand opening a group of we students were told to go to the anglican church to get some tables. we were told which road to take, about how far to walk and the church should be on our left. african directions are so confusing for me. so we started walking and found the church and the tables. they are the same types of tables we use as desks at the base in boma. they are about 2.5' x 5' x 3' and weigh about 40 pounds. guess how we carried them? you guessed it - on our heads. we simply slung the tables above our heads and started walking back to the base. it wasn't too far, maybe 3/4 mile. those are the times when i need the camera and didn't have it. but just imagine me walking three quarter mile with a table balancing on my head. my discoveries that day: my head is not flat, nor is it very useful for carrying heavy tables.

finally the day of celebration arrived. early in the morning people were awake preparing food and decorating for the festivities. a group from korea who had helped financially support the building of the school had arrived and were helping with the preparations. members from different churches were arriving with their 'pews' for seating. then about 10 am some of the surrounding church began to arrive. they all came singing and dancing to the event - in step and in tune. again, i don't have photos of this, but the way they arrived was so incredibly joyful. their songs were sung with a lightness, and a gratefulness for building the school and for bringing hope to this little african town. the air was filled with expectation and anticipation. about 11, the service began which i have some photos. about 12.30 it was time for food. feeding 200 plus people takes some time and a huge amount of food. it's still amazing to me the amount of work africans have to accomplish in order to create a meal. cooking meat and rice over an open fire is time comsuming. we all ate and were satisfied. the celebration went on all day. different services were provided, including medicines being given out to those in need, eyeglasses for those having eye troubles, and the kids were entertained with different activities. one of the korea guys, hung, gave a cool demonstration of karate. then many of the little kids came and circled around me. when i say 'many', i mean about 60 kids. since i can't speak to them in swahili, i had one of the other students tell the kids to imitate what i did. so we stood on one foot, raised our hands to the air, acted like airplanes, spun in circles, balanced on one foot while our hands in front of us, different positions like that. this lasted about 20 minutes. then i told them my name and they told me their names also. (i don't remember one of their names, but they all remember my name - i learned this the following day when i was walking in the market and some of the kids said, 'tanya, shikamoo.' ['shikamoo' is the greetings people say to someone older than them.] the reality that i was walking thru an african village and hearing my name was so strange, yet amazingly reassuring, and each time i heard my name being called by a little kid - i couldn't help but smile. they remembered my name throughout my entire stay in mkata also. i don't think i had one trip to the market without my name being called out by some little kid desiring for me to recognize him.) as i sit here on this bed, my eyes are filling with tears for those little kids who made my day special by simply saying my name. these kids are living in such povery and oppression, yet they make me smile - that'll preach!

the second week was pretty hard for me but God had a special friend come into my life to make the way a bit easier. a young lady from sweden was visiting with firimina and her family. karin speaks english and was staying alone at the guest house for several days. i was asked if i could stay with her so that she wouldn't be alone. (i would've been a fool to say 'no' since she had a fan and a bed, instead of the wet tent with a thin foam pad!) but apart from those benefits, her company really made my week. she is working with some pentecostal churches in tanzania to connect sports and ministries. she's training coaches and older students to use soccer as a form of drawing others to church. it's a wonderful concept and her bubbly personality is being used in magnificent ways. we shared some really great conversation during our 3 nights together. we stayed in an african guest house, which translates to a terrible, single bed motel, like the 'el rancho' motel in sioux falls, sd. but for a buck eighty-five for a night, what do you expect? that buck eighty-five covered the cost for both karin and me. so it was about 92.5 cents a night. pretty sweet deal for a fan and a bed with great company!

one of our projects for the second week was to help put a roof on a small church in the middle of a corn field which located about 4 miles from our base. mostly that consisted of the guys pounding nails thru small tree trunks used as the tressing. plastic bags sewn together were used as the roofing material. pastor mapunga and his wife, yunis, made a tremendous impact on my life. they were serving in a church in Dar Es Salaam when they both felt like they were being called to mkata to open a new church. that's courage, bravery and humility all mixed together. pastor has a heart to know people and to see them come to know Jesus. and Yunis's heart is so gentle, yet she possesses one of the strongest faiths which i've ever seen. she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and travels to dar es salaam ever other week for injections. they don't have a cell phone, live in a 2 room house with a tin roof, don't have a post office box or address, and are people of purpose. they are trusting God to give them members for their little church and healing for the wife's cancer. and i believe they will see the effects of these two prayer requests.

Yunis took me in and from the moment she met me, she tried to get me to speak swahili and express myself. she was patient with me when i stumbled thru my broken swahili, and she continued to speak slowly so i could attempt to understand her questions. she's the first person i've found so far who tried to speak slowly so i could understand. one can recognize that she's an amazing person by one look into her eyes; she just has a way about her that radiates light and kindness. i had opportunities to spend quite a bit of time with this couple the second and third weeks in mkata, and i've come to love them thru that time. yet i may never contact them again, since they have not means of being contacted, except personal visits.

i know you want to see pictures, but i didn't take many pictures due to the rains, but i promise after i write about some more stories, i will post the pictures of our adventures in mkata.