Ooops! an unexpected layover:

So I think maybe you got Stephanie's email... heres the story...we got to the Dar airport at 5:30 to check in and our plane was gonna leave at 7:30. first they couldnt print our tickets b/c they were electronic and they didnt have a record blah blah blah, well they finally just did it and we got done with that at oh, 7:15 lol then we had to go through immigration and there was no one there so we finally got done at 7:30 so we ran to our gate...luckly its not a big airport lol but they said the plane hadnt left yet so we were so glad!! we waited a few minutes and they started making an announcement about the Nairobi flight so we started getting our bags and come to find out the flight was delayed 2 hours!! so that ment that we would have got here at 11:10 and our plane to London was gonna leave at 11:30 lol and you know how long it takes to get off a plane, so we figured we werent gonna make it. there was a big group of kids, like 16 of em, and they were going to London also and then there was about 6 other people on the same flight, so they called the airlines to hold the plane since there was so many of us. this one really nice couple that has kinda been with us the whole time, said they didnt think they really called. well we got on with our flight and we landed and then we had to wait cause a plane was where we were supposed to be, so we had to wait for that. we run to our gate...even though we were supposed to go to the desk cause they had to give us another ticket...but the lady said the plane left 10 mins ago lol so we told her they called and were supposed to wait, so come to find out that big group was on Kenya air to London and the group of us and the other 6 were on British air to London, so the other plane was the one that was held, which was dumb b/c there flight didnt leave till like 11:40 so they still coulda made it. but we got it all straightened out and we have tickets all the way to Chicago and the airlines payed for a hotel...which is freakin sweet by the way lol its so fancy!, but they payed transportation both ways and all our meals. so thats all fine. the next flight out was the same time the next night. So we will leave at 11:20 tonight (Thursday) so we are assuming that everything will be the same just 24 hrs later. we had to get a transit visa to leave the airprot here in Kenya and they payed for that too, so we havent spent a dime yet which is great! that was at like 1 am lol some people were getting about everything but I thought it was funny, its a good memory lol so I was tryin to make light of the situations and it kinda worked a little while but not the whole time lol but we got to the hotel around 2 am and everyone has been really great here and the people are wonderful help. so we are gonna do stuff around here and get to the airport around 8 to check in. umm, im tryin to think of what else i need to say.....oh, they also payed for a 3 min. phone call home, so i will call in a little while to say hey for 3 mins lol Steph just went to our room to get the flight numbers so that you can get online and check the flights lol they should be all fine though...hopefully lol so at least I can say Ive been to Kenya now, cause we actually left the airport lol I told steph that you have to be careful of what you ask for cause I wanted to stay and we did lol Oh and our luggage went on that Kenya air flight, but it is checked in all the way to Chicago so thats good, but we are still gonna check for it in London cause theres a possibility that it might be there waiting for us. and if its not then its in Chicago. Heres the flight numbers, our flight from Nairobi to London is on British Airways and its 064. Our flight from London to Chicago is 099. So that should be all I have to say. Theres free internet here so if I think of something later Ill let you know. They have amazing food here just to let you know in case you were wondering lol I ate so much at breakfast \i dont think ill e able to eat lunch lol ...haha just kidding, Ill still eat lunch :) Ill call you later, I gotta go so Steph can write. I love you!!!! :)
OH, real quick...
knock knock.
Whos there?
Ozzie.
Ozzie who?
Ozzie you later!!
...that was on one of my poptarts and I thought it would be appropriate:) Love ya!

from Tanzania:)

Hey! its me...I just thought it would be cool to say hey before I get on the plane tonight to fly home! Its 7:30 am here on Wednesday. Everyone in the states i sleeping, but I just wanted to thank everyone for all their support and prayers! ...and my favoritest uncle Josh or all his letters he sent me:) and everyone else who sent stuff, it really meant alot and thank you for that! this has been the adventure of a life time and I thank God that He gave me the chance to experience it! I'll see everyone shortly! Thanks and I Love you guys! ...I think this will especially be funny cause I think dad gets an email when this is updated, unless he changed it, I dont know... so if you do, I hope this doesnt wake you up lol and if it does, then Goodmorning, or goodnight, something and I love you lots and lots and Ill see you tomorrow:)

