Richardson, Philip and Fiona - Tanzania
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
Fiona and Philip
Richardson
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