An exciting development for Shannon's trip to Tanzania

We have talked off and on about this certain thing over the past month or so and had ruled it out over and over again due to finances but finally yesterday, Rev. Debra, Shannon, and I decided it is going to happen if it is still possible. What, you say? Our 13 year old son, will be traveling with Shannon and the rest of the team to Tanzania in September! We are going to apply for a passport for him today...expedited...and Rev. Debra is checking to see if we can still get him on the flights. He is at a difficult age to be moving anywhere much less to a foreign country he knows very little about. He has always had a heart for missions and has read many missionary biographies over the past years. We want him to have more of a peace about our upcoming move and to develop a heart for the people and country like the Lord has put in us. We are certain that after traveling there, his life will be changed-that he will see that where we will be is fairly modern, very safe and in need of Jesus. Also, he will develop relationships with Pastor Richard's large family including his two young sons that are close to his age. He is very excited about this as are we. Unfortunately, since he has been attending a local Christian school since last March and will continue on there in the fall, he will be missing 2 1/2 weeks of school. We know though, that He will be able to catch up quickly. Please pray that his passport comes very quickly and with no problems, that we can get him airline tickets with everyone else and that we find the finances to fund it all. We have decided that we will be sending out a fund raising letter now with two of them going. We have sold our camper and our extra vehicle to help fund Shannon's trip and I have sold many clothing items and homeschool books on eBay as well but we will appreciate any finances and prayers we can get from the outside.

Returning Home

The time travelling home always seems long. After about 24 hours of travel time and an 8 hours backwards time change we arrived at the Minnapolis airport. It was at that time, for me as this was my first out of country trip, "reverse culture shock" set in. This is when you get that same surreal feeling you experience when entering a new country but it happens when re-entering your home culture. It was clean here, unlike Tanzania where there was garbage everywhere. The ground was green here while over there everything was a dusty brown. Here the people are white and speak English. The roads are tarred and flat. The diferences went on and on. I had a dream like feeling as we rode to Ginny's home near Litchfield where I was to meet up with my family. By the way, the entire trip to Tanzania, all of the travel within Tanzania and the trip home, I never once experienced the motion sickness I am known for. I had many people praying against this for me and God answered.

When we arrived at Ginny's home I remember that our youngest son was up in an apple tree climbing and picking apples in his typical busy and active fashion. Our oldest daughter was so happy to see me she cried and Shannon's arms felt wonderful around me. Over the next few weeks as people saw me they commented on how I seemed to be glowing. They said they could see that the Holy Spirit had touched me in Tanzania and that I had left a large part of my heart there. Also, interestingly, over these past few months as we have begun to share our plans with people who know us, most of them are not surprised as they have seen how our hearts belong to children and ministry and that we are not afraid to try new things. In our bible class last night, we learned about how we cannot let the opinions of others influence us against what we feel is God's will for us. That we cannot worry about pleasing people but rather about obeying God. BUT, it is very nice when others are supportive and it serves to confirm for us what we feel God is wanting us to do.

I once read a book called The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. It told about how God gives us many of our dreams in an effort to allow us to be a part of His purposes. We both believe that God has been putting the dream for serving the orphans and widows of Africa in each of us, little by little, over a long period of time. We both spoke of one day doing foster care before we even married, then ministry, then Africa, and finally adoption. It amazes me that Shannon would be so willing but also have such a huge longing to move to somewhere he has never seen and is so far away. This can only come from The Dream Giver. We will not allow any dream stealers to influence us. Take some time to reflect on the dreams that The Giver is putting in you.

The final leg of minstry

We arrived by Land Rover at the airport in Shinyanga. We flew from Shinyanga to Mwanza, then from there to Mount Kilimanjaro to do some ministry in Arusha. I remember as we sat in the airport in Mwanza for an hour or so, how I wanted to stay there. I also remember that as our plane taxied away to leave Mwanza for our final time, I cried. I was confused as to why I wanted to stay there so badly. Was it because it was the first place we had spent any length of time in Tanzania? Was it because of most of Pastor Richard's family being there and how I had felt so loved by them, and by Pastor Richard's church? Was it because of how I enjoyed ministering to the children there so much? Or was it because God had placed a special love in my heart for the community as He knew it was where we would eventually be, where He was calling us to? I believe now that it was all of the above. As I stated in another post, I never planned to come to Tanzania. I had been hoping for Kenya. That was a God thing too.

