Bibi Comes to Visit

“Family chronicles also trace our roots and shoots, our tribes and our allegiances. We research them and hang them in our living room. But do we see the purposefulness of God that ties parent to child over the centuries? Our surname is precious. Our given name is more precious still.” (The Wesley Study Bible, p. 493)

On February 15th, Eric blogged (on our personal blog) about our adventure of driving to the village of Weig’ita to bring Chacha Yusuf to Angel House. Eric wrote about how emotionally trying the day was because we were so excited, only to soon realize how sad it was for the family. The family, particularly the bibi and babu, knew that Chacha was the only family they had left from their second son. Chacha was to carry on the family name and Angel House was his only hope. Today, I saw Chacha frantically running around the house getting a bath and finding the best clothing he had. He put on a collared shirt and pants and even shoes! His bibi had come to visit him. She had walked all the way from her village to greet him and see how he was doing. Tears streamed down hers and his face as they sat and ate mendazi and drank chai together. She asked how he was and wanted to know all about the school he was attending and what he enjoyed doing.

This visit gave me mixed emotions as I was so excited for Chacha because he did not know if he would ever see her again, and yet at the same time, I thought of the children we have that have no family to come and visit them. Some of them cannot tell you who they have as a living relative. Derrick did not have a last name for many months when he first came because no one knew who his father was, we still do not know.

It is hard for me to think of not having family as I have a large one that I miss and love so much. I can tell you how far back my maiden name can be traced and that they were from Scotland. (My family does have a picture of Scotland hanging in someone’s house.) My maiden name is still very dear to me and defines so much of who I used to be and how I was formed into the person I am now. However, my definition of family continues to grow. I know that I will forever have at least fifty children, three missionaries, and ten staff members that I call my “family” and that it grows as we bring more in.

Angel House and the sponsors in America are the only family many of our children have. If you are a sponsor, I encourage you to write letters, send pictures, send gifts, or something so that they know someone out there is thinking about them and caring for them. These are the things that they decorate their beds with every morning and love to show people who visit, such as missionaries. They will say, “Can I show you pictures of my family?” What they really mean is that they want to show pictures of you. Family, whether born into or grown into, is important. We are learning that, help the many Angels that are now our family realize how big their family really is.

With His Love,
Liz Soard

a faithful beginning to our administration

"I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built." - Jesus, in Luke 6:47-48

painting the floors, starting another foundation

Ghana and Rahabu having a look at the foundation of the administration block being built.

Spreading the last of the cement, mixing and painting the floor.

They say the paint lasts forever if you mix it in with the cement as you're making the floor.

Stone by stone...

Measuring for the foundation of the office

our new sewing machine!

thanks to some lovely ohio ladies, we have a new sewing machine. pictured here is christina, a woman in anna's womens group who sews well. we have hired her to come out on saturdays and teach the older girls how to sew. thank you for a gift that will be used many, many times over.

gettin' kasuka-ed

Each week for the past several months since they've started attending St. Jude's, who lets students grow their hair long, six girls have made their way to the beauty salon on Sunday afternoon to braid their hair for the following week. The salon experience is very symbolic of the African culture in general. A few examples:

1. Waiting is not a big deal...this week there were 9 of us getting our hair done by two gals, and several people that came in after us just sat down and joined the conversation, not minding the fact that they might be there for hours. People here really, really know how to wait, in a way that Americans would never dream of being okay with.

2. Small things are social events....with a hard life comes more exuberant celebration over even the smallest of things. Being in the salon is a social gathering and an event to be enjoyed, and being here in Tanzania has taught (is still teaching, rather) me to be aware of how to find the joy in even the smallest details of the day.

3. The world is a family....the African proverb that says that it takes a village to raise a child is so true in every facet of life here. All the women that came in after us took up combs to help remove the previous braids from our girls' hair, not because they thought it would make the process go faster so the ladies would get to them more quickly, but simply because they wanted to help. One lady who came in to get her own hair braided ended up braiding Angel's hair, while our Rhobi took care of entertaining her two young sons outside the shop, and left before she even braided her own. Africans really truly know how to take care of each other, in birth, death, and everyday living. Another reason I love living here.

big-fros-are-us: Amina, Grace, and Rosie before braiding a family event, featuring angel and rhobi

nossi's first braid

afterwards: nossi and angel

AH Finance Committee

Bhoke Mwita and Peter Michael, along with a third secondary student that is rotated in weekly, are the financial administrators of the Angel House monthly budget. Bhoke graduated high school last year and is working as a staff member at Angel House, and is interested in studying business in the future. Peter Michael was elected by the rest of the children to help Bhoke and I make envelopes for each of the budget items, do the monthly and weekly shopping, and discuss how the budget needs to be adjusted from time to time. I am so proud of them and the responsibility they are handling so well on behalf of the whole house.

Tough girls

You have to be a real trooper to survive here. Bucket showers with cold and not all that clear water, dusty roads, and a first glimpse of the stark reality of how some Tanzanians live make for quite a culture shock, but the gals are doing great. Leading songs, dancing with the youth choir, holding babies, practicing English with the older students, and looking to find Jesus in each place we go...we're thankful for their ability to endure the tough stuff in order to attain the beauty that resides here as well.

Raegan and Winnie

Carol helping ChaCha and Derick make necklaces

Regan showing Grace, Sammy, and Winnie how to thread a needle