Craft Market Interest.

We were out in service this morning with Paul and Donna at the craft market. The African people sell their wood carvings of animals and Masai people, along with paintings, bead work and many more things. Many of the Africans speak English so there are many studies held there. The other week a local priest came walking through the market asking everyone to come to the church. We found out later that they had sent him away, telling him that, ' Jehovah's Witnesses take good care of everyone' there and that they, ' teach the truth about the bible'. So a good witness is being given.

This morning we went to do a regular study but he wasn't there. We were just showing Donna and Paul a few of the shops there when a man approached Nate and asked for us to come with him to meet his mother. He is studying the bible and goes home after every study to tell his mother what he has learned, but she wanted her own study. We walked for 15 minutes then entered a labyrinth of mud houses, trying to remember for future visits how we got there! He led us into a corner gate and more mud rooms with a few banana trees in the garden. All the rooms are owned by his family. We went into a very small mud room and Donna and i immediately started the study. She had 6 children. One son, his wife and child, died of Aids, and another daughter was poisoned by a friend.

When we came out of the room Nate and Paul were sat in the garden studying with 5 more family and friends in the garden! They are so very poor but are so happy to study. The hope that the bible gives them is so important to them. After we came out the son thanked us so much for coming to study with his mother and said how happy she was. We feel so helpless when it comes to their present situation, but it's the best feeling you can experience sharing with them the hope Jehovah holds out. It reminds us that no matter we do that's the only thing that will bring them lasting benefit.

Life In Africa!

Well we have just passed our 2 month marker and life is becoming familiar. We enjoyed such a wonderful visit with Marni and Tiff. We had a week in between then Donna and Paul arrived yesterday and we are happy to have family here.
There have been a few weird and wonderful things happen since we last wrote. The wonderful of course being our ministry. We have a few studies that are making good progress. Justez, whom I wrote about earlier in the blog is still going through a hard time with his sister being so ill. On the other hand he is happy to have a beautiful baby girl. He text me a couple of weeks ago asking me to text verses from the bible that show we shouldn’t accept blood. We text back then he sent another requesting scriptures about idols. Afterwards he explained that he was going over what he had learned at the meeting with his girlfriend. Amiram is another study who is very humble and meek. He appreciates us studying with him so much. We have to travel for almost an hour to get to him on a Sunday. There isn’t a direct bus so it requires a lot of walking but he is well worth the effort. He came to his first meeting last week. We have also started a study this month with a man called Emanuel. He works in the craft market. We really enjoy our study with him as he really speaks from his heart. He has so much faith and trust in Jehovah, he just lacks knowledge. When we discussed the first chapter of the book where it talks about religion teaching that God is to blame for bad things, he said that people can only believe that if they don’t really know God.
Our brothers here also add to the ‘wonderful’ happenings in our life. It’s very dangerous for white people to be out at night here. We live 15 min’s walk from the kingdom hall. Marni, Nate and I were the only ones walking home a couple of weeks ago so a brother from our hall drove behind us shining his lights in the road so we were safe!
Nate had his first No.1 talk. He did a really good job. He has been assigned as a conductor for field service once a week, and often has parts on the meetings. The brothers are really using him and he is happy to help the congregation as well as in the ministry and gain the experience.
Now to the ‘WEIRD’!! We visited the snake farm while Marni and Tiff were here. It was here that we saw the famous black mamba and green mamba. They are very poisonous and live here in Arusha. On our way to the meeting for field service this morning we came upon one in the next street to where we live! It had been killed in the road. It did freak us out though as we walk this road everyday!
At Nate’s request I also have to sadly report that some of our dear friends have succumbed to round worm and larvae! All those who are a little squeamish should probably stop reading! Amoebas and worms are common here. They live inside and feed off what you eat and can be ingested in a number of ways. They are however treatable when found. One poor sister here was infected with larvae from fly’s that lay eggs on your clothes. If you have a cut on your skin and they get inside and form big infected boil like bumps. You can take anti-biotic or the other option is to soften the skin and squeeze them out! Mmmmm!!
On that note I will tell you all that we miss you and will be back soon with more news.

Safari.

