....And we're home!

Dear Friends:  We arrived home Thursday afternoon after a very long flight.  We had a nice experience coming home.  There was a couple from Kenya sitting in front of us.  When we arrived in Minneapolis I helped the man get a bad down from the overhead compartment.  He said "Thank you".  I said "Asante"  He said "Asante Sana!".  He said "You know Swahili".  To which Angie said "Kidogo" (a little).  He asked how we knew some words so I explained that my brother was a missionary in Moshi for "Mashahidi wa Yehova"....to which he blurted out real loud "Oh, Jehovah's Witnesses!"  There are here for 6 months and I feel bad for them, given we are headed into winter!

Anyway, here a a few photos from our final days in Tanzania.

 Just outside the gate to Jason's place.  It's interesting that most homes have a walled fence but not always windows and doors.  Jason has windows and doors, so don't worry Mom.

Jason lives in the apartment on the left side.  The box in front of the window is their air conditioner to cool their bedroom.  They have a really great landlord who lives in the house next to them.

The day we were to leave we found the car wouldn't start.  So we went to the landlady and she let us use her car to jump it.  No go.  Long story short, Jason called his Fundi (mechanic) who said:  Make sure it's properly in park.  Sure enough, it was not (I can neither confirm nor deny that it was my fault!)...wala....it worked. What a relief!

One more good look at the mountain.  I never get tired of looking at it, while others (here pictured) were less impressed...."It's just a big rock!"...it seems she's more impressed with colorful fish and coral.  




Sunset make it look pink.

One night we went to Martin and Anita Muxlow's place.  They used to be in the same missionary home with Jason and Sherri.  They go to the other congregation in town.  They have been in Tanzania for 15 years and are from Britian.  Martin was good enough to thoroughly explain rugby to me as I find it interesting.  However, cannot seem to get it on US television! 

You have to hand it to them for their hard work all these years.

Visited a place that  bags coffee.  They roast it in the same building, so needless to say it smells awfully good in there!

It's spring time in Moshi.  The trees are flowering and everything is getting green.  Moshi is really a nice town, better than many in the region.

Getting water is a main concern for everyone.  Often you see bikers like this with as many jugs as they can get.  I can't imagine trying to balance my bike with all this weight.  5 gallons of water weighs 40 pounds, so imagine how much all these weigh.  

Wednesday, Jason and Sherri ran out of water.  Here Jason is climbing up to the water tank (2000 litres) to see if it's empty. (sorry, got mostly a picture of his rump...) The city pumps water into it on a timer, problem is, the power was out frequently in the last few days so they missed the pump cycle a few times.  Jason called the city and we had water back in a couple hours.  Not too bad.  But it's stuff you just don't really think about back home.

....and so it was a wonderful trip.  Beautiful part of the world, but also so very nice to spend time with family.  It was also good to see first hand some of the blessings and challenges typical of what our missionaries the world over encounter as they carry out their work.  It certainly is good to pray for them to have "power beyond what is normal".

We hope you all enjoyed this and we are very glad to be back home and in our own assignments.  That being said, we surely look forward to getting to Tanzania again!  Jason and Sherri, thanks for your wonderful hospitality (Asante sana!!),  keep up the good work!  We love you both!
                                                   Brian & Angie

Missionary Life

Hello!  Tuesday morning here...it's raining a bit, so a good time to put up a few pics. 

Here's one of the many coffee plantations.  This part of Tanzania exports alot of coffee.  The locals mostly drink tea so not a lot of coffee stays in the country.  It's all picked by hand too.
 .....and a lumber yard.  Most of the wood is cypress or mahogany.  

Here's the fruit stand where Jason and Sherri get much of their fruit.  Pineapple and mango are really good!

But....in order to limit the risk of amoebas, all fruit needs to be washed in a bleech solution first.  You'd be surprised how much time it takes for the basics.  Of course, no fast food and on a budget, you don't really go out to eat much.  No spaghetti  out of a jar either!  Simply doesn't exist. 

And the power in the country is really sketchy.  So fridge on....fridge off...all the time.  This week there has been two outages that lasted almost all day.  So, while it's great that the Branch provided an air conditioner to fight the heat...you need electricity for it to work!!  and, like last night, no fan when you go to bed either.  Then, you also have to try to remember what was all "on" when you went to bed, because right about your first REM cycle, the power will come back on and lights go on, TV goes on, etc.

