Area Photos

Corner of Double Road and Chagga Street in Moshi. I called this Dala-Dala corner because the Dala-Dalas (local buses - see the van bottom center) stopped here. This was also where most of the flycatchers would gather to watch for tourists.

Tanzania Coffee Lounge - our main hang out and Internet Cafe. It was too hot for my normal Americano so mostly I would drink Coke Light with the occasional Fanta Orange. Notice the Maasi guard in the bottom left of the photo. He was one of two who were always at the front door.

Two Maasai Warriors - Pappae and Little Ruben on guard at Ngorongoro Crater camp at night. Pappae was the Maasi who guarded our camp at night to chase away the occasional hyena.

Nambe Falls located about 4800 feet up Mount Kilimanjaro. After that hike, Gwen, Jenifer and I decided it would be fair to tell people we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. We could conveniently leave out the part about how high we climbed. Kili is 19,340 feet tall so we only made it about 25% up.


My First Million!!! This is One Million Shillings, only about $900 US, but it looks impressive.

This is Gwen standing on the stairs inside the salve caves. These caves were carved from the coral reef bedrock of Zanzibar Island and used to "store" slaves waiting for a ship shortly after the slave trade was outlawed.

Gwen and Jenifer on Safari

View of Kilimanjaro from my hotel window

This rainbow appeared as we were leaving Ngorongoro for the last time. We all took it as a sign from God saying everything would be OK. This was the perfect way to end a very stressful and emotional trip.

Final Orphanage Photos

Mama Mursale's Room Completed

Completed "Squatty Potty" - yes it is clean. The ugly brown stuff is old grout that was never cleaned off by the tile man. We scrubbed as much off as possible but Chua is going to try to get some solvent to clean it up even better.

This is the boys as they enter for the first time.

Here they are after a shower. They are wearing the new clothes donated by the people at church. Amos is wearing a plaid shirt giving a thumbs up.

Here they are on their beds. Amedeus is the one standing up.

The photos do not show as dramatic a change as I would have hoped but we did the important things like electrical and plumbing. Here is a list of all that was able to be accomplished.

• payment of old water and electrical bills to begin new service
• re-wire entire building and install interior and exterior lights
• re-plumb much of the building
• install exterior water storage tank
• knock out wall to provide interior entry to bathrooms
• install separating wall between boys and girls bathroom
• install two showers, two squatty pottys, and two sinks
• install metal security gate and front door
• close off front windows for privacy
• screen all windows
• build 14 beds with mattresses
• scrub walls in Mama's room
• paint Mama's room and bathrooms
• wash walls in main great room
• clean and paint exterior building to use as living space for security guard
• sweep and mop interior
• sweep exterior

There is a Christian School in Tennessee who is also raising money so hopefully soon they will be able to resurface the main floor and fully paint the interior. Just those two things will make a big difference in the look and feel of the home. The boys don't care that it is dreary looking inside, they are just happy to be there. In fact, they are all excited to know they will be going to school soon. I do not know how long they have been out of school but many of them asked when they would be able to go. Our children in the US do not know how lucky they are to have access to quality education so easily.

I started this blog by calling it a journal of faith in action because it was my faith in Jesus that gave me the desire to make a positive difference for others. I really had hoped to find a "door" to a new life of service. I did not find that door. Oxford dictionary defines faith as "complete trust or confidence and a firm belief especially without logical proof". I have faith that some positive came from this trip - I have faith that The Lord put the money we brought to the best use - I have faith that good lessons were learned by all involved. I also have faith that there is more to come!!!

I have to say one final thank you to everyone who followed our journey!!! Knowing you were out there thinking about us, praying for us, and routing for us made a big difference - especially during those times we were most discouraged. THANK YOU!!

KwaHeri Tanzania

Good Bye Tanzania! Gwen and I have moved up our flight and are leaving Tanzania this evening. We will return to Seattle Sunday afternoon. Upon returning from safari we realized that our work here is done so why stay longer than necessary. The Collazo family will stay until Monday as planed.

We are very ready to come home. This trip has not really gone as planned but that remindes us of how to make God laugh...tell him your plans. God has his own and better plan and we can not always see that right away. The best thing about this trip is that 14 children are living in a home they did not have before. Gwen and I went by the house to say good bye to Mama Mursale and the children - it was difficult saying good bye to these children. They are so well behaved and want more than anything to be hugged and loved. Ruben took some photos of us all. That Amos, the oldest, is smart as a whip - I just wanted to pick him up and put him in the taxi with me. He would do well in the US. God willing we will meet these children again.

