The Children of Karansi

The children at Karansi Lutheran Parish are like the children in all of Africa.  Many of us have a deep love for these children. The disciple John wrote in John 3:17, “If a rich person sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against his brother, how can he claim he loves God?” 

The children at Karansi live in poverty.  I still have the image in my head of the 2011 Sheridan team leaving Pastor Joshua Laiser’s home and the children running along side of us as we walked to the van.  The children were wearing rags. Like the children at Mudio, they have never worn new clothes. Many times I have visited the churches and schools, and the thought comes to me, “Is this child malnourished?”  At Karansi the children do not eat three meals a day.

Along the roads in Tanzania, you will see children in their school uniforms walking to school. Since the children at Karansi live a long distance from the school, many will be living in a dormitory. Can you imagine being six or seven years old and living in a dorm?          

And each time I leave the Sunday school classroom, after bringing school supplies, the teacher looks at me with her eyes, begging for help. Pastor Joshua Laiser is a leader in helping his Maasai people build a primary school. Most of these children have never been in school. I have great admiration for him as he recently completed high school!  The Karansi School will have all classes taught in English. This will give the children a chance to be successful when they enter secondary school. Learning a second language is not easy.

In spite of all the hardships, the children have smiles on their faces and enthusiastically sing Jesus Loves Me….in English.

In Christian love,

Linda Gapp

Click here for more information about the 2013 Vision Trip to Tanzania.
Click here to see pictures of the building of the school.