God still heals

Yesterday (Sunday) was Tim's turn to preach; at the Bible College all teachers are also pastors for the College Church/Bwiru Hill Christian Centre. Since Tim is the Principal, this automatically makes him the Senior Pastor at BHCC as well.
We are thankful for the wonderful group of faculty/pastoral staff that we have to work with during this time of our ministry at the Bible College.
Yesterday Tim felt that he was to preach on the topic of "Miracles" and that afterwards we would have special prayer for those who needed miracles in any area of their lives. During the first service which is mostly made up of the student body at the college, most stood for prayer. Many of the miracles needed in this group had to do with financial needs.
During the second service, which is mostly made up of people from the community, about 2/3 of the congregation stood indicating that they were in need of some kind of miracle, either a physical need, financial need, or a variety of other needs. Everyone, however, felt that their need could only be met by the divine intervention of God.
You can understand the large number of people who respond to this type of prayer invitation; many here can not afford medical help, have no insurance of any kind, no retirement, no government assistance and no way to receive any kind of loan assistance. God is not a last resort for many of these people; He is there only source of help.
Immediately after the second service we had two women who came forward who had been so sick that they almost did not come to church that morning, however, they came in spite of their sickness. Both women testified that while they were being prayed for they felt healing and strength return to their bodies; they were completely healed. We give thanks to God for healing these two women and believe that we will hear more reports of miracles/needs met in the days ahead. God still performs miracles today and we bear witness to this as we continue to minister here in Tanzania.

Too quiet?

Last night I had trouble sleeping; for some unexplainable reason it was very quiet. Nights in Mwanza are rarely quiet with Monday night usually being the quietest night of the week. However, last night was Tuesday night.
The noise starts mid-afternoon; we have a variety of churches around us and they all believe in having outdoor meetings on a regular basis. Tanzanians of all faiths apparently have the same belief in one area at least; the louder the better. It starts with the "checking of the microphone" so for several minutes you hear, over and over, "hello"; "1-2-3" and even "test-test". I don't know why they use the English language for these tests but they usually do. The music and choirs begin followed by the loud preaching, (Is God deaf?) and yelling which continues to grow in volume and emotion as the meeting progesses. There are often 2-3 of these meetings going on at the same time.
As daylight fades and darkness comes the local bars add their loud music to offset the outdoor meetings and all of this is topped off with the Muslim "call to prayer" also done over a loud speaker.
By bedtime, the churches are usually finished but not the bars; we hear several at different times.
There is always people talking as they walk on the road that passes our gate, children playing and crying, dogs barking and the birds (which we have in abundance around our property) singing as they prepare to settle for the night.
As the night progresses it usually settles down to a few distinct noises that last through most of the night. The bars blasting their music over their loudspeakers, the sounds of dogs barking at each other and our own two guard dogs barking at anything that moves.
However, last night it was almost too quiet to sleep because the power was also off most of the night so we didn't have the usual inside noises; the uneven hum of the overhead fan and the slightly louder noise of my c-pap machine on my nightstand.
Finally I am able to drift off to sleep; awakening occasionally to listen to the unusual silence before drifting back to sleep.
Hope your night is peaceful...or loud...whichever suits you best.

Wearing Shoes

I have always enjoyed moving around my home with no shoes on; I like the feel of the cool ceramic tile on my bare feet.


Here in Mwanza Tanzania we try to keep a pair of flip-flops by the side of our bed at night. If we need to get up in the night we slip our feet into these cheap colorful rubber/plastic shoes before striking out across the dark room.



Yesterday as I was strolling across my the living room enjoying the feel of the ceramic tile on my bare feet, I noticed something laying on the floor so I went to investigate. Upon close examination, I realized that it was a baby snake. It was about 6 inches long and very thin; some might have called it "harmless". "Snake" and "harmless" cannot be used in the same sentence.

So, I did what anyone would have done; I quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed my can of DOOM ( similar to Raid Bug Spray but stronger due to no restrictions on chemicals here). I returned to the snake which lay contentedly on my floor and proceeded to "doom it" liberally. I apologize to those of you who may love snakes or at least feel that we should "live together in peace" with them. This is my house and my rules apply; snakes are not welcome. They are grouped with those other unwelcome guests: rats, mice and gigantic roaches.

