Anna's FirstServe Prayer Letter - January 20th - February 2nd

Welcome once again!

Another two weeks have flown by with many exciting times and busy schedules. There has been so many amazing opportunities to share the Gospel and build relationships with the children, witnessing our wonderful God's purposes along the way! Without a doubt, it truly has been a time of growth and deep learning for me. I can't wait to tell you all about it below!

Devotions

I have really been challenged during the last few weeks by Luke 10 v 38-42, which talks about Jesus’ visit with Mary and Martha. While Martha had good intentions in serving Jesus, she became so distracted in serving that she took her eyes off Him. Since arriving in Tanzania, my schedule at the kindergarten and with the primary school children has become very busy, with Rachel and I’s attention in high demand and free time becoming more and more scarce. While it has been time well spent, building relationships with those at the centre and serving the Lord in this amazing opportunity, I often find myself in Martha’s situation - immersed so much in the serving and forgetting the importance of simply sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing His word, and yet that is the one thing that is needed (v.42).

I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

“Imagine not that to sit at Jesus’ feet is a very small, unmeaning thing. It means peace, for they who submit to Jesus find peace through His precious blood. It means holiness, for those who learn of Jesus learn no sin, but are instructed in things lovely and of good repute. It means strength, for they that sit with Jesus, and feed upon Him, are girded with His strength; the joy of the Lord is their strength. It means wisdom, for they that learn of the Son of God understand more than the ancients, because they keep His statutes. It means zeal, for the love of Christ fires hearts that live upon it, and they that are much with Jesus become like Jesus, so that the zeal of the Lord’s house eats them up.”

There is so much power found in simply sitting at the Master’s feet. It signifies our readiness to accept and obey what He teaches, submission to Him, faith in who He is and our love for Him. Let’s seek to have a Mary heart in a Martha world.

Settling in

While we are really enjoying being here, the realities of living in Africa have begun to hit! Powercuts happen more often than not, no Wifi, toilet leakages, using old cornflakes boxes as bins, chasing mosquitos around in the middle of the night and the deafening noise of the rain on our tin roof have all become part of our regular schedule. With that in mind, it has made me appreciate the little things, like hot showers, a full nights sleep and even toast with butter on a really good day!

We have also had so many opportunities to see God’s amazing creation throughout the past few weeks! On a clear day, we have an amazing view of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the centre and the sunsets have been incredible. One of my favourite songs throughout FirstServe has been ‘He will keep you’ by Sovereign Grace, based on Psalm 121, which begins with ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth’. The God who paints the sunsets and spoke the mountains into being is the same God who keeps and sustains us!

Food and Culture…Part 2!

The food continues to get more and more interesting as time passes!

A few days ago, we saw our neighbours James and Elizabeth arrive back from town with a live chicken tied up in the backseat to cook for dinner. They invited us around to watch them prepare the chicken after explaining how they planned to cook and prepare it, the details of which I won’t share… and laughing at our slightly horrified faces! Rachel and I both politely declined this time but Elizabeth knocked on our door that night with a plate of fruit with some chicken, which, to give them credit, tasted amazing!

Before and after…

We also decided to join a few church members after the Sunday service for what we were told was a short walk with some snacks afterwards. This ‘walk’ turned out to be a two hour 10km hike across muddy ditches, sunflower fields and some very dodgy bridges and the ‘snacks’ were barbecued hairy pork and banana.

We had a very interesting trip last Friday. Lynsey invited Rachel and I to join her and the kindergarten teachers to go to the local market to get supplies for the school. It was certainly a unique experience, a mix between people waving pairs of trousers in our faces trying to sell them to us or guys asking us out, along with chickens, goats or other animals aimlessly wondering around. Rachel got a true market experience when she decided to buy a pair of crocs. They cost 10,000 tanzanian shillings, which is about £3, but the kindergarten teachers were ruthless in trying to haggle the price down and we ended up haggling for about 20 minutes…unsuccessfully.

Working at LCK

We have officially been working in the kindergarten for three weeks, and I would just like to say if you are a creche or primary school teacher - you’ve earned my respect! While it has been so rewarding and the kids have been great, it has been exhausting and afternoon naps have become a frequent occurrence!

I have bonded with one boy in particular at the kindergarten who has Down’s Syndrome, and a lot of my time has been spent working with him on writing numbers and letters. The rest of my time is spent playing with the kids and trying to engage them in conversation.

LCK

MCCC Kids

We are starting to get to know the primary school kids quite well as we spend a lot of afternoons playing games or doing activities with them, like crafts, movies, games, singing and dancing. They are also big fans of football, which is a bit unfortunate for Rachel and I. Despite all our enthusiasm, we have managed to dribble the football around the open goal on more than one occasion, so we have been demoted to the official commentators at each match, with Rachel’s favourite phrase being ‘slightly offside’.

Crafts with the kids

We are still going to Sala with the kids most evenings, and despite it all being in Swahili, the kids have been helping by teaching us new words and phrases every day and even ‘There is a flag flying high’ in Swahili!

We are slowly building friendships with the older secondary school kids which has been a big answer to prayer, as they were all quite shy at the beginning and kept to their own friend groups. Rachel and I try to help with homework each night, but have also had other opportunities to spend time with them watching movies or just sitting and chatting. We are planning to organise a ‘galentines night’ for the older girls on the 10th, which will include baking, playing games and a movie, with an aim to continue to build friendships with them, so please pray as we begin to organise this and hopefully get opportunities to have faith based conversations as a result of the friendships that form.

Last Saturday Jonny and Lynsey planned a special barbecue/movie night for everyone at MCCC. Rachel and I were tasked with making a four tier chocolate cake to celebrate all the January birthdays, which went unexpectedly well! The barbecue food was probably the best food we’ve had at the centre since we’ve arrived, followed by cake and watching a movie with the kids.

Bible Study

The church Rachel and I have been going to hold a Bible study every Tuesday evening, which begins with a potluck dinner, much to our delight! It has given us a great opportunity to get to know some of the church members better as well as get a decent meal! We have just begun working through the book of Mark, taking roughly half a chapter each week and spending an hour after dinner talking through the verses and asking questions.

Mentor meetings

While we are in Tanzania, Lynsey will be our mentor, which will involve us meeting together once a week to discuss different challenges we are finding, pray together and read through and discuss a book with a Christian topic. I have found it a really beneficial time to take a couple of hours away from the busyness of the kindergarten and centre and be able to focus on the Lord.

Prayer Points

Please pray…

• As we continue to work with the kids in LCK that we would show them God’s love through simply spending time with them and showing that we care about them.

• As we look to build friendships with the older kids and be able to share the Gospel to those who are not saved as a result.

• That we would continue to adjust to the culture and for safety.

• That we would remember to take time out of our busy schedules to sit at Jesus’ feet.

Thank you all again for being so willing to support and pray for me as I continue to serve the Lord this year. It has been so wonderful to see God answer so many of your prayers already, especially in recent weeks. Please do keep in touch and let me know if I can pray for you in any way!

God Bless,

Anna x

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‘Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
 for to you I entrust my life.’

Psalm 143 v 8