the time has come.

derek and i will be saying goodbye to kigoma, tanzania quite soon (in less than a week!), and while we will be very sad to say goodbye to our new friends here (who are seriously SO AMAZING...tanzanians are incredible), we will be super stoked to get home and see our old friends once again. YAY SAN FRANCISCO!!!! we've both been glued to craigslist the last couple of weeks looking for rooms and jobs...goodness its a lot of work! hopefully i start getting some more replies to my replies soon. haha.

anyways, i wanted to share a little bit of what i was reading today in acts chapter 2. i found it to be really encouraging for me, and i think its a perfect picture of what the church (as a whole) should be...but unfortunately, for the most part it isn't.

in acts 2:22-41 peter is addressing the crowd that has gathered. some of them (in the crowd) were mocking the apostles, and others were just curious, but peter just told them why jesus died and was raised from the dead. he says in verse 24 "But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." and he went on to tell them all about it, and what David had said about it a long time before. After he was done telling the apostles about all of this, it says in verse 37, 'When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"' I love that. The felt the reality of the message and recognized it as true. it says they were "cut to the heart". i think that i identify a lot with that line especially since being here. there are so many orphans whose parents have kicked them out, or died of AIDS (one in particular who i will write more on later when i can post a photo), and no one wants to care for them. it cuts to my heart...i see the reality of it first hand, and it breaks me. i know that all these kids have now is the love of jesus. this scripture passage goes on to say in verse 41 that about 3000 people became "christians" that day. if you want to read this passage for yourself, here's a link:
http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=Acts+2%3A22-41§ion=0&version=niv&new=1&oq=&NavBook=ac&NavGo=2&NavCurrentChapter=2

the next section of verses that shows the outcome of all of this is verses 42-47. it says that the new followers devoted themselves to the apostles teachings, and to the fellowship with eachother. they saw the truth and embraced it. one way they embraced it is shown in verse 44 and 45, "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." first of all, they had everything in common. this means (to me) that there weren't denominations that were "right" and "wrong". they straight up followed the Bible, and followed what Jesus taught through the apostles. they were ONE, they loved eachother and encouraged eachother and "they had everything in common". cool. secondly, they gave things to those in need. they were generous. this is a sign of unconditional love...they sacrificed their own belongings and comfort for those who couldn't afford it. here's a link to this section so you can read it for yourself:
http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=Acts+2%3A42-47§ion=0&version=niv&new=1&oq=&NavBook=ac&NavGo=2&NavCurrentChapter=2

this is the early church. this is what christianity is truly about. what has christianity become? now, i'm not saying that all churches or christians have it wrong. definitely not. i'm just speaking generally, i'm talking about what the rest of the world sees. we see priests molesting little boys, we see rich christians being stingy with their money, we see christians who couldn't care any LESS about the environment..this BEAUTIFUL creation that God has given us we just continue trashing, we see christians walk right by homeless people and not even give a second look or a smile for fear that they'll feel guilty...maybe that guilt is jesus tugging on our hearts to do something for our fellow human being.

these are just thoughts that are coming into my head and convictions that are happening in my own heart. i think that jesus is trying to teach me new ways to love. i just pray that he will help me open up my heart enough to truly take hold of it all.

thoughts and such.

today as i was watching derek edit the video he is doing for hope of the nations here in kigoma, i was thinking/reflecting about the ministry (hope of the nations) and what they do here. this ministry really is so so focused on loving a building relationships with people everywhere they go, even if they're not in a place where they would be able to keep in contact with them regularly, they still show the people of that area that they are loved and cared for, even from afar. i think that their love for the nationals really does resemble the love of jesus, which is what we're here to do, right?! i think so. we're supposed to show the love of jesus wherever we are, in whatever we are doing! we don't have to be in a 3rd world country, like this one, to be the most effective. there are people who we live next door to, or we walk past on the street, or sit next to on the bus, or serve us our coffee who need the love of God just as much.

also, the people here who we are supposed to be ministering to and with show US more love than i knew was possible! for the first 2 months of living here in kigoma i was living with an african family in their home here. (i think i might have mentioned them in a past post? i don't remember.) i was living with jackson, his wife esther, and their 2 little boys, talent and joshua. they are a WONDERFUL family, who loves jesus sooooo much, and teaches their kids properly also, and everything they do just pours out the love of God. when we (myself and the other 2 intern girls) would come home late from working all day, mama talent (esther) would have hot water ready for us to take our showers with! (here there isn't hot water, you have to boil the water, then mix it with normal water...and they don't have electric or gas stoves to boil it on either, they have to boil it over some coals...it's quite a difficult process.) she would make sure we were NEVER hungry or thirsty. breakfast was always ready for us by 7:30 am with hot tea made! (mama gets up around 6-ish each morning to prepare all of this for us/her family.) anyways, i'm just writing all of this to say...this ministry here really seems to have it. sure, they have their weaknesses and struggles...but who doesn't! it'll get worked out eventually. there are always things to learn.

