March was a month of waiting for something that never came on the farm but it was also a productive month for spiritual growth around Kisongo.  We got enough rain at the beginning of the month to get the corn and beans up and growing only to be followed by 4 weeks of nothing but heat and fall worms.  This is a problem for the ACSOP farm but a catastrophe for local farmers. On the positive side, we were able to get the broiler chicken program fully restarted this month.   Lord willing this will provide meat and some income for ACSOP and the farm.  Even though the fields aren’t growing like we hoped, we were able to see much growth in local Christians through some adversity.  It’s never fun to face trials but the growth has been a joy to witness in the Christians here.

Phillip and I have both continued our weekly Bible studies but in all honesty this month has been a month of “keepin on keepin on.”   We were constantly busy but it was much of the same work we did last month.   I know sometimes it’s easy to think that living in a foreign country is full of exotic experiences and dangerous situations and sometimes it is.  Sometimes though, it is just daily experiences that take longer than they would in America because of rough roads, piki pikis (motorcycle taxis known for their creative driving abilities), dala dalas (van taxis known for their insane driving abilites), difficult economic situations that lead to not being able to get the things we needed to get “quickly” and language barriers.  It’s just life with some extra time, dirt and coffee…not always in that order.  🙂

The boys are doing amazingly well.  We all have our good and bad days but we couldn’t ask for anything more with them.  They take on language barriers, electricity outages, water shortages and us being on the go often.   There are days that everything leads to tears and we take that has a good hint to take a break…sometimes the boys cry too.    Micah has lost his second tooth, Nathan finished one of his “school books” and they have gotten very good at catching bugs and cooking…hopefully not related activities.  Since Phillip and I will be busy during campaigns, we are trying to get through all of our school work before the middle of May…time will tell if we are successful.  For all who worry about the boys, our friend Angela comes and helps with the house and keeps the boys when needed.  She is a great blessing to our family and the boys love her.  SO have no fear, when I’m out and about, they are well cared for.

 

The boys are enjoying listening to audio books.  We are trying to limit screen time as we had fallen into a bad habit of too much staring at screens.  If you have any suggestions for chapter books, we would appreciate them!  They have listened to many Boxcar Children, Aesops Fables, some Magic Tree House, Sarah Plain and Tall, some Little House books, Caddie Woodlawn, etc. so any suggestions along those lines would be great!

 

Campaigns should begin coming in May and will continue until the middle of July so I promise things will get exciting around here soon!  We are continuing to pray for rain for all of Tanzania and would appreciate any prayers that you all could send.  Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us and please keep the work and the Christians here in your prayers.  If you have room on your prayer list, you can add us too!

In Him,
Phillip, Bekah, Micah and Nathan
For those who have asked, support can be sent in two ways:
Through Paypal at: pbduncan20@gmail.com
Or:
Checks can be made out to and Mailed to:
Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver
2707 S. Lamar Street
Denver, Colorado 80227 (Memo line: “Duncan TZ mission”)