The Mushroom Lady

“Hodi!” someone shouted from outside.  A hodi is the Tanzanian form of knocking.  And the response, instead of opening the door, is to just answer “Karibu!”.  After shouting karibu, a young village girl stepped into our house carrying a basket. The basket was full of mushrooms. Different foods could be difficult to get in our village so we were always encouraging people to bring by different foods to our house to sell. (I mean there’s nothing wrong with rice and beans but trying eating this meal for lunch and dinner 7 times a week!) And when I say “different” foods I don’t mean exotic; I mean things like eggs or vegetables or on one particularly special occasion, lettuce; really anything to save us from the monotony of rice and beans.  Therefore, when anyone came to our house to sell food we almost always bought it and encouraged him or her to come again. So this was not our first experience buying from a villager who showed up at our doorstep; however, this was our first experience buying mushrooms, so we asked our neighbors how best to prepare them.  We prepared them as we were told, and they were delicious.  I am not a vegetarian, but at times Africa forced me to eat a vegetarian diet due to the lack of meat access (and often the meat that was available was… well let’s just say seeing meat for sale in the market was enough to turn the hungriest lion into a herbivore).  

            Now, I don’t need to tell you culinary experts that mushrooms are in fact not meat. However, when one goes months without meat, mushrooms have a texture that reminds one of what they have been missing.  Emily and I loved the mushrooms, and therefore we immediately asked where we could acquire some more.  We were told that few people sell mushrooms, but you can pick them yourselves in the local forest.

I think it is important at this point of my riveting tale to remind our dear readers that being ignorant in all things having to do with mushrooms, and more generally ignorant with most things having to do with forests, or really more generally being ignorant of most things having to do with the outdoors, it is not a good idea to go out into the forest and pick mushrooms for cooking.  I want the overall message of this blog to be focused on the beauty of the people and culture of Africa and lessons we learned from the village community of Africa; however, I do fear that this blog occasionally turns into “look at how stupid I can be”.  This, though it’s undoubtedly true that I am capable of doing some extremely foolish things, should not be the overall takeaway of this blog.  Besides, in my defense for this particular occasion, I did not go into the forest armed with nothing; I went in armed with my unbridled optimism that I would find edible mushrooms and (more importantly… or so I thought) with a survivor book, which identified different types of mushrooms with very detailed cartoon-like images of said mushrooms.  

After searching for about an hour in the forest, Emily and I came across a batch (briar? bushel? troupe?... help me out here people) of mushrooms. We picked the mushrooms, filled up our basket and triumphantly began our trek back to our house.  As we were walking home we came by a villager who looked at us quizzically. This was nothing new; yeah, yeah, we were a couple of white people in an all black village, keep it moving people.  However, she didn’t just stare curiously like a typical villager, she began to come closer and in fact she marched right up to us and took an unabashed look inside our basket. She stared in our basket and her faced changed from bewilderment to horror.  

She backed up and kept repeating the same thing over and over again. “Kama utakula, utakufa!” I apologized for not understanding her and tried to explain that I was still learning the language, and I did not recognize the phrase.  I knew kula meant eat, but the rest was gibberish to me.  Over and over again, she said “utakufa, utakufa, utakufa” till it became almost chant like, the words echoing in my head.  

Finally, one of our students heard all the commotion and ran over to lend assistance.  In her poor English she was able to tell us what the now ranting lady was saying. “Kama, utakula, utakufa… It means if you eat it, you will die.” 

“Die?!” I yelled and dropped the mushrooms on the ground as if the very act of holding the mushrooms could make me ill.  The student then said that the woman would like to show us where to find the edible mushrooms.  The lady searched with us for about 30 minutes until she found a group of mushrooms; she smiled and picked them for us, and we returned home with more edible mushrooms then we can carry. 

Often when I talk about Africa this recurring motif emerges of how neighbors helped us to survive. It is true that to attempt to survive in a village in Africa relying on your own skills and knowledge is asking for trouble.  I never learned the lady’s name so I will always refer to her affectionately as the mushroom lady.  She just happened to cross our path and what business of hers was it to tell us that there was something wrong with the mushrooms we picked? (Not to mention after talking to other people I determined that her whole utakufa, you will die, rant was a bit hyperbolic as others told us the mushrooms would have made us extremely ill, but death was highly unlikely… so take that mushroom lady!) 