We are now in town for one last post from the field, lunch and to say good bye to the "flycatchers" who have become our friends. One of them named Kesh carved some cross necklaces for Gwen and he was at church last week by Gwen's invitation. He had been to other churches in the area that had told him he could not come to church with his dreadlocks so he was wary but we assured him God does not care about his hair. Hopefully he will continue to attend. We have not seen Saleem for a while so we will look for him. Since we moved into town we have really gotten to know some of the local people and it is sad to say good bye.

Once I am back home I will make at least one more post with some photos so you can see the children. I also would like to share some things about Tanzania and their culture. See you all soon and thank you again for all the support!!!

Move In Day

Nothing happened on Saturday as we had hoped BUT yesterday in the middle of church Phil came to say the boys were about to move in. Needless to say we rushed out of church just as a student, Frederick, was getting up to preach. I felt so rude but there was no way we could miss the boys coming to the house for the first time. When we got to the home we got some sodas and cookies for the boys and waited for their arrival. I do not think the boys knew where they were going - they walked in the door very timidly. We handed them soda and cookies and they lined up along the wall to eat and drink. They we so well behaved! After a few minuets we asked Kashenge if they knew this was their new home. He told them but there was no real reaction. I am not sure if they did not believe or did not know how to react. Then we told them to go pick a bed, it would be there very own bed. At that point they all raced for the same two or three beds and I thought a fight would break out but it did not. They worked it out and in a few minutes each had their very own bed. I went around and gathered names and ages which I will list for you.

Amos - 14
Chukru - 13
Amedes - 13
Kelvis - 12
Evans - 12
Juma - 10
Jackson - 8
Isreal - 8
Kelvin - 7
Collins - 4 1/2

There are two other boys that should be here but Kashenge said they were at church. They did not show up all afternoon so I am wondering if they will be there today. After they choose beds we handed out airplanes and cars and we all played. It was so much fun - boys are boys all around the world. Little Ruben had a great time playing with these boys that spoke a completely different language. After a while our group left to go eat but Gwen and I stayed. Mama Mursale had asked Gwen to stay for lunch so we did. I was a bit nervous to stay and eat but it turned out to be a very tasty beef stew over rice. I was concerned that there would not be enough to go around and I felt guilty about taking even the smallest morsel of food from these boys but it turned out to be more than enough for all of us. Gwen reminded me of the four loaves and two fishes story in the Bible. She was right!!

While dinner was cooking the boys had a shower and put on the new clothes the people from church donated. After their shower I got my Swahili book and started asking questions. Many of the boys can speak some English. Amos, the oldest, was fascinated with my book and he and I were reading and telling each other how to pronounce the words. Me telling him the English and him telling me the Swahili. We were joined by Amedes and all three of us were on one bed with our heads in a book. It was really cool. Both boys are very smart and Amedes likes to sing. At dinner each boy had their own bowl, spoon, and juice cup!! We sat all together on three beds and ate. After dinner we headed back to our hotel but I left the Swahili book for Amos. It turned out to be a really good day!!

I have tried three times to upload photos but Blogger is not cooperating. I also took a wonderful sunset photo of Mount Kilimanjaro from my hotel window. I will try to upload them later. We are all going on safari tomorrow morning and will not be back until late on Friday so I will not have access to a computer again until Saturday, November 3. We will be spending 3 nights in the Thompson Classic Camp at Ngorongoro Crater with Thompson Safaris. I hope you all have a great week and thank you again for all the comments!!

Beds Delivered

On Wednesday Gwen and I had breakfast at the Carters house to welcome Ruben, Leslie and Ruben. They were pretty tired from the long flights but they were settling in just fine. After that Phil dropped us at the orphanage and we did some cleaning. When someone laid the tile in the bath rooms it looks like they did not do the final wipe when they put in the grout so all the tiles are covered in this cement-like ugly brown gunk. We scraped with trowels, paint scrapers and steel wool to get as much off as possible. It still looks bad for US standards but it looks a lot better than it did. There is still work to be done on one of the bath rooms so we were only able to get one spic and span clean and ready to use. Then we swept and washed the floor in Mama's room and swept the main hall. We swept us so much fine red dirt but when we went back today it looked like it had never been swept - UGGGGHHHH!!! That is Africa. It is similar to West Texas in that the find dirt gets everywhere and it is a loosing battle to fight it.

While we were at the house today the beds were being delivered along with the mattresses. The mattresses are just sturdy foam - they are comfortable but they do not last long. That is what everyone here sleeps on. We arranged the beds, put on the blankets and arranged Mama's room. The kids just have mattress covers and blankets but Amy gave Gwen a flat sheet to put on Mama's bed so she will be a little more comfortable. Gwen had made Mama an apron and some house clothes so we hung those on the back of the door. Leslie brought some nice towels and soap from the states so we laid those out on the bed like a B & B.

