November: Tumefika! We have arrived!
/November update:
PRUF:
- This transition has been even harder than we anticipated. Please continue to pray that we will adjust to life here in Kigoma, and thrive where God has planted us.
-The language is coming- please pray that we would have ears to hear and understand, and the ability to remember all the new words we’re learning!
-The boys always need prayer as they are going through a lot of change, and vacillate between elation at being here and living next to good friends, and deep sorrow for all we’ve left behind.
-Please lift up the Kigoma(Ha peoples) Team as we seek to impact this region for Christ. So much good work is happening here, but we know that there continues to be vast “lostness” in this area. Please pray that we would be wise in our strategy, and faithful to carry out the task!
It brings be great joy to report that we are here in Kigoma! We left Nairobi as anticipated on Sunday morning, Oct24. Our team leaders Larry and Sally Pepper drove up to Nairobi from Kigoma(a rough 3-day trip), picking up our assigned TZ vehicle in Arusha along the way. They arrived late afternoon on Saturday. We spent Saturday evening packing and installing a trailer-light kit on one of the Land Cruisers so we could pull the trailers the next day. Shout out to my dear brother George, who came over to help us get the kit installed!
We began to pull out of the driveway on Sunday morning before 7, then realized our assigned Land Cruiser didn’t have rear seatbelts. After another hour we were able to locate some extra belts, and get them installed. Then we were off! We drove to Babati, TZ on the first day, crossing the border with relative ease(thanks for the prayers!). We drove to Tabora, TZ the second day, then into Kigoma on Tuesday the 26th. Our team met us at the house to help us unload and share a meal together.
The second night here I(Josh) experienced a spiritual attack through the night, leaving me uncharacteristically anxious, fearful, and down. Definitely a first for me! I’m so thankful for our friends and family here and back in the states who encouraged me and our family during those rough couple of days. Thankfully, I know that we needn’t fight those spiritual battles, but rather have a Savior who has already won the victory. He has been faithful over the past couple weeks to gently restore me and encourage me through His Word, prayer, and fellowship with brothers and sisters. Thanks again to those who prayed/continue to pray for us. We cannot express our thanks adequately.
The past couple weeks have been spent learning a LOT. We’re discovering how very different it is to live in Kigoma. Most mundane tasks here take much longer than even in Nairobi. From shopping in the convoluted and seemingly random markets(3h) to sorting/debugging beans(2h) to completing immigration paperwork(7 separate visits to 5 different offices) to getting a SIM card(3 shops, 20 fingerprints), it is an adjustment! We’ll try to include a little cultural moment in each newsletter to share a little bit of what we’re learning with you all.
Leaving Nairobi was hard- we’ll miss the friends we made there and the church we were blessed to be a part of, if only for a short time. We will NOT miss the traffic or the sprawl, though! The traffic in Kigoma is mostly bajaji(tuktuks), the three wheeled taxis common here. Hardly a matatu(medium/large public transportation bus) to be seen terrorizing the streets!
The coming month will continue to be one of transition and change as we try to establish a routine here in Kigoma that is conducive to ministry. Our job description is that of church planters. We are here to see the glory of God proclaimed in Western Tanzania, specifically to those who are unreached. We will use “healthcare strategies” to work towards that end. In a developing nation like TZ, healthcare continues to be a very resource-poor sector, so providing healthcare for low or no-cost is a wonderful way to meet physical needs while making spiritual connections.
On Monday I(Josh) will start shadowing my colleagues at the Kigoma Baptist Hospital, beginning the daunting task of learning conversational Swahili, medical Swahili and tropical medicine simultaneously. I could use your prayers for that task! I anticipate it will be the most challenging intellectual task I’ve tackled since med school.
Rebekah and Heather(team-mate and neighbor) are talking about what ministry looks like for them as the home-makers and primary educators for our families. They’ve been able to share to gospel with ladies they are meeting in the local markets, and we’re praying about a ministry to the kids/families in our neighborhood.
The boys are adjusting well. The McDonald family are our next door neighbors, and beat us here by a few months. The kids have loved having great friends just a (easy-to-climb) wall away.
We had two birthdays this month- Zeke turned 3 on the 2nd and Judah turned 12 on the 5th. We celebrated with birthday breakfasts, and our team leader Sally Pepper cooked a big birthday dinner and cake for the boys. It was a sweet time with our new friends here, and the boys felt really loved!
Cultural Moment:
Tanzanians are wonderful people. Relationships are of highest priority, and one way that this manifests is the greeting culture. If we go to run errands, we find that it can take literally twice as long as we might expect because of the expectation/practice of greeting. You are expected to greet nearly everyone that you come in contact with- whether you know them or not. People that we have met before tend to take even longer to visit, because you will discuss any shared experience/previous conversation. While it extends your trips, you truly begin to establish strong connections with the people in your community.
Example from the other day: Rebekah and I were looking for a mirror for the house, and she had seen one in a little plumbing duka(shop) in town. I had been in this duka once before to buy some materials for the house.
When we enter, we greet Norbet, the owner and his wife Rehema who is in the shop with him. We ask how they are individually, how their day is going, how their work is, and how their children are.
They reciprocate with similar questions. They ask how we are doing with moving to town.
We respond well, and ask about business, which they say is good.
They then compliment us on our Swahili, and we spend another couple of minutes saying that we feel like it is coming slowly, but they reassure us that we are better now than we were last week.
Eventually, we get around to asking about the mirror, which they have in stock.
We talk about the new house for a couple of minutes, and how we are liking it. We compliment them on their shop and the many nice things they have for sale there.
We pay for the mirror and then wish them a good day in a couple of different ways.
They invite us to come back again, which we promise to do, and then leave, waving goodbye as we walk away.
This whole exchange takes at least 10 minutes, versus a 2 minute trip to buy a mirror and leave. Just yesterday I was lamenting the task-driven culture of the West with another duke-owner, telling him of the idiom: “Americans have the watches, but Africans have the time”.
This is one aspect of our new culture that we’re enjoying getting used to!
That’s the update for this month! I have some info on mailing items and supporting us below:
Mailing Items:
Many of you have asked about sending us letters or packages, so here’s what we’re learning here:
Our address:
(name)
PO Box 1155
Kigoma, Tanzania
(Seriously, that’s it. No other numbers or anything!)
1. Letters or padded envelopes get here in a few weeks and are welcome! Small/medium padded envelopes fit in our PO Box, which means we don’t have to pay a fee for storing them like we do for packages.
2. Boxes are very expensive to mail($80-140), but if you’d like to send us a care package, we’ve learned a few things:
-Minimize the value on the customs form. Anything valued over $50 gets a bigger fee. Put the value of the items as what you might pay for the items at a garage sale…
-American candies are a treat, as are pepperoni/sausage, drink mixes and cheese powder. A more robust list of “things we miss” can be provided on request. ;)
-Address the package to one of the boys. If we get two packages under the same name they charge a higher fee.
-Don’t write “toys” or “gift” on the customs form- don’t lie, but be creative in your description. Those items specifically are charged at a higher rate. Notably, the fees are completely arbitrary and based on the mood/greed of the customs agent that day.
How you can support us:
-Pray!!
-Send us emails/texts/voice memos
-Give at www.imb.org/give **100% of Lottie Moon gifts go directly to missionaries overseas
-Come visit! Email me for more info @ M28StoreyFam@gmail.com