Farah na amani! Joy and Peace!
Hello from Tanzania! The two months since my last letter to you have been extremely busy, but very educational and beneficial to me.
First, I was blessed to find a wonderful language and culture teacher, a lady named Methodia who grew up here in Bukoba, and also lived in England and Germany for close to twenty years. I’d prayed to God for weeks prior to my arrival here that He would send me the “right” nurturer from the start, and so He has: Mama Methodia has adopted me as her fifth child, and proudly declares that I will be speaking Kiswahili by Christmas. We are using a method of language acquisition where the first 100 hours of study do not involve me speaking, but rather listening to her speak to me, just the way infants first listen to their parents speak to them before they attempt to imitate sounds. I’ve been surprised both at how much fun I am having, and also at how quickly I seem to recognize many words. While I am not required to speak Kiswahili in class, I am allowed to use it as I feel able in normal activities, so I am becoming more comfortable greeting people and holding very simple conversations. My greatest delight is walking around town and having children attempt to greet me in English and being able to respond to them in Kiswahili. Yesterday as I walked along the beach to get to class, three children playing nearby watched me very solemnly until I asked them, “Habari ya mchana?” (How is your afternoon?) Their eyes got big and round, and the littlest boy who was about two or three squeaked out, “Shikamoo! Nzuri!” (Shikamoo is a greeting of respect to an elder. Nzuri means fine, or good.) It’s fun when I start running into the same group of kids each day on my way to school. There’s one family with three small children whose home I pass each day, and without fail the kids start waving excitedly when they see me. I feel less anxious about being in a foreign place and more welcome with each passing day, for which I am extremely grateful.
Most people ask me what a typical day is like, so I will attempt to answer that question very briefly. Every day starts at about 7 am, when the bells for Matins ring next door at the church. We attend Matins every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday it’s Matins and Liturgy. After service we enjoy a hot breakfast made by Mama Christina, our cook and housekeeper. After that it’s usually time for some chores—either going to the market or to pay a water or electricity bill, stop by the bank, or stay home and do laundry or clean my room. Then I spend an hour or so listening to the language lessons from the previous day, which I record and can store on my iPod. I also spend a little time each day preparing for the next language session—we have a curriculum provided for us, but it requires some thoughtful planning to execute well. Then I spend some time answering emails or updating my Facebook account, which I know many of you follow. It’s such a blessing to be able to communicate with folks from home so easily! Usually Mama Christina has lunch ready for us by 12:30, and by 12:45 I am out the door to walk down to the lake for my class. In the afternoon when I return I make myself a cup of tea and a snack and start the process of transferring the language recordings from that day’s session onto my computer, and then listening to them for another couple of hours, as well as reviewing previous sessions. I also usually do some more emailing at that point. By six we are back at church for Vespers, and then I make my own dinner—usually something simple. The evening might include more study, doing some relaxing reading, writing to my support team by email or “snail mail,” or chatting with my roommates about the day. Sometimes I get to call my family or friends, too! I try to get ready for bed by about 10, and am generally asleep by 11. On any particular day we might have visitors drop by, which changes the schedule a bit, and I am learning to be flexible with how to organize activities here.
Many people have asked for updates about how the work at the Orthodox clinic is going. My primary responsibility during the first six months to a year of service here is to focus entirely on language and cultural acquisition. People here generally do not speak much English, and without studying Kiswahili, I will not be able to care for patients without a translator. As the clinic will be functioning with the help of us as volunteers to staff it, there’s not provision for the hiring of translators. It has been challenging for me to “stop” being a nurse and to feel like I am “not working,” but the truth is that by working hard at language study I am building the foundation upon which my later nursing practice will depend. The Orthodox clinic is currently awaiting registration through the Tanzanian government in order to reopen. It was closed because it had originally been registered as a “hospital,” but since we cannot meet the staffing requirements to function as such, a new application had to be submitted. Please keep the registration and government approval of the clinic in your prayers. My hope is that the clinic will be ready to open at the same time that I am ready to focus more on direct patient care and less on language study, but I am also open to God’s will and am trying to accept whatever He asks me to do.