Brook Seekins with a final note on the 2008 summer camps

Hello once again,
We are finished with the 2008 Youth camps. Praise the Lord! It was a really busy time, but God was good and did so much more than we could have imagined! We are praising the Lord for over 45 campers this last week in the Rukwa Valley. It was exciting to have 9 missionary kids and their friends from the US come and join us. It was tough for some of them with the language
barrier, but they did a great job. All the Tanzanian campers loved the white kids choir! It was also great Justin back working with us. After his child died, he couldn't join us, but it was a blessing to have his energy in the third week of camp. Even the other counselors that were ill last week joined us and it was helpful to be fully staffed in this third and final week. We are also praising the Lord for the 6-8 kids that came to know the Lord. In the Pink group there were several girls that kept answering the questions about going to Heaven by saying it was all good works. But then we would teach them and they would seem to understand. These girls were between 13-16 years old. Every time I or their teacher would ask if they wanted to pray to accept the Lord, they would look at their friends and be too embarrassed to make that step. Finally their teacher pulled them aside one by one and led at least 4 of them to the Lord. We had a short good-bye party for the staff on Friday night after the final service. We had a cake and soda and watched a slide show of all the pictures we had taked through out the week. It's so funny to watch them seeing pictures of themselves. They laugh and tell each other how funny they looked! But it was also neat to hear them saying, "That girl/boy was in my group during this certain week of camp." They remembered each kid they had. One of the greatest comments I had this summer came from a one of my new counselors, Jericho. After a week with a tough group of guys he told me that he had learned so much about ministry by working at camp and dealing with the tough kids and the good ones. He feels it has made him a better leader. Praise the Lord! That is one of the biggest reasons I do summer camps -- to train up future leaders.

So in hindsight we look back on three weeks of camp with 3 Americans and 17 Tanzanian staff, we were so honored to be the vessels of Lord in this ministry. We closed our good-bye staff party with a worship song talking about how there is no other God like our God and thanking Him for all He has done. We were quiet as we realized how many things He did through us these three weeks. Over 180 kids came to camp and over 75 of them came to know the Lord as their personal Saviour. So many others were changed and rededicated their lives to God.

Join us in praising the Lord for all that He has done this summer in Youth camps. Pray for us as we head back to Dar Es Salaam and send Steph and Jessica back to the US. Pray for the preparations that need to be done for the upcoming Marriage Camp Staff Training in less than 3 weeks.

In Him,
Brook

Check out the new pictures on the Blog: www.yieldtogod.blogspot.com

2 Timothy 2:20-21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

Last note from Tanzania...

Hey,
its Saturday and we are really busy getting everything ready to go and do last minute things...but on top of that one of the boots for Brooks 4x4 is leaking and we noticed it last week but we heard that it would be fine as long as she didnt use 4x4 but when we came through town yesterday on our way home from safari, we stopped to look at them and price them and they said we wouldnt make it to Mbeya b/c if it dries up then she’d have to replace the bearings so we checked this morning and its still leaking and it does turn all the time cause I watched it when she backed up...we thought that would be safer lol...so we have to go to town today to get that replaced cause its pretty dry already, so me and Brook are gonna make a quick trip to town, well as quick as it can be a guess, an hour there a half hour for them to fix it (they said) and then an hour back lol so its 11:15 now, so we are either gonna wait till after lunch or just miss lunch, I dont know yet...but other than that things are good. Brook let me plan our menu today since its our last time eating in Mumba...thats so sad...the safari was so awesome!!! I cant even begin to tell you how fun it was!!! Some of the time we rode on the roof rack and there were elephants probably 30 or 40 yards from us and we were up there so it was like we were at eye level, it was so awesome. I cant remember right off hand what all we saw, but we saw allot of antelope type things, impala, zebras (one of which had a chunk taken out of its hind quarter and it was fresh! I got a pic!) lots of giraffes and elephants, some warthogs, mongoose, lots of cool birds(and eagles!! and zazoo from lion king lol) and remember that episode on Pbs about the weaver birds that make their nest upside down?? well we saw tons of those!!! and we took one home with us lol its really cool! and I got a pic of my foot in an elephants foot print!! Its so awesome! I cant wait to tell you all the stories!! Oh and me and Brook saw a hippo walk right in front of our house Thurs evening! It was like 30 or 40 feet away! I went to kinda go closer cause it couldn’t get to us, Ill describe that when I actually can talk to you cause its hard to write lol, but Brook wouldnt let me cause she said they are real mean. It was small like maybe a yearling. Well I have to go for now, so if I dont get a chance to write you again......I'll see you Thursday!!!!!! :)

P.S. Dont forget to come pick me up at the airport. lol jk :) ...well Im not kidding, but I know you wont forget cause you miss me too much. lol
LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS AND ILL SEE YOU SOON!!!!

