Pictures of kuku (chicken) coops

Like Debi said in the earlier post we put up 2 coops yesterday. Today we go and install two more in a Maasai village. The pictures are of yesterdays coops. Hope you enjoy the pictures! – Mike

Picture 1 & 2 are of the team installing the coops.

Picture 3 is of the widow (on the left) and Asna (one of the missionaries)

Fruits of our labor

The last couple of days have been amazing!  Yesterday (Thursday) we finished the coop construction and some of us began preparation for the VBS for Monday.  We met a wonderful man of God named Solomon.  He is from Kenya and is a missionary to the Maasai in northern Tanzania.  His village is Emeratoto, which means Crossroads.  I thought that was appropriate.  He had been supported by a mission organization, but at the end of two years (in March) they withdrew all support.  They think that a church should be self supporting in that amount of time.  In Tanzania, among the Maasai it doesn’t quite work that way.  They gave him the option of going back home or staying without support.  He felt called of God to stay and has been trusting God to take care of his and his family’s needs.  His commitment to the people he serves and them to each other is an inspiration.  After much conversation about what they have been doing in Tanzania, he asked about the church in America.  I was embarrassed to say that I didn’t believe we had near the commitment that he spoke of.  We are so distracted and self centered.  They literally trust God for every little thing. 

This morning we met two more very dedicated Christians.  Asnath and Isaac.  Asnath is a true Proverbs 31 woman.  She is theone who had the idea of the chicken and the goat projects for the church to take care of the widows and orphans.  Isaac is a minister and is Asnath’s husband. 

Today we delivered two of the chicken coops near Makayuni.  They are an extension of the project that was started here a couple of months ago.  Chickens and chicks from the former project were given to these widows to start their own flock.  We worked along with members of the church to set up the coops on site.  We were able to interact with the women and men from the church and played with the children.   We were able to give toothbrushes to each one we met.  The widows who receieved this gift of chickens and a coop from God felt very blessed.  I don’t think they received half the blessing that we did. 

We are looking forward to a good night’s sleep and an early rising to deliver two more coops to a remote area near Naitolia.  With that, I will say goodnight.  Debi   

Wednesday in Tanzania

I love the feeling of being exhausted in the service of the Lord. After breakfast, went to work on the coops at about 9:15 am. Had an African meal with the local Tanzanians that work at the house: James, the gardener, Mika, handyman, carpenter, and future pastor, and Hilda and Scola, who are sisters and do the housework. Got a picture of them at chai time, a tea break at 10:30 am. Awesome group of loving people! Then back to the coops. We seemed to be on track. All four coops are framed, 2 and 3/4 have nest boxes installed (very time consuming), and work began on the doors today. Finally got our luggage back this morning. I was able to put on nice clothes and clean underwear and socks that weren’t washed out by hand the night before. Relaxed before supper. Good times doing a little reading, talking, etc. Went to supper at Khan’s, a cool place that’s a restaurant that’s a diesel fuel injector parts and repair shop during the day and an open air BBQ restaurant at night. Peter and his 3 year old daughter Rachel Marty joined us for dinner and ice cream at McMoody’s afterwards. Please ask one of the “the six” Peter’s story when they return home. He’s a pastor here in town and also ministers in the Maasai bush area as well. We’ll be going to his church a week from Sunday and leading a VBS day for 150 kids on this upcoming Monday. Sharp and Godly man who loves the Lord and His people and has a passion for serving God, and little Rachel is wonderful…what a pill. The group is tired but doing great. Keep praying for us. God is good.

Posted by Chuck Simmons

Tanzania Pictures

Pictures are of…

• Four of our team (David, Debbi, Jessica, & Chuck) outside Barclay’s bank on Monday.
• Marty and her friend Momma Esta at the Soko Kauu market.
• Chuck & Jill working on the inside of the chicken coops.

Hopefully we will have more pictures in the near future. Thanks Mike Campbell

The Mystery Is Solved

Check out the video!

A Little Video Update…

Sorry for the lack of media (pictures and video). The internet here is very slow…so putting any media up on the blog is very difficult.

Another day in Africa

I woke up this morning at 5:30, then wondered what I was doing up that early, but I couldn’t go back to sleep. The weather is so nice here, so I sat outside and did a little reading and studying. James, the gardener, has done a wonderful job here. The McFarland’s yard is so beautiful and Africa has some of the most beautiful plants and flowers. Nothing like you would see in Kansas. We were told today that we would be running some errands, so I was thinking “Oh, a run to the grocery store, a run to the hardware store…easy as pie.” It doesn’t work that way exactly. I believe Marty had a list of 15 or more places we needed to go to get the supplies we needed. I have decided that Tanzanians have the best patience in this world. We started by going to a hardware type store to pick up the feed supplies for the chickens. Afterward, we went to the grocery store to pick up juice and candy for the kids at VBS, then we headed to the bank. Unfortunately, our money hasn’t been transferred yet, but we are praying about it. I am finally getting used to the fact that you drive on the LEFT side of the road. Eventually, we made it to the soko kuu, which is the local market. It was probably one of the best experiences yet! We met a lady who is one of Marty’s friends and were greeted by a hug. I honestly think I would have gotten EXTREMELY lost without Marty’s guide. The rows are very narrow with TONS of people walking around. They had pretty much everything you could imagine, and I’m fairly certain we have all fallen in love with the fruit here. By the way, did you know that oranges aren’t really orange? BUT they are delicious here! Fruit salad…yummy, yummy. We ate lunch at a local burger joint called McMoody’s where you can by your McWhooper. A few more supplies to go…some chicken wire, nails, etc. and then we were back to work on the chicken coops. I was on the team with Chuck and Mika, the McFarland’s guard, doing finishing work (my Papa would be proud). Thanks to Chuck I felt a little more needed today. He made sure I was doing something (because explaining how the chicken coops were put together just went over my head). David, Debi, Steve and Mike were working on putting together another coop, while Jess was helping Marty wash the 100+ fruits. We are almost done with our first coop and started on our second. I think we will get a lot of work done tomorrow. First, we are hoping our missing luggage arrives! I absolutely love it here, and after today, I hope I sleep past 5:30.

