January, 2002 Update

Update for January, 2002

Home, Sweet Home!

Greetings and peace from our family to yours in this new year of 2002.

First of all, many thanks to all of you who sent Christmas and New Year's greetings through electronic or standard postal means. If you are among those who mailed cards the week before Christmas, we are still getting those. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness! The New Year began in our now permanent home. We have been in temporary housing arrangements since we left our house in Centerville, OH last June. Moving day was actually 24 December, when we spent our first night here. It really felt like home on Christmas morning, even amid boxes, bins, and suitcases. We have started to permanently unpack, and we have put up some pictures and decorations to help us grasp the reality that this is indeed where our home will be for some time, now.

On 26 December, we took a short trip to the Indian Ocean. We were nestled in a quiet bungalow along the sandy beach. We enjoyed swimming, playing in the sand, searching for seashells, and playing in the tide pools. It was quite relaxing and just what we needed after preparing for our move. We came back to reality on the 29th when we realized that we still had a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do.

Dan's work as the Lutheran Mission Cooperation finance secretary continues to go well. He feels as if he is learning something new every day, and feels more and more comfortable with the work. In December, he visited the offices of the Dodoma diocese. The Dodoma diocese has a partnership with the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the ELCA. The staff was delighted to know that Dan came from Ohio, and thanked him for the support that is coming to them from this synod. They proudly showed him a new cathedral that is being built, and a community project that will bring a water supply, dispensary, and training classrooms to a very poor area in their community.

Dan is learning that his role as a missionary is not tied to one specific area or project, but he helps to facilitate the interaction between the Lutheran Church in Tanzania and the rest of the world. It does not surprise him any more to have daily e-mail from Germany, America, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Tanzania. The first of the year, however, focuses very much on the preparation of the financial documents for the year end. He is currently preparing the financial reports for audit.

Cathy and the girls continue to stay busy. Sarah entered her second term in the Primary 3 class at the International School of Moshi, Arusha Campus. Emily and Grace are now both in pre-school (called Kindergarten, here) two days per week at Growing Vines. Cathy is active with the education board, the women's bible study, and coordinating our social calendar.

May God bless you during the year to come. Please keep in touch, we love hearing from all of you!

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 missionaries@goodshepherdkettering.com
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