Guess what...going on safari

Hey,
Im just sitting here watching the kids. lol the missionaries are having their meeting today so me and Steph are babysitting, there’s 6 of em two 4 yr olds, a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old, an 11 month old and a 3 or 4 month old. its fun!! Well there was something I was wanting to tell you that I forgot the last time but now I cant remember, lol right now Im burning all our pics on to cds for me and Steph to take home. Oh, I remember what I was gonna say!! We leave Thursday to go to Katavi for our safari!! I cant wait! We will be here Saturday and then we leave Sunday for Dar :( I wanna come home to show you everything and to see you of course lol but Im gonna miss everything and everybody here. I guess Ill just have to come back lol well anyway, I better go. Ill see ya in like 10 days :) Oh, I remember something else...down in the valley its hot all the time so how cool is this...to be able to have permanent screen windows, no glass!! How awesome would that be!! it was so cool! I thought you would appreciate that! oh, and everyone here says nzuri to your habari! That means good. lol I must say Im getting fairly decent at the basic stuff in Swahili. I know the greetings and some other random words and I can count to 3 and I know 8 and I know some books of the Bible lol mostly random stuff but Im learning lol anyway, Ill talk to you later its 11:30 am but yeah see ya later :) I love you bunches!!!
Hey,
I thought Id write again lol its Wednesday at 10:51. we are leaving tomorrow at 8 for Katavi and the Caraways are coming with us! I cant wait! But im really bummed that I have to leave soon, I really like it here but I cant wait to come home to tell you everything :) The Caraways help kids from the orphanage when they are sick and right now they have two kids. Shazzar is a few months old and he is so cute, then they have Luca and they think hes around 3 and he says my name now its so cute! well its not really my name he doesn’t say the j or the s. Its cute, but when he sees me he says my name. He cant say mama Stewadi, so he calls he baba wadi! Its so funny! hes over here right now, playing and we have a little game he says my name and I say his and it goes for a while lol but anyway, Jericho is over here now to and he said that his sister in law went to town cause she is having a baby! its exciting. we went to the orphanage yesterday for a couple hours! It was so cool, but really sad. This little baby I held was really sick so I hope she gets better. Her name is Ester and I want to bring her home lol :) she was probably like almost a year maybe. She was so sweet. We walked around the market for a while getting gifts. I got a few things for people but when we go to Dar Im gonna get the rest. We went to Zubers in town, they are another missionary family, cause it was their son’s birthday and then today is Trevor Sherman’s and Leah Benton's so we just did a big party. And you’ll never guess what I got to do! I got to go pick raspberries and strawberries from their garden!!! I was so happy, it made me so excited to get to do that!! So I had fresh Tanzanian raspberries and strawberries...beat that lol no Im just kidding, but they were really good and Im glad that I got to have them. I dont have t wait so long any more!! Just some random things Ive noticed, when we watch movies it looks funny to me when they drive on the right side of the road cause here we drive on the left and th driver is on the right side of the car lol its really funny. and I havent watched tv for 6 almost 7 weeks and I havent wore a seat belt since our plane ride lol wearing seat belts here is a killer b/c of all the huge bumps in the road. the seat belts just lock and it hurts lol so its easier to go w/o one. Im gonna finish putting pictures on cd, so ill talk to guys later and I love you bunches and bunches and ill see you in like 8 days:)

News from the Rukwa Valley:

Howdy howdy:)

yaaayyy! I survived camp in Tanzania!!! barley, but i did it. lol no more ugali… no more sleeping on the ground...ahhh such a relief to be able to come home and not have to prep for anything. lol its kinda weird how you can feel homesick for somewhere thats not even your real home...its weird but its so good to be back! and not only to be back but to come back to mama Stewadi greeting us at the door and with some snickerdoodle cookies and hot lunch on the table and a hot shower!!! Its amazing :) well it ended up taking about two hours and 15 mins to get to the Rukwa Valley. its so amazingly cool down there! I love it! its really hot though...and this is there cool season lol it was well in the 90s id guess and then at night it was perfect, like 70 ish everyone else thought it got chilly but I thought it was good lol sorry no scorpions:( bummer, I know. I wanted to see one. the Bentons (some missionaries) have a monkey and I held it lol it was cute...but we can pretend that it was a wild one and it would make the story cooler lol ...no one will know the difference... but anyway...I still was sick all week:( that made it a little harder cause I was tired and I couldn’t eat anything there but other than that it went really well. We were just a hop skip and a jump from Ted’s so I ate stuff from his house like bread and that kinda stuff. it seemed like breadish things didnt bother me...he made us breakfast every morning before camp and that was really nice, mostly eggs and fresh fruit but one morning we had coffee cake and cinnamon rolls!! I thought I would lose weight here but I wont be surprised if I gain some lol well maybe not gain any but I will definitely be the same. No skinnier:( although, I did feel a bump kinda under my ribs on the left so I felt on the right to see if it was supposed to be there or not and there was one there too...I think its my abs cause I can flex it!! how cool is that! the bottom ones are still being protected, but its a start none the less lol anywho, they make their milk by mixing the powder with water and I cant eat anything with milk in it, it makes me sick. so I couldnt eat the coffee cake cause it had lots of milk in it. I ate some today anyway cause it looked so good and it didnt bother me too bad...it was well worth it lol. Its Sat. at 5:02 pm by the way and theres a big beetle on the floor on his back and its tryin to flip over, its funny lol ...sorry I almost forgot, there was about 45 campers which is less than the others , but its allot for the Valley and more than they’ve ever had! So thats good. I never herd number of who got saved... I did get to see a couple Wakami tribe people they are kin to the Masai. I didnt get there pic cause we were driving but I saw them! they are really cool lookin! and people are taller in the Valley cause those tribe people are tall for some reason... oh and by the way, thanks for the racing analogy dad:) lol I think at this piont I just wanna get home just so I can show you and tell you everything, but im really really sad that we are leaving soon. I do wanna stay longer lol I told Brook id like to visit a couple weeks when shes not busy just to hang out and relax and have fun and not be so busy. Not that this wasnt fun, but you know what I mean. So I was kinda bumbed that I didnt get to see all of Ted’s set up, which I figured we wouldnt have time to, but he said Id just have to come back to visit lol but he talked allot about it so I got that info I just didnt get to see it, except for the garden thats around the church. he helped them with that and they sell the produce to profit the church. so thats pretty cool. I got a video walking through it. ...ok, so im back, I had a small encounter with siafu aka: army ants, they bite and they hurt and they crawl up your pants and you dont know it lol well that was a fun experience at least lol there was only a couple so it wasnt bad, but usually you get covered with em. we went outside real quick and I felt it bite my ankle and then I felt one bite my side so I came inside so I could take my cloths off to get em out lol there was only 3. Anyway… lol we was gonna do somethin for the 4th here with Caraways and Shermans, but that container is finally supposed to get to town tonight so they all are going up there to unload everything, and this is the container that got lost that we all prayed about...its just now getting here lol and a bunch of stuff got stolen... so we arent doing anything, but the US embassy in all the different countries do usually do a celebration Brook said. but yeah happy belated 4th!! I can try to send stuff but I cant promise anything, but ill at least bring some home...and a rock for Joshy:) and me too cause I want one. lol and I cant wait to go to Dar cause we can get some pretty sweet stuff and Im gonna get yall hooked up...youll like this dad, but im not gonna tell you, its a surprise:) we wont have time to go to the orphanage:( but we are doin the safari:) yay!! I cant wait, im so excited!! Hopefully an elephant doesnt sit on the car. lol I definitely want to come back, I cant see myself being able to go the rest of my life without coming back. lol and you guys have to come sometime too, its so amazing! you’d love it. Im so glad you are gettin lots of berries!! I cant wait for some jelly:) I love fire works! aww I miss Keith and Alison...they are so fun! I love them:) Mom, you need to pick up your typing skills lol jk I type slow but it doesnt take me hours lol well I cant say much cause its 7:21 now lol we just got done with our devotions and now we are gonna eat some tuna fish sandwiches and watch a movie:) yay! ok we got new toilet paper from town and it is so soft! the other stuff was scratchy and dumb, lol but anyway, Ill talk to you guys later and I miss you and love you bunches and bunches!! :) oh and just a side note: they put 7 kilos of sugar in 10gallons of chai!! thats like 15 pounds!! how crazy is that! Its really good though...obviously. lol but yeah, this has been a really random and jumbled up message...but its still a message and your gonna like it. lol Love you:)

