Schultz Family in Tanzania

More often than not we are reminded that we truly live in a whole other world here in Africa. This week I was given many of those reminders.
A man in our church is 28 years old. He is planning to get married soon. He asked me to visit his wife to be and talk with her. I agreed. In the course of conversation I discovered that she is a Christian, she comes from the same area the husband to be comes from and her parents have readily agreed to the marriage. He needs to pay her parents 2 more cows in addition to the amount he has already paid to fulfill the dowry amount. I also discovered that she just turned 16 in December. Apparently, this is not uncommon.

On the same theme, there is another man named Moses in our church. I married him and his wife 1½ years ago. Apparently, he had circumvented the normal procedures for getting married and did not fully pay the bride price. He told me that he did. The father of the bride even gave written permission for them to be officially married. But in the past few months the father who has many cows and therefore very rich has run into some huge problems. His cows wandered into someone’s field and destroyed many of the crops. He is being held directly responsible for the damage his cows did. The judgment against him is nine million shillings. That’s about eight thousand dollars. The average income of a family here in Tanzania is about $600 a year. He owes about 14 years worth of income. Now, the father is calling in all the debts that are owed to him so that he can pay this fine. Remember how this Moses has not fully paid his dowry? Well, he still cannot pay the 2 cows he owes and he has no money at all. So, the father-in-law has taken back his daughter and her kids until the dowry is paid. I don’t think he intends to marry her again to someone else but you never know. I think he is just trying to get Moses to pay him his two cows.

This entry is tagged: Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 6:22 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I spent some time with Mose and Elena this week doing some basic Bible counseling before their wedding takes place on Dec 28. They are both very excited about the event. As I ran through the checklist with the couple we were able to mark everything done except one item. The groom has not gotten written permission from the father of the bride to marry her. I told Mose on Tuesday that without the permission slip, there would be no wedding. He explained to me that the father has a business to attend to which is out of the country. He will be home for one day only- Wednesday. I reluctantly made plans to drive with Mose 2 hours away to get the permission slip.

When I showed up on Wednesday morning, there was a crowd of 5 people surrounding Mose as he laid on the ground. In the middle of the night he became very sick. So, instead of traveling to see the father we went to the hospital. They admitted him and gave him a glucose I.V. I am sure he will be alright but we will be praying for him.

After he was admitted I left the hospital (and I use the word hospital very loosely) and went to the seamstress to pay the remaining balance on the brides dress, jewelry and shoes. We made plans to visit the father of the bride on Monday. Hopefully things will go as planned. Pray for us as we travel, we will be driving through an elephant and giraffe preserve and the last time I was there the roads were very poor.

This entry is tagged: Funny, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 11:56 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I was invited to attend a Maasai wedding taking place about 2 hours away. If you are not familiar with the Maasai tribe you can read more here and see some pictures I have taken here. I refer to them as the Amish people of East Africa. They live a rugged and basic life. They generally still dress in the old fashioned ways and live in cow dung huts.

I was not sure what to expect at this wedding but I am always up for an adventure so I was looking forward to it. I was told to meet Mose at our church at 6:00 am. I am becoming well adjusted to African life so I didn't even plan to arrive at the church until 7:00am. After waiting for a few others to show up we finally left Mose' homestead at 8:30 ish. Of course none of these guys thought to buy a gift before the day of the wedding, so we had to stop in town to buy something.

Continue reading "Maasai Wedding: 500 guests and 1 white missionary" »

This entry is tagged: Food, Living in Africa, Maasai
Posted by BJ at 11:39 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I have heard the expression “walking by faith” many times in my life. I understand it to mean that a person will continue down a path in life even though he does not know the future outcome. He takes that path by faith, knowing that God will direct his every step and in the end everything will turn out the way God planed (for the best).

This past week I had the opportunity to drive by faith. We left our home on Saturday and made for a 1,700+ km round trip journey to Mwanza Tanzania for a BIMI field conference. Along the way we encountered many mechanical problems with our van. The first incident claimed the life of a good tire and rim destroying both in a single blow as we hit a pothole and then a large rock.

The second incident came a few hours later. While driving on the spare tire down a very rough road we hit a dip in the road and the front end of the van ploughed into the gravel with a thud. This blow broke one of the stabilizer mounts and punctured the spare tire. Fortunately, we were only about 4 miles from a friend’s house and we were able to limp the car to his house.

The next day we had the stabilizer mount fixed and started on our journey. Though we were able to repair one of the tires we had no spare because the bent rim was unable to be fixed. We drove another 110 km on this rough gravel road until we reached the paved road. We were able to complete the 2nd day of driving with no problems all the way to Mwanza.

I decided that I needed to buy a new rim and 2 new tires for our treacherous journey home. I left the tire shop with two new tires on the front and a spare. I made a short 30-minute stop in town and upon returning to the car I noticed that one of the new tires was completely flat. I should have seen this as an omen of bad luck ahead but instead I swapped out the spare and returned to the store to have the new tire repaired. I was on my way in no time.

The next day we headed for home down that same rough gravel road. Along the way, I would encounter 4 more flat tires. Each time I would swap out the spare tire and make my way to the next town and have the flat repaired. Not once were we left stranded in the middle of nowhere. When we stopped at the halfway point to spend the night at our friends house I said a hearty “thank you” to God for allowing us to actually arrive.

The next morning I awoke to see that in the night yet another tire had gone flat. Apparently we picked up a nail along the way and the slow leak took several hours to flatten the tire. Again, I repaired the tires and again, we were on our way.

I am not sure when it happened but along the way we hit something that cause the linkage to break on the driver’s side of the car. And at some point we hit something that damaged the wishbone on the passenger’s side of the car. These two items help the car to drive straight down the road in a safe manner.

We had no choice but to keep going- so we did. And we made it! All the way home, we wobbled, vibrated and swayed with every dip and turn. The next day I had the major items repaired so I could make a quick run to the airport. No, I was not going to run away. I had some guests who needed to catch a flight home.

As we loaded the van with their luggage, I took one last look at the van. Would you believe that I had yet another flat tire? With all the practice from the previous 3 days and 8 tire changes, I had it changed faster than the pit-crew at the Indy 500.

We have begun our search for a reliable vehicle. It has become obvious that a small mini-van is not a safe option for my family. Pray for our search, vehicles are very expensive here.

