We got to the seminary and this was a day of catch up for us. We unpacked had lunch and then rested. Grant then took us to the orphanage. We walked there (about a 30 minute walk at most) and then we played with the kids for over an hour. The kids were really receptive and most of them came to us right away. We had pork pockets for supper. They are kinda like a hot pocket with pork in them. They were good. We also had pineapple which is always real good here. After supper Shadreck found us and told us the "mall" was open, Brett and I decided that shopping may be the hardest part of the trip—it is for me anyway. We are just catching up. Both of us are tired. I am trying to delay going to bed too early so perhaps I'll sleep later.
SUNDAY NIGHT
The email was set up in another language so I’m typing in Word, hoping that I can send you something.
We went to Maseyu today. Leonard is the pastor there. He was ordained last January, and I had previously met him at Gezaulole. We met his wife and three kids over tea. The tea was served with chipati and corn on the cob. This was between nine and ten in the morning. There youngest child is Rebecca and they let us hold her all during the church service. Then they held an auction after the service which included a live pig, ram and some produce—oranges—and fabric. It was again quite an interesting experience, If someone was bidding they would come over and fan them—helping them to get air so they could continue to bid. We came back to the seminary mid afternoon and went to tea here.
We took a walk around the seminary to Grant’s place, I was a little confused getting there but made it eventually. We are both doing well. Brett has good service on his phone and has received text messages from home.
MONDAY NIGHT
We went to a village to paint today. It is where the Kids' Camp will be. I never can remember the name of the village but Leonard used to serve there and now his older brother is the evangelist there. We had a good team of painters: Brett, myself, Grant, Leonard and Luka. It went well. (We even think that some of the paint got on the walls.) They have two colors on the walls.The top (this time) will be white and the bottom blue. The bottom is a glossy paint to help with little hand prints etc. We only painted white, The home was in need of paint due to major repairs that had been done recently. Luka had repaired some walls that were in danger of falling, therefore portions of the walls had no previous paint. It was a good glimpse into the village as well and the ride there convinced me that Jeff did not need to make the trip as this was a "good" road and some of the bumps would still rattle you.
When we arrived at the village we watched the kids in the kindergarten take some lessons. They were learning their numbers. It appears that we will have a good number of kids for Kids Camp.
We will work back at Maseyu Tuesday repairing a floor in the front room and the porch.
Tell Mark Dalton the internet has been great this time around. You never know!!!!!!
Hope everyone's holiday was great!
TUESDAY NIGHT:
Maseyu was our place of adventure for the day. We started the day in the typical way with breakfast and a relaxing tea—although Mike continues with the coffee.
Luka joined us for the work detail and actually led us during the day. Grant had classes to teach at the seminary during the day but was able to stay long enough to connect us with the children.
The kindergarten class is a group of about 22 kids. They sang for us and read words from the board. Their songs are about learning being good and those that don't know how to read have to walk all through the village to find someone to read a letter for them.
Pastor Leonard told the kids the story of the woman who made the pew babies (see story below) and how they were blessed by her pastor and prayed over by children in her church. The kids understood and sang a song for their new Grandma Anna! Mike allowed me to pass out the dolls as each girl came forward and said thank you. Then Mike passed out balls to the boys. They all seemed to like their gifts and sang a final song for us.
Pastor Leonard's family then prepared us tea and sweat bread which Grant, Luka, Mike and I enjoyed.
The rest of the day was spent mixing concrete, repairing the floor in the front room and front porch, making a small step across a ditch at the front of the house, and using the old concrete to make gravel for containing the erosion in the ditch. While it may seem like a lot of work in the 95 degree day, it really wasn't. Luka, Leonard, and another man - Fabian - did the heavy lifting.
As is typical here, they provided lunch of rice, beans, sauce, oranges, and bananas - truly extravagant giving. This quickly became an even more memorable time as Mike, Luka and I told stories and laughed a lot. Pastor Leonard joined us later which only made things better.
The work was completed around five thirty - just in time to get back for dinner. No wonder we all come home a bit heavier than we left!
Thought for the day: the kindergarten kids may live up to an hour away and walk to school each day. Many of these young kids do so alone. But what a great thing the pastor(s) do here in not only spreading the Word of God, but also in spreading education and other gifts.
Blessings to all and thank you for supporting this ministry.
*THE STORY OF THE PEW DOLLS... There is an elderly widow named Anne (her husband was a pastor) living in South Carolina who has a big heart for missions and a desire to use her time and her gifts for children in other lands. She was given information about Grant's work in Tanzania by the Mission Society and set out to make several "pew dolls" for the children in the mission district there. Anne makes these small cloth dolls using scraps of fabric - some donated to her by friends in her church. When the dolls are ready and she has identified a missionary to distribute them, she takes them to her small Methodist church for a consecration service. The pastor blesses the dolls during the worship service. She also takes them to one of the children's classes at her church and lets the children hold them and pray for them, as well as pray for the child who will receive the doll. She tells the children a bit about where the dolls are going. In this case, she had a video of one of Asbury's Kids Camps in Tanzania to show to the South Carolina Sunday School class so that they could learn more about mission work in East Africa. She wrote, "I pray that the little girls who get them will like them too. Since I don't make them look like the children I'm sending them to, you can tell Grant to tell the little girls that the dolls are the USA girls coming to see them with love. You see our Sunday School children have a part in sending them." It is a win-win situation where Miss Anne uses these pew babies to teach the children (and adults) in her church about mission work going on halfway around the world and then blesses children in other lands with a small token of love from the USA. Her latest project is making pew dolls for Tajikistan and sending them with an Atlanta Church VIM team going there in June. Miss Anne says "They ask for our prayers. As you see, no one person gets God's work done - it takes us all working together." Please say a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing for Miss Anne in South Carolina, and for her ministry of pew dolls!
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