Back to Tanzania

To our dear family, friends, and partners in mission,

Well, there is nothing like a warm, sunny, Saturday afternoon to put one in the mood to bake Christmas cookies and send Christmas greetings to all of you. We apologize that many of you have not heard from us for a few months. Even though you have not heard from us, it does not mean we have not been thinking of you and praying for you. It was indeed a privilege to visit with many friends, family, and supporting congregations last summer. As you would expect, 2003 has been a VERY busy year for our family.

When we returned to Tanzania, the most common question was "Habari za likizo?" This means, "How was your vacation?" It was sometimes difficult to explain that our "vacation" included visits to 19 supporting congregations, 5 synod offices, the ELCA Summer Missionary Conference, a family wedding, and one surgery each for Dan and Cathy (we are now back to 100% healthy!) Sometimes it was just easier to say, "Our vacation was very nice, thank you!" While the summer involved a lot of travel and a lot of "work" it was indeed a blessing to be able to visit personally with so many of you. We truly enjoyed connecting faces to email addresses, so we know who has been praying for us.

We have now settled into our "normal" routine back at home in Arusha. All three girls are attending ISM this year. Sarah is in 4th grade, Emily is in Kindergarten, and Grace is in her final year of pre-school. We just completed our student-teacher-parent conferences at the end of Term 1, and are pleased that the girls are all doing well in school. Sarah is taking piano lessons and Emily is taking violin. Last week, the primary students presented "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (Sarah was the narrator.) Cathy continues her involvement with the Christian Education committee at Arusha Community Church. This year she has also been volunteering her time helping with swimming and reading at ISM. Now Cathy and the girls are enjoying a well-deserved break until school starts again January 5th.

Dan has been busy with the Lutheran Mission Cooperation ever since returning to Tanzania in August. He continues to find his work rewarding and challenging. There were meetings to prepare for in October for the Church Leaders and Mission Directors of LMC, the Annual LMC Assembly, and the historical Companionship Consultation between the 20 ELCA Synods and the 20 ELCT diocese that are linked through companionship. During 2003, the Lutheran Mission Cooperation will have facilitated the following support for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania:
· $1,150,000 in program subsidies
· $ 200,000 in Scholarships and capacity building
· $ 400,000 in designated projects and programs
· LMC members also provide for international scholarships for selected ELCT employees.
Dan also spends one afternoon per week teaching piano lessons at ISM, and was elected to the church council of the Arusha Community Church.

As you will see from the photographs linked to this message, we have managed to enjoy some time away from the business of work and school. The first group of pictures was taken during our visit to America last summer. The second group was taken between October and December this year. We hope you enjoy the pictures of some of our activities these past few months.

In Arusha, "confirmation season" seems to be from early December to early January. It is a BIG celebration here. When we saw our first confirmation parade, we mistakenly thought that it was a wedding. The cars are decorated with balloons, flowers, and streamers. A brass band is typically in one pick-up truck while another pick-up is packed with family members and friends all singing (standing room only!) The confirmands wear brand new suits or white frilly dresses. These various parades drive through town with all that are following tooting their horns. Normally, a family will plan a confirmation party for many months and it is possible to spend 6 months wages or more for this grand celebration.

In our tradition, we normally associate confirmation with Pentecost, and we wondered why Tanzanians celebrate confirmation during Advent or Christmas. Since confirmation is the affirmation of baptism through which we received God's gift of grace through Jesus, perhaps it is fitting that Tanzanians traditionally celebrate confirmation at the same time of the year that we are preparing for and celebrating His birth. In the light of this view, Christmas is not only a celebration of God's act of love for the world, but it is also a time to affirm our faith as we prepare our hearts to receive Him. As it says in one of our favorite Christmas carols, "O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today."

We hope your holiday season is filled with the joy of Christ.

The Smiths

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Dan, Cathy, Sarah, Emily and Grace Smith
PO BOX 15128
Arusha
Tanzania
http://www.goodshepherdkettering.com/pages/mission.html
smithfam91@yahoo.com
or
missionaries@goodshepherdkettering.com
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