The Cross

So much to celebrate! Last week I wrote about celebrating the book of Genesis in the Kabwa language. Then I celebrated the birth of Jesus. I am also celebrating Yahweh's great provision for me to travel to places I've only dreamed of and to spend quality time with many very good friends that I hadn't seen for years.

All of this is because of Yahweh's goodness, and Jesus' sacrifice that brought about reconciliation to our relationship with God on high.

I know it is Christmas, not Easter, but before leaving for my trip Sarah and I got to paint the cross at our church.

It says "Jesus Christ has risen". His birth, life, death and resurrection were all brought about because of Yahweh's great desire to dwell with man and be their God. Praise be to Yahweh, our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Kabwa Genesis Celebration

On the last day of November this year the Kabwa language community celebrated receiving the book of Genesis in their language!

There was a lot of singing, a lot of dancing and a lot of speeches rejoicing over the joy of receiving Scripture.

Praise Yahweh for all His goodness to this language community and His faithfulness. It is always exciting to see another step achieved and to know that Yahweh is continually going before us and preparing the way.

It is always a great joy to see people listening intently to the Word of God in their own language!

As a bonus: it is also really adorable to come across a baby goat in a basket.

Kitimoto

Kitimoto (kee-tee-MOH-toh): literally this translates as "hot seat", but is the street name for pork. Pork that has been roasted.

One day Sarah and I decided we wanted to find a place to get food near our house. Thankfully, the search was quite easy and the food, well the one item on the menu, was delicious. Roasted kitimoto with roasted bananas on the side.

After a couple of visits we started noticing that many of our fellow patrons wore beautiful gowns, often prom-esque, and owned vehicles. Our fellow patrons were quite the fancy folk! So, we named our little hole in the wall food joint "Fancy Folk's".

We've been faithful members of the Fancy Folk's community for almost a year, although, generally we are the least fancy members of said community.

Here's to Fancy Folk's and kitimoto!

The kitchen itself:

The meat a-frying:

The finished product:

And now we are ready to enjoy:

Laundry

I have been lucky for most of the past five years to have had a washing machine. For a couple of years I was baby-sitting the washing machine of another missionary, but in September they returned and ended my baby-sitting term. So, I've been readjusting to washing clothes by hand.

At least once a week I incorporate boiling water and dancing on clothes into my morning quiet time routine.

The great thing is that I generally enjoy the process and it isn't that hard.

I dance in this bucket on my clothes (my feet get really clean in the process). I quote to myself from The 10 Commandments about dancing the straw into the mud. And I appreciate my clean clothes even more.

Added benefits? 

Ringing out clothes by hand dries hands out - I finally can use up more of the lotion that has been sitting around for years!

Maybe my arms are getting stronger?

As mentioned before, really clean feet.

So, overall, not a bad situation.

Zinza Language Committee

HUGE step forward for the Zinza writing system (orthography)!!!

Last week I met with the Zinza language committee, presented the Zinza orthography to them, debated a couple of choices that have been made, and in the end, received their approval for the orthography that we've developed over the past 25 years!

Why is this such a huge step?

Because it is the final piece (of many) needed to submit the application for "Approved Orthography Status". This status gives us a lot more freedom in printing Zinza materials, and an orthography has to have this status for at least two years before the New Testament can be printed. This status also means that this way of writing Zinza is becoming accepted by the community and is being used more.

Praise the Lord for preparing the way to reach this important step.

Pray that the application will be accepted and that we are granted "Approved Orthography Status".

Here is a picture of the language committee that gave us their approval:

Wycliffe Day of Prayer

I'm the "prayer coordinator" for our cluster here in Musoma. This mostly means that I collect prayer requests from here, on a monthly basis, and send them out to the rest of our branch. Pretty simple.

Then comes the Wycliffe Day of Prayer. November 11th. I was quite intimidated at the idea of planning this. Thankfully God knew that I was nervous and graciously brought along my friend Kelly to help me plan it.

In the end, probably at least half of those who participated in the day of prayer helped in one way or another. AND it was a great day of prayer!!! Praise the Lord. I heard good reports, both from Tanzanians and other missionaries. The truth is God directed it and brought it together. I know that it was by Him working through me (and everyone else who participated) that it turned out so well.

We prayed for each other and for the Wycliffe projects going on around the world.

We shared with each other about temptations we face and prayed against them. We broke bread together and shared our needs with one another and prayed for God's provision in it all.

We also prayed individually.

We ended the day in praise and worship to our great God, Jehovah, who is worthy of all praise and glory!

Also, while we were waiting to take a group photo (the first in 3 years?) we broke into song. It was such a unifying and beautiful day of being with the body of Christ.

Seasonal Changes

It is cold...ish.

I live near the equator and in the southern hemisphere. The change in temperature over the year is about 65-85 degrees Fahrenheit. There are no Winters here and there are no Summers, no Autumns and no Springs. There are dry seasons and rainy seasons. Dry = warmer, rain = colder.

So, it isn't really cold, it is just rainy.