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Posted by BJ at 11:26 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Cathy and I were returning from a store during rush hour in Nairobi. The traffic was very heavy. We would move a car length and then sit and wait for a minute or longer. In Nairobi there are many vehicles and even more people who are walking on foot. There are street vendors selling food, clothes and even welding services. Some guys try to sell DVDs, puppies, pictures and even hair clippers in the middle of the street.

It did not surprise me that a man walking between the two rows of cars in the middle of the street bumped into my driver’s side mirror. He fumbled with it and for half a second I thought he was trying to straighten it. I then realized that he was trying to steal it! In less than 5 seconds he was able to pull the mirror right off the housing. I had no idea they were that easy to remove.

For some reason I decided to try and run the guy over. Well, I knew I couldn’t run him over because he was on the side of the car but I wanted to discourage him from continuing to steal my mirror. Unfortunately, as I turned the card sharply towards him and gassed it, I did not hit the brakes in time to avoid hitting the car facing the opposite direction in the other lane. Thankfully, it was a very minor bump.

I jumped out of my van and began to chase the fleeing thief. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea at the time. In hindsight, I can think of several reasons why this was a bad idea.

1. I was chasing a thief who robbed me in broad daylight with hundreds of people watching. He obviously was not concerned about getting caught.
2. He was a significantly in shape black guy who could have been armed.
3. I am a significantly out of shape white guy who had no chance of catching him.
4. I was in a city whose elevation is 9000+ ft. making oxygen somewhat scarce.

As I jumped out of the car I yelled “hey!” He kept running. I yelled “HEY!” again and he dropped the mirror and kept running. Can you just imagine the spectacle? It makes me laugh in embarrassment just thinking about it. I strutted to where the mirror lay, picked it up, strutted back to the van and as the 150 or more witnesses watched I snapped the mirror into place with an air of victory.

Now, I had to deal with the minor accident which was causing even more traffic problems. We moved the vehicles to the parking lot of the gas station to evaluate the damage. My license plate took all the damage as it bumped into the corner of their bumper. There were some minor paint scratches on the other car but no physical damage. We settled on an amount to fix the damage and I gave them some money. I had insurance which would have covered the entire cost but they knew that we would wait a very long time for a police officer and even longer for the insurance company to pay out. They were happy with the cash. I was happy not to deal with the red tape of the insurance claim. As we left they expressed sympathy for our ordeal.

So in the end, I can thank God that He protected me even when I reacted foolishly. I can also summarize the event like Mastercard did in their commercials:

Special insurance for my vehicle in Kenya: $100
Paying for the damage done instead of using the insurance: $50
Recovering my $10 stolen mirror: Priceless!

This entry is tagged: Danger, Living in Africa, Our travels, Vehicle
Posted by BJ at 3:04 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

There is a lot to say about our week in Nairobi. Our intentions were to apply for a Kenya visa and visit the dentist and doctor’s office. I am happy to say that we were able to accomplish all these things successfully although we did experience some fireworks along the way. Read on.

Last week I asked you to pray that we would get our Kenyan visas quickly. When I arrived at the office however, I became a little discouraged. The sign clearly stated that it would take 7 business days to get the visas. Nairobi is a very expensive place to stay so I was already a little anxious to get the visas quickly. As is custom here in Africa, I began to bargain with the lady who took my application. I tried explaining that we had been in Kenya for a week already and we really needed to return home soon. She said it will take 7 days. I told her that we had a church in Tanzania and that I needed to get back for the Sunday services. She said it will take 7 days. I asked, maybe there is someone who can help me get this done faster? She leaned over to her co-worker and then told me, it will take 7 days. Not willing to give up I said, OK, I will fill out these forms and when I return we will talk about getting this done quicker. They smiled and I left with little hope.

A few hours later I returned and after running to several stores to make photocopies of the necessary documents I submitted our applications. I asked one more time about getting the visas sooner than 7 days. The lady told me to come back on Thursday and I would be able to get the visas! That was great news, her 7days turned into 4 days. Now we could leave on Friday rather than the following Wednesday.

On Thursday, I returned to immigration and went to the office where they approve the visa applications. As soon as I walked in the lady recognized me and said that my applications were not ready because it has only been 4 days and not the required 5 days. (Obviously, she didn’t read the note about the 7 days) She said the applications were not ready yet. I realized very quickly that this lady was going to be tough on me for some reason. I tried to argue with her and realized that she had the power to delay my application for a very long time. So I then began to plead with her. Smart move, but she wasn’t going to give in easily. I persevered until she said, maybe if you come back after lunch, I might be able to have your application ready. Though it was a huge hassle to return I knew it was my best hope.

When we returned, I took the whole family to her office. I was hoping she was like most Africans and had a soft spot for children. I was right. She pulled out our applications, (which looked to me to have been ready for several days) made a few notes and told me to hurry down 7 floors to pay the bill before they close in the next 8 minutes. I made it in time and after a few more minutes of waiting, I got the visas stamped in our passports. Whew! What a day. We finished some other business and were able to leave Nairobi on Friday afternoon.

With our new visas we will be able to enter into Kenya at will and visit the doctor’s office as well as do other necessary business. I had one doctor look at a sore on my lip. He said that it could be cancerous but was likely just a cyst. We scheduled a follow-up visit with him in July.

In my next email I will tell you about the thief who stole the side mirror of my van and how I chased him down to retrieve it.

Thanks for praying for us.

This entry is tagged: Answered prayers, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 2:57 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

This is the second report from our Easter service and is intended to give you a glimpse of what life is like in Africa. Feel free to email me if you have any comments or questions.

Easter is a big deal here in our area. Some people attend services on Friday, and many more people will attend the Easter Sunday service. We planned to use this to our advantage and decided to have a meal in the middle of the day. I knew it would be quite an experience; I just had no idea what we were actually in for. This is how Cathy described it:

Imagine a wet farm field with standing water all over, and you've pretty much got the church yard. We walked (slogged) all day through gooey mud. The women cooking just ditched their shoes, finally.

The Muslim butcher came Sunday morning and butchered 4 goats inside the church on a tarp and they took it all outside and hacked up the meat on some leftover pieces of wood. [It is local custom to have a Muslim butcher any meat that will be served to the general public. This is to ensure no one would be offend with our meat. –BJ] We watched some of the meat prep--it's pretty horrifying, actually and you cannot imagine eating it, especially when you see the stomach and intestines get put into the cooking pots.

