Wandeyla (spelled something like that)

Wandeyla (Good Afternoon in Sukuma),
It seems that updates from the TZ. interns will be few and far between due to power rationing and the fact that the phone lines in our part of Mwanza have recently stopped working. So the girls at least have to come into town to use the internet:). Hakuna Matata! Anyway, things are going pretty well here. We just finished up our focus on urban ministry. We didn't really get to do much as far as ministry is concerned because all of the missionaries working in the city are very new, but we got to learn a lot about the start up of a work. Our "Urban Challenges" have consisted of things like going to market and purchasing specific items, collecting as many greetings in different languages as we can get (there are a lot of different languages beyond English, Swahili, and Sukuma spoken here), and getting to town and back on our own (we've gotten pretty good at that one - we like to come to town on our days off).
This week we began our time with rural ministry with Calvin Groen. Yesterday we had the opportunity to join him as we visited a brand new preaching point with some of the leaders from other church plants in the south. The country here is beautiful and it was wonderful to be out beyond the city. Going out to the villages is a wonderful experience, but at times is frustrating for us because we don't understand what's going on. Please pray for us as we begin our study of Sukuma (we began this morning) and pray that we will not be frustrated by our lack of understanding when we are in the villages. One of the things that I am finding very different from my experiences last summer on internship is the fellowship that we are getting to share with the Christians here. Everywhere we go we are invited for a meal and while it is sometimes hard to eat, the hospitality and generousity that is shown by the people here is overwhelming. Another thing that all of us are really enjoying (and I am sure many of you are having similar experiences) is the joy of small children. I think the person who put the little screen on the back of the digital cameras, is a genius, because we are having the best time watching the reactions of the children when we show them a picture of themselves.
The missionaries here are wonderful and I am learning so much from them. Sometimes it is frustrating to just watch, but I know that this experience is helping me to shape me so much.
Please keep us in your prayers. This weekend we will be heading out to bonding and will be attending a sort of "Tent Revival" where various church choirs will be singing. We have been dubbed "The Choir from America" and will also be singing which may be a really hilarious event. I hope that all of you are having an amazing experience. God Bless.
-Michelle

Hey Everyone,
We have arrived safely and are having a great time here. It is so beautiful here and the people are wonderful. We got to spend a night out in one of the villages and had some really wonderful experiences. We also had our first village eating experience (Yes, the rumor is true we did in fact eat Goat Testicle.)
We are learning Swahili and all of us can at least do basic greetings and buy stuff in the market. We had an interesting adventure in the clothing market Friday when a guy tried to cheat Emily and we ended up in "market court". It was quite an experience having everyone yelling in Swahili and not having a clue what was going on.
Sorry we haven't posted sooner, but we have power rationing here so e-mail isn't as regular as we would like. We are praying for you all.
-Michelle

Exploring the Heights of Kabiyeland

Here is a picture of the Togo interns on a recent hike in the Kabiye mountains. We are really enjoying hosting them, and look forward to hearing news from the other intern groups!

The amazing race... another amazing day!

Hello, hello!
We've had another wonderful day here in Togo. We spent the morning playing the "Amazing Race" around the streets of Kara. Matt and Andrea were our drivers and translators and they had ten tasks for each of the two teams (boys against girls) to accomplish but could not help us in any other way. We drove around the city sending postcards to Dr. Burks, shopping for funky clothes at the market, taking pictures with specific people or places, etc. Us girls had the lead for most of the trip thanks to the help of Leopold, a tour guide friend of the Millers who providentially joined our group. A wrong turn, however, on the way back allowed the guys to return to the house four minutes before us. The outfits we were to buy at the market would earn us bonus points if they were the most outrageous, well... the guys were definitely outrageous with t-shirts 5 sizes too small and matching skirts!
In the afternoon we went to visit Tchichao Hazi village and Legue Legue. Chris and Ryan were named monkeys by the locals as they took off hiking up a rocky mountain while we were waiting for some people, and later they even had a chance for a quick wrestling match with a very exuberant Kabiye in Legue Legue.
There is so much we are seeing, learning, or simply experiencing these days that it's hard to take it all in at the end of the day. The Millers are wonderful hosts, teachers, mentors and friends. I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to learn from them.
It feels so good to finally be able to gaze upon the lands of this beautiful country again and smile and wave to the happy, lovely children and people walking by.
I hope you are all having a wonderful time, and I pray that God may bless you each day as we live in this beautiful yet troubled world He's created.
Take care!

Sarah Console