Needless to say our safari was an incredible experience! Even though we aren't in the best season right now we were fortunate to see 4 of the 'Big 5'. Rhino, Lion, Elephant and Cape Buffalo.
The first day was in Tarangire, famous for it's quantity of elephants. We were fortunate to have a very close encounter with a group right by the side of the jeep! We saw lots of Giraffe, by far the most interesting of animals. They are fascinating and completely surreal! Tiff and Marni had an encounter with a very large and hungry baboon. We were stopped for lunch and just as i handed out the lunch bags to the girls, a huge male baboon attacked them and literally fought them for the food. The girls were very protective over their food and refused to give up! That is until he began to bare his huge teeth and growl at them. It was still quite a challenge to convince Tiff to let the bag go but reluctantly she agreed and the baboon feasted on a huge tub of veggies right in front of us!
Baby elephants are the cutest! We watched one walking along with his trunk in his mouth as if it were a dummy (pacifier)!!! Soooo cute!
Our hotel was out of this world with the most spectacular view! Each room had an indoor balcony with ceiling to floor windows. We woke up with the sun rising over the Ngorongoro crater. Just stunning! We enjoyed a huge breakfast then an early game drive. The highlight being just a few feet from 2 lion cubs! They certainly challenged the baby elephants cuteness! We also saw 2 black rhino, one quite close which is rare. Among the ones already mentioned we also saw impala, flamingo, gazelle, monkey, wilder beast, zebra, hyena, warthog, dik dik, eland, jackal, hippo, hartebeest, topi, and antelope.
What made the whole experience so special was sharing it with Marni and Tiff. The 3 of us were like little girls, very excitable! Nathan certainly had his hands full!! It was a memory that will stay with us always. We can't wait for the day when we can all enjoy Jehovah's creation to the full.

Our First Visitors!

Marni and Tiff have arrived! We are so happy to have them here with us. They had a good journey, even spotting a camel on the way from Nairobi! We took them out in service for the first time this morning. They are quickly learning their Swahili greetings and enjoyed talking with the locals. We also introduced them to the local craft market and now they have a good idea of what souvenirs are available here.
We are all very excited to be going on safari next week for 2 days! We leave on Wednesday the 14th November. Nate has been before with the family of course but this will be my first time also! I never imagined i could go, but there is a lady here who has been associated with the truth for some time now and she gives the witnesses such a good deal. It is definitely going to be a trip of a lifetime, especially being able to do it with the girls. We will send photos as soon as we can.

A Special Thank You!!

Emma and I were having a drink the other night and talking. This is when we came onto the topic of how we got here to Tanzania. As we sat there thinking and talking we realized that we would never have got here without the encouragement and support of our parents. I can remember that even when we were young my dad and mom were always telling us to do the most we could in the truth. They took the challenge of showing us just how large the organization was and truly showed us how true the scripture in Psalms 34:8 is where it says to “taste Jehovah and see that he is good”. The same is true for Emma’s mum, without her example Emma’s life could have been totally different. She is a zealous example of how one can give their all to Jehovah despite circumstances.
Truly without the support of our parents, Emma and I would probably have never reached this important goal in our life. After being here for just over one month how appreciative we are to our parents for there help. So we are taking this time to send you a big “THANK YOU” for being such shining examples for us all these years, and for taking the time to ensure that our love for Jehovah becomes as powerful as yours is.

Last Night's Meeting!

We just thought we would write to tell you about our meetings here. We only have one microphone for the speaker and those who give comments shout out their answers. The sound system we have is run off a radio frequency which obviously causes interference. In the middle of the talk you will hear, 'Gooooooooooooooooal', when they are broadcasting a football match!
The electricity is very unreliable so sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it's not working we sing the songs without music and it is amazing to hear. Everyone sings very loud. When there is no sound the speaker has to talk very loud also.
The problem last night was that while the sound was off it began to rain very heavily! You can see from the picture of the Kingdom Hall on the Blog that the roof is made of tin!! Our poor missionary sister, Anita, just got up to give the demo and down came the rain! Her voice got louder and louder until it was just impossible to hear. After a few moments it subsided but then the wind began to blow and randomly started to blow the doors open. Needless to say we all had a very interesting meeting.

