Dear Friends,
Thanks again for all that you are doing to serve the Lord Jesus and us here in Tanzania. We are so grateful for the opportunity to be your hands and feet on this field of ministry.
We had a couple of medical emergencies a couple of months ago, and it sure would have been nice to have a car available to take the students to the hospital. As it was, Joanne did the best she could with the little medical kit we have, and the kids seem to be mending nicely without infection. So the breaking news is that VST purchased a dump truck to be located at Idigima to service this and three new schools under construction in the area (Salejele, Ichesa, and Shangware; I don't have Internet access to see if the VSI website has a new map out to show these and other new schools.) The cost of the truck was $25,000. It has already served greatly with both trips to the hospital and supply hauling for this and other schools, as well as hauling our teams and many students to area athletic events. We encourage you as the church to visit the VSI website and contribute to the work at Idigima. I think people can contribute to a specific school or missionary as well as designate the part of the mission they wish to support. I may be mistaken; we don't have Internet capabilities...just email...sometimes. Another option is to have contributions for the truck gathered for us to bring back at the end of our visit this summer.
A word about Ichesa, mentioned above: The Director recently paid Idigima a visit and wanted me (Gary) to accompany him to Ichesa. We stopped at the land designated for the school and then found a village meeting waiting for us in the market place. Speeches were made on both sides, little of which I understood. We enjoyed an ugali and bean lunch and were back on the road. After leaving the village, it was shared that the people of Ichesa are calling me (your ambassador) the founder of their school. I was humbled, arguing that it was the vision of the village leader that should be honored, but they said I was the first white person to show compassion in visiting the needy of their village. They consider my preaching at their local church, spending the afternoon visiting widows and orphans, and answering their questions about VST's vision to bring schools to the villages as the catalyst for the discussions and organization made since then. Praise goes to the Lord.
So many of the students are struggling with daily life expenses and school fees; it is heart-rending. Pray for Idigima and what VST is doing; these kids, most between 14 and 18, move hours from home to attend secondary school, live on their own in a tiny 6x6 foot rented room, fix their own food, wash their maybe two sets of clothes by hand, haul the water from a river on the edge of town, walk a half hour or more to school twice a day (here at 7 am to 2:50 pm for classes, then go home, eat their first and maybe only meal of the day, and return from 7-10 pm to study). Needless to say, they value their opportunity for an education. It is what they know will break through the generational poverty that exists in the villages. When you can't afford a 40 cent haircut or 10 cent piece of fry bread, times are tough. We give many jobs around the house and grounds to help them earn money for living and school fees. More importantly, we build relationships with the students and staff and encourage them to do all to glorify God in all that they do.
We have a number of projects in the works to benefit the students, including building a dam at the river to bring water by pipe to the school (this project will be completed this next week of April 4th). Currently all drinking and cleaning water is carried from the river in 5 gallon buckets on their heads, not mine!!! (I think my arms are a couple of inches longer from the process; we praise the Lord for rains that provide cleaner water caught from the roofs). Other projects include planting fruit trees and expanding the vegetable garden so that the students and staff have a ready and free food supply. Our little chicken project also caught the eye of the Headmaster, who wants to build a hen house and have as many as 100 chickens for meat and eggs. (We've been sending eggs with students to the market for them to make some money for themselves.) On top of all this is the objective to this year build additional classrooms (Joanne currently has about 130 in her Pre-Form English classes), and two or three dormitories for girls. Ambitious goals by an ambitious people; it is exciting to see their confidence in the Lord and their own abilities grow. Lights go on when you share with them the concept of God blessing them with opportunities and possibilities. Thank you for being a part of Here's Hope in Tanzania.
All our love and appreciation,
Gary and Joanne Grenell, your ambassadors to the Mbeya region of Tanzania
P.S. I have sent a NEEDS LIST to Brother Tom. I hope there will be a great show of love out-poured upon our hard-working students.