As many of you are aware, I did have the opportunity to use my medical background to conduct a health care needs assessment for the Turkana in northern Kenya last month, which is one reason you haven’t heard from me in a while. My fellow missionaries and I are also busy preparing to welcome an OCMC medical mission team that will provide medical care to rural areas in Tanzania for two weeks in October. My next update will include more detailed information about the trip to Kenya and about our preparations for the October team, and I’ll be sending it out shortly after this letter.
Thank you to each and every one of you for your faithful prayerful and financial support that sustains me here! I pray for all of you every morning when I thank God for allowing me to be here, and I thank you, too! Glory to God for all things!
Yours in Christ,
Maria
Showing posts with label Maria Roeber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maria Roeber. Show all posts
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Maria Roeber's First Report from the Field
Farah na amani! Joy and Peace!
This is the traditional Christian greeting here in Tanzania, and it’s one of the first phrases I’ve learned since arriving here about a week ago! Greetings from Bukoba!
My journey here started in State College, Pennsylvania where I’d been staying with my parents for the month of May, having moved out of my apartment in the DC area. While Mom headed to California to visit my brother, Dad drove me down to Washington, where I boarded a plane for London. My next flight took me to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Next I flew to Mwanza, a smaller city on the Eastern side of Lake Victoria. My fellow OCMC Missionary, Michael Pagedas, welcomed me to town and we spent a couple of days resting there before taking an overnight ferry across Lake Victoria to Bukoba!
I’m living in a house belonging to the Orthodox Church , right next to Twelve Apostles Orthodox Church, quite a fitting name since my first Sunday Liturgy here fell on the Feast of Pentecost! Between Matins and Liturgy, Kneeling Vespers and the Churching of a mother and child, the service lasted about four hours! Quite a welcome! I now know a few more phrases in Kiswahili: “Bwana hurumia,” means “Lord, have mercy,” and “Amina” means “Amen!” I’ve also learned that “Karibu!” means, “Welcome!” and everyone here says it to me! “Asante” means, “Thank you!” and I say that word more than anything else!
The weather here is a balmy 75 degrees, with blue skies and sunshine all day, every day. We’re officially in the “dry season,” so I’m being diligent about sunscreen and hats, as we’re very close to the equator . Outside the house are palm trees and roses in the front garden, as well as an avocado tree in the back yard! We’ve had guacamole for dinner a couple of times already!
Speaking of food, the diet here consists mostly of carbohydrate staples like beans and rice, and potatoes. We eat those every day for our main meal, and usually have some type of fried bread for breakfast. I’ve eaten pineapple and guava so far, and vegetables are usually green peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. Dairy is fairly non-existent, although you can buy eggs here. Meat is rare in our household diet. We do have access to bottled water, which I am drinking almost to the exclusion of anything else!
Each morning the church bells awaken us for Matins, which is served at 7 am, and every evening we hear Father ring the bell for Vespers at 6 pm. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, we go to Liturgy. I’m blessed to have a copy of the Divine Liturgy with Kiswahili on one page and English on the next, so I am able to participate a little. I’ve been made most welcome in the congregation by many people, but especially by Simeon, our priest’s 16 month-old son. Simeon toddles up to me any time I enter church and either grabs my fingers to hold my hand or throws both of his arms around my knees until I pick him up. He’s been a delightful companion, as he’s in about the same language-development stage as I!
I have so much more to tell you, but I’ll save it for another update. Overall, I am well and am almost adjusted to the time change, I’m making small journeys into town to learn my way around and accomplish chores and errands, and I am blessed to live with dear friends and missionaries from the United States, so I am well supported by people who’ve been here for nearly a year.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the past year! I wouldn’t be here without you, and I am so excited to begin my ministry as a nurse and more importantly as a loving witness for Christ! You are in my prayers and I ask for yours! Glory to God for all things!
In Christ,
Maria
P.S. Check out the OCMC website or my Facebook page for videos and pictures of my commissioning in Washington, DC and of life here in Africa!
