What do they have in common - church, cows, and tortoises

This morning we went to church and found a few new items of note. Firstly, the new pastor's family, who live next to the church, now have a cow. It kept occurring to me that in the States, before church, we tell our children such things as "be nice to the other children, do what the teacher tells you to do, your water bottle is in your backpack" etc. However, now we are finding ourselves at church telling our kids "don't get too close to the cow, do not go behind the cow, cows can be very dangerous," etc. The kids apparently got the picture, but I had to laugh when the cow kept mooing, and then Jack mooed back - nice and loud - during a solemn communion.

Secondly, it is possible to have a one man choir. You've surely heard of a one man band, but a one man choir? We go to a very small church. This morning I counted 9 adults and 21 children. Apparently a lot of the kids come on their own. Most of the time we have about 5 or 6 people in the choir, but for the last two weeks we have had one. He does a great job, with all the moves (Tanzanians choreograph every song) and even sang some of the harmony as well. He was later joined by another member of the choir so we had the duet choir. The music is always my favorite part of church here, and today was no exception.

Finally, and this brings in the photos, Jack found a tortoise outside the church. Sometimes the church has a lesson for the kids, but sometimes the kids just wander around outside and get into mischief. This little fella was too cute, so we had to put him in Jack's hat and take him home.


The Little Fella.


The Other Little Fella.


"Aw, this tortoise is so cute. I'm so happy to hold it. I'm having so much fun!"


Half a second later: "Oh no! It's moving! There is a monster in my hands! Take it, take it or I'm going to drop this horrid creature! Aaaagh!" Hee hee.

We gave the little guy away to our friends with four kids tonight in the certainty that a)we would lose it, b)the dog would eat it, c)Jack would surely drop or crush it, d)both kids would get salmonella from holding it and then sticking their fingers in their mouths, e)it would get too big and then eat my entire garden, f)it would starve to death from shock, or g)it would outlive us, and we'd have to write it into our will.

I can't wait to see what adventures are in store for us next Sunday at church!