A last minute email before we head out...

Hey its Monday at 2:22 and we are leaving around 3:30 ish to go down to the valley. its gonna be really hot down there so im gonna be goin through allot of water lol we are staying in Ted and Kims guest house (they are missionaries and they have a really cool set up. they do evangelism but Ted has an agriculture and aquiculture thing that he does to teach them how they can do all that stuff on their on own and be self sufficient. it sounds really cool I cant wait to see his set up!! :)) but any way, this week is when well see the scorpions, and maybe some of the Mosai tribe:) I have been writing in my journal everyday, although its been hard during camp so sometimes I just write the bigger things that happen then at home I write everything that we do and what we eat for meals and all that! itll be cool I think. weren’t those directions great!! I thought the same thing...I thought directions back home were funny, but nothin beats African directions lol I did have a dream not to long after i got here that I went home every weekend then came back lol ...that would be expensive lol thats cool that you saw Kelly! I miss all those guys... if you see her again tell her I said hey! ..please! Im pretty sure itll only be an hour or two to Kapenta and I do believe that we will go over the mountains but Ill let you know for sure this weekend lol I got all your guys' mail Sunday. Steve was in town sat. so he picked it up for us so that we could get home cuase I wasn’t feeling good. so I dont know whos I got first, but I did by far get more from Josh lol Brook was jealous cause she doesnt even get that much in a year lol but it made me happy to get it all...and that Im the little blue kid on the zebra:) I got one from grandma... she asked were the pic of me and Steph was taken so I think you can answer that cause I didnt kno there was a pic of us lol I was thinkin you could go to Brooks blog and get pics off hers...if you haven’t already. cause she has our staff pic on there and all that. so now we are thinking that it wasn’t the goat that made me sick b/c Stepf got sick sat. night and it was the same as me and Brook remembered that for supper they ran out of filtered water and had to use river water, so that coulda been it. Barb ( a missionary here) is a nurse and she looked it up and said that it could take 6-24 hours to affect you and we ate around 8pm and I got sick at 3am, so thats a goo possibility, but im still gonna be cautious about the goat lol Josh told me in his letter that his buddy got to shoot a cow! thats hilarious! and that he caught the siding on fire with a grill....city folk...lol Cayla drew me the cutest pictures, I cant wait to show them to you:) but yeah, I figured it was either Venus or Saturn and thats what Brook thought to, but i think its brighter than Venus would be right now, but who knows… we was just wondering cause me and her was telling some people about the constellations and stuff… they have a southern cross here but Brook said she cant find it in the states...so im gonna look for it when I get home lol ...its in the south if you were wondering lol jk I thought the Puerto Rico people already left, but apparently not lol I thought it was like the 11th they left...anyway, I hope they have a good trip! I cant wait to see your shoes dad:) but I guess Im gonna go now cause we are gettin ready to leave. I got to write thank you notes to the counselors in Swahili!! how cool is that! Jericho is here right now and he is making everyone laugh lol mama Stewadi is crackin up in the kitchen its so funny, me and her are good together cause when she laughs she touches whoever is closest to her lol shes an awesome lady! I love her to death. well I guess Im gonna go now so ill write you Saturday. have a great week and I love you guys and I miss you! oh and by the way the letters you sent on June 2nd got to Dar on the 12th and then got here about a week later. so it does take about 2 weeks. so dont send anymore or else I wont get em’ lol anyway Ill talk to you later, stay safe and I LOVE YOU!!