P.P.S. Feel free to email me by responding to this message—it’ll only be sent to me, and I am eager to here from you!
This is the traditional Christian greeting here in Tanzania, and it’s one of the first phrases I’ve learned since arriving here about a week ago! Greetings from Bukoba!
My journey here started in State College, Pennsylvania where I’d been staying with my parents for the month of May, having moved out of my apartment in the DC area. While Mom headed to California to visit my brother, Dad drove me down to Washington, where I boarded a plane for London. My next flight took me to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Next I flew to Mwanza, a smaller city on the Eastern side of Lake Victoria. My fellow OCMC Missionary, Michael Pagedas, welcomed me to town and we spent a couple of days resting there before taking an overnight ferry across Lake Victoria to Bukoba!
I’m living in a house belonging to the Orthodox Church , right next to Twelve Apostles Orthodox Church, quite a fitting name since my first Sunday Liturgy here fell on the Feast of Pentecost! Between Matins and Liturgy, Kneeling Vespers and the Churching of a mother and child, the service lasted about four hours! Quite a welcome! I now know a few more phrases in Kiswahili: “Bwana hurumia,” means “Lord, have mercy,” and “Amina” means “Amen!” I’ve also learned that “Karibu!” means, “Welcome!” and everyone here says it to me! “Asante” means, “Thank you!” and I say that word more than anything else!
The weather here is a balmy 75 degrees, with blue skies and sunshine all day, every day. We’re officially in the “dry season,” so I’m being diligent about sunscreen and hats, as we’re very close to the equator . Outside the house are palm trees and roses in the front garden, as well as an avocado tree in the back yard! We’ve had guacamole for dinner a couple of times already!
Speaking of food, the diet here consists mostly of carbohydrate staples like beans and rice, and potatoes. We eat those every day for our main meal, and usually have some type of fried bread for breakfast. I’ve eaten pineapple and guava so far, and vegetables are usually green peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. Dairy is fairly non-existent, although you can buy eggs here. Meat is rare in our household diet. We do have access to bottled water, which I am drinking almost to the exclusion of anything else!
Each morning the church bells awaken us for Matins, which is served at 7 am, and every evening we hear Father ring the bell for Vespers at 6 pm. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, we go to Liturgy. I’m blessed to have a copy of the Divine Liturgy with Kiswahili on one page and English on the next, so I am able to participate a little. I’ve been made most welcome in the congregation by many people, but especially by Simeon, our priest’s 16 month-old son. Simeon toddles up to me any time I enter church and either grabs my fingers to hold my hand or throws both of his arms around my knees until I pick him up. He’s been a delightful companion, as he’s in about the same language-development stage as I!
I have so much more to tell you, but I’ll save it for another update. Overall, I am well and am almost adjusted to the time change, I’m making small journeys into town to learn my way around and accomplish chores and errands, and I am blessed to live with dear friends and missionaries from the United States, so I am well supported by people who’ve been here for nearly a year.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the past year! I wouldn’t be here without you, and I am so excited to begin my ministry as a nurse and more importantly as a loving witness for Christ! You are in my prayers and I ask for yours! Glory to God for all things!
In Christ,
Maria
P.S. Check out the OCMC website or my Facebook page for videos and pictures of my commissioning in Washington, DC and of life here in Africa!
P.P.S. Feel free to email me by responding to this message—it’ll only be sent to me, and I am eager to here from you!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Support Team Update: From Missionary Maria Roeber
Kristo amefufuka! Christ is risen!
I am writing to you from Denver, where I am currently doing a week of language training (learning Kiswahili!) before my departure to Tanzania at the end of this month!
It has been a long process; but thanks be to God, with your help, I have built a fantastic support team and am fully funded/pledged for two years of missionary service as a nurse in Bukoba, Tanzania!