We spent a few days in Arusha. We ministered in a church there. We did a bit of shopping. Arusha is a touristy town as it is located near Mount Kilimanjaro and many of the national parks so there are many areas set up for shoppers. I was able to find a small toy for each of the children and a beautiful carved rhino for Shannon. Bargaining is a part of the culture there and although I hated it, I was pretty good at it by the time we finished. Most things can be bought for about half or a little more than the original asking price. I spent some time on the internet emailing friends and family as there was an internet cafe in our hotel. It was about this time, now that we were slowing down, that I realized how much I missed my family. There was something about it all though that really surprised me. As a stay-at-home mom to 5, who homeschools and does foster care, my daily life revolves around my children. I knew I loved Shannon but so often our relationship is pushed aside as I try to meet the demands of needy children. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I missed Shannon more than all of the kids together, that he was why I was so anxious to get home and that the children were just a bonus to that . I sometimes hear of empty-nesters that end up having nothing in common as their lives revolved around children for so many years. I am able to feel confident now that we will not have that problem. It was during an Instant Messaging session with Shannon in these few days that I first said something, kind of jokingly, about us moving to Mwanza. I spoke of the orphans there and the need. It was really said, kind of in passing and I only remember it now because I still have copies of those conversations in our computer, but I believe that was God at work, again.

One final day was spent on a safari in a national game reserve. What an amazing oppportunity that was. We saw elephants, zebras, lions, giraffes and many other animals all in their natural habitat. I was especially thrilled with the giraffes and our driver, Martin who is also pastor Richard's bother, saved that area of the park for last as he knew that was the animal I most wanted to see. As a professional safari driver, he knows how to save the best for last for his passengers. Martin laughingly promised me a job working with him if I ever wanted to return to Tanzania as he was impressed with my good eyes for finding the hidden animals.

All told, Rev. Debra, Ginny and myself were part of a huge soul harvest. In our 16 days we had seen over 1,000 salvations. One of which was a witch doctor, another a professed Muslim and another our Land Rover driver. About 150 people had reported healings to us of different things including pain, hearing loss and vision problems. I can only imagine the number of seeds that were planted that will one day sprout for someone else to harvest. What a truly incredible honor and privilege it had been to be trusted by God to be a part of this.

As our plane left Tanzania for the last time, I was sad to say goodbye but happy to be returning to my family. Somehow, I knew even then, that I would one day return.

The Orphans of Russia

Russia?, you say? How did we get on the subject of Russia?

Today in church, a missionary visited to share his vision with our church. His name is Mark Broberg and he is involved in ministry to the orphans and street children in St. Petersburg, Russia. He talked about how the people of this nation have been lied to for years and now all they want is truth. He shared that in Russia, the government only allows them to keep the children in the orphanages until age 15 at which time they are expected to go out on their own to earn a living. Unfortunately, the government also gives the orphans papers that state they are retarded, which then marks them as unemployable. The girls end up earning their living through prostitution and the boys through crime. It was discovered that over 90% of the girls were dead or missing by age 18. Now Mark's ministry has started transitional homes to cover this several year period and help to teach these young adults working skills.

Next, Mark showed a video. With Steve Camp's song playing in the background, I saw it bring tears to Shannon's eyes and cause us both to want to be in Tanzania right now. We are well aware that there are children that we will serve there, that are needing us right now, as much as they will when we finally get there. Please pray for those children as well as children and adults all over the world that are hungry or homeless today.

Here are the words to the song.

