Wake Up Call

It's not unusual for me to wake up around 5:00 in the morning. I usually get a cup of coffee and sit in the dark. Sometimes God will give me a scripture to read or a song will begin to run through my mind. Sometimes, I just sit.
Promptly at 5:00 a.m, the Muslim call to prayer begins, through loud speakers. We get a variety of "choruses" from smaller mosques in our immediate area. I would like to tell you it is melodious, but those of you who have visited Tanzania can attest, it is not "music to the ears".

The construction of the largest mosque in East Africa is near completion about a mile away "as the crow flies". I don't think their speaker system is up and running yet, but I'm sure it will be before long. ..........which is beside the point.

So, I joined the chanters this morning as the words from a song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean ran through my mind:
Like oil upon Your feet
Like wine for You to drink
Like water from my heart
I pour my love on you
If praise is like perfume
I lavish mine on you
Til every drop is gone
I pour my love on you

Psalm 48:10: "Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the end of the earth."

Little Things---Big Problems

Ed says that the first question he's going to ask God when he gets to heaven is, "Why do kids feel compelled to put stuff into a hole?"
We have encountered many bore holes which were filled with a variety of things. The bore holes had no covers and offered an open invitation to children to see if the hole could be filled with ANYTHING: rocks, trash, pens, leaves, sand.....and the list goes on.

Upon return to Dodoma, we were asked to return to a village in which we had installed a pump several months ago. It was not working.
I will not go into the mechanics of the well casing, pipes, and rods. But I will tell you, it was a full day's work as we pulled about 120 feet of rods to get the pump out. Then the same length of pipe to see if there were leaks in the pipe. Ed and Lance re-worked the foot valve and pipes then re-installed it.
Not just once, but 3 times.
They finally made the decision to install all new pvc pipe.
The last time the pump was pulled, they noticed a brand new "o-ring" had been destroyed and the culprits which destroyed the "o-ring" were Baobab tree seeds, which kids had put into an opening at the top of the pump. As the water was pumped, the seeds were pulled into the pipe, destroying the "o-ring".

Since this pump was initially installed, a plate has been designed to prevent this from happening. However, it does not get the seeds out of this well.

So, with a little "Ed-gineering", the seeds cannot get into the pipe as the water is pumped.

There are some discussions with a "drilling" friend who has the capabilities of cleaning out some of these bore holes. We look forward to seeing how this all comes about. Rehabilitating these wells, would be more cost effective than drilling new ones.

As for Ed asking God his question......we have laughed knowing that when we are in the presence of the Father, we won't remember one of those questions on our list.

Won't that be a glorious day?

Those little things....will no longer be big problems.

Mbuzi to Mpunguzi

That is Nexan on the far right in the photo below. She is an amazing woman and wears many hats. She supports her husband and his work with the street children of Dodoma. Their home is now home to 6 street children in addition to their own 4. In her spare time, she has a ministry to widows, helping them find ways to generate income and encouraging them with ideas.
Several months ago, when we were being given goats in appreciation for working on water pumps, Ed suggested to Nexan that a goat project might be a good money making venture for some of her ladies and he just happened to have a goat to get them started.
Naturally, the women had concerns about feeding the goat and fears someone would steal it. Ed suggested they take the goat, keep it for a few months, and see how things worked out.
You can barely see Goat #1 in the lower portion of this picture.

Flash forward 6 months. The "seed" goat has not been stolen. She is being fed. Nexan receives word the women are ready for a male goat to start producing.
She locates one at a good price in Ihuma. We leave at 8:00 this morning and drive 15 kilometers to "collect" the goat.
Yes, that's the goat in the back of our Landrover.
This very special "mbuzi" is going to Mpunguzi, about an hour's drive from where we are. So, we headed out.

It was hot and the goat had a "nervous stomach"...........enough said. I declined taking photos of that.

The happy ending is that several ambitious widows in Mpunguzi are now in the "goat business".

My Utmost for His Highest--March 4

This is Oswald Chambers classic devotional "My Utmost for His Highest". I gave a copy of this to Ed, before we married, in 1991. We have been reading it each year since....not each and every day, but most of it. Next to the Bible, many of the devotions have given insight to who Jesus is and who we are in Christ.

