You know you are in Africa when you wake up on Sunday morning to find a church service is being held in your backyard! This is what we experienced on Sunday. The owner of our house had invited her entire church over to say goodbye to them because she is leaving in a few months. At the end of the service, Rachel found herself translating for the Tanzanians so that they could speak with the some visitors from England. It was really an exciting opportunity for her to see how far her Swahili has progressed over the last few months.
We have now been in Dodoma for two months and gradually adjusting to life here. We are making good friends with both Tanzanians and other missionaries so we are pleased that there are other people around that we can be social with.
Jonathan
I am getting settled into my job and I am already doing lots of technical accounting work. I am responsible for the finances of the whole organization in Uganda and Tanzania as well as the local office which is a lot of work but is very fulfilling. One of my first jobs will be to prepare for an audit in September so I am learning a lot about the organization’s finances very quickly!
Rachel
I am beginning to bond well with the Rangi team and I am excited about how things are progressing with the translation. Last week I received my Rangi name from the translators. They named me ‘Mbeyu’ which means seed and is a name for well respected people. Also the seed represents the Word of God that is being planted in people’s hearts through the Rangi translation. Recently, I visited a translation project that is in a village several hours northwest of Dodoma (see attached picture). The Sandawe people live in this village and surrounding area and they speak one of the few click languages in Africa. We both plan to go again, and see more of the translation work that is happening in this area. I have written a story about one of my work experiences with the translators below which I hope will give you an insight into my work.
For prayer
Please give thanks for:
- We just returned from our annual conference which was very much a blessing for us. – When we left for home, we felt spiritually and physically refreshed and we felt more of a connection with our colleagues serving in Uganda and Tanzania. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends from language school and to make new friends.
- Our pets have adjusted well to us, and we are bonding well with them.
- We are starting to make good friendships in Dodoma.
Please pray for:
- Our biggest prayer request is for finding a church to attend. None of the options we have are ideal so please continue to pray that God will lead us to where he would like us to attend.
- Continued strength as we are adjusting to our jobs and to the Tanzanian culture.
- That we would continue to develop our Swahili skills.
- For the completion of the translation work on the book of Mark over the next few months.