....and if it's your wash day, and your clothes are in the washer...zap, there goes the power....oh, well...I guess it'll get a good soaking!  You'd be surprised how your life revolves around whether you have electricity or not.   And the Branch has provided a good generator, but you just can run it all the time.

To the right is a band that was playing a wedding.  It's quite different than wedding bands in the States.  What they do is they get in the back of a pickup and the whole wedding party parades around town with this band playing like crazy.  It's quite comical really, but also a traffic hazard!

 Here's Jason opening the gate to their house, which is a duplex.  It's quite a process to leave and to come home.  First you unlock the big gate, drive the car through, get out, shut and lock the gate.

Then open the "garage door" gate.  Drive in, lock the gate. 

Then unlock the gate door in the back of the house, unlock the actual wood door, and wala....your home!  Jason says it might be over-kill, but why take chances.  He's got so many keys you'd think he was a janitor!  And Sherri has not got Jason to let her label all the keys, so it takes even longer....Jason!!! let her label the keys!!


Speaking of hazards, here is a Dala Dala (bus).  Basically, here's how it works....you take a small mini-van, pack it full of people at the bus station and then head out to pick up more people.  And don't forget there's also "carry-on's"....like a huge bunch of bananas or a huge sack of flour or rice..

This guy probably has the best seat of all....at least he's getting fresh air!  "How many people can you get in a dala-dala", you ask?   "There's always room for one more...."  These buses are everywhere and we've never seen one not packed to the gills.

Almost none of the brothers have cars, so they either walk to the territory, or they catch a dala-dala to get to their territory.  Remember that much of the territory goes up the foothills of Kilimanjaro, so picture riding one of these in the windy hill roads....

Kingdom Hall Remodel

I just wanted to relate how a nearby congregation has had a successful remodeling project.  Four congregations pulled together the funds to help their next door neighbors give their hall a facelift.  I have no pictures at this time, but Brother Muxlow, a long time missionary here, organized the repairs.  They needed to patch and paint the interior and repair disintegrating exterior.  During the wet season it seems that sometimes standing water has eaten away at the foundation.  The brothers mixed cement and patched the problems.  One brother took a dilapidated bench and cut it so that he could make two chairs for the stage.  Now the congregation benches match the stage furniture.  The rest of the benches were stripped by hand and re-varnished.  Repairs were made to the stage floor as well.  Other repairs were made while the congregation ate rice and beans for lunch.

 It was quite hot, but the work got done, the congregation was thrilled and all costs amounted to $385.00. Remember that it took four congregations to chip in to accomplish this.

I pass along this nice experience to show that even small monies we send for the worldwide work, it really makes a difference for our brothers and sisters. 

Today there was around 100 people at the meeting.  The friends insist on personally greeting each and every one...."Habari asubuhi, ndugu!"((What is your news this morning?)......Nzuri! (good).....Na wewe?  (and you?)....Nzuri sana! (very good)....

Angie has a new friend.  He sat with her for nearly all the meeting.   He's quite active, but super cute.  Just today, during the meeting, he discovered he has a belly button!  No pictures of that, but that's probably best.

The congregation has about 60 kids in it....It's a real blessing.

Meet Emanual....one of the Ministerial Servants.  He is quite busy with congregation matters.

The congregation has a number of young brothers with great potential. 

If you greet an older one you say "Shikamoo!"..the response is " Marahabu!"...needless to say, Angie and I were "shikamoo-ed"  all too often.  As you can see from the pictures, there are many, many kids and all of them are extremely cute! 

Most of the friends walk to the meeting or maybe they take a dala dala (mini-bus).  Rain or shine.  The Moshi congregation is a wonderful example of brotherly love!

And a few street scenes.

Notes From Angie

Hello, Angie back again. As you know I just can't let Brian tell a story without interrupting at least once to add some 'important' details. <grin>
So, here are a few things I thought you might like to know: Remember the photo of the Kingdom Hall sweeping? Well, this is not from the friends being careless, before you enter the hall door, you scrape your feet on a piece of metal between two small posts...you just can't get it all.

Pile of dirt below foot scraper outside Kingdom Hall door.

