Getting Closer

There are only 39 days left before I fly to Tanzania. At times it seems like it is taking forever for the days to pass by and at other times it seems like the days are flying by. I look at things I have left to do and it seems like I will never get everything ready in time. One praise is that I have finished preparing all of the stories. I am excited to see which stories the students will pick to learn. They will use the stories they have learned to go door to door on the weekends and share the story they have chosen. It will be amazing to help the students learn the stories and then watch and listen to them being told to unbelievers right away. I am not conducting my teaching as I would in an official Simply the Story workshop. I will be modeling stories and how to use questions to lead a discussion. I will also be sharing some of the illustrations that show the power of storying. Most of the time I am with the Bible College students they will be learning stories and leading small group discussions for practice. My main focus is to show them ways to learn the stories, how to tell the stories with action and expression, and how to form questions to get others to dig deeply into the treasures in each story. I have a list of about 30 Old Testament and 30 New Testament stories they can choose from to learn and tell. I will be modeling some of the stories that are on the list.

I will also be working with the Kid's Club leaders for 2 weekends teaching them how to learn and tell stories. Then I hope to have time to observe them using these stories during the Kid's Club meetings.

I am praying that God will open hearts to how much God has placed in each story and that the stories will impact people's lives.

Probably one of the most exciting things for me is the opportunity to do art with the kids at the school there two times a week. To be able to show children how to express the beauty of God's creation in new ways is my joy. There are so many lessons I have to choose from and only a short time to share those lessons with these kids. I hope to bring joy, laughter, and inspiration. I love being with children and I know I will be surrounded with excitement for learning, open minds, and the love of God's children. I never dreamed I would be going to East Africa to share the blessing of art with others.

God is combining my love of teaching with storying and it seems like such a perfect fit for me.

So much left to do but my excitement grows with each new day. For those of you who know me well, I will answer the one question most of you would ask me. No, I have not started packing yet. I usually start packing way, way ahead of time. That doesn't mean I haven't done anything in this area. In our spare bedroom there are a variety of things laid out on the bed such as my camera bag with my camera, battery charger, extra SDHC cards, etc. I also have my headphones and all of the things I need to take for those so that they work on the flight to and from Dar es salaam. I would hate to have to fly 20 hours and not be able to listen to my own music and movies with my good set of noise cancelling headphones. Yes, there is quite a stack piling up in that bedroom. So much so that you can hardly see the bed. Now, in all fairness, much of that pile holds items my sister has asked me to bring which they forgot to pack in the containers(brooms, mops, dust pans, a blender, cinnamon red hot hard candies, and the list goes on(just kidding). I am amazed that they only forgot a small amount of things when they had so much to put in 3 containers. I would have forgotten so much more. I hope I don't forget some things such as sunscreen(I burn very quickly), mosquito repellent(mosquitos love me--I am so sweet), and something special for my sister's birthday which is on September 3rd. I will be there to celebrate it with her. I can't remember the last time I was with her on her birthday. Maybe it was the year I left for Bible College. I will try to think of something special for her(yes, I know my being there will be special enough).

I am looking forward to seeing some people I met who came over from Tanzania this past year. I look forward to taking some long walks with Dismas, Sylvester, and Moses. We shared a wonderful walk in the country here in Lebanon. I have seen photos of Dismas' and Sylvester's families but it will be nice to meet them in person. There are so many names of people I have heard my sister and her husband talk about and it will be so great to spend time with them in person. I will see Harold and Coni again and meet their family members who just moved over there to work on the mission field.

Well, I could write so much more about what I am looking forward to but I had better stop here(some of you might wonder if I am really the author of this blog since I usually don't write this much). Suffice it to say that I couldn't be more excited about going somewhere than I am about going to Kigoma. I looked up the word "kigoma" to see what it meant. It is a name that can be used for a boy and its meaning is "small drum, joy". I know it will be a joyful place for me.

I have finally chosen the 12 stories I will be using when I teach at the Bible College in Tanzania. It was very hard to only pick 12 stories, but a friend told me that if I picked stories that had touched my heart in some way then they would be more meaningful and they would touch the lives of those I am teaching. So, I sat down and looked at the list I had picked and went through them one by one. I thought about why each story spoke to my heart.


The first story on my list was the Sacrifice of Isaac. This story touches me because having wanted children and not being able to have them I could identify with Abraham and Sarah. If by some miracle Tom and I had been able to have children I can just imagine the things going through Abraham's mind when God asked him to sacrifice the only son he and Sarah had. I asked myself if I trust God enough to follow Him no matter what trials, sacrifices, etc. I may have to make.


Another story I chose was the story of the Shunamite Woman in 2 Kings. This story spoke to me about being bold. This woman had the courage to go before the king and ask him to restore her property after being gone for the 7 years of famine. In this past year I have been experiencing situations where I have become more bold.


The One Leper personally touches me because lepers were outcasts because of their physical disease. There are times in the past I have felt like an outcast because of my mental illness. Jesus looks beyond all of these things, looks at all of us with compassion and reaches out to touch all of us. Without His love, compassion and sacrifice we are all outcasts.


The Prodigal Son touches me because there have been times in my Christian walk where I have wandered away from God and God continues to love me and welcomes me home with open arms.


The Woman Caught In Adultery touches me as a teacher. It reaffirms that the most meaningful lessons are taught by example and not by eloquent words. Jesus didn't say much here but His example of forgiveness spoke volumes.


The last story I will share about is Paul and Silas In Jail. This one touches me because Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God while they were in prison. I love hymns and I learned many, many of them growing up. I praise God that He gave me a strong visual memory because I can still remember the words to those hymns even after many years. It has been singing those hymns in my head when I have been hospitalized during a bipolar episode that has carried me through some hellish times. I understand completely why Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God in that jail.


My friend was right. Taking a look at the personal meaning each one had I truly believe that I will be able to share them with passion and conviction. I am so appreciative of this friend who pushes me to dig more deeply and to really look at the stories.


I really am looking forward to spreading God's word through His stories and seeing them passed on orally to various groups of people in Tanzania.