News from camp @ Kazila:

Everything has been really good! This week at camp we had over 70 people, and about 25 of them were from Janguani which is our church. I think around 26 kids got saved. Brook wasnt expecting many to, cause most of them have been to camp before, unlike last week most of them never had been before. were we stayed the kids in the village stared so much more at us and they kinda got annoying cause they just stared at us hours upon hours...well then we finally had Alice ask them why they didnt just greet us and they said cause they were scared of us and we asked why, and come to find out there had never been a white person in that village before! that kinda made more sense then. So they wanted to touch our skin, so we let them lol but after that they didnt bother us to much more lol It went good though. This little girl, here name is Lea, and she gave me some sugar cane...which is really good by the way! but its hard to eat...Steph took me some pics of me eating it and with Lea:) but then later she gave me a boiled potato, which was really good too:) but she lived in the village, so thats how she got all that, but they said that that shows that she must like me cause they dont do that often cause thats like top notch stuff here! So that was cute! not much was different about this week. Jericho did translate for me again and he will next week too! which is good, we’ve gotten pretty close and b/c we are together all the time we just get time to hang out, its fun! we always make up crazy stories about things, its funny lol the Bibi (grandma) that let us use her house to stay in, was super nice. the room we were in, had a room you walked into and then another room off that which we slept in cause the first one didnt lock. I slightly did get Stephs cold. It started with a sore throat so I started taking medicine right away and it never got any worse, besides a little congestion at night but nothing that was disrupting. I found out the hard way that I cant eat goat...which isnt uncommon around here...I had it in Dar and it didnt bother me but then the 1st week of camp the 2nd time we had it, it slightly upset my stomach but it kinda just felt like it was from the heat, but then Friday we had it for lunch and it kinda was the same but Im guessing its was about 85 degrees that day...but then after supper it was hurting again, and then at about 3 in the morning Saturday, I started throwing up and had diarrhea and thats what happens with people that cant eat the meat. I threw up about every hour until 6:30 and thats when we were getting things packed up to leave cause we had to go to town before we went home. I was slightly feeling better but when I stood up, I would feel sick so I just sat in the car when they were packing, which I felt bad that I couldnt help but Brook wouldnt let me. lol I slept in that first room so that if I had to get up I would be closer to the cho...I bet you never puked in a hole in the ground with a flashlight lol but anyway, Brook herd me so she came out and checked on me every time I came back in and then she prayed with me. I slept between each time but I was so exhausted. We were packing and some of the guys in the village that came to camp that I kinda got to know, came up and was asking me how my condition was lol word travels fast in a village lol but Brook was taking care of me and made sure I was drinking water, doctors orders she said lol but the only thing I was worried about was driving home on the bumpy roads, but it was fine, and I actually started feeling better and I think the ac in the car helped a little. so to say the least, im gonna be eating chicken when we have meat. Ill eat with Jericho because he cant eat goat either. he came up and I was leaning on the window and asked if I was sick and I said I was throwing up all morning and he said pole(sorry) and I told him we might have to stop a few times on the way home for me and he said no problem lol but we didnt have to stop which was good and when we got home I took a hot shower and that made me feel better and I was even feeling hungry and Mama Stewadi, (our cook by the way) lol, made tacos and I just couldnt pass that up lol I had 2 of em and it hasnt bothered me since so I think Im good now. lol Im just glad it was at the end of camp and not the beginning cause that woulda been horrible lol there was these cute little puppies in the village and they were so adorable!! I took some pics of em. and our house was kinda far from the church, but hows these for directions...turn left at the donkeys, which I petted every time I passed lol, but then you go up a row of houses and then turn left at the weird windows go up another row, turn left at the grass wall, go down to the pile of bricks in the road and then turn right, right before them, go up a little embankment and then go left to the church lol if Ive learned anything, its that Ive realized that Im better at directions than I thought I was. Steph and Alice could never remember so I always had to walk with them lol and by the way, is it Saturn that you can see in the east? I think it is, but it might be opposite cause O'rian ist up here until December. but anyway, I think thats most of it...I only got 2 baths this week at camp cause we were short 3 counselors so we had to do alot more setting up and stuff. This one was really nice, it had a concrete floor and everything, all the other ones are dirt floors with rocks to stand on lol Ive gotten alot of sun and Im getting darker every day I think lol I have the sweetest tan line where my socks are lol at first I thought it was dirt so I licked my finger and got it wet and nothing came of so its a tan. lol Shoes are good. before camp started I mostly went barefoot around home but wore my gym shoes if I had to, but I wear my sandals at camp and go barefoot sometimes but not often, mostly to just give my feet some air. I have taken quite a few pics, I haven’t even filled up one card yet lol and I am takin pics of most everything I get a chance to, mostly the mountains and sunsets and that kinda stuff lol but I have a bunch of just unordinary things that you just cant explain...kinda like the cho. lol those comments are nice... My hairs fine. its just like it is at home so I either put it in a pony tail or braid it. my part got sunburned this week and it hurts to wash it and brush over it, but its gettin better I had a dream that Leslie had her baby and I flew home to see em and then came back. lol but yeah, that reminds me, Steph had a dream this morning that when I was sleepin in the other room, one of the donkeys busted in and was licking me cause it knew I was sick lol how hilarious is that!! Her and Alice always laughed at me every time I stopped to pet them lol You are gonna be proud to know that, Friday night when the kids were dancing Jericho asked me if I wanted to and I said I didnt know how so he was trying to teach me lol it reminds me of line dancing lol I kinda get it, i still just need rhythm lol and he just laughs at me lol its really funny! But anyway no spiders this time thank goodness lol but in the valley this week there are scorpions... yikes! lol well anyway, I don’t think I have much else to say...Oh and I got to meet the guy that we named the baby for! Hes really nice. but yeah, its Saturday at 3 pm and this is the longest message ever lol Ill talk to you later, maybe tomorrow before or after church... Hope everythings good, I love you guys so much and Ill talk to you later:) I dont know if it’ll be like this for you, but both those 'ill talk to you later's are exactly above and below each other lol anyway that was random, so im gonna go now:)

