For four more weeks, we'll be enjoying living on the Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) base and training centre, before moving to our own home, some 15 minutes from here.
Five years ago, two CMF missionaries planted the Arusha Vineyard out of the Karen church in Nairobi (the suburb of Karen named after Karen Blixon of 'Out of Africa' fame).
We taught at this school once before and are gearing up for two weeks of teaching on Marriage and Parenting.
What a blast and privilege, teaching rural church-planters, hailing from unreached people groups in isolated parts of northern Tanzania! All five couples come from witch-doctor families and are returning to their homelands to work with their own people in less than a month.
One of their regular lecturers, and key CHE (Community Health Evangelism) educator, is himself the son of a witch-doctor; a man who's experienced the high price of having his father drag him through the Tanzanian legal system, to legally disown him as a result of his decision to follow Christ. No superficial faith here!
Part of our marriage teaching will involve breaking the news that sex is intended to be a gift, a gift for BOTH partners, and how it can become so in their relationships. We'll be meeting with the guys and women separately for our candid and culturally challenging talks. Believe it or not, this is part of the Gospel - good news that effectively impacts every part of our lives and theirs! What we take as a given in the West is revolutionary here. While we are careful to work with culture, so as not to be imposing Western values and ideas, we find ourselves having to confront cultural norms that rob and violate women and children.
Other aspects of the Good News for these tribal villages will be water projects, famine relief, etc...
Gary Woods (CMF & Arusha Vineyard planter)
Skits are used to help evaluate and teach
Lulu - CHE leader and instructor
Five years ago, two CMF missionaries planted the Arusha Vineyard out of the Karen church in Nairobi (the suburb of Karen named after Karen Blixon of 'Out of Africa' fame).
We taught at this school once before and are gearing up for two weeks of teaching on Marriage and Parenting.
What a blast and privilege, teaching rural church-planters, hailing from unreached people groups in isolated parts of northern Tanzania! All five couples come from witch-doctor families and are returning to their homelands to work with their own people in less than a month.
One of their regular lecturers, and key CHE (Community Health Evangelism) educator, is himself the son of a witch-doctor; a man who's experienced the high price of having his father drag him through the Tanzanian legal system, to legally disown him as a result of his decision to follow Christ. No superficial faith here!
Part of our marriage teaching will involve breaking the news that sex is intended to be a gift, a gift for BOTH partners, and how it can become so in their relationships. We'll be meeting with the guys and women separately for our candid and culturally challenging talks. Believe it or not, this is part of the Gospel - good news that effectively impacts every part of our lives and theirs! What we take as a given in the West is revolutionary here. While we are careful to work with culture, so as not to be imposing Western values and ideas, we find ourselves having to confront cultural norms that rob and violate women and children.
Other aspects of the Good News for these tribal villages will be water projects, famine relief, etc...
Gary Woods (CMF & Arusha Vineyard planter)
Skits are used to help evaluate and teach
Lulu - CHE leader and instructor
Comments
Susan