The ladies sit outside on the ground on rocks or chunks of wood, or just squat over large bowls, and chop veggies and mash garlic and ginger. We saw pots of onions, shredded carrots and cabbage, potatoes, melons, cucumbers, and 5 gallon buckets of rice and meat sitting around waiting to be cooked. They stacked 7 separate areas with rocks or cement bricks, lit fires under them and put huge metal basins over the rocks to cook. It was windy, too, so BJ and some guys arranged a wind block w/ large posts (chunks of tree or lumber) and tarps.

What we ate was called pilau--it's basically rice cooked with onions, garlic, ginger and oil and the meat is browned and put in too. They made plain rice, too with a stew called Mchuzi--it's got tomatoes, onion, oil, and meat and you serve it over the plain rice. Then they served cooked rice and cabbage as a side and melon and cukes sliced up too. They fried whole green bananas and served them hot. Those tasted like squash, and were nice and hot when we got them, but they didn't salt anything and they weren't too yummy. ~Cathy

The food was not bad, really. Had I never seen it being prepared I would have really enjoyed it. In America, I pray and tell the Lord “Thank you for this food, please bless it.” In Africa, I pray “Thank you for this food, PLEASE bless it.” ~BJ

This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Food, Holiday, Kingereka, Living in Africa, Ministry
Posted by BJ at 3:03 PM | Permalink | What say you?(1)

“If it were easy, BJ there would be thousands of missionaries in this place” replied Greg Wagoner. This was in response to my previous statement about all the paper work, red tape and tedious tasks that need to be done even for simplest of things in this country. I was beginning to think that this ministry is getting difficult- until I read about Missionary Alexander Mackay.

Greg wrote an article for the most recent edition of the BIMI World magazine. In it he gives an overview of the life and ministry of Alexander Mackay who blazed the trail of difficulties here in East Africa, making it easier for missionaries such as Greg and me to continue the ministry in this country.

From Greg’s article:

"In just three months, a group of eight missionaries was assembled for the sole purpose of propagating the Gospel among the heathen in Uganda. On April 25, 1876, during the commissioning service of his missionary team, Mackay closed the service with these pointed words…
“There is one thing which my brethren have not said, and which I want to say. I want to remind the committee that within six months they will probably hear that some one of us is dead. Yes, is it at all likely that eight Englishmen should start for Central Africa and all be alive six months later? One of us at least, it may be I, will surely fall before that. When the news comes, do not be cast down, but send someone else immediately to take the vacant place.”
All too prophetic would those words prove to be!"

By the time Mackay reached Lake Victoria he was the only one of eight missionaries still alive.
At the end of six years of ministry in Uganda and a new king in the land, Mackay wrote this in his Journal.

"Our first martyrs have won the martyrs' crown. On January 30th three Christian lads were burned alive, after being terribly mutilated, for their acceptance of and adherence to the faith of Jesus Christ. They were snatched from our very presence, accused of no crime but that they were learning from us, and first tortured, then roasted alive. Both Ashe and I suffered a deal of violence, but that was soon over, and was nothing to the anxiety of mind which we suffered on account of the cruel death of the dear lads and the threats of determined persecution against the whole of the native Christians, the threats of robbery and expulsion of ourselves, and, later on, a rebellion of the chiefs, whose aim was to make a complete end of us."

I would have left immediately but Mackay stays for over 1 ½ years before returning to Tanzania where he would live out the remainder of his short life. It really is an incredible story and well told by Greg. Read the entire article here.

Pray for our ministry here. We are attempting to plant 3 churches in 3 nearby districts that have no Baptist church at all and likely no gospel witness. From these 3 churches we are praying that God will call African preachers who will spread the gospel and start many other churches. Trailblazing of this sort is only accomplished through much prayer.

This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Living in Africa, Ministry, Pray for us
Posted by BJ at 12:14 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Clicking on this video will take you to the YouTube site. While YouTube claims to make an effort to filter out improper videos many are missed. To avoid potential problems you can simply go to our private channel that contains only videos we have uploaded.

Since Jay’s birthday fell on a Sunday, our most busy day, we decided to have a fun birthday dinner for him on Saturday. This is his short review.

Hello, this is Jay, today Mom and Dad made a special dinner for my birthday. We had my favorite food fish- not just ordinary fish though, Nile Perch! And a wonderful treat, Mountain Dew- which is very rare in this country. Dad cooked the fish to perfection. It was fun to be able to celebrate my birthday today. It was so good, that Tyler thanked me for existing. Mom wasn't quite as excited as Dad, Tyler, and I. She tries to stay away from fish but, it turned out all right, I had a good time and hope to live to do the same with my family.

Who would have thought that lemon pepper fish filets and home-made fries would make a 12-year-old so happy?

On Sunday, it was announced to the church that it was Jay’s birthday. I wish you could have heard the 20 or so Africans sing “Happy Birthday” in English to Jay. What a treat!

Afterwards, we went home and invited the Wagoners to join us for cake and ice cream. Believe it or not, we are able to buy Pillsbury cake mixes here as well as some decent ice cream. I picked up some vanilla, cookies-n-cream and mocha flavored ice cream from the store. We had a good time eating cake, ice cream and visiting with our friends.

Nile Perch filets- $7 per kilo (good price, good fish)
6 cans of Mountain Dew- $4 (imported from EAU) a little flat but not bad.
Pillsbury cake mix- $5
2 gallons of ice cream- $19 (Yes, that’s 19 US dollars!)

Hearing your 12-year-old hope he can do the same with his own family- Priceless!

This entry is tagged: Birthday, Family, Food, Jay, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 12:53 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

A few days ago I was at our church site checking out the progress of the building (pictures here) and following up on some visits. We hired a man named Issac to dig the outhouse pit for the church. He is getting paid decently but man is his work hard. Because the ground is very hard he has been digging with a pickaxe. He gave up on the pickaxe and began using a Thor-like hammer and a chisel. Check out this 15 sec. video to see his work in progress.

By the way, today he attended our Sunday service and I hope the gospel seed which was planted will spring forth and bear fruit in his life.

This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Kingereka, Living in Africa, Ministry
Posted by BJ at 9:00 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

As I was traveling from my house to our church I saw this and just had to take a picture. Is it a needle and haystack? A hut that has collapsed? What?