Many pages are underlined, highlighted, and often notes written in the margins as a reminder of what was happening in our lives at the time. I have come upon one of the grandkids pretending to read and carefully marking the page, just as they had seen me do.

Today, I turned to March 4 and found one devotion which spoke profoundly to me as I wrestled with joining Ed in Tanzania in 2007. I loved my job and everything about it.....especially the friends I had there.

PRACTICALITY told me:
You are needed here.
You love this job.
You would be giving up great benefits.
You love this job.
It's wonderful pay.
You love this job.
You can retire in 7 years.
You love this job.

But I found that God wanted to speak something else to me through this devotion on March 4, 2007.
"Practical work may be a competition against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument---'Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.' That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His."

The following day, I let my supervisor know, I would be joining Ed in June.

Disclaimer

I want everyone to be sure and know that Ed and I DO NOT oversee the Safina Program (see the following post). We are, however, privileged to be around to partner with and support Safina Street Ministry personally and through our work with Omega Mission. There are other families in Dodoma who give of themselves also. The staff of Safina are "in the trenches" each and every day and continue to do an amazing job, working tirelessly for these children.

Prayers for Mathayo

The director's of the Safina Street Network work around the clock, challenged by countless tasks on a daily basis. When one child hasn't been around, Andrea and Patrick immediately go to work to find that child.

Mathayo's absence was no exception. Andrea eventually found him in the hospital. He had been beaten by a gang of boys and left to die at the rail road tracks. Injuries to his head and his back, left him unconscious and unable to move.

Hospitals here do not provide food. It is up to family members to bring food. No family...no food. The day Andrea found Mathayo, the hospital had just then hooked up an IV. He had not been turned and his muscles were atrophied. He was slowly becoming conscious. Andrea and Patrick returned daily and fed him by hand since he was still unable to feed himself.

Safina only has approval to house children who are sick, so Mathayo, still unable to walk, was taken to the facility where he has been attended to by 3 older boys who live on site. Each day, they get him up, make sure he is fed and clean and then attempt to help him walk. Cha-cha, the oldest boy, has a heart for caring for the sick. Mathayo has made some progress walking supported on each side by another boy.

I had heard a new physiotherapist, from Australia, was now serving Dodoma, through the Anglican church, so I called Jane and found she was most willing to come do an evaluation on Mathayo. Yesterday, I picked her and her translator up and we headed to Safina. Mathayo was anxiously anticipating her visit.

All the boys gathered around and watched as Jane did an assessment and confirmed his back and possible hip injury, but feels recovery looks very promising. Cha-cha took in everything as Jane demonstrated massaging Mathayo's back, stretching, and other exercises. Jane will come to the center to monitor his progress a couple of times a week. I had pulled out my camera to start documenting his progress from the beginning and found I had not replaced the memory card.

The word has been sent out to the Dodoma "ex-pat" community to locate a walker for Mathayo. Prayers for healing are being prayed and we are convinced he will make a full recovery. Will you join us in praying for Mathayo? Also, in praying for the Safina program as they minister to the street children of Dodoma.

 

Creative Cooking

I love my man and when he's returning from a long trip, I love to have a good meal made for him when he gets home. Today was no exception. He's been in Babati (6 hours away) most of the week. In the freezer, I discovered some pork ribs from a pig we had butchered a few months ago and decided to do them up right.

I found a tasty sounding recipe and went to work only to discover the ribs wouldn't fit into my pan. So if you don't have "short ribs"...what do you do?........You make them into short ribs.

We brought a wonderful selection of new, SHARP, knives back from the States, only to be wounded numerous times by those slippery utensils. After slicing my thumb, I discovered, this shiny new knife was not what I needed to break those ribs.

 

Next, I retrieve my trusty panga (see the following story) from under the seat of the truck, wash it up good with bleach and start pounding away at those bones. This was not successful.

 

By now, our watchman is doubled over, laughing at me and I am all the more determined to get those ribs into a pan. I tell him to get a saw and he laughs even harder. Again, I go through the bleach washing and start sawing away at those ribs. It worked.

 

Ed will be home in just a few minutes and will be able to smell those ribs when he pulls into the drive way.
By the way.......I'm off to play Bunco, so he'll have to dine alone........that man that I love.