1. November February 2016

2. Holidays begin: We celebrated American Thanksgiving Musoma-style yet again. The actual Americans seemed to be in the minority, but feasting with friends and family in thanksgiving for God’s provision seems to transcend nationalities. Advent started the following Sunday, and we really enjoyed getting to know the story of Jesus’ coming more intimately both at home on Sundays and with friends on Friday nights.

3. Christmastime: Our missionary culture here in Musoma is very diverse because we tend to adopt special traditions from our friends who are like family to us, and come from all over the world. We had the usual American/Australian Christmas decorations and did a lot of English caroling, but we also celebrated Dutch Sinterklaas, celebrated with German Christmas desserts/drinks, and threw a Tanzanian Christmas party.
The kids each left a shoe at school and in the morning found Sinterklaas had filled them with goodies.
Breakfast on Christmas morning with colleagues Lyndy & Rebekah.
Our employees and their families all came over for a Christmas party which wouldn’t have been complete without the closing speeches.
Malia and Elliot helped Ruth and Mama Sophia make the pilau for the party.

4. New Years: Right after Christmas, we whisked ourselves (along with colleagues Lyndy & Rebekah) away to Kenya to enjoy a refreshing retreat with many other missionaries we know in a gorgeous, mountainous tea farm region. We followed this with a few days in Nairobi doing some stock-up shopping and even a date night (thanks to Lyndy & Rebekah!) to see Star Wars in Imax 3D.
Our family, along with 2 other families also from Musoma, went horseback riding along the tea farms during free time one day.
Sparklers for the kids after a countdown to celebrate the New Year on Perth, Western Australia time.

5. Back to work: The kids still had 2 weeks off before school started, but Michael went straight back into work at the office. January is often a busy month because so many projects have been put on hold in December due to the holidays and everything gets pushed to the next month. We had consultant checks, planning meetings, partnership visits from other projects, etc. which also meant many out-of-town guests came in from all over. Our family hosted, and very much enjoyed, 4 different sets of guests in our home.
Michael went on a village trip to interview a potential Kabwa translator and to sell Kabwa language calendars and the Jesus Film. Read more here.
One of our guests was a pilot and you can read here about the special field trip all the missionary kids got to have because of him. Michael and Luke even got to have a 15-minute ride around Musoma.
Kwaya translators, Kitende and Richard, complete a check of 1 & 2 Timothy, Philemon, and 1, 2, & 3 John with a visiting consultant.

6. Back to school: The remainder of the kids’ school holidays was spent going back and forth for playdates, riding bikes, and playing card and board games.
Back to school. Luke is in 4th grade and Malia is in 2nd grade.
One day Luke found he was the only kid in the house and he was thrilled to be able to play a game for hours with Mom uninterrupted.
Malia started giving pedicures after she experienced one in Kenya. Some liked the pumice stone being rubbed on their foot more than others.
The kids celebrated Australia Day at school since it’s not a recognized holiday here, for some reason.

7. Luke’s 9th Birthday
Luke had recently seen this photo of his dad’s 9th birthday and requested the same cake.
Michael’s 37th Birthday
We had a chance to go away to a small resort near the Serengeti for a night for Michael’s birthday. Our good friend Ronit stayed with the kids. Then he came home to cake and a guys’ game night.

8. Miscellaneous
Elliot loves to write! We’re only up to “J” officially but he knows almost all his letters from asking siblings and employees to teach him.
While in Adelaide, Michael’s friend Matt, who also happens to be a professional baker, let Michael attend one of his sourdough classes, and Michael’s been honing that skill ever since. Now he’s done a couple of classes here in Musoma to spread the love.
One of Kelly’s favorite things about living in Musoma is the weekly ladies Bible study.

9. Recently Michael went on a motorbike trip across the countryside to look for a new Zinza Bible translator. You can read more about his adventure here on our blog.

10. Prayer Requests
Our project is in need of national translators for the Kabwa and Zinza languages, so Michael is doing lots of interviewing of applicants and traveling to villages by motorbike. Please pray for us to find the right people for the jobs.
Kelly has started teaching a weekly Bible class to the MKs aged 7-8, with Elliot attending also. Pray for wisdom for her to clearly speak God’s Word to these children and for them to have ears to hear.
Michael will be away for 2 weeks in Israel in March. Thanks Valley Baptist Church! Pray for him and for the family back in Musoma.
Pray for wisdom in parenting.
Pray for us as we seek to let God’s love transcend boundaries of culture, language, education, and finances both at the office and in our other relationships with Tanzanians.
click here to support us from Oz
click here to support us from the US
( us if you live somewhere else)

11. If you’d like notifications for new posts on our blog, go to our website and ‘FOLLOW’ us.

12. LINKS/INFO Our blog: chroNICHOLLS.com.
More about our work: Uganda-Tanzania Branch thetask.net and Mara Cluster Facebook page.
To join our Prayer Team, or sign up for newsletter notifications: us.
To support us financially: support To give by mail, make a check/cheque out to: “Wycliffe Bible Translators” and send it to:
Wycliffe Bible Translators Wycliffe Australia P.O. Box or Graham Rd Orlando, FL Kangaroo Ground, VIC 3097 USA Australia *Include a note saying “Preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Michael and Kelly Nicholls”.
Our Tanzania mailing address:
Michael & Kelly Nicholls Box 1235
Musoma, Tanzania
EAST AFRICA
Birthdays: Luke – Jan 19; Michael – Jan 30; Elliot – April 24; Kelly – Aug 15; Malia – Oct 16