VBS, Mountain Climb, and the Not so Mysterious Case of the Stolen Camera

On Monday of this week, the mission team began Vacation Bible School for the kids of the church and any other kids who wanted to come. I was in charge of planning the music for the students, and we decided on the songs "Rise and Shine", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", and "Deep and Wide". We didn't have to much trouble with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" or "Deep and Wide", but "Rise and Shine" has a lot of verses and I think the kids were having a hard time with that. But, I think we managed well enough. Afterwards I taught Class VII English since they are still meeting even though it is a government break. Then I returned to the house where I taught a piano lesson and did some catching up with my laundry. Right after lunch, two of the missionaries and I made our way to town where we met up one of my local missionary friends and his gard, Costa. Costa guided us along the mountain trails to the Bahati Camp and we made our way back to town. Althogether it was only about a 2 hour hike. It was really nice and clear outside and although it was quite warm. I was able to carry on a decent conversation with Costa and I have to say that I rather impressed myself with my Swahili abilities (of course there is ALWAYS room for improvement). When we returned to Boma road, where we had met with Costa, he turned off to go home and we decided to save some money and walk the rest of the way back to town. We stopped in Emmanuel Church where I had attended a service once before and kept walking.

When we were just on the outskirts of town, a most terrible and alarming thing happened. We were walking on the left side of the road, in the dirt, as in completely off the road. (it is also important to note that people here drive on the left side of the road). Well, I had my camera out because I had just been taking pictures of the Emmanuel Church and I hadn't wanted to put it back in the missionary's backpack in case I wanted to take some pictures in town. (as I've mentioned before I've been trying to take more pictures of the area so you can get a broader mental image of the area). Well, a pikipiki (motorcycle) going in the opposite direction that we were, swerved across the road and passed me in the dirt on my left side. I was carrying my camera in my left hand (the hand furthest from the road) and I was holding it by the hook on the camera case. Well, the passenger of the pikipiki swooped in, grabbed onto the hook and pulled. I was a bit surprised and pulled back, but then I let go. I quickly turned around, shouted "HEY!" and ran with everything in me after the pikipiki. The only problem was, another pikipiki passed me at about the same time and I couldn't figure out which one had my camera and my phone (the phone was in the camera case). I had a 50-50 chance of getting it right so I followed the one that turned off the main road first. I went straight up to the house and demanded my camera back and even managed to pull out some Swahili phrases in the midst of the chaos. They denied having the camera and the pikipiki driver started to leave, but I pretty much yelled at him "YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!" We developed a bit of a crowd with my ravings, and I found someone who spoke English and Swahili to help me. However, it was all to no avail. (by this point the missionaries who had been on the hike with me had already caught up with me and had been trying to help). It was pretty tough trying to keep it together after the incident, but I had enough sense to realize I needed to get a new phone right away (which I did in town before we headed back). At home, I told pastor immediately what had happened and we contacted Baba Sesi who is a police officer here in Morogoro. Pastor and I went to the police station to make a report, but I don't have too much hope that we'll find it. Today, I went to the police station and they took the lady I had interrogated on Monday back to the station for further questioning (seeing as it's the only lead we have). Personally, I don't think that was the pikipiki that had it. Someone who had just stolen something probably would've gone down the road further before turning off. But, at that point in time it was my best bet. 

Honestly, in the end, I'm just glad that the other missionaries and I are OK. Since the incident I've heard of many women with hand bags that pikipiki drivers just pull off their shoulders. The same is true for backpacks or another other kind of carrying case. Honestly, I'm not sure that there is a completely fool-proof way of protecting my possessions here, or anywhere in the world for that matter. I'm just thankful that I did let go and that I didn't get dragged around by a pikipiki, as has happened in other instances. And, as much as it completely sucks to have my camera stolen from me, I know that it's just a thing and all things can be replaced. In the end, my faith is my most important possession and I know that that can never be taken away from me. I know that God knew what would happen before it did, and I trust Him to take care of me through it all. Honestly, the worst part  is that my personal space and possessions were invaded. But, one thing that makes me feel a bit better about the situation (though this is terrible) is that my camera requires a very specific charger, so the thieves won't get much use out of it anyways (it's like my own secret revenge). Also, because of my "slightly" intimidating approach to the situation, there were a lot of jokes with the missionaries about "Don't mess with Christine" afterwards.

