My trip to Tanzania this summer, was nothing short of A M A Z I N G!!!! I want to shout out a huge Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all who supported me through your donations, purchase of t-shirts, prayers and words of encouragement !! It ALL mattered and I am deeply grateful for you sending me! I made new friends and reconnected with old, and was completely astounded and inspired by the work that has taken place over the years by TNM. Seven years makes a huge difference y’all and the impact that clean drinking water has made to the many villages I visited was striking as the evidence surrounded me day after day.
I’m still in awe of all that I experienced during my two weeks there and would love to share a few of the highlights and my take aways from them.
Sophia
I have a beautiful new friend and her name is Sophia. 
She is a young Tanzanian woman who has a heart for helping others like no other than I have ever seen or known. She is Patrick’s wife (Thirst No More’s head driller in Tanzania). She loves the LORD, enjoys singing & cooking, and manages a small farm of sunflowers, which she just harvested to make sun flower oil. The LORD gave us rich time together and I learned so much about her life and her heart for loving and helping those in need. I have been deeply inspired by Sophia and having her permission, I would like to share some of her story with you as it will surely inspire you too.
The LORD has entrusted 5 beautiful children to Sophia, all under the age of 8. Two are from her womb (Stephen and Stewart) who are the definition of spunky, cute and loving, and three were orphaned. Of those three, one was abused by his supposed care takers and left to die in a shed, being starved to death and physically tormented by a machete to his skull (his scar remains today as a reminder of what he was saved from). Sophia had compassion for this little boy and brought him under her care to give him a safe and loving home. His name is Bright which is undoubtedly a prophetic name as his little life shines forth brightly with a story of redemption.
Then there is Patrick and Patson, twin baby boys whose mother died at child birth. The mother’s family rejected these babies as twins are considered omens in their culture. This coupled with the belief that the twins actually “murdered” their mother due to the amount of blood lost during child birth left the babies in a desperate plight. The twins were very premature (around 1-2 lbs each) and were left in the hospital with no medical care at all (not even oxygen, nada, nil, nothing)! I just can’t fathom this. But, the medical care systems in Africa, in general, are much different than in the first world.
From the beginning, Sophia learned of the twins plight and took them in. She described them as alien looking and that people were afraid of them. Their little heads were bigger than their bodies with their eyes and ears still closed, only fitting in the palm of her hand. EVERYONE thought she was out of her mind for taking them in and assured her they would never survive. She described how scared she was and the feeling of being so alone in the situation as she had no idea how to care for such underdeveloped little lives. Her fears were compounded by the rejection of medical help, being turned away by an orphanage and even the support of her local church. Even though the world seemed against her as she continued to hear voices surrounding her echoing that Patrick and Patson would never survive, God saw her heart and showed her how to care for them.
Being initially fed formula by an eye dropper, then eventually nourished by breast milk of Sophia’s sister, Patrick and Patson are nothing short of a miracle, Miraculously, Sophia’s milk returned after she had previously stopped breast feeding her youngest child giving her the ability to nourish these beautiful babies herself. She explained how she would hold these babies by their feet when they would intermittently stop breathing to promote circulation, and God would cause them to breathe again. There is no doubt that God has amazing plans for these precious lives! Just having celebrated their one year birthday, Patrick and Patson are healthy and thriving today. Just Amazing!
When you remember Sophia, let her story help you to push through the difficult times of life, especially those times that seem impossible. Her impossibility became God’s possibility. She was overcome by the LORD’s power who gave her the tools to beat the odds and thus began to spring forth life in others …..specifically through 3 abandoned viable creations. She was scared and lonely, but God never left her side one single time guiding and equipping her every step of the way as He continues to do now. I believe this is one of the mysterious ways that God works; when a believer suffers pain, difficulties, and challenges they are equipped to endure it so that their challenge is a spring board to bring glory to God and life giving oxygen to others. Just as Jesus suffered for us, so that we may live, Sophia took on a difficult task, so that these baby boys could be saved and that others could witness a miracle. And that is exactly what He did here, God brought himself glory through the difficulties that Sophia endured to help Bright, Patrick and Patson so that they could experience life!
Pray for Sophia’s strength, stamina, and that she will continue to grow in God’s word as He guides and directs her through her adventure of motherhood to Stephen, Bright, Stuart, Patrick and Patson,
My take away from this: Sophia inspires me to do hard things! I am challenged to say “Yes” to God, even when my limited mind can’t make sense of it and I hear the world saying, “No”.