i've learned a lot from the africans since i've been here, and i know that derek has too. we've made some wonderful friends, and we've gleaned so much from them. it's been wonderful! i think we are both excited to go home and see what God has for us there. (and we're very very excited to go home and see all of our wonderful friends.)

on another note...we are returning to san francisco on september 11th! (well, we leave here on the 11th, then we arrive at SFO on the 12th.) yay! home...here we come! see you all and talk to you all soon.

love,
melody

Love.

Love.
Originally uploaded by dylonyork.

ahh ruthie. i miss you. i am writing this note to you on my blog as a symbol of my affection for you! i'm SOOO EXCITED to go home to san francisco and call you and talk to you on the phone. it's going to be amazing hearing your voice again...it's tough not having you to talk to all the time about so many things. i love youuuu best frienddddd!

love,
mel

derek's face is how i feel right now.

hawaiian cheesy cruise!
Originally uploaded by melody.gates.

so...see how bummed he looks in this photo? well, at this point in time, it was not true to his feelings. but little did we know, they would be quite true towards the end of our trip. for the last month or so, derek and i have been planning on going on a trip to egypt and israel for a month, thinking it would be very affordable (which it would be there). however...changing our flights is the part that is COMPLETELY un-affordable. it would cost ridiculous sums of money to change anything, sooo...we're leaving to head back to SF in 10 days. (at least i am...and i'm hoping that derek will still be able to come with me. he has a different kind of ticket than i do, so he can push back the dates easier than me.)

anyways...all this to say...san francisco, we are coming home sooner than expected. we will be happy to be in SF, but not exactly happy about missing our incredible adventure(s) in egypt and isreal. buhhh. bummertown.

we love you all. see you soon.

mel

I know it has been a longgg time...

Insanity!
Originally uploaded by melody.gates.

Dear friends and family,

I apologize, it has been SOOO LONG since I have posted anything regarding my life here. Everything has been great, and I am definintely alive and well. (Somehow.)

This photo is of the line waiting to get into the clinic we had set up in Biharu a few weeks ago. During each outreach, we have a medical outreach going on at the same time as seminars and Kids Club (games, songs, Bible stories). Hundreds and hundreds of people line up to see Dr. Len and Adonith. (Our 2 doctors.) This clinic was really great, and a lot of people were seen.

This past week we were in Kashaguru- a village that can only be reached by boat!! We just got back today, so check Flickr in a while and photos from there should be uploaded. We took a 13-14 hour boat ride to the village on Wednesday afternoon. It's madness. The African way is absolutely RIDICULOUS. They pack seriously 500 people onto a boat, and 350 of them don't have rooms to sleep in. There are chickens and fruit and sleeping people ALL OVER THE DECKS. So annoying. When we got on the boat (when we were leaving Kashaguru) 1st of all it was 2 hours late, so we were sleeping on the beach until 11pm. Then it took an HOUR to get out to the ship in a smaller janky little boat that was packed with about 75 people (30 of which were ours, plus all of our luggage). Once we got out to the Liemba (the ship) we were pushed into the 3rd class cabins (which is where everyone loads in) into a MADHOUSE of people who are so rude and pushing and going insane. It's no way to get anything done. Seriously. Not to mention its about 85 degrees down there! Ugh. What a nightmare.

Back to the village. Kashaguru was pretty nice. They were SOOO welcoming. We hadn't been welcomed like that in any of the other villages we went to! When we arrived (which when we got off the Liemba going there, we had to get on one of those small boats to get to the beach) they were having a huge dance fest Africana style on the beach waiting for us! Then they ALL grabbed all of our luggage, threw it up onto their heads, and walked with us into the village. It was cool. While we were there, we had another medical outreach, which went really great, we had some seminars for the mamas and the babas, and we had kids club which was for the little kids. This village was SOO ready for us to get there, especially since the last 2 times Hope of the Nations tried to go there something went wrong and they couldn't get there! (Since it is only reachable by boat, and the Liemba is the only boat that stops near by there, they pretty much dictate everything, and the last 2 times they were unwilling to give H of N a place on the boat!!)

Anyways, we got back just a few hours ago, and it was a longggg journey home. I'm just thanking God that we made it safe and sound. Keep on checking back for some more photos!! I will be uploading pictures from the Kids Club Leaders Camp we had a couple of weeks ago, and also of the trip we were just on, and a FEW photos of the trip Derek and I took with a couple of friends to Bujumbura, Burundi!

