Tim and Carol Derbyshire - Tanzania |
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Prayer Letter September 2008
How important is education to you?
We first got to know Yohana when he worked as our gardener. A clever and reliable young man, Yohana had however only completed primary school. He worked with our neighbours at the weekend, selling Christian books and Bibles. They later sent him to Don Bosco Training school to train as an electrician. Yohana completed his 3 years by coming top of his class, and through experience we found him to be a very capable electrician. But there was no work to be had in Dodoma where he and his three daughters live. He was called to Don Bosco in Dar Es Salaam and interviewed for a teaching post, but when they realised he hadn’t been to secondary school, they weren’t interested. His old Training school were short of teachers, so asked him to work for them, at a ridiculously low wage; but Yohana would not risk his job by complaining. However, when he realised how much ‘extra’ and ‘unofficial’ work the other staff were doing using Don Bosco tools, he felt he had to leave, or compromise his firm Christian principles. There was great rejoicing when Yohana was finally appointed at his third job interview in Dar Es Salaam. But what about the girls? Their comment? ‘Baba, that’s great, we will be fine with grandma, and now you can send us to secondary school ourselves!’ Yohana is hoping to study secondary school in the evenings (on a 2 yr. fast-track course). He gets home for a weekend each month. Education here is a precious, valued and often hard-to-come-by opportunity.
New Librarian
I have been Acting Librarian at college for about 4 years now. We have searched long and hard for a new librarian at MTC. Success came in the shape of Gladys who was interviewed and offered the job. But she was Kenyan, had no passport, and the whole immigration process proved too difficult and expensive. Other applicants didn’t qualify. Then Rebeka returned (she had helped voluntarily when the last shipment of books arrived from the USA while waiting to go to Arusha for a Communications course). Rebeka asked to work again in the library and has been appointed as our new Librarian. I am her supervisor and trainer, but it is such a relief not to have the responsibility any more and more time to concentrate on the job I should be doing. Rebeka lives in the next village and can walk to work in 10 minutes. God is good!!
Look back and thank God. Look forward and trust him.
As a new academic year gets under way, it’s lovely to see the students again. Some have not yet returned as their Bishops did not approve funding before going to Lambeth! Some have managed a part of their fees. Tiriza who struggled through last year, and needed help to finish her fees has been making baskets to sell and worked on the farms to raise funds. Stanley hoped to work on farms and make some money, but hurt his knee in a fall on the way home and was in bed for three weeks. Gabriel planted his farm in December, but the rain stopped soon after. The first crop died and just as he was due back at college rain started again. His wife and children planted sweet potatoes, and he has managed to sell some of the crop to pay fees, but it’s a fraction of what he needs. Still they return, hopeful that we will be able to find some sponsors who will help them to complete their vital studies.
The Heart of Africa
And these studies ARE vital. We had a prayer day last term where we prayed, fasted and cried out to God for our college which was in dire financial need. We walked the boundary seeking in prayer to seal some of the gaps in the walls of God’s college here, and were challenged to examine OUR lives and see if there was anything in OUR behaviour that was spoiling the work of God’s kingdom Building in this place. The evil one didn’t like it. Moses, newly appointed Principal was knocked down that week with a serious bout of malaria, and took weeks to recover. In the teaching that day we were encouraged to see MTC as the heart of what God is doing in this country, and our attitude and lifestyle as vital to the future of the college. The Prayer Day was a humbling turning point for us. And God opened His generous arms to us through the subsequent gifts of many kind friends. We are still struggling financially, but we know God is good! All the Time!!
Pray for Principal Moses Matonya as he leads the college, with the support of Rev. Charles the Academic Dean, and Rev. Yusufu the Administrator and other staff. They have a huge job to do.
CAMS Issues
Thank you for your prayers for my role on the school Board at Canon Andrea Mwaka School. We have set out a five-year plan to try and bring expat and national school fees closer, and people seem happy with the decision. This term we have to make redundancies as there are some posts among Tanzania staff that are not necessary, or are duplicated. Some people are going to be very unhappy. Pray we do this with compassion and fairness. It is a difficult issue.
Tim’s news
Tim has just returned from a busy week in the States. Yes! ZBZ (the 208 Cessna that crashed over two years ago) was finally ready! The predicted date in May became late July! We pray that ZBZ will arrive safely later this week after the 5-7 day ferry flight back to Africa. Pray all goes well, the plane returns safely and will soon be fitted out and operational again to work in Tanzania.
Thank you again for taking time to read, pray and share in our work here in Tanzania. It is a great encouragement to us to know that you are there!
Blessings,
Tim and Carol