Don't Tell Them Jesus Loves Them by Steve Camp

Oh suffering soul, crying out for love
In a world that seldom cares
See the hungry heart
Longing to be filled
Much more than our prayers
And a young girls sells herself on Seventh Avenue
And you hear her crying out for help,
"My God, what will we do?"

Chorus:
Don't tell them Jesus loves them, till you're ready to love them too
Till your heart breaks from the sorrow, and the pain they're going through
With a life full of compassion, may we do what we must do
Don't tell them Jesus loves them, till you're ready to love them too

Oh, the desperate man
Are we reaching for the souls that are sinking down in sin?
Oh, cry for the child
We've lost our passion for the lost, and there are billions left to win
And another forty thousand children starve to death today
Would we risk all we have to see what of them say

Chorus

Why have we waited so long to show them Jesus lives
To share salvation's song
Why have our hearts become so proud that we fail to see
To love them is to love God
And a young girl sells herself on Seventh Avenue
Hear her crying out for help,
"What will we do?"

Chorus

1988 Birdwing Music(ASCAP)/Sparrow Song(BMI)

Ministry in Bukumbi

The next several days were spent in Bukumbi. While there we dedicated a new church building, taught bible classes and did open air crusades. Several of the pastors we were working with determined that there were apoximately 4,000 people in attendance on our last night! This is a fairly small village and we heard stories of people walking for up to 10 hours to come hear us! One of the pastors' elderly grandfather, who was a witch doctor came to listen and ended up recieving salvation. We spent some time praying with another pastor and his wife over their young son with cerebral palsy. We also met their infant daughter that they had named after Debra as she had prayed over the mother and unborn baby for a safe and easy delivery the previous year. It was due to a dificult labor that their son has brain damage. I did children's ministry with George again and the children loved him. Debra pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit by having me pray with people one on one as well. The hotel was a smple poured concrete building full of spiders and roaches. I saw a spider the size of my palm on the wall of my room one night. I didn't sleep well that night at all. I watched out my "window"(really just a opening with a type of fencing stretched over it, no glass) one morning as a goat was butchered right there while young children were bathed less than 10 feet away. Showers in Bukumbi consisted of a 5 gallon pail of water warmed over a fire amd a cup to pour it over myself. It was hot there and with no electricity in the village to run a refrigerator, I had the exhilerating experience of Coke at 110 degrees give or take. The carbonation gives an interesting feel to the sinuses at that temperature. I loved it in the village and we saw over 900 people come to the Lord while we there. We left the pastors of the area with a lot of follow-up to keep them busy. I remember as we drove away in the Land Rover...I had George on my hand and held him in the back window to say goodbye to the children. They ran along behind us, shouting and waving until we were out of sight. I was so blessed to have been there. My memories of the people there are priceless.
We returned to Kahama for the night, then on to Shinyanga the next morning, this time by Land Rover, to catch our flight to Arusha, near Kilamanjaro, for our time of ministry there.

2 new additions to our home for awhile

As you may know, we are licensed foster care providers for our county. The last children we had in our home were an infant and a toddler that left us last December. At that point, Shannon and I had decided that if we got any further calls we would just say no as we felt it would complicate things. Well, the best laid plans are not always what happens. Yesterday we received a phone call for two little girls, ages 2 and 3. I right away thought to myself as I was on the phone with the social worker, "How can we say no?" I knew what to do! I would call Shannon and he would remind me of what we had decided and tell me to tell the social worker no. So I called Shannon and told him the little bit I had been told about the girls and he said, "I know what we talked about, but how can we say no? If we are looking at working with orphans in another country, why wouldn't we help children in our own country needing help while we are here?" We decided to tell the social worker we wanted them here. They arrived a couple of hours later. Please pray for these two sweet girls as they are missing their mommy and all of the comforts of home and the things they knew. They are getting lots of love and hugs and cuddles from our more than willing children as well as ourselves. It is fun to have little ones in the home again and very busy.

