They are here!

Neema, Mpeli, and Floyd worked on a partnership with Pro Africa of Romania, plans for future partnerships, and arranged the final days of our safari here. Sam and the twins were out of school--we watched them play. Slowly we watched the children return. Today great news is the registration and license for the newest kindergarten in Iringa was recieved for DBL Children's Home. A kindergarten for area children is now ready to open. Soon chairs and desks purchased through the Christmas catalog will arrive.

St. Jon the Electrician, Greg "Punda Mzungu", and Becky "Punda Milia" arrived from their safari. They had a great time. As time permits over the next day, we will try to post a few shots from their safari.

Bertha arrived home from college by bus from Dar. She did excellent on her exams in her first year at teacher's college.

Floyd spent part of the day in Swahili lessons with Neema. She is a great teacher.

The Well Drilling Equipment and workers arrived. Mpeli and Floyd met them coming into town and escorted them all the way to the farm. We left them setting up the rig to start drilling tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and we pray for the drilling to go great tomorrow.

Tonight Becky led the devotional for the children.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support in every way. Team is beginning to realize our time is almost ended here.

Quiet Day

One picture today of Chris, the first secondary school student from the DBL Children's Home. We received this picture (He is in his school uniform and its close to bedtime)from the District leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania. He keeps a regular check on Chris for Mpeli and Neema since this is his district. Chris is doing well and hopefully will be home (Children's Home) next week for Spring Break. There could be five more ready for secondary school by next January. Your prayers for scholarships for these students is appreciated and sought.

Greg, Becky and Jon left early this morning for Ruaha National Park and will return tomorrow. They had a little tire trouble that kept them in Iringa town for an extra hour or so. They did arrive safely in Ruaha and were waiting their afternoon of safari.

Rebecca and Meg arrived in Greenville apparently after midnight due to plane delays in Amsterdam and Washington. Thank you for your prayers for them.

Mpeli, Neema and I visited and talked the details of vision past, present, and future. This is always an great time of reviewing our history together and talking of things to come.

Mpeli and Floyd(I) met with District Commissioner Elaston Mbwilo this afternoon. He is a great friend of DBL Children's Home and a partner in ministry in Iringa. We learned that he will be transferred to Mtwara region in a big shake up of the District Commissioners. I do not believe this is the last time that we will "partner". I plan to accept his invitation to visit Mtwara the southern most district in Tanzania that borders the Indian Ocean and Mozambique

We made plans for the August Teleios Team for the Iringa Crusade, VBS at the Children's home and Kidetete, and a Maintenance/Construction team. Please join in prayers for those who will serve. We need a team of ten for this trip.

Tonight we had the evening devotion with the children. What a great time of singing and joy!

With only two days left, your prayers for the arrival of the well drillers are appreciated and sought. Thank you for your prayer support and encouragement. Tomorrow I promise pictures.

Today was filled with worship, praise, and the humble experiences of worshipping together with our brothers and sisters in Kidetete and the Children’s Home. Our worship began at Kidetete with the joy of singing praises to the Lord. We celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. I am always reminder of the unity of the body of the Christ when I consider the millions of believers all over the world who will gather in worship and celebrate the Lord’s Supper, the Communion, or the Eucharist. People of every tribe, nation, language gather together to remember the real focus of our faith—Jesus the Christ.

At the end of the service, the Kidetete church is led outside by the preacher and pastors, then every person leaves shaking hands with those who preceded them--A great circle of fellowship with everyone greeting each person there. This was truly a time of blessing as the presence of God’s Spirit was evident to all.

In front of the church is a local source of water. The pictures demonstrate the need for clean drinking water for the Kidetete community. We continue to wait with eager anticipation the coming of the drilling equipment. The team went to the farm and prayed at the gate thanking God for the vision and it becoming a reality. For me, Floyd, the fence and farm are a clear example of why the Teleios mission statement is “helping God-given visions become present-day realities.”

In the afternoon, BonnieTaz and Tundai (I will get the correct spelling and update tomorrow), the two babies who are a part of the DBL Children’s Home family were dedicated to the Lord. Floyd led in the dedication time with Mpeli. This was a special time as we read from Matthew 18, MT 19, and 1 John 3. Each person there laid their hands on the babies in prayer dedicating the children to the Lord and themselves to be examples and guides in the way of the Lord. Just an update, BonnieTaz is now crawling and trying to pull up to walk, she sits up by herself, and loves to sing with the other children.

In the afternoon, Greg and Becky went to the playground with the children, Jon was once again given the opportunity to repair something, and Floyd went to the city center with Mpeli and family in preparation for the week to come. Even our play can be an act of worship as we rejoice in God who created us and enjoy the love of one another.

Tomorrow, Jon, Greg, and Becky have the great opportunity to do a safari at the Ruaha National Park. Pray for them to see every animal of God’s creation at Ruaha. They have worked hard this week and I ask you to ask the Lord to bless them with this gift. Floyd, Mpeli and Neema will be going over partnerships and meeting with local officials.

Thank you again and again for your prayers, encouragement, and support in everyway. Please continue to remember Rebecca and Meg as they are on their final part of the safari home. Oh, Rebecca has to go to Washington tomorrow morning. Pray for her as her safari starts anew tomorrow.