Tuesday, I did the music for the VBS again and, much to their dismay, I went to Class VII to give them English work to do. I'm trying to get them the rest of the way through the curriculum book before their tests in September. There's no way we're going to make it unless they continue to do work during this census break. In the afternoon, I had quite a bit of free time, so I finished the laundry and I got to hang out around the room. In the evening, I went to run and played volleyball. For dinner, Baba and Mama Sesi invited the missionaries and the rest of us over to their house for a feast. It was a great time of fellowship as believers. 

I think that I shall end here for now, but soon to come: taking the missionaries to the Agape Childrens' Village, my trip to NaneNane, and also the start of language school. As you have probably noticed, I've been quite the busy bee over here! But, for me, this is good. I'd rather be busy than be sitting around with nothing to do!! I'll leave you with the rest of my pictures of town that I got to upload to my computer before my camera got stolen. I lost all of my pictures of the hike and I wasn't able to get any of the VBS, or anything else, unfortunately. I'm not sure when I'll get a new camera, but I hope I can manage to get one soon!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,

~Christine

This road leads to the police station. Little did I know when I took this picture that I'd be walking it many times in the next few days.

Old Morogoro Road heading towards town center.

Town Center is just straight ahead.

The daladala stand where I am known to be found coming and going from town. Just to the right is the town center.

Piras: my lifesaver here in Tanzania. It's a tiny "supermarket", but it's packed full of western-type goods.

Mission Team, Mikumi, and Masai

Well....I was hoping to get this entry finished much earlier than I have. But, it's been SOOOO crazy and I have hardly had any free time to think or even hardly breathe!!

Even though it gets a bit crazy, it's been really fun having this mission team from Texas here. I'm not going to lie, it gets really lonely here sometimes, being the only white person at my site and not having anyone to talk to who really understands and can relate to what I'm experiencing on a daily basis. It's been really fun showing them around our area and the town. It's the first time I get to truly share my experience with others through more than words and pictures.

On Friday, the students pretty much had a free day for the whole day, which was fine since it was the last day before our next break. The mission team and I went around to each class and made balloon dogs for them. It was SOOO much fun. We taught the other teachers how to make the balloon dogs, so they got to help too! One teacher, Sir Gustave was a master with the balloon pumps and just kept pumping and tying while we made them into dogs. We even got to break up classes 6 and 7 into groups and taught them how to make balloon dogs. It was SUPER fun!! The only problem was afterwards when the kids would take their dogs apart or pop them and ask for a new one. It was a bit overwhelming. But, I still think we all had a great time! :D

Class 1 with their dogs!!

Making the Balloon Dogs

Handing out the balloon dogs

A student and the balloon dog she made!

On Saturday, the team and I left in the wee hours of the morning to go to Mikumi National Park. We had a pleasant drive there and got to talk a lot. One of the missionaries has been on longer term missions like me, and he told me about his experiences in Germany and Zambia. It was really cool getting to hear about similarities and differences in mission experiences. Once at the park, we got to see some animals, but not nearly as many as the first time I had gone. Right now, it's "winter" here, and the grasses are all dried out. They're doing a lot of burnings at the park right now too, so things were scenic in a different way than last time. The park also connects with Selous (sp?) Park and a lot of the animals were there, apparently. It was fun, none the less.

Afterwards, we visited a Masai village where Pastor Umba has also set up a church. When we pulled up, the women and children were standing outside of the church/school building, singing. It was quite an amazing welcome. We were brought inside the building where we were warmly greeted by many of the women and the children sang more songs for us. After the welcome ceremony, the mission team went outside where they painted two of the outside walls with white paint. There were only 3 rollers, and I hung back so that they could do their work. I got to talk to some of the children using my limited Swahili. I'm finding that I'm surprising myself more and more with my ability to communicate with others. And, it's been really nice to have these kinds of opportunities to practice and become more comfortable with it. I'm really looking forward to language school because I think that it will help bring me the next step beyond what I already know and understand.

