Waratibu wapya!

Here’s a little Swahili lesson for you:
“Waratibu” means “Coordinators” (the ‘wa’ indicates plurality, ‘mratibu’ would be just one) and “wapya” means “new” (note that ‘wa’ is at the beginning of this word too – that’s because adjectives have to agree with the noun that they are referring to, so one new coordinator would be ‘mratibu mpya’).
Last week we held a workshop to train three new people to be the coordinators of Literacy and Scripture Use work in their respective language areas (Sangu, Safwa and Bena). We praise God that there were three people, as we had struggled to find a suitable candidate for the Sangu language until the last minute. It was a busy week, with lots of things for them to take in, but we have been pleased with how keen they were and with how many questions they asked! The workshop isn’t over yet though. This week we will also be training the six coordinators that are already in place, addressing issues that they need more help in and providing opportunities for them to share with each other how things are going.

I find teaching both exhilarating and tiring, so please pray that we would all have the energy we need to keep going! It’s only 2 weeks before I get on a bus to Dar as I start my journey home to England, so I have lots of other things to get sorted too. As I write, it is a beautiful, blue skied Sunday morning, and I am going to make sure it is a good ‘day of rest’ so that I am ready for the busy week ahead! (It’s just a shame that someone is working with a very noisy chainsaw nearby, destroying the silence and making it hard to hear the birds singing).

Cake!

I have been reflecting, in those deep meditative moments, on how simple things can have a significant impact. Take cake for example. How long does it take to whip up a cake? It’s simple and it can be a fun way to relax. But more importantly cake can…
…bring a smile to a person who has been working hard all day. I like to give cake to the groundsman on our compound and I love to see his face light up.
…make a person feel valued and loved. I have a friend for whom the gift of a cake speaks volumes.
…build relationships. Last week I taught my landlady’s niece how to make ginger cake – it was fun to do this together and to chat as we worked.
…help a day at the office seem a little brighter. On occasional Fridays, a lady in our office loves to treat a few of us by bringing in some big chunks of delicious banana bread or chocolate brownies!
…be a great way to celebrate. That’s an obvious one…who doesn’t like a to have a cake for their birthday?!
…be a nice way to say goodbye. On Friday, we will sadly be saying goodbye to some colleagues, who are moving onto a new assignment. So, we’ll be bringing in cakes for tea break, to make it a more special time.
…be a simple way to spend time with friends. I’ve often invited friends round for coffee and cake on a Saturday afternoon – a lovely way to catch up with people, without having to go to the effort of cooking a complete meal!

Maybe I (we all?) need to remember this, and to make the most of the simple things in life. Little things can mean a lot. Karibuni kwangu – I made some chocolate cake on Saturday!

Lunch at a friend's home on Sunday (cake is there, it's just hidden!!)

Still teaching Sunday School

Some time ago I shared my experiences of teaching Sunday School in the church I attend here in Mbeya. I have just started to teach again (having had a long break from it) and thought you might like an update. Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions for how I could handle the various challenges I encounter!
Last week things got off to a disappointing start, with only a handful of children attending and most of them arriving in the last fifteen minutes of the one hour lesson! However, this week eight children were already there and waiting when I arrived and many more turned up as the lesson went by. Maybe my encouragement of “If you come on time you get a chance to do fun things like colouring!” actually worked!
I’ve learned that the best way to deal with the steady trickle of children’s arrival, is to start with a long activity that can be done as they arrive – the easiest thing to do is colouring – giving them pictures of the story or the memory verse. Once a critical mass of kids are there, I can get going on the teaching, starting with a few preliminaries that still allow for late children coming without missing out on the main teaching. My biggest challenge is getting as many of the children involved as possible in answering questions – it’s usually the same few, though this week was different. I finish with the memory verse, so that those who arrive right at the end still get a chance to hide God’s Word in their heart. If we are actually able to start the whole lesson in reasonable time, the kids may get lucky and have a game at the end.
So, I guess I’m learning! And in learning these things I am better equipped to teach Sunday School teachers here, as I am more aware of the challenges they face (though I am also aware that I am able to supply resources for my class that they may be unable to afford). Recently I had two very different workshop experiences when training Sunday School Teachers. Both workshops were intended to be follow-ups for teachers who had attended two previous workshops.
At the first, in one of the coldest places we work, I had the smallest turnout I have ever had, at the second, in one of the hottest places we work, the biggest!! With over seventy teachers attending, of whom only a handful had attended the previous workshops I’d conducted there, it was quite an experience! It was so exciting to see all those people gathered together from different denominations – our Literacy/Scripture Use Coordinator there had done an excellent job of advertising the event. Please join me in praying for these teachers, who only received very basic training, that they would yet be able to use it to really help them in their ministry.