Click the link to see a short video clip.

Continue reading "Can you guess what this photo is?" »

This entry is tagged: Funny, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 6:56 PM | Permalink | What say you?(2)

It seems to me that I hear of many instances of missionaries being involved in traffic accidents. Is it just because so many missionaries are bad drivers? While that’s true in my case, I doubt it is true for most. I have a hunch it is because missionaries do so much driving and they live in places where driving is very hazardous.

Today, I witnessed a major accident, as a semi truck driver could not make the turn at the speed which he was traveling. His truck turned over sideways onto the driver’s side, skidded across my lane and crashed to a halt just off the road. I used my camera just a few minutes prior so it was immediately next to me. I came to a stop and snapped this photo.

It wasn’t until I approached the truck that I realized how severe this accident was. One man was already out and he and I began to help a second out of the truck.

A third man was pinned underneath the truck. His torso was stuck on the upright section of the windshield.

The fourth man, I assumed was dead. His legs were stuck by the steering wheel while his head and shoulders were outside his window and underneath the truck. I eventually noticed that he was breathing but I could not see his face. I was kind of afraid to look.

We were able to free the third by cutting away a small tree and removing some of the dirt from under him, giving him space to slip out.

The driver some how got his head back inside the cab. Another man climbed inside and helped to free his legs. He was carried out by four people to a bus and taken to the hospital with the other three men.

All of this took place while literally hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a separate tank that was part of the cargo. I wondered if there was such a thing as Hazmat to come and contain the spill but then I returned to reality.

Seeing all the victims safely removed, I headed on my way to do some soul winning. As I departed there were scores of people coming down the streets carrying buckets. Most them running, some riding bikes but all headed toward the accident. I then realized that indeed the Hazmat people have been notified. These citizens were coming to clean up all of that free diesel fuel. At $5.50 a gallon, I can’t blame them at all.

I passed by the scene a few hours later and spoke to many of the police that were there. I explained what I saw and asked if everyone was alright. They affirmed that they were all alive. Praise the Lord.

Please remember to pray for the safety of your missionaries, especially as they travel. Had I been 2 seconds faster, this truck would have hit me or at least caused me to veer off the road and into a steep ravine.

This entry is tagged: Danger, Living in Africa, Pray for us
Posted by BJ at 6:34 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

We experienced some internet outages in our home for the past few days but we are now back online.

You will want to read the previous 3 entries! There are a lot of things going on right now and God is blessing this new church in an incredible way.

Easter Sunday plans
Commencing Construction
More excitment in our Sunday service

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Posted by BJ at 11:12 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Nearly all Americans and British who live in Tanzania have some sort of home security protection during the night hours. It is common to have a night security guard on the grounds to patrol the area and deter any would-be thieves. We have employed 2 security guards for our yard. They work slightly different shifts and thus there is someone guarding our property nearly 24 hours a day.

Unfortunately, I recently stumbled upon a problem with one of our guards--he was sound asleep! I had gone outside to check on some things and I found him siting in a chair propped up next to a tree. It was only 8:30pm. It's bad enough that he was sleeping so early, but even worse was that the light from my flashlight and a few loud barks from our dog didn't wake him up.

I asked him if he was sick or if there was a problem. He said no. I then scolded him a little bit and told him to stay awake.

Two hours later I went outside again to feed our dog and to check on this guard. Would you believe that I found him sleeping again? I walked up to him and called his name, but he did not answer. I shinned the flashlight in his face but there was no movement still. I finally shook him awake by the shoulder and he awoke with a start.

I knew it was going to be a long night for him and since the safety of our family somewhat depends on him, I went and got him some coffee to drink.

So, now I have a problem, I need to replace this guard or use him in some other way. He does good work when he is awake, but I cannot afford to take any chances with him at night. Especially since the guards would likely be the first people severely hurt or killed by any violent criminals.

Pray for me to make a wise decision in this matter.

Got any suggestions?

This entry is tagged: Danger, Living in Africa, Pray for us
Posted by BJ at 7:33 PM | Permalink | What say you?(3)

This year we celebrated the New Year 8 hours before our families in Michigan did because we are 8 hours ahead of the EST zone. I was surprised that the New Year brought so much celebration here in Tanzania Africa. When I look at the problems and the plight of these people I see the coming year with a pessimistic perspective. However, all the people I talked with gave thanks to God throughout the day. At midnight when the New Year began the locals began to whoop and holler. Some rode in vehicles beeping their horns while cheering. Some lit fireworks. I received several text messages on my phone from Tanzanians wishing me a blessed new year. Their reaction took me by surprise and upon further investigation I found out why they were so excited about 2008.

Continue reading "How did you spend New Year's Day?" »

This entry is tagged: Holiday, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 8:52 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Continue reading "Our first Christmas on the mission field was great" »

This entry is tagged: Answered prayers, Christmas, Food, Holiday, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 1:04 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Continue reading "When Termites Attack Some People get a Good Meal" »

This entry is tagged: Creepy Crawlies, Food, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 10:16 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

This is our first Christmas in Tanzania, Africa. A few people have asked how missionaries celebrate Christmas on the foreign field. They wondered what our plans were for this Christmas, and how the Tanzanians celebrated Christmas.

I have never been one to make plans far in advance, but living here demands that I make some adjustments. For instance, I placed an order for our turkey two weeks ago. It will come from Kenya and cost 14,000 shillings per kilo. That figures out to a little more than $6.00/ lbs. FOR A TURKEY?!?! Are you SERIOUS!? Yes, it’s true. No, this turkey is not special in any way it’s just a turkey.

Continue reading "Missionaries Celebrating Christmas on the Mission Field" »

This entry is tagged: Holiday, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 2:11 PM | Permalink | What say you?(2)

In September we hired Leodigadi (lay o de gadee) to work for us. He has proven to be faithful and a hard worker. I have been considering which Christmas gift would benefit him and his family.

Leodigadi walks 2 hours everyday to our house. A bicycle would be a great help by cutting his commuting time considerably. It would allow him to spend more time at home. It’s a good idea but it really only benefits him and not the whole family.

Continue reading "Leodigadi wants 4 bags of cement for Christmas" »

This entry is tagged: Christmas, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 10:21 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Every Thanksgiving, I am reminded of the things I am thankful for. I know that everything I have is a gift from God. After being in Africa for 11 months I now have a new perspective on life and a newfound thankfulness. The things I use to take for granted in America, I find that I am very fond of here.

