The JESUS Film premieres

Today, Monday April 28, 2014, people of the Kabwa language will be able to watch The JESUS Film in their own language! The big premiere is this evening. And while that is very exciting news, what really touches my heart is that tomorrow, just one day away, the Zanaki people will enjoy their own premiere - The JESUS Film in the Zanaki language! The two Zanaki translators with whom I've worked so closely over the years, Andrew, and I, as well as many of other colleagues, put a lot of work into making the translation of the script and the recording happen. So although I am a continent away for it's first showing, what matters here is that the Zanaki people right there in one of their villages are present, listening to Jesus speaking the Zanaki language!

Pray that hearing the gospel in the language of their heart is a turning point in many people's lives. Pray that many Kabwa and Zanaki people will believe in Jesus!

Little reader

This kid loves her books, especially ones with real animal pictures. She moos when she sees cows or dogs (we're working on sorting out that misconception), snorts when she sees pigs, and says, "Caa," when she sees a cat. She says something for chickens that sounds kind of like chicken, but I'm not sure how to spell it. And while she can correctly identify fish and zebra, they are silent animals for her.

The honeymoon phase

When learning about cross-cultural adjustments before going overseas, I remember reading about four main stages. There is the initial honeymoon stage when everything is new, interesting, and you're just in love with it all. And then one day you wake up and realize that you have abruptly moved into the acute misery stage, which eventually gives way to the "I think I will make it...maybe..." stage (which has a more official name, but I've forgotten most everything I've ever learned, that name included). Finally, you end up at a functional stage where you appreciate the culture, can even see some ways in which it's better than your home culture, and can live and work in your new home, even if there are some aspects of it that you might never really like.

They say the same stages are often true for re-entry - coming back to your home country after extended time away. If so, I'm definitely still in the honeymoon stage of things. America seems really fabulous to me! (Side note, to make sure y'all don't misunderstand me here: I can honestly say I liked, really honestly liked, living in Tanzania and felt it was our home, and saying America is fabulous in the following ways doesn't mean Tanzania isn't fabulous in other ways. But this post is about the US of A, so I'm focusing on that here.)

Let me tell you about some things that I think are pretty amazing about my new home:

• Shopping carts! I can go to the grocery store with Zarya, put her in the seat of the cart and zip through the store collecting stuff. I don't have to carry my stuff OR her, much less both! And, get this - nobody ever grabs her out of the cart. No wonder Zarya and I find shopping in the States to be a very low-stress experience.
• Church childcare! At the lovely church we've found here in Indiana, PA, they have rooms full of toys and responsible adults who play with your kids while you sit in the service during the sermon. She loves it, and runs straight to her classroom door when I take her back there.
• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts! So the other night for dinner I got out some chicken, which I had purchased quite cheaply, cut it into pieces while it was still raw, put it in a frying pan and stirred it around until it was cooked, and then we ate it without needing a knife. The whole thing took mere minutes. I still can't get over how very, very quick it is to make meals here.
• Dishwashers! The cutting board on which I'd cut that chicken - it went into a machine that sanitized it. I'm not joking here, folks, there really are machines that wash your dishes for you.
• Carpet! We spent our first weeks here lolling around on the floor like cats, having carpet was that exciting.
• Clean water! It's such a time-saver to have clean water coming straight out of the tap. No more having to boil and cool Zarya's bath water every day, no more needing to remember to fill our drinking water filter all the time, no more having to thoroughly dry your hands after washing them. I still feel gleeful when I'm cooking something and want to use the same utensil for one thing as I did for another earlier,  like sharing a knife between onions and carrots or something, all I have to do is just rinse it off and keep on going. Can you imagine - tap water and food get mixed and I don't wonder if we're going to get sick because of it! I can now wipe my counters with a wet dishcloth, wash Zarya's hands after she eats something messy, and rinse my toothbrush under the tap. Oh, and do you want to know a secret about how luxuriously over the top life here really is? Don't tell, but I've heard it said that Americans even flush their toilets and water their lawns with drinking water! 
• Parks! We can go outside and play. I hope that I always appreciate what a precious gift it is to live somewhere with public parks and playgrounds. This morning we went on a walk over a hill and through some woods, went past a little lake, ran around in big, grassy fields, saw daffodils, and played on a safe, clean playground. It was the most wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning as a family! God bless you, America. Life here can be pretty good.

