Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ok, so I know this is just a little bit early, but let me tell you why today is a day of thanksgiving for me. Today is the one year anniversary of an event that forever changed my life. One year ago I was held and gunpoint and feared for my life. One year ago I had nothing to cling to but my faith in God, in Jesus who is my Lord and Savior. One year ago I called upon the Name of the Lord and He rescued me!!! Isn't that amazing!!!!!! I find it hard to even put into words.

As I sit here at the computer my heart is so full, I have tears in my eyes, and I can't express everything that is going on in my head and my heart. I am certainly giving thanks for my life on this earth being preserved, but I am even more blown away with the fact that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that God heard my prayers and He answered them in a very big way.

As I have reflected back on this experience I realize that it is probably the closest I have ever been to God. Never has He seemed so real to me as He did in those terrifying moments. I am also giving thanks for the healing that He brought about in my life in the past year. I have not had to live my life with a shadow of fear hanging over me.

Each time I think about what happened, or tell someone the story, God's mercy and blessing to me seem to get bigger and bigger. And at the same time my faith grows with each telling of the story. Kind of like those fish stories where the fish that was caught gets bigger each time its told. Only in this case I really am seeing more of God and the bigness and vastness of His love for me.

update on Lebahati

Almost two years ago I wrote a post about a little boy from a Maasai village who has hydrocephalus. I had traveled with the family and the project social worker to one of the hospitals in the area so he could see a specialist. During that time I developed a connection to Lebahati and his mother and I've tried to make visits to their home whenever I had the opportunity since then.

The update on his condition is that it has stabilized. By the time they made it to Dar es Salaam to a more specialized hospital they were told that there was no need for any intervention. His head will always remain larger than normal but he was not in danger of the condition worsening. He was somewhere between 3 and 4 years old at that time and not yet walking due to the larger-than-normal weight of his head. Now he is somewhere between 5 and 6 (no one really keeps track of these things out in the bush) and has learned to walk all by himself. Well, part of the motivation to walk is because Mom has a new baby and he can no longer ride on her back, but it is still quite a large accomplishment for him to walk independently.

I visited their home last week and was greeted by Lebahati walking up to me with a big smile on his face. He used to shy away from me, probably because he associated me with the trip to the hospital. His mom still teases him and asks him if he's ready to go with me to the hospital again, but this time he was all smiles. He even said later that I could take his baby sister if I wanted (I don't think he liked being usurped as the baby of the family). In the end I did not take the baby sister (who's name means "Of Jesus"), even though it was tempting, she's pretty cute. But I did leave with a great deal of joy! What a blessing it was to see this little boy growing and developing, playing with friends and having a more normal life.

some of my temporary roommates

my little friends Neema and Bryson who have both been residents at my house for different periods of time

simple pleasures

Some of you may know that I've been trying to live a gluten and dairy-free life for the past few years. As much of a challenge as that is in America, it has been much more of a challenge living in Tanzania. I've found some ways to adapt and adjust my diet, but the most difficult thing for me has been that I have to cook and bake so much of what I eat. There are not many "convenience foods" available for me so I have to make it all myself.

Not too long ago I bought a used stand mixer (like the Kitchen-Aid mixer that is common in America) from a missionary family who was moving back to New Zealand. This has made my life SO MUCH EASIER! Baking is no longer as time consuming for me and requires less of my own elbow grease. I even ventured into the world of gluten-free sandwich bread, and the results were amazing! I couldn't even believe how good the bread was when it came out of the oven. I would even say that its better than some wheat breads I've had in the past. I'm including a picture here so you too can be amazed!

Looks good, doesn't it? Hard to believe its gluten-free.

I've also recently found someone who makes yogurt and cheese from goat milk. That's pretty exciting in my world!

These little things have made such a big difference to me in the past few weeks. I'm so glad that God cares about these little details in my life too.

Maasai in America!

There is a group of Maasai from Tanzania singing their way across the southern United States, led by some of my friends from Arusha.  Check out their site and see if they will be anywhere near you, and then go see them.  It will definitely be worth your time!  Also check out the blog chronicling their day to day activities . . . including trips to Wal-Mart and Texas long horns!  Its pretty good stuff.  

Last week I was with a team from Perimeter church visiting people who are living with HIV/AIDS.  One of the families we visited was a single mom with two children.  She and her youngest child, a little boy about 6 years old, are both HIV+.  We really enjoyed the time spent with this beautiful family, and especially to spend time with this rambunctious, energetic little boy.  At one point he started to pretend he was taking our pictures with his imaginary camera so Claudia (one of the visitors from Perimeter) and I both let him take a turn actually taking pictures with our cameras.  He loved it and we could hardly pry our cameras out of his hands when it was time to go!  Towards the end of our visit we asked each family member what they wanted us to pray for.  The daughter, about 12 years old, wanted to pray for a father to be in her life.  This, of course, caused all of our hearts to break.  The mother asked that we pray for provision for her children to be able to continue going to school.  This is the most common thing HIV+ parents pray for, when they look to the future there are often many questions as to how their children will be provided for.  Again, heart-breaking.  Then the little boy wanted to ask God for food, specifically rice and meat.  After spending some time in prayer for this family we had the privilege of presenting the family with a 10kg bag of rice, along with a few other food items.  The little boy was allowed to open the bag to see what was in it.  It was such a blessing to us to witness this little boy see God answer his prayer so quickly.  He was so tickled!  The rice and other food will last only a few days or weeks, but the faith and hope that they (and we) gained from this experience will last much longer.  I hope that this will encourage all of us to continue to bring all requests, big and small, to the Lord and continue to trust in Him for all of our needs. 

one of his masterpieces

figuring out what all the buttons do . . . should Claudia be worried?

this smile did not leave his face during out entire visit

opening the bag of rice

Please pray for this family and so many others who are affected by HIV.  The need is great but I know we serve a greater God.  

This made my day yesterday!

So what would you do if you had to work outside on a cold day and you had a warm, fuzzy, matching coat and hat in your closet?  You would wear it of course!