Things I am thankful for:

Chlorine bleach
Rat poison/traps
Voltage meter
Kitchen Aid stand mixer
Refrigeration
Meat Grinder
Bread Machine
Microwave
Ceiling fans
Rubbermaid containers
6500 watt generator
Road signs
Zip top baggies
Anti-venom
Doom bug spray
Window screens
Swiffer dusters
Electricity
Toilets w/ seats
Pepperoni
Internet access
Padlocks
Voltage stabilizers
Clean, homogenized, pasteurized, vitamin D fortified milk
Chocolate chips
Bottled gas
Wal-mart & Home Depot
Street name signs
Normal brooms
Kool-Aid
Bathrooms
Ice cubes
Ranch dressing
Black top Asphalt roads with lane markings
Boneless skinless chicken breasts

This entry is tagged: Holiday, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 5:32 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Okay, I know that I talk about rats/bugs/lizards an awful lot, but this is a good one: Today I was out on the front porch and saw a lizard parked in one of our doors. These dumb lizards always manage to find their way indoors, so I thought to do some preventative maintenance...I took the fly swatter and swatted him from his hiding place. I called the boys to come kill the lizard before he got away. They came running just in time to watch me flick the lizard back onto the porch floor. I yelled "stomp him!" but they were not wearing shoes. Tyler had stocking feet, so he tried to stop the lizard by stepping lightly on him. When he finally lifted his foot, the lizard had completely disappeared! Jay and I were watching the entire time and we did not see the lizard run away. We concluded that it must have run up Tyler's pantleg. He did not believe us, however, and just stood there looking at us. He said, "I cannot feel anything moving, so it's not there." We insisted it must be there because we did not see it run away. He calmly stood there and said, "There's no way it's in my pantleg, I'd be able to feel it moving." I said, "Ty, it HAS to be in there, you'd better get out of those jeans and check!" He started to get a worried look in his eyes but remained calm. Then he said, "I'll check, but I'm going in the house." I voted against that idea, because the lizard would be INSIDE the house and we'd have to try to catch him there. We finally talked him into shaking his jeans out on the porch--he barely started to lift his leg up and the lizard jumped out of his pantleg! I took matters into my own hands(or rather,feet) and stomped it myself. I should have done it in the first place. Tyler remained remarkably calm throughout the whole thing, but Jay and I had a good laugh!
~Cathy

The following creepy crawlies were found in our yard. Very little effort was made to find them, they just happened to cross our path.

We are not sure what this is (centipede maybe?) but we found this one in the garden and another around the dogs cage.




This is a Green Mamba which was killed on our fence in the back yard. According to many this is one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. I have heard stories of these snakes falling out of trees and landing on people. Not cool!

This entry is tagged: Cathy, Creepy Crawlies, Lizard, Tyler
Posted by BJ at 7:51 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Our dryer ain't...drying that is.
Have you ever wanted to tear apart your brand new appliance to see what makes it work? Me either, but it was a necessary evil. During the course of our electrical problems, I believe we burnt up one of the electrical components in the dryer. Our gas dryer is fairly simple, there is a timer which sends the signal to the motor, igniter and gas valve. There are 3-4 sensors that relay back to the timer indicating any faults or problems. If everything checks out the dryer will work as planned. Unfortunately, when I turn the timer to go, NOTHING happens. I spent some time calling support and we concluded that the timer was bad. He told me that I could by-pass the timer to see if the motor would turn on by simply jumping 4 wires together. After doing this jumper trick- nothing. So, either I did the jumper trick incorrectly or one of the sensors are also bad. I decided that since it costs so much to ship parts to Africa, that I would just cover all my bases and order all the sensors and a new timer. The sensors are fairly inexpensive (approx $10) and it is likely I may need them in the future anyway.

This entry is tagged: Electricity, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 7:28 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Just to give you an update on our electrical situation: We have heard back from 5 churches/individuals who have sent money for us to buy the stabilizer I mentioned earlier. We lack just over $1000. The stabilizer has been ordered and is awaiting our payment and pickup. Please pray with us about this last bit of money needed. There is no such thing as 90 days same as cash here. Life may take Visa in America, but in Africa Life takes cash perferably $100 bills dated 2002 or newer. ha!

This entry is tagged: Electricity, Inconvenience, Needed
Posted by BJ at 7:36 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Tonight as I was putting our food on the table for dinner, Daniel climbed up into his chair. That is usually a bad thing, and this time was no exception. With Tyler, Michaela and me standing nearby, Daniel tossed a napkin onto a small candle sitting in the middle of the table. Before we could react, he grabbed the now flaming napkin and dropped it on the table. What do you do w/ a napkin that is on fire? Well, I grabbed it and threw it onto a small glass plate and tried to carry it into the kitchen to dispose of it. Burning napkins do not just lie on plates! It kept floating all over and shedding charred pieces everywhere. I did not make it all the way to the sink before it floated from the plate and onto the floor, flaming all the way. What a mess! I had to jump out of the way to avoid being burned. Daniel wisely disappeared into another room for a few minutes. Then we figured out he was in the office by himself--another bad thing. Well, they are only 2 for a little while. Hopefully, this week without BJ will pass quickly and without (another) incident.

~Cathy

This entry is tagged: Cathy, Daniel, Family
Posted by BJ at 10:31 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I have been helping Greg Wagoner with the Bible Institute classes this week in Mwanza Tanzania. Last night at about 2:30 am I was suddenly awakened by the sound of two shots fired from a pistol, a bang, then the sound of neighborhood dogs barking everywhere. No, I did not go outside of my locked room to see what was going on. Later in the morning I found out that apparently there were some guys who were trying to steal the oil out of an electric transformer located a stone’s throw away from our building. I was told that thieves will cut open the transformer and steal 1-2 liters of oil and then sell it on the street for a few dollars. This eventually causes the transformer to blow up thus causing electric outages for many people. As reported by the security guard at the church, another security guard saw the thieves and fired two shots at them before they ran away. Unfortunately, the damage was done and the big bang I heard was the transformer expiring. We are hoping the electric company, Tanesco, will have it up and running today. Surprisingly, the only electrical needs we have are lights for chapel and power to run the fan and small refrigerator in my room.

