Adrian Day 3

The kids and I had a nice dinner out and then the girls and I had a slumber party after Trace went to bed. We had fun telling silly stories, painting nails and falling asleep together in my big bed.

After a brief sleep, I awoke to greet my mom and Grandma GG who arrived from Iowa @10:30 PM. Upon their arrival a mouse popped his head out from underneath our refrigerator. Apparently he wanted to greet them too. I'm terrified of mice, so am so thankful my mom and grandma are here to offer their moral support. Thankfully we already had two mouse traps set in our garage due to finding small holes in our garbage bags the past few weeks. Mouse traps are now in the kitchen so mice beware...

Tanzania Day 3

Jack Fruit

Inside bus on drive to Dodoma.

Locals selling things.

Cars driving through lots of water.

Today we left from Dar Se Salaam, Tanzania.  It was raining and the streets filled immediately.  Cars, bikes, and motorcycles were going by the hotel in a foot or more of water.  Guess we have to appreciate our sewer systems back home.  We had about an hour drive on a small bus to get to a big bus.  The bus station was crazy.  People were everywhere, selling virtually everything.  I had the opportunity to "train" some of the team on not being overly friendly with the locals until the missionaries give them clearance.  One almost had their cell phone stolen off their hip.

The bus ride to Dodoma was long and the two lane road was fairly rough at times.  We left at 10am and arrived here at nearly 5:30pm.  We were crammed like sardines, but the air-conditioning was working.  They had a TV playing ridiculous Tanzanian music videos and shows.  The front of the bus was locals and the back was our team.  We had one stop in a little rest area with mud everywhere and again people selling everything.  The road along the way quickly transitioned from city dwellings made from tarps, blocks, wood, and sheet metal to rural plots of grass.  The farmers were working their fields with only a hoe....no tractors or machinery. Their houses were made from bricks and some had pens for their animals made from sticks.  Lots of kids running around everywhere.  Some that were Trace's age were just running around with no mommy's or daddy's.  Crazy!  Lots of hills and small mountains on the drive.  Very scenic despite the rain.  Dodoma is actually at ~3500 feet of elevation.

Dodoma is more rural than Dar Se Salaam.  It is the countries' capital, but not much else.  Dar Se Salaam had over 5 million people.  Commerce was everywhere, but also lots of garbage and trash everywhere.  Even the river was full of garbage.  Yuck!  Dodoma looks much cleaner, but still has many dirt roads.  We'll see more the next few days.  Supposedly the people here are nicer as well.  I'll have more to report.

The place we're staying is decent.  We have several houses.  I'm staying in one with five other guys.  The swimming pool is a little sketchy.  Tonight at dinner we had a beef stew and rice.  Then for dessert we had a Jack Fruit.  It weighed over 30 lbs and was prickly on the outside.  It had a sticky, fleshy middle.  We had to wash our hands four times to get the stickiness off. The swimming pool looks a little green. Ugh.  It was actually really cool here anyway, which will be great when we work if that stays.  I already almost stepped on a big toad and a large bat flew over my head.  Crazy!

Tomorrow we start work on the ministry centre.  I'm ready to get to work after 2 days of travel.  We'll be tiling floors, making bricks, and doing carpentry work.  Hopefully it doesn't rain too much.  It is still in the forecast each day.

Well, those are the highlights. 

Trevor and Daddy

Adrian Day 1 & 2

We had a tearful farewell yesterday, but are doing okay so far. I am excited for Trevor to have this unique opportunity and also excited to see how God will use Trevor and his team in Africa. Thankfully we will be able to skype and e-mail him regularly. I'm so thankful for internet!

Personally, I'm looking forward to some good reading time in the evenings. I just started The Hunger Games trilogy and am hooked. The kids and I are also looking forward to the arrival of our company. My mom and Grandma GG will be arriving on Thursday and staying through Sunday. Then my dad and Sue arrive on Monday and will stay through Thursday. Three days later and Trevor will be back. We can do this!