However, in our village of Bumilayinga, your business is not your own business.  Not only did the mushroom lady warn us of the intestinal nightmare that we were about to put ourselves through, but she showed us where to find the edible mushrooms.  She stopped what she was doing and happily (maybe a bit too happily, as I felt as she may have been laughing at our foolishness) taught us how and where to look for these mushrooms.  Emily and I tried what I like to call the “American Way” to find mushrooms. We entered the forest armed with our own skills and intelligence (and my precious survivor book!) in search of the mushrooms, but once again we were reminded about how we shouldn’t and didn’t need to do this on our own.  Or rather the “African Way” of community and helping your neighbor trumped our own foolish attempts.  

- Matt 

What was (am?!) I Thinking?

In 2007, at the age of 23, against my better judgment and the judgment of my friends and family, I decided to go to Tanzania, Africa as a missionary and teacher. Prior to this trip my international travel experience consisted of a weeklong church missions trip to Toronto and a weeklong cruise to the Bahamas (not exactly a world traveler!).  Moreover, I was an introvert who took enjoyment from spending time alone; yet at the same time, I have always been a very dependent person, dependent on friends and family for everyday survival. Whether it was signing up for classes at college, or making sure I had money to pay rent at the end of the month, or figuring out how to take out for a school loan, I relied heavily on family and friends, especially my girlfriend Emily, for my daily existence in this much too complicated world.  Furthermore, at this point in my life I was spiritually weak. Though I desired to read my Bible and pray every day and go to church every week, the reality of my life at 23 was I spent more time smoking than praying and more time reading the labels of beer bottles than reading the Bible, and if it weren’t for Emily my church attendance would have been nonexistent. In short, I was an inexperienced, reserved, needy young adult who struggled spiritually and on a whim decided to pick up and move to Tanzania, Africa for six months as a missionary teacher… What was I thinking?!

I don’t know what the quintessential missionary looks like (in fact, before arriving in Tanzania and meeting with my co-missionaries, I had already decided that I did not like them because what kind of young person would just pick up and go to Africa for 6 months or a year; certainly they would have to be extremely religious or have a few screws loose… of course it never occurred to me that I was in fact both extremely religious and I undoubtedly had (have?) more than a few screws loose), but I did know that I was about as far from what a missionary should look like as was possible. But I went anyway? Why?

At the time, I did not know the answer. And looking back it’s still all a bit foggy about what was going through my head.  I know God wanted me to go to Africa, and I know I wanted to serve God… but why exactly Tanzania and why at this point in my life, I’m still not sure. However, no matter what the answer is to why I went (for often I think we spend too much time asking why and not enough time just doing) the important thing is I went. And the result was life changing. I lack the time and frankly the eloquence to elaborate on all of the things I learned during my six months in Africa. My views of money, death, child rearing, role of government, missionary work, needs vs. wants, and a myriad of other life issues were altered by my time in Africa. In fact, my views on so many aspects of life were altered to the point that I knew I could not marry someone who did not understand what I now understood. One day I hope to better articulate the profundity of living in a rural village in Tanzania, but being unable to even articulate this to my wife, I knew (and more importantly she knew!) that she too would have to go to Tanzania. Therefore, in 2010 I returned with Emily to Tanzania, different village, but same life changing experiences. (Much of our experiences can be read about in the archives of this blog.)

Now in 2016, older, wiser, but just as inadequate in so many areas of my life, God has called me and I have committed to go to Tanzania for a third time. This will be my shortest trip, just 2 months. And instead of teaching at a secondary school, this time around I will be teaching at a teacher’s college, training future Tanzanian teachers. I will be returning with the same organization, Village Schools International (VSI). I should dedicate a thousand other blog posts just to discussing VSI, and how they do missions work differently. But at the very least, you should do yourself a favor and go to their website and sign up to receive their newsletters and after you read a few updates from VSI founders Steve and Susan Vinton you will begin to see what I’m talking about.                    

Speaking of VSI founder Steve Vinton, let me wrap up this blog entry with a story I’ve heard him tell, and I think it best encapsulates why I have gone to Tanzania in the past and will continue to go in the future. Steve was reading a book that belonged to his grandfather and the author of this book had written, “A Christian is someone who cares”. And in the margins Steve’s grandfather scribbled, “… and does something about it”.
-Matt

Returning to Africa

After going once when I was 23, and then again three years later with my wife Emily, I have now once again committed to go to Tanzania for a third time. This will be my shortest trip, just 2 months, from June 21st to the middle of August. And instead of teaching at a secondary school like in previous trips, this time around I will be teaching at a teacher’s college, training future Tanzanian teachers. I will be returning with the same organization, Village Schools International (VSI). Though the length of my stay and the place I will be teaching has changed, my ultimate mission remains the same:

“We send missionary teachers to small villages in Africa to get so involved in the lives of their students that sharing the Gospel is the natural result of loving them.”


