Pictures Galore

The Church we were building

A great start to our safari, wait, what is that?!

The King of the Jungle staring me down

A Maasai giraffe. Note the shapes of the spots.

Rusty, this one is for you.

What a cool looking animal!

The boys and I, after an intense soccer game.

A super dramatic girl, always posing for a picture.

The beautiful view on our way to work everyday.

Some of my favourite boys chillin out. What is the one on the left trying to say to me?

Teaching the Compassion kids.

Gaga and I, my favourite child.

Ready for a prayer service in the Church we were building.

Pastor Shadrack and I at the Mitumba Church.

Okay, so I'm a loser for not putting pictures on sooner.....gosh!

Kwaheri Tanzania

Jambo! I am officially out of Tanzania now, and am back at Mayfield in Kenya. My last week went very well. On saturday at Compassion Day, I led the Bible story for the older kids, aged 12-17. I told the story of Joseph, and how he forgave his brothers after what they did to him. I related the story to how God forgives us, even though we don't deserve it. After, I gave an invitation to accept Christ for those who wanted to know for sure that if they were to die this day, that they would go to heaven to be with Christ. That was really amazing, as about 30 kids wanted to make sure that they would go to heaven. I really don't know how many became Christians for the first time, as I know that most of them were already Christians, but they wanted assurance that they would go to heaven. Praise God for that! I met my uncle Col on Sunday. I hadn't seen him for almost 3 years, so it was so cool how it worked out to see him. He took me to Moshi to show me the school he works at and his house. On the way there, the car ran out of gas. The middle of Africa isn't the place you want to run out of gas! Luckily we were not far from a gas station, so that worked out. I come home on Thursday, after a 10 hour layover in London. I'm hoping that I will be able to go into downtown London and see some of the sites. I am sad that my mission stay in Africa is over, but I am looking forward to seeing all family and friends again! Thank you so much for all of your prayers, as I believe that it was only the grace of God that got me through some situations. I definitely have a strong love for Africa, and can see myself coming back! Please pray that I will have a safe trip. See you soon!

I'm Still Here - Don't Worry!

Habari ya Canadian famalia na rafikis yangu (How is my Canadian family and friends)?! Pole sana (very sorry) for not updating this for a while. I have had an incredibly exciting week, and God has done some amazing things! Where to start where to start. Sorry in advance as this is going to be very long. So after a couple of weeks, our team was starting to get discouraged, because we could see that we were helping physically (on the church), but we didn't feel like we were getting anywhere spiritually with others. One day we decided to go back to the worksite in the afternoon to talk about God with our fundis (workers). They were so busy that we were not able to talk with them, but we invited some workers from the site next to us to come and talk with us. We had some incredible translators with us, and to make a long story short, two of them became Christians! One was for the first time (Damian), and the other one (Joel) rededicated his life. Joel told us that he turned away from God because his wife wasn't a Christian, and it was hard for him to keep his faith. They were so excited, and the next day, they brought us to their homes to visit and share Christ with the families. God did an amazing thing, in that Joel's wife (Stella) was able to come to Christ!! Wow, it was so overwhelming. Now both Damian and Joel come by our site when they are on their work break, just to help us out with the building of the Church. Last Compassion Day (saturday), my good friend Emmanuel, who is 18, accepted Christ as well as his cousin Mariam! I have been praying for Ema for a while. He told me that he wasn't ready to become a Christian before, because he didn't want to keep sinning after he accepts Christ as his Saviour. I told him that it's human nature to sin, but that when Christ died for us on the Cross, all of our sins that we've done and that we will do was washed clean, as long as we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). I have noticed a huge change in his attitude and the way he acts. Bwana Yesu Asifiwe (Praise the Lord Jesus)!! God was absolutely incredible this past week, that's all I can say. On monday and tuesday, we went on a safari! It was so much fun. On monday we went to Lake Manyara, just on the edge of the Rift Valley. We saw tons of giraffes, elephants, impalas and hippos, but my favourite was at the end of the trip. We were on our way to leave the park, when we saw a male and female lion lying in a tree right above the road! He was so close to us...I poked my head out the window for pictures, then I realized he could probably just drop on to me....so I stayed in the vehicle, because I realized he's probably a bit more aggressive than the animals that we have in Medicine Hat.....deer, poodles, house-cats, cows, mag-pies....ahh I miss that place. On tuesday we went to Ngorongoro Crater, which is the 8th wonder of the world I believe. The view was absolutely amazing, because we travelled to the top of the Rift Valley. We saw plenty of zebras, wildabeest, hippos, buffaloes, gazelles and some elephants. We also saw 12 lions altogether in the crater! We were able to see a couple lions mate....good thing Dad gave me "the talk" already, cause that was interesting. I'm not going to lie, I was laughing the whole time. Our guide told us that they mate every 15 minutes for 5 days. So like any normal people, we sat there and timed it until they mated again. I kid you not, it was EXACTLY 15 minutes! Oh my goodness, so hilarious. Anyways, God has blessed us. Pray that this last week in Arusha will go well, and that God will open doors for us to share with others. I probably won't update again until I am back in Nairobi in about a week. I love Tanzania, and can picture myself coming back, but it'll be nice to be back in Canada soon! I love you all.

