Language Week

Greetings Friends,
We have just passed the one month mark since departing St. Louis. Time has flown by. First a little update on my last post. The little baby girl, whose name means “Success,” is doing much better. I have not been back to the village to see her due to my language course, but the couple on our team, Wayne and Joyce, paid her a visit and say she looks much better. Praise Jesus! I look forward to seeing her early next week and will plan to closely follow her status and growth. It is opportunities like this that I look forward to.
This week we have been diving deep into a language course called LAMP. It stands for Language Acquisition Made Practical. It was developed by a couple who traveled all over the world in missions and came up with this way to learn languages. It is not an intense Swahili course, but a course on the Biblical importance of learning the native language as a means for ministering and relating to local people and how to go about learning a language in a practical way. We learn things slowly and by lots of repetition. Each day we take the phrases we learn and go and practice it with at least 20 people with our language helpers as assistants. I like this style of learning as I just need to hear things over and over again and practice them over and over again. The course also teaches lots of games we can use with our language helpers in the village. Swahili will come and it requires of step of faith in trusting the Lord through this all. Often I get tired and just want to be done, but I must keep persevering. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” We will each be meeting with our language helper for 5 hours a week for likely our entire time of service.
Next week is the big week as we begin our work, myself as a nurse and Sarah as a teacher. What we keep saying is that to walk on water, you must get out of the boat (Matthew 14). We will be living on our own, starting our work, and no longer have the crutch of a constant interpreter. Please lift us up in prayer. We are excited, but also nervous at this responsibility we have been given.
Hey kids! It’s Sarah now! Emily has done a great job of summing up our time so far and we have both learned a lot this week about the importance of language. Being a teacher I keep evaluating the program, and it’s really applicable and effective. The entire team has gone through this course, and they are fluent speakers, so that’s encouraging! We have slightly different goals since we have committed to being here one year, but I am eager to get the language process going. It is so important to use this as a tool to depend and rely on people in the village to help with this process too! Hiding and studying in our house is not an option. By going out into the village and embracing the humbling moments when we forget the meaning of a word or mispronounce something will actually show our neighbors and friends that we are trying. There is a Swahili proverb that says “Haba na haba hujaza ki baba.” It’s easy to read-just phonetically sound it out! It means you put a little bit in and a little more in and it fills the bucket. This is one of the phrases we’ve learned to share with people. As I like to say, “Slow and steady wins the race!” Hopefully the language-learning process will provide some humorous blog posts! In all seriousness though one thing this course has taught us is that language is ministry. Meeting people where they are at by communicating on their terms in their language will promote trusting relationships that allow us to serve them in real ways. Though it will be difficult, we are excited to apply the tools we’ve learned to grown in our language skills!
Any who-back to school! As Emily mentioned I start teaching on Monday! I even get to wear my snazzy uniform-a bright pink blouse with a grey skirt! I am eager to teach the kiddos and get to know them! I am also excited to get to know the teachers and support them. Thanks to generous donations from some teachers from my school in the US, I was able to bring 3 big bags of school supplies and resources to the school, and I am eager to organize them and plan how to implement new activities with the kiddos! It is important to be consistent with the current instructional methods, but I hope to blend in my style and incorporate some fun interactive games. The students range from 5 to 7 years old, so I get to play up my teaching! They are so precious, and I just want to love on them and get to really know them. We will definitely keep you posted on our first week!
Well, now back to Emily or Emmie as they call me here! Thought you might want to know a bit about what I am doing. My primary focus is caring for the children at the school and children who have disabilities in the community. I plan to do health assessments on all the school kids (they have height and weight measurements from the start of the year for me to track their progress). I will address health needs of children at the school as they come up. And I look forward to starting consistent exercises with a few toddlers who need to learn how to walk and sit up (one has cerebral palsy and another has Downs Syndrome). And I will expand my nursing practice as I can and as I feel led by the Lord. I am considering implementing a nutrition program (will expand on this later).
And I will leave you with a funny language story. I was saying goodbye to an older lady I had met. I thought I was saying, “Tutaonana” which means, “We will see each other,” a type of goodbye, but instead I said, “Tutaoana” which means, “We will marry each other.” So I proposed to a 60 year old woman with just the difference of one "N". Must keep a good sense of humor!
Mungu Akubariki (God Bless You),
Emily and Sarah

A bit about health care in Tanzania

First off, I bet you are wondering about the picture. It is of Sarah and myself at a crossing point of a lake (a shallow area where you can cross the lake to get to other villages). Behind it is a man made waterfall. We biked to this spot one evening and took some funny pictures. What we are wearing is called Khangas. It is two large pieces of decorated fabric that have a proverb written on the bottom. One covers your skirt and the other is worn around your shoulders and/or head. We always where the bottom khanga, even while at home, and when out in public, we must wear a head covering and also a top khanga.

So I have a story to tell you. I was made aware of a month old baby that was not thriving and losing weight. Another team member of mine saw her last week and wanted me to examine her. I went on Tuesday and was very concerned. Her skin was loose, she was lethargic, and only feeding two times a day. I was immediately concerned and knew action needed to be taken right away. Today we brought her with her mother to a clinic in town. We first went to the Disabled Children's Clinic because not only is she losing weight, but there are also other physical concerns. The doctor saw us right away and without examining the young baby, said all these problems were related to her mother. He saw charms, bracelets, and markings on her head (cultural thing here) and attributed all these problems to the mother because of those things. I was very upset as I knew this mother was trying her best. She is trying to nurse the baby every 2-3 hours, but the baby would not nurse and would fall asleep. The doctor also said he could do nothing since the baby had not been weighted since birth (they are supposed to be weighted every month, but said had not yet). So after I kindly asked if he would mind examining the baby and he did not, I decided it would just be best for us to leave. Clearly this man was not going to help and me getting frustrated with him would not make it better, so we headed to the hospital.

After a series of many lines as the hospital and me having no idea what is being said (just me, the mother, and baby) we finally got to a door that said "Dacktari Watoto," Children's Doctor, and knocked and because they saw a Mzungo, me a white person, we were seen right away. I was praying frequently that someone would take action for this precious little one. I am concerned her time on earth might be cut short if there is no intervention. I met two great doctors and they were also seriously concerned. They took much time to examine her. I even brought my stethoscope for them to use as I was concerned about a possible heart condition. She was below her birth weight, had a serious skin infection, and they were going to investigate more issues that could be going on to cause her failure to thrive. They agreed that she needed to be admitted to the hospital for intervention and thanked me for bringing her in. I will try to keep you posted on her status. What a blessing how the Lord got us to two doctors who cared and were taking action. Please continue to pray for this little one. I got the name of the two doctors and I am thankful for their service and am glad to know they truly care.

This is just a little bit about what I am facing here, but with action and passion we can help people. I visited another hospital my second day in the village and was brought to tears as they did not even have water for the patients. You cannot even imagine the site at that hospital, but the one I want to today is much better.

On a lighter note, we head to the beach tomorrow for a few days of rest. Then on Monday we begin a language course. This course teaches us how to learn a language using skills and strategies. Continue to pray for our work permits and visas. We need those as we want to start working as soon as we are done with language class!!!!!

Thanks so much for all the encouraging emails we have been receiving. Our time at the Internet cafe is very limited so we apologize if we do not get to get back with you.

A most important note is that in a village close by, 11 men have committed their lives to Christ. After much time of storying the Bible, these men have chosen life with Christ. Pray for them as they grow and mature and also that it is a serious commitment. Two of the men have been attending church the last two weeks. A joyous site.

Thanks for reading and continue to pray!

Blessings,

Emily

Village Life

Hello friends! We are in Tanga! We spent our first week in the village taking turns living with our team members Heather & Mary. They did an amazing job introducing us to friends and showing us the ropes of how to survive in rural Africa. We have cooked, cleaned, burned trash, and learned to sport a kanga and long skirt whilst riding a bike (an essential to life in the village). The rest of our team consists of a couple, Wayne and Joyce, and the pastor of the church, Matinya, and his wife Mama Sara. Matinya also runs the primary school, so both Emily and I will get to work with him closely. We are so blessed to have received such a warm welcome, and we have made many friends. Our second week in the village consisted of our home stay! Emily and I both lived with village families and learned the ins and outs of authentic life in the bush. We were both ‘adopted’ and well taken care of, though it was challenging and humbling to feel helpless in so many situations. It was a good test of patience and humility. Our language skills are coming along and we both look forward to our language workshop with Mary in Tanga next week. She is going to give us some important language learning tools and tips to apply to our time with our language helpers. We have had tea with both of our language helpers and we are eager to start our work together and build strong relationships with these women. I will start teaching in the beginning of August and Emily will do assessments on the kiddos at the school to track their health. She also plans to regularly visit families with children with special needs. She hopes to connect families with a disabled children’s clinic in town and help them to do exercises and physical therapy with some kiddos. She is eager to get started, and I am eager to get back in the classroom after visiting some classes and helping Heather teach English our first week here. Though we are still adjusting to life here while recognizing the beauty of the D people, there are so many needs and areas of the community to pour into. The Lord is active in this place, and we are excited to reach people for Him. There will be trials and struggles, but both Emily and I are so encouraged and humbled to be here in this place and at this time we know God is going to work mightily. We are doing a study with our team on Colossians and I will leave you with a little nugget that pretty much sums up our vision and hope for what God is going to do with our time here. Col. 2:6-8 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than Christ. Whether is be through teaching, nursing, or just spending time visiting and encouraging, we hope to build life-long relationships that have an eternal impact. Thank you so much for your love and prayers, and we will report back soon! Be patient with us as our Internet access is somewhat unpredictable! We miss ya and love ya!

Grace and peace,

Sarah Majino

Side note: I thought of home yesterday while I sat huddled and crammed on the bus with my home stay mama, Mama Bakari. We were packed like sardines with people shoving trays of anything under the sun in our faces asking us if we want to buy stuff... we were surrounded by chaos, and then I heard the faint, calming music of Kenny G. Yes that’s right. In the middle of the bus station, someone was serenading me with the musical talents of Mr. Kenny G himself. Oh how I love Africa. (Shania Twain’s “From this Moment On” followed it up and yes I did sing along because it was the only English I’d heard in a while).

Watch out Tanzania

Watch out Tanzania, here we come. What a special day of orientation at AIM. I felt the Lord's presence and comfort overwhelming me. All the women who are at orientation this week for short term missions with AIM had the opportunity to share their testimony. Each one was so powerful. God has such a strong calling to missions and I am a part of that. Thank you Lord for this calling! I look forward to more opportunities to share my testimony.
So tomorrow is the big day. I car service picks us up at AIM and takes us to JFK for our journey to Dar es Salaam, the capitol of Tanzania. Heather, who will be training us, will be waiting for us in Dar where we will stay for a couple days before we head up north to our village. I am anxious to meet the other missionaries and the people we will be serving. I have updated our prayer requests about our travel and transition.
There is so much excitement in this time. I have been flipping through my Bible all day reading and praying through much of God's Word in preparation. He has given us a whole book of His Word and precious promises. I need to walk with those on my heart. My prayers for this year are summed up well in Colossians 1:10-14, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Put your trust, faith, and hope in Jesus for He will never disappoint and will always walk with you, through your joys and challenges.
Thank you for tuning in. We will try to update as time allows! Please be consistently praying for us. And keep us up to date with what is going on in your life as well.
Blessings,
Emily

T Minus 5 Days & Counting...

