Christmas Newsletter 2005

Today is the first day of December and most of you are probably already surrounded by various reminders that Christmas is near. Not so here in Kigoma. Except that the red flowers on the flame trees are blooming more and more each day and will continue to increase during this month. We have made a rope with 25 knots on it for the girls, and each day until Christmas they will untie a knot and receive a small surprise and each day we will read a chapter from the gospel of Luke as our Advent calendar. We look forward to spending Christmas here with Jette’s parents who live in Dar es Salaam.

Highlights
There is a Danish hymn; I cannot count them all, the signs of God’s goodness that I have received. I saw them fall as dew drops, before my wondering eyes. This very accurately expresses how we feel when we look back on this past year. God has been so good and faithful to us, through the good as well as the hard times.

It is definitely a highlight that we have now finally arrived in Kigoma and are in a house with a great view of Lake Tanganyika. A view that daily reminds us why we are here. There are many people out there along this lake who have yet to hear the good news that “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9)

Birthdays are always a highlight and this year we have celebrated in Florida, Montana, Denmark and here in Kigoma. Lyle cut a corner and Rachel is now a big 7 year-old. The girls are doing great, making new friends, picking up some Swahili every day and enjoy having a real home, as do we.

Life and Death
We just had a man at our door. He came to see us about a week ago received some help so he could take his wife to the hospital. Well, today he came to let us know that she had passed away and to thank us for helping him. A thing like that sure puts our own little problems into perspective. They have a little 4-year-old who is now left without a mother. Before leaving, he prayed a prayer of blessing on our family and of thanks for his wife and her life. Amazing, such inner strength God gives him at a time like this! But it is true; there is a bigger picture, a God who is always there for us.

Uzima
It has taken time getting set up as it always does here in Africa. Many important decisions to make every day about things in Uzima as we move forward. So many hurting people here in Kigoma that at times it can be overwhelming. We are planning a 260-mile prayer walk on a big portion of Lake Tanganyika visiting the villages on the way, introducing ourselves and doing a lot of research. This trip will be hard and long, about 25-30 days. But it will set a good stage for Uzima for the future. Lyle and a few others will take the journey and it will be on foot since there are no roads. Please keep this in prayer as we prepare to go in February. I encourage you to also step outside and take a walk, praying for your own communities.

Thank you, for praying for and with us throughout this year. Thank you for standing with us and dreaming with us to bring God’s heart for life, health and wholeness to people in need.
Have a Wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
Rachel, Miriam Acacia, Mikaela, Jette & Lyle Hall

Earthquake Update - We are fine

On Monday afternoon Dec 5th and earthquake hit Lake Tanganyika. The epicentre was approximately 80 miles south of Kigoma, but the effects were felt all over East Africa and as far as Angola to the Southwest. We first heard the rumble an then felt the shaking. Everything was moving, windows were rattling, a few things fell off the bookshelf. When it seemed to be getting more intense instead of letting up, we decided it might be safer to be outdoors, so we grabbed Mikaela out of her nap and ran outside. Even after we couldn’t feel the tremors anymore, we could see our hedge still shaking for several minutes. But we are all fine, we haven’t heard of great damage or casualties in our region, praise the Lord for that. Thank you to all who pray for our safety, God hears your prayers.

Rachel was very excited to experience a real earthquake, especially since we had just studied about the earth in school three days earlier, in particular we had studied earthquakes and tsunamis, so I couldn’t have given her a better hands-on lesson!!