This is VSI’s mission statement. VSI’s mission is my mission. I will go and live in Tanzania amongst Tanzanians and build relationships with my students and peers. I will get to know them, and the more I know them, the more I will care about them.  And through these relationships, I will not only teach them English and how to teach well, but I will also share with them about the Gospel.

I would appreciate your support in this endeavor. For tangible ways you can help check out "How Can You Help" And be sure to check back often for updates on my trip. Thanks and God bless!


-Matt

And the countdown begins....

Long lost friends and family,
With much happiness but also sadness, I write to you again from Mafinga, Tanzania, for most likely the last time. It is impossible to believe it is halfway through May! The days fly by and quickly turn into weeks and months. Before I know it, I will be in the arms of my family and probably crying with joy to see my sisters!
Bukimau Secondary has progressed rapidly this spring. Walls, windows,and roofing are up now on our new laboratory. The boys toilets are finished, and the girls have walls and windows. Two new teacher houses have been completed, including the one we just moved into. We only had to live one week without glass windows and a toilet! Pretty good considering we have been waiting to move there for 7 months! Mkrugenzi, Mr. Godfrey, the director of VST came to visit last week. He was enthused to see the progress at Bukimau and was about 90% sure we could be registered this spring along with six other VST schools.
May here in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania has brought the end of rainy season and the return of gorgeous weather. Hali ya hewa ni nzuri sana siku zote! It means the weather is perfect every day! Each morning calls for leggings and sweaters, by afternoon the sun isperfectly warm, and by evening, the sweatshirts come out. Along with spring came four baby goats that are just hilarious to watch, a litter of pigs next door, and scores of baby chicks that we have to save from hawks in the evenings.
During April and May, I have ben studying Galatians with the help of William Barclay and his daily bible study series. I've been blessed to study Paul and his words to the church of Galatia. An amazing thing struck me how Paul clearly could say he was "entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews." (Galatians 2:7) It grips my heart to know that like Paul and Peter, we are all "entrusted" with a sphere of influence.Mine this past year has been Tanzanian high school students and villagers. My sister Bethany's has been Chinese college students. Yours has been wherever you live and work! We are all given the call to preach the gospel to a certain group, whether it is in Tanzania, China, or Arnold, Maryland. It is a comfort to know that all over theworld, God has called different people to their own unique sphere of influence. Since coming to Tanzania I've been reading daily from a collection of wisdom from Mother Teresa called "The Joy in Loving." (Which I highly reccomend to give your life some perspective) April 30th had this to say:
"It is so beautiful that we complete each other! What we are doing inthe slums, maybe you cannot do. What you are doing at the level whereyou are called--in your family life, in your college life, in your work--we cannot do. But together you and we are doing something beautiful for God."
Maybe what I am doing here in Tanzania you cannot do, but what you are doing in your neighborhoods, families, and work places, I cannot do. We complete each other! We are counting the days until our return to you, but we will partwith great sadness also. Pray for our finishing strong, for the rightwords to be spoken, and time spend with the right students.
Prayer:
*Finishing strong
*Travel at the end of June back to the States
*Continued health
*Parting words and gifts given to the right students
*Transitioning back in to life at home
*Work opportunities at home (I have an offer to return to BWMC, ifthose details can be worked out, and for a teaching position for Mattto open up)
Much love and blessings this Spring!
Emily and Matt Sroka

Greetings from Tanzania's Southern Highlands

Greetings from Iringa, Tanzania, the city on a hill!

Yesterday we arrived in Iringa, a larger “city” in the Mufindi District in which we teach. We had a pleasant bus ride in which we were actually not squished like sardines. Iringa is about 3 hours by bus from Nyololo, the closest bus stop to our home. It was a frightening ride up a winding road in the Daladala (bus) to the town situated in a valley high in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. So far we’ve enjoyed lattes, burgers and panini’s and hot (well warm) showers.

