Ashby and Abram: Catching up- October

October was a whirlwind of teaching and day-to-day life (who knew villages could be so busy?), but in the middle of the month, we flew to Dar es Salaam for several days, to attend AIM's annual Tanzania conference. This was a 5 day missions conference for all AIM missionaries working in Tanzania (and a few in Kenya).

I had been looking forward to the conference for several months, because in our village we are fairly isolated from other missionaries, save the two families who live near us. It was time to fill my extroverted social cup!

To be honest, the week was pretty stressful. Abram got really sick the day before we left for Dar. He actually did really well, considering we were traveling across the country with a baby! But once we got to the conference centre, he spent a lot of his time resting and recovering, and unfortunately missed much of the conference. I tried to take care of him and David as much as possible, and at 4 months pregnant this wasn't easy, so it was draining for me, too.

In addition to this, the conference schedule is extremely full and busy. We were SO blessed and grateful that there was an amazing team of people from the UK who came to help with the children. David was the youngest person at the conference! and everyone on the children's team worked so hard to include him in the children's activities and to care for him during the sessions, so Abram (when he was up to it) and I could attend the adult sessions. This included sermons, workshops, worship, and other activities. It was so nice to get to sit and be "fed" without having someone climbing up, down, up, down, up and down from my lap!

David did really, really well in the children's room, but it was a bit taxing and overstimulating for him, so he also needed a lot of down time every day- something not very easy to come by. The cafeteria where we ate was also very crowded and loud, so I think he was overwhelmed in general. He did so well- but you could tell it was a hard week for him (and consequently, for us).

The conference also included a fun afternoon at the beach. This was David's first time in the ocean! He was a bit scared, but it was really special for us to take him to the water and the sand. The kid LOVES to be outside!

In general, though full and busy, the conference was a huge gift to us. This was my first one, and Abram's...severalth. It's so encouraging and refreshing to hear from other missionaries, see what God is doing throughout East Africa, and for me, to talk to other mamas and be reminded that this has been done before! It's so good to remember we are not alone! We will not see many of these people again until next October. We're already looking forward to it!

Here are a few more pictures from that week.