Parental Guidance

February 1, 2008

After returning to the village for two weeks in the new year, my parents had come to visit me in Tanzania. I was fortunate to spend time with them, introducing to them this land that I have come to love. Although I had been here for 4 months, I was as curious and excited about the new experiences that we were met up with. My parents also gave me a different perspective to my life here.

They also brought with them gifts from Chinese friends. I was very touched that the friends in China had given us so much in prayer, in thoughts, in material support. Some donated pens, coloring pencils, little toys for the children and much more. One of my father’s colleague donated 20 winding flashlights that did not need batteries. It was a blessing when we passed it out to some people in the village. Due to the dark nights and no electricity in the village, this flashlight has really helped a lot of people. When our solar panel is not working well, the nurses can use the flashlight to help find the veins of patients or even to find the right room key. I sincerely thank all of you for what you have given to us here. We can do very little in the big-scale, but our job is to help in everyway possible in the lives of those around us.

One of the highlights of my parents’ short visit is our day in the village. It was more of a camping experience for my parents. We visited all my friends in the village in the heat of the day and my father videotaped everything. The children at the primary school was finishing their classes and all turned their attention to the 3 Chinese people (which they considered “white people” or guests) and all came running after us as we left the primary school. Imagine having almost 200 students running your way, it is almost as intimidating as being a rock star followed by crazy fans. We quickly tried to escape such great attention, but were still being followed for quite a while with giggling kids.

As we fellowshipped with the village pastor and his family, we blessed each other with a prayer. My father prayed for the church as a blessing from the church in China. We were all moved that we could be standing together, praying in one heart, Chinese and Africans.

After visiting all my friends in the village, we retreated to our village home. Dad quickly went to set up the charcoal stove (he set up good fires due to his camping experiences as a youth) and mom was chopping and cooking while I ran around trying to find everything we needed. We had Stella over for dinner that night and sang together, “Hakuna Mungu kama wewe” – There is no God like You) under the especially starry night. It was overall a good time at the village.

I appreciated my parents’ visit to Tanzania. For them, it was a broadening new experience. My father would always say, “If I can come to Africa, that means someday I can go to the moon.”. He never imagined stepping foot on African soil, but God brought them here. I appreciated their visit even more on a personal level. It means a lot for me that they see this place, the place I work, the place I live now and the people I have come to know and love. Their coming was an encouragement for me. Although the visit was short, we experienced a bit of life under the African sky together and that’s what mattered. Sharing life with those you love is so much sweeter.