Dear Cherished Interested’s,                                                                                         January 31st, 2024

Vumilia, a now grown and college attending daughter of the Children’s Village, has just left with six of her fellows from college.  They were here for Vumilia’s birthday which meant a cake and bottles of soda. 

It also meant hymns from the small yellow TENZA ZA ROHONI.

These are Business Administration, Law, and IT students and yet, here, hymns really relaxed them all.  They had permission to laugh at our attempts at local language and permission to sing and permission to pick the music.

They got stuffed with cake.  Vumilia left two pieces for the two women who help us again on Friday and took the cake box full of pieces on paper towels to share across campus on their way to their hostels.

Vumilia was head student of her Business Administration classes last year getting an award at the beginning of the semester.  We were in the right place at the right time to witness her getting the award. 

She didn’t know about the award ahead of time.  That was soo fun.  Almost as much fun as having them all come eat cake and drink a bottle of soda and sing hymns.

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The Children’s Village in Nkoaranga, where we have been serving, in one way or another since our first breakfast in Tanzania, has been grown around a woman who has been caring for other people's children, along with her own, for well over thirty years.  She is a Mama Mchungaji.  Her husband is now a retired Mchungaji(pastor). 

An amazing thing has happened since leaving classes.  Three Sundays in a row now anywhere from one to four of my former classmates have wanted to come along on our Sundays.  After English service we come back to the house and gather whoever wants to go to The Children’s Village.  After Sunday School and mini-worship, with working Mama’s preparing food for the Village, we have gone twice to another orphanage.

That other orphanage is Mosses Confort Home.  Yes it is spelled that way and it now has a website.

https://mossesconfort.or.tz  It is still English, only it is East African English.  Like how Midwest English was different from Northeast English and Gulf coast English not too many years ago.

When we first found them, Moses confort home, had no roof.  They have walls, large chicken coup, roofs, kitchen, toilet and more children where they are than at the Children’s Village.  This place happened because of yet another bibi{grandmother} who refused no child.  She is wearing the same dress today as she has been wearing for the two years we have known her.  Whatever we have been able to spare, she has multiplied into housing and food for little ones.

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Because students from the theology school have been coming and participating in our Sunday activities, we visited with the head mama of The Children’s Village and her retired Mchungaji husband in their home, the Sunday before last in the evening.

There I told them about my problems with University.  I also told them about the beautiful happenstance of students / Wachingaji{pastors} from the theology program coming with us to The Children’s Village.  I also asked the head Mama for permission to continue bringing them.

Hamna Shida Van.  No problem Vern.  They fed us and prayed for us and I am sure, like so many, are trying to scheme a way that we can afford to stay and pour ourselves out here like we have. 

This is a place quite fundamentally without financial resource.  Nearly no one has. 

Also this is a place with lots of death.  One former classmate and one former professor have had sisters-in-law die in the last two weeks.  Both asked for our prayers.  They have them. 

One of those deaths was from flooding in Dar es Salaam.  The family had to first gather to find her body among other families suffering likewise.  Then they could bury her.

This reminds me of death in the woods at home.  One young man died.  Loggers were denied evacuation.  The family and friends climbed up and into the setting before nightfall to build fires and stand watch against predation until morning when Father, Uncle, Brother and friends were able to bring the deceased young man down off the mountain and home.

We have been trained well for this place and this work.  We didn’t know. 

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Last Saturday, a bunch of my former classmates rented a large bus and a small bus and took us both along to yet another orphanage on the way to Kilimanjaro.  This one around a Pentacostal Mchungaji and Mama Mchungaji.  We literally arrived in time.  The facility is beautiful.  The food was all gone and had been for two days.  The children had been fasting and eating only a light supper.  We arrived as a group from a Lutheran University packing in sacks of supplies and this living grandmother just sat there with tears running down her face.

She opened the larder and showed us the completely empty shelves as we packed the supplies inside.

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Still working the problem that we think will likely see us heading home to America in a couple to few months.  We are doing the best we can.  We are able because of God.  God is listening to each of you.

You who read and pray and suffer along with us.  Please believe what we get to see.  Thank you for praying our strength and guidance for each moment with each face.   Folks like you are beyond precious.  vwilliamson@sprynet.com

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Really blessed while deeply under attack..  all of it is spiritual..  I wish I could teach that to everyone so they could truly know it.  I didn’t know it for far too long. 

Please keep crumpling us up and throwing us at God.  That is where we need to be.  God will sort us out.

One day at a time.  Just like how you each live.  Just one day at a time. 

Thank you, each of you.

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What to Pray for:

Our armed forces families, our leadership, our people, whole world round, all of Gods kids -

All the tough and blessing expressed above –

The love of folks –

Whatever is on your hearts and minds for us –

For our children and grand-children who miss us.. 

For Makumira Secondary School looking to share stories and partner in some way with a foreign school, Great leaders, teachers, students, programs, strong backs, minds, and hearts –

For our health to stay ahead of whatever is before us –

For those who have braved the donate button to discover Kajun Crofton, our daughter who helps getting each one of your donations to us and every blogpost to where you can read it -

For each and every one of you –

Each and every one of your prayers, your precious conversations with God –

Prayers, Your Prayer, Even your groaning prayers makes all the difference..

Vern W

May life be as Music to your Heart – May Music be as Heart to your Life – May Heart be as Life to your Music