Neither shower is draining right and one toilet is not flushing properly so the workers will be back tomorrow to make those repairs and it looks like the kids can move in on Saturday. The second bath need to be scraped clean from the ugly brown grout and washed down but that can be done once they move in. Hopefully the next time I post I will be able to tell you they are in the house. Keep these kids and Mama in your prayers please. They are not used to living in a controlled environment so this could be a bit of an adjustment.

God Listen

On Tuesday Charles Ngoje, the preacher of the Moshi Town Church, took Gwen and I out to Nedja Penda, a bush village where the church has planted a bush church and school. We drove about 20 minuets east out of Mohsi on the "Interstate" (a two lane black top road with speed bumps) then turned south. About 10 minutes later we turned off the black top road onto a two rut dirt road of dry, red, sandy soil. The road wandered around bushes, cactus, and Baobab trees past many single room homes until we came to a red brick building. It was just past noon and the children had been let out of school but when they saw Charles' car they came running back to the school. At school we met the teacher, a young man of about 25 to 30 years of age, his name is God Listen. Yes, that is his given name. The mortality rate of children is very high and many parents will give their babies names such as this to give them a head start in life. Charles tells me of people with names such as God Help Us and God Love. God Listen is a soft spoken man but those children listen to his every word. He had the children gather in the front of the room in two lines, girls in front and boys in back. Then they sang a song. I don't know the song but I heard Yesu (Jesus) and Mungu (God). I asked how much it costs to go to this school and Charles tells me these children go for free. I asked if the government pays God Listen's salary and Charles says no God Listen does this for free. PLUS not only does he not get paid, he walks 3 hours each way just to be able to teach these children how to read and write and teach them about Jesus. What dedication - walking 3 hours each way in 90 + degree weather because you know these children need a teacher and you are called by God to teach them. I was speechless at that point. God Listen is listening to God!! We can all learn a lesson from God Listen!!

School in Nedja Penda

Gwen Teaching the Children

Mama's Story

Mama Mursale is the lady who will be the house mother for this orphan home. Gwen and I had the chance to meet Mama Mursale and ask her a few questions. We met her at Kashenge's office. Gwen saw her coming up the street and she was very animated as she walked but as soon as she walked in the door she was quiet and withdrawn. I am sure it can be intimidating when two strangers have come half way around the world to ask you questions. Kashenge told her who we were and that we wanted to get to know her better. He asked if it would be OK for us to ask questions and take some notes. She quietly said "ndiyo" - yes in Swahili. She responded just the same to most of the questions we asked. Mama Mursale is a Muslim from the Machama tribe and she has two children, ages 2 and 5. Kashenge had asked her husband and her to be the house parents many months ago. Her husband was born with a heart condition and he became very sick and died a couple of months ago. How ironic - this woman who is assisting children on the street will be able to use this facility to provide a home for her own children now that her husband is gone.

Gwen asked what we could do for her, she gave the typical mother answer, "please get my kids into school." As long has her children are taken care of that is all that matters. Mama Mursale can read and write and she can understand some English so she will be keeping records of the children. She will also be cooking, cleaning and in charge of discipline. Gwen asked if she needed any help doing these things and she said no, lets get into the home and she how it goes first. We are not sure how long she has been with these children but it is apparent that they trust her and have some type of bond with her so thankfully she is still able to take on this task in spite of loosing her husband. After meeting Mama Mursale we feel this will be a win win situation for both her and the orphans of Moshi. They will have a caregiver and a safe home and she will have some purpose and ability to care for her own children.

Tanzania has a program where these orphan children can go to public school at one quarter the normal cost. Once the kids are in the home they will be tested and placed into school. Mama Mursale's children will also be eligible for this program so her oldest son will be able to start school without delay.

Painters Have Arrived

Finally I am able to get some photos uploaded. There are not as many as I would like to include but this is a start.

Below is a photo of me scrubbing Mama's wall. The dark brown/gold color is some unknown substance that we were washing off so the paint would stick.


Below is Mama's room with a coat of primer. Today is Friday and when Gwen and I arrived at the home the painters had already primed Mama's room and were just finishing the primer coat in the bathroom.

Below is the photo of the framing work for the Boys and Girls bathrooms. You can see the toilet tanks hanging on the wall and the squatty potties on the ground.

Below is a better photo of the squatty potty. The white is the primer. I have no clue what the final color will be.

Below is the finished water storage tank. There are many times where city water has no pressure so this storage tank has a float meter that will keep it full so the children will have water even if the city water is off or too low to flow.