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been focused on spending as much time with the people in Bumilayinga as possible. Our village lady friends, have visited our home for tea and banana bread. And we have visited the orphanage for lunch and spending time with the children. Rehema, a Tanzanian who works at the orphanage, has a really sweet spirit, and we are already planning to leave her our Swahili Children’s Bible in order to share with the kids. My tutor, Upendo, continues to try to teach me the language, and on my part, I am trying to speak it more, which helps in my knowledge. On our way to Iringa, we stopped to visit Mama Upendo, in Nyololo. It’s a beautiful thing to see the complete thanks offered, not to us, but to God, for our ability to help Upendo with school fees. Likewise, Zamayoni who is another student who works for us and he has been such a blessing. We call him the bike doctor because he always fixes our bike (and our bikes do break on a weekly occurrence); we also joke that he is our son because there is no one who spends more time at our house besides us. He evens come on Saturdays and Sundays to see if there is work to do or sometimes he comes just to hang out. Anyway, I mention him here because his mother came to us a couple months ago (as you might recall from previous updates) to implore us to let him work for us. Since then his mother has made the couple hour trek from her home to bring us baskets, food, and other things. Every time, she comes her face beams with thankfulness and appreciation of the help we’re giving her son. If we ever doubt why God has brought us here or if our lives here really our making a difference, we just stop and think of Mama Zamayoni and all our misgivings fade away and we thank God. Praise be to God! We are blessed with so much in America, it takes coming to Africa to remind us to have a giving heart. Students and families often bring gifts to us to thank us for our service and help to students. In America, giving a gift is something that we need a special occasion for. How many times have I given a simple gift to a friend just because I wanted them to know I am thankful for them? I think few, if ever. Tanzanians, whether in their home or giving a gift, give what they have. Potatoes, beans, wheat, or baskets. They give all they have to offer. And not for anything in return, just because they want to express thanks.

Students just finished mid-term exams, and also have a week long holiday. We continue to have almost all teacher positions staffed, which is benefiting the students immensely. The Form 2 class will take government administered exams in June will determine their ability to continue to Form 3. Bukimau currently isn’t “registered” which means the students will have to travel to another VST school to take exams. The process of registration involves government officials coming to view the school. Also, they require a ‘laboratory’ to be partly finished, which is now under construction at Bukimau.

At school we have had two recent football (also known as soccer to you Americans) matches against two government schools. The fist we traveled to was about 40 minutes from home by bicycle. That week we had construction workers from VST staying, and they kindly took two loads of students to the match riding in the back of a dump truck. The next game took place at our school, and the day included a netball game (Tanzania’s version of basketball for girls), and a debate. As we have explained, English is the medium of Secondary school in Tanzania. However, Maduma, the visiting school, refused, or was unable to debate in English. It’s a sad reflection of the state of schools here. Our students learn how to debate from the start. We have had two debates with our Pre-form students, in their extremely broken and limited English. Form One and Form Two are also capable of debating in English. However, this nearby government school, which goes up to Form Four, was unable. It’s a rewarding thing to know that for the state of education to change, students simply need to learn English, and at Bukimau, we make sure that they do. J

As we have expectantly approached and passed the three months remaining mark, we are starting to be filled with both joy and sadness. We are looking forward to the next chapter of our lives and to see what God has in store for us. We also will leave precious students and friends behind. Something we keep in mind is that such a young school that Bukimau is, there needs to be many planters before there are harvests. We trust that the Lord uses the seeds we have planted and that the next person in the plan at Bukimau will take their place in the planting, watering, or harvesting process.

• Prayer Requests:
• School registration: construction, water intake, electricity
• Energy and peace in our last 2+ months
• Travel Safety going back to Bumilayinga and home in June
• Continued health
• Quality time and conversations with students including Zamoyoni, Upendo, Stewart, Margret, Sessy, Upendo and all our classes
• Relationships with Rehema and Mama Nevadina

Much love, Emily and Matt

back to reality....

The holiday's are over, the cookies are eaten, and the hot chocolate consumed, its time to get back to reality. For us, that means making the journey back to Tanzania and more specifically, Bumilayinga. We have been blessed by so many this holiday season. We were blessed by the hospitality of all the VST family at Madisi for Christmas. And then we continued to be blessed by the entire Hamelryck family here in Zambia for New Years and this whole week. We've made new friends and partners in ministry in Africa. As Courney D. calls it, the "Hamelryck Resort and Spa" has been just what we needed as our half-way point in our ministry.

We are excited to return to the new school year, meet new students and teachers, and continue building Bukimau Secondary School. Thanks to a sweet group from BEP, we were blessed with the best Christmas present ever, a solar charger! Thanks to this, we also hope to be able to share our knowledge with students and teachers so they can learn to use a computer. Often students and teachers have no experience with computers until they reach University level education.