News from camp...

Hey!

Everything is goin really good and camp was great! I had a ton of fun! Ive gotten used to the whole ugali thing and it doesnt bother me any more. the one girl, Rachael that was gonna translate for us decided that she didnt want to do it I guess, and never told Brook and we found out that shes in Mbeya until September. So this kid named Jericho is doin it. He is just about one of the funniest people Ive ever met!! its never a dull moment with him, and I’m with him all day cause he translates for me…but I have to tell you this joke he said...the kids did skits the last couple nights and he asked me if I was in one and I said no, and he said yeah, Im in trousers, not skits(skirts) I just thought that was the funniest thing ever! well maybe not ever, but I laughed a good while over it lol ...imagine that:) but its funny cause he laughs at himself, and that just kinda makes me laugh even more! but hes always got something like that to say about everything! hes really fun to be around. But anyway, teaching went really well. the counselors taught the Roman Road first, and then I taught things like how we are saved, why we need to be saved and that its not works and you cant loose your salvation, stuff like that. But we had almost 70 campers and a little over 40 got saved!! It was great! So you can thank Tim for me, for giving me that idea. it took em a while to get used to us being white and all, lol its so funny cause they would touch me and then look at their fingers, like the white was gonna rub off of me or something! It cracked me up! then they just couldnt get over the fact that we had so much hair! Thur. some of the girls braided my hair, like I usually do and after that they really liked me, they always wanted me to play the games with em, it was fun. its amazing how much you can figure out from what a person is tryin to say in a different language, lol im gettin pretty good lol. the bathing brought back the fond memories of when we had to shower outside, lol it was grass walls and we had a bucket of water...oh and dont forget the fancy stick as a bar to hang your clothes over! it normally would have only taken us 45 mins to get to ilambila (were camp was) but a bridge was out on that road, so we had to go around...therefore it took almost 3 hours lol on the way home today (Sat. 2:20 pm by the way) we had a flat tire lol and we were like 15 mins from home! Brook always makes sure she travels with a guy for reasons like that, so Anatoli, her gardener…and hes a counceler, was with us, so he changed it. the spare ended up bein flat, but she had a small compressor so we filled it up. the last couple days of camp Anatoli wasnt feeling good, and the doctor in the village(and no he wasnt a witch doctor lol) thinks he might have malaria, so he gave him some meds for it. Anywho, thats so awesome that the salamanders a alive!! I didnt think they would all make it! that makes me happy! Nope no lightning bugs of any sort here... but mom would love this, where we slept there was spiders about 3 inches across! it was crazy!! and creepy lol We cook the cake over fire! everything is done over fire here. even at Brooks house. we have a pan called a sufalia and you just put it on rocks with charcoal under it and then on top of the lid, so that it cooks evenly, just like in an oven. Im glad you got my post card. so it did take a couple weeks to get there...I havent gotten anything yet but no ones really been to town. when we go Monday to get camp stuff, Ill ask Brook if we can stop in and check. thats nice of Melanie to do that if she does:) that guy on the mower sounds hilarious!! and very true...only in West Alex. lol And yes goat really is good!! we had it twice at camp with rice. Oh man, you know how rice fills you up kinda fast, ok, take that green bowl we have that I got for my 4-h cooking and fill it almost heaping, and thats how much Jericho ate! it was crazy, he didnt even eat supper cause he was still full! we eat lunch around 2 and supper around 7 or 8. Anyway, this is a really long message lol umm, the toilet is called a cho, and its just a little building with a grass roof and a hole in the ground lol so its pretty much been like camping for a week! its rather fun I think! when we were leaving to go, thats what it felt like to me, that feeling that you get when we are headed off camping! it was cool, cause I miss camping, but I guess I am in a way, just w/o the relaxation. we wake up around 7 and got to bed around 11 every day. I guess Im gonna go now, tell everyone I said hey, and tell all the animals I said hey too. lol I'll talk to you guys later! I miss you and love you lots!!! Only like 3 weeks and a couple days till I'll be home:) ...so get all your partyin in now while you can! lol Love you guys and I'll talk to you later!

