Swahili graduation

We graduated!!!!  We are now officially certified Swahili speakers :)

This has been one of the most challenging experiences of our lives.  Moving away from friends and family, living in Africa...with kids, enduring sickness...and bugs, studying Swahili everyday, all day long. 

But we are so thankful for our time here.  We are very blessed to have studied with these teachers in this place.  We really respect and appreciate the teachers.  It was interesting to build relationships and discuss life with teachers who were from a Christian background as well as those from another major world religion.  God used this experience to broaden our worldview and deepen our faith.

We are excited to continue learning this language so that we can communicate with people.  Studying Swahili and reading the Swahili Bible rekindled our desire to see God's Word in peoples' heart languages.

And after 16 weeks of Swahili school our brains have gone "bye-bye!"  It's been wonderful, but we're glad to be done.

Now, on to Musoma.....

the wide world of Tanzanian BUGS

Check out these crawlers and flyers...
Maybe you can help us identify them.



his skin is metallic green



this must be his cousin



awesome camoflage



some kind of mantis?



Kara liked this one

Here's a video of the same bug...






we call this: exoskeleton at sunset

this is just weird - termite wings

Here's what we heard...these flying termites emerge after the first rain, lose their wings, reproduce, and die.  The next morning, the ground was covered with these wings.  AND some people fry the termites and eat them.  Hmmmmm...

Our God is an awesome Creator!

(We won't show pictures of the cockroaches or spiders or mosquitos, yuck!)

Swahili word of the day: bubujika

Say it with me [boo-boo-JEE-ka]

 

It means bubble up, gush, burst out like in Proverbs 18:4,

The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling {bubujika} brook.

This verse contrasts the words of the ordinary person with the words of the wise person.  Sometimes our words conceal deeper, hidden meanings which can be selfish, harmful or dangerous.  The Hebrew word translated "deep" refers to darkness (Job 12:22), the evil thoughts of wicked men (Psa 64:6), and the mouth of an adulterous woman (Prov 22:14).  All too often we use our words to deceive, mislead, manipulate, or lie.  It happens so naturally we might not even realize the depths of our depraved hearts.  Jesus said, “the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” (Luke 6:45).

In contrast, the wise person bubbles over with words which are open, clear, honest, trustworthy, and life-changing.*  "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life" (Prov 10:11).  When the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts, we should gush words which “impart grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29).  Wise words burst forth from a wise heart in an abundant supply.  “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good” (Luke 6:45).  "The tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov 12:18).

 

*Waltke, Bruce K. The Book of Proverbs (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2004).

Look, Mom, we're learning Swahili!

Check out this video of our time at Swahili language school in Iringa, Tanzania.

Swahili word of the day: kifudifudi

Say it with me...kifudifudi.  Isn't it fun to say?!?  In Swahili it means face downwards.

Like in I Samuel 5,

When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward {kifudifudi} on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward {kifudifudi} on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with Yahweh!  He is all-powerful, all-knowing and absolutely jealous for his own glory.

Thanks Marty

Happy Reformation Day!!!

Last year I wrote a little about Martin Luther's life and beliefs.
Click here:
Happy Reformation Day!

This year I want to share a hymn that Luther wrote:

Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands

1. Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands, For our offenses given;
But now at God's right hand He stands and brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be, And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah!

2. No son of man could conquer Death,
Such mischief sin had wrought us,
For innocence dwelt not on earth, And therefore Death had brought us
Into thraldom from of old, And ever grew more strong and bold
And kept us in its bondage.

3. But Jesus Christ, God's only Son, To our low estate descended,
The cause of Death He has undone, its power forever ended,
Ruined all its right and claim and left it nothing but the name,--
Its sting is lost forever. Hallelujah!

4. Here the true Paschal Lamb we see,
Whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree-- So strong His love!--to save us.
See, His blood doth mark our door;
Faith points to it, Death passes o'er,
And Satan cannot harm us. Hallelujah!

5. So let us keep the festival; Whereto the Lord invites us;
Christ is himself the Joy of all,
The Sun that warms and lights us.
By His grace He doth impart
Eternal sunshine to the heart;
The night of sin is ended. Hallelujah!

Kara's field trip to Isimila Gorge

Isimila Gorge is an archeological site for primitive civilization and a geological site for fascinating rock formations.  We took Kara with us and this is her story...

We went to Isimila and saw some wooden spears and other weapons which were used  by Tanzanians a long time ago.  We also saw wooden money and a painting of how people lived many years ago.