It feels like it’s been so long since my last update, and with this being my first official emailed update. I thank you for your patience with me over these past few months as I have been developing my support team while working full-time in Washington, DC! My last day of work was April 1, and since then I have been to Florida for my pre-field training at OCMC headquarters, packed up and moved out of my apartment in DC, and enjoyed Holy Week and Pascha at home in State College, PA with my parents. For Bright Week I travelled out to Calistoga, CA to visit my sister at Holy Assumption Monastery, and then to the LA area to visit with my brother. I also had the opportunity to visit Saint Barbara’s monastery while staying in Santa Paula. Following this week in Denver, I will return to State College for a few days. Then, I will be in Kansas City to attend a medical missions conference for short and long term missionaries. This leads me to my next big announcement…
On Sunday, May 22 at 5 pm, I will be officially commissioned as a long-term missionary with OCMC! If you are in the DC area (or are willing to travel) I invite you to attend Great Vespers at St. Sophia’s Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC. The commissioning will follow the Vespers service, and will be held in conjunction with the annual DC area OCMC benefit banquet. If you would like to attend the banquet, information is available on the OCMC website at http://ocmc.org/resources/view_event.aspx?EventId=261. You don’t have to attend the benefit to come and pray with and for me, though! I would love to see all of you before I leave!
I’m so grateful to all of you who have been praying for me, and to those of you who are pledging to support me or have donated to help send me to Africa! I am so eager to finally be on my way and to begin sharing Christ’s love and salvation with people in Africa! It’s also very exciting to know that soon I will be using my skills as a nurse to minister to the physical needs of people in Bukoba and in the surrounding areas. I can’t wait to start sharing the details with all of you!
May you enjoy a blessed Paschal (Easter) season, and please be in touch! I hope to see as many of you as possible in DC on May 22!
In Christ,
Maria Roeber
Missionary Candidate
I am writing to you from Denver, where I am currently doing a week of language training (learning Kiswahili!) before my departure to Tanzania at the end of this month!
It has been a long process; but thanks be to God, with your help, I have built a fantastic support team and am fully funded/pledged for two years of missionary service as a nurse in Bukoba, Tanzania!
It feels like it’s been so long since my last update, and with this being my first official emailed update. I thank you for your patience with me over these past few months as I have been developing my support team while working full-time in Washington, DC! My last day of work was April 1, and since then I have been to Florida for my pre-field training at OCMC headquarters, packed up and moved out of my apartment in DC, and enjoyed Holy Week and Pascha at home in State College, PA with my parents. For Bright Week I travelled out to Calistoga, CA to visit my sister at Holy Assumption Monastery, and then to the LA area to visit with my brother. I also had the opportunity to visit Saint Barbara’s monastery while staying in Santa Paula. Following this week in Denver, I will return to State College for a few days. Then, I will be in Kansas City to attend a medical missions conference for short and long term missionaries. This leads me to my next big announcement…
On Sunday, May 22 at 5 pm, I will be officially commissioned as a long-term missionary with OCMC! If you are in the DC area (or are willing to travel) I invite you to attend Great Vespers at St. Sophia’s Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC. The commissioning will follow the Vespers service, and will be held in conjunction with the annual DC area OCMC benefit banquet. If you would like to attend the banquet, information is available on the OCMC website at http://ocmc.org/resources/view_event.aspx?EventId=261. You don’t have to attend the benefit to come and pray with and for me, though! I would love to see all of you before I leave!
I’m so grateful to all of you who have been praying for me, and to those of you who are pledging to support me or have donated to help send me to Africa! I am so eager to finally be on my way and to begin sharing Christ’s love and salvation with people in Africa! It’s also very exciting to know that soon I will be using my skills as a nurse to minister to the physical needs of people in Bukoba and in the surrounding areas. I can’t wait to start sharing the details with all of you!
May you enjoy a blessed Paschal (Easter) season, and please be in touch! I hope to see as many of you as possible in DC on May 22!