1 Month.

Today we have been here for 1 month. The time has flown! We didn't imagine that we would settle into the way of life so quickly here, but it's already starting to feel like home. We are surrounded by wonderful brothers and sisters from around the world. It's incredible to hear their stories and experiences and how they ended up in Africa! There are so many varied personalities yet the thread that runs through everyone is the desire to serve Jehovah more fully. No matter how different we all are, that's what brings us together.
We are still trying to get our studies into a regular routine but if all goes well the rest of the month, we should be able to count 8 between us. One thing that struck us about the people here is the way they think. At home when you show people out in service the questions in the front of the Bible Teach book and ask them which one they would like to know the answer to, most would say, 'Why does God permit Suffering?". Here not one person has asked that. Instead everyone here asks, "What happens to the dead", and "How can i make my family life happy?". The religions here teach all kinds of crazy things about the dead and it leaves so many people afraid and confused. Also, family life is very important to people here so they are very eager to learn how they can be happy as a family.
We haven't moved yet but we are set to move this weekend. I'm glad we were able to stay this week though as i haven't been well. I'm getting better now thanks to the anti-biotics and I'm finally getting some energy back. It's been nice having other people around. You always miss home more when you are poorly!
We have a few exciting theocratic things to look forward to in the new year. There will be a zone visit in January, and the new Branch dedication, both in Dar Es Salaam! We also have an English Circuit Assembly scheduled for May there too, so we are very excited about that. There's certainly lots to keep us busy.

Last Week.

Hello family and friends. It has been a few days now since we last wrote. The week has been busy and probably the most realistic we've had so far. I haven't felt too well this week. Hopefully i will avoid having to be tested for all the wierd things that you can get here, and it will pass. Nate is doing well though. We are happy to find how well his health is here. We had worried about the dust but he feels great here and has had no problems what so ever. Our routine is working out well and we are settling into our responsibilities. Nate has a huge assignment with the territory. We have been given a large amount of territory from a Swahili congregation and it is his responsibility to map it all. We have made arrangements with the missionary couple to go out every Saturday afternoon to map it all.
Tomorrow we move house. The house here is very busy with visitors so we are going to live in a house that a Greek couple have rented. They are back in Greece selling everything and hope to be back by the end of the year so we are moving in until then. It's a nice house with 2 bedrooms. Marni and Tiff will stay there with us at the beginning of November and then Donna and Paul will be with us until we leave the house.
It's also Kingdom hall maintainance day tomorrow. We worked very hard last week to move plants from one side of the property to the other to form a fence for security. We also cleaned part of it up too and it looked really nice when we finished. Nate however worked with barbed wire! They had to stretch out huge rolls and nail it to the posts for added security.
Our study Justez is having a hard time at the moment. His sister is dying and there is nothing that the doctors can do. As you can imagine he is very upset. Our ministry otherwise is going very well.
We miss everyone very much and would love to hear from you so please feel free to email us when you can.

Last Few days.

Hello everyone. Just thought we'd write with an update on the last few days. We are settling into our new life more and more each day. Of course the ministry is the highlight of each day and our great experiences just keep adding up. We are managing to stay healthy with nothing more than a few stomach cramps so far, probably due to the change in diet. We are getting into the routine of boiling water, washing all our veg' and fruit in detol, and keeping the tap water out of our mouths in the shower and when brushing teeth! We truly appreciate why Jesus and his disciples needed their feet washing! The roads are so dusty and when we get home after service our feet are black.
A little info about our congregation. It's called 'Arusha Central'. We have 31 publishers, 9 elders, 7 pioneers, and 2 missionaries! That doesn't include the need greaters who come for a short time to help out but don't move their cards. We also have 11 children that aren't yet publishers so there is lots of potential within the congregation also. Our territory is big as we cover all the English speakers.
Nate has just been appointed the territory servant. The maps are quite interesting as none of the streets have names! Most are named by a landmark within the territory. As you can imagine taking NH's is a nightmare. We are starting to imitate our missionary sister in the hall and draw maps of the streets and write the NH's on there. Otherwise it gets too confusing.
The missionary couple in our hall are from Whales and England. Martin and Anita Muxlow. They are very down to earth and have made us feel very welcome. They have been serving in Tanzania for 10 years now.
Here the public transport system is as many other third world countries. The little vans are crammed full until people are literally hanging out of the windows! The most we have counted so far in one is 24! When you stand waiting by the side of the road for one to come by, they still pull up overflowing and try to squeeze you in. We have already had some very close encounters! The other day some of the sisters serving here were waiting for one, it arrived packed and the guy shouted, "You can sit on an African!"
This was the setting for a good experience i had the other day though. I was just about sat on the lady's knee, so i apologised to her and she started to talk to me and ask what i was here for. I explained and she asked how she could learn. I explained the bible study program and she took out her phone and took my number. We made contact the next day and arranged to meet in town and had a great study. She is a single parent with 2 girls and no other family here. She works a lot so meetings may be hard for her but we'll see what happens.
Nate and Sam (a brother visiting from England) had a good call last week. They met Jonas on the street. He was raised as a Muslim but about a year ago changed to be a Christian He was worried about losing Gods favor due to smoking marijuana. He got emotional and said how much he wanted to gain God's approval again. They started the study on the first call in the Bible Teach book and returned this week to study again.
We hope that you all enjoy reading of our adventures here. Please leave a comment or send us a private email to negrindstaff@hotmail.com It really is so nice to hear from our friends. We miss you all very much and keep you in our prayers.

