Visitors Come and Go

Mr. Ayubu was a much-loved teacher of last year who was accepted for training at the Kilimanjaro Medical Center. We rejoiced with his selection last June, but were so sad to see him go. He was a very frequent visitor to our house. Many students and teachers are shy about using their English skills and as a result don’t socialize very much. Mr. Ayubu, however, enjoyed very much discussing religion, politics and social differences between America and Tanzania. He would come and sit for an hour or more just to share in what we were doing at the house and to talk. He returned to Idigima all the way from the other extreme side of the nation to visit for just a couple of days. It just goes to show how important relationships are in this culture.

Mr. Thomas is another of our favorite and frequent visitors at the house. Like Mr. Ayubu, he has a deep bass voice and hearty laugh…and is interested in talking about anything and everything.

Mr. Thomas has been accepted for studies at the same university in Dar-es-Salaam as our friends and former teachers Mr. Mnuka and Mr. Adebert. We had a happy/sad visit with Mr. Thomas and, as we’ve made a custom of doing, prayed over our departing friend with a blessing before his leaving. He will be studying English as his major.

Then there are the students, always dropping in to see what we are up to or for assistance of some sort. These girls came to have a school skirt repaired. When Joanne told them it would take an hour or more, they said they would wait. With an hour or more to wait, we broke out a laptop and plugged in the JESUS FILM…in Swahili…always a favorite.

Another renewed ministry is the pumping up of leaking bicycle tires. We are so thankful to a friend in Iowa who donated a quality pump. The pumps we have been buying here seem to need repair constantly…and are soon more trouble than they are worth.

We are in an Internet café in Mbeya sending this update. A girl here started up a conversation about how great it would be for her to go to America and become a rich actress or entertainer. (They use black American celebrities in advertising here to sell most anything.) It strikes us as a bit sad when people don’t see the riches of their own culture and social relationships. The grass seems always greener on the other side of the fence… How many Americans might be dreaming of the kind of social unity and peace we enjoy in Tanzania?

Your brother and sister in Christ,

Gary and Joanne Grenell