Merry Christmas from Tanzania!

Gary & Joanne with two students wearing shirts made by Joanne

Living in a developing country, daily routine is a bit different than in “the good old USA.” Living in a house that sometimes is flooded by a blowing rain, eating rice, beans, and whatever is “in season” and dealing with the lack of electricity, we should remember the hardships of the first century, when God chose to become flesh and live among us. In a land where everyday is unpredictable, it is good to remember that our God is predictable. He is the great promise keeper. Praise him for his great and wonderful gift in Jesus.

Gary teaching class

Joanne teaching class

Sending this update when we have the chance early in December, we don’t know what we will end up doing for Christmas here in Tanzania. Gary has been invited to a three-day Christmas gathering of churches, but we haven’t discussed local plans for the holidays with our headmaster or the other teachers. Last year we hosted a campus Christmas dinner.

The school will “close” following annual examinations, but we will continue to teach the newer Pre-Form One students through the holiday break. There will also be the scoring of hundreds of exam papers and the entering of thousands of scores into the computer, so much of our holiday will be in wrapping up the year and its reports.

There will be time for rejoicing in the indispensible gift given at Christmas, praising God for his protection and provision through the past year, and special remembrance of the faithful believers who have been partners in this mission to “the least of these” in Tanzania.

God’s richest blessings to you this Christmas and always.

In His grace and service,

Gary and Joanne Grenell

First Aid Ministry

Special thanks go out to those of you who donated money and First Aid supplies for the health of our students here at Idigima. To date, there have not been too many people in need of medical attention, but this girl made quite a few visits and even twice a day for cleaning and bandaging. Obviously, we used many large bandages on this one! She was riding on the back of a bicycle that didn’t quite make a peaceful descent of the mountain. We’ve also had a few boils and eye cysts.

Training the students to keep wounds washed, clean and free of flies is a big part of First Aid treatments. Although they are learning the importance of good hygiene and health issues in their school subjects, it often times results in academic regurgitation rather than lifestyle change. Hmmm, sometimes we treat our Bible study that way. I suppose that is something of what Jesus was talking about in Revelation 3:17-19.

In His grace and service,

Gary and Joanne Grenell