This is Jana.
When we came to Tanzania in 2008, my baby was about 18 months old (Silas at the time). Our entire first 2-year term, I felt like my biggest effort (along with learning Swahili) had been to help Grace and Silas be comfortable around Tanzanians, since everything and everyone was so strange and unfamiliar to them.
Since Moriah was born in July, I have had the wonderful experience of introducing our newborn to Africa. What is different about her, though, is that Africa is completely normal to her, since it is all she knows. Most places I go the large percentage of Africans around me have NEVER seen a white baby before and find her fascinating. She loves captivating peoples' gaze with her bright smiles.
Visiting with people these last 5 months has been delightful. Everywhere I bring her, people seem to feel blessed to have seen such a cute little foreign baby. I feel like it has opened up several relationships with other mothers with whom I interact. When they see that our baby is so comfortable being held by Africans and full of smiles for them, it makes people see that our family is a normal family just like theirs.
Having a baby here has not been without its challenges, but the blessings have far outweighed them.
How wonderful that God is using the birth of Moriah to open doors of opportunity! Praying for you!
Posted by: Charity Streblow | 09 December 2011 at 04:45 PM
Thank you so much for posting Jana. It is so good to hear that God is blessing you and your family in this way. I hope the good days outweigh the hard times and you can continue to praise God through it all. Praying for you!
Posted by: Joy Baxter | 10 December 2011 at 04:03 AM