Hiya Friends,
First off, we are home to St. Louis safe and sound. We arrived July 8th into the St. Louis airport proudly wearing our special outfits (pictured above) we had made for our parties in the village. It was a special time to be reunited to our families. They really missed us a lot. Both of us have spent quality time with our families these last two weeks. Sarah’s Mom, sister, niece, and newly born nephew drove up to St. Louis for our arrival.
Well how do I summarize the last month of our service in northern Tanzania. It was filled with celebrations, wrapping up responsibilities, special times with our dearest friends and team, and packing up our house and our lives this last year. In one week, we had four celebrations. I thought a good gift to our students would be a field day, so Sarah and I started planning. We wanted activities just like any American school would have, so when we were in Dar es Salaam, we bought water balloons and the rest were home made games and crafts. We woke up to rain and were disappointed as the ground was soaked. So we moved the activities into an empty classroom which ended up being a blessing. We took each class individually to play the games, allowing us precious time with each class. Before they left we had a water balloon toss and it was shear excitement. The younger kids each got to take a water balloon home and some of them carried it around for days.
The following day, we headed to town with our language helpers to buy food for our big village party. Our language helpers were truly our best friends. There were lots of tears shed with them when we left. 20 kilos of beans, 25 kilos of flour (for donuts), and 10 kilos of sugar makes a lot of food. That evening our teachers threw us a celebration thanking us for our service at the school. Sarah made such an impact on the school, the students, and teachers. The next day it was the end of the semester school celebration. The students performed songs and showed off all they are learning. The top students in each class were recognized. One awesome thing about our school is the students are learning so much and understanding well. The top students have averages in the 90%’s, yet at government schools the top students would be in the 70%’s, and our students are learning more. Education will transform the community. And the last celebration of the week was one we threw for our village. We invited all our friends from various villages and enjoyed loud music (even some Christian music mixed in), dancing, food, and a short program where Sarah and I gave goodbye speeches in Swahili. Many women came over from our village to help prepare the food in the morning (very cultural) and it was partying all afternoon. We invited men as well to our party and a man who we love, our “grandpa” as we call him came. His picture is above. So this was a busy week of festivities.
We packed and closed up our house. It was not only challenging because we were leaving people and a school we love, but also because no one at this time has come to replace us. But we are fully confident in the Lord’s plan for the community and for the work we shared in. We trust He will rise up harvest workers within the D people. The day before we left the village, our church went all out and had a huge party for us. This was by far one of the most meaningful days of my life. The church community was so thankful for our work and said the most kind words. Most of all, they reminded us to remember them and pray for them. Join us in prayer for this church, especially for leadership within the members.
There is so much more to write. This was just a bit of a summary of the last month, but I think we would like both summarize our thoughts on how God worked in us and through us in northern Tanzania. We will save that for another post. I am working on my last newsletter and will have more deep thoughts to get out this week.
Our journey home was certainly an adventure as well. Our team joined us for a few days at the beach. It was nice to have some quality time with them. We continued to give thanks for the team we served with. We complimented each other well in each of our different ministry focuses. Lots of tears were shed as we left. Both Sarah and I feel we left a part of our hearts in Tanzania. We hit the highlights of Egypt with 3 other missionaries from Tanzania before going to London and Paris. We will have to save some of those stories for another day.
Thanks for reading and being a part of our journey this year. We will continue writing on this blogsite. Your prayers kept us so strong. I hope you know that!
Hugs,
Emily
First off, we are home to St. Louis safe and sound. We arrived July 8th into the St. Louis airport proudly wearing our special outfits (pictured above) we had made for our parties in the village. It was a special time to be reunited to our families. They really missed us a lot. Both of us have spent quality time with our families these last two weeks. Sarah’s Mom, sister, niece, and newly born nephew drove up to St. Louis for our arrival.
Well how do I summarize the last month of our service in northern Tanzania. It was filled with celebrations, wrapping up responsibilities, special times with our dearest friends and team, and packing up our house and our lives this last year. In one week, we had four celebrations. I thought a good gift to our students would be a field day, so Sarah and I started planning. We wanted activities just like any American school would have, so when we were in Dar es Salaam, we bought water balloons and the rest were home made games and crafts. We woke up to rain and were disappointed as the ground was soaked. So we moved the activities into an empty classroom which ended up being a blessing. We took each class individually to play the games, allowing us precious time with each class. Before they left we had a water balloon toss and it was shear excitement. The younger kids each got to take a water balloon home and some of them carried it around for days.
The following day, we headed to town with our language helpers to buy food for our big village party. Our language helpers were truly our best friends. There were lots of tears shed with them when we left. 20 kilos of beans, 25 kilos of flour (for donuts), and 10 kilos of sugar makes a lot of food. That evening our teachers threw us a celebration thanking us for our service at the school. Sarah made such an impact on the school, the students, and teachers. The next day it was the end of the semester school celebration. The students performed songs and showed off all they are learning. The top students in each class were recognized. One awesome thing about our school is the students are learning so much and understanding well. The top students have averages in the 90%’s, yet at government schools the top students would be in the 70%’s, and our students are learning more. Education will transform the community. And the last celebration of the week was one we threw for our village. We invited all our friends from various villages and enjoyed loud music (even some Christian music mixed in), dancing, food, and a short program where Sarah and I gave goodbye speeches in Swahili. Many women came over from our village to help prepare the food in the morning (very cultural) and it was partying all afternoon. We invited men as well to our party and a man who we love, our “grandpa” as we call him came. His picture is above. So this was a busy week of festivities.
We packed and closed up our house. It was not only challenging because we were leaving people and a school we love, but also because no one at this time has come to replace us. But we are fully confident in the Lord’s plan for the community and for the work we shared in. We trust He will rise up harvest workers within the D people. The day before we left the village, our church went all out and had a huge party for us. This was by far one of the most meaningful days of my life. The church community was so thankful for our work and said the most kind words. Most of all, they reminded us to remember them and pray for them. Join us in prayer for this church, especially for leadership within the members.
There is so much more to write. This was just a bit of a summary of the last month, but I think we would like both summarize our thoughts on how God worked in us and through us in northern Tanzania. We will save that for another post. I am working on my last newsletter and will have more deep thoughts to get out this week.
Our journey home was certainly an adventure as well. Our team joined us for a few days at the beach. It was nice to have some quality time with them. We continued to give thanks for the team we served with. We complimented each other well in each of our different ministry focuses. Lots of tears were shed as we left. Both Sarah and I feel we left a part of our hearts in Tanzania. We hit the highlights of Egypt with 3 other missionaries from Tanzania before going to London and Paris. We will have to save some of those stories for another day.
Thanks for reading and being a part of our journey this year. We will continue writing on this blogsite. Your prayers kept us so strong. I hope you know that!
Hugs,
Emily
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