My Team!
So a couple of you guys have been asking me about my team- there were, in fact, a couple of last minute omissions/cancellations, so the team turned out to be slightly different from what I'd originally thought, but not by much.
Here are our team-members again:
Tim and Emily Tanner (and Caleb) - teamleaders.
Tim is an amazing guy- he is as wise as he is strikingly handsome, rugged, and humble. Very cool, very hands-on, all 5 foot 2 inches of him. He grew up as the youngest child of a missionary couple who were working right here in Tanzania, so he actually grew up on the banks of lake Victoria (4 of the couples' 6 kids have returned as missionaries, one of the ones who stayed back is a rocket scientist with NASA! How's that for a testimony for bringing your kids to the mission-field? The other kid is the wife of a pastor I think). He speaks fluent KiSwahili, and is currently learning Kizaramo. He's been working with the Zaramo for over an year now, and is committed to working with them long-term until there is a self-propagating, discipling and discipled church going. Through a lot of the preparation/getting stuff ready for us to come, he used Swahili with the local people, just cos his Swahili vocabulary was already so vast, and he found that to be a huge handicap to his learning KiZaramo- yet another reason why we're learning KiZaramo first. He actually has two mathematics degrees and was a computer programer in his previous life, before God called him back to Africa around thirteen years ago. He started off working with AIM's computer systems in Nairobi, and then went on to join a TIMO team in the mid-90s, and the rest is history.
Emily grew up all over the US, and finished growing up in Florida. She was a teacher before she came to Africa to become a missionary teacher, which was when she met Tim. They were married in 2002. She's a great chef who loves Italian, Indian and French food, She's also a big fan of John Piper's, and is an amazing writer- she's read us excerpts of her journals when she first came to Africa, and we all think she should get them published. She's also mother to a bouncy and bouncing 16-month-old baby - Caleb, who's a great joy to have on the team.
Keith and Tammy Kerr (and Justin and Caden)
Keith is a very cool fellow left-handed man who by his own description, is as wise as an owl, as strong as a bear, as fast as a cheetah, and has the eyes of a hawk. He's originally from Tennessee (southern drawl and all), but went to school in Florida, and then moved to Colorado after he got married. He's an electric engineer who gave up a great telecommunications job to come do something greater. He's also the team's old man, other than Tim, being in his later 30s, and as a result of the great maturity that his ripe old age has accrued him, was selected to be team driver, so he does most of the driving of the team van. He also has type 2 diabetes, which is the one you get when you're young and in shape, and so has to have an insulin pump and pump in insulin all the time (he has a propane-powered mini-fridge, and an year's supply of insulin). Great guy.
Tammy is highly artistic ex-grade-school teacher from Ohio turned full-time mother and home-school tutor. She's a gentle soul, who's a fellow intuitive feeler, also into health-stuff, and who was the teammember who brought the book on fermentation and the cheesecloth (gauze) and the probiotic bacteria (dried, in a capsule) which allowed me to make my yoghurt and cheese. Very cool and very creative lady.
Justin, 7, is the Kerr's oldest boy, who likes climbing cashew trees, shooting cashews down with his slingshot, and playing soccer. He takes after him mom and is also a gentle kid (except when he wants to wrestle me) with a bright smile.
Caden, 5, is my left-handed buddy who's a genius, and reads his brother's books and does simple math already. Very cute little guy who toots a lot, has a great personality, likes to draw, shoot at things with his slingshot, catch frogs, and be thrown around.
Duane and Tanya Couch (and Caleb, and Jacob)
Duane and Tanya are part of the team's Canadian contingent. Duane, from Fort St John in Northern BC, is everything from a giant-truck driver to a mechanic, and helps take care of our team vehicles. He's one of the only other extrovets in my team, so that's definitely a boon. He also makes an amazing pasta sauce.
Tanya's from Ottawa (boo Senators!) and worked at the PAOC's headquarters before coming out to Africa. She's the busy mother and homeschool teacher of two very, very energetic kids who keep her busy. She's also an excellent baker, and has managed to make everything from cookies to cakes to garlic bread using only coal and a large iron pan.
Caleb, 7 and a half, is the Couches' oldest boy. He speaks French and is a great swimmer. Among his hobbies are whacking ants with his ant-whacking stick, and
making all kinds of stuff from all kinds of stuff (like making boats out of seed-pods, trucks out of old boxes, etc.)
Jacob, 6, has the energy of 10 men. He loves playing all kinds of sports, wrestling anyone who's willing, and having Hardy Boys' stories red to him. Eating would also be one of his hobbies.