I forgot something...

Guess what?? I got to name a baby!!!! I picked out a bunch of names, well like 5, for this guy Brook knows, and he wanted her to name it…so she was like you wanna name a baby and I said, of course! I had to pick ones with good meanings, cause thats how they do around here, and the first one I picked was Josiah, it made me think of Josiah walk:), she called him Monday when we were heading to camp, and asked if he liked that one and told him that it means Jehovah (I dont know if thats spelled right) but Jehovah Protects, and he liked it, so thats what they named him! How cool is that!! anyway, I just thought I'd mention that! Love you:)

A typical day @ camp in Tanzania:

Camps begin Monday night with a sermon and important announcements. The local village is always invited to take part in our evening services which are much more evangelistic. Tues through Fri are our real days of camp.

Here is a typical day's schedule at camp. Where you see activities is where the individual groups do workshops, games or practical life skills.

8:30 STAFF MEETING

9:00 Opening (singing, announcements, Creation)

9:15 Devotion time

9:45 Regroup

10:00 Activity 1

11:00 Regroup

11:15 Chai

11:45 Assembly - Chapel

1:00 Skit Time

1:45 Regroup

2:00 Eat Lunch

2:30 Free time

3:00 Regroup

3:15 Activity 2

4:15 Regroup

4:30 Small Group Devotions

5:45 Regroup

6:00 Games

7:00 Dinner

8:00 Evening Service

As you can see a day at camp in Tanzania is nothing like summer camp here in the states, often days will last 13-14 hrs. Please continue to pray for strength and stamina and that the counselors will get the rest they need at night to stay healthy and strong for all that God has planned for them.

HABARI EVERYONE! ( thats hello in swahili )

Just wanted to let everyone know we actually got a phone call from Jess today. Wooohooo!
She called to wish me a Happy Fathers Day, it's the best gift I've ever got. She is doing great and packing for camp even as I'm writing this. They will be leaving out at 10am in the morning (that'll be 3am for us). Asante (thank you) for all your prayers, it will be a long week for her with allot of adjusting to the food she will have to eat in the villages. They will travel back to Brooks for the weekend and then it will be off to the next village...make sure you read her latest emails (on the left) she has a big responsibility for giving the gospel over the next few weeks...please keep praying that God will give her strength & wisdom as she overcomes the language barrier and shares His love with them.
David & Amy

A funny story from Brook

Hi Baba and Mama Jessica,
How are you? I hope you are surviving your time away from your daughter.
She is doing really well. I really appreciate her attitude and willingness to do whatever.
Keep praying for her especially next week as sh will have to teach classes
through a translator.
I have a funny story to share with you:
We were in town on Tues. While looking for clothes they guys in one of the
booths started asking Barb Sherman and me if Jessica was married. We said,
"No." So the ladies at the booth we were at started to explain that they
were looking for fiances and wondered if she was interested.
This is a common thing around here. They want to marry a white girl and get
rich quick. I asked them how they could marry someone they couldn't even talk to. They quickly replied that she'd learn (nothing about them learning English, but only about her learning Swahili!) We told them that wasn't possible.
I figured you all would like to know that she has had her first marriage
proposal. She never talked to the guys and can't even tell you their names!
So don't worry too much Dave, I'm sure she won't come back with a cheap
Nike ring on her finger! Take care and thanks for sending Jessica here

Brook

On a serious note: from Brook

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all of your prayers thus far. God is good. You know, last weekend I was anxious about my staff. Yes, I know that I shouldn't be, but I am human.
On Wednesday, all but one of my counselors came to the first evening of staff training. The remaining counselor was from a nearby village and he was early the next morning.
**Join me in Praising God for a great team of leaders!
As we studied through the life of Joseph and the activities that we will teach this year, I was encouraged by their willing attitudes. At the end of the first day, I was exhausted from teaching all day, but glad that we were
ahead of schedule. In fact, we were so far ahead that instead of having evening training classes, I invited them all over to my house for a movie!
We watched the Ten Commandments over the next two evenings. Did you know that it is a really long movie? We never did finish it, but we made it to the part where the Israelites leave Egypt. That was a great movie for them because as we teach about Joseph much of the story takes place in Egypt.
Because the movie was set mainly in Egypt, they were better able to understand some of the culture and customs of that country.
Saturday they all returned home and to get their homes set for the next three weeks as well as to prepare their Bible studies and sermons for camp.