The trip to Bukumbi

The bus ride was...well.. diferent than travelling in Minnesota, that's for sure. Fortunately we were in the front seats which tend to be a bit less crowded, less warm, and less stuffy. We rode for awhile. We saw goats and cattle crossing the road, children walking the road after school in their uniforms, and many many people. There are few vehicles. After a bit the bus pulled over in an area where there were bushes on the side of the road. It was a bathroom break. Men went to one side of the bus, women to the other. I decided I didn't need to go yet. Fortunately God has blessed me with a large bladder. After about three hours we arrived in Shinyanga where we stopped to pick up more people. There was time for a bathroom break so we walked about a block to a public restroom consisting of a squatty potty in a small outhouse like building. If you are familiar with squatty potties you know that they are interesting and take a bit of skill as you squat over them while holding your dress up out of them and try to keep from splattering your legs. I never did seem to completely develop that skill the whole time I was in Tanzania. Also, it is always a good idea to carry your own toilet paper and/or wet wipes as they are rarely available.
Then back on the road, if you want to call it that, for about three more hours of dusty, bumpy riding until we reached Kahama. We saw a truck, full to overflowing, literally, with people. There were people hanging on the outside and standing on the bumper. Even Pastor Richard, from Tanzania, was surprised and concerned at how dangerously overloaded it was. When we arrived in Kahama there were several women screaming in their excitement to see white people in their town. We went into our hotel for a bit of rest, then were taken by a Land Rover to the home of a pastor there in Kahama for supper. His family was kind, the food was good and they sang several praise songs for us before returning us to the hotel.
The next morning, we were taken in the same Land Rover to the home of a man that is involved in the government as a member of Parliament. We were served a breakfast of Chipotti(sp?) which is a tortilla-like flat bread and one of Debra's favorite foods over there.
Next, into a Land Rover again for a several hour drive on what could best be called trails. There were places along it where the ruts were large enough to completely hide the Land Rover and according to the driver and Pastor Richard are completely impassable during the wet seasons. That type of travel is pretty tiring as your muscles are constantly fighting the bumps to stay upright not to mention off of your seatmate.
As we drove into the village of Bukumbi, the most amazing thing happened. Our vehicle was surrounded by villagers, running beside us, waving branches and flowers and chanting "Jesu, Jesu!" It brought tears to my eyes to see how excited the people were to see us and hear about what we wanted to tell them about. It looked like the next few days were going to be exciting and I hoped there would be much done for God.

5 days in Mwanza

We spent the next 5 days in Mwanza. The weather was beautiful. I am guessing it was between 75 and 80. It is hard for me to guess as I am so used to high humidity levels which make it feel warmer. In Mwanza, there is low humidity so it really doesn't affect the heat index. Overall, it was comfortable the whole time we were there.
In the mornings, we went to Pastor Robert's(Pastor Richard's brother) church where Debra and Ginny did teaching for many pastors and lay people in the area. One morning, I think it was the second day, a man stood by the door and listened the whole time. When the teaching time was over, he asked if he could be saved. We prayed with him to receive salvation. After the teaching time we would return to the hotel for a snack and to prepare fo the open air crusade. Each afternoon, we went to an area, near where Pastor Richard's current church is now, to sing, preach, teach and pray with the people. We had several hundred in attendance including several Masai people. The Masai are a nomadic people that raise cattle on the savannas of Africa. They are highly respected in Africa for their bravery and integrity but they are heavily involved in their tribal religions. I was excited to see a couple come forward for salvation but then they left before the prayer was actually said. I believe there was some confusion for them but am very happy to know that we planted seeds in their hearts. Each night I spent a few minutes ministering to the children in attendance with my monkey puppet, George. The children were very excited to see and hear from George. I told a story about a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and compared that to how the children can become new if they love Jesus. I also told them about how Jesus loved to have the children come and sit with him and how even when the adults tried to push the children away, Jesus rebuked the adults telling them that we must all be like children to enter heaven.
One major dificulty for me was my inability to communicate with the people without an interpreter. Tanzania became a nation 40 years ago. At that time, the president, in an effort to unify the tribes, declared Swahili as the official language. No other languages could be taught in the school. This unification is part of the reason that Tanzania is such a peaceful country. It was just recently, in the late 90's that the nation began teaching English in the schools. This means that few adults know English well. The children, that are in school(school is required by law there but because it costs money for the uniforms and books-about $300 per year-many children's families cannot afford to send them) are learning English but not using it enough to be functional. Pastor Richard or his brother Pastor John, accompanied us everywhere we went. Pastor Richard interpreted for Debra and Ginny. For my teachings with George, their nephew, Alex, interpreted. I very much enjoyed working with Alex. He reminded me of a young Christian man named Victor that I know in Minnesota. Anyway, it is because of my frustration with the communication issue that our whole family is currently learning how to speak Swahili. We are using the Rosetta Stone computer program. Rosetta Stone is used by NASA and the US Government. It teaches a language through immersion. I highly recommend it and they have many, many languages available.
I very much enjoyed my 5 days in Mwanza. I was able to meet and spend time with many of Pastor Richard's family including his wife Gertrude and their two boys. We also spent an evening with Pastor James from the island. I will write more about him later. What a testimony he has. By the time we left Mwanza, it felt like I had family there and I knew that one day I would return there. Next, we boarded a bus to begin our trip to Bukumbi.

