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...