Posted by Jill Ferrell

Tanzania:Day 3

Had a great day in the Lord today. Woke up at 8 feeling great surprisingly. I thought I’d be dealing with jet lag more. After breakfast we checked out the city of Arusha. Just drove around and didn’t get out of the van much. Once we checked on our lost luggage (KLM was closed for the day, which could mean another day of handwashing. That’s okay, got a system down by now). Second was to check out Peter’s church, local disciple minister of the McFarland’s ministry. Peter wasn’t there BUT…we met Morris, a preschool teacher and her 15 or so students. We could hear them practicing their English alphabet using a repetitive song with objects starting with each letter. Marty interrupted them and introduced us to Morris and the children. I started taking pictures of the kids and letting them see themselves, and before I knew it I had all of them looking at themselves on the digital screen crowded around me in a semi-circle. Jill got a little teary-eyed. She’s got a good heart for the Lord. After leaving, we drove around some more, which was a great opportunity to see the Africans just doing their thing. Markets full of fruits, vegetables, clothes and shoes (everything you could think of) (Steve was right. I saw no new packages of underwear.) People were dressed in their bright tribal clothes, ladies with bananas propped up on their heads, and guys hanging around shooting the breeze. THEN IT HAPPENED! A bird flew in the window of the van, passed Marty’s head, and hitting Jess in the side of hers. We pulled over to let it out, and half us grabbed our cameras to document this event. Cool. Stopped for lunch with whole gang. Steve joined us. Ate at a Chinese restaurant in Africa. Weird but awesome and very delicious. After lunch we headed back to the house and started on the chicken coops. A little slow going to start with. We had to feel our way through the first coop as a group: (oo that rhymed) checking designs, measuring, cutting, nailing, etc. Got framing for 4 walls, and wood cut for roof. The next 3 should go faster. Jill, Jess, and Marty worked on VBS lesson. Decided to go with skit with puppets and section of Jesus video with Jesus calming the sea. More visuals to help kids at VBS understand story better. Should go great. The girls are awesome! Dave and Steve are naturals with the woodworking. Me?? I’m doing my best. While these activities were going on, Mike was working on the blog for the trip. He helped us after the computer work. I rested and talked with Steve awhile, while the ladies got supper ready. Good stuff about what he and Marty are experiencing here in Tanzania. After supper had some time to debrief, pray, and give the McFarlands gifts all of us had bought and brought from the States. It’s now time for lala, Swahili for zzzz…Scripture for the day: Daniel 1, story of “the four” being shipped to a foreign land yet serving God.

Journal Entry by Chuck Simmons

What A Trip!

It was 6AM on Saturday, May 24th when we left the church building (Crossroads). The missions team was there to pray, encourage and give a devotion (thanks Dale). So, after loading the van we were off to the KC airport for a 1:24pm departure heading to Detroit. After a 2 hour layover in Detroit and a lunch we boarded our next flight heading to Amsterdam. The flight took eight hours and I slept for at least 6 of the 8 in the air. The 6 hours of rest really hit the spot. Once we landed in Amsterdam we only had 1 hour to board our next flight. So, we got off the flight from Detroit and our next gate was right across the concourse. This was handy since we only had around an hour to board our last flight heading to Kilimanjaro. Finally we boarded our last flight and right when we were about to take off. When a lady on the blacked out and we had to head back to our original gate. Hope the lady is doing better, but it delayed our flight around an hour and half. After a 8 hour flight and one and half hour delay we arrive in Kilimanjaro airport at 9:30PM.

Once we were done completing our visa’s we headed to the baggage claim to discover, we were missing two bags. Chuck and Jessica’s bags didn’t make it to the baggage claim.  They filled out the necessary paper work and we meet Steve and Marty on the other side of customs. After a great night’s sleep. Monday morning (today) we had orientation and toured the city of Arusha.

All in all the trip has been great! We will keep you posted on any updates written by the team.

Peace, Mike Campbell

Finding God In The Homeless

I came across a great post by Jeff Goins called “Finding God In The Homeless”. It really spoke to me as I am planning a trip to Tanzania. Hit the link to see the post.

Finding God In The Homeless

I also added a video clip which relates to the post by Jeff.