Tanzania Eyeglass Mission January 2023

  An amazing feat - Dora can see much better! As with a lot of mission trips, the unexpected can happen.  Sometimes it’s just a minor discomfort, like no water in the lodge where you are staying.  That is the case with us today.  It started with no water - but “Hakuna Mata” (no worries in Swahili).  That’s just a minor thing and we are all good friends now.  We were a bit dirty and didn’t smell as nice as we wanted - and our hair - oh well; The people of  Mbuguni  won’t mind. Being Saturday, it was Market Day in the village and Laurence wanted us to experience what it was like.  Jacob, one of our bus drivers said “Welcome to the  Mbuguni  Walmart.”  Everyone goes to the market to get their food and wares, sells their goats, sheep, etc. You can pick out your goats and watch them slaughter, cut, and cook them over an open fire.  Not a sight we all want to see, but this is their way of ...

One of the verses from Deb’s evening devotion: John 14:1 (Jesus comforts his disciples) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.” Today was an outstanding day full of wonders, joy, and amazement… and eye opening sights.  We travelled to Mbuguni, which was quite a long way, through some rough and dusty roads.  Along the way we got a glimpse of how life is here.  Their way of life seems hard to us, but it is what they have.  It what God provides.  Coming through the city we saw crowded streets, cars and motor cycles every which way.    Small shops lined the streets.    To us it would seem so disorganized. Then as we left the city, we saw the rural areas.   It  was dry and dusty and homes were brick with chickens, goats, and cows in the yards. We saw children carrying water, famers in their dry fields, herders moving their (very skinny) cows to the fields. Certainly a way of ...

  Wednesday & Thursday 1/11 & 1/12/2023 And we are off! Here is the team as gathered in Detroit Metro awaiting departure. We had many blessings on our travel days, Wednesday and Thursday.    Despite an awful ice storm that Penny encountered in Green Bay and despite a nationwide FAA ground stop due to a glitch in the NOTAM system, everyone made it to Detroit and we took off all together. Flights were great (but long).    We enjoyed the Amsterdam stop over looking at all the chocolate, cheese, and goodies to hopefully get on the way back.  Our trip into Tanzania was smooth and Patti and Laurence and his crew were waiting to load all our luggage and take us to the lodge.      After a quick prayer we got on the road - it was quite a drive! Traffic, motorcycles, and driving on the left - what a trip. And  hopefully we can get a photo of the road in later for you to see.  We arrived at the lodge and met our host Cornelius and...

 Training Day! January 5, 2023 After several Zoom sessions, some of our team finally met in person for training day at the Most Ministries office in Ann Arbor, MI.  On Thursday, January 5th we had our team training and preparation, and packing.  We learned about the Eyeglass Clinic, received instructions, schedules, and then packed thousands of glasses and all of the clinic supplies into the suitcases. It was a day of fun getting to know each other and we look forward to next week when the entire team is together and traveling to Tanzania. We are excited to serve!!                                               Kelly introduces us to the Eyeglass Clinic                                         Receiving instructions . MOST collects and processes thousands of...

 Team 2301 Ready to Serve! Pictured above is our Lin (Leader in training), Deb, Kelly (Leader), Loretta, Jim, and Heidi.  Not pictured are Penny, Patti, and Jan.  As soon as we are all together, I'll post a picture of us all. Amani iwe kwenu ("Peace be with you" in Swahili) We are going on a mission to Tanzania, Africa for an Eyeglass Clinic.  We will serve in the small village of Mbuguni about an hour and a half from the city of Arusha. Tanzania map showing where we stay and the village where we will serve.  (copyright Google Maps)   (world map from Wikipedia) We will be serving in a school supported by the “Next Life Foundation”. (see  https://nextlifefound.org/ ) From the Next Life Foundation website:   “Next Life Foundation seeks to serve the young men, women, and mamas of Mbuguni, Tanzania, East Africa, through the opportunity for vocational education in their village. These villagers face limited employment opportunities resulting in su...