Sadly, I don't have a picture for the Couches at this time. Hopefully soon.
Monica Miller
Monica's been a nurse in Texas for the last 10 years, before which she was in Bible College, before which she was in the Navy Reserve - she's a great gal with a very dry, sarcastic sense of humour, who also had a basketball scholarship through college (I say also because I'm adding this to all her other accomplishments, not because I had a basketball scholarship. I wish!). She also left behind a 10-yr-old Siberian Husky in Texas, for which she hopes to receive an extra crown when in Heaven.
Paulina Johnson
Paulina was born and grew up in Orange County, California, and was in a major tv show as a kid! She moved to Georgia a few years ago with her family, where she worked as a preschool and after-school daycare teacher until she left to come to Africa. She's thrown herself wholeheartedly into the study of the Zaramo language, and is making all the rest of us feel inadequate! She's also great with kids and has enjoyed not only hanging out with the team's kids, but also a whole bunch of the Zaramo kids.
Jeremy Hill
Jeremy Hill. Rat-killer, roach-crusher, water-saver, underwear-prancer, chapati-eater. If you've been reading this blog, you're surely quite familiar with Mr Hill by now. Jeremy, my roommate, is just about as different from I am as can be. He lived in Williams Lake, BC, where he's worked in a whole bunch of things from logging to carpentry to raising and killing rabbits for meat (he could kill and skin 10 in a hour :S. He started with his pet rabbit- he was offered $10 for it's meat, and that was the end of it). He also has a pilot's license from Prairie Bible College, but has since decided that he's more into children's ministries.
And finally, there's me, also a part of this great team. That's me with this snake I killed outside my house last month. This is only my second entry into the wall of trophies, currently dominated by Jeremy (my first was this rat I killed by wacking it with two sticks), but the only snake on the wall so far. The face was because the snake was still wriggling, but Jeremy kept telling me to get it closer to my face for the picture. Fun times!
PS- so I found a nice pic of Duane! Apparently one of the requisites for longevity on the mission-field is a sense of humour. Keep that in mind- also, this picture is exactly what it looks, we don't have the money or the technology to fake anything here... those are hair extensions woven in-
Here are our team-members again:
Tim and Emily Tanner (and Caleb) - teamleaders.
Tim is an amazing guy- he is as wise as he is strikingly handsome, rugged, and humble. Very cool, very hands-on, all 5 foot 2 inches of him. He grew up as the youngest child of a missionary couple who were working right here in Tanzania, so he actually grew up on the banks of lake Victoria (4 of the couples' 6 kids have returned as missionaries, one of the ones who stayed back is a rocket scientist with NASA! How's that for a testimony for bringing your kids to the mission-field? The other kid is the wife of a pastor I think). He speaks fluent KiSwahili, and is currently learning Kizaramo. He's been working with the Zaramo for over an year now, and is committed to working with them long-term until there is a self-propagating, discipling and discipled church going. Through a lot of the preparation/getting stuff ready for us to come, he used Swahili with the local people, just cos his Swahili vocabulary was already so vast, and he found that to be a huge handicap to his learning KiZaramo- yet another reason why we're learning KiZaramo first. He actually has two mathematics degrees and was a computer programer in his previous life, before God called him back to Africa around thirteen years ago. He started off working with AIM's computer systems in Nairobi, and then went on to join a TIMO team in the mid-90s, and the rest is history.
Emily grew up all over the US, and finished growing up in Florida. She was a teacher before she came to Africa to become a missionary teacher, which was when she met Tim. They were married in 2002. She's a great chef who loves Italian, Indian and French food, She's also a big fan of John Piper's, and is an amazing writer- she's read us excerpts of her journals when she first came to Africa, and we all think she should get them published. She's also mother to a bouncy and bouncing 16-month-old baby - Caleb, who's a great joy to have on the team.
Keith and Tammy Kerr (and Justin and Caden)
Keith is a very cool fellow left-handed man who by his own description, is as wise as an owl, as strong as a bear, as fast as a cheetah, and has the eyes of a hawk. He's originally from Tennessee (southern drawl and all), but went to school in Florida, and then moved to Colorado after he got married. He's an electric engineer who gave up a great telecommunications job to come do something greater. He's also the team's old man, other than Tim, being in his later 30s, and as a result of the great maturity that his ripe old age has accrued him, was selected to be team driver, so he does most of the driving of the team van. He also has type 2 diabetes, which is the one you get when you're young and in shape, and so has to have an insulin pump and pump in insulin all the time (he has a propane-powered mini-fridge, and an year's supply of insulin). Great guy.
