Last Weekend in Arusha

6/17
Hello everyone!

My last weekend in Africa is coming to a close. I spent all day yesterday with my DTS friends, and then went to All Nations Christian Center for church today. This is the church that feels the most like a "home church" to me. My friend Natasha's parents were the visiting preachers from Zambia. Her dad got really sick this morning though, so her mom took over. and she was powerful! lots of screaming, yelling, and praising God. I really liked the basis of her message:

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve in His image: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There was no illness, no suffering, no pain, no depression, no mental illness, and everything created was close to, and in relationship with, God. This tells us that God did not intend for us to be ill, to suffer, to have emotional turmoil, and so on. These things weren't in the garden of Eden, they aren't in God, and they won't be in heaven. That feels hopeful doesn't it? And the Bible tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him, so i might be as bold as to say that God can conquer these things in our lives on earth.

After church Baba Choi, our base founder and leader, took me out to lunch to thank me for my time here! i was so blessed! nothing slips through the cracks, or goes unrecognized by Baba Choi or James! We sat outside and had an amazing meal, and he told me some of his visions for YWAM Arusha. He is such a visionary, and the amazing thing is how his visions get carried out. He told me he came to Tanzania committed to staying for two years. He was set on leaving after that allotted time, and didn't have a desire to stay longer. During that time he spent a week with the Maasai in the bush bush, and on the way home God started challenging him to dedicate his life to living in Africa. Baba Choi said, Ok God, but it has to be on your strength. That was in 1984 and he is still here! And God has done so much through him! He said it gets better over time because Tanzania feels more and more like his permanent home. He is currently undertaking a project of building a school for primary to high school level children. I saw the building in process and I could totally see myself coming back to teach there. so pray for that! he is also taking on a project of raising up African teachers, and providing the education teachers would need. very good idea. Also, he has a vision of writing children's books for African children, which amazingly is a vision i have also had while being here! so he was soliciting me to write them! which i would love to! the children read books about white people, or else don’t really have books. they don't have books that connect with them and their culture. they also don't have "heros" to learn from. it is hard to find people in leadership or government positions who are setting an example for the youth to follow. this perpetuates the problem of poor leadership because values aren't being instilled in the children at a young age. so he wants to write books that give the children heros to look to, and teach them values to follow. so we'll see where this idea goes!

please continue to pray for my flight home details, i had a schedule change that i didn't read thoroughly before i came here and apparently i have a 15 hour lay over in Nairobi! not fun, and not a great city to be stuck in.

I hope you all are doing well and are feeling blessed.
Mungu Aku Bariki,
Christina