Since I needed to go to Tanesco to buy a voucher for electricity I told them of the broken transformer. Tanesco has begun a new program of pre-paying for electricity. I think this will help them with delinquent accounts but I wish there was something that would help them with their power supply shortages. It is very common to have a power outage every day for an hour or so. How incredibly frustrating. But alas, at least when we have electricity, we have electricity. I can’t imagine how the missionaries of yesteryear were able to function without any electricity.

This entry is tagged: Electricity, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 1:16 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Actually Low Voltage is usually the case. Since we have been in our home in Tanzania (Sept 07) we have had some major electrical problems. One of the first problems we experienced was our refrigerator. The circuit board has been zapped and completely destroyed. In the same day, our clothes dryer had experienced similar electrical problems. A few days ago our microwave just quit working altogether. All of these appliances were brand new and made for this type of electricity. You may have read our entry about the voltage stabilizer that caught on fire. We had purchased several of these from another missionary. The stabilizer is supposed to prevent this problem from ever happening in the first place however, our stabilizers are obviously failing.

The problems occur because the local energy company consistently pumps out electricity that is substantially below normal levels. For instance, today I used my meter to check the voltage at an outlet and it registered 167 volts. It is supposed to be 230 volts! I am no electrician but I have figured out quite quickly that when you run an appliance with very low voltage it will destroy it very quickly. A voltage stabilizer will take the high and low voltage and bring it to the normal level needed. In other words it takes 167 volts and turns it into 230 volts. How? I don't know but they do work. I have tested several myself with my meter.

We would like to buy a new voltage stabilizer that would regulate the electricity of the entire house. This particular stabilizer has a 5 year international guarantee and is made by a very reputable manufacture. It is the end all of electrical problems. Unfortunately, it will cost $3,500 including tax. The cost to replace the appliances makes buying the expensive stabilizer feasible.

Pray with us about this purchase and if you can help we would be more than grateful. As usual, you can send any financial donations to Baptist International Missions Inc. You can even use PayPal online at BIMI's web site: www.bimi.org/content/gvMain.php
BIMI
PO Box 9215
Chattanooga TN 37412

Mark your donation as "Schultz Family #1227 - Stabilizer"

Thanks

This entry is tagged: Electricity, Living in Africa, Pray for us
Posted by BJ at 11:44 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I was trying to figure out what to cook for lunch today, and thought how wonderful it would be to have a McDonalds or Subway around here! It surely would help to be able to get some meals the "cheater way" as we call it. Many other missionary wives before me--and many right now--are all cooking as much as I am right now. I have made homemade hot pockets, bread for our sandwiches, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, Hershey's syrup, tortilla shells--and BJ ground the meat for the tacos himself. Almost everything we want to eat, we make ourselves. With the great appliances we brought and the Tupperware from South Park Baptist Church in Indiana, I have the ability to make and store all the food we need. The only problem is that the electricity goes out frequently--not good when the bread machine is in the middle of a baking cycle! We had a pretty funny-looking loaf of bread a few days ago. BJ gave me the night off--no, we didn't go out for dinner--he cooked it himself! Jay and Tyler cleaned the kitchen afterwards. It was really good and nice to have some time out of the kitchen! Thanks, Beej.

This entry is tagged: Cathy, Cooking
Posted by BJ at 10:05 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Today we had a little excitement in the kitchen. One of the voltage stabilizers we were using for our microwave caught on fire while Tyler was using the microwave. He was too short to reach the outlet to unplug it but fortunately we were all within shouting distance and were able to help. We got to the stabilizer before any serious fire happened and I rushed it outside and gave it a good dowsing with water. Praise the Lord for His ever present hand of protection on our family!

This entry is tagged: Danger, Electricity, Inconvenience
Posted by BJ at 11:01 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

And on the 265th day in the year 2007, after being in Africa for 253 days, the Schultzes were officially connected to the internet! The internet soon went offline after only 2 hours but has been restored. I expect that it will remain a little unstable as we work out the kinks in the positioning of the antenna. As you can see from the picture it is no small feat trying to align the antenna.
We have set up our Yahoo Messenger account here: schultzintanzania give us a shout we would love to hear from you.

This entry is tagged: Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 10:17 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I have heard of Christmas in July as a marketing scheme to get customers into stores for special sales, but this Christmas in September is no scheme. Well I guess I should clarify a little. Last year during the week of Christmas and the following week we packed up everything we owned into our 40’ container and shipped it off to Tanzania Africa. Many of the things we shipped over we had never even opened. These past few days (a long 9 months later) we have been un-boxing things and grinning from ear to ear. It’s like Christmas in September. Here is an example:

On the 1st day of Christmas in September we found a brand new washing machine.
On the 2nd day of Christmas in September we found 2 bottles of liquid Tide (which had burst during shipping but miraculously did no damage to any of the nearby mattresses.)
On the 3rd day of Christmas in September we found 3 mattress sets. Oh how I longed for my own bed!
On the 4th day of Christmas in September we found 4 dresser drawers which had been stuffed with Lays Bar-B-Q potato chips.
On the 5th day of Christmas in September we found a 5 piece cordless tool set.
On the 6th day of Christmas in September we found 6 carbon filters for our water system.
On the 7th day of Christmas in September we found 7 boxes of new clothes.
On the 8th day of Christmas in September we found 8 giant batteries for our electrical backup system.
On the 9th day of Christmas in September we found 9 Rubbermaid boxes of Lego’s.
On the 10th day of Christmas in September we found 10 new house fans.
On the 11th day of Christmas in September we found 11 thousand Yankee Candles.
On the 12th day of Christmas in September we found a brand new, never been seasoned, 12 inch Papered Chief Pizza Stone! Woot! Somebody say Amen!

This entry is tagged: Christmas, Container, Funny
Posted by BJ at 2:24 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

After an oral exam on Monday and then the written exam on Tuesday, language school has ended. We did very well according to our teachers. Of all the students in our class, Cathy had the top grade and I scored the second best! Of course there were only 2 students in our class. Ha We are both very excited to be done with language school however, we are both aware that we still have much more Swahili to learn.