Before we left, we were told that the men were preparing some meat for us. (in the Masai culture, the men do the cooking. How awesome is that??!!) We were amazed that the village was so excited that we were there that they had provided food for us. After our meal of rice and meat, the women presented us with all kinds of beaded gifts: bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. It was a bit overwhelming, the out pouring of love. It truly is amazing how excited people here get and how appreciative they are, even if it is an act so small as painting a couple of walls white.

A Masai village elder

Painting the walls of the church/school building

Masai children.

Well, that's all I've got time for for this entry. However, keep tuned for another entry (hopefully soon) with more about the exciting (some not so good) events that have been happening here in Morogoro!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,

~Christine

What you can see in Morogoro

Well, I've got to say that exciting things are happening here in Morogoro right now. We have a work team that just arrived this past Saturday from Texas. They will be here for about 10 days helping to continue construction on the church and they will also be helping to put on a VBS (which, somehow is my responsibility to organize?? I had no idea until pastor mentioned something tonight...). The team is apparently going to Mikumi on Saturday, and apparently I'm also going to be joining them. Also, they're wanting to do a hike up the mountain, which I will also try to help organize. 

Of course, the normal school activities are happening right now and I've been doing all of my after school lessons and such. However, we have a break starting on Monday for an entire month!! I was somewhat warned of this, but no one knew what days/month it was going to take place (no surprises there). Thus, I didn't know when this break would be until I returned to Tanzania. Anyways, apparently, we get a whole month off of school because the government is taking a census. Well, I'm hoping that this might be a good time to do some traveling around Tanzania, if it works out. And, I'm also considering attending the language school which is here in Morogoro. It seems that the schedule is very flexible, so I can sign up for whatever weeks I want and whatnot. I think it would be a good thing for me. I've heard a lot of good things about the language school  from other missionaries and I think it would be a lot more motivating for me to keep learning Swahili. I hope it works out!!

Well, to conclude my entry, I realized I've talked a LOT about Morogoro. (I mean, that's the whole point of this blog, is to share about my experiences as a missionary here.) And, I have posted quite a few pictures of the school, the church, and the house where I am staying, but I haven't really shown you all very much of Morogoro. I'm now daring to be brave and take pictures of the town where I am living, so you can have a better idea of what I see on a daily basis. I say I'm being brave because I feel a little bit awkward about taking pictures of people doing normal things, but I want to give you all more of a sense of what living in Morogoro is like. This is just the beginning, so stay tuned for more posts with more pictures of town an such when I get them!

A daladala (public bus) letting people off at my stop! If you follow this road, you'll go towards town.

The other side of the road going further into Kihonda from my stop.

Yes, this is the playground of our school.

The duka (small shop) right next to the school. I usually go here to purchase phone vouchers and the occasional soda.

The church all ready for the visiting work team to begin!

The front of the church/pulpit.

The pre-school building where we've been having worship.

The church is right to the left of this little house which is where I will live with the other missionary who will join me in September.

The other duka that I've been known to frequent. (this is directly to the right of the house above).

The missionary team teaching Pastor Eunice how to make a balloon dog.

Making balloon animals!!

The newest addition to my room. An AMAZING shelf to help store all of these teaching materials that have returned to Tanzania with me. Honestly, it's my new favorite part of my room!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Reflections on My Return

So far, it's been a much easier transition than when I first arrived. Of course, I'm pretty sure this is mostly because I already know people, I know enough of the language to get by, and I'm familiar with where things are. Overall, I'm really happy to be back into a steady routine. (But, I'm super thankful for the time that I had at home with friends and family.) When I left in June, I was exhausted and in need of some time away. Now I have returned with a new attitude and a renewed sense of excitement and purpose!

For now, most of what I have been doing has been concerned with getting myself settled back in. I brought a TON of stuff back with me that all had to be unpacked and stored somewhere. I've decided that I need to purchase a new shelf for my room (which sorely lacks storage areas). After being quite unimpressed with the selection in town, I found a picture online of a simple one and am getting it made. Also, there was quite a bit of laundry to do as a result of the karate tournament that I attended in Dallas right before I left to return. So, I've really been planing catch-up with all of that.