The Wise Man

Today Shannon and I met with a wise man. His name is Pastor Keith and he is the head pastor of the Willmar Assembly of God church. We wanted to share with him our vision and hear his thoughts. He is familiar with us and with End Time Glory Ministries and Wayne and Debra Zimmer. He asked how we had gotten to this point in our lives to be looking at this particular ministry. He had several good thoughts to share with us. Some he had heard from others and some were his own.
*Shannon needs to set foot in the country as I have. We agree and that is planned for September. He was glad to hear that.
*God only calls into the ministry those who cannot stay out of it. Can we stay out of it? No .
*What is the worst case scenario if we go and it doesn't work out? Are we willing to live with it? Yes.
*Would we be able, at this point, to have peace with the decision not to go? No, not unless God makes it very clear we are not to go.
* If we are unable to have that peace and would always have regrets then we probably should go. Yup, probably.

We enjoyed our time with him and apreciate his counsel and prayers. He asked permission to share this information with his staff so we have more of a prayer covering. We granted it, with apreciation. We look forward to formally announcing our plans to our entire congregation at a later date, yet to be determined.

Thank you Pastor Keith.

My first time in Tanzania-story finally continued

We arrived, after about 24 hours in transit at the International airport near Mount Kilamanjaro and Arusha in Northeast Tanzania. Unfortunately it was dark so I could not see the landscape but I remember my first thoughts as we stepped into the cement building of the receiving area-this is not America. It was just a plain building with no plush chairs or nice carpet as seen in other airports I'd been in.

We were met by Pastor Richard's brother, Pastor Jerry, who escorted us on the shuttle bus to our hotel in Arusha. It was about a half hour drive and as much as I wanted to see outside, all I could see were a few occassional lights. The hotel was a busy place and quite nice. It had double glass elevators overlooking a nice pool. Our particular room had two twin beds a TV, dresser, a decent bathroom-pretty much everything one would expect in Africa plus more(mosquito nets hanging above the beds). Both Ginny and I collapsed into our beds for a night of rest. Unfortunately, I, in my excitement to see Africa did not get much sleep, but it still felt good to lay down.

The next morning I was awake early and looking out the window on to the beautiful courtyard below full of flowers and strange plants. We returned to the airport on a very crowded and smelly shuttle bus for our flight to Mwanza. I was glued to the window. Seeing the people and culture of Africa seemed like a dream. The land was dustier than I expected, the people darker, the language more foreign-it was very surreal.