Field service has an interesting twist..most people do not have an address. You get mail from a PO box. There are very few street signs, and sometimes no streets. For example, this path leads to more homes:

Plus, much of the congregations territory is not yet mapped. There just are no maps of the area. Of course, Jason, being a Merkling, is determined to get the congregation's territory mapped. [Go Jason!]
But for now he and Sheri are using their IPads and Goggle's GPS mapping to pin where a return visit is and then follow the blinking dot there [Go Goggle!] 
So, when you find interest you generally get the person's cell number. Yes, even in Africa most people have cell phones that they fill with 'minutes'. (No cell plans) The nice thing about it here is that you are not charged minutes when receiving a call. So it cost's the return visit nothing to take your call and they are quick to give out their number.

And finally, an experience from Zanzibar. The resort had multiple beach areas and each had a 'guard' posted. Twelve hour shifts of just standing there...unless of course Jason and Sheri walk by with Swahili tracts. They were able to witness extensively to two of the guards and get their contact information for return visits. One guard spent 3 hours talking to them. He told them that he has been praying everyday to be able to find a new job so he can spend more time learning about God. He works 6am to 6pm 6 days a week. Plus he lives on the resort campus, so no chance for a witness to contact him..that is until now. Jason and Sheri pulled out their ipads with the Swahili teach book and asked him which question he wondered most. Since both his parents died when he was young he picked the chapter on 'What happens at death'. They started going through the chapter and he told them. "This may be small to you, but this very big for me. You have touched my plan" Then, to make a long story short, as we were driving to the airport on Sunday morning, Jason got a text. The gaurd was in StoneTown looking for the Kingdom Hall. Could Jason tell him what time the meeting started?
They are very excited to see how this progresses.

Well, that's all from me. We did our last day of Safari today and are heading back to Moshi in the morning. Thought you might like this one picture of something we saw in Ngorgoro Crater. And no Joel, we did not stand by him for the picture to prove that we were there..your going to have to take our word for it this time :)

Chumbe and Safari

Hello everyone!  Turns out if you stay at the right place while on safari, you can get internet!

Lots to report, there is too much...."I will sum up"...

We left the resort on the east side of Zanzibar, sent Jason and Sherri on a plane back to Moshi, and we got on a little boat to an island called Chumbe. (That was after the taxi driver asked at least 4 people where the hotel was that the boat comes to!...thought I was at Menards asking the help to find some nails or something....)

 It's off the east cost and Chumbe Island which is a reserve for  a coral reef.  They are an eco-lodge and so everything is natural.  You'll see our "cabin".  No door, just wide open.  Electricity is acquired by solar power, as is the hot water.  And you have to be careful with the hot water as it can burn you after being warmed by the sun!.  The shower has a trigger sprayer so you use far less water, and you still get nice and clean--which is great after a long day of snorkeling and sweating

Our bed was up in the loftt and had a view of the Indian Ocean!  It was warm at night, but still comfortable. 

The meals were amazing!  Red Snapper and octopus (incredibly tender and tasty) and we had Kingfish as well.

There is no water on the island, so every two days they are re-supplied by the mainland. They re-use all the water and collect rain water, filter it and re-use.  They filter any gray water and then put it on the plants, which are set in a clay base so it cannot leach beyond.

As far as snorkeling, it's the best coral we've ever seen.  There are sting rays, a giant grouper fish, lots of fish right out of "Finding Nemo"...Angie got to go on three trips and I went on two.  It was really nice to see this ocean because when Angie had her fish tank, the fish and coral came from here.  It was kinda like swimming in her tank, only bigger!  It was also nice to see how healthy the coral was.  Many places we've seen the coral is dead or struggling.  Here is was feeding and looking good. 

To the right is a Coconut Crab.  The island crawls with them after dark.  They are about 1 foot in size, not counting their claws.  Don't let em grab you as they can cut your fingers right off, after all, they crack open cocunuts.  They climb trees to get them.  It was a very cool little walk.

Oh, and they give you straw hats so you can look eco-cool!.  All kidding aside, it was not hard to imagine New World living where you have a plot of land, a solar panel and a nice simple lifestyle. 

On To Safari!!

After Chumbe, we flew to Arusha (which is about an hour west of Moshi where Jason lives).  We caught a 2 1/2 hour ride to our next destination.  (Here's Angie on the back porch.)  They provide a flashlight so you can "shine" animals in the valley below our room.  Angie was out "shining deer" for a while last night and caught a glimpse of a couple of deer like things. It was pretty neat.  And the birds are all different as well as their calls.  

We saw  Lake Manyara park today and will see the Ngorongoro Crater park Friday.

