Thursday: The Bank, the Gifts, and the Farm

Today was an interesting day that began with a trip to the new Exim Bank in Iringa. We were invited as a part of Daily Bread Life Children's Home. The bank services the Children's Home account and wanted to meet with us. The Bank Manager, Thomas, was very friendly and welcoming to us. He also invited us to dinner tonight with the bank staff. Some of the staff will be at the Children's Christmas Party on Sunday as we understand.

We arrived back at the home just in time to meet the Pastor and one of the leaders of the New Life In Christ Ministry. This is a discipleship ministry that is very strong in Iringa and the Southern Highlands area of Tanzania. We have met them before and they are great supporters of the Children Home. Today, they brought clothes, 50 Kg of sugar (110 lbs), 50 KG of Flour, 50 KG of beans, and 100 bananas. Everything went to the storage area except the bananas which went very quickly.

The Children's Home is receiving more and more support from the local community and area churches and ministries. With the rising costs of food, the gifts are greatly needed to move the children's home toward sufficiency. This is exciting to see the support coming from all areas and to see the high profile and witness the children's home has in the area.

In the afternoon we went back to the farm. We had just settled in when a woman coming from the next village asked to get water. She had a five gallon bucket with her. The village is probably around 1.5 to 2 miles away. They have no water supply in the village--I should rephrase that statement--they have no water source in the village. As you can see she walked between 3 and 4 miles round trip. The return to the village was uphill with a five gallon bucket of water on her head. We praise God for the well and its witness. The Kidetete church now has several members from that village. Through providing fresh drinking water even though it is a distance the church has reached out with Living Water in the village.

Please pray for rain for the area. As we watched a rain cloud come and pass off in the distance, the dryness of the area was more evident. This area is suffering from a lack of water for crops, livestock, and the people. This is the hottest that we have ever experienced in Iringa.

We finished the day with a meal with the Exim bank staff at a new restaurant in town. This was a great opportunity to build strong relationships. We look forward to see what tomorrow holds.

The last picture is of the new dorm for secondary school age children. Four of the children will move into the dorm in January. Great news is that they received the gift of free tile for the bathrooms and dining/gathering room. The tile is really pretty and very good quality.