Compassion (com·pati)

com·pas·sion. com·pati. com·passus. co-suffering

Our English word, compassion comes from the Latin words "com" (with, together) and "pati" (the one who suffers, from which we get the word "patient" and "pity"). It is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it." It is to love together. The Swahili word is "huruma."

Last week we saw this word in action. The people at BMCC (Beacon Mission Christian Centre), a TAG church we work with in Nyegezi,  are compassionately serving their community in their desire to see people released from problems and all types of poverty. They run a nursery school, have been working with street kids since 2010 and with children with albinism since 2013. They recently teamed up with Compassion (Child Sponsorship Program) and it was their Compassion project for children in poverty that we specifically went to see last Saturday. Friends of ours in Tadley who work with Compassion UK were speaking at our church in Tadley last Sunday and they wanted some first-hand information and recent photos. So we went and Remmie (the Projects Director) told us more about the work they are doing.

Compassion kids learning about malaria

With Pastor Mbuke (centre) and Remmie (left)

So far, they have 201 children from families in poverty who they are helping through the Compassion partnership. They seek to help the children in four major areas: spiritual development, physical development (health and nutrition), social development, and intellectual development (income generating projects, education and skills training).

Many of these children are underweight or malnourished. Diets at home are poor and help is needed to help and teach the mamas about nutrition and balanced diet. Many of the children are often sick; every week Remmie says that over 20 children are at home sick. This is often due to poor hygiene and sanitation. Teaching is given on clean water; mamas have been told to boil water, but they say that they don’t own a big enough pot to boil the water in and it uses too much valuable fuel. Children that have been orphaned and are living with relatives are often abused or badly treated. BMCC teaches about the rights of children, their right to be loved and protected. They work with the government on child protection issues and are able to intervene and help children in harmful situations. They are able to pray with these children and their families. Sharing in the suffering and helping to alleviate it. And they are seeing suffering alleviated.

Uji time!

It is so encouraging to see the love and passion of God's people shared with others in the midst of their suffering; people demonstrating true compassion. People who are not selfishly thinking of their own desires and avoiding suffering. But looking at Jesus who embodies the word compassion. People who are joining with (com) other people, seeking to understand their situation, showing love and kindness, especially to those who are suffering (pati).

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

And so from the above verse, we see that all this compassion ends in com-fortis (with strength). A good place to finish. How many ways can we think of to show compassion and to give comfort?



Outside the BMCC church building

 

On another note, here is a recent news report from CBC which looks at the need for fuel-efficient stove projects! Good to see that CBC agrees with us! http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2753661

Love for Kids with Albinism and Compassion for Kids in Need

I have blogged before about the great work that Under the Same Sun (UTSS) is doing here in Mwanza to help kids with albinism (Rich Life Under the Same Son). This Sunday we were at a service at Beacon Ministry Christian Centre which is pastored by an amazing man, Valentine Mbuke, who is actively involved with helping so many in this area, including those with albinism and also the street boys. But it was a special Sunday this week, as the founder of UTSS, Peter Ash was visiting from Canada ... from Langley, B.C. Canada! He came with a team of others, including a few from Langley ... sometimes the world seems so small!

Peter Ash (right)

It was a privilege to meet Peter, who himself has albinism, and over the past five years has done incredible work as an advocate for people with albinism, people often in very real danger and also facing terrible discrimination here in Tanzania. You can find out more about him and the work he and others do with UTSS on their website here.

We arrived at the church at 8am, too late for Sunday school, but in time for the service. Following the first service in which Peter shared, we had time for a brief chat with the visiting team before they left and we returned to the second service in which Tim was preaching on extending the love of God. It was a real Tanzanian Sunday ... lots of singing and dancing and we finished the service 6 1/2 hours later at 2:30pm ... with a third service about to start! We all stopped for an amazing lunch, provided by the church, for EVERYONE! It was wonderful; all the kids ... those with albinism, all the street boys (all who had been bussed in specially), the whole congregation and us! And there was no "high" table (which is usual here) ... but everyone equal together, mixed and mingling! As Pastor Mbuke said "today there will be no high table, no low table or middle tables. We are ALL on the high tables!" It was a wonderful picture of the love of God extended to all without discrimination or hierarchy. I enjoyed sitting next to a lovely girl of eighteen called Elizabeti, whose goal was to become a doctor. She was truly an overcomer!