Tomorrow morning, Friday, we make the journey by train to Mbeya Tanzania, and will arrive there Saturday afternoon. Then Sunday we will continue by bus to Nyololo where we've stored our bicycles. Then we will strap all of our Christmas gifts, gifts from home, and grocery store treasures to the backs of our bicycles and make the ride back to Bumilayinga.

Much love and blessings from Zambia!

Emily and Matt

We made it to civilization!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

We are enjoying some MUCH needed rest and relaxation in Kabwe, Zambia, with our fellow family in Christ the Hamelrycks. Even now I’m sitting on the Hamelrycks porch enjoying the sunshine and watching all of them play football (soccer). We have had a simply delightful Christmas season, and feel refreshed and ready to head back to the village and start the second half of our time in Tanzania.

Our Fall has passed extremely quickly, Halloween was spent enjoying a few of our American candy bars that we brought across the world with us. Matt chose a Twix, and I of course, chose a Snickers. We had one day off from school during the Fall, which was National Independence day of Zanzibar. So we taught and taught and taught throughout the autumn months. November came quickly, and as the month progressed, the rains began. The rains began slowly, with just a couple of showers maybe two afternoons a week. By the time we left for the holidays, it was raining consistently every afternoon for several hours. And I’m not talking showers, but torrential downpours.

Our Pre-form classes’ English has progressed immensely. From only being able to say “good morning,” our new students can now have complete conversations in English. We even have been able to read some stories in English with rather good comprehension. The school experience for us has been two-fold. On the one hand, we love the classroom, because the children just want so much to learn English. Students know that education, including English, is their ticket to a better life. We are quick to remind them about the purposes of education. We find ourselves consistently reiterating the importance of education not just to improve their own lives but also to improve the lives for their entire village. And we rejoice when we hear students talk about how they all don’t want to be educated in order to move out of the village and search for financial success elsewhere, but they want education to better themselves, their families, and their village. On the other hand, many things in Tanzanian classrooms are extremely frustrating. As school began winding down, we were faced with several issues. First, we flat out had a severe lack of teachers. From November to January, there was no math, geography, civics, or history teacher. Rather than spreading the classes between other teachers only responsible for one subject, the students simply were not taught. But of course, they continued taking tests on those subjects. Also, there seemed to be a severe lack of teaching from the teachers that were present. It was not uncommon to have all 150 Form 1 students sit without a teacher for several hours, if not all day. The philosophy of teaching here is extremely hands-off. “Teaching” most often consists of giving students a book with notes. I think a lot of the problem is that the teachers really don’t understand English enough to even expound on the notes. I certainly couldn’t explain Physics in Swahili! And we understand that is partly while we are here. This is the cycle that we are trying to break! If the students can learn English well enough to TEACH in English, the domino effect in education could be phenomenal! It is with this problem in mind that VST is in the processing of building a University (It should be finished this year or next). The hope is that once the University is up and running, VST can try and supply their own teachers. These teachers would not only speak English well, but they would also have a greater understanding of VST mission of doing education differently in Africa.

In November, we had a “weekend away” in the near town of Mafinga. So, for our dazzling weekend of romance, we got on our baiskeli’s (Swahili for bicycle), rode the hour and a half to the nearest town with a bus stop, and hopped on a daladala, minibuses, which are the backbone of transportation in rural Tanzania, and took the 40-minute bus ride to Mafinga. We stayed in a guesthouse, (I think we were the only ones in the whole place) with an American toilet, and semi-hot shower, uh trickle. But for us, it was a blessing! We also were able to meet with another one of the American teachers, Marisha, who had become our “text buddy” while in the village.

Thanksgiving came and went with little worth mentioning other than we got POTATOES! We made the greatest (and possible the first) mashed potatoes ever served in Bumilayinga. Now for all of you Americans, that can walk, or drive rather, and buy an enormous sack of potatoes whenever you want, this may not be exciting. But coming from rice, pasta, and ugali as your main dish for two out of three meals a day, it was the greatest meal we had thus far. We also opened a hoarded bag of CRAISINS, in lieu of cranberry sauce. Here's a picture of our Thanksgiving meal!

For our school, we were given the enormous task of typing all of the schools exams. This doesn’t seem like such a difficult task, but you must not forget that we have a serious lack of electricity, which can make typing exams difficult. So, once our computer was dead, a student, graciously rode the hour and a half to Nyololo, the nearest town, sat for four hours while the computer charged, then rode back, in order for the exams to be typed. December 14^th began exam week, four days of monitoring the six classrooms and 12 exams. We also celebrated Matt's birthday, and he killed a chicken all on his own, we have video to prove it!