Last, Thursday was my first day back at school. Yeah, that's right, the day right after I arrived back in Morogoro. But, it was great! I got completely attacked/hugged the mess out of by the students. As soon as they saw me, they all started screaming and surrounding me with all kinds of love. All of the teachers came up to greet me warmly and ask me about my safari (journey). (Apparently safaris are not limited to Africa!! Hahaha!!) The family has been fantastic as well. Not only are the pastor and his wife back from the US, but many of their children are back from studying at the Africa University in Zimbabwe. We've had quite a full house and it's been a lot of fun!!

So far I've been picking up all of the things I was doing before: teaching at school as well as piano lessons, and also English lessons for the ladies of the church, going to church, running, playing volleyball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ultimate Frisbee on Saturdays. Jet lag hasn't been too bad this time around; I'm at least sleeping at night, but I'm still exhausted during the daytime. The weather has been really nice too. It's kind of like fall weather with lows somewhere around the 60's and the highs in the 80's and not a lot of humidity. The only problem is me having to take freezing cold showers in such cool weather....I really have to psych myself up to just jump under the water some nights (like when the cool breeze is blowing through the windows). But, honestly, if that's my only complaint, I'd say that's pretty good! :D

Honestly, I'm just feeling so blessed to be back. It was a bit hard to leave the states again after being surrounded by friends and family and being reminded of my life back in the states. But, I'm finding that I'm quite comfortable with my life here. It's like I can live in either culture and be OK. Honestly, it's a pretty cool feeling!!

Well, I guess I'll wrap things up here!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Return to Tanzania

Well, just wanted to give a brief update that I've made it back to Tanzania safe and sound!! I had just under 30 hours of flights and layovers, but I finally landed in Dar es Salaam at about 8pm Tuesday evening. Pastor Umba met me at the airport which was a relief for me because I had so much baggage. I spent the night in DAR (and was actually able to get some sleep!) and we caught the bus first thing in the morning on Wednesday and arrived in Morogoro sometime around 12:30pm.

So far, things have been fantastic and I'm really glad that I decided to stay another year. I know that God is going to bless this time and I'm looking forward to everything that He is going to teach me through this continued experience!! I'm blessed beyond belief to have such a wonderful family, church family, and friends. I want to say thanks to everyone who has contributed financially to me and also to those who made donations to the school. I wasn't able to bring most of it over. However, never fear because a work team from Texas is coming in next week and is bringing TWO whole suitcases full of all that STUFF you donated to the school!

I don't have too much time now to write much more (I've had SOOO much to do since I got back!!), but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm here, safe and sound. I also wanted to share some pictures that I've taken since I've gotten back. I hope to write again soon and I hope that all is well with you!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Some changes to my room! I got new sheets because they don't sell fitted sheets in Tanzania!

The newly decorated desk-corner. I can't really say study corner because, well, I don't actually study there. But, thanks to duct tape and command strips I've been able to hang up my calendar and all the pictures of family and friends that my Dad printed off for me! :D

The shoe on the right shows just what happens to shoes after 6 months in Tanzania... O_o

Reflections of Home

Well, it's been a while since I have updated, but after spending time in Europe and now being home, things have been really crazy. Right now, I should be working on my powerpoint presentation that I'll be giving at church on Sunday, but it's raining outside and I just want to sit down with a nice cup of tea and listen to some chill music. So that's what I'm doing while I write about my reflections of home.

The Europe trip was great and I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to have more cultural experiences before I returned home. Also, I think that it helped ease me back into life here in the states. Instead of going from a foreign underdeveloped country to a familiar developed country, I went from a foreign underdeveloped country to a foreign developed country to a familiar developed country.

A lot of things have surprised me in Europe and at home. For example, I was so confused when a car stopped and waited for me to cross the street. In Tanzania, a car would sooner hit you and just keep going! Also, it was SO quiet! In Tanzania there are farm animals wandering everywhere making all kinds of racket. And, the cars are making all kinds of noise (mostly honking, which means get out of the way right now!!!!) I'm now a majority as opposed to a minority and I can travel around without being interrupted or bothered by anyone! Honestly, I think this is the most amazing part of being home for me. I'm more of a quiet, to myself kind of person and I don't like it when strangers are constantly coming up to me and asking for my name or my phone number, or if I can give them money, or whatever. I like to just go do what I want to do without interruption and that's it.