And still pigging out!  Here's this morning's breakfast.  The menu said "Traditional Breakfast"....sounded harmless enough.  I think they think we are a party of four the way they bring the food!


So after getting stuffed, we are off to Manyara!

  As we get inside the park entrance, here's this little blue monkey to greet us.  He was just hanging around...I think he's waiting for someone to offer him a job or something.  He was quite comfortable with the tourists gauking and taking his picture.

There are three types of monkeys in the park:  Baboons (and gobs of them), blue monkeys and velvet monkeys.  We saw plenty of all three.


Zebra's were plentiful, as were wildebeests,
hippos (they have their own pool..."The Hippo Pool"), lots of giraffes, water buffalo, elephants, and lots more.  A zoo without the popcorn and cages!

Everyone who goes on safari is hoping to see "The Big Five"...elephants, water buffalo, leopard, lion, rhino....hunters came up with this name as the five things that hunt you!...we saw two of them today and are hoping to see the others Friday.  We are hunting with our cameras!

Closeup of a momma zebra and her colt....it was around lunch time!

Here is a giraffe drinking.  The guide told us this is about the only time they are vulnerable to lions (which we got skunked here on lions).   Otherwise the giraffe can kick the lions and they basically have no change.  And since they stand about 16 feet tall, the leg's gotta lotta kick. 

 The lodge packed us a nice picnic lunch, and for the driver.  Again, couldn't eat it all, but it was fun to open all the little dishes!

 Here's the most exciting part of the day!  Late in the day we spotted a momma elephant with her baby.  Then....she spotted us!....so she starts walking really fast toward the jeep.  ( I got it on film but if I try to download the film the internet is so slow you'd get it two weeks from now).....Anyway, I digress....she comes right at the back of the jeep, swings her snoot at the jeep so as to say "My baby is about to cross the road and if you mess with her I'll flip you guys and not lose any sleep!!"....Then, as you can see, the two made their way down the path.  It made us a bit nervous, but the driver was not, so we figured he's seen worse....

Speaking of momma's...lots of monkey mommas in the park.  Here are two baboons...mom and baby.  We also saw a blue monkey with a baby strapped to its belly and they were just trucking down the road. 

 Oh, and don't think Tanzania doesn't follow US politics.  Notice this cute little cart.  Must be democrats because here is also a cart saying how glad they are that Obama won.  Everywhere we go, when people find out that we are from America...."OH, Barak Obama!!"....snapped these on the way back today.

I had to leave for a minute because there was some crashing in the bushes below our bungalow....grabbed Angie and the flashlight....it was two water buffalo....we shined em good....anyway, I can hear them going up the hill as they crunch their way through the bushes...just wait until Isa. 11:6-9 is fulfilled!

I'll try to load some more pictures after a while.  Hope you are all doing well and we look forward to being back in just over a week!

Stuff from the other camera

So the following pics are from our camera...the little one.  An assortment from the whole trip to date.  I'll explain as I go. 

This is hall cleaning after the Sunday meeting.  Another congregation meets in the afternoon and it was a little muddy in the morning.  The dada (sister) is using a small wisk broom.  They sweep the sand out the door. 




The ndugu(brother) wearing the sweater vest also is named Brian..now I have some nice sweater vests at home for service in the cold of winter but you wouldn't catch me wearing one in Africa!  He is auxiliary pioneering this month.  Jason works with him often.

,

Jason, doing the Saturday meeting for serivce.  14 people came



Here's Jason and I standing next to part of the "security fence" at his house.   Bougainvillea is absolutely everywhere in the country and on Zanzibar.

Angie is not standing next to a large pile of dino dung. This is the termite mound by Jason's house.

Today we went to the resort owned beach about 1km from the main buildings.  They take you over there on a golf cart.  We got there when tide was out.  The locals get alot done at that time, including planting seaweed for harvest later. 

Below I am standing on a huge sand bar that will be completely under water when tide comes in.  There are lots of these little dugout boats that will soon be floating again.  It only takes about 2 hours for the tide to go from low to high.  It really moves in quick!







We walked out on the sand bar and snapped this photo.  We walked out twice as far and were still only in knee deep water.  There were a number of men who walked out there to spear fish.









After all that hard work Angie and I went for lunch at the bar provided by the resort.  Today we both had prawns for appetizer and red snapper for the main course.  Crepes for desert....won't be losing any weight on this trip!

And for professional relaxation, you can get one of these beech chairs!  We took a more standard approach, but this is like an open air beech condo!