This entry is tagged: Swahili
Posted by BJ at 7:05 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

The past week or two we have progressed from the rainy season to the cold season. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would be cold in Africa. Today it reached about 70 F in the early afternoon and tonight it will get down to 50 F. When I arrived in beautiful, hot and sunny Kenya January 14, I was upset at myself for bringing 3 long sleeved shirts. I thought these clothes would only get in the way and eventually be thrown away. Man was I wrong. I know Moshi Tanzania will be a lot warmer than Nairobi, but if it gets too hot I guess I could climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and spend some time on the glacier.

This entry is tagged: Living in Africa, Weather
Posted by BJ at 4:53 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

We were able to clear our container through customs with little trouble this time. In fact the only trouble worth mentioning is the fact that it took so long to get it done. All those days sitting in the warehouse cost us an extra $4000! We planed for such trouble long ago so we had enough saved up to make this payment as well as the fees for clearing the container.
I was told by the dispatcher that our container would arrive on Saturday but before we ended the conversation the date was changed to Monday. I made plans to arrive on Saturday in time to get the site ready for the container. Sunday night I received an email saying that the container would arrive on Tuesday. I spent the extra day getting to know the immediate neighborhood and run a few errands. Tuesday arrived and I received a message saying that there was some trouble at the warehouse and the container would be delayed yet one more day. Finally, on Wednesday morning I was able to contact the driver and I was told that he was at the driveway waiting for me. However, he was at the wrong driveway. I asked another man to talk to the driver on the phone and direct him to our location. That did not work well. Instead we walked about 2-3 miles into town to find the driver. Once we met up with him he immediately began telling me how it would be impossible to get the container to the location that I wanted. Oh how my patience would be tested today! He told me that every option I had proposed would not work. So I’m thinking, now what am I going to do with this huge 40’ container? After about 3 hours the driver finally agreed that if the steel gate and part of the security fence were removed he could back into the location. We began doing the work. Once we were finished he began again to make excuses why it was not going to work. I finally realized that this man just wanted a bribe and was willing to delay us and himself in order to get one. Unbelievable! He never did get a bribe and was able to easily back the truck into the location. We off-loaded the container with a huge crane and it touched ground in Moshi late Wednesday evening.
I took some good pictures of the whole operation. You should see how difficult it was for the crane to pick the container up off the truck only a few feet away from 3-phase 220 volt electric wires. I’d love to show you the pictures of some of the guys who helped me dig the gate post out of the ground. They were working with a pick-axe while wearing flip-flops. Actually, they ended up bare foot as the hole got deeper. One man was obviously very poor because his shirt was so old it was literally worn through across his shoulders and not too far away from falling off his back. I wish I could show you those pictures but somehow in the excitement of the day someone walked away with my camera. There is nothing more upsetting than knowing someone stole something from you. I will miss that camera but alas, it’s only “a thing” and somewhat easily replaceable at that. (If only there were a Best Buy in Tanzania…)
It’s not a perfect ending to this soap opera but at least it is an ending. Thank you for your prayers concerning this.

This entry is tagged: Container, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 4:52 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

When we heard that our container would be arriving in the next week and that language school would end a month early, we set off to Moshi to look for a house to rent. This was our first trip to Moshi and to our surprise it is a very nice place. There are very few houses to rent, however and we were only able to look at 5 during our 2 day stay. None of the houses we looked at piqued our interest and we left our house hunting fairly disappointed. One house we looked at (the German house) has a few things we really like. It is in a good safe location, has a huge yard and enough room inside for all of us and our stuff. At first, we didn’t consider this house because the yard looked like a jungle. There are so many trees and plants, a garden here and a pond there. It looks like one of those extremely high maintenance yards. Well, push came to shove and we had to make a decision on the spot. We chose this German house. We call it that only because a really nice German family lives there. The fact that there are no street names or house numbers doesn’t help when describing a house. This German family happens to be moving to Nairobi at the same time we need to move to Moshi. What a coincidence, or is it? After a second trip to this house I began to see it with fresh eyes and I have to admit I think we will really like it there- even if we have to spend 8 hours a day pulling weeds and mowing the lawn.

This entry is tagged: Container, Housing, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 4:53 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

You may remember that a few months ago I asked you to pray for our airplane ticket refund. I was told by the manager of the travel agency that sold the tickets to me that the tickets I had were flexible and refundable. Because of some complications and various delays we were not able to fly out on the date that we intended. So, I began the process of getting a refund for our tickets. I was “Guaranteed” to be refunded the ticket price minus some small fees. As it turns out, this was not true. Those tickets can not be refunded in anyway. When I claimed my “Guarantee” I was informed that the person who said that was in error and that he no longer works for this company.
There are many times in my life when I make a poor decision and I feel sick to my stomach afterwards. Not so with this situation. When I purchased the tickets it looked very sure that everything was falling into place and that the timing was perfect. Within 30 days of that purchase, the plan just began to unravel. I am confident that the Lord intervened and caused us to be delayed. This delay cost us the price of plane tickets but profited us many more blessings. I am always trying to take steps of blind faith. By that, I mean I am more than willing to go out on a limb to serve God and please Him. However, one of the great lessons of life He is teaching me is how to wait for God. There has never been anything more frustrating in my life than waiting. There is a saying here in Africa that I am trying to embrace; “There is no hurry in Africa”. Not only is it very true here, but it is a good lesson for me. When God is ready He will do His work. My prayer is that I am a willing and available vessel through which he can work.
Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

This entry is tagged: Pray for us, Tickets
Posted by BJ at 5:04 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

The house we are renting has no washing machine or dryer. There is an old washer that the school owns. I think it is left over from the Bore War. We are not allowed to use it however. Instead we have to hire the lady who runs the machine to do our laundry for us. Actually, it is two machines. One washes and the other spins the water out. The alternative is to wash our clothes in the bathtub or river. So we hired this nice lady, Grace, who comes 3 days a week. She washes our clothes in the machine and then lays them out on the roof of the cistern to dry. Some of the clothes get hung on the lines but she prefers to lay them on the roof. I’m baffled by this.

I was wondering why our clothes had leaves and such on them when we got them back. The whole procedure is extremely hard on the clothes. They are fading fast. Fortunately, it only costs us $3.50 per day to have her wash, dry, iron, and fold our clothes (the leaves are free). If only washers and dryers didn’t cost $800-$1,500 each.