Something that has made a large impact on me has been how much stuff is EVERYWHERE!! It was very overwhelming walking into my room which is full of shelves loaded mostly with old toys, books, and other decorative elements. It was really overwhelming being surrounded by so much stuff after being in a room that was pretty much empty for the last 6 months. I think I prefer my room in Tanzania. There's less to dust, less to clean, less to keep track of, less to worry about getting broken. But, I find myself getting caught up in all the materialism. Especially being deprived of so much for so long and then suddenly being surrounded by everything. I want to do everything at once, I want to eat everything at once, I want to see everyone at once. It's like the best and worst feeling in the world. I have to stop and ask myself "how would a Tanzania feel about this?" Not necessarily because Tanzanians know best, but just because I've been living and interacting with them for the last six months. I mean, seriously, the $5 I spent on my Starbucks Frappuccino could feed a family that I know in Tanzania for a WEEK if not longer!! It honestly makes me sick, and yet I've already bought at least 3 cups of coffee since I've been back... It's like I just can't help myself after not having access to all of these things for so long and also knowing that I won't have them for at least another year.  The other problem is that I see so many things that I've forgotten about and I think "Oh! I'd like to take that back with me to Tanzania!" And I have to stop myself because I can't bring back everything. I need to save space to bring things back for the school. It's hard to find that balance between what I should bring and what I shouldn't bring. I have to keep reminding myself that I've lived with what I've got for the last few months and I did just fine. (Though, I do want to personalize my room a bit since I will be staying for another year.)

I have finally made my epic trip to Wal-Mart and although it wasn't quite as scary as I was thinking it would be, it was like so many things in America: overwhelming. I did bring a friend and her specific instructions were "do not let me get carried away in there!" Haha! Luckily, between having a friend and a list, I managed to make it in and out without any major problems or melt downs. But, I have to wonder more and more, do we really need an entire side of an isle dedicated to cereal? Do we really need 3 full isles dedicated to makeup?? I mean, do we really hate our own appearances that much? Over the last 6 months I got used to seeing myself without makeup, seeing myself the way God sees me. But, I'm back now and I've gone back to wearing makeup and big jewelry as was my habit before I left.

So now I'm left thinking about the last half of a year and comparing that to America (my other home). I'm left trying to ponder how my life will change since I've returned. I don't have so much time to make major life alterations now because I'm returning to Africa in just over a week, but now I've got a whole year to decide how I can simplify my life here and reflect over what I've learned from living in Tanzania. I want to be more conservative. I want to have less and live more. I want to be a part of the world that surrounds me as opposed to trapping myself inside; buried in materialism and things. People matter, the world that God created for us to live in matters. Whether or not you have the newest car, phone, clothes, computer, etc. does not matter. Those things cannot do anything for you and they don't add true meaning in your life. In fact, I feel like those things take away true meaning from our lives because they distract us from what's really important. They take up our brain space as we think about and worry over them and we forget to remember what's important. We can always live with less. The real question is, can we really and truly live with more?

Well, in closing I'd like to share some photos to share with you all from my trip. Since this blog is for mission related things, I'm only going to post one picture from each country I visited (Switzerland, Italy, and France). If you want to view more pictures from this trip, check out my facebook page!! :D

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine

Disillusionment

So, lately I've been thinking a lot about foreign aid and how it impacts poor countries. Honestly, I feel like I'm becoming more and more disillusioned to the idea of foreign aid after having lived here in a poverty stricken area for many months now. I feel like I am coming to the conclusion that there are two types of foreign aid: the kind that tears down and the kind that builds up.