We really had hopes that the children would be able to move in by today but earlier in the week we realized that would have to be pushed back until Monday. Now I am not sure what to expect. I feel positive about the progress that has been made, it has been slow for US standards but I strongly feel it has been very quick for Tanzania standards. Since there really is not any physical work Gwen and I can do we are just coasting until the kids get into the home. Anyone who knows me knows coasting is hard for me. We are having a good time walking around Moshi. At this point we have walked a great majority of the central town and we prefer the quiet local streets instead of the tourist areas. Here in Moshi there are young boys who make a living at approaching white people with goods to sell. I say white people because most of them do not approach Gwen until they find out she is American and they they are on her just like they are the rest of us. The local term is flycatcher and most of these boys are 14 to 17. There is one I will buy from before I go home because he goes to the church but I keep thinking about what a hard way that must be to eek out a living. We have befriended one of the flycatchers named Saleem - he followed Jenifer everywhere she went and inquired about her the first day we showed up with out her. He has finally learned that we are not going to buy so now he just greets us. I fully expect he will try again to get us to buy but he has slacked off for now.

Making Progress!

Slowly but surely we are making progress on the orphanage. Monday Gwen and I went to the home to start cleaning Mama's room. The boys we hired to clean had not started anything probably because the mason workers were not finished and it is useless to clean anything while workers are still there. But Gwen and I were stir crazy and had to do something. Mama's room has a door so we could close it off from the mess of the rest of the house. The walls of the room were covered in some yellow-brown gunk! We bought buckets, scrub brushes, a broom and soap and started to sweep. Just as soon as I started sweeping one of the boys who lives there for security while it is empty came and nicely took the broom from me and he continued to sweep. I am not sure if this is a cultural thing or he was afraid I was taking his job. Either way, I just let him sweep while Gwen and I prepared the buckets of soap and rinse water. As soon as we started scrubbing he took one of the brushes and started scrubbing too. There was no sense in fighting his so we just let him scrub. We brought in the ladder and with the help of Chua, the general contractor, we asked this boy (named John) to start scrubbing the high parts of the room down to the teal green paint under neath. Chua also asked him how much he expected to be paid and John asked for 5000 Shillings, about $4 US. We agreed. Gwen and I scrubbed the lower areas while John scrubbed high and low. John was a good worker! Without his help there is no way we would have finished that room, which was very important because the painter should be there today.

This afternoon we meet Mama. We have arranged a translator to meet us with Mama at Kashenge's office (Kashenge is Phil's partner in this work) so Gwen can start to get to know more about Mama. Gwen has already purchased material to make her an apron and house coat.

I have been trying to upload more photos but it is not wroking today. The good news is the metal front security door has been installed, the frames to the bathroom doors are in and the mason guys were working on building the stand for the water stroage tank. Hopefully painters are there as I type. We will go by on our way home this evening to see what progress has been made today.

Prayers Please

Friends and Family - thank you to all of you for your support and kind words by e-mail and posts!! Those encouraging words mean a lot. We are experiencing some frustrations and can use your prayers - please ask God to help us to work these out like Christian women should.

I am glad to report good progress on the home. The plumber was there on Monday and he was in the process of repairing current plumbing, installing the squatty pottys and their water tanks, installing the showers and sinks for each bath room. The electrician had completed the necessary wiring for the interior lights and the exterior security lights. Beds were ordered last week from a man who lives in what the locals call "Little Baghdad" - a type of ghetto. He has made beds for Phil in the past and really needs the work. The beds should be complete sometime this week.

The saying "you pay for what you get" holds true all around the world. The men that were hired to clean have not yet done it so Gwen and I plan to do some cleaning on Monday. It just might be possible to have the kids living in the house by the end of the week. Once the kids are in the house Gwen and I will be spending a lot of time there doing our best to get to know these children who do not speak any English. Our goal will be to try to obtain some information about their past, where they came from, what happened to their parents, and get a feel for their attitude and mental health. We will also try to obtain their shoe size and clothing size by taking some measurements. We look forward to that work and just feel like we are coasting until then.

Jenifer leaves us tomorrow and we are sad to see her go but she misses her family. Again thank you for all the support!! I will try to get more photos posted soon. Everything here is dial up so my photos take forever to up load!

Church on Sunday

I have to tell you all about church on Sunday. The Moshi Church of Christ meets in an old theater. The stage is decorated with blue and white material, the podium is down front and everyone sits all spread out - just like at home. There were about 50 people there and the service was in Swahili but they had a song book so we could sing along in Swahili. Thankfully the song leader would also say the song numbers in English. The singing was great!! Many of the song names were familiar but the tunes were different. We sang those Swahili words just like we knew what we were singing!! Toward the beginning of the service there was a time when visitors stood to introduce themselves. Each of us stood and tried to use our best Swahili but our best is not very good. Everyone was thrilled we even tried to speak Swahili. When someone would pray I could pick out words like "Baba" which is Father and "Asante" which is thanks so I got the general meaning of the prayer. I sat next to Francis, a man who works for Phil, in church and he translated most of the sermon for all of us. He told us the Bible verses and in a whisper told us about what the preacher was saying. This preacher could find a job in any respectable Southern Baptist church!! There were times when he was very animated. During the announcement time they announced we were visiting from America and in English apologized that the whole service was not translated into English but they hoped the Spirit was speaking to our hearts. We decided that the spirit was speaking to us through Francis - he was our spirit for the day. After church everyone came up to introduce themselves - they wanted to practice English and we wanted to practice Swahili - it was all very interesting and I look forward to church next week. Maybe we will know a song or two in Swahili before we return.

Tuesday, October 9

Greetings from Zanzibar!! What are we doing in Zanzibar you ask? Aren't you supposed to be remodeling an orphanage?? Yes-we are remodeling an orphanage and our intention was to actually do some of the physical labor in order to get more done with the limited amount of funds. But you know that old saying about intentions....we learned that day labors would do the cleaning and painting we intended to do for about $2 per day. This $2 gives someone an honest job that will feed their family - and when I say family I mean not only the wife and kids but the extended family that most likely lives with them also. Two dollars does not buy our Starbucks coffee in the morning. How could we not hire them? This also gives some of the men in the neighborhood a bit of ownership in this orphanage. They will be able to say, "I helped work on that orphanage." And hopefully be there to help when the "mama" needs something. Mama is the lady who will run the orphanage - she will live in the home and be in charge of the children - she will receive free room and board for her services. The lady chosen for this job is now living with the children in the hall so they already know her. Her husband passed away a few weeks ago so this will be just as good for her as it is the children.

Monday we stopped by to see what has been done and the workers had begun making a doorway from the bathrooms into the main home and they began to brick up the old gate in the back courtyard (it was a security hazard). Once the masons are done the plumber and electrician will come - hopefully they will be there by the time we return on Thursday.

Let me tell you a bit about Zanzibar. I am thrilled to be able to return to this magical place. There are many things I was not able to see when I was here in March so I am grateful to be able to have this chance. When we made the decision to use day laborers that left us with more free time than we intended and Phil suggested we make a short trip to Zanzibar. We flew over early this morning and will go back to Moshi tomorrow afternoon. Today we saw the "slave caves" where slave traders kept slaves hidden underground after the slave trade was abolished on Zanzibar in about 1870. We also took a spice tour to see how the many different spices are grown which Zanzibar is known for and ate lunch on the north coast. It poured rain almost all day. None of us have seen this much rain in years. It kept things cool until the rain stopped and the sun came out then the humidity followed. Tomorrow we are going to visit the museum and the sultans palace before we fly back home.

Saturday, October 6

I am happy to tell you we were able to have power and water turned on at the orphanage. The plumber was there to make repairs to the faucet and talk about repairing the "squatty pottys" that are now just a hole in the floor. I do not expect much to happen over the weekend but Chua, the general contractor, was at the house last night going over final bids and plans. We have made some last minute changes to the shower situation and the water storage tank but I think all is moving along well. Phil is very good at making sure the money is spent well. He has hired Chua because Chua is better equipped to work with the local "fundis" (workers) plus the price is always hire when a Muzungu (white person) is doing the negotiating. We are trying to just do what is needed to make the place livable for now and our goal is to have the boys into the home by the end of the month.

We woke up to rain this morning!! It was so nice since yesterday was at least 90 degrees. When we arrived back at Base Camp (Phil's home) yesterday the power had been off since noon and did not come back on until after 9 PM. The only thing we missed were the ceiling fans. We joked about the power going out when it was sunny and hot. On Whidbey the power only goes out when it is windy and 40 degrees. The power was on most of the night but went off again about 7 AM and was still off when we left the house at 11:30 AM.

Mount Kilimanjaro from Phil's Front Gate

Phil's Home

These are some of the children who will be living in the orphanage. Right now they live in that doorway you see behind us.
When we first arrived most of the children were eating lunch in the "hallway" they live in. This 4 x 7 foot space houses 14 kids.

Front of Light of Children Orphanage BEFORE

Interior BEFORE

Back Courtyard and outdoor kitchen BEFORE

Pit toilet BEFORE

Thursday, October 4

Gwen, Jenifer and I arrived safely late Tuesday local time after two very long flights. Wednesday we walked around town to familiarize ourselves with Moshi and today we finally met the children who will be living in the orphanage. Right now 14 children live in a 3 x 7 foot hall way of a home. When we arrived they were eating lunch of rice and beans from a single bowl. We took many photos that I will try to upload later with the help of the Internet Cafe owner. Then we went to see the building we will renovate. It is a large open structure that used to be a bar. Phil and Kashenge have negotiated a 5 year lease for 50,000 shilingi a month, about $44. The owner is a Muslim man from Dar es Saalam and he is thankful the building has been taken from the devil and given to God. There is no power or water yet. Our first task is to clean the interior to get it ready to paint. There are 6 men now living in the empty building as security and with Kashenge's help we have hired these men to clean the building for 8000 shilingi, $6. Before they can start we must get the water turned on, but the previous owner did not pay the last bill so before the city will turn on the water we must pay the last bill. We will do that first thing in the morning - then the plumber will repair the one faucet so cleaning can begin. Cleaning should be done by Monday and painting will start. Phil is trying to get a local paint store to donate paint. Thankfully we have brought donations to begin this work. Our goal is to start with only the necessities so we can make sure the children are living in the house before Gwen and I leave Tanzania on Nov. 5.

