Anna's FirstServe Prayer Letter - March 2nd-15th

Welcome back!

It’s hard to believe we only have two weeks left in Moshi now! Every day is flying by, and while I’ll be glad to get home for a few days at Easter, we will have many hard goodbyes to say to the kids we’ve come to know well, the great friends we’ve made and the amazing teachers and centre staff that have been so kind and welcoming while we’ve been here.

Devotion

As someone who loves running, I have always found the story of Eric Liddell inspiring. Eric was an incredible athlete, with a goal to get to the 1924 Olympics in Paris and run in his best race – the 100 metres.  However, Eric would not run on a Sunday, so decided not to run in the 100 metre heat. Instead, he qualified for the 200 and 400 metre races.  On the day of the 400 metre race, someone gave him a piece of paper with 1 Samuel 2 v 30 written on it, “Those who honor me I will honor.”  This is one of God’s promises. Even though the 400 wasn’t his best distance; even though he was not expected to win anything – Eric broke the existing world record, winning the gold, and not only that, but he won the bronze medal for the 200 metres too!
After the Olympics, Eric returned to China and served as a missionary there, teaching at a school and telling the Chinese people the Gospel.  He married and had three children. While he and his family were there, China became dangerous with the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese war, so his family went to live in Canada and Eric stayed in China to continue his work.
Not long after, the Japanese invaded China and Eric was sent to an internment camp. Though the conditions were awful, Eric continued telling others the Gospel, teaching the children, and organizing sports. 
Eric never made it out of the internment camp. He was only 43 years old when he died of an undiagnosed brain tumour. But as we know, God is always, ever good. Eric finished his Olympic races well – but more importantly – he finished life well.
His certainly lived out the words of Acts 20 v 23-24, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
Eric once said, “We are all missionaries. Wherever we go we either bring people nearer to Christ or we repel them from Christ.”
This gold medal life story has taught me so many things. It teaches about hard work and putting God first. It teaches to live a gold medal life in whatever God has given us to do. It teaches that following God isn’t always easy. Let’s follow this example to live a gold medal life in whatever it is that God has called each of us to do!

LCK

It has been nice to get back into working in kindergarten and seeing the kids after a few weeks of trips and other projects. We have had lots of unexpected opportunities to lead assembly, teach some of the language classes and plan activities. I have certainly found that the opportunities to lead assembly, while sometimes daunting when I feel unprepared or struggle with the language barrier, has been the best opportunity to share the Gospel with the kids. When my words fail, God has always provided a way to get the concept of the Bible stories across, whether it be visual aids, acting it out or simply using basic English mixed with a few Swahili words. It’s so amazing to know that God steps in and uses our feeble efforts for His will and glory!

We have had some fun with the teachers recently! I mentioned a few weeks ago that we went to a second hand market to get some supplies for the kindergarten with Lynsey and the other kindergarten teachers. With Jonny and Lynsey currently in Scotland, we didn’t have Lynsey with her car this time, so we took our lives in our hands and got a bijaji (Tanzanian tuktuk!). Once all five of us had finally squished in with the driver and we had hit every bumpy dirt road in Moshi, we eventually made it to the market!

By the time we had finished our terrifying trip there, it had already been an exhausting day, but the market was also utter chaos! We went to get hats and gloves for the kids for their Easter zawadi (gift), as it is coming into the ‘cooler season’ (We’re still talking at least 25°C!). After haggling for what seemed like hours to get the equivalent of a 15p reduction, we finally managed to buy everything we needed for the kids…and went to find another bijaji to take us home!

MCCC kids

Getting back into our routine has allowed us to spend some more time with the centre kids. Between Sala, homework help, afternoon activities and movie nights there is plenty for Rachel and I to get involved in. A few days ago we saw some of the kids in the playground, so decided to join them. About half an hour later it started to rain, so the Mama in charge wanted the kids to come back inside. On our way back to the centre, one of the kids got a hold of my water bottle and thought it would be hilarious to chuck the whole thing over me, which the other kids loved. So our attempt at avoiding the rain turned into a massive water fight!

