It’s a pretty well-worn story in some circles: the idea that ‘Africa’ is rife with the prosperity gospel. The American pastor John Piper, in his eagerness to promote good theology, gives the impression that this entire continent is flooded with bad teaching about health, wealth and prosperity. In the previous […]
Our house mama had something a bit like a second wedding this weekend. We were honoured to participate and excited to learn about this aspect of Tanzanian culture. Every wedding may not be exactly like this, but here’s some of what we observed:
1. It is cold. I think this is because all white people come from Europe. People often ask us if we are coping with the heat. They are very surprised when we tell them that Australia is hotter than Tanzania and when they worry about us getting burnt because of […]
For all my talk about cultural differences in parenting just being different, without attaching judgemental labels, it breaks my heart to see the way kids react when they see a picture book. Last month was the commencement service for the university and a number of children from the neighbourhood attended. […]
Going into town for us is a matter of negotiating cars, 4WDs, carts, bikes, motorbikes and pedestrians where there are no traffic lights, zebra crossings are nominal and there aren’t really any footpaths. You can’t use a stroller and Elliot won’t tolerate being on my back anymore so there have […]
When I’m having a conversation with someone and I say something, if they understand, most of the time they repeat it. Often if I’ve made a mistake, they correct it which is really useful for me, but I don’t think they’re doing it just to correct me. I think it’s […]
I think Elliot has passed some sort of Tanzanian developmental milestone. Where before I had to ensure that he was wearing socks, and field questions about whether he was cold, now that he’s walking the discussion is about whether he’s talking yet. This is also possibly because he’s twice the […]
Meet Jesus at uni 