We also are going to be able to travel a bit. On Tuesday we are going to Zanzibar just for one night to tour the old slave trade buildings. Then on Friday we will take a day safari to Lake Manyara.

We are all healthy and very happy to be here. Phil's home is very comfortable and secure. He has three guards - Francis, Fra and John, who also work around the house. The first morning we were all up very early and so was Kilimanjaro!!! The sky was clear and blue and there is a perfect view of Kili directly from Phil's front gate. We got some great photos!! She is a spectacular mountain!! I will write more as time allows.

T Minus One

Tomorrow is the day! Gwen, Jenifer and I leave Oak Harbor at 8 AM on Monday to head to the airport. We are all packed and ready to go. Our bags are stuffed and weight exactly 50 pounds each. The next post you read will be from Tanzania.

I would like to thank the Oak Harbor Church of Christ for all their encouragement and support. In just a few weeks they donated just over $600 that will be sent to the Moshi Church of Christ for their building fund. If any of you reading this happen to live in Oak Harbor and are thinking about attending a church I would like to encourage you to give the Oak Harbor Church of Christ a try. If you have been to other churches in the past but left feeling empty or judged - please do not give up on church - give us a try. This church is filled with real people - not people pretending to be something they are not. Jesus does not require us to pretend to be perfect. He knows and everyone else in this world knows we are all human and we all screw up!!! Thankfully Jesus loves us in spite of our screw ups - and we should love each other in spite of our screw ups! If you are unsure, have not been to church in a long time or have never been to church please know that the people of the Oak Harbor Church of Christ will welcome you just as you are. Church is a great place to learn more about Jesus and to get to know others. If you would like more information you can go to http://www.churchofchrist-oh.org/. We look forward to meeting you.

Next stop - Tanzania!

Light of Children Orphan Home

Below is a portion of the latest newsletter from Phil and Amy Carter about the orphanage.

The “Light of Children” Orphan Home
We have made huge progress in the planning and implementation of the orphan home here in Moshi. This is a work that I have partnered in with a local tour company operator here in Moshi. His name is Keshange. He and I go years back to 1999. Keshange founded this orphan home earlier this year and asked me if I wanted to help with this work. He knew of my work in Kenya with orphans and of our love for children in general. So we started to make plans and dreams for the children’s home.

In March of this year we met with local lawyers and drew up the documents for the Tanzanian government and for the lease agreement on the orphan home. Right now the children sleep on the dirt floor in the open air breezeway of a mud dwelling. They are all street kids who have no family to care for them. Some come from abandonment situations but most come from parents who have died of AIDS. In fact, two of these beautiful children are infected themselves and will likely die before they reach 10 years old. The situation for these children is bad, but we are working hard to change this. We have paid rent on a dwelling that was used for a bar in the past. It is an open hall that needs walls built in and renovations before they can live in it. Things like plumbing, running water, electricity, and bedding are needed. The owner of the dwelling has extended us a five year level rent lease in the amount of just $44 per month. He is so excited about the building being taken from the devil and used for God’s children. He has even extended to us the permission to make any renovations and changes to the building that we wish.

The building will be able to house more than 24 children comfortably. Right now we have 13 boys but we see a day when girls may be added. It is very rare to find a girl in the streets here because they are easily taken in by people, but boys are not so lucky. However, we are adding a special bunk room just for girls. We pray we will never need it and it will remain empty because that means there are no girls in the streets. But we want to be ready if the need is there. I have also made arrangement with the best doctor in town to treat our children for free and we have gotten the government to agree to free education also. They have only one condition before the children can go to school, the must be living in a home first. This is our priority now, to get them into the home. But first the renovations must be done to make the home safe and livable. To do this we need help. A team of volunteers from the Oak Harbor Church of Christ in Washington State are coming out in October to help us with this work and with the Haruma Christian Pre-School project. The team will be focused on outreach through their manual labor at the home and school. We are excited for their coming and for the work they will do. The renovations will cost us around $14,000. We have already raised $1000 towards this goal.

Safari Life

Here are a few photos from the safari I took in March. They were all taken in Northern Tanzania and will be a big contrast to city life.

What Can I Do To Help??