The Mzungu Strikes Again

Mambo! I have had a great week with some interesting stories! Compassion Day last saturday was awesome. I had the young kids, so they were chasing me around with a piece of grass each trying to tickle me. There are 277 kids at Compassion Day, so saturdays are really hectic. I was in an insanely intense game of soccer with the teen boys. They were all so good, even the little chubby ones! I was really proud of myself because I scored a goal on a header.....everyone shouted "mzungu!" Pride comes before the downfall, as a little while later I dislocated my shoulder. So that was a little painful, but what can I say, I'm a manimal. Thanks for all of your prayers! I have seen a doctor, and have gotten x-rayed, and everything looks good! It feels sooo much better, and I am able to do the work still building the church. Bwana Asifiwe!! I don't know if you have been following the news, but there are some earthquakes happening in northern Tanzania. I have only really felt one. The whole building I was in started to shake...I thought the glass was going to shatter. I have to admit, I was pretty excited as that was the first earthquake I have ever been in. I don't watch the news here, but supposedly a volcano erupted somewhere around here. I haven't felt any lava hit my face yet, so I know nothing about it. I have moved to a new house closer to where we are building the church. All I will say is it is an extremely nice house. We were invited to a send-off party for a bride-to-be the other night. Wow, probably the nicest party I have ever been to. It was definitely an upper class party for Africa. At one point, all of the people from the Sukumu tribe were supposed to go up and start dancing. I figured I looked Sukumu, so I went up and started to dance with them! It was a blast....even though a really old guy started dancing with me. They were all so happy that I came and danced with them though. Today, something really freaky happened. We found out that not far from where we are working, live some thieves. Today the soldiers surrounded the house and were trying to capture them. I am told that there were a lot of gunshots. I did not see any of this, but some of the girls from my team happened to be walking by while this was happening. Please continue to pray that God will keep a hedge of protection around us. God is doing some might things here. I have had some conversations with the local workers helping us on the church who aren't Christians. It is hard, because of the language barrier, but I belive that I am making some good relationships. One of my good friends here, Richard (the 22 year old who held my hand) isn't a Christian either, but I've been able to really connect with him. Pray that he will come to know God, and that we will continue to strengthen the relationships that we have with the local workers. Siku njema....kwaheri!

