Offering of Beans

One of my favorite parts of any offering here in Tanzania is the "mavuno" offering. This means "harvest" offering.

If you don't have cash for your offering then it is perfectly acceptable to bring an offering of anything you have to place in the basket. Towards the end of the service the non-cash items are auctioned off.

You can either bid an amount yourself, or simply add a little bit of money to someone else's bid and let them take the booty home. The beautiful thing about this offering is that whatever item is being auctioned off regularly is sold for MORE than it would go for in the market. God truly does bring the increase to our offerings.

This past week Sarah and I got to take the booty home. Sarah raised the bid from someone else, then we had three different members of the congregation add to our bid. We are having beans and rice this week for lunch!

Patience Pays Off

I moved into my house two years ago. I have loved this house from day one, but the wall around the property left something to be desired. It was chain-link, meaning, dogs running out when they found the slightest hole, and people looking in and watching the goings-on of the house.

We tied grass mats to the chain link in an attempt to increase privacy, but it isn't quite the same. The landlady had promised to build us a proper wall, and after waiting patiently for two years...we finally got it!!!

Our yard was a mess for several weeks as truckload after truckload of gravel, sand, cement and bricks were brought in, but oh the joy of a fulfilled hope!

 The door in the back leads to Narnia by the way (at least in my opinion). Just walk out the door in the wall to the copse of trees on the other side, where you can sit in a quiet and secluded spot outside!!! This can be a rarity here. 

Another blessing: being in the same house long enough to say "two years ago".

The Purple Chicks

Why did the purple chicken cross the road?

I don't know, but it was purple! Let's talk about that.

I chased down the chicks, they were quite hidden in the bush, maybe feeling a little self-conscious about being purple. But I was able to get a shot of them:

Some kids helped us find other colors of chicks; yellow and fuscia.

Why are they purple, yellow and fuscia? Security measures. If someone steals a purple chick it will be much easier to identify the stolen property.

But I think the real reason is because it is much more pretty to have a purple chick.

Simbiti Jesus Film

Last week the Jesus Film was released in two more local languages, Jita and Simbiti!!!

I was able to go to the Simbiti showing, which was my first time to go and see a movie being shown in a rural setting. They set up a sheet in the middle with a projector on either side. You can watch the film from almost anywhere around the screen.

There was a slow trickle at first, but eventually a couple hundred ended up watching the movie and listening to Jesus speak their mother-tongue.

As Jesus is lifted up on the cross they pause the movie and inform all those watching the film that Jesus suffered all of this because He loves them. Any one who wants is then welcomed to come forward and accept the amazing gift of grace that Jesus purchased for them on that cross.

It was beautiful to see the response of over 100 people going forward to accept this precious gift.

Another sweet moment from the evening was the slow movement of a couple of young girls towards me through the course of the movie. By the end of the film one was sleeping in my lap and the other was leaning on me with her head on my shoulder. When they saw that my feet were exposed to the weather they took the corner of their shawl and made sure that my feet were covered - lest I get too cold.

August Newsletter

Well, I'm going to try something new with my newsletters - this one explains it a bit. There are also some pictures from a recent trip I took!

What might the Seraphim look like?

A couple weeks ago we had the annual retreat for our branch of SIL International. The speaker was from Ireland (beautiful accent!) and spoke on Ezekiel. There are some difficult things to understand in Ezekiel, not least of all is what a Seraphim really might look like, as described in chapter 1. So, Sarah, being the ever-ready artist that she is sketched this out on the back of a scrap piece of paper.

A note on the artistry is that Sarah used some sand from the beach and some gold foil from a bottle, along with the few colored pencils that she happened to have with her to create this picture.

The Ezekiel passage is below, if you want to read the description that inspired the picture.

Ezekiel 1:4-21 (NASB)

"As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire. And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.

"Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels."

(I apologize for any spelling/typing errors in the above quoted passage)