I claimed a window seat on the plane. Both of the two women I was traveling with had been to Tanzania twice before and understood my desire to see all that I could. I remember as our rather small plane was loading, the very white pilot( I later discovered he was British) telling us that he much prefers flying the big planes but that he couldn't anymore as he had lost his medical card. There was no copilot. I spent the whole two hour flight to our first stop, trying to figure out how to fly that airplane in case he keeled over. Our first stop was in Shinyanga where we dropped off and picked up passengers and refueled. As we came in I realized that the runway was gravel. This scared the dickens out of me. In just a few short hours, even my overly adventurous spirit had been tried several times. It was there that the pilot laughed when I asked him more. "You must be Americans!", he laughed. When I asked why he said because Americans are always naive. The medical card was a joke. I remember thinking I didn't care if he thought I was naive, that I was just thrilled he wasn't going to die while flying me somewhere.

Another quick short flight, in a too small plane, and we arrived at our destination of Mwanza. There was something about the place as we landed. I could see as we flew in, the landscape changed from dusty brown to green. I saw the blue of Lake Victoria as we approached. It felt so wonderful to be there. Very shortly after we arrived, we were greeted enthusiastically by several men and their wives. The women bowed to us at which time I got peeks at the babes they wore in slings on their backs. It was mainly for the children that I was there and I just loved seeing them.

We were delivered by "taxi", really just a hired driver as there are few cars there, to our hotel. On the way I was surprised at how fast he drove. There were people on the streets that would run to get out of the way and we saw a small accident between a car and a small motorcycle. It didn't look like there were injuries. It amazed me how close these cars get to each other and the people with so few problems.

Our first hotel in Mwanza had us on the second floor where we each had our own room. My room overlooked the open courtyard area of several families where I was able to watch them go about their daily lives. Mwanza is nestled down among the hills on the south shore of Lake Victoria. I was able to see houses packed together on the bluffs. There were people walking everywhere. Several times per day, beginning at 5AM, the Muslim call to prayer is issued over large loud speakers to be heard throughout the city. I remember that I just used those times to pray to my God-the one, true God. I prayed for His protection over us and that He would give us a great harvest of souls for His kingdom over the next two weeks. He amswered both of those requests.

Shannon is going to Tanzania in two months!

I just wanted to share with you. Shannon was asked to go with Debra and End Time Glory Ministries to Tanzania in September several weeks ago. He wanted to go but was sure he could never get the three weeks off he would need to go. After waiting over a week for an opportunity to talk with his boss and his wife, Shannon was given the perfect time to speak with both of them together last Thursday. He told them of our long-term plans for Tanzania and then asked for that time off. Both of them were very receptive to the idea as well as full of questions about it all. Shannon called right away to get his flight booked. He is going and will be involved in helping to choose and purchase the land for the ministry. The land where we will help to minister to many adults and even more children.

The Wheelbarrow of Trust

Tonight as Shannon and I had our devotional time together, I realized that I wanted to share with you a portion of our reading. This comes from the book Night Light by James & Shirley Dobson. Although I've heard the story before, it is a good one.

"Let's imagine you're near the beautiful but dangerous Niagra Falls. A circus performer has strung a rope across the falls with the intention of pushing a wheelbarrow from one side to the other. Just before stepping on the rope, he asks you, "Do you think I can accomplish this feat?" His reputation has preceded him, so you reply that you believe he can walk the tightrope. In other words, you have faith that he will succeed. Then he says, "If you really believe I can do it, how about getting in the wheelbarrow and crossing with me?" Accepting his invitation would be an example of remarkable trust."

Are you willing to get in God's wheelbarrow, no matter where it takes you? It likely will not take you to Africa, but even if it does, jump in anyway!

Happy 4th of July

Well, it is the 4th of July. This day is special to me for several reasons. Not only is it Independence day for our home country but it is also Shannon's and my anniversary. We were married 19 years ago today. It seems amazing to me that it has been 19 whole years and on the other hand, it is even more amazing to me that it has been ONLY 19 years. When I look at how our marriage first started-where we were and what we have been through-it is amazing to me that we are where we are today. God truly does raise up the weak so that what is done, is done to His glory.