I have had many people ask me what they can do to help. The most important thing you can do is to pray! Pray for our safety - Tanzania is a relatively stable country but there is a lot of poverty and we don't look like locals. Pray for our health - there are many little bugs and parasites that our bodies are not used to. Pray for our guidance - please ask that God guide the work we do so that it will be beneficial to his kingdom.

The other thing you can do is to make a donation to one of our projects. Anything you donate will go directly to the project you choose; church building, school, or the orphanage. Nothing will go to our living or travel expenses. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation you may send your check to Africa Now Ministries, c/o Karen Cox, 1000 NE Koetje Street, Oak Harbor, WA, 98277. Please make your check to Africa Now Ministries and note in the memo line where you would like your money to go - church building, school, or the orphanage. Any amount will be greatly appreciated and will go a long way toward making life just a bit better in East Africa.

The projects we have going are simply a stepping stool to help the local people create a better life for themselves. There are many Moshi citizens involved in each project because if the local people do not take ownership of each project there is no hope for a sustainable long term project.

Getting Ready

We leave for Moshi only 4 weeks from today. Our team is busy getting ready and making sure we have all the necessary items we will need for 5 weeks away. In East Africa the women dress much more modestly than we do here in the US and as we are trying to work within their culture it is important that we respect the differences. Basically our dress code is to always cover the knees and shoulders, wear nothing too tight and nothing with a low neck line. The most difficult for me has been that women wear long skirts even when doing manual labor. I have been searching the thrift shops for simple skirts that go down to the ankles. I think skirts will be much cooler than pants but since I have the thighs of a linebacker I am also looking for something cool to wear under the skirt to prevent chaffing. It has been an interesting search and I have tried everything from cut off pantyhose to men's football underwear - so far I think the cheap, cut off pantyhose will work best.

It is also cultural to give a gift when invited to someones home. I have had a good time shopping around for proper gifts. With Phil's guidance, I have purchased a variety of nice kitchen towels, some beaded bracelets, fun key chains, bouncy balls, and nice ball point pens. It was much easier to buy for the women and children than it was for the men. My mom has sent me some of her beaded watches to take as gifts and a client of mine gave me 10 My Utmost For His Highest books to give to any of the congregation who might want them. Many of them do speak English so I think they will enjoy this book. I also have crayons, pens, pencils and paper for the kids in the orphanage.

How can we benefit the people of East Africa without trying to turn it into a little USA? I feel it is so important to be of help within their culture not to change their culture and to give people a step stool so they can make their own changes. 5 weeks is not much time to do anything but hopefully this will not be the last time I am there. I will do my best to spend this time getting to know the people and their culture. Hopefully God will open a door while I am there and show me a path that will enable me to work more closely within this wonderful country.

Moshi Church of Christ Newsletter

Moshi Church of Christ, Tanzania
AUGUST O7 NEWSLETTER
ANY HOPE FOR THE OMARIS OF MOSHI, TANZANIA?
Omari just turned 19 this last month. He knows the month but not the exact date. Omari has been a Muslim. He couldn’t understand what they preach in the Arabic language. And so he started to read the Bible by himself. He read the story of Joseph the son of Jacob. He tells the story with ease. His cousin, Deogratius who had to sneak from a catholic church sponsored vocational school to be baptized, encouraged Omari to give himself to the Lord. So he hooked us up and I studied with him about Christ and that He is Lord over Mohamed. Of the people I have studied with this year, Omari is the easiest to teach. He is a fast learner and he has some very thoughtful questions. Omari is my buddy. He lives 15 miles from Moshi Town. One Monday morning Omari got his small bag and came to Moshi. He had been promised a job at a construction site but when he reached, there wasn’t any job for him. He borrowed 500 shillings to come to town and that was all he had. Since there was not a job for him, he had to get back home. But he did not know how he would do that. The previous night he went to bed on an empty stomach. On Monday he left before he had any breakfast. He did not have any energy to go back home. So he came to church. By good luck, yes, I had a meeting with Samuel, Dhudha and Phil and so I went to church to pick up some writing material and that is when I met Omari -stranded at the church. We sat and talked and I sympathized. Gave him enough money to take him back home and pay the debt and enough to bring him to church the following Sunday. Then I said, ‘Omari you are now free to go back home, I have a meeting that I must rush to; and may God bless you…’ And he answered, ‘Amen.’ Then he added, ‘I am looking for a job, any job, if you have any I would be glad to take it.’ ‘I do not have any job’ but I said to him, ‘my ears will be out should I hear anything, I will let you know.’ With that he left the office. Ten minutes later, I stormed out of the office as I was at the knick of being late… and Omari was still on the stairs. There was a problem. And so I asked him, ‘Omari come we pray.’ And we moved to the auditorium where we both knelt down and I prayed for him. He knelt first, and so I had to kneel too as this prayer was for me as well. Just like people have different spiritual gifts so does the church. Some congregations will have strengths in different fields of ministry. Our congregation is a tool God has chosen to reach people like Omari. The urban-poor. A people with very little education. We can’t run away from them, they need Christ the most. Every day I have heart breaking encounter with my kith and kin who have to fight intoxicating hardship bravely and still cling on to Jesus thanking him of his generosity. This relationship with Jesus has always improved the lives of those who believe in Him. Their hope is in Christ in whom grace and mercy abound over and above ‘justice’. Justice will condemn them to the abyss of despair and hopelessness. It is now three years since we restored this promising congregation. We are still dependent on the Ankeny Church of Christ - Iowa, for rent for the theatre hall that is now housing us as a church. The Ankeny church has also pressing needs at home and would be glad if we got off their back and became self reliant. It is our desire to be self-reliant, it is honorable. And yet we do not have enough money to be able to do anything substantial. We need our own building. Currently we are paying 336 dollars a month on rent. The rent has a tendency of going up often. The only lasting solution is for us to be on our own. Would you please help us be on our own and help us break this circle of dependence on America? We seek for mercy. We have 10,000 dollars. We have an expert doing for us estimations and since we will have to purchase a plot and build a building on it, it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 dollars. Yes, I need help for this church. Will you help us? Will help me? Any amount will do. A Swahili proverb goes, ‘haba na haba hujaza kibaba’ meaning little by little fills the measure. And that is our approach, little by little by faith and we’ll be there. On how to help from the USA, please contact Royce Hammit: rhammit@juno.com or reach him by phone: 515-964-1885 OR 515-577-0703. Royce Hammit is our US contact person and he is one of the elders of the Ankeny Church of Christ that oversees this work. All donations are tax deductible. Please contact Royce and we’ll keep you posted as we progress with this. Special regards and love to you from the Church here –at the foot of ‘Kilimanjaro’

