It is winter here atm and so working in the mid-twenties is not too bad at all, I gather the UK has been hotter?!
The team have gone and Martin and I are now on the second bit of our little adventure in Africa… They did an amazing job and we can verify that the shower and toilet block we built is still standing. The Tanzanian builders who worked with us are now cracking on with the finishing off and we see them everyday even though we are now busy with other projects. I am mostly painting so far (I feel that that will be a never ending task, which is good as I quite enjoy it) and Martin is fixing things all over the place, no surprise there… Of course we cant just nip down to our local DIY store or plumbers’ merchants and pick up a widget or two, they don’t really exist in the same way here. But that is good as it stretches the brain and we have to use whatever is available: the throw-away-society doesn’t really exist either…
We are staying in a house in Morogoro at the foot of the Uluguru mountains, the view is really lovely! There are banana trees in the garden – not sure who will get the nearly ripe bananas first, us or the monkeys… We are trying to dive right into everyday life here, Swahili is improving a little each day (?) and we have been to the local church, all in Swahili, rather than the English speaking one.
God has kept us safe through all the new experiences and changes, which have been a little overwhelming at times and we realise more and more each day how much we need to bring to Him in prayer – He is so faithful and so good to us!
This verse struck me today as I was reading at lunchtime:
‘Take courage, do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded’
2 Chronicles 15:7
It encourages us when sometimes we feel that what we are doing is not very much or we are just tired of the physical work and it isnt really making a difference , not that we do it for a reward but rather that our Father – ‘Baba’ (Swahili) – sees our hearts and encourages us to keep on going!
Love to all and enjoy a good English summer…
Jo and Martin