Recent family photos

Today Aidan and Elliott had their Christmas production at school. Aidan starred as “Tom” with his good friend Epiphany starring as his sister “Anna”. 

The boys’ school (HOPAC) places a huge emphasis on service and helping our community. Elliott chose to do trash pick up for part of his service this term. Our family hit the beach this past Tuesday and filled bags with old shoes, candy wrappers, beer bottles, and lots of other yucky stuff.

Thanksgiving turkey during neck removal – we were hard pressed to find a knife sharp enough to cut that thing off! Sometimes I miss NOT knowing where our meat comes from.

It was delicious!

Aidan enjoying his favorite Thanksgiving leftovers – pumpkin pie. (Made with love from a can of Libby’s from the U.S.A.)

Our great friends (and fill-in aunt and uncle) Rebecca and Nick got the boys kites. Here they are flying their kites.

Elliott’s class has been learning about the ocean this term. I went with them on a field trip to explore tide pools. 

Elliott found a starfish!

Enjoy the final 7-day countdown to Christmas! 

Peace and love 

Digging toward Thanksgiving

When will the digging end?

Last week was quite eventful here on New Bagamoyo Road: lots and lots of digging outside (Seriously? How many digs does it take to install a piping system? We counted and we think this is the 5^th time in 2.5 years!), some of our first power outages since our return, and a busy week in our household. 

We finished out the previous week with one of the most exciting days of the school year – International Day. It’s such a joyous and celebratory day. So many nations represented by the students that attend Haven of Peace Academy, each one taking their turn parading in the gymnasium to their country’s national anthem [I always get teary]. And so much delicious food from all over the world! 

Sadly, we learned this past Thursday morning that Jua, our German Shepherd puppy, died of rabies Wednesday night at the vet clinic. Obviously, it’s bad news to lose a pet – she was only with us for three weeks – but rabies adds a whole new dimension.

After getting the news from the vet, we planned to go straight to the (human) clinic after school that day, to get the vaccinations ourselves because all of us had contact with Jua when she was salivating incessantly. However, not more than an hour after receiving the call about Jua's death, Elliott’s teacher called to let us know he was having an asthma attack. And several hours after that, Aidan’s teacher called worried because he had a high fever and was in a lot of pain in his neck and back.

Needless to say, we were quite shaken and after getting both boys from school and getting Elliott’s breathing under control, we headed straight to the clinic to begin the 5-injection treatment. We learned that Aidan is actually the most fortunate of us all, because he had the 5-injection series when we first arrived in Dar in 2008, after an incident with a dog.

I’m not sure how many text messages I sent out that day, but there were many - to people near and far. Friends and family who called prayer chains, stopped meetings to pray, and sent love and support from down the street and from 10,000 miles away.

We’ve gotten 2 of the 5 injections out of the way. And both Aidan and Elliott are recovering well from their ailments. Thank you to all who prayed for us this week!

We finished off a challenging week with some fun. I had a very special breakfast Saturday morning with some wonderful friends and then spent the afternoon having fun with the boys and our good friend Rebecca, while Doug prepared his teaching for Sunday (that was fantastic, by the way).

The worship team praying before the serviceOur service on Sunday morning was great!

Our first Swahili teacher and great friend Omega (she is also Aidan and Elliott's Swahili teacher at school) Then we had a delicious tanzanian lunch (njegere na nazi, wali na masala, nyama, cabbage and chapatti) after church with our friend Omega and her family.

And then we headed off to some other friends' house for injection number two. Lisa jabbed us all and her thoughtful husband Jim gave us Hershey’s kisses from the USA since we took our shots bravely.

Our friend and trained nurse Lisa taking care of us

I feel tremendously thankful today: for our health, which we so often take for granted; for our wonderful family; for amazing friends that are truly a gift; for God always, always, always being faithful; for special food and for the fresh turkey (slaughtered Friday by our dear friends at the German boarding house) that is sitting in my freezer. 

Of Bean Cooling, Sun Rainbows, and Driveway Departures

Three noteworthy events; each documentable for very different reasons. Enjoy!

Bean Cooling

(click the picture to watch some tasty coffee beans being cooled after roasting)  

 

Sun Rainbow

(click the picture to watch a rare event that filled the sky over Dar es Salaam on Monday Nov. 15th)

  

Driveway Departure

This is what I see when I leave my driveway in the morning. As you can see, I often have time to put the car in park, take a swig on the morning coffee, and, of course, take pictures.

to the left

straight ahead

to the right

We made it back to Dar es Salaam! We arrived safely on October 2^nd and have been settling in after over four months in the States. Our time in Columbus was wonderful and rich in so many ways. And we are grateful to once again be in Tanzania.

SO much happens in four week’s time, but here are just a few interesting happenings over the recent days and weeks:  

We had a laughable (and not unordinary) welcome back to Tanzania, when our taxi broke down on the way home from the airport.

Our second day back we enjoyed a sweet welcome home dinner with some great friends.

Elliott learned how to ride his bicycle with no training wheels. Woohoo!

Aidan turned double digits and the celebration went on for days.

     

Aidan and Elliott finally resumed school after nearly five months of summer break only to be on a 1.5 week mid-term break, after just four days of school.

Plans and preparations are moving right along with VBI, Maji Salama and Wamama Kahawa.

 

We have had our toilet, car, shower, various plumbing, and a number of other things repaired since our return.

It has been fantastic reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

A few of these old friends love telling me (Lyndi) how fat I got while away, dramatically holding their arms out wide. One, in particular, said it over and over and couldn’t stop staring at me and cracking up. My sense of humor and security remains intact!

Doug has gotten back to his early morning running routine and saw a random naked man exercising vigorously on the beach last week.

We added a Jack Russell Terrier to our pack, his name is “Buddy”.

We added a German Shepherd to our pack, her name is “Jua” (‘sun’ in Kiswahili).

We are now starting doggie boarding… just kidding, but it sure feels like it sometimes!

Finally, the nation of Tanzania will hold elections this Sunday, October 31^st. Please pray for justice and peace to reign.

 The ‘concluding prayer of the church’ in the Divine Hours this morning perfectly articulates our prayer for Tanzania during these elections: 

“Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

It has been a long time since we have written here. So much has happened over the past several months that it has been easier not to write anything.

A blog entry is certainly not the appropriate context to communicate the details of what has made life challenging over the past seven months. But, as a family, we have come to the ultimate conclusion that God has called us to Tanzania. And He continues to make it clear that He has a plan for us to remain in Tanzania. God has opened many doors for us to continue to serve here in Dar es Salaam and we are genuinely excited for all that He has planned.

For our Columbus family, friends and supporters - we will be in Columbus this summer and have several gatherings planned where you can come and hear stories and see pictures from our experiences in Tanzania. We will help you understand what we have accomplished and experienced here, what God has taught us, and what our vision is for the future. Contact us for dates, times and locations. Thank you Erika Crawford and our AMAZING sending team for already having these plans in the works!

After this entry our blog will begin looking forward to what God has for our family as we serve and fellowship in our local church, Dar Vineyard, as we bring clean water to people who lack access to it, and as we create economic opportunities for women through coffee roasting.

We thank so many of you for walking this journey with us.

Mungu awabariki! (God bless you all!)