I remain yours sincerely,
Charles Ngoje

Good Works

There is a lot of good work going on all around Moshi so here are more details about what our team will be doing.

Orphanage - Recently, Africa Now Ministries has begun working with an orphanage in Moshi that currently houses 19 children between the ages of 4 and 13. These children live in a old house that needs a lot of work plus they currently sleep on the floor along with the mice and other assorted African bugs. Our team will be helping to remodel the orphanage by building interior walls, painting, updating electrical and plumbing, buying beds, bedding and mosquito nets. Phil, with Africa Now Ministries tells me this can all be done for about $14,000. Can you imagine all that work for that little amount? I look forward to being able to make a difference for the children of Moshi for years to come but mostly I look forward to simply playing with the kids.

Haruma Christian Academy - The photo of the brick building with the cross in the previous post is a photo of Haruma Christian Academy; a preschool that is almost complete in Neja Penda, a bush village outside of Moshi. The children are already attending school but the cement floor needs to be completed, they need a bathroom and they need supplies. Phil tells me about $1000 is needed for the finishing touches. Previous visitors from the US poured the first half of the floor and built desks for the school. Phil describes the bathroom as a "two hole toilet room" and tells me the children currently run into the forest when nature calls. I know we will be visiting the school and doing what is needed but I am hoping we do not have to dig the toilet holes.

Moshi Church of Christ - This is the main reason that Phil and Amy Carter are living in Moshi. They were asked by the founders of the church to come help with growth and training of local leadership. There are about 130 people who worship weekly at the church and their main preacher is a man, Charles Ngoje, from Kenya. Charles studied at The Nairobi Great Commission, a preaching school in Nairobi, Kenya run by the Churches of Christ. Currently the Moshi church is worshiping in an old movie theater but they are looking for land to purchase in order to build a permanent home for the church. Training local leadership is the first step to building a self-sustaining congregation but having a permanent home is the next most important step. They currently have raised about $500 for the building fund and are hoping to raise a total of $20,000 by the end of the year. I look forward to worshiping with the Moshi church and getting to know many of the members.

Introduction

This blog has been created in order to share this wonderful opportunity with friends and family. For 5 weeks beginning October 1, 2007 I will be living and working with a missionary and his family in Moshi, Tanzania. I will be traveling with 5 other people and we will be helping to remodel an orphanage, working with a preschool class in a local bush village, teaching Sunday School and getting to know the local people and their culture. We will also be taking a short safari. Moshi is a city of about 200,000 people located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is surrounded by agriculture and is the coffee growing capital of Tanzania.

We will be hosted by Phil and Amy Carter who started Africa Now Ministries back in 2001. You can read all about their work in Kenya and Tanzania at http://www.africanowministries.org/.

Photos: Store in Moshi, Mount Kilimanjaro, Moshi School Chidren, Baptism, New Preschool Building