Our first Sunday in Tanzania at church

    I am trying hard not to begin this post with some Swahili.  It is tempting to "show off" our new language skills, but I would inevitably make mistakes that someone would notice.  We have finished our first month of language school here in Iringa and it has been eventful.
   
     We have had a few setbacks, but thankfully by God's grace we have bounced back each time.  Benny suffered trough a terrible ear infection, we all took turns with some stomach issues (thank you Africa), I was in bed a couple of days with a bad back, and Nehemiah slammed his finger in our door and completely sheered off his right middle fingernail.  That required a trip to the local hospital to make sure it wasn't broken or didn't need more attention than we could give it with our $15 Wal-Mart first aid kit. After cleaning it, the surgeon inspected it and felt comfortable it would heal.  He said it would take up to a year for it to completely heal and look normal.  Please pray that the Lord would heal it totally and that we would be able to keep it clean and injury free while it does!

Haircut time

 
     Our language lessons are going well and we are making steady, if slow, progress on vocabulary and basic grammar.  We are finding out that the easy part is memorization and recognition of the written words but hearing and understanding the locals speak is whole different task.  Rainey seems to do this much better than Sarah and I.  I think her musical ear is really paying dividends.

   Sarah's chickens are doing well, we just had four small chicks hatch this past weekend.  Asa and Nehemiah are ecstatic about having more critters.  These will be on top of the kitten Rainey has adopted and the turtle that our language teacher brought the boys!

Rou painting the fingernails of a new friend

    We had the chance to visit Ruaha National Park this past Saturday.   It was truly amazing to take in God's creation in such a close-up fashion.  We saw 8 lions in three different groupings and two of the sightings we were able to drive within about 10 yards of them.  They were magnificent.  It was a little surreal, being so close and knowing that if you got out of the car you would be dead in minutes.  We also got up close and personal with a pile of elephants and giraffes and even saw some Kudu, which are usually pretty reclusive.  We hunted hard for cheetahs and leopards but struck out, but there is always next time.

     We have had opportunities to share our faith with some that speak English and have been encouraged by their responses.  We look forward to the day when our Swahili doesn't present boundaries with the people we come into contact with or the work we will be doing with the NGO.

Took this picture off of our back porch

     Rainey and Asa started Iringa International School on Monday and have had fun getting back in a school rhythm and meeting friends.  Their classmates are all African or European, but each of them have a few American teachers so they have enjoyed connecting with them.  Below are some more pictures of what we are up to and what life looks like on this side of the world.  If you would like more real-time pictures or updates on African happenings, follow Sarah, Rainey, or me on Twitter or Instagram, the buttons are above.
   
     Following Him,

     The Dinkins

 

Rou's adopted daughter, Gladys