The Who, Why, What, & How of the Trip

We are headed to Tanzania, Africa in 6 weeks!!!! Stick with me as I try to explain the heart behind the trip!

Who?

Joshua, Jonathan and Karen Fahmer will travel with our sweet friend Aimee Sholler.  Aimee became a fast friend of our entire family and she came with a heart for missions having lived in not only the US but in Europe and Africa as well.  Her heart has longed to return to Africa and she has been such a blessing to my not-so-traveled heart to team with.  The four of us will be traveling together to visit friends of mine from college, Stephanie and Aaron Boon and their three precious girls.  The Boon family are missionaries in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and have lived there for about two years now.  They are part of a team of missionaries out of Grace Baptist Church in Mason, Ohio.  They are part of the community taking part in feeding centers, building up the believers in Jesus, educational programs, helping at an orphanage and living life as lovers of Jesus.  See their info here: http://thegracemissiontz.com/aaron-and-steph-boon/.  

Why?

This statement lives in my heart "We.can.do.that." Steph is sister to my dear college room mate, Tiffani.  During a conversation with Tiffani about 5 years ago, she mentioned how Steph's family was starting a journey to be full-time missionaries to Africa.  Upon hearing this, I felt a pull to go and visit her someday with my boys, although feeling it was just an idea or dream at the time.  I was able to feel this pull a bit harder while visiting her and her sweet family in Ohio with my boys back in 2010, their family's love for Jesus radiates.  In January 2013, a sweet tiny little 3 month old 4 1/2 pound baby boy named John Jacob was given to the orphanage the Boons are part of.  He lived with them for a few days before he passed away. (Steph's blog post and picture of this sweet boy http://greatandhiddenthings.blogspot.com/2013_01_01_archive.html)  I wrote to Stephanie telling her how I ached at the thought of knowing the loss of a tiny sweet boy gone after praying for healing and hope. She wrote me back saying, "John Jacob and so many other children ....need people... to love, nurture, hold, care, sing to them, kiss and snuggle, and cherish their little lives as a gift from our Lord. We can do that.  I will pray for you, my friend."  This always brings tears to my eyes. "We.can.do.that."  When I read that, I prayed and felt that it was right to commit to make plans during the year to be in Africa.  We will be flying back from our trip exactly 15 months to the date of that message....not bad for sticking to a timeline.  My husband Jason's initial thoughts were, "No.WAY!" but after seeing God work in lives around him and his own, he warmed up to the idea and has a leading role in making this all happen.  

Why take our 11 and 10 year old boys?  I don't just want us to know about different cultures and ways of life, I want us to see it.  We want to be part of life away from our comfortable American homes and be there to be changed by what God has us see.  We want His heart.  People live as part of a community and have unity and love, and they have it without all this "stuff" that clouds our vision but rather they have Jesus and He is enough.  I want us to see happiness and joy away from the clouds and I feel Jesus wants that for us too.  There is so much talk about the poor, widows, and orphans of this world, but seeing it will sink into our lives and change us in a way that nothing else will.  Joshua has always been gifted with a special love for young children.  His heart to help and serve has encouraged me to expose him to situations to use his gift, and in Tanzania, he will be surrounded by children.  Jonathan has such a tender giving heart.  He is sweet and sensitive, and God can use this trip to imprint a love and compassion for others.  We want to be blessed by being the hands and feet of Jesus, no matter the age.  

What?

About 3 years ago, when we were talking about going to Africa "some day," Jonathan was contemplating how we were going to communicate with the people who speak Swahili.  After a moment, he perked up and said with such enthusiasm, "We can be LEGO Missionaries!"  His then-7 -year-old heart started something that is going to come true during our trip.  To bridge the language barrier and have the boys share something they love, we will be bringing and leaving as many Legos, MegaBloks and Duplo blocks as we can bring in our luggage to share with the children of the orphanage as well as to be used in the community's school program.  Everyone will enjoy this kind of creative expression and it will be such a gift for us to create alongside each other.

We will travel to Tanzania, and first get acquainted to time change, have a bit of language training and get acquainted with our hosts and new surroundings.  During our stay we will:  
*help at a Manna Feeding Center which feeds the poorest kids in an Islamic slum community, 
*visit their orphanage in Morogoro for a few days, (Legos!)
*make visits to those in need of prayer for physical and spiritual needs, and 
*just do life in Tanzania with the Boon family.  (more Legos!)

Here are a few of the sweet faces and stories or the children who live in their orphanage:  http://greatandhiddenthings.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html  

How?

God is getting us there!  He got us flights that saved us thousands of dollars.  He gave us an idea to collect bottles and cans with $.05 deposits on them.  Every Monday is our trash day and over these last few months, through sun, rain, snow my boys and Jason have put on rollerblades or boots and walked our neighborhood collecting cans from recycle bins.  Our family, friends and neighbors have all handed us bags and cases full of returns.  They have worked so hard. Although it seems like a really slow way to raise funds, God has provided us with more than 30,000 cans giving us over $1500.00 cash.  We have had people who want to join in our journey by giving money towards travel or Lego sets.  People have donated the Lego building sets. It has been such a blessing to see all these provisions offered up by willing hands.  

Want to be part of this?  

Pray: We would be honored if you would pray for us!  

*Pray for safe travels as we travel for 24 hours on the 8-9th there and the 19-20th home.  

*Pray for safe travels while in Tanzania as we will be traveling the country a bit to get to the orphanage and other cities.  

*Pray that our hearts will be ready to soak in what our senses experience.  
*Pray specifically for Joshua and Jonathan.  

*Pray for our hosts as they are opening up their lives and time to us.  
*Pray that illness and exhaustion to be far from us.  

*Pray for Jason and the little ones back home with half their family in Africa. 
* Pray for clarity of mind, heart and soul.  

*Pray for all the precious people here and there that God uses in our lives to see Him more clearly.
*Pray for patience in all areas for everyone involved.  

We would love to use your gift on our journey!  Want to give bottles/cans, Legos/Mega Bloks/Duplo blocks, or monetarily?  Do it!  

*Donate your bottle return or save the bottles for us to get from you.  

*Donate any new or used Lego, Mega Blok, or Duplo blocks...ANY!  If you are buying sets and need a suggestion as to which ones, contact me and I will help.  The sets stay there in Tanzania for the use in the orphanage and the after school program.  

*Any amount of money will be used.....we have been raising funds for a $7,000+ trip 5-cents at a time so know that any amount is not too small or big.  PayPal donations can be given just by clicking the paypal button at the bottom of this blog.  I can also be reached for addresses to send donations of any kind via commenting.

Just keep in mind our travel dates and try to get us any gifts anytime between now and the end of March if possible.

Thank you so much for all the time it took to read this letter!  I could have made it short but I want you to know as much as you can....because I am just so so sooooo excited about what God has done and is going to do!  Please contact me with any other questions and I will do my best to answer.

God Bless,

Karen Fahmer