Now, you may ask, how is there a kind of aid that tears people down? Aid is supposed to be good, right? I mean, the definition of aid is "to help with support or relief". How can it possibly be a bad thing to provide support or relief? But, if it comes in the wrong form, it can have negative impacts. For example, people in underdeveloped countries don't have a lot of clothes, so people in developed countries say "Oh my goodness! There's a problem, those people don't have enough clothes! How can we solve the problem quickly? Let's collect a bunch of old, used, or messed up clothes that no one wants anymore and ship them to the poor countries!" That will help solve the problem, right? But, the problem continues, so more and more clothes are sent over. Soon, the people in the underdeveloped countries begin to rely on the free clothes that are being passed out from developed countries. And, as they rely more and more heavily on the free clothes from the developed countries, they begin to gain the mindset that they can't buy their own clothes from local shops or even make their own clothes. All they have to do is wait for a while and some free clothes will come their way. The same thing happens with money, medical supplies, help with infrastructure, etc.. If developed countries just keep sending over more and more money for these things, people in underdeveloped countries learn that they don't have to do anything but wait. It will come eventually. This is disabling because eventually the people and government officials will develop a mindset that "I can't do anything for myself. I have to wait for others to do it for me." Eventually, after many years, an entire country can develop this mindset. It's like a complete shut down for the country and even encourages corruption. Government officials feel free to stuff the country's money into their own pockets. Developed will come in to save the day for everyone else. In the end, this completely disables the country and it's citizens.

But, then there is the kind of aid that builds a country up. This is not the "easy" kind of aid that is provided by simply sending over a check or clothes. This is the rough and tough kind of aid that is provided by dedicated people who partner with a country, a tribe, a village, etc. This is where people from developed countries choose to come over and physically get dirty. When they require the citizens to actively participate in a project that will improve their lives. For example, imagine a group of citizens in an underdeveloped country wants to build a church. The idea would be that they would be required to collect money - maybe half of what it would take to build the church - while people from a developed country provided the other half of the money. Then, once the money was raised, both groups come together to build the church building. This empowers the people in the underdeveloped country because they are then part of the process of improving their lives/community. In the end, they have helped accomplish something big and meaningful for them and their community. And, honestly, that sense of accomplishment is addictive and empowering. If they can do that, with the help of foreign aid, what else could they do, and what could they do on their own? So, they choose their next project and keep going, making improvements to the community and their lives.

A missionary that I met here was telling me about a water project he was working on. A village was wanting/needing a water well so they could have clean water. But, when he told them that they would have to provide some of the bricks and that they would have to help build it, they refused. They simply wanted the water well, they didn't want to have to work for it. Other villages got water wells for free, without having to provide any kind of labor either, so why couldn't they have the same thing? I can't remember if the issue was ever resolved, but I can imagine that it would take time. The village would probably wait for a while because that's what so many people here think: "If I just wait and do nothing, someone else will do it for me". I hope that you see my point. The thing is, simply giving into the village's demands would disempower them, causing them to continue to feel like they have to rely on everyone else to do things for them. But, if that the village were to actually agree to provide bricks and man power, they would feel a sense of accomplishment when the project was finished. And that sense of accomplishment would hopefully encourage future actions of development.

I can't tell you how many people have asked me for things: money, a job, a letter so they can immigrate to America, or even my phone. Honestly, sometimes I get really angry. I just want to yell "isn't it enough that I've given up so much already to be here? I gave up time with friends and family, a comfortable life, and even my acceptance into graduate school!" But, one I get past that, it makes me really sad. And I have to ask myself, is it really worth it to just give these people what they're asking for? If I were just to hand out money to everyone who asks, I feel like I would be reinforcing the helpless attitude that I see so often here. It makes me sick to think about. But, at the same time, everyone needs it; everyone is desperate for some kind of relief, no matter how fleeting it may be. It's not easy, but I've made my decision that simply giving out free "gifts" to everyone is only going to compound the problem and reinforce a mentality that has taken hold of so many.

In contrast, I do believe in the effects of education and what a good education can do for people. Education is empowering because it helps people get jobs. It opens people's minds to what is out there in the world to see and participate in. It gives people opportunities that they would not otherwise be able to have. And, it reveals the problems the country is facing and helps students think of solutions to those problems. And, maybe those solutions require a degree of foreign aid, but it can't rely on the aid. At some point, steps need to be taken to help these underdeveloped countries become independent and self-sufficient. So, I guess my hope is that what I am doing is actually helping and not hurting people. I want to be a positive power in this world, not a negative one.

Of course, I will admit that there are many more problems than simply the defeating efforts of foreign aid. For example, there's also the problem of exploitation that is continuously supported by developed countries in the interest of cheap goods and labor. But, that's an entry for another time.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

I hope that your week is off to a great start and that God is blessing the work that you are doing.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine