We’ve been in Tanzania for 3 weeks now. It has felt good to be back. The worst thing is missing our family and friends. Although, with the invention of FaceTime, Skype and social networking, keeping in touch is much easier than it was 15 years ago. Being able to see the kids
faces and have a conversation some how makes them seem closer than they are. When we lived here before, we had to rely on ‘snail mail’ and a sometimes working internet! It has much improved.

One of things that I had forgotten, is that this part of Tanzania gets cold! I know you don’t believe me – because everyone thinks all of Africa is hot all of the time like I once did! It is their winter. It’s weird. I am writing this in boiling sunshine yet last night we had a fire in our room (intentional of course!) and I am sleeping under heavy blankets with my socks on! When it’s hot, it’s hot and when it’s cold, it’s baridi sana! (very cold).

Since I last wrote, I have had the privilege of speaking at a women’s seminar on a mountain in a village called Loita. Every time we arrived, someone would come and carry my bag for me. Servanthood at its best.

Arriving was a challenge. As I said it was up a mountain, and it took about 45 minutes from the main road. You couldn’t call the track up the mountain a road – you would be done by the trades description act! We just went with the flow as the car threw us about. As we made our way up there, we came across a group of boys who had blocked the road with a stick. It had suddenly become a toll road! They were supposedly fixing it for us but, to be honest, I couldn’t tell! We paid 400 shillings – about 10p! Some other boys cottoned on and we ended up going through two or three – and on the way down! Our driver ‘argued’ and refused to pay again on the way down! At least they were having a go at earning a living… I think if we’d have been driving, we’d have paid them all….

The seminar began and, as I listened to them singing, I was overcome with the emotion of the moment. I had to pull myself together as tears came into my eyes. I was overwhelmed at the honour of being able to speak to this group of ladies. Ladies who have little in this world, yet they have a deep love for God. Who was I to be standing in front of them? I felt humbled and found it an incredible blessing to help them grow a little more in their faith.

Before each session, we would sit in the pastor’s office where we would eat food that they had prepared for us. Meat, rice, water melon, bananas, avocado, eggs and bread. Hospitality at its best.

Always, my biggest challenges in Tanzania are the food, the toilets and the unknown. This hasn’t changed although I am much braver than I was in 1998!

The toilet on Loita had to be ‘conquered’ because we were there for a while! I got it down to a fine art… I would take a deep breath on the approach, do the deed while holding my breath, put my skirt over my mouth, leave the door open (I’m not proud!) and then run and breathe out! I had it sussed – so much so that I must have gone about 6 times! I was very proud of myself!

I have no problem with it being a hole in the ground – it’s the smell that does me!

We are doing lots of ministry while we are here which we are really enjoying. But what we are also enjoying is having time to read, study and to write. It has been a very long time since we have had concentrated time to do these things. John is working on a re-write of ‘The Royal Law’ and I have been able to write a lot of a book that I started back last year. Time is a precious commodity and we are grateful that we are having time to be creative on projects that have been around for some time. We have set ourselves goals and we are on course.