Mission Accomplished!

We’re home again! After a full two days of travel to and from Tanzania we’re still a little jet-lagged and tired, but otherwise recovering well from the trip.
We’re pleased to report - Mission Accomplished!! It was a very busy and tiring 2 weeks, but extremely rewarding.

We spent time at two schools that our church built, one in Mairowa and one in Kondoa, Tanzania. The school in Kondoa looks great! The children there have been at the school for almost two years. An added bonus (that was a benefit to us) was that their English skills were very good. The children recently took academic assessment tests and the 1st graders at the Kondoa Integrity School (KIS) tested equivalent to 3rd graders at other local schools.

We had such an amazing time with the staff and students at the schools. When you see how difficult life is for these kids and then see them at school, laughing and learning with big smiles on their faces, it’s a great reminder of why we’re doing this. These children LOVE their school! In fact, the Headmaster told me that he has to shoo them off the school grounds at the end of the day because they hate to leave. What a blessing to know that the schools are enriching their lives so much.

Most of the people we visited come from the Maasai Tribe. You can learn more about them here. While there we also drove along rutted dirt roads to visit many families in their homes. The traditional Maasai dwellings (called bomas) are small dark structures, built in a dome shape like an igloo, but made primarily of mud. You can see a couple of examples below. In one of our visits a family from our church was sharing their story with one of the single mothers when asked how she could “believe” too. They were able to share the Good News with her and she prayed to receive Christ!! Wow! What a thrill that across the cultural lines and differences, they were able to share the hope of the gospel with this precious woman.

We also had the privilege of visiting and participating in an African church service. My husband, Fred preached, the kids presented a play and 3 team members shared their testimonies. It was a joy to be able to spend time in worship together with them as well.

Another gift was sharing our journey first-hand with two of our board members who came along as well. Rosanne Burck and Barbara Uhlmann chose to enjoy the adventure with their older grandsons. It was an experience that they’ll never forget and will always share as a dear family memory.

People often think that when they take a short-term mission trip, they are going to serve and minister to others. This is true-they are and they do. What they don’t realize, but discover when they are on the trip, is that they are the ones that are served and ministered to by the people they meet. God uses these new friends in faraway places to bless our lives. This trip was no exception: the Tanzanians touched our hearts and our lives.

Thank you so much to all who supported, encouraged and prayed for our trip. As always, the Lord was with us every step of the way. You are a gift to us!