3 Day's Progress!

We have to write to tell you about a special call that Avril and i had last Thursday morning. We were doing first call and met a young man called 'Justez'. He spoke excellent English and works as a guide for Kilimanjaro. He's been up the mountain around 160 times! He is also a guide for Mt Meru and Mt Kenya. He invited us in and we had an incredible discussion. He fired questions at us faster than we could answer them!
He has just moved to this house due to the fact that his girlfriend is 8 months pregnant. That is a very big disgrace here and some of the local churches will actually disfellowship you! That has happened in their case and they are not even allowed to enter the church. He asked if they would be allowed into our Kingdom Hall so we explained that it is a situation that Jehovah doesn't approve of but that since they are learning the truth they would be able to attend.
He wanted to know if we believed in Jesus, what happens to us when we die, how we worship, if we repent, if we believe the trinity, just to name a few things. We explained that the best way to answer his questions was for him to have a bible study. He quickly accepted and told us that a number of years ago he came very upset with local religions when he saw so much hypocrisy. He knew about the 'Jehovah's Kingdom' church and told his girlfriend that he was either going to join them or the baptists. Then his family put him off saying that we only prayed at night and that we worshipped the devil. They also told him that we never worked and that all the foreigners here just picked any house they wanted and the organisation paid for us to live here! We were quick to put him right there!!
He was very eager to come to the meeting but we could still detect a lot of fear. Anyway he agreed to come the next day. During the discussion i had told him that i would leave him the Bible Teach book. At the end i was putting my bible back in my bag and accidentally gathered the book up too. He stopped me in mid sentence to tell me off for telling him he could have it then taking it back!
Friday i called him to see if he was still coming to the meeting, to which he replied, "Yes I'm here waiting for you, but i don't know what to wear." When we went to meet him he was very smartly dressed! On our way to the meeting (a 30 min walk) we asked if he had told his girlfriend about us calling and he said yes. When he told her about coming to the meeting she got really scared and told him that if he came it was possible that he wouldn't come home because we sacrifice people! Apparently we also run around naked while praying to Satan also!
We arrived at the kingdom hall and everyone was really welcoming. He looked up the scriptures and listened intently. He was very nervous though. He kept looking over his shoulder like someone was going to grab him! Half way through the service meeting he had to leave but he told Nate how much he'd enjoyed the meeting and asked us to come to his house the next day to study!
Saturday we went and had a great study. We were there 21/4 hrs! He started by telling us how much he enjoyed the meeting and then he said how he doesn't know how he will ever feel ready to comment or get up and give a part on the meeting! He was so impressed with a young brother in our hall that gave the talk on Blood transfusions. He couldn't believe that someone so young could know so much about what the bible said. He had come home and tried to find his bible to show Annette (his girlfriend) all the scriptures we had looked at. He was going to his parents the next day to find his bible. The questions again started coming thick and fast and we tried to answer some but kept trying to direct his attention to the book, which we eventually got into. He is very sceptical and won't just agree easily with things, which we told him was good because he needs to know himself that it's the truth and not just because we tell him it is. He couldn't make the meeting today because his family were coming to see him but we set up the study for next week.
It's so hard not to get overly excited when you get such a good call! I just pray over and over that if his heart is right that Jehovah will draw him and help us to teach him well. We'll let you know what happens.

Photos!

At last! Here are a few photos for you.

Nate and Steve on a bible study at the craft market.

Our house mates.

From left to right......

Nate, Emma, Cathie, Sayona, Steve, Sunny, Arisa, Jessica, Conrad, and Ai.

Our new Kingdom Hall.

Our New Schedule.