What up faithful friends?  I am currently writing from my friendly neighborhood Kaldi's Coffee in Clayton.  My friend Melissa is on her way and I am preparing for another goodbye....though it is more of a "see you later" than a goodbye.  I've been saying see ya later to a lot of people lately, so praise Jesus for our amazing group of supportive and loving family and friends.  This is crunch time.  Emily and I are so excited to actually get to do what God has been leading us to for so long, and at the same time these butterflies in my stomach keep reminding me of just how different life is going to be for the next year.  Over all the emotions (and I've been experiencing a lot) I have an overwhelming joy.  God has blessed this mission every step along the way, and it's time to dive in head first and trust Him even when I think am I really doing this?  It's going to be so hard, but I wait in eager anticipation to learn so much more about God, the world and me.  We will update again soon, but for the time being please be praying for safe travel to NY on Monday and Tanzania on Wednesday.  Please also pray that our visas and everything get through so we can arrive and get going right away!  Most of all please pray that God prepare our hearts to serve the people with humble hearts and that we will join the team in place with a unified vision!  Thanks for your love and support!!!

Until later,

Sarah 

T minus 21 days

I cannot believe that Sarah and I leave for orientation 3 weeks from today. To be honest, I cannot wait. I am ready for all the preparations to be finished and get this started. The application process started in September and have spent so much time preparing in these last few months, so now I feel just ready to get there. Of course there is still so much to wrap up. I finished work about 3 weeks ago and have been going non stop ever since. I made a quick trip to Uganda with Children's Heart Project, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, and then to Kiawah Island with my family and head this afternoon to Kids Across America Kamps (a division of Kanakuk Kamps) to work as a nurse for the next 8 days. Sarah finished school a week and a half ago and now she is catching up on life and doing a little relaxing.
So a little update on everything. First off, please be praying for our visa's and residency permits. We do not have these yet, so please cover them in prayer to come in on time. Also pray for my nursing license to be approved when I get to Tanzania. We are gathering supplies and starting the packing process. Heather, our short term coordinator in Tanzania, has given us a good list to work with. Pray for us as we pack to use discernment in what we bring. Two fifty pound suitcases each for a year is not much. We do not need much as far as clothing goes as we will get it sewn there. We will wear traditional clothing. Can't wait to show you pictures. I have never been much of a skirt person as many of you know. If you would like to help with supplies, gift cards to Walmart would be great. There is so much we will be buying there. Swahili is coming along with Rosetta Stone. Of course it could always be better. Learning Swahili is critical to our ministry. And the most important preparation is spiritually. Pray that we can clearly hear how the Lord is directing us in this ministry.
I promise it will not be this long in between updates. Just an incredibly busy May. Can't wait to report on our progress!
Hugs,
Emily

Huge Blessings

Hey Friends,
Well I wanted to give a report on the garage sale we had last weekend to benefit Sarah, myself, and Africa Inland Mission. It was just fantastic and we raise a substantial amount of money for a garage sale. I think it may have been a garage sale record. We were so blessed for the countless donations from friends and family. We filled my entire garage, sun porch, and front porch with all the donations. The Lord blessed us with perfect weather and lots of people. So thank you for all your help. So that finishes our fundraisers. We feel very blessed with how well our support raising is going. You have extended great generosity and prayers which we are very grateful for. We have just a bit to go financially.
So I though I would address the two questions we hear most about going to Africa. First it is how many shots did you have to get? Since Sarah and I have both already been to Africa, we were mostly caught up on all our immunizations. In addition to the routine ones we had yellow fever, typhoid, and a few extra boosters. So we are set with immunizations. And while we are there, we will both take doxycyline daily to prevent malaria.
The second most asked question concerns our safety. First off, we are not worried about our safety. We are heading to work with a great people group and feel very comfortable about our safety and of course we will be smart. The Lord has protected me in so many situations in my life, and I trust He will continue to watch and guide both me and Sarah. I have been studying the Life of Moses this year with Bible Study Fellowship and last week we studied Deuteronomy 30-31. There is a great verse that speaks of God's protection. Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Moses said this to Joshua just before he led the Israelites into the promised land. Think about how scary this could have been. Joshua was leading millions into a land that was full of their enemies. But humble Moses reminded them to trust in the Lord's protection. And Sarah and I will do the same as we venture into land we do not know, but know the Lord goes there before us to prepare the way.
Thanks for tuning in. I am back to Kansas City this afternoon for one more week of work. We have about 7 weeks until we leave. And be praying for Sarah as she finishes her school year.
Hugs,
Emily