As I write, I am filled with anxiety for my Degree students as they take the first exam of exam week. They begin with my class, New Testament I. I never realized how hard it is to give a test. I struggled over the questions, I sought the essence of what I would like these students to know, and I worried that they would prepare properly. One student is suffering with boils, another with stomach problems, yet another lost his sister-in-law to malaria last week. One lost his son the first month of class and his wife the second month. All are present and all are sitting the exam on time. God bless them!

Joseph Ailo, a Maasai who is one of my degree students, preached this morning in chapel on John 6:1-15. He spoke of the three responses noted in this gospel before Jesus feeds the 5,000. There is Philip, who worries about the money; Andrew, who worries about the small amount of food not being enough; and the unnamed young boy, who offers the five loaves and two fish he has. Here are the disciples, who have witnessed the authority of Jesus in his miracles already, yet they still don’t really believe or realize who he is. Their faith gets lost in the worldly details. The boy just gives what he has, to let Jesus do with his gift as he will. This hit me straight in the heart this morning. After five months, with all of the highs and lows we have experienced, there have been many times when I wonder what I am doing here. What have I dragged Kirk and the children into? Tanzania is a beautiful and amazing country, but it is also very dangerous. BUT: didn’t I answer a call? I need to remind myself that I simply offered my gifts to God to use. He called my family here, for whatever purpose in their individual lives. I was called to offer my education and my Spiritual gift of teaching to the Church. It is just my small offering to a world full of need. “Here I am, Lord.” My students give everything of the little they have to seek the opportunity to study. My difficulties are not much compared to theirs.

We have had a very busy month. We visited the village of Mvumi, where I preached in honor of a fundraising event for a parish rectory. The parish and Fr. Daniel Mazengo welcomed us with a feast and a rooster for a gift. Henry named him “Jimmy.” Jimmy lives in a coop with two lovely hens next door to our home. The following weekend Kirk, Greg, and Charlotte traveled to Kiteto Christian College in Kibaya. It’s in the Mt. Kilimanjaro Diocese, about three hours from Msalato. The KCC English missionaries had visited us with some broken computers. Kirk and the kids went to help them and were able to fix all of the campus computers. Kirk and his computer skills have been desperately needed blessings to Central Tanganyika. He enjoyed experiencing another mission community, worshipping at the cathedral and helping them in their time of need. Now KCC can finish their semester with proper papers and exams.

This past week we had the SIM Pastor’s Books Set conference at the Lutheran Cathedral in Dodoma. I went with a group of ten from Msalato to collect 8 sets. It was a powerful experience to meet and praise God with eighty pastors from all denominations. It was a celebration of the book set blessing, but it was a time of fellowship with many Christians and form new friendships. I was enthusiastically greeted by some Assembly of God teachers from Kongwa, the Lutheran Bishop, former Msalato students, and the Moravian contingent from Tabora. My family hosted Robert Anderson, a Danish Moravian missionary, and his daughter Emily, who is Charlotte’s age. They traveled twelve hours to come to the conference. They stayed for three nights with us. Charlotte and Emily are best friends from when they first met at language school in August.

I must now mention Charlotte’s ministry. I have noticed that her optimistic, can-do nature has become a blessing to other missionary children. Emily Anderson is ten years old and lives in a very isolated village, hours from any town. She has not made any friends among the local children. Her parents worry about her. Emily is the oldest of four children, so she does have her sisters and brothers to play with. Charlotte welcomed Emily as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. They had actually only spent a total of ten hours together in August. Within a few seconds of arriving the two of them where arm-in-arm and off to play in Charlotte’s room. They didn’t waste one moment over the three days. Charlotte had the energy to fill this friend with experiences to last her until we visit them in January. Charlotte is also best buddies with a home-schooled girl from Texas. She also plays with a Dutch girl and a German girl she knows from school at CAMS. Charlotte acts as a little sister to Jenny, a fifteen-year-old girl from Minnesota. Charlotte’s enthusiasm and ability to enjoy whoever she is with helps these girls to blossom here in Tanzania. I have always admired Charlotte’s refusal to clique. Especially in fourth grade in the US, she may have been forced to join in or have been pushed aside socially. It has been wonderful to watch her gifts be a blessing here in Tanzania.

At the college, we are now in exam week as I mentioned above. It has been an extremely busy semester for me as the new teacher. I had many lectures to prepare and many levels of students to work with. I have learned to preach and enjoy it! I have experienced the fellowship of both the college community and the larger mission community. Next semester will bring its challenges, but I am definitely ready to handle whatever the college needs me to do. I will miss the students these two and a half months, but I am ready to recharge my batteries. I will begin to prepare for the second semester’s classes, but I will also be using the break to gather the histories of the ordained women in Central Tanganyika. I hope to use this research to record this history which is being made right here. No one has written anything down yet. I meet on December 4th with the first woman dean who oversees the parishes in Dodoma.

Thank you to all who prayed for Kirk when he was ill with malaria. He is well now, but he is slightly anemic. Although he’s better, he needs to mind his nutrition and rest for the near future. As the rains arrive, we are all on the daily anti-malarial drugs. Please pray for our family’s health, safety and our mission work. We ask for your continued prayers for the Anglican Church of Tanzania, the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, the Canon Andrea Mwaka School, and Msalato Theological College.

With love and in Christ,

Leslie

PS: I am trying to raise money to buy as many as twenty of the SIM Pastor’s Book Sets for the Msalato Library. There are 58 books in the $75 set, including hardback reference books (NIV Study Bible, Bible Dictionary, Concordance, African Bible Commentary, and an Introduction to Systematic Theology. Any two of these would be $75 alone!) There are pastoral and evangelist’s aids. There’s even a beginner’s New Testament Greek. Many are books that could be used as much-needed textbooks for classes here. Let me know if you would be interested in donating a set.