This past Sunday four of my Tanzanian colleagues, my new house-mate Crystal and I went out to Mgango (about 45 minutes outside of Musoma), a village in the Kwaya language group area.
Upon arrival Crystal and I were informed that we would be helping with the kids program. It became apparent that we would be creating the program on the spot, so I grabbed some Kwaya Lukes out of the truck as well as some Lukes and Ruths in Jita (a related language). We then set about helping the children to learn to read in their language.
More than likely, this was the first time any of these children saw their language in writing. Some were shy about reading, while others jumped at the opportunity. It was amazing to hear how easily some of the older kids picked it up.
Crystal is a teacher, who came to Musoma to help teach the missionaries' children. This was her first trip out to a village in the area, and also one of her first times to get to see Tanzanians receiving God's word in their language. Her gifts in teaching came in handy as she sat with the kids and helped them read. We were both pretty impressed with the girl pictured below. She quickly was able to read in Kwaya and didn't want to stop.
During the church service we heard a sermon by Daudi Mornodoro (one of the Kwaya translators) about the power that God's word has. While he read a portion of Luke in Kwaya I watched the faces of the small congregation. They were smiling from ear to ear. It was truly a blessing to get to witness.
Finally; I was asked to sing and play the guitar (so that Kwaya women would know that they too could play the guitar). I chose one of my mom's songs and ended up getting to sing it three times before the end of the service. Here is a short video I was able to put together of the "performances":
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