It has been a really busy and crazy few months since I last posted. I know that I am not good with keeping up on this blog…but I am going to at least put some pictures up with brief captions of some of the kids activities as I know that is what some people really like to see!
While Luke and I both stay busy with our various ministry roles, I am very blessed to also be able to focus on the kids!
2 weeks ago we celebrated Pamoja Week at Hopac. “Pamoja” means “together” in Kiswahili. Pamoja Week at Hopac is a week long celebration of togetherness that consists of dressing up daily, playing games at recess, having extra fun assemblies and concluding the week with the schools FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR: International day!
There is no “buy rite” or costume store here…so you guessed it, all these outfits were made completely from scratch. I went to the market and dug through piles of used clothes and then cut, sewed, glued, and pieced together each costume!
Day 1: Career Day (Adi: Robber, Jude: Mad scientist, Ezra: FBI Agent)
*I am not so sure the Primary School Student Council President as a professional robber was a good idea…but hey, it was fun!
Oh yes, I forgot to mention…Adi and two of her classmates ran together for Student Council in the month of September. There were 6 other teams running, consisting of a President, Vice president and Treasurer. Adi, Claire and Marcus put in SO much time making over 120 rainbow loom pencil grips on pencils for every student in primary. After campaigning for a week (posters, speeches, etc), the primary students voted. It was with great excitement that Adi’s team won and are the student council leaders at HOPAC.
Day 2: Sports Day (Adi: Gymnast, Jude: Basketball player, Ezra: Hurdler)
Day 3: Ancient Day (Adi: Greek princess, Ezra: Ancient Roman soldier, Jude: ancient samurai ninja)
Day 4: Hawaiian/Beach Day (Adi: Ukulele playing pineapple, Ezra: Scuba diver, Jude: Beach bum skater)
Day 5: International Day
International day at HOPAC is a blast. It begins with a parade of the 39 countries our school represents , followed by performances, decorated and interactive country information rooms, and a ton of AMAZING food from each country.
We even represented a little island USA with a hula dance.
The evening of International day, Adi and her sweet friend Claire celebrated their 11th birthday together. We had 12 girls for a sleepover! There was plenty of singing, dancing, laughing, craft making and eating!
The next day, while Luke went into the city for the Youth in Dar young leaders celebration, the kids and I wipped together a few more costumes and headed over to some friends house for a Trunk or Treat Hoopla.
Going back a month…
We were SO blessed to have my parents visit us the first 2 weeks of October. It was great to have them be a part of the ministries we are involved in and awesome to do life with them for a few weeks. We even got away for a little 2 day safari!
We were right under this leopard…and I about lost it. This is not a zoo. These are wild animals and we were in an open car. Same with the lions in the left bottom corner above. At any moment they could pounce us….
Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving with some other Americans here in Dar. It is quite the task to make everything from scratch…(and often having to adjust to using what we can get here)…but it was SO good and SO worth it! We even watched an American football game and some of the Macy’s Day parade.
A few from the last 2 week course of Work for a Living.
…and the Business for a Living workshop this last week. I (Amber) taught about using natural resources that can be found for free/cheap here in Tanzania (coconut shells, driftwood, etc) to create products to sell to provide income for themselves. This business course is woven together with worldview teaching and the gospel presentation. 
Some sweet friends from mommies group gave me a little surprise birthday party! THANK YOU also to so so many of you who messaged me, texted me or wrote on my Facebook wall for my birthday on Wednesday. It was a great day with bible study, mommies group, teaching gymnastics, getting pulled over by the police and almost having to go to the Police station (oops), and a lovely dinner made by Luke and the kids!
Okay, that is all for now! I will update some more after Christmas!
Such great pictures. I️ love all your great creativity Amber!,
LOVE these pictures and all the events and ministry they represent. Such creativity and energy pictured here! Thanks for all those you are investing in – including your own family!!
I really don’t know how you get all this done while still doing your missions tasks, starting and organizing gymnastics classes for the Kids, working with youth in Bible studies and other events you are evolved with. Living life (even for such a short time) is an eye opener (and to be honest) exciting, scary (especially the incident with the lions and the leopard ) and rewarding. All that on top of being able to be with you all. Amazing visit.
LOVE, LOVE these photos!!!!
Thanks for the update! Love all the pictures and those costumes are incredible! You have a gift for sure! I’d love to hear more about the oops with the police . That’s the kind of stuff that happened to me as a young mom. Trying to do right and somehow messing up and getting caught. What memories are made of I suppose! Love you guys!