On Sunday our church did a wonderful patriotic program called Celebrate America. We started with some praise and worship, then the Armed Services anthem was sung by our choir. As each of the branches song was played the church asked for veterans of those branches to come forward to be apreciated. I always have mixed feelings about this. I am glad to see the veterans recognized but as a veteran I find it very uncomfortable up there, especially because Shannon and I are usually the only Marines up there besides the Marine in uniform portraying our branch. Unfortunately this year, Shannon was home in bed very sick. He was dizzy and nauseous and stayed in bed all day. There was another Marine that went forward with me. I had never seen him before. The Marine portraying our branch is an active duty Marine that was injured in Iraq and received a purple heart. I just love the dress blues of our branch and he wore them well. My mom and dad, sister Corryn, and her boyfriend Matt,. joined us for the service. Then we went to mom and dads lake place for dinner, the annual 4th of July waterfight, visiting, grilling supper and a bonfire. It was a fun day but we all wished Shannon could have been there.

Yesterday we went to Shannon's brother's home. They recently moved to a farm and we had a BBQ and bonfire there too. We didn't get home until 1AM and all of the kids feel asleep in the van on the way home. We slept in this morning.

Today Shannon and our oldest son are doing some yardwork. I am doing laundry and cleaning. Tonight some dear friends are coming out for supper, fireworks and a bonfire. We haven't had time with them for awhile and are looking forward to it. We usually see them just at church each week. It is so hard sometimes to find the time to maintain friendships. We are looking forward to their visit.

We can't help but wonder if we will be here, in Minnesota, for the next 4th of July. We hate the thought of taking our children away from family and friends and traditions, for the new and unknown, and yet we both know we have to obey God's call. We are certain that this is God's will for us and know that our entire family will be truly blessed if we walk in the way He wants us to. We are looking at Tanzania as our Promised Land. I wish to share a portion of an email I received from another family looking at moving to Africa for the same reason but in a diferent location,

"This is what God said in Numbers 14:31 about the children of the first generation. 'But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.' That generation used their children as a reason to not go into the promised land. I'm not saying, go or don't go. But don't hold your children up as the reason you don't go."

So, we shall put feet to our faith and trust Him to prepare a way. We wil trust Him to comfort us and our loved ones through the transition.

Final preparations for my first trip to Tanzania

After the trip to Duluth, the summer continued on as I raised the money for the trip and prepared to go. The majority of my preparations consisted of getting the children taken care of while I was gone. Good friends of ours went through an abreviated foster care licensing process so they could watch our foster daughter on occassional overnights as needed while I was gone. Since they would be watching our own children once in awhile this made sense. Next, I sat down with a calender, wrote down all of the children's appointments, which mainly consisted of our foster daughter's bio family visits and therapy appointments, and Shannon's schedule. Then I went through and figured out who the children would be with and when. As they were homeschooled this was a pretty major deal. I spent hours and hours on this. Also, at that time, Shannon's schedule was crazy. He was working for a helicopter crop spraying company. The hours were long and the days were irregular, depending on weather, so I needed to have back up plans in place as well.

I did some clothes shopping. In Tanzania the women wear dresses and skirts. I needed to buy clothes that would be acceptable for me over there. I also bought a lot of Dramamine. I had heard that the travel in Africa was rough and I was terribly concerned about this as I get motion sickness very easily. In fact, here at home, even when Shannon and I are together, he has me drive because my stomache is so sensitive. He prefers when I drive anyway as he does so much of it for his work.

One thing I didn't do, that I wish I had, was learn at least some Swahili. I hated when I was over there being unable to communicate with people all around me without an interpreter present. 40 years ago, when Tanzania gained their independence, the president at that time, in an effort to completely unite the country and get rid of any tribal divisions, declared Swahili the official language. All school classes were taught in Swahili. English, as well as native tribal languages was not allowed. It has been only in the past 10 years that English is being taught in the schools as a subject. This means that few adults speak English and the children, even though they are learning it, are not getting enough practice to speak it well enough to be conversational.

Before I knew it, it was time to leave for Tanzania.