Oh how I love the rains when they come! I can pretend that I'm cold and need to drink hot chocolate to keep warm. I'm just cold enough to use my quilt and fleece that I've kept around for just such weather. And yet, I still wear sandals, am not burdened with layers of clothing and don't have the expense of heating the house. I love the changing seasons here.

Living in the wild!

As a child I dreamed of living in a mud-hut in Africa. Nothing else would suit my fancy. Imagine my heart break when upon moving to Tanzania I was faced with living in a nice cement house, with a good roof and even ceiling boards. And that is only the beginning of the niceties surrounding my life here.

I had intended to "suffer for Christ" and yet I live in relative luxury...alas!

You can imagine my comfort upon finding this in my bedroom.

Not sure what inspired this guy to pop up, overnight, but I'm glad that it did. It is not a mud-hut, but at least it shows that there is some amount of dirt in my room!

Robo-Kin

I don't really like Halloween. Don't get me wrong, I love dressing up and pretending to be someone I'm not, but that is done year round...right?

There are a lot of elements that I like:
candy = good (in moderation...)
costumes = good (with or without moderation)
bobbing for apples = funny
hay rides = slightly itchy
bonfires = warmth and keeps the mosquitos at bay
10 minute canoe rides entitled "jungle cruise" = ok, maybe that one is just done here...and only this year so far...

Actually after that list I really don't know why I don't prefer Halloween - oh right, I don't like being scared or creeped out...right. Anyway, here is a robotic jack-o-lantern (aka Robo-kin) from Tanzania for you all:

*If disappointed by the drawn on, rather than carved face, I welcome you to come over and try and carve these things. They have such thick and dense skin!

Mural Party

A wall, while being great for protection, is not the most beautiful thing to look upon. In fact, it kind of felt like a prison yard.

So, Sarah had the great idea of painting murals and enlisting volunteers to come over and paint our walls! It was kind of neat, it ended up being most of our Bible study group who came over and helped us beautify our yard.

I'm not much of an artist, but I can follow lines and fill in color!

And the final products?

Eucalyptus branches and an orange weaver bird:

Passion fruit vine (we are currently working on a real, fruit-producing, passion fruit vine canopy that will bring shade to this corner of the yard):

An interpretive version of a mango tree - one of my favorite local fruits!

Other than the black for the lines, we didn't even have to buy paint for the murals! Left over paint from various bedrooms and kitchens around Musoma were used - which led to some fun creativity in the final products.

Zinza Writers' Workshop part 2

So, this "part 2" is simply for showing a few of my favorite pictures from the trip to the Zinza language area a couple of weeks ago.

First, this "bibi" (grandma) at the workshop was beautiful, very interested and, in my opinion, dressed exquisitely. A t-shirt with a skull encircled in fire, and a leopard print do-rag. Her name is Sarah and she used to help with the translation of Scripture into the Zinza language!

The beauty of clouds and nature exists everywhere, but there is just so much more nature here that I can't help but be awed by the beauty of this land everywhere I go. 

Traveling back to Musoma from Kome Island included 6 different modes of transportation: private vehicle, ferries (2), daladalas (2), taxis (3), buses (2), and a motorcycle. Traveling like this really encourages packing light, but a guitar is still worth bringing along on a trip, even if it means being quite squished in a daladala and sticking out a bit more than I already do.

Zinza Writers' Workshop Part 1

Last week I went out to Kome Island to participate in a workshop teaching about 15 Zinza speakers to write their language. This group had already been taught to read Zinza, so they had some experience with their writing system. Now it was their turn to write some stories, rather than just read them.

One of the exercises that they did was to draw a picture and label the various items in the picture (using Zinza, of course). The next day they wrote stories, in groups, about the pictures.

Even though I couldn't completely understand the stories when they were read out loud, it was truly a delight to hear the laughter that was elicited by them. I did clue in at the end of one of the stories when my Zinza name (Nyakahoza) was incorporated into the story. I was honored to make a guest appearance in their story!

Here are the pictures that they drew which inspired the stories:

Fishing

Animal Husbandry

Home Life and Family

Hunting

Farming

Is everything spelled exactly correctly? No. BUT I saw tone markings, vowel length and other little uses of their writing system that were very encouraging to me that they will use it and grow in their ability to write their language accurately!

As you can see though, they really enjoyed the exercise:

Flat Ronit

This past week I got to travel up to Nairobi to pick up a family returning from 9 months in their home countries. It was of course best that I was getting to help some good friends get back to Musoma, but also Nairobi is a fun place to go.

My house-mate Sarah was thinking it would be fun to drive up with me, but since she is a teacher, she couldn't leave her students alone to fend for themselves. So, she made a paper-doll version of herself for me to take with me, so that she could be there in spirit. Well, it was only fair that I then leave her with a paper-doll version of myself to return the favor.

I know it sounds silly, but sometimes we need some entertainment here, and this was great entertainment. If you want to hear about my trip up to Nairobi with "flat" Sarah you can read about it on her blog: http://sijambosarah.blogspot.com/.

