choose your toxin, and then burn it

Here in Tanzania we have two options for disposing of trash: we can throw it on the side of the road or we can burn it. We've chosen to burn it in a barrel behind our house. But after a year and a half of rain and rust and burning, our burn barrel is falling apart.

So it's time to go find a new burn barrel.

First, we go to the local choose-your-own-barrel store.

Then you decide which toxic barrel is LEAST dangerous.

Why is he smiling?

Ouch!

Finally, I chose this one...

Yep, this barrel previously held Di-isocyanatotoluene. Fatal if inhaled. Suspected of causing cancer. And notice the company name: Bayer. The same stuff they put into your asprin? Oh well, it works great as a burn barrel.

Welcome to Tanzania!

Tanzanian Hair Products

Here's a couple of our favorite Tanzanian hair products.

"When those annoying bangs just won't get out of your face...you got to Movit Movit!"

or maybe..."Enjoying that steak? Remember, your hair needs food too."

Here's another product that made us giggle...

Yes, it really does say "Anti-Hairfall." Here's a little commercial for this one...




{Kara filmed this one all by herself.}

Top 10 ways you know you're a missionary kid

If you're wondering....

Here are the top 10 ways you know you're a missionary kid. (or at least a Gerth missionary kid living in Tanzania)

#10 you can greet people in at least three languages

#9 at your friend’s birthday party you’re the only person from your home country

#8 you don't feel safe sleeping at night unless you're under a mosquito net

#7 every time you get sick you assume you have malaria

#6 you lost your baby teeth on two continents

#5 you call every old woman "grandmother" but you only see your real grandma on skype

#4 you catch lizards and kill bugs with your bare hands

#3 you understand the four main food groups to be rice, fish, beans, and mangoes

#2 you've collected 429 soda bottle caps as toys

.....and the #1 way you know you're a missionary kid......

#1 you don’t remember the last time you wore tennis shoes

Translating Jita Jonah (part 9)

Neema, Ben, Magesa and Magoma holding the first EVER copies of Jita Jonah!

This is it. The final step.We finished the book of Jonah in the Jita language. Bwana Yesu asifiwe! (Lord Jesus be praised!)

These were all the steps...

Step 1 - DRAFTING: The Jita translators adapted the book from Swahili to Jita.
Step 2 - TRANSLATION ADVISOR CHECKING: I studied the text to make sure the meaning of the original was communicated accurately.
Step 3 - COMMUNITY TESTING: We invited Jita speakers to listen to the text and help us make improvements.
Step 4 - CONSULTANT CHECKING: We worked with a veteran Bible translator to make improvements.
Step 5 - SPELL CHECKING: We carefully checked the text for spelling, punctuation, grammar and any other errors.
Step 6 - READ ALOUD CHECK: We read the text out loud, watched for punctuation and listened for naturalness.
Step 7 - TYPESETTING: We designed a printer-ready copy of Jonah with illustrations and captions.
Step 8 - PRINTING: We worked with our Literacy Department to print Jonah on the risograph machine.

And now the most exciting step of all...

Step 9 - DISTRIBUTION

It was a fun day. It was fun to receive the first copies of Jonah hot off the press (literally). It was fun to hand a copy to Neema and Magesa and Magoma, the Jita translators. It was fun to say "thank you" to them for all their hard work. It was fun to deliver a copy to our next door neighbor, who is a Jita man, and watch him immediately gather his fellow Jita people and start reading the book of Jonah. It was fun to take copies of Jonah out to the village and sell them for $.30 each. (The money goes to our office to cover a portion of the printing costs). It was fun to watch people smile when they read the book of Jonah in the Jita language for the first time EVER!

It's fun to think that Jita people can now learn that Yahweh is the God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land (Jonah 1:9). They will discover that Yahweh sees all the evil that people do (Jonah 1:2). They can read how Yahweh exercises sovereign control over all of his creation (Jonah 1:4, 1:17, 2:10, 4:6, 4:7, 4:8). They can rejoice to see that Yahweh rescues his people when they repent of their sins (Jonah 2:9). They will be excited to see that Yahweh shows mercy to pagan nations who repent (Jonah 3:5, 4:11). They will savor the glorious truth that Yahweh is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster (Jonah 4:2).

Let's pray that the Jita people soon receive the New Testament so that they can believe in Jesus, the one greater than Jonah.

Jesus answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." (Matthew 12:39-41)

We finished the book of Jonah back in September 2013. Since then, we've been working hard on the book of Acts and the letters of John. Please pray for us as we work diligently to translate God's Word into the Jita language. And pray for the Jita people. Pray that they will be ready to accept God's Word and repent of their sins and believe in Jesus.