Ordination Service

On Thursday morning of the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) General Council, there was another first.

The President of Tanzania, Kikwete, accepted the invitation to visit and address our pastors and leadership for the first time.

It was a momentous occasion; the president's personal security forces accompanied by specially trained dogs arrived to go over every inch of the platform and auditorium. His special chair arrived and was placed in the place of honor on the platform. Details and protocol were worked out in advance and the TAG leadership carefully explained matters of security and protocol to those of us gathered in the auditorium.

Our guest speaker stood and spoke prior to the arrival of the president and he did something that was inspired and helped us all to re-align our priorities as they should be.

He stood, looking at the door that the president would step through when he arrived and began to announce in a loud voice as his arm swept towards the closed door, the arrival of the TRUE guest of honor for the day. He began by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you our special guest for the day..." He then began to speak the titles and names that are connected to King Jesus..."King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Lamb of God, the Alpha and Omega..."

On he went as the auditorium erupted in stomping feet, clapping hands, cheering and shouts of praise. It was a wonderful moment.

When President Kikwete finally arrived he was greeted with the proper amount of respect and honor due to him as our president and we were honored to have him address our assembly for a few minutes and have our picture taken with him later.

However, King Jesus received the greater welcome from those of us gathered in the auditorium long before President Kikwete ever arrived.

All Hail King Jesus!

Missionary to a Foreign Land

During this past week at the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) General Council, there were a number of "firsts" that took place.

One of those was the Commissioning service for Foreign Missionaries; not those of us from America who have come to Tanzania but those from Tanzania who are being sent to other countries.

There were four couples who were commissioned that night and it was an incredible event for those of us who are missionaries from America. Two of these four couples are being sent to the country of Madagascar and the other two are possibly going to one of those countries that are difficult for Americans to gain access to and move about freely.

After these new missionaries were commissioned and prayed for, we American missionaries felt compelled to wait at the bottom of the steps as they left the platform and shake their hands and encourage them.

These Tanzanian missionaries that are being sent out will not have all the benefits that we Americans have, such as STL, LFTL, BGMC, medical insurance, retirement benefits, etc. They are more like those first disciples in the New Testament who were sent out two by two into the world. Although they will have some funds provided for them, much of their missionary calling will be done in true faith; believing without seeing that God will provide for them.

Kudos to our Tanzanian missionary brothers and sisters!

July?????

Wow, how did that happen?
We find ourselves in the middle of July and I have not posted any blogs for this month. We've been so busy that we would not have even remembered the 4th of July celebrations in America if our daughter had not emailed us some pictures of a fireworks display from her iphone. I do love those firework displays for the 4th.
Actually, the explanation is fairly simple; we have been gone for 10 days to Dodoma, Tanzania for our Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) General Council which meets every two years. The days prior to that were trying to prepare for our departure and taking care of an almost unending amount of time consuming "stuff".
This is the first year it has been held outside of Dar Es Salaam; Dodoma is only about a 9 hour drive for us whereas Dar Es Salaam is about a 14-15 hour drive requiring us to break it up into two days since it is not recommended for us to travel at night.
It was an awesome Council this year with over 2,500 pastors attending the council in the new University of Dodoma Udome.
There were a number of firsts for the Council this year so I will be sharing that information with you over the next few days.
Richard Dubose, General Superintendent for the North Texas District, was our Council speaker this year and he did an incredible job. He was definitely lead by the Spirit as he spoke to us each morning and evening from the Word of God with deep things that our pastors and leaders needed to hear. We, the missionary body, were also ministered to through his messages.
We arrived home on Saturday evening tired and glad to be home in our own beds! However, the 10 days spent in Dodoma were a blessing to us.
I will share more with you in the next day or two and include some pictures as well.
Be blessed.
Tim and Joyce