Renovations and Rabbits

 We are so excited about what God is doing in our church here. They have been meeting in a primary school classroom for 11+ years. This month we will  Celebrate!! Because now we as a church own a building. It is in the process of being renovated. They worked on the ground floor first. The bottom floor is where the Pastor's family will live with a few other rooms to rent out to have income for the church. The church will meet on the top floor, which they are finishing now. They don't plan on building walls around the church meeting area. We will proclaim the gospel from the rooftops! 

Here are some photos of the construction in progress. 

This is a view from the front.
The boys had to climb up to get the ladder down!

This is the ladder to get up.
It seems to be missing a few steps.
The proper stairs will be built soon.

Here is the view from one side.
Rob visited the church on New Years Day.
They visited the building then had a worship time
at the Pastor's house downstairs. 

View from the other end.

This is a picture of the group that met that day.
This is about half of the people that attend. 

These are some of the beautiful children
we get to see every week.
They are precious in His sight! I love their smiles. 

 We ate our first rabbit. It was really good. Rob took care of all the prep work. I am so thankful to him for that. He also cooked it. The kids all saw parts of the process. Shelbyanne, as you can see in the pictures below, wanted to be there, but didn't want to see. She was so funny about it. She eventually did eat it, but was definitely hesitant initially! 

We all enjoyed the fruit of Rob's hard work! 

Before...

After...

She held the eye, and brought it to me to see it!

Donovan enjoying his rabbit dinner!

And the girls taking their first bites of theirs. :)

Reflecting upon Blessings

2012 was full of blessings. I want to share some of them through pictures. Thanks to everyone who looks forward to reading this blog. I apologize for not blogging more often. I will make it a priority in 2013! 

Love, Blessings, and Happy New Year to You All!!

Amy

The kids have loved helping us cook in the kitchen.
It was such a blessing to be able to share that time with them. 

Rob built a fort for the kids to play in out of some palm branches.
It is such a blessing to have a husband/dad that loves to spend time
doing special things for the kids.  

I am so blessed to be the Mom of these three precious kids.
I pray that I am a better mom in 2013 than I was in 2012.  

In April I was able to travel to Thailand for a 

Growing Participator Approach Conference. 

I was able to attend the conference with 

one of my best friends, Andi, and 

learn more about how to facilitate the

language program we are using! 

That was an amazing Blessing!

 While I was in Thailand, I was also able to visit with some
amazing friends that I have't seen in many years

God provided in a major way this year through
the financial blessings of some of our supporters.
We were able to purchase a car!  

God Blessed us ALL when He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be born in a manger,
Grow to be a man, and Die on the cross to pay the Price for our sins.
This is the reason we are here in Tanzania! 

I am so blessed to have this lady in my life.
She is my language helper. We started meeting in June of this year.
I am looking forward to going much farther in Swahili because of her!

WE GOT A DOG!!
We gave the kids a puppy/"Guard Dog" for Christmas this year.
 She is a German Shepherd/Ridgeback mix.
She is a great fit for our family and will be a great Guard Dog! 

We Have A Battery Back-Up System!!!
Through the generosity of our supporters we were able
to purchase a system that will provide lights, fans and power
to run the fridge when the electricity is out! 

The only blessing about this scorpion is that I saw it
before I stepped on it when walking out of my bedroom.
This is actually the first one I have seen in the almost 2 years
we have lived here. So, I guess that is another blessing!

Our church has been a blessing to us.
We appreciate worshiping with them each week
and being a part of the process to get into a new building!
This picture is of our last Christmas celebration in the schoolroom.
Next year we will be celebrating in our own Church building! 

CO-WORKERS!!!!!

We are so blessed and thankful to have welcomed
4 new families to the field of Tanzania this year!
We look forward to working with them in the coming years to
Expand the Reach of the Gospel in Tanzania!

Rob made 2 turkeys in a trash can this Christmas!
We had some for our Christmas meal,
and shared some with 5 other families in our church.
I don't think any of them have ever tried turkey before.
We are so thankful and blessed to be able to share with them. 

I know there are so many more ways the Lord has blessed us this year. 

Some Major ways He has blessed us has been through YOU! Your Love, Support, Prayer, and Encouragement has meant so much to us. We know that we cannot ever repay you. However, we do hope that we are doing our part as partners in this ministry with you to Share Christ's Love with the people of Tanzania! Looking forward to sharing with you more often this year of what God does in our lives here on this side of the world. 

All the Best to you as You Begin 2013 Strong!!

Amy