This entry is tagged: Laundry, Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 7:01 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

We now have a new puppy. She is a female German Shepard. If I want to believe the owner, she is a pure breed. He has produced the papers for the mother stating that she is a pure breed. The father also has the same status. Unfortunately, our dog is not able to be registered with the Kennel Club because the mother was too young when she gave birth. None of this really matters to me, I just wanted a good dog who would give us some measure of protection and be gentle with the kids.
We have named her “Uma”. I think Uma is a German name but I am not sure. However, in Swahili, Uma can be translated a few ways. There is the noun “uma”, a fork. You can also have “umwa ya kitchwa” meaning a headache. There is “umia” meaning pain and a few other versions of the word. I personally like the fact that “uma” is directly translated as the verb “bite”. It kind of instills a preconceived notion that this dog may inflict pain of some sort if I am not careful. Now I need to teach her to quit biting my feet when I take her outside.

This entry is tagged: Dog, Swahili
Posted by BJ at 7:36 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Our container situation has turned into a soap opera of sorts. Here are the facts I was given:

Our container arrived at the port on February 14.
The port charges cost about $2300
The taxes to import the items in the container into Tanzania cost $4300
The fees for hiring a clearing agent and misc fees cost $1800

All of this was a big shock to us because according to current Tanzania customs procedures, there should be no taxes assessed. We immediately began to do some investigating. We quickly discovered that something was not right. All the “facts” we received from the clearing agent didn’t add up. Something was fishy. We were so fortunate to have a good friend here, Eric Bohman, who immediately stepped up and began to take action on our behalf. Brother Bohman is the assistant African field director. He personally went to the port and got the real facts. This is what he had to say.

The container was never at the port until just a few days ago.
The fees quoted to us are extremely exaggerated.
The clearing agent gave us instructions to wire all the money into his personal account. Leaving us to guess what would happen after the money hit his account.
Once we receive our visas we will probably not pay any of the tax that was assessed originally.

Needless to say we have hired a different agent and he is working on our behalf to get our visas approved and clear the container as quickly as possible.

There are 2 items which will require our prayer:
1. Our visas need a speedy approval. Every day our container is in the port, we are charged a storage fee.
2. We need to get the original paperwork back from the 1st clearing agent/crook. This will be very important and probably very difficult.

Please pray.

This entry is tagged: Container, Pray for us
Posted by BJ at 9:45 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

This week Cathy and I will be taking two mid-term exams. The first is an oral test on Wednesday. The second will be the written test on Thursday. We will then have the following 10 days off! Praise the Lord!

This entry is tagged: Swahili
Posted by BJ at 9:43 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

It appears that we will be moving to the Hills, Green Acres that is. It used to be a boarding school many years ago, but now it sits mostly unoccupied. That is except for a few renters and the massive movie company that is currently shooting a type of soap opera called Maktano Junction. The movie company is currently occupying all of the housing so we have to wait until they are finished. Since this was a formal boarding school there happens to be a HUGE in ground swimming pool. The boys have already tried it out once and found the courage to jump off the 10-12 feet tall diving platform.
We stayed at Green Acres our first 2 days in Kenya and decided then that it was not going to work for us. Since then, the management has made available a better rental and has agreed to deal with the very poor water situation. Then to put icing on the cake, the price of the rental is cheaper than what we pay now and includes free electricity and water. We won’t have internet connection for a few more weeks, but will make an effort to get connected as often as we can to do updates and emails.
The Lord is definitely in this, as we have learned that our current building will be destroyed in the next few weeks and the alternate housing we were supposed to move into has been made unavailable. Pray as we make the transition again to a new place and especially pray that the water will not become a major issue. All of the tap water comes from a nearby river. It has been tested and found to have plenty of bacteria in it. Even if we get the mud out of the water, the bacteria will make it undrinkable. We do have a special filter that will take the bacteria out for drinking purposes. It just makes showering and brushing your teeth a little more burdensome.

This entry has no entry tags.
Posted by BJ at 4:56 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

We have gotten ourselves pretty much settled in our new place. Our stuff is mostly put away and I think Cathy is fairly confident in her cleaning job. Daniel is doing much better. He is not completely whole but he is doing very well. Jay, Tyler, and Michaela have adjusted well. They love to be outside in the beautiful weather. However, the sun is very intense here and we have all gotten a little red from too much exposure. We will have to be vigilant with our sun block. Would you believe that sun block is difficult to find and very expensive? Apparently, the Africans don’t wear sun block. Go figure.

Today we visited one of the tea fields nearby. The fields are very beautiful and look like a lush green carpet covering the rolling hills. I’m sure pictures do not do it justice.



Those specks on the middle hill are people hand picking the tea leaves.

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Posted by BJ at 9:35 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

We have arrived! After two days of travel we finally landed in Nairobi Kenya. Eric Bohman (BIMI assistant African director) met us at the airport and chauffeured us and our 25 bags, 2 car seats, and a stroller to the place we would be spending the night. What a blessing he has been to us. We would definitely be lost without his help. We just received word that our two missing pieces of luggage have arrived. We went 2 days missing 2 bags and it was very worrisome. We had some precious things in those particular bags. Praise the Lord for sending them safely to us.
We made our way to the language school campus where we will be spending the next 6 months. Our class will be the first to have school on this campus. The facilities are a little rough. Actually, the grounds are nice but the housing needs a little work. We are crunched in a small 1 bedroom apartment (think college dorm days). Instead of a couch in the living room we have two beds. We are looking into other options and we think we have found a good place to stay. I will keep you posted.
Please pray for Daniel. He has become very ill. He spent all day yesterday vomiting and could not hold any food or water. He also has a very high fever. Today we visited a local doctor (a story in itself) and he prescribed an antibiotic for Daniel. He managed to keep it down for about an hour. He is eating now and doing better but he is still pretty miserable. We do covet your prayers for him.
I have learned a couple of things already in the past 4 days. We Americans are very spoiled and take many conveniences for granted. For instance, when we filled Daniel’s bath to clean him up we were shocked at how dirty the tap water was. It looked like he was sitting in a mud puddle. He was probably cleaner before he took his bath. We are told that this water source has a high probability for Typhoid Fever. If you have tried to keep a kid in a bathtub from drinking the tub water or sucking on a washcloth you can imagine our anxiety. To make things worse, Daniel has not been vaccinated for Typhoid Fever because he was too young at the time. We will have him treated as soon as possible. It makes me realize, God has truly blessed America.
I will try to keep our website updated but we have very sporadic internet service.

This entry has no entry tags.
Posted by BJ at 9:23 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)