Because what could be cuter than a toddler in footie jammies?

Caught her looking a little suspicious, just standing in Baba and Mama's closet.

Side note: Yes, we are aware she has outgrown her pack and play, but we're missing a few pieces to her crib, so are awaiting those in the mail. In the meantime, it doesn't seem to bother her.

Cousins Day in St. Louis

One little highlight during our very long trip across America was spending a day in St. Louis. It was the first time I'd been to visit my sister Alyssa there, although she has been living there for several years (I'd give you the exact number of years, except that I'm not quite sure when they moved there from Seattle). It was very fun for us to see our little girls together, although I'm not sure if the little girls themselves really noticed or cared much about it. They are a bit young to get the difference of "cousin" versus "random kid you are going to play with today."

It was also a good opportunity to do a case study in the difficulties of getting a five-year-old and two one-year-olds to all pose together in a picture. Above are the best of the lot for you to enjoy - just think about how many horrid ones I had to sort through in order to find a few in which at least two children were looking vaguely in the direction of the camera simultaneously! Zarya was the worst of the lot - she ruined quite a few cute pictures of her cousins.

The location of the pictures is the botanical gardens in St. Louis. Get this - you can go to a beautiful, warm greenhouse (there are non-greenhouse parts, but we were interested in staying warm on a freezing cold March day, so stuck to the tropical areas) year-round for free. Yes, free. St. Louis is all about the free stuff - the zoo, the botanical gardens, everything in the city is totally free. Residents have to pay city tax, however, so it's not really free for them, but it's a great place to visit (kind of like Washingtonians who drive over the border to Oregon to do their shopping in a state where there is no sales tax, yet don't have to pay state tax since they don't live there).

An intense weekend near Musoma

If you are interested in reading a story about some events that happened this past weekend, the links below will take you to two articles on another person's blog. I don't know the family, but it seems that they are missionaries in Mwanza, the big city several hours south of Musoma. The wonderful Australians they mention are friends of ours, and they most certainly are great folks, so it was fun to see them in a starring role.

A harrowing tale of God's grace in the midst of tragedy on the road traveling from Musoma:
http://themongers.blogspot.com/2014/04/even-when-i-walk-through-darkest-valley.html

And the tale of some very near and dear friends of ours, who happened to be having a harrowing experience of their own in the same little town at the same time:
http://themongers.blogspot.com/2014/04/beauty-woven-in-knots-and-tangles.html

These stories nearly brought me to tears, as I can easily picture these scenes and know that this could have been us on any one of our many trips on that road. We have traveled that route by both our own car, like in the first link, and by bus, as in the second one. Please pray for the Mongers and Walkers, as neither has fully come out of these dark valleys. Praise God that the Archers were in town that weekend and available and willing to serve!

Niece look alike

Well, the fact that Zarya looks about 90% like Andrew and a mere 10% like me has been firmly established. However, a family friend recently pointed out that my wee niece Cosette looks a lot like me! It's kind of exciting to know that Cosette is going to grow up to be a really beautiful woman. (That's a joke, although I'm sure she will, even if she doesn't resemble me quite as much in her later years.)

So while it's clear that we're not identical twins, there are some definite resemblances between me and Cosette in our pictures taken when we're the same age (just under 2). What do you think?

Cosette

Cosette (what kid at this age actually poses and smiles for the camera?!)

I'm the smiley one, Cosette's mother is the grouchy older sister

I'm the little one on the big bike, Cosette's mother is the big one on the little bike