Lisa Newland

OK... so I'm not a "farm girl." I didn't know how LOUD roosters can be!!! I had one a few feet from my head (just outside the hut) announcing the sun's arrival both mornings that I was out in the village.

During that first night, the "town crier" announced the death of a baby. (I didn't hear about it till the next day- too tired I guess.) The whole neighborhood didn't work that day in their fields (I assume out of respect for the family). Instead we had a "slow" morning; the men sat and talked while the women made chipatis (like tortillas) and washed dishes from the night before.

~~village kitchen equipped with fire and three large rocks to set pans on

~~and can you guess who's task it is to get the firewood for the cooking? The women do a LOT of work!!

~~Washing dishes with creek water, a bit of soap, and a bit of fishing net (dishcloth). Sand works well to scrub those extra tough spots.

Around 10:30am, Petro, the Brouwers, and I headed out to visit some church members.

We went to 4 or 5 homes, fellowshipped with believers, visited Rhoda (Pastor Joas's wife) with her new baby, Edina, (in the picture: Tammy, baby Edina, and Esther- Petro's daughter)

and gave out Romans booklets along the way.

Praise the Lord for the 2 men who received the Lord that weekend!! One man returned a tract to us the next morning. He thanked us for giving it to him and said he had accepted the Lord as His Savior. Here's a copy of his letter. He wrote in Swahili and English:

Naitwa Zacharia wa Kishili. Nina umri wa miaka 21. Leo tarehe 15/11/08 nimemmpokea na kumkubali Bwana kuwa Mwokozi wa maisha yangu. Jina la Bwana lihimidiwe na mbarikiwe.
(translated- My name is Zacharia of Kishili. I am 21 years old. Today, Nov 15, 2008, I have received and accepted the Lord to be the Savior of my life. The name of Jesus be exalted and praised.)

In God we trust.

Since then I've heard that he has been coming to church every Sunday and Wednesday and is already going soul winning with the church Wednesday afternoons. It is all a bit of a mystery to me. He clearly has had previous exposure to the gospel. How did he know the word justification? I'm going with the Brouwers back to Fumagira for church tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll get to meet Zacharia and ask him some questions. :-)

Posted by Lisa Newland at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Umm...so is it normal to have ducks and chickens running round the outdoor "living room" and under the "kitchen table"? Would it be offensive to shoo them away? Maybe I'll just ignore them...hey, that duck just grabbed food right out of my hand!

Such were my thoughts this weekend. Bill & Tammy Brouwer, their daughter Abby, and I spent the last 2 days with a family out in the village of Fumagira. And, oh, what an adventure!!

We arrived Friday afternoon around 4:30 in two cars (with 3 mattresses and a big jerry can of water, we couldn't all fit in one vehicle). Petro (assistant pastor at the church) and his wife have a passel of kids. Their daughter Esther, around 13 yrs old, got home from school shortly after we arrived, offered us a snack (ugali-thick porridge made from cassava, and dagaa-small fish), then put us to work. She showed us how to pound cassava pieces into flour and taught us the ditty that is often sung while pounding:
Twanga, twanga.
Tukitwanga ili mabosi.
Pound, pound. If we pound... I'm not sure of the meaning of the rest, but something to the extent of... it'll help the men (maybe pounding to make flour for food so that they'll grow strong or healthy?).

We also helped Esther and another girl get water from a little pond (for washing dishes.) My bucket was 3/4's full. I was surprised- it wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be. My back and neck did get tired though. We walked about a block, and passed lots of neighbors. We were definitely the entertainment of the village that evening.

Tammy had brought some picture books of animals all over the world. She sat and taught a bunch of neighbor children different English names for the animals. It was too cute to listen to them trying to pronounce "kangaroo" and "porcupine." She also taught them hopscotch and gave out little pieces of gum to the children wherever we went.

Dinner was served each evening about 9pm. It takes a long time to cook a big meal on an open fire, and Mama Esther (our hostess) had just returned from working all day in their field! It started to rain before dinner, so the men ate in the house and the ladies ate in the "kitchen"- mud hut with a fire in one corner and 3 big rocks to set pans over the flame. There's a small window near the fire and the door is always open, but still the smoke can get overwhelming. Mama Esther, Petro's wife, said it's especially bad during the rainy season when all the firewood gets wet. We ate rice and drank hot, sweet tea. The meals are served on a large community plate (or bowl) with no silverware. Several meals we did get plates and spoons though as honored guests. They pass around a pitcher of water and a bowl for washing hands before and after each meal. Later on Tammy noticed that Esther had fingernail polish on, but only on one hand. Esther explained that one hand couldn't have paint on it because it needed to stay clean for eating.

After dinner we joined the men in the house (mud and brick with metal roof and 4 rooms), we all stood and sang a few choruses, prayed, and then some went off to bed. Others of us stayed around talking another half hour or so. Petro asked me about farms in America, did everyone have one, what do they grow, do they use a hoe or have machines. He's had some education and knows a bit of English. He asked me what state I was from and about my family. What a great time to practice my Swahili!!

Both nights the Brouwers slept in their car on a mattress and I slept with Petro's kids. Esther-13, Mary-8, and little Emmanuel-5 loaned me their bed. The kids slept on their mattress on the floor and I put my mattress on their bed... and Petro helped me hang a mosquito net that I had brought. That night I learned that caffeine keeps me awake in any part of the world. It was a good time to pray and listen to the mosquito armies several inches from my head.

More to come...

Posted by Lisa Newland at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank you to every person in every church who put something in the love offering plate while I was on deputation. Thank you...you bought me a car!!

My new Rav 4!

Car shopping was not difficult. There's only one place in town that I'm aware of that has a car lot, and only one car (out of 10) that I was interested in. The difficulty came in trying to get the money from dollars to Tanzanian shillings and into the right hands. Took about a week, but relatively painless.

I was able to "get by" without a car for these first few months. I learned to ride the daladalas (public bus system) and rode with the Brouwers and Weeklys often. Now (once I'm comfortable with city driving that is) I"ll be able to be a little less dependent on my co-workers and maybe even be a blessing to them once in awhile. :-)

Also, when I'm able to do more ministry in the villages, the car will become invaluable!

Posted by Lisa Newland at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)