Philip & Fiona Richardson - Tanzania |
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Prayer Update March 2008
Dear friends,
It's hard to believe that it's nearly three weeks since we left England but we are now happily settled back in Tanzania.
We spent a few days acclimatising in Dar es Salaam with friends. We managed to get our car ready for the road as well as fitting in a bit of swimming in the Indian Ocean (!) before heading down to Iringa just under two weeks ago.
We have had a great reception from so many friends, colleagues and staff here and have already celebrated two birthdays since arriving - Fiona and Bethany's! Bethany turned five last Sunday and fifteen children came to her party. Some girls her own age have moved in across the road to swell the number of potential playmates and motivate Bethany to re-learn her Swahili, which is a great blessing for us. Fiona did a terrific job of masterminding the unpacking (almost all our worldly goods were packed away in one room of the house while we were away), creating order out of chaos, and the house feels like home again.
Fiona and Bethany have started home schooling, which Bethany enjoys and she seems to be settling very well. She forgot her Swahili while we were away but is now working hard at picking it up again. Philip has already started teaching and received a warm welcome from staff and students who had been praying for our return for such a long time. The 'Pastors' class were so happy to see him and keep telling us how much they were longing and praying for our return.
We have been able to join together with our Church here in remembering Good Friday and we have both preached in Swahili already (!), by sharing in giving some of the reflections on the 'Seven Words' spoken by Jesus from the Cross, in Friday's service. We give thanks to God for how remarkably well Fiona has been - she has done a lot of physical work; unpacking boxes and filling shelves, preaching and meeting with one person after another as well as countless other jobs. Everyone has commented on how well she looks and how much strength and energy she has for tasks that would have been beyond her in the past few years.
We thank God that Iringa has had better rains since February and the crops are looking better than we expected. We continue to pray for those who are struggling with the very high food and fuel prices at the moment.
As we rejoice in the hope of the resurrection this Easter Sunday we want to thank you for your prayers which have sustained us in so many ways as we continue to settle back here and we pray that you would know the life and joy of the risen Christ this season.
love from us all