I look forward to continue growing in my relationship with Sophia , praying for her, and encouraging her as she mothers all her children. For now, we will continue our relationship through the technology of Viber. God willing, I will see her again, face to face next summer.
SIFA Threads
I had the chance to spend quality time with one of my fellow missionary friends who lives in Dar es Salaam. Her name is Beth. Our daughters were good friends and Beth’s family and ours did a lot of life together when I lived there. During our visit, I learned more about a ministry she began in Dar es Salaam since I left. The ministry is called SIFA Threads and is a structured program that teaches women the skill of sewing, jewelry making, leather crafting and the art of batik. Additionally, these women are empowered with needed tools to learn how to use their new skill sets in business. But more importantly, the students are introduced to Christ and discipled throughout the program. What impacted me the most, is that Beth reminded me that SIFA threads was born out of a seed of prayer that we shared together in a Bible study that I hosted and led in my home when we lived in Dar. What began as a seed prayer, I was able to witness 7 years later as a beautiful harvest of new believers who are creating and sewing beautiful items and living productive lives. You can learn more about this wonderful ministry here.
My take away from this… God uses women to encourage each other in community through fellowship, Bible study and prayer. The LORD has been prompting me for a while to start up a women’s Bible Study again, this time in my home, here in Leander, TX. Beth’s story has catapulted me into taking the next steps to bring this prompting to life and I will be hosting a Bible study this fall . I can’t wait to see what God born visions, dreams and seeds will sprout forth from it.
Thirst No More
The most exciting portion of this trip for me was to see the fruit from all the wells that have been drilled since TNM began operations in Tanzania in 2011, which to date is 127 wells. The positive impact that has been made through the provision of water was visibly astounding. The evidence was everywhere!
Although, I was only able to visit around 10 of these wells, I remained astonished by the LIFE they have brought. Charlie and Patrick drove us across the country ,up and down endless bumpy, pot filled dirt roads, which are referred to lovingly as an African massage. You get the picture. The intense massages were worth it as their outcomes led to multiple church plants in the bush. These churches were established and have grown because the LORD chose a water well being drilled in their village to impact the lives of many for His glory.
The water is not only quenching thirst and bringing good health, but it is also yielding beautiful gardens that boast tomatoes, squash, eggplants. sunflowers, and greens. These gardens provide nourishment for the village and with it’s overabundance acts as supplemental income to the local missionary pastors.
I’m so incredibly proud of Charlie’s tenacity to see that the work continued after our departure from Tanzania. It hasn’t always been easy, but he continues to persevere, and just like Sophia, God continues to equip him with the resources and tools required to press on even when things seem impossible. I’m equally as proud of Patrick, TNM’s head driller in Tanzania. He is an incredibly trustworthy young man, self starter and not to mention a hard worker who puts in long hours and spends weeks away from home to lead the drilling team . Charlie and Patrick make a wonderful team with their gifts and talents! And, I just know TNM’s late president, Craig Miller, would be so incredibly proud of how the vision that God gave both him and Charlie has carried on and grown. I hope he is seeing it all from the best seat in the house, in his heavenly home. You can learn more about Thirst No More’s work here.
My take away from this: When I had to move from Tanzania due to my cancer diagnosis, my heart was broken. I wanted to be there….living, breathing, and taking part of the daily ins/outs and operations of TNM directly on the field. It fed my soul with excitement and purpose to be part of such an exciting ministry first hand, but in a flash, the day -to- day life of that vision was gone. However, on this trip, God showed me that He does not need me to be there. Duh…. I can be such a slow learner at times. God’s plan goes on with or without me , and what I witnessed with my own eyes was a beautiful harvest of life that has sprouted forth since my family’s departure 7 years ago. I’ve come to realize that it is time to embrace my assignment with TNM, which is to be His hands and feet on the ground here in Texas , working in the background to support Charlie and TNM’s team as we continue to understand God’s vision for His work in Africa through water. As I write this, it sounds so simple, but apparently I needed a fresh set of eyes to understand my role as supporter and advocate for Thirst No More. I’m so thankful to have experienced it all first hand again so I can share it with you.
Thank you again for supporting me through this trip!! I appreciate you all so much!!! And in case you are wondering, Yes, I’m already itching to return. God willing, I will next summer.
Our Journey 