September 15, 2001 Update

Update for September 15, 2001

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been a busy month for the Smith family as we have begun to settle into work and school routines. We completed our beginner Swahili course on August 31st and were pleasantly surprised that we actually learned quite a bit! The girls are picking up the language quickly apparently by osmosis. Grace is able to count to ten in Swahili better than in English. Yesterday, I was told "Mommy, when I say Asante (thank you) you have to say Karibu (you're welcome)." It is obvious I will have to continue to work on my Swahili if I'm going to keep up with the girls!

Dan began his work at the Lutheran Mission Cooperation on September 3rd. He has enjoyed working with the current LMC finance secretary (Martin) who has been busy bringing Dan up to speed. Dan will take over complete responsibilities when Martin returns to Germany the beginning of October. Dan is quickly learning how the Lutheran Mission Cooperation operates and what some of the joys and challenges of his position are. Building relationships and trust between the LMC and the ELCT is one of his main focuses. Please pray for God's blessing of this important work.

Sarah is enjoying school and has made several new friends. Her teacher (Clayton) is from Australia but has lived in Tanzania for 3 years. He has a positive energy that energizes the children and motivates their learning. As Sarah says "He's great"! Many of Sarah's classmates also attend Arusha Community Church (ACC) where we have been attending. ACC is an international nondenominational church but is registered under the Lutheran church and has a very Lutheran feel. It is good to be part of a supportive Christian community.

Emily attends preschool at "Growing Vines" at ACC two days per week. She loves school and has made friends with a little girl whose parents are missionaries with the Anglican Church. They live within walking distance of our house, so the girls have had several play dates.

I have volunteered to be on the Christian Education board at ACC and attended a women's Bible study on Thursday. Otherwise I have been kept busy with procurement and preparation of food and maintaining the house. Even though we have a housekeeper, there is plenty of work to be done. Imagine your life without any of your appliances and three children playing in the dirt running in and out of your house and you can begin to get the picture. As you can see, Arusha has begun to feel like home to us.

We were made aware of how large and how small the world is as we learned of the terrorist attacks in America on September 11th. Since we have no T.V., we went down to the road to the Ilboru Safari Lodge to watch CNN. Others had gathered and we watched in horror and disbelief as the events occurred. It was a strange feeling to be so far away. In our hearts we felt so close. We have been witness to the evil that is so active in our world as so many innocent people have been touched by tragedy. Now we are being witnesses to an out pouring of love and support from the Christian community around the world. As Christians we know that evil will not have the last word. Thank God for the hope that is ours through Jesus Christ. We continue to pray for healing and justice.

Grace and Peace to you all,
Cathy (on behalf of the Smith Family)

(Webmaster's note: You can reach the Smiths at missionaries@goodshepherdkettering.com.)

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