We saw some sandy rock and it looked like a building.  We saw a lot of them and they were very big.

Mommy and I saw the roots of a tree and the tree was hanging off a rock!  The tree was short.

Daddy saw a lizard with a red head, a blue body and a light blue tail.  I heard that these lizards can paralyze you. (editor's note: this has not been verified)

Daddy saw a rock that looked like a cliff and he jumped off the cliff.

We walked a long way and climbed lots of rocks.  It was hot!  We needed to take a break in this banda.

We had a fun time at Isimila.

Dad pretended to throw me off the cliff, but he really didn't.  It made me laugh.

just do a little laundry

Here's what it takes to do a "little" laundry in Tanzania.

First, Daddy and Luke found a good tree to hang the clothesline.

then Mommy scrubs and scrubs and scrubs

then Mommy hangs them in the sun to dry

Finally, and most important, everything must be ironed (even the undies!) to kill the mango flies' eggs (don't ask, you don't want to know)

Yep, it's an adventure everytime.

new adventure - how to kill a snake

We love the Tanzanian attitude toward snakes: kill first, ask questions later.

On this particular day the guard spotted two vine snakes in the trees.  Can you see them?

Look closer...

See it yet?

And finally, the guard hit the snakes with his stick and then crushed their heads under his boot.  (Sounds Biblical doesn't it??)  One of the snakes had recently eaten a lizard.  How did that big lizard fit into that skinny snake?!

On a different day, Jeannette saw a guard kill one of these snakes with his slingshot.  Vine snakes are highly venomous but thankfully they are not aggressive.  Vine snakes have "back fangs" so they would need to gnaw on you for a while before they could inject their venom.  Still, I'm glad they are dead.  They were very close to the path where the children walk everyday.

the death of a chicken

The day we dreaded....killing the chicken.  Please DO NOT read this post if you have a weak stomach or if you feel emotionally attached to chickens.  The following pictures contain graphic material :)

Ben has never touched a chicken before...in his entire life....ever.

and it's done....just make sure you use a sharp knife

we pulled out the feathers together, which was WAY messier and yuckier than actually killing the chicken

Most of the women on our team passed on the chicken slaying...phew for Jeannette!  Ben got to be the warrior hero, again.

best chicken dinner we've tasted

We will never look at chickens the same again.

sorting rice and shaving coconuts

We cooked a Tanzanian feast!  The preparation took 5 hours, and we did everything without electricity.

Here's Jeannette with her friends and teachers organizing our supplies.

then Jeannette sorted the rice (removing rocks and other debris)

The Swahili language has multiple words for "rice" in its various stages.  Also, there are different words for the different steps in preparing rice.  For example, one single verb means "the process of separating rice from rocks by soaking the rice in water and then allowing the rocks to sink and then pouring off the rice and water leaving the rocks behind."  Beautiful!  We're learning that language and culture are interconnected.

shaving the coconut

We know it sounds curious but Tanzanians have a tool designed specifically for shaving the inside of the coconut to collect all the meat.  Brilliant!

making coconut milk

We mix the cocout meat with water by hand and then filter the chunks out of the coconut milk.  Yummy!  Coconut milk is then cooked with rice and beans for extra flavor.

rolling chapatis

Chapatis are similar to tortillas, but made with a lot more oil.  SO GOOD!

She's having fun!

the finished product...enjoy!

We had so much fun cooking together.  It was hard work and hot and dirty but we talked and laughed and even practiced Swahili.  One of our most enjoyable days in Tanzania.  Jeannette is excited to start cooking Tanzanian meals for our family.


Stay tuned next time for slaughtering the chicken...

to market, to market, to buy a fat chicken

We learned how to shop, cook, and eat Tanzanian style!

We begin with a trip to the local market...

everything is fresh

a mountain of coconuts

smells like curry

this is where we buy beans and rice

no idea what this is but it's pretty

all in the open air

stay tuned for coconut milk and slaughtering a chicken...

Hang on tight!

Here's a video of us riding a bajaji, one of Tanzania's most exciting modes of public transportation.

It's like learning how to brush our teeth...again.

We feel like children who need to re-learn all these simple tasks.

How do you say, "May I please have two bananas?"

How do we brush our teeth without using tap water?

the human laundry machine

be careful what you order at a restaraunt!

of course we ate it!!

and of course, going to the bathroom is interesting...  No, they aren't ALL like this.

We are enjoying this new adventure as a family.  Everyday we learn something new or experience something new...together.  What will we discover tomorrow?