They’re here. 

 

This is the Russell family.   David will be HOPAC’s new chaplain.  They arrived on March 22.

 

This is Marc.  He will be HOPAC’s new Bible teacher starting in August.  He was here for a week last week, getting to know the city, the school, and our house (since his family will be living in it while we are gone). 

 

Gil has been both chaplain and Bible teacher during his years at HOPAC.  But it became clear pretty early on that this was a two person job.  I helped him a lot, but there was so much we wanted to do that we didn’t have time for. 

 

So we were thankful when HOPAC agreed to hire two men to take Gil’s place.  And we are even more thankful that both of them are talented and committed and men of God and Scripture.  What a huge relief for us as we leave this place that we love so much.

 

Last week, our spring break, was very, very full as we showed these two men (and the rest of the Russell family) around Dar.  But oh, so incredibly fulfilling and exciting as we passed on to them our vision for HOPAC.

 

We took them to Mbudya Island, one of our very favorite places. 

 

 

Mbudya has the most incredible coral reef.  Snorkeling with our kids (even Lily can do it!) is one of our favorite parts of living so close to the Indian Ocean.  So, so wish I could show you what we saw under that glistening water. 

 

And Gil took Marc on a mini, one-day safari. 

 

 

 

But just to make sure that Marc wouldn’t be too enamoured by the beauty of Tanzania and this apparently care-free life we live here, Gil made sure that they all got stuck in the mud for six hours. 

 

 

The countdown begins.  Eleven weeks to go.