The snake, although not dead, was now immobilized and unable to escape; it lay groggily in the pool of Doom and occasionally lifted it's head to try for a striking position. Since Tim was not here, I went outside and called for our trusty yard worker, Juma. He came quickly and I pointed out the snake which he quickly picked up on a stick and started outside with it where he would proceed to "take care of it".

As he passed by he calmly explained, "it is a baby cobra - it's too small to hurt anyone". I smiled bravely as if I totally agreed with him.

I quickly went in search of my sandals; the feel of the cool ceramic tile on my bare feet had suddenly lost it's appeal.
I tried not to wonder where the rest of "baby cobra's" family might be lurking.
Have a good day.

Chicken Anyone?

Last Sunday was "youth day" in the Tanzania Assemblies of God; the youth of the church are in charge of the entire service on this day. There is also a "Women's Day" and a "Children's Day". There is no need for a "Men's Day" since every other undesignated Sunday service in this culture is unofficially "Men's Day".

On their special day; it is traditional that the officiating group presents gifts to their pastor/s. At Bwiru Hill Chrisitan Center all of the teachers of the Bible College are also pastors of the Bible College Church; this makes Tim, as Principal, the Senior Pastor.

At the end of the service, all of the youth line up outside the church and sing and dance their way down the aisle to the pastors who are standing at the front of the church ready to receive their gifts. As the youth proceed down the aisle, I can't help noticing that the lead person is carrying a live rooster. The large red rooster, who's feet have been tied, is stuffed into a blue plastic bag with it's feet protruding from the bottom and it's head sticking out of the top of the bag.

My mind begins to process the fact that there is only one large red rooster at the front of the line and there are no other chickens visible in the approaching line of singing, dancing youth. The implications of the solitary rooster becomes clear in light of the fact that Tim and I are the Senior Pastors and the Senior pastors usually receive a more substantial gift than the rest of the staff.

As I suspected; we are presented with the bound and bagged rooster as part of our gift; the rest of our gift was a large umbrella, a box of fruit and vegetables and two flats of eggs (60). Knowing that our rooster would become a tasty snack for our guard dogs; we left it in the care of one of the teachers at the Bible College who has added it to his own flock. We see "Big Red" each day when we drive up to the Bible College; he seems to be happy in his new home.

New Road

Yesterday was a grand day! The Mwanza Bible College sits on top of Bwiru Hill here in Mwanza. Although it affords a lovely view of Lake Victoria, the dirt and rock road that has to be climbed to reach the school has been an ongoing problem since the College opened in 2001.

The road is steep, narrow, filled with deep potholes in some areas and large protruding boulders in others. If a taxi will agree to go up that road, they charge you double price because the road is very bad. We have been praying about that road for years!

Recently, we started up the road only to find it blocked off and city workers working on it. What a shock and surprise. So, for the past two months, we have had to use the back road up to the school; this road is worse than the front road and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle to make the steep ascent over the rocks and boulders.

We have been anxiously anticipating the official opening of the front road. We received a text from our staff at the Bible College Wednesday morning that the new road was open! It was a wonderful drive over new pavement as we drove easily to the top of Bwiru Hill.

Some things you take for granted, like paved roads, until you don't have them. When you do have them, they are considered a blessing for which you are always thankful.

Melting pot potluck

Friday night was our "Mwanza Missionary Potluck"; all the missionaries from Mwanza and the nearby areas gather on the first Friday night of each month for food and fellowship.
At these meetings we don't discuss doctrine, mission policies or have theological debates.
We have single missionaries, young couples, families, couples with grown children and grandparents. We have Americans, Canadians, Swedish, South Africans, Europeans, and a variety of other nationalities. There are AIC (African Inland Church), Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Church of Christ and a variety of Faiths.
We gather together for the purpose of fellowship inspite of the many things that could divide us. The things that we have in common: the call to Tanzania, the love for Tanzanians and the desire to be obedient to the call of God on our lives to build HIS Kingdom, these are the things of importance that cause us to come together and become friends.
We eat, we fellowship, we sing, we share testimonies, we share needs, we pray together and then we are free to go. Most of us, however, linger; basking in the comraderie of people different from us in some ways but alike in the important things. In our countries of origin there is a good chance that we would not be together in a setting like this and that we would not be friends or even aquaintances. But in this place where all of us are considered foreigners and strangers, we come together for awhile and are able to "blend in" with everyone else. Time enough to return to the isolated places where most of us do our part for the Kingdom of God; sometimes we feel alone, forgotten, frustrated, helpless, and overwhelmed. On this one night a month, we take the time to have another piece of pie, another cup of coffee, another shared story and another laugh.
Be blessed.

