Heri ya Mwaka Mpya! Happy New Year!
I can’t believe we are already 2 months into 2015. As I reflect on all that happened in 2014 it is a bit overwhelming. I’m glad to know that we were a part of so many big changes this year, but when I think back, it was a lot of work too! Here are some of ways our ministry and family moved forward last year; (if you have any questions about what something actually means, please let me know! I will be glad to explain)
-Our e1 program to train and equip Tanzanians has been established with a core group of missionaries identified.
-Our e2 team which is in charge of culture and language acquisition is fully functional; we even had a handful of us graduate from the e2 program including Rob and I!
-Our people group assessment team took 3 trips this year, and included Tanzanians in order to train them to do this ministry in the future.
-Our Service Team, though short-handed did a great job of budgeting and accounting for the year, as well as organized several successful events for the whole team. (Workshops, Team Meetings, Retreats)
-We completed our first formal Risk Assessment for our ministry in Tanzania. Way to go Rob!
-We began renting an office, which is a big step forward. We also took on some local employees who identify with what our mission is doing and want to be a part of it.
It is very easy to get bogged down in the details of this work and miss what is actually happening, so I’d like to sum it up like this; We have taken huge steps forward in being able to communicate the gospel clearly. Also, our team is gaining a clearer focus on training national believers so that we can come along side of them and reach tribal people groups with them. Also, we are a couple big steps closer to having a prioritized list of which tribal areas we want to go into and in what order.
We love being on this team and seeing God open doors and point us in certain directions. We have seen Him clearly in so many ways in 2014, it is incredibly exciting to think of what might come in 2015! We thank God for allowing us to be a part of this amazing ministry, and we thank God for all our supporters being such a big part of this team.
Our family enjoyed Christmas very much! We attended a Christmas Eve service at church, and they somehow got all of us to sing up front at one point or another! It was fun. We have enjoyed having a lot more time to just play together at home, or visit with friends. Also, all 3 kids have now learned how to ride a bike here in Tanzania. Donovan finally got the hang of it, and he is a trip to watch now. He’s a real daredevil sometimes!
Last big piece of news is……WE HAVE PURCHASED OUR TICKETS to return to the States next June!!! We were trying to save $10,000 for the tickets, based on the fares we were finding. After contacting our Mission’s travel agency, we were able to get tickets for half of that amount!!! That means we’re not collecting or saving money for tickets anymore. Maybe now we’ll start saving for a trip to Disney World! (Anybody got any pointers on how to enjoy Disney World on a budget?)