Love you all, and if any of you talk to Janelle...TELL HER TO CALL ME!

XOXO
Mel

it's been a long time, my friends!!!

_MG_4681.jpg
Originally uploaded by melody.gates.

we (the interns, minus derek--there are 5 of us total, derek, shane, faith, jaquie, and myself) played a game called "amazing race". it was basically like a scavenger hunt around town, where there were certain locations (21 to be exact), and we had to find as many as we could in an alotted amount of time, with a limited amount of money. we had 2 teams of 2, and it was a lot of fun...although i got sunburnt, of course. we had to take taxis and buses (called the "dala dala" here) and take photos in front of all the places. the point of the game is to learn our way around town as interns so that we can take the teams where they need to go whenever they are here. and it worked! we know our way around!! haha. we tied! the prize was going to the nicest restaurant in kigoma, which was fun. it overlooks lake tangyanika and is super beautiful with delicious food. i had eaten there before, but the other girls hadn't yet. yum yum. then me and derek and harold and coni (the missionaries that we're working with here) watched the movie "world trade center"...hahah...it was sad, but an ok movie.

uhhh...i know that's not very exciting, but here's a better story!!!!!!!!

the first weekend i was here, we went to a village called sunuka, and we were there from thursday through sunday. we had a medical tent, and we did some training seminars for a thing called "kids club", and a seminar for the mamas (a women's seminar). it was awesome. the medical tent was out of control!! we played with the kids allllll day long, learning tidbits of swahili in the process. but anyways, as a "thank you" for coming, the village gave harold and coni 2 goats! a boy and a girl. we named them ken and barbie. so we had taken 2 land cruisers up there to sunuka, and we had 21 people between the 2 cars...so clearly, we were PACKED TO THE BRIM! it was quite intense. not gonna lie, a lot of sweating took place. anyways, as you can imagine, with 2 goats, we were all kind of bummed to have them INSIDE the car! SOOOOO...derek and i said, "no way. we're strapping them to the roof!" so the boys did, and it was cruel, but who cares. they're disgusting GOATS! they were tied down to the roof, and the roads here are literally the WORST roads ever...super super bumpy (imagine 32948723974 speed bumps in a row of all different sizes for 2+ hours). so we were driving for about 30 minutes, when all of a sudden, derek and i are talking (and he is right next to the window, and i am next to him), and one of the goats FALLS OFF THE ROOF, still attached by her neck and foot!!!!!!!! HAHAHA. it made a huge THUD on the window right next to derek and i---it was a little scary. especially since we had just been joking about how what if the goats smashed their heads open on the roof and there was blood running down the windshield. hahah. anyways, the goat was fine, and we were fine, and had a good laugh. that's a better story, right?

some stuff about my roommates/living situation...
i'm roommates with 2 girls who are from southern california (their names are jaquie and faith) and they're really awesome. we're all living in the same room in a family's house nearby. the family is so great. jackson is the baba (baba means dad, or mister), and he is a translator, esther is the mama (mama can mean miss, mrs, or mom. it's very common to call people "baba jackson" and "mama esther" even if they aren't your parents. i call esther mama all the time.), and they have 2 little boys- talent (who is 2) and joshua (who is 7 months). they are the CUTESTTTTTTT kids. seriously such a gorgeous family. mama esther is super beautiful and is sooo joyful and loves jesus soooo much. she hugs us like 20 times a day. hahaha. and she speaks hardly any english, which is fun. derek lives across the street with shane and moses (a national). they live at the bible college, and it's a stone's throw from where we are living. every morning (monday through friday) we go across the street for baba joshua (harold)'s devotions with the school. (also here, it is very common to call people baba and mama with the name of their first child. my momma and daddy could be called mama and baba melody. harold and coni's first kid is joshua, so we call them mama and baba joshua...usually just around the nationals though. it's really interesting...i like it.)

today the first team of people from northern california are coming in! 8 people, i think? 4 adults, and 4 kids who just graduated from high school. should be an interesting dynamic! and then this coming weekend we are doing another outreach in a village called biharu from thursday-sunday, similar to the one in sunuka.

speaking of, i have to go...it's almost time for a staff meeting.

bwana asifiwe! (praise the lord!)


melody

the adventure is about to begin...

Hi! I am writing from Stuttgart, Germany where I have been visiting Katie!!! We have been having the best time. Yesterday we went hiking in the Black Forrest, and it was sooooo beautiful. Tomorrow I begin the trek to Kigoma, Tanzania and I couldn't be more ready. I was able to speak to Derek on the phone today, and it was wonderful to hear his voice and know that it will only be 2 more days until I will be SEEING his face!!! YAYYY!!

