Tanzanians affirm again and again that there is no God like our God. None of the other gods compare to the Most High God. I have always thought that these were statements about God’s power but this week a friend helped me to see that this is also about God’s […]
An expat friend who has lived in Tanzania longer than I have mentioned the other day that she had been asked for the Swahili for ‘comfortable shoes’ and had found it weird. There’s a literal translation you can make (viatu vya kustarehe) except no one would ever say that. You […]
After my post about mafanikio, another missionary here in Tanzania wrote to me with some questions. In her experience, people who are on the road to becoming successful are torn down by others until they stop striving, so they never reach it. Mediocrity and inertia are what Tanzanian culture produces. […]
In the English dictionary, ustawi (ooh-STAH-wee) is prosperity or welfare; mafanikio (ma-fa-nee-KEE-oh) is accomplishment or success. The latter is a very popular topic for teaching in Tanzania. The former does not feature as much, but a long-time missionary suggested it to us as an alternative to mafanikio to distinguish prosperity […]
Meet Jesus at uni 