We returned yesterday from a MAF Tanzania International Staff weekend away. It was a great opportunity to get away somewhere new, to meet up with our MAF friends who are based in Dar es Salaam and to generally recharge our over-heated "batteries" in this hot season here in Tanzania!
Morogoro is half way between Dodoma and Dar- about a 4 hour road trip from either direction, so it was an ideal middle-way meeting point for our weekend away.
A few photos...
Just the sight of those towering, lush, green hills right outside our family bedroom provided much-needed mental relief, after months of staying in flat, dry-as-a-bone, brown Dodoma! It was a treat for my eyes and I felt myself relax as I enjoyed the different landscape and the colour green!
It was good to have time to ctach up as a team and also to have meetings together in the airy meeting hall. We had a South African couple from Pretoria who came on the weekend as pastoral support and to lead our meetings.
The Young MAFers also had fun, with a kid's programme running in the mornings to keep them busy...
...and the pool to cool them all down during the hot afternoons! Ben was delighted that he can swim again, after a week of not being allowed to get his chin or under his neck wet after his little accident. The superglue has done amazing work and his chin is now healed, easily surviving an afternoon immersed in the swimming pool!
Although Joel did not go swimming, he did not miss out, as his little MAF friend next door, baby Grace, kindly lent him her inflatable travel-bath! Cute...
Meals were fantastic- and as on any weekend break like this, there is always the added bonus of not having to shop for food, cook food or wash up any dishes :-) We gave a big Thank You to the kitchen staff before we left, to show our appreciation.
After lunch on Sunday, it was time to head home. For the first couple of hours, we soaked up all the greenery we could lay our eyes on as the Tanzanian bush whizzed past our car window... but we knew we were back in the Dodoma Region when the countryside returned to the familiar flat, dusty landscape of our African home:
Back home, we are thankful for a great weekend away - and we wait hopefully every day for grey skies to bring much-needed rain to water the thristy land of Dodoma. Apparently, there was some rain when we were away in Morogoro this weekend, but don't tell Ben- he has been waiting for weeks for the opporutunity to play outside in rain- he has stacked his wellies, raincoat and umbrella as close to the front door as possible! He would be so very disappointed to miss the rare chance to get wet and muddy - and so we hope that there is lots more rain to be sent our way before Tanzania's rainy season is over!
So glad that you have all been able to get away and relax and be spiritually refreshed as well. Poor little Joel he does seem to have had a difficult time lets hope that he is over the worst. My friend Janet has two grandchildren, Elliot aged 2 who has just been in hospital with pneumonia just after his little sister Matilda was born and then she ended up in hospital with bronchiolitis at 3 weeks old, she is gradually improving. Children are such a worry and for you especially so being so far away from what we consider to be good medical facilities. Take care and HAPPY Christmas. Merle & Ian
ReplyDeleteFrom your prayer letter15 sounds as if rain has come to parts of Tanzania,hopefully also to Dodoma so that Ben can don his his rain wear and enjoy some happy splashing! So glad you've been able to get away to enjoy pastures new,good company and food,physical and spiritual renewal and safe travelling,love nana and granddad.
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