Tammy is highly artistic ex-grade-school teacher from Ohio turned full-time mother and home-school tutor. She's a gentle soul, who's a fellow intuitive feeler, also into health-stuff, and who was the teammember who brought the book on fermentation and the cheesecloth (gauze) and the probiotic bacteria (dried, in a capsule) which allowed me to make my yoghurt and cheese. Very cool and very creative lady.
Justin, 7, is the Kerr's oldest boy, who likes climbing cashew trees, shooting cashews down with his slingshot, and playing soccer. He takes after him mom and is also a gentle kid (except when he wants to wrestle me) with a bright smile.
Caden, 5, is my left-handed buddy who's a genius, and reads his brother's books and does simple math already. Very cute little guy who toots a lot, has a great personality, likes to draw, shoot at things with his slingshot, catch frogs, and be thrown around.
Duane and Tanya Couch (and Caleb, and Jacob)
Duane and Tanya are part of the team's Canadian contingent. Duane, from Fort St John in Northern BC, is everything from a giant-truck driver to a mechanic, and helps take care of our team vehicles. He's one of the only other extrovets in my team, so that's definitely a boon. He also makes an amazing pasta sauce.
Tanya's from Ottawa (boo Senators!) and worked at the PAOC's headquarters before coming out to Africa. She's the busy mother and homeschool teacher of two very, very energetic kids who keep her busy. She's also an excellent baker, and has managed to make everything from cookies to cakes to garlic bread using only coal and a large iron pan.
Caleb, 7 and a half, is the Couches' oldest boy. He speaks French and is a great swimmer. Among his hobbies are whacking ants with his ant-whacking stick, and
making all kinds of stuff from all kinds of stuff (like making boats out of seed-pods, trucks out of old boxes, etc.)
Jacob, 6, has the energy of 10 men. He loves playing all kinds of sports, wrestling anyone who's willing, and having Hardy Boys' stories red to him. Eating would also be one of his hobbies.
Sadly, I don't have a picture for the Couches at this time. Hopefully soon.
Monica Miller
Monica's been a nurse in Texas for the last 10 years, before which she was in Bible College, before which she was in the Navy Reserve - she's a great gal with a very dry, sarcastic sense of humour, who also had a basketball scholarship through college (I say also because I'm adding this to all her other accomplishments, not because I had a basketball scholarship. I wish!). She also left behind a 10-yr-old Siberian Husky in Texas, for which she hopes to receive an extra crown when in Heaven.
Paulina Johnson
Paulina was born and grew up in Orange County, California, and was in a major tv show as a kid! She moved to Georgia a few years ago with her family, where she worked as a preschool and after-school daycare teacher until she left to come to Africa. She's thrown herself wholeheartedly into the study of the Zaramo language, and is making all the rest of us feel inadequate! She's also great with kids and has enjoyed not only hanging out with the team's kids, but also a whole bunch of the Zaramo kids.
Jeremy Hill
Jeremy Hill. Rat-killer, roach-crusher, water-saver, underwear-prancer, chapati-eater. If you've been reading this blog, you're surely quite familiar with Mr Hill by now. Jeremy, my roommate, is just about as different from I am as can be. He lived in Williams Lake, BC, where he's worked in a whole bunch of things from logging to carpentry to raising and killing rabbits for meat (he could kill and skin 10 in a hour :S. He started with his pet rabbit- he was offered $10 for it's meat, and that was the end of it). He also has a pilot's license from Prairie Bible College, but has since decided that he's more into children's ministries.
And finally, there's me, also a part of this great team. That's me with this snake I killed outside my house last month. This is only my second entry into the wall of trophies, currently dominated by Jeremy (my first was this rat I killed by wacking it with two sticks), but the only snake on the wall so far. The face was because the snake was still wriggling, but Jeremy kept telling me to get it closer to my face for the picture. Fun times!
PS- so I found a nice pic of Duane! Apparently one of the requisites for longevity on the mission-field is a sense of humour. Keep that in mind- also, this picture is exactly what it looks, we don't have the money or the technology to fake anything here... those are hair extensions woven in-
posted by dan at 11/01/2007 11:24:00 a.m.
2 Comments:
I'm very disappointed in the size of that snake.
That is all.
haha, boo! it's the only one I've come across so far! Except for in this last hospital run, where we saw a python, probably between 6 and 8 feet long, thicker than my arm, crossing the road. Tim ran it over, but when we got back on our way home it was gone (granted, that was 6 hours later).
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