Q&A: What language will you learn?

SWAHILI! Even though over 100 tribal languages are spoken in Tanzania, Swahili is the common language of many East African countries. We have been learning Swahili using Rosetta Stone and it has been so much fun. Also, while we are still in the States, we will take a language course for missionaries. Then, upon our arrival in Africa, we will go to language school for several weeks. Our Swahili should really improve at that time, because the school is taught by native speakers and because we will be living in the culture. Morgan isn't thrilled about learning Swahili, because she has been taking French class for several years. Oleg isn't thrilled either, because English is already his third language. He spoke both Ukrainian and Russian when we adopted him. The little ones are a different story. They both spend a lot of time on the computer with Rosetta Stone. From what we have heard, the youngest missionary kids pick up the language the fastest. Heidi is so outgoing and social that she will probably be the first to be fluent. She just has to talk to everybody she meets! Thankfully, Bill has no problems learning foreign languages. He will need to be fluent quickly to perform his missionary duties. It really is a gift he has from God. He has travelled to many countries, and it is crazy how fast he picks up the language! Okay.....a short Swahili lesson.....

• Jambo - hello
• Asante - thank you
• Mungu - God
• Nyumbani - home
• Kuku - chicken

Questions from the Kiddos

When we began talking to the kids last year about going to Africa, we encouraged them to ask us any questions they had. Over the course of the year, they all have done so and we are glad that they have. It's great to see their little minds trying to figure all of this out. Some of their questions have been insightful and some have been just flat out funny. I'll share a few:

• Morgan (11) "Is there chocolate in Africa?"
• Oleg (10) "Is it cold there? Just tell me it isn't cold there."
• Heidi (6) "Do I get my own spear?"
• Wyatt (4) "Mama, how black will I be in Africa?"

Q&A: When are you going?

We wish we knew! This is one of the most difficult aspects of the journey so far. We are both chronic planner - Type A people, so not knowing exactly when we leave for Africa has been a test in patience. Basically, the two biggest hurdles for us now are support raising and selling our house. Our house has been on the market since last fall and things have been slow. It is such a difficult time to sell a house. We have a realtor who is an incredible woman of faith, who continues to lift us up in prayer and encourages us. Please join us in praying for a buyer! We are excited about the support raising, though. We go April 28-30 for our "official" support raising or deputation training...so May 1st we will officially begin looking for donors/partners. We really are excited about this and hope to be fully supported by the end of the summer. Then we go as a family to Missionary Training Institute in Colorado for a month of pre-field language training (a requirement of CMF and highly recommended by every missionary who has been). Then we come home, say our goodbyes and off we go! So the short answer to this question is: We plan to leave in November, but fully recognize that this is OUR plan. We are excited to see how GOD'S plan unfolds!

Q&A: What will you miss?

What will we miss? This is a fun question to answer. We'll revisit this question after a few months there to see if we were right. So...in random order and by various family members, what we THINK we will miss.....

1. McDonald's
2. television
3. radio
4. pre-packaged convenient foods
5. snow
6. changing leaves
7. Barnes & Noble
8. grandparents, family
9. paved roads
10. electricity
11. dishwasher
12. Plainfield Christian Church
13. our neighbors
14. clothes dryer
15. Diet Coke
16. access to medical care
17. our Suburban
18. watching sports (Colts, Yankees)
19. shopping
20. Dairy Queen

Q & A: Why Africa?

As we begin sharing our news with everyone, we have noticed that people generally ask us the same five or six questions. So I (Heather) will try to answer these most frequently asked questions. We love when people ask questions and are interested in our lives. Thank you!

Today I will attempt to answer the question "Why Africa?" Some people truly want to know how God called us specifically to Africa. Others ask this question, but really mean "why not here?" I've been asked a couple of times, "Can't you do mission work in the States?" Ironically, we got this line of questioning alot when we adopted from Ukraine. Yes, we could have adopted in the States, but our child happened to be in Ukraine. And now, yes, we can and have done "mission work" locally, and in other countries, but our call to long-term missions happens to be to East Africa!

I have never been accused of having eloquent language...so now I'll cheat a little and borrow some quotes to further answer the "Why Africa?" question.

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light." John Keith Falconer

"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." C.T. Studd

"If ten men are carrying a log - nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end - and you want to help - which end will you lift on?" William Borden

"If God's love is for anybody anywhere, it's for everybody everywhere." Edward Lawlor

"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!" Isobel Kuhn

Blog Title

Okay, so why 'Bringing Truth to Tanzania'?

First, the conversation between Pilate and Jesus in the book of John has always been a favorite passage of Bill's. Pilate is really trying to figure out who Jesus is...a King...a Jewish King??? Jesus tells Pilate, "In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Then Pilate asks, "What is truth?" Que est veritas? Philosophers such as Plato & Socrates had long been trying to answer this question. In fact, Aristotle, in 350 B.C., tried to define truth as "to say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that is not, is true" Clear as mud? So here we have Jesus telling us what the standard for truth is...Him!

Secondly, we feel that truth is essential to the work we will be doing in Tanzania. It was amazing to take each problem we saw in Africa and realize that at the root of each problem were lies. For example, lies about HIV, lies the witchcraft doctors tell, curses, etc. Of course the only way to fight these lies is with truth. By doing this, we will not only be setting them free from their earthly bondage to lies, but eternal freedom through salvation. As Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Reading List

What are we doing while waiting for the next step in this process? Reading! We're reading so many wonderful books in preparation for the field. Some are required reading by CMF and some are required for courses we are taking.

• When Helping Hurts - How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor
• Into the Mud - True Stories of Africa
• Red Letters - Living a Faith that Bleeds
• Getting Your Hands Dirty - Mission in Action
• Multiplying Light & Truth through Community Health Evangelism
• The Poor Will Be Glad -Joining the Revolution to Lift the World out of Poverty
• Crazy Love - Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Photos...

Adorable Maasai children. Girls of 6-7 often are responsible for the care of younger ones.

Women from the Maasai village of Matale. I'm not sure what they thought was more strange...my blond hair or Bill's Yankees hat!

Lone Maasai walking...yeah, they do alot of that.

Bill talking with James, a CMF trained church planter, and Gary, our future teammate, and several Maasai men.

This is on the grounds of the training center. The nationals are being taught farming through a program called Farming God's Way.

Picture of Mt. Meru from the CMF Training Center. Here the clouds are covering the summit. You can see Meru from anywhere in the Arusha Region - it is the second tallest mountain in Tanzania...after Kilimanjaro, of course. After a life in the flat midwest, I really look forward to seeing these magnificent mountains everyday.