Family Business

One of the joys of being in Tulsa over furlough is being involved in the family business.
After the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma last year my dad came up with a new technique for underground storm shelters and decided to start up his own business. I have a handful of Australian friends in Musoma and I found it ironic when my dad told me he was starting an underground storm shelter business called Down Under Shelters, and they put your shelter "outback".

From Musoma I got to give some input on the logo he created for the business. This is the final product:

 

Since being home I have learned all about HDPE (high-density polyethylene), high water-tables, pros and cons of above ground shelters, how many yards of cement are needed to hold the HDPE portion of the shelter in the ground, and high-low two way air ventilation.
I helped sell the shelters at a couple local trade shows. There were so many people around trying to talk with my dad about his product that he needed some extra help to get to everyone. If you are in the market for a storm shelter, and need to talk to someone about what to buy...just talk to me, I can give you the inside scoop on the best product on the market!

The shelter from the outside.

The shelter from the inside.

I have gotten to operate heavy machinery:

Ok, I didn't actually operate this excavator. I didn't get a picture of me working with the heavy machinery that I did get to use, so I posed in this picture.

It has been such a blessing to get to be involved in the family business while I am home. I love being involved in something that I truly believe in, be that spreading the Word of God through Bible translation or spreading the good news about a great new underground shelter business.

There are more pictures and some fun videos that we have made on facebook and you can view them here: Down Under Shelters on FB

Wycliffe Connection

At the end of February I got to attend Wycliffe Connection at the Wycliffe USA headquarters in Orlando Florida.

Wycliffe Connection is an opportunity for returning missionaries to gather together and debrief a bit about their experiences. The amazing thing is that Wycliffe pays for the flight, accommodations and food for the whole week!
On the first night we got to introduce ourselves by picking one object from a table and explaining why it described us. I picked the rainbow colored slinky. I have a colorful personality, I love structure and order, but tend to be quite flexible within that order and structure...I am a rainbow colored slinky!

We got to hear more fully from each other through the course of the week and it was so encouraging to hear about the work that is going on all around the world.
During that week we were given much encouragement and help with accessing the resources available to us.  We also were prayed over by some of the Wycliffe missionaries that work in Orlando.

We heard from the president of Wycliffe USA Bob Creson.

As a special treat we were taken to Gator Land after hours for a private tour, and a special reptile holding session. I am generally afraid of reptiles, so it was exciting to face some of my fears. Holding a little alligator wasn't that difficult.

But, holding this Burmese python was another matter. I was determined to hold it, and managed fairly well until its tail was wrapping around my leg, and its head was coming at me...that was my limit.

The biggest highlight from that week was hanging out with the Bitikofers. I worked with them in Musoma and they are a truly wonderful family. It was a huge blessing to have fellow Musomans there with whom I could connect and debrief. We went to downtown Disney together and I got to hang out with their kids as well.

I am so grateful to Wycliffe USA for the opportunity to connect with other missionaries and be inspired anew about the work that we do!

Crossing the Ruaha

Looking back over my first term in Tanzania there are a several things that stand out as highlights. Most of them are work and relationship related, but one was not ministry related. It was the connection I had with a zip-line across a muddy-red river called Ruaha.

This was three years ago, when I lived in this tent.

I first came across this zip-line while exploring and hiking early on in my life at River Valley Campsite. Over time my connection with this zip-line grew as I used it nearly weekly to cross the river in the course of an hour-long trek to church. Over time we grew close. I hope to see this zip-line again some day. However, when language school finished I moved far away and haven’t been able to get back to visit it since.
There is this video* of the first day we met. I thought I would share it with you all, since I am feeling sentimental and missing my dear old friend today.

*The camera that took this video isn't of the highest quality. I'm sorry that the image is not clearer when it is enlarged.

Little Ronit

A couple months after arriving in Musoma the wife of one of the translators for Simbiti gave birth to their 12th child. Mago, the translator, asked me to drive him, several of his children, and the new baby out to his village home. I gladly said yes, and was excited to get to serve this family with my vehicle. Mago was so grateful that he decided to name this child Ronit. He loved the meaning ‘one who sings joyfully’, and wanted to show his gratitude by giving his daughter my name.

Me holding Little Ronit when I first took her out to her village home.

About once I year I had the opportunity to see Little Ronit, and her father would regularly give me pictures of her. He said that she always had such a joyful spirit and truly lived out her name, ‘one who sings joyfully’. The whole, very large, family doted on her and had great delight in who God had made their littlest sister to be.

About a month after Little Ronit turned two she became very sick, as an office we lifted her up in prayer, almost on a daily basis. No one knew exactly what was wrong, and primarily due to the available health care in Musoma, it was months before a diagnosis was found. All we knew was that her little body seemed to be rapidly declining. She stopped speaking, and her father informed us that she no longer could walk.

I visited her in the hospital about a week before returning to the States. I was, as always, saddened by the condition of the hospital, but also touched by the serenity in Little Ronit’s countenance. She was calm and observant as the visitors gathered around her to greet her mother and pray for her. She was moving her legs a bit and I honestly thought that she must be improving.

That is why it was so much more shocking to find out, in January, that she had passed away. The family had finally received a diagnosis, Meningitis. I was told that they had treated the Meningitis, but Little Ronit was left permanently brain damaged due to how long it took to start treating. About a week later, I was told that she had passed away.

A friend posted some pictures that she took at Little Ronit’s funeral and I was touched by many things in the pictures, particularly the size of the coffin. But, I was also touched by how many of the staff from the office were at the funeral, missionaries and Tanzanians alike. All gathered together to comfort and support their family in Christ.

Little Ronit's funeral. Her mother is sitting in the chair, while her father prays over her. The little girl crouching next to the chair is one of her older sisters.

Little Ronit was a joyful little girl who delighted her family, she was a blessing. Please be praying for continued comfort and peace for her family.

Saturated

Musoma, where I have been living for the past few years has delightfully temperate weather. Located just south of the equator, the average temperature is 74 degrees, and the average humidity is 67%. **
Why am I mentioning the weather in Musoma?
Is it because I have been longing for the warmth and consistency of a temperate climate?
Actually, no.
Although it is true that I am longing for warmth.

After returning to Tulsa I noticed that I felt continually dry. I required lotion and had to pay extra attention to my poor parched skin. In Musoma the very nature of the environment and weather ensured that I was being sufficiently saturated in moisture.

I have a point, don’t worry. There is a correlation from the physical to the spiritual here.

In Musoma everywhere I go I see needs that only God can meet. At the office I am reminded that only by God’s grace will we be able to complete the work that he has for us to do. When I am heading home from work I know that only by God’s protection will I make it home safely. Every aspect of my life there saturates me with thoughts and reminders of God. Reminders of my need for Him in all that I do. There are no simple tasks in Musoma. Honestly, I need God’s help simply to go to the market.

Musoma life saturates me in Christ. Tulsa life...less so. I can rely on electricity. I can rely on the grocery store to carry the products I want. I can rely on the roads to be drivable. I can rely on the water to be drinkable. I can rely on the internet to work. The truth is that while I can’t actually rely on any of those things, I feel like I can.

Christ is just as necessary to my daily life here, I just have to be more purposeful and attentive to being saturated by his presence. Just because it comes less naturally here, doesn’t mean that He is any less necessary in everything I do. Just because I feel like there are things that I can rely on in the States, doesn't mean that I should depend on anything other than Christ. I must keep looking to Christ in everything I do. He is the source of Living Waters.

The "rains down in Africa". This is on the edge of the Serengeti.