Tanzania Day 1 & 2

Trevor team at church prior to departure.

We left Adrian at 9:30 AM yesterday and after two 9 hours flights made it all the way to Dar Se Salaam, Tanzania. We got to the hotel about an hour ago and I was pleased to discover WiFi.  It is a decent hotel, but already spotted a few critters.  It is ridiculously humid here.  I had to shower already when I got to the hotel.  Flights were long, but went smooth overall.  Lots of reading and movies and stiff back. Only slept like 3 hours on the first leg and even that wasn't a deep sleep.  So far it is dark here so nothing new to report really.  We actually had an additional planned stop in Nairobi, Kenya, but we didn't get off the plane, so it doesn't count.  I already exchanged $100 for $158,900 Schillings. I'm rich!  Anyway, tomorrow is 9 hours on a bus to Dodoma.  Pray for air conditioning because it is ridiculously hot here.


Trevor

Basketball

Kaylee shooting

Check out that triple threat position

Kaylee just completed her 2nd season of basketball. She was on the 7/8 team and Trevor and I were her coaches. She was very aggressive this season. She was often seen chasing loose balls and was even on the ground trying to retrieve them. She scored 2 points in three different games and learned to set some mean picks. We even taught the girls two different plays, which was exciting. Kaylee seemed to really enjoy basketball. She was a bit timid when it comes to catching passes, but that will improve with time. She made so much progress from last year. We are very proud of her. Way to go Kaylee!

Overdue Books

Kaylee woke up vomiting today and one of the first things she said was "Great, now my library book will be overdue at school." Her level of responsibility cracks us up sometimes.

Africa

We have some big news, Trevor is going to Tanzania, Africa in a couple weeks. This is so last minute, but so God. Here's the story: Our church has been planning a mission trip to Africa since before we moved here two years ago. We knew about it from the beginning, but didn't feel like the timing was right for us to go because of the kids and because of the cost of the trip. So that was it, we thought. However, just recently two of the men (a father and son) had to back out of the trip due to the father's battle with cancer. The father is doing okay, but just isn't strong enough to go out of the country and do manual labor. Still we didn't think much about it. Then last Friday, Trevor told me that several people had been trying to get him to fill the vacant spot because God had laid Trevor on their hearts. Trevor apparently was the "go to guy" because of his familiarity with international traveling, his "physique" of course, and the fact that he had a current passport. I asked him if he was considering it and he told me no because we just couldn't afford it financially. Plus, we have always done our trips together and he knew it wasn't possible for both of us to go. End of discussion.

Then on Sunday during church, one of the ladies going on the mission trip got up to request prayer for the people going to Africa. While she was speaking I felt God tell me that I needed to give Trevor the freedom to go to Africa without me. After church, I told Trevor that I didn't feel like God was telling me that he for sure needed to go to Africa, but just that he had the freedom to consider the possibility of going without me. We began praying about it and that is when everything came together. Financially, the team had to come up with $10,000 to pay for the materials they will be using while working in Africa. That amount is already accounted for. Then individually every person had to come up with $2,600 on their own. However, since some of the expenses from the previous two men were nonrefundable Trevor's price came down $1,000. Then a donor anonymous to us donated $1,000 on Monday evening towards the mission trip, which brought Trevor's cost to just $600. All the doors seemed to fly open for Trevor to go to Africa, so he began asking his co-workers to pray and sought out his bosses blessing. Doors have remained open, so Trevor committed to going to Africa yesterday. He then sat down to tell one of his friend's at work about how God provided him with the money to go to Africa. His friend then silently reached into his own pocket and said "well, I guess this is for you too. God has laid on my heart that I am supposed to give this money to someone, but I haven't known who that person was, but I think it is you." He then handed Trevor another $150. Can you believe it? What an awesome God we serve! We aren't sure why God wants Trevor in Africa, but we feel confident that He does want him there and so he will be gone Feb 28th through March 11th. Please praise God with us and pray for Trevor and the rest of the team while they are gone. What a mighty God we serve!!!!