Post water fight!

LCK Safari car

I am pleased to say, after three weeks of paintbrushes falling apart in our hands, stenciling stress, painting things the wrong colour and getting covered in black paint that we didn’t realise wouldn’t come off, we have finally finished the safari car! The car will be going into the outdoor play area for the kindergarten kids, who have been so excited watching the (very slow!) progress each day!

Baking/Cooking with Elizabeth

We have been continuing to build our friendship with James and Elizabeth next door and our baking with Elizabeth once a week, who now also brings baby Javon along quite often (which means I get a cuddle every so often!). Last Wednesday, after baking ginger and cinnamon cookies, Elizabeth invited Rachel and I over to their house so that she could teach us how to make Tanzanian pilau. We were initially meant to start at 5.30, but between ‘African time’ and by the time the meat had cooked enough to become (mostly) edible, we didn’t start making the actual pilau until 8.30, meaning we didn’t actually eat until 10 at night, four hours later than usual. However, I have been so thankful for their friendship and kindness while Rachel and I have been here!

MCCC Saturday night

Last Saturday, Rachel and I were in charge of organising the MCCC Saturday night activity. We took a risk and went with an egg drop, so we split the kids into teams and gave each team an egg and a bag of recycling materials, and they had 45 minutes to create something to protect their egg. Some of the kids made parachutes, others wrapped their egg in paper and cardboard and some just threw it in a granola bag and hoped for a miracle. After they had finished, we dropped all of them from ceiling height and opened each one to see which teams had managed to keep their egg intact and which ones had cracked. The evening went really well, and we must have managed to get the concept across in the end as miraculously, only one egg was broken throughout the whole night! The rest of the eggs did disappear afterwards as the kids will eat anything edible you give them! We also played a few team games afterwards.

Egg drop!

Team games

Church and Bible study

We are still enjoying going to the local church and the Bible study each week. I have loved the opportunity to play piano for the services each week and getting to know such a variety of people! We are also making the most of the amazing church potluck lunches once a month and Bible study potluck dinners every Tuesday!

I think it’s safe to say that Rachel and I have both struggled slightly with some of the points of view that come up during the Bible study. Being the only local English speaking congregation, it attracts quite a wide variety of views and opinions. We have made the decision together to continue going, as it gives us the opportunity to, in a loving way, challenge certain points of view and show the truth in the Bible, and has resulted in some healthy conversations. Please pray for Rachel and I as we seek God’s wisdom through these various conversations.

Free time

We have also had plenty of opportunities to do some fun things in our free time! Jonny and Lynsey very kindly took us on a day trip to the hot springs a couple of weeks ago, which was great fun! Although Rachel does not exactly shine when it comes to football with the kids, I must admit she showed some impressive skills on the rope swing at the hot springs!

Since Jonny and Lynsey left last Monday, we have had to find different ways to entertain ourselves around the compound. Between watching the Lion King and singing Hakuna Matata at the top of our lungs, making homemade oreo milkshakes, running at sunrise, jamming sessions and trying to improve my very minimal guitar skills, I would say James and Elizabeth have had to practise a lot of patience and self control as our neighbours over the past two weeks!

(I can only apologise for my face while playing guitar…I was passionately belting Ireland’s call by that point!)

Prayer Points

Please pray…

• That we would continue to have opportunities to share the Gospel with the kids in our last couple of weeks here.

• For safe travels for Jonny and Lynsey and their kids on Wednesday as they return from Scotland.

• For Rachel and I as we start saying our goodbyes to the great friends we have made here and the children.

• That we would seek to live a ‘gold medal life’ in all that God has called us to do.

Thank you once again for your prayers and support in where God has been leading me this year. Let us continue to rest in the arms of our Father who loves us and promises to be with us in all things, no matter our circumstances.

God Bless,

Anna x

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‘And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’ Colossians 3 v 17