In Christ,
Maria Roeber
Missionary Candidate
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Orthodox Missionaries Need Your Prayers and Support
There are now 15 Orthodox Christians from North America who are dedicating two or more years of their lives to provide a living witness to the hope, love, and salvation of Christ with the world as OCMC missionaries. A beautiful way to support these faithful servants as they share the Orthodox faith with the world is to remember them in your prayers:
ALBANIA
Anastasia Pamela Barksdale; Georgia Gilman Bendo; Nathan & Gabriela Hoppe; Melanie Linderman; George & Pauline Russell
ROMANIA
Floyd & Ancuta Frantz; Christina Semon
TANZANIA
James Hargrave; Michael Pagedas; Charita Stavrou; Felice Stewart; Katherine Wilcoxson
Please also consider making a gift to the Mission Center in support of the missionary program by logging onto www.ocmc.org/donate, or by mailing a check payable to the OCMC with "missionaries" in the memo line to 220 Mason Manatee Way, St. Augustine, FL, 32086. Your donation will ensure that these missionaries receive the training, administrative support, and ministry funding that they need to continue the work of "making disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).
ALBANIA
Anastasia Pamela Barksdale; Georgia Gilman Bendo; Nathan & Gabriela Hoppe; Melanie Linderman; George & Pauline Russell
ROMANIA
Floyd & Ancuta Frantz; Christina Semon
TANZANIA
James Hargrave; Michael Pagedas; Charita Stavrou; Felice Stewart; Katherine Wilcoxson
Please also consider making a gift to the Mission Center in support of the missionary program by logging onto www.ocmc.org/donate, or by mailing a check payable to the OCMC with "missionaries" in the memo line to 220 Mason Manatee Way, St. Augustine, FL, 32086. Your donation will ensure that these missionaries receive the training, administrative support, and ministry funding that they need to continue the work of "making disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19).
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Maria Roeber: Help Me Serve as Missionary in Tanzania
Dear friends and family,
As many of you know, I’ve been accepted as a Missionary Candidate with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center and am now starting to invite others to join me in ministering to God’s people in Tanzania! I will be living and working in Bukoba, Tanzania, for the next two years, using my skills as a registered nurse to provide health care to those in need. In order to join the other Missionaries who are currently serving, I need to raise prayerful and financial support. My goal is to be completely funded and ready to depart for Africa in early January, 2010. In order to meet that goal I need your help!
I am so grateful to the people in my life who have helped me to grow in faith, and who encourage me in the process of becoming closer to God. I have tried to do the same for others, and I truly believe that I am being called by God to do this for the people living in Tanzania. The Church has been given the task of making disciples of all nations, and we each have our own way of doing this. There have been times in my life when I was called to be “an ambassador of Christ” here in the United States. I do believe that I have the opportunity now to help spread the Gospel in other parts of the world, especially where Orthodoxy is relatively unknown and where my skills as an obstetrical nurse are very much needed.
There is no way for me to become a Missionary and serve in this capacity without the participation of others. We are all called to minister to those who do not know God’s loving care for them. By helping to support me in this mission, you will be following in the footsteps of those who supported the Apostles and Missionaries throughout the history of the church! Not everyone is called to leave their family, their jobs, and their culture in order to reach out to others—you can reach out to those in your community here! But you can also help to reach people outside of your home community, and this is a way for you to do so!
I’ve included a prayer card and a pledge envelope with this letter. Please use the card to pray for me and for Missionaries all over the world. Your prayers are the most critical part of supporting missions! Please pray for the salvation of those I will meet and minister to, and please pray that God grants me strength and safety in this journey! Please pray for a strong and faithful support team to join me!
If you would like to become a partner in supporting my work financially, please consider making a monthly pledge for the two-year term of my service. No contribution is too small to make a difference! You can use the pledge envelope to make your contribution, or you can do so online at www.ocmc.org. When you send in an envelope or donate online you will be entered into my list of supporters and will receive updates on my progress in raising my support team, along with letters and pictures about the ministry in Tanzania once I am there. Remember--as you participate with me, this becomes your missionary effort as well! Please feel free to contact me at the email address or phone number on the prayer card! I would love to hear from you! Thank you for your support and God bless you!