Below is what "flat" Ronit was doing in Musoma, whilst the real me was traveling.

This was my first attempt at immortalizing myself in paper-doll format - so here is what the attempt looked like.

It is part of my morning routine to open the curtains and let in the glorious morning light! Thankfully, I still got to do that.

I got to go to school and be a part of one student preparing a lesson on celtic knots.

And, I got to dissect an owl pellet...yay?

Took an afternoon nap with a friend's cat:

And rounded off the day with kefir and peanut butter cake with Sarah.

I'm leaving today for a workshop trip for a week. "Flat" Sarah is coming with me...we'll see if she makes an appearance in my next blog post!

Right-Handed Challenge

Ok, this week I have a challenge for you. As much as possible, use only your right hand to give someone something.

Here in Tanzania the right hand is considered the clean hand (due to, traditionally/historically, the left hand being reserved for less savory purposes). So, if I pay for produce, I pass the money to the vendor with my right hand. If I am passing a book or piece of paper to my left, I still use my right hand.

This particular aspect of Tanzanian culture has become so engrained in me that when I was in the States last year, even when going through a drive-thru, I would pass the money with my right hand...which is slightly awkward. Also, when I am giving something to a non-Tanzanian, who doesn't care which hand I use, if I use my left hand, I feel like I am being slightly inappropriate.

So, for the coming week, see if you can only use your right hand when you are giving someone something. It may surprise you how difficult it is sometimes to strictly follow this rule.

An Unpostponed Birthday

Last year I postponed my birthday by a week due to a work related trip (you can read about that here: How to Celebrate a Postponed Birthday).

This year I got to celebrate my birthday on the day itself, and by baking a bunch of cakes and pies for several of the ex-pats in Musoma. I had a truly enjoyable and blessed time making 5 different delectable desserts. It took 2 full days of work and then a few hours in the morning to put it all together, but it was absolutely worth it!

So, on the menu was (clockwise from the latticed pie): Apple Pie, gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with mint icing, passion fruit upside-down cake, and a chocolate layer cake with raspberry marshmallow middle and raspberry marshmallow icing. Not pictured is the mango cheesecake (my third attempt at cheesecake here and by far the most successful)!

One of the fun things about making all of these desserts was cooking from scratch, including the marshmallows! I really loved the creativity it took and the problem solving that had to happen along the way to make all of them turn out. As I said above, absolutely worth it.

Especially because it seemed that everyone who came enjoyed themselves and enjoyed the cakes and pies!

Oh, a fun gift that my mom sent me was this nifty zen garden trowel. I've never felt more calm.

UPDATE!!! I have been informed that this is, in fact, an extendable backscratcher...I guess you never can tell.

Learning that Lasts in Mbeya

I just got back from Mbeya and teaching Learning that Lasts (How Adults Learn). As an ice-breaker during the workshop we illustrate our connectedness with each other by throwing a ball of yarn to each other and saying how we know that person. In the end we see that even if it is an indirect connection, we are all in fact connected. I had never visited our translation project in Mbeya and while I was connected to it through others, now I feel more directly connected with it!

Another fun part of being a part of this workshop is the shift that happens in the midst of it. For the first two days the workshop leaders stand in front and bring a lot of content to the classroom, giving the practical and helpful tools of Learning that Lasts (LtL).

But then for the next three days, we sit back and relax (to a degree) and let the students become the teachers. In teams of twos the participants prepare and teach two different lessons. I got to sit and be a student. I learned about caring for chickens, Sandawe clicks, German vowels, the power of music, cultural taboos and various other topics that were presented by the participants.

Each of the teams grew between their two different teachings and I enjoyed getting to see that development.

So, LtL Mbeya was a success! Please be praying for these translators, pastors, linguists and translation advisors as they continue in their work. You can be praying that they continue to grow in their abilities to be impactful teachers!

Mbeya!

Mbeya - what is that? Well, it is one of the larger cities in Tanzania and it is located in southern Tanzania. SIL has a cluster project down here and after nearly 5 years in the country I finally get to visit the cluster! I traveled down here last week to help teach another LtL (Learning that Lasts) workshop. Today is day #1 of the workshop, so I don't have much to say about that yet, but I thought I would share some highlights from my trip so far!

Getting to travel with my colleague Samson on a plane! I had only 40 minutes in the Dar airport to pick up my checked bag and recheck it...and they close check in 30 minutes before the flight. Thanks to Samson running ahead and talking with the counter, checking us in for the flight, I was met at security with a baggage tag and told I didn't even need to go to the counter. Just go straight on through. Yay!!!

STRAWBERRIES!!!

Making home-made marshmallows and getting to show my friend Jane how tasty they are. She said they were the first marshmallows that she has ever eaten!

Mbeya has great coffee. So, what else could I do but go to Utengule (a coffee farm) and spend the day in the beautiful sun having some delicious coffee!

This weeks starts a new highlight of my trip - teaching LtL!!!