The new week has started our new schedule. Mondays are our day off, Fridays our day to help on the kingdom hall landscaping and the other 5 days are for service!
We had a great time in service yesterday. Nate and i worked together. We met a group of men working at a school. One of them was Islam but asked us what he needed to do to change his religion. Nate explained the bible study program and gave him the meeting times. He said he would try to make it this Sunday. The need greaters here try to direct interested ones to the kingdom hall asap. If they come to the meeting it usually shows that they sincerely want to study. It helps to distinguish them, especially as there is so much interest.
We walked further up the road and a man stopped and asked us what we were doing. Nate again explained the bible study program and arranged to meet him there this morning. Even further up the road a young woman stopped us. She is called Naomi. She speaks very good English. She works as a house girl for some foreigners here and was running an errand. She couldn't stand for long but asked if i could study with her. She was even more interested in coming to the meeting though. I wrote down the times for her and gave her directions. A few doors down we met another house girl named Elizabeth. She too wanted to come to the meetings and study but she only gets one Sunday off a month but was going to try hard to come this week.
We were working in the street with with Sunny, Jessica and Sayona and throught the crack in the gate they saw a huge turtle in the driveway. No one was home so we all stopped to look and took pictures! I'll try to post it so you can all see.
We have written basic Swahili sentences in a book and we use it all the time with the locals. We met a group of children yesterday who got all giddy when we asked if we could take a picture of them with us. They laughed and jumped around like they had just won tickets to Disneyland! We have such a desire to learn the language! There are so many people hungering for the truth.
Steve and Cathie left yesterday for the annual meeting in New York. They will be gone until the 19th. Charles and Sonia, a couple from California came in late last night, so they are our new house mates. We will be moving to a new house in a couple of weeks. It's not too far away. On the same street as Avril and Steve. There are 2 bedrooms. We have Marni and Tiff coming for a little over 2 weeks in November, then on the 27th Donna and Paul arrive for 3 months! We are very excited to have them here with us.
We are working on posting some pictures for you all to see. It's not easy to do here because of the internet connection, but hopefully we'll have some for you soon.

Our First Ministry Experience.

We have had our first taste of ministry in Arusha! The people here are so incredibly humble and eager to learn about Jehovah. Friday morning we spent the morning at Arusha's craft market where the local people sell souvenirs to visitors. Many speak good English, which makes them part of our territory. We worked our way around the stalls stopping to talk with anyone who spoke English. It's not even a question as to if they will study, only when! They welcome us into their stalls, turn over a bucket for us to sit on, take out their studied books and eagerly wait to hear what we have to say! It's so refreshing! Nate got 1 study Friday and another today!
I worked with Avril this morning, which meant 2 Swahili studies! You don't even have to understand the language to read the peoples hearts. It's evident in their tone and body language. Avril made sure i felt included and asked me to read in Swahili for the first time! It is so frustrating not knowing the languge. You can't help being drawn in and just wanting to help them understand the bible and see the hope they can have for the future. They live with so little and yet they smile constantly. And the babies!!! They are adorable. The children stand in the street and repeatedly shout any english words they know in a desperate effort to get your attention. Their huge brown eyes and beaming smiles are impossible to ignore!
We really are so blessed to be where we are. We have met so many lovely people. Steve and Cathie have become our African parents and take care of us all so well.
We went to our first meeting last night and the brothers were so welcoming. They want to meet with us tomorrow after the meeting to officially welcome us and advise us on what to do, and not do here.
Well it's late so i will sign off for now and try to post some photos asap. Thanks for keeping in touch!

We Have Arrived!

After a long journey we arrived in Arusha, Tanzania! The flight yesterday went well. The bus was an hour late from the airport but we felt safe. The first tradition we noticed is that all the men hold hands walking along! Nate is thrilled at the prospect!! The bus ride was rather exciting! We spent 4 hours playing chicken with on coming traffic in an effort to avoid pot holes in the road! However we saw Impala, ostriches, and lots of Masai people. We were met by Avril, Steve and Cathie. It was lovely to see familiar faces. Avril and Steve took us back to their house for chili then we came back to our new home, at least for the meantime. We are here with 8 other witnesses. It is beautiful and made such a difference coming to stay with friends. We had a good long night's sleep and both feel great today. We spent the morning settling in and now it's almost lunchtime. Homemade pizza is on the menu today! This afternoon Steve and Cathie are taking us to town to show us around. Then tomorrow will be our first day in service. We'll let you know how it goes.

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello everyone!
We have just set up a blog so that we can keep you all updated with our adventures! We will try to keep you posted with all our news so please check back regularly.