“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)
Yours in Christ,
Maria Roeber
As many of you know, I’ve been accepted as a Missionary Candidate with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center and am now starting to invite others to join me in ministering to God’s people in Tanzania! I will be living and working in Bukoba, Tanzania, for the next two years, using my skills as a registered nurse to provide health care to those in need. In order to join the other Missionaries who are currently serving, I need to raise prayerful and financial support. My goal is to be completely funded and ready to depart for Africa in early January, 2010. In order to meet that goal I need your help!
I am so grateful to the people in my life who have helped me to grow in faith, and who encourage me in the process of becoming closer to God. I have tried to do the same for others, and I truly believe that I am being called by God to do this for the people living in Tanzania. The Church has been given the task of making disciples of all nations, and we each have our own way of doing this. There have been times in my life when I was called to be “an ambassador of Christ” here in the United States. I do believe that I have the opportunity now to help spread the Gospel in other parts of the world, especially where Orthodoxy is relatively unknown and where my skills as an obstetrical nurse are very much needed.
There is no way for me to become a Missionary and serve in this capacity without the participation of others. We are all called to minister to those who do not know God’s loving care for them. By helping to support me in this mission, you will be following in the footsteps of those who supported the Apostles and Missionaries throughout the history of the church! Not everyone is called to leave their family, their jobs, and their culture in order to reach out to others—you can reach out to those in your community here! But you can also help to reach people outside of your home community, and this is a way for you to do so!
I’ve included a prayer card and a pledge envelope with this letter. Please use the card to pray for me and for Missionaries all over the world. Your prayers are the most critical part of supporting missions! Please pray for the salvation of those I will meet and minister to, and please pray that God grants me strength and safety in this journey! Please pray for a strong and faithful support team to join me!
If you would like to become a partner in supporting my work financially, please consider making a monthly pledge for the two-year term of my service. No contribution is too small to make a difference! You can use the pledge envelope to make your contribution, or you can do so online at www.ocmc.org. When you send in an envelope or donate online you will be entered into my list of supporters and will receive updates on my progress in raising my support team, along with letters and pictures about the ministry in Tanzania once I am there. Remember--as you participate with me, this becomes your missionary effort as well! Please feel free to contact me at the email address or phone number on the prayer card! I would love to hear from you! Thank you for your support and God bless you!
“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)
Yours in Christ,
Maria Roeber
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Mission Center Welcomes Maria Roeber to New Candidate Orientation!
It was a joy to welcome OCMC Missionary Candidate Maria Roeber to the Mission Center for New Candidate Orientation (NCO) May 16-21, 2010. NCO is the basic training program newly accepted missionary candidates participate in as they prepare for long-term missionary service. All training events at the Mission Center are in "retreat style" formats with time for class instruction, prayer, personal reflection, and interactive learning experiences which help to equip the missionary for ministry both in the USA and in the new country where they will serve.
Maria will continue her work as a Labor and Delivery Nurse at Georgetown University Hospital in the greater Washington, D.C. area where she lives, while building her "support team." A "support team" is composed of people and parishes just like you and yours who will pray regularly for her and make a financial pledge for her two year term of service in Tanzania. All OCMC missionaries must raise their own support and cannot leave for their assignment until they are fully funded through cash offerings and pledges. She is a member of St. Gregory the Great Orthodox Church (AOCANA), where Fr. Nicholas Alford serves. Maria has a nursing degree (BSN) from Penn State. Her studies abroad include Greece and an OCMC Health Care Team to Uganda. God willing, our goal is for Maria to arrive in Tanzania in January 2011.
Maria will continue her work as a Labor and Delivery Nurse at Georgetown University Hospital in the greater Washington, D.C. area where she lives, while building her "support team." A "support team" is composed of people and parishes just like you and yours who will pray regularly for her and make a financial pledge for her two year term of service in Tanzania. All OCMC missionaries must raise their own support and cannot leave for their assignment until they are fully funded through cash offerings and pledges. She is a member of St. Gregory the Great Orthodox Church (AOCANA), where Fr. Nicholas Alford serves. Maria has a nursing degree (BSN) from Penn State. Her studies abroad include Greece and an OCMC Health Care Team to Uganda. God willing, our goal is for Maria to arrive in Tanzania in January 2011.
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