Tim preaching on the love of God

Lunch Line-up (another multitude!)

Chakula kitamu sana!

The previous Sunday, we went to a church on the edge of the city in a place called Nyakato, pastored by Elihuruma Swai, the Director of Projects and Development for the TAG Diocese. We were warmly welcomed there and Tim preached on Isaiah 42, impressing them all with his good Swahili! After the service, I was particularly interested to hear about the bees that Pastor Swai is accumulating to start a bee project, something I would like to get going on when we move into our new house! We were also all interested to see how well the shoe project is going (run with Compassion, who works with the church to help meet the needs of children from poor families). There are five boys working there, learning the art of making shoes ... and doing a very good job! When someone discovered it was Louisa's birthday, they made these beautiful shoes just for her! They also have a knitting machine on which others are making school uniform sweaters to sell.

Louisa watching her shoe being finished!

Boys on the job!

And in between these Sundays, as you know we had the "multitudes" conference, during which time we enjoyed having Andrew with us for the week from Iringa! In the little spare time we had with him, we were able to take him up for the view at the Dancing Rocks.



The Dancing Rocks

Andrew couldn't shift the rock!

And lastly, we can share the excellent news that our good friend and colleague, Jesca, who we trained to take over the stoves project in Iringa, is now MARRIED! We were so very sorry to miss the occasion at the weekend, but so happy to see and hear about their wonderful day! And we were so happy that Ezekiel and Mendriad were able to go to the wedding! We pray God's blessing on Frank and Jesca as they begin their married life!



Jesca and Frank with the EI Iringa Team

What's Cookin' on the Roof?

I've just had rather a shock! The telephone man came to fix our phone line, thus here we are back online, but this isn't the shock, although it could be as we only asked him to come on Saturday and we didn't mention any granny turning one hundred! But no, I was in the kitchen making an ordinary supper when I heard the girls shrieking, "MUM! Come here!" After realising it was a fun shriek and not bad news shriek, I said I was busy making supper. But they were insistent that I come to the rabbit hutch. So I did, but couldn't see them. Upon asking where they were, I heard their little voices coming from above, "we're up here!" To my horror, there they were prancing about on top of the upper roof! "The telephone man got us up here!" And so he had. He was there with them, his mate below tossing pliers up to him (thankfully just missing Louisa's head!) While I nervously shouted up to them not to move and to stay away from the edge etc. etc. .... he had them helping him clip and twist the wires! Oh my goodness, if this were British Telecom in England! Can you imagine what Canadian health and safety officials would make of this? Unbeknownst to mother, telephone engineer takes her 5 and 8 year old kids up on the roof to snip wires. But all was well and the two guys (who we do seem to know very well now after all the times they have had to come out!) got them carefully and safely down with only one squeal from Louisa, whom I thought until now was terrified of heights! Maybe she's cured now! And my heart rate has slowed down again now, too.

Fixing the phone line in the heights above!

We had a fun and busy weekend with Amisadai's birrthday party on Friday night and a wedding on Saturday. For Amisadai's birthday we enjoyed hot chili around a bonfire on which we roasted hot dogs, potatoes, doughboys and marshmallows (Laura's treat from Canada!). And then ate the girls' gingerbread house. It was good fun with Laura and the Galvins and the Sharpes.
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Roasting marshmallows with the Galvin girls!

On Saturday it was the wedding of Mama Marian, whom some of you will know as she has worked for EI for many years. She looked beautiful and very happy! And for a small wedding that originally was not going to have a party to follow, with over 100 people eating and celebrating, it was actually quite the party!



Today, Tim and Amisadai went with Andy and Dan and three workers to a village about 70km away called Ikuka. Andy is currently doing a water project at the school and they have asked us about building a fuel-efficient institutional stove and it could be possible that we do a stoves project there in the future. They then went on to see a Compassion project operated by the KLPT Church in Ilula. They met with a number of the teachers and children, including some of the children who are sponsored by our home church in Tadley. It was great to see the difference that is being made in the lives of these very poor children.



The latrine pit being dug at Ikuka school



Compassion Children (some of them!)