Anyways, I just wanted to make a quick post before I head into the great unknown! Haha.

Love Mel

friends like family

Tonight was my last night here in San Francisco for a long time. We had dinner at Ryan, Keelan and Brad's house, and we sat around talking and having a good time all evening. It really was a shame that I was (and still am) so exhausted! The point of this is to say, I love our friends here so dearly. In this time that Derek has been away, as weird and hard that has been, I've found that the people I'm with really do love me, and I really do love them. They've all been my support, and I know that I would have been one very, very sad girlfriend whose boyfriend is 934729834 miles away without them. Yes, I was sad, but they definitely helped me through it with their love. During these 2 (ish) months I've grown so much closer to all of them, especially Darian. We had the time to spend together and had a lot of amazing conversations.

To everyone here in San Francisco...I love you all so much, and I know Derek does as well. I'm pretty sure that as much as we're going to be enjoying what we're doing over there, nothing will be home compared to our home in SF. We're all like a happy family...I couldn't ask for too much more!!

Anyways, enough of the cheesy blah blah stuff. I just wanna say thanks. You're all incredible.

And also, thanks to my actual biological family (and Derek's!!) for everything...Jeff, Chris, Hanna & Libby, Lon & Carla (+ the rest of my fam in Florida)...You're amazing and wonderful and I'm so thankful for you all!!! It's great to have family close by.


Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I'll be reporting back from Africa!!

Love,
Mel

Oh. My. Goodness.

Some More Friends
Originally uploaded by derek on flickr.

how amazing is derek. and how amazing is this photo. i love it...i just had to put it in my blog...i'm just so in love with everything about this.

Divine creativity...

This was quite encouraging to me, being a person who loves to create. God is the creator of everything...including creativity. We were all made in his image, and so we all are able to create so much more than we even know. Now, we all have our own special areas of "gifting", but I am a strong believer that everyone can do anything if they truly want to...especially with the help of Jesus. If we are supposed to be followers of Jesus, and use his example to show others what He is about, then we've gotta be creative, as he was, or people will get BORED! (As many have.) The quote below is (again) from The Secret Message of Jesus, by Brian McLaren.

“In a sense, Jesus’ creative use of parables sets and example for us to follow. It inspires us to ongoing creative communication–seeking to convey the kingdom through the symbolism of words as he did in the sort fictional form of parable, and also in poetry, short story, novel, or essay. But it doesn’t stop with the symbolism of words. People have been inspired to express the kingdom through the symbols of space and form, color and texture–in architecture and interior design. They have used the symbolism of movement and gesture in dance and drama. They’ve used the visual languages of painting and sculpture and collage and flower arranging and gardening. Even the symbolic language of taste can express the kingdom in cooking. Come to think of it, we might say that the kingdom of God is like and arts colony…”

I don't know how to make links, but here's my amazing boyfriend Derek's blog, and he discusses this a little bit as well.
http://dhansen.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/5232007-peepss-blog-reimagine/#more-18

thoughts.

I've been reading a book by Brian McLaren called The Secret Message of Jesus. I know, it sounds like kind of a silly book...but it's highly thought provoking, and is really continuing the change of my heart in amazing ways. This is a quote found on page 102 of the book that really stuck out to me. It's basically a good summary of how the "Secret Message of Jesus" is supposed to be played out.

"Can you see how the secret message of Jesus is meant not just to be heard or read but to be seen in human lives, in radically inclusive reconciling communities, written not on pages in a book but in the lives and hearts of friends?"

I think it's so true...the way we live our lives, and speak of others, and the things we put our money and time into are a direct reflection of our heart...and also, if we're Christians, a reflection of Jesus' heart (to those who aren't Christians). So it's very important that we love unconditionally, especially our enemies and those directly around us. So often the church lets the amount of love we are supposed to have slip away, and we end up loving other selectively. Unconditionally is a pretty huge word. Let's look at the definition:

unconditional |ˌənkənˈdi sh ənl; -ˈdi sh nəl|
adjective
not subject to any conditions : unconditional surrender.

they gave their mom's new husband an unconditional welcome wholehearted,
unqualified, unreserved, unlimited, unrestricted, unmitigated, unquestioning; complete, total, entire, full, absolute, out-and-out, unequivocal.

Just something to think about. Examine your actions and how you think of others, and treat others as a result...it's something I'm trying to get better at...and I have a long way to go, that's for sure.

in preparation...

in preparation for my trip to tanzania, africa, i decided to create this blog to post photos and whatnot on. i hope you love it, and i hope you learn new things along with me!!