Marching on in Tanzania
/Spring has sprung in places with spring, but here in TZ we’re just finishing up the rainy season. Here’s our March update, hot off the press!
Prayer Requests Up Front:
-We’re looking for a homeschool helper to move here for a couple of years under the IMB Journeyman or ISC programs to help lend a hand. If you know of anyone who is thinking about missions and wants a serious adventure, get us in touch! Please be praying that God would provide someone who will be a help and love our kids well.
-Azimio Baptist Church is a partner church here that we love. They are going through some organizational changes, and we’re asking folks to pray for them, their leadership, and their witness in a heavily Muslim town.
-The Kigoma Baptist Hospital is likewise facing some challenges in working with national organizations and the government. We’re trying to get a good plan for moving forward and working there for the glory of God and the good of the people of Kigoma.
We’ve gotten a few packages and letters from the US this month, and they warmed our hearts!! Thanks for the bacon bits and other goodies!
March has been busy and full of lots of thinking and planning for the long term here, all while we are struck by how much of newbies we still are!
We have to remind ourselves that we’ve been in Kigoma for less than 5 months, and that we have YEARS of language and culture learning before we’ll feel a familiarity in this life. Nonetheless, we find ourselves getting frustrated by our ‘slow’ (“slow” as in, we sound like 3 year olds when we are speaking Swahili. Or, at least I do. Josh probably sounds equivalent to a very average 4 year old) progress and antsy to establish fruitful ministry patterns.
This ‘antsy ness’, coupled with our daily language struggle can make for days where you feel like you’ve contributed, accomplished and learned nothing. God has been gracious to remind us of His sovereignty, and reading missionary biographies has helped us to see that in the context of history, we have it pretty easy! Recently we finished a biography on Gladys Alyward (sister was a BOSS!). If you haven’t read or heard her story, you should.
Our storage room is finished! Our friend Onesimus did the general contracting, and will let you know how confident he is in the strength of the building by repeatedly smacking it (kind of like how our friend George in Nairobi would slap cabbages to show you it was a good one for eating). Our crate of goods(including our mixer, bed, and couch!!) from the US is currently parked in a crate off the coast of Dar es Salaam, and scheduled to be unloaded on the 28th of this month (but to clarify, there’s not estimated arrival for here, as it just depends on how much they feel like rifling through our stuff, and if they decide they feel like they want to make a stink about something in the crate and hold it hostage like they did with our team mates crate). Now we’ll have a place to put the woodworking tools we brought. We’re excited to settle in a little further, and ditch the loaner couches we’ve been using!
This month we had a couple scary incidents in the neighborhood, and discovered in discussions with the police and local authorities that our area isn’t terribly safe. We’re balancing trusting in God to provide what we need and being prudent(innocent as doves/shrewd as serpents, if you will). We’ve gone to 24hr guards at the house and got another dog(because nothing says security like a 3 month-old German Shepherd who just wants to be pet)
The boys are on track to finish the homeschool year in April/May. It’s been a challenging year for Elijah as he’s had to teach himself most of his subjects with minimal outside help/input. We’re looking at enrolling him in an online accredited high school next year to help with some of the instruction and accountability with scheduling. The other boys plan on continuing with My Father’s World next year, which is great because they can do it together.
At over 3 years old, Zeke is finally potty trained (that’s sort of a “mostly”, which is better than not at all)! Diapers are not cheap here, so we’re looking forward to saving some money, and WHO DOESN’T LOVE LITTLE BOYS IN UNDERPANTS? Pics of various “ZekeWasHere”, Potty Training Edition below.
The new dog is named Aldi, keeping with the theme of things we miss from America. Aldi was our favorite grocery store! She’s a sweet GSD who is getting along great with Nonny.
Cultural tidbit:
In this family focused culture, women and men(but more often women) are referred to as Mama ______, where the blank is filled in by their kids’(usually the oldest) name. Rebekah has chosen to go by Mama Tano, which is catching on slowly, and Heather introduces herself as Mama B(all SEVEN of their kids’ names start with B).
One piece of advice a seasoned missionary to West Africa gave me was to keep referring to Bek by her first name, to avoid sending a message that her identity is summed up in her role as a mother alone.
We also noticed the first time we attended a local church that the men and women sit on separate sides of the church, or plot of land or wherever they are meeting. Children are most often with the women, and are often passed around from one woman to another, making it difficult to tell who’s baby is who’s. Our first experience at a village church here I noticed 3 different woman all nurse the same baby. I still have no idea who the mother of that baby was. Talk about “it takes a village”!
That’s it for March! If you want to come and visit or partner with us in some way, send me an email at M28StoreyFam@gmail.com.
We put some videos and other content at our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1072012219992846
If you want to give, go to www.IMB.org/give. You can donate directly to our team by putting our names(Storey) and our affinity(SSAP) in the dropdown.
Please keep us in your prayers!