Arusha at Last

I have been in Arusha for a couple days now. On the drive to Tanzania from Nairobi, we had to cross the border at Namanga, where tons of ladies would swarm you and ask if you want to buy their beads. One lady was able to get her hand in the bus window, and was trying to make us buy it! I saw four giraffes on the way to Arusha. So cool! The first day we were here, we were staying at this house for supper, and I kid you not, we watched these corny worship music videos for 4 hours straight! They were so painful to watch.....seriously, we're in Africa, can't we do something cooler? The family I am staying with is really nice. There is a 11 year old girl (I figured out yesterday she was a girl....), 6 year old boy, and 1 year old girl. Only the dad eats with us. Yesterday we had fish. I'm pretty sure that thing was still flopping around on my plate! Eyes, gills, scales and all (it was at least cooked). I thought I would be polite if I didn't make them heat water for my shower every morning. Bad mistake.....I can seriously see my breath in the shower it's so cold! We have been working at the Church in Njiro (a small suberb of Arusha) for the past couple days. Right now we are making the ground level with dirt, so a LOT of shovelling. We transport to a lot of the places by Dala Dala, which is basically a beat up, tacky van that they pack full of people, and you pray that you'll survive the trip. A little sketchy. I led the devotional at youth group last night. I talked about trusting God in all situations. I have met a butt load of cool people. A 15 year old boy gave me a bracelet yesterday as a sign of friendship. Yesterday, a 22 year old guy walked me and Geoff (the other guy on my team) home. He held my hand the whole way. Awkward. Anyways, I have to go. Tomorrow we do Compassion day with the children! Pray that it will go well, as there are 277 children that go!

Slum Church

Today was super exciting! My team went to the Mitumba slum church today, to see the church that Heights has planted. It was amazing! Buana Asafiwe that I got to go! First of all, the road to get to the slum was TREACHEROUS! I can't believe that they drive on that....it was a road designed for a Hummer! I was so blessed to be able to meet Pastor Shadrack and the congregation there. Their testimony is incredible. God definitely provides for them. There are so many kids, and they are all so adorable! To start, all of the kids did performances such as singing. Then the real church service started. Let me tell you, time is not of importance in Africa. It's all about building relationships....an hour into the service, Pastor Shadrack was still greeting visitors, and telling stories. Wow, I felt so honoured this service, as my family was spoken very highly of. Grandma, everyone loves you! The story was told about how the Mitumba Church came to be, and how Mama Rachel and Pastor Art were such a blessing to see the vision for this church. God is definitely doing great wonders in that slum through that church. It's amazing to see a group of people with such happiness, yet they have so little. The church prayed for a young boy there that is getting more sick, as he has HIV. Please pray that God would put meaning into his life. It was so sad to see him stand in front of the church, hanging his head. Anyways, I send you all many greetings from Pastor Shadrack and the congretation in the Mitumba slum. This will now be my last update for a while, as we leave for Arusha tomorrow! Please pray for safety, and that God will use us as we are entering our designated mission field. Sorry I can't do pictures, as the computers here won't load them.

Africa!!!

Hey everyone! Habari Yako?! I am finally in Africa! I arrived here in Nairobi last night, after some long flights from Toronto. Orientation was good, but it was a lot of fun to meet my team and start to get to know each other. God definitely snuck in a little blessing for me, as I was given a second class seat from London to Nairobi....what luxury compared to normal seats! I was the only member of my team to have one, even though my ticket was for the normal seats! Anyways, I'm in Africa! The first thing that really hit me, was the soldier right outside of the airport....carrying a large machine gun. Woah, I'm definitely not in Canada. Driving to the guesthouse I'm staying at was also interesting, yet very scary. At one point, there was a large spike belt layed across the road that the police put there randomly, just to see if you're paying attention! Today I walked to a market, which was an experience in itself. Everyone stared at me.....like come on, it's not like I look different from them at all. Crossing the street is a free for all. I'm pretty sure they try to hit you when you cross! One of my team members almost got smoked by a truck. Oh I love Africa. This might be my last post in a while, because I don't know if we will have easy access to an internet when we are in Arusha. We leave there on monday, so keep me in your prayers as the travelling is kind of scary. I love you all, and miss you guys.....well...kind of!