December 22^nd we made the bike trip to Nyololo, the bus trip to Mafinga, and then another bus trip to Madisi, the main VST School, where we completed our training in September. We weremet by the wonderful Vinton family, Sarah Bickel, Mary Jenkins, and the five other American teachers from the Rukwa region, Tyler, Hannah, Piper, Sara, and Kayla. We had several days of sweet fellowship with the other teachers hearing of their experiences, their students and schools. We watched Elf and several Office episodes together and enjoyed our shared English language. The leaders of VST truly made a wonderful Christmas for us! On the Thursday before Christmas, we all piled in to a van and were given our Christmas “bonus” to be used for Christmas shopping. We went to town and had a wonderful meal together and enjoyed choosing presents for each other. Christmas Eve, we played games, cut down and decorated the tree, made cookies, cinnamon rolls, buckeyes, and chocolate covered pretzels. Christmas morning, we had a large brunch complete with yogurt! We spent the day opening gifts and being together. You know you’re in a remote foreign country when the greatest present opened is a bottle of Heinz Ketchup.

The Day after Christmas, we had a sort of half-way debriefing with Sarah, who previously completed our initial two weeks of training in the village. She asked us to give three emotions that we have felt since being in the village. First off, I admitted to frustration with teachers, lack of teachers, teaching and lack of teaching. Secondly I explained the complete lack of stress that Matt and I feel here. There is a beautiful, simple way of living in a small village. No bills, really no true needs, just sustaining ourselves on what little we have. I can’t say there has ever been anything that I felt I truly needed, that I didn’t have. There some wants, but I feel even less than in America, which doesn’t really make sense! In America, I really need for nothing, but there is always sooooo much that I feel like I NEED, and most certainly WANT. In the village, I know I have what I honestly need and am actually happy with what I have. This is a huge realization and concept difficult to explain. But, I encourage all of my friends and family at home, to evaluate our true NEEDS in America, as I will certainly do when we return. Matt added the third emotion saying, “contentment”. It is a wonderful waking up everyday knowing that your life is making a significant difference in the lives of hundreds of kids. Not, that we in ourselves are anything special, we are two people who feel a unique love for God and others. We are just following the will of God, and He is using us to make an impact.

Going to Madisi, it was our intent, to then travel on to Zambia, to visit a dear family from our own home church! The Hamelryck’s are missionaries in Zambia. However, the best way to travel such a distance is by train. And, of course, the train workers were on strike! So, on December 27^th, we made the bus trip back to Mafinga, and an even longer, squishy 4 hour bus ride (when I get home I’m writing a letter to President Kikwete and telling him to pass a law limiting the number of people allowed on these buses) to Mbeya hoping and praying that the strike was over. This trip was a HUGE blessing because we were able to get train tickets to Zambia on Wednesday the 29^th! We had a whole little room on the train to ourselves, ordered food in our room, basically we were transported back to the 1950’s. We boarded the train on Wednesday at 1pm, and arrived in Kapiri Moshi, Zambia on Thursday, around 2pm. It was an amazingly relaxing way to travel and plenty of room to stretch! Paul Hamelryck picked us up from the train station, and we headed to his new home near the city of Kabwe. We have been blessed to have electricity, a refrigerator, car, shower, real mattress, Christmas tree, and most importantly a beautiful family to relax with. There is always someone to play with and we’ve been eating and partying like kings! It is a wonderful rest from village life! And even being here, we agree that we are excited to return to Bumilayinga as school begins on January 10^th, and teach, and live with our friends there again. On Friday we will return to Tanzania by train, then to the village by bus, then bicycle.

We have been blessed with contentment with our lives in Africa, and are excited to finish our time here and come share it with you all! We have several things we want to ask you to pray for as we embark on this second half of our time here.

• Pray that we can be provided with more teachers for the start of the school year
• We have been told that its possible our headmaster is being relocated, pray that if it happens, we can be supportive and provided with another to step up to the job
• For the other American teachers Kayla, Piper, Hannah, Tyler, and Sara. For their schools, students and village life.
• That our house at the school will finally be finished!
• Safe travel back to Bumilayinga
• That we can continue to build relationships with teachers, villagers, and especially our students. It has been a struggle for us on how to share the gospel with our students who have only been studying English for a few months. We are often reminded of the much-used (though impossible to over-use) saying of Francis of Asisi, “Speak the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words.”

We love and miss you all, we will remain in Zambia until Friday, email us and let us know how life is in good old America! Many Blessings!

In Christ,

Emily and Matt Sroka