A Beautiful Day

The day began early for the team as we all got up and said goodbye to Rebecca and Meg. They left at 6:15AM after a breakfast of eggs, toast, tea, and coffee. We checked on them along the way. Everything went great from their first stop after the mountains to samosa break in Chalinze. They arrived at the hotel around 2 PM for a shower and rest. At 6 PM they had supper, and then the fun began. Rebecca and Meg did not think it was funny after 1.5 hours in a Dar Traffic jam and almost a two hour ride to the airport in hot and humid Dar. But, the great news is just 20 minutes ago they checked into at the airport. Rebecca and Meg have been great with so many things that could have made this trip turn. Please pray for them to rest and put the jam and heat behind them as they travel back to the US tonight and tomorrow.

For Greg, Becky, and Jon, this was a somewhat lazy day after the last few days of farm work. Greg, Becky, and Floyd walked in the community and up to a high point overlooking the city of Iringa and the children's home. The whole valley of Iringa could be seen from the rock. Jon was his usual Mr. Hero self fixing the toaster, the microwave (which had been at a repair shop in town for two months), the shower for hot water, and then "showing off" (I mean) helping out in the kitchen by making chapati. Apparently, he doesn't realize that Greg and I are capturing these moments and making sure that Caroline knows about them. Look at his list: Fixing things around the house when asked, volunteering to wash his own clothes, and help with cooking.

For Greg, Becky, and Floyd we sit in the Shadow of Jon's accomplishments. As you can see Becky and Greg spent the day with the children and visiting with Stephen (musician, children's home worker, and many other responsibilities). Floyd met with Mpeli and Neema about some exciting opportunities for expanded care for street children, orphans, and vulnerable children in the area. The shoes were distributed that were brought by the team. The vitamins were given as well.

The new keyboard was used for the first time in worship. The children and staff were so excited by it. They sang and sang. Greg, Floyd, and Becky enjoyed the babies, BonnieTaz and Tunu. Tunu played the drums (banging on the table as the children sang) and Bonnie sang along with the children (even though she had rhythm and voice control issues--just kidding. Floyd, that's me, did get her to call him, "Baba (Father)".

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Tomorrow we worship at Kidetete church where the nursery school and farm are located. In the afternoon, a special worship service at the children's home will dedicate BonnieTaz and Tunu to the Lord--by their family (children, staff, and Mwaisumbe family).

Again, please remember Meg and Rebecca as they travel home tonight.

The Farm Fence is Finished

This blog contains some previously not shown photos. Viewer discretion is advised.

TODAY, TODAY, We finished the fence and put in a gate. All is done now except one gate post. That gate cannot be completed until the well drilling is done. The farm now has a great fence over a kilometer long. The bathroom facilities were finished along with one room for a caretaker. The place really looks great. The corn and beans are coming up.

The disappointment continues over inability of the well drilling company to begin drilling due to equipment problems. Again we are promised that the drilling will begin in three days. The team was disappointed as Rebecca and Meg are heading home tomorrow and no water. We thank you for your prayers concerning these circumstances.

You will notice the first two happy customers of our DBL Farm cho. You can tell by their smiling faces and gestures that they do not think this picture will be posted on the blog.

Water has been a problem in Iringa. The rains created high water and really muddy river water that makes it impossible for the local water authority to produce clean drinking water. So, other means have to be undertaken. The photos show the bucket brigade filling up water tanks. Buckets, drums, and barrels are willed with water from the well at the children's home. Then, they are taken to the Mwaisumbe house and transfered into the water tanks on top of the house.

Mr. Domestic, Jon Smith, learned how to wash his own clothes by hand Tanzanian style. Honestly, we have never seen a man so happy to wash his own clothes. Take note of that Caroline.

Our team celebrated this evening and also said goodbye to Meg and Rebecca. They leave at 6 AM tomorrow morning for the long drive to Dar. Please pray for their safety, that all goes well on the trip and their time in Dar before departing, and for a good safari home. The rest of us, Greg, Becky, Jon, and Floyd have a Saturday for playing with the children, finishing some odd jobs, and preparing for Sunday.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support.

So Close to finishing

Today was another great day but really hot today. Each day brings new experiences for us on the Team and for our Tanzania brothers and sisters in Christ. We taught our Tanzanian friends how to put up the fence (Greg and Becky), use post hole diggers (Floyd and Jon), and using GPS to document the fence and farm (Rebecca and Meg). They showed the finer art of machete grass cutting which Rebecca and Meg used for the first time. Also, they began to teach us the Swahili words for our work and for relationship. This is great learning from each other. No one can believe that we have almost finished the fence. We ran out of barbed wire with only a couple hundred feet of one strand left. Tomorrow the top strand and the gates and all is done at the farm. Just a note during this time, a first class choo(bathroom) was constructed attached to a one room house. Beginning tonight a care taker will stay there. Many people stopped today and asked about the farm and great opportunity to share about the children's home and the Kidetete church.

Today for lunch we had grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, samosa, and soft drinks or water. We consumed a lot of water again today.

The pipe and materials arrived today for the well drilling. We are disappointed in the long delay in drilling the well. Join us in prayer that the equipment will arrive tonight and begin tomorrow. But, we are praying for patience and praying to be able to wait with expectation.

Included are pictures from the Kidetete school in session and the Kidetete church with new windows provided by partners through the Christmas Catalog. Our team was influential in encouraging this gift and what a blessing to see the church. The children are doing very good. The teacher is a follower of Jesus Christ and always has that great smile on her face. Past teams have shared teaching techniques which she has adopted. Now in Kidetete you can here the little children speaking some basic English.





Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. This has been a blessed time. We firmly believe that this is through your prayers.