All My Bags Are Packed And Tomorrow I Leave On A Jet Plane

 

 

 

Notice that my bags are all color coordinated(that is so like me)

 

The time has finally come. I am as ready as I will ever be. Today is a day of rest. These past few weeks have been filled spending time with family and friends. I had some wonderful lunches with ladies from my church. We laughed and shared how God has brought me to this point over the past year. A group from my church threw a bon voyage party for me where we played croquet, sat around a bonfire, and ate some amazing food(there is never a shortage of good food when a group of Christians get together for a party). My mom and I spent lots of time together over the past few weeks. I know it will be hard on her to have both of her girls in Tanzania but she knows that God has called both of us there. God called my sister and her husband there for years of service and He called me there for 5 weeks of teaching, sharing, helping, and so much more. Tom and I have had several evenings together(a rarity this time of year). We have had time to sit on the patio eating dinner and just relaxing. Even though he will be joining me in a little over 3 weeks it is still a little nerve wracking to be taking the flight alone. I have never gone this far without him and I will truly miss him. He worked very hard to make this trip as easy as possible for me. He managed to find a flight with only one layover. I fly from Portland to Amsterdam. Then I leave out of the same terminal there that I arrived at. He also managed to get me aisle seats on the right hand side of the plane so I can stretch my left leg into the aisle every once in a while. This is the leg I have the most trouble with. Then it's on to Dar Es Salaam where my sister will meet me. I am so excited to see her. She is such a special woman of God and she is so much fun to be with. I wish all of you could know her. Your lives would be enriched. She and her husband have such a heart for the people of Tanzania.

For me this year has come full circle. I went from taking a half day introduction to Oral Bible Storytelling, to a one day workshop, to a full 5 day workshop in Idaho, to being an assistant instructor at a 5 day workshop in Beaverton, Oregon. Now I go to share in a new place a part of what I have learned. It has been an amazing year. I thank all of you so much for having a special part in this adventure. I have been blessed with financial support, prayer support, cards and letters, words of encouragement, and the list goes on. Please continue to pray for me over the next 5 weeks.

I plan to blog from Tanzania as often as possible and to share photos of my experiences and photos of the people I meet there. They say it's a small world and it truly is. I may not speak the same language but I know that the people there and I share the same heart for God and the work He is doing in every part of the world.

So, it's good-bye Oregon and here I come Tanzania(ready or not).

Teaching Art In Tanzania

These are some of the students that attend school in Kigoma, Tanzania. I don't know if any of them will be in the art classes I will be teaching while I am there, but as you can see they are outgoing children. The title of the second photo is "Yeah, we love school!" I am thrilled to be teaching kids who love going to school and who are excited about learning. I decided to center my art lessons around the story of creation found in the book of Genesis. I will be doing lessons about the sun, moon, stars, planets, land, sky, sea, creatures of the sea, creatures above the sea, and morning and evening. I chose lessons that use many types of media to expose the kids to all types of art. They will be painting, drawing, doing collages, cutting, gluing, etc. The lessons are short(about 25-30 min.) and each group will have two lessons a week. Lately I have not been doing much of my own artwork so I am sure that this experience will inspire me to get back into photography and maybe back into painting. Can you imagine the opportunity to teach art to children who have only experienced coloring pages? It is like starting with a blank slate. I am so excited to see their faces as they view the artwork they have created on their own and as they see the variety of expressions of the same lessons from each of their classmates. I hope they will share them with their families and talk about what they did in each lesson. Oh, the joy of sharing about God's creation with these children. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and to learn from them and experience these new adventures with them. I am sure I will learn more from them than they will learn from me. I am also excited to come back and share a new enthusiasm for teaching art at the elementary school here in Albany where I have been doing art with the students for the past several years. I pray I will be energized and that once again I can impart the joy of creative expression here at home. I am so happy that even late in life(they say you can't teach old dogs new tricks) God gave me this gift of creative expression. I never dreamed my life would be changed so much with the gifts of storytelling and art that came at a later age. Oh well, better late than never. I hope each of you that are reading this will discover new gifts you have been given or will be inspired to revisit those gifts you have had for many  years with a new sense of awe at what you have been blessed with.