**Pray for them this week as they prepare to leave their families and prepare to teach the campers.
This past week I've been receiving registration forms from various churches. It looks like we will have a lot of kids at the first two weeks of camp for sure. There will always be some that signed up but can't get the $2.00 they need along with food for camp. I've already had three kids knock on my door today asking for small jobs to earn that money.
**Pray for the campers as they look for jobs to earn money for camp. Pray too for their hearts to be softened to hear God's Word.
On a heavier note, we took part in a funeral yesterday. It was one of 7 that have taken place in the last three days in the four surrounding villages. Three of these funerals, including the one we were at yesterday, were for babies. This particular funeral hit home to us because the baby's father, Justin, is a camp counselor. Everyday he left home to join us at staff training and his child wasn't feeling well. But Friday as we were finishing up they told him they had taken his 1 year old to the hospital. He died the next afternoon. It was a sad funeral to watch our counselor mourning the death of his child in the way that we in the US would never
mourn. Here they visibly and vocally mourn. It's heart-breaking to watch your friends wailing.
**Pray for Justin and the other families that have lost loved ones. Pray for other families that have sick babies and are scared that their child may be next.
God works in ways that we can't understand. That is something we are learning in the life of Joseph. Joseph encouraged his brothers that what they had meant for evil God intended for good. So amidst the trials that we
are facing I know that God has intentions that are beyond my ability to understand and as the theme of camp says:
God Has a Plan for Me.
Take care and keep praying for us as we start our first week of camp on the 16th.

In God's Hands,
Brook

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They made it !

Jessie emailed us early Friday morn to let us know they arrived in Dar Es Salaam. She said that London was great they got to ride on a double decker bus tour and see all the sites of London (maybe a little to fast). She said the place they are staying on Friday night is awesome...(can't wait to see the pics). It will be an early morn....up at 5am to catch a bus to the next town. Dar Es Salaam is 7 hrs ahead of us you can see what time it is there for Jessie on the clock at the top of the page. Thanks for all the prayers.

And they're off

We met with Stephanie and her parents in Chicago at O'hare, spent a few hours together talking and listening to stories about experiences they've had in Tanzania and before long it was time to board for London. Jessie was excited, this was going to be her first time in an airplane and it was going to be a big one.We said our good byes, hugs an kisses, and they're off.

Time to go

Todays the day.
Jess got up early on Wednesday morning got the last of her stuff packed, said good by to the dogs and climbed in the jeep ready to go.

Schedule

June 1: Church
June 2-3: Prep for Staff training
June 4-6: Training
June 7-15: Prepare for week 1
June 13: Attend a wedding in Sumbawanga
June 16 - 20: Camp at Ilambila
June 21: take down camp, Return to Mumba
June 22: Church, Prep for week 2
June 23 - 27: Camp in Kazila
June 28: Take down camp, Return to Mumba
June 29: Church, Prep for week 3
June 30 - July 4: Camp in Kapenta
July 5: Staff Party, Take down camp, return to Mumba
July 6 - 8: Church, Missionary meetings, me and Stephanie help with little kids
July 10 - 11: Safari in Katavi
July 13: Travel to Mbeya
July 13: Travel to Dar by bus
July 15: Time in Dar
July 16: Time in Dar, me and Stephanie depart 7:45 pm

Visa

I finally got my visa in the mail on Friday the 16th. So now I have all my documents that I need and I have already started packing what I have. There are just a couple more things that I need to get and pack and then I will be all set to go!

My Trip

Once we arrive in Tanzania, which should be May 31st, we will be having staff training for the first week of June. Then for the next three weeks we will be doing summer camps, going to 3 different villages in the area. Each camp will last a week, and I will be helping teach the guys about electricity, so that they can have lights for their evening meals and be able to hook up their instruments to play music during the Worship. I will also be teaching the girls to sew covers for their Bibles. There will also be daily worship, meals, different seminars to attend and of course games to play! After all the camps are completed, we are gonna help in an orphanage for a few days, and I'm really excited about that! Then we are gonna have some fun, and go on a safari, spend a day at the beach and then go shopping in the village! Then we will head back to the airport to start flying back home.

Plane tickets!

We finally got our plane tickets, Wednesday, April 8th! We will be flying out of Chicago at 8:15 pm. We will arrive in London at 10:00 am on May 29th. We have a 9 hour layover, so we will get to do some touring:) Then we have another over night flight. We leave London at 7:20 pm and land in Dar Es Salaam on May 30th at 7:00 am. Then when we are coming back home, we will leave Dar Es Salaam on July 16th at 7:45 pm. At 9:00 pm, we will land at the Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International airport. We will leave from there at 11:20 and be in London by 5:55 am on July 17th. At 7:55 am, we will leave to fly back to Chicago, and will land at 10:20 am.