Lisa Newland

I've been going through a Bible study on the attributes of God and thought I'd share a few verses that have meant a lot to me recently. (more to remind myself I think)

C.H. Spurgeon: "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity."

Psa 104:1 "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty." It's hard to stay too long in the self-pity pit when we think about His greatness!

Deut 7:21 "Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible." Right when I was starting to get overwhelmed with all the witchcraft and presence of the enemy here, God spoke to my heart through this verse. No reason to fear the enemy! Greater is He that is in me!!

Psa 33:11 "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations." There is love behind the sovereignty of God, not just cold authority. His counsel stands forever but it comes from His heart. Because my God is good, I can rest and delight in His sovereignty.

Psa 145:17 "The Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works." All God's ways are just and without guilt. He is God! He defines what is good and evil. He is just to punish evil, He is just to extend mercy. Who am I to think I have to understand?

Posted by Lisa Newland at 5:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

5am get up
5:45 pick up Erin, drop off pots of beans and rice for Erin's mom to cook
6 show up at salon (to get the braids finished before Easter service), sit for an hour waiting for someone to come open the salon. They said they would come at 6am... I haven't been here in Africa long enough not to take such promises literally I guess.
7:30 everyone works to finish Erin's hair
8:45 pick up Erin's mom and beans and rice, head out to village
10 arrive, chat, arrange children's church benches and write memory verse on the chalkboard
10:45 combined service starts- Igekamaja and Fumagira. Ended up with around 350 people. Lots of singing, 3 choirs, Tammy/Mariamu/and I sing a special (Low in the Grave He Lay in Swahili). Rains pretty hard, couldn't hear one of the choirs and most of our song. :-)

11:30 children dismissed. I take the older, Mariamu takes the younger. About 60 children in each group. I taught on the crucifixion and resurrection in two sections. After finishing half I sent the visuals over for Mariamu to use. Played a new game with our memory verse. Kids loved it!
1pm baptisms, 56 people including one missionary kid- Daniel Weekly! :-) Water is rare, and it takes awhile to fill up the baptismal pool, so usually the villages churches only do baptisms twice a year- Christmas and Easter.

2pm more choir singing while the meat finishes cooking. A cow was butchered for the event. (about $130 American dollars to purchase a cow and the whole thing was eaten that day)

3:30 the Fumagira choir members serve massive plates of rice and beans and beef to everyone in the church

4:30 head home
5:30 shower and relax, home-sweet-home! :-)

Posted by Lisa Newland at 4:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Erin and I had one last "hooplah" together before she returned to Canada... braids!! 2 days at a salon for a total of 11 hours. 1-4 people were working on each head. :-) No it was not exactly comfortable. They wrapped long strands of fake hair around a small pinch of real hair, right at the scalp, and then braided it all together. Abasi, Hussein, Monica, and a few others...their patience amazed me!

Posted by Lisa Newland at 4:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mariamu and I went to a new church this week in the village of Igekamaja. The church was planted by our Fumagira church a few years ago, so it's only new to us because we haven't taught children there before. New for them too, because no has taught their children before! We pulled out some "pews" under a tree and had a great time!! I taught the story of Adam and Eve, how sin came into the world, and Mariamu led the songs, review game and memory verse- Gen 1:1.

The kids were very responsive! We started memorizing some of their names and drawing them out with questions. It is such a blessing to have a Tanzanian co-teacher! Mariamu is excellent with the kids and once in awhile she'll talk a-mile-a-minute in Kisukuma (their first language) to get their attention or to clarify a point.

There's nuances of another culture and language that a foreigner will probably never figure out! ...which solidifies my goal of teaching the nationals to teach. If I can equip children's workers with methods, and the Lord will burden them with a passion for training the next generation... OH what great things the Lord will do!

Posted by Lisa Newland at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)