Wanawake Watumishi wa Kristo (WWK)

The WWK of Tanzania is the equivalent of the Women's Ministry groups in American churches; once a year they have a national convention and this year it was in Moshi, TZ.

I was privileged to attend along with the other TZ missionary women; there were several women from the Mwanza area that were also able to attend.

It was a three day conference packed full with reports, excellent speakers, prayer and worship, fun and fellowship. This is the one time a year when the women escape the confines of their lives here in Tanzania and have a break from the never-ending responsibilities they have on a daily basis.

Here, they are able to know the joy of coming together with hundreds of other women and receive encouragement, strength, friendship and be told that they are valuable and vital to the Kingdom of God. There is a balance of tears/sorrows and laughter/joy; it is the highlight of the year for these women.

There was, however, a few drawbacks. We were all expected to purchase and wear bright yellow polo shirts to the meetings; I wore mine even though I felt like a very large yellow lemon.

We sat for hours on the platform as honored guests listening to Swahili all day and understanding a portion of what was being said.

The evening service of the last night went well past dark; dark means "the invasion of the mosquitos". We missionaries knew this would happen so we all came prepared with mosquito repellent; unfortunately, on this particular evening we all left it in our rooms. We were attacked by swarms of mosquitos which made it hard to concentrate.

On the last day all the groups from the various sections of the country present gifts to the Christian Girls School and to the host District where we were meeting; we missionary ladies had purchased several mattresses to present as our gift.

When it came time to make our presentation, we hefted our bright pink mattresses and sang and danced our way across the field in the traditional way and placed our gift with all the others. The Tanzanian ladies were delighted that we took part in this event and that we made the effort to present our offering in the traditional way. It was fun, and, I might say, quite a colorful sight! A group of white women dressed in bright yellow shirts carrying pink mattresses across the field as we sang our Swahili chorus and tried to "keep in step"and move forward at the same time!

The yellow shirt is hanging at the back of the closet now; hopefully never to be seen again!

Blessings.

Full Life Study Bibles

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” II Timothy 2:15

What if the only tool you had available to you to preach and teach the Good News was a simple Bible; no commentaries, Bible dictionaries or any other resource material.
One of the greatest needs among our Pastors and leaders in Tanzania is for study materials in their own language of Kiswahili; there are very few available and even fewer that have any help specifically in the area of the Holy Spirit relative to the Pentecostal experience. We have been amazed at the lack of knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures that many of our pastors have when they come to Bible College; much of this is due to the fact that they have no resource materials available to them and have had no formal teaching or training. The faculty at the Bible College often find ourselves in the position of correcting erroneous beliefs among our pastors/students who do not understand the Word of God. Their intent is NOT to teach false doctrine; they have simply misunderstood the Word of God as they have struggled alone and without assistance to grasp it’s meaning. They are also very vulnerable to the efforts of Satan to twist the written Word of God; much like the Serpent did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. “Did God really say…?”

A few years ago, the Full Life Study Bible (known to some as the “Fire Bible”) was made available to us in Kiswahili; this Bible is a study Bible as well as a Bible Commentary. Tanzania received a shipment of these Bibles while we were in the states on furlough and they were made available at General Council in Dar Es Salaam. Very few of our pastors in the western third of Tanzania travel the distance to General Council because the trip is very costly for them and so only a handful of our pastors were able to purchase a copy of the FLSB in Swahili.

We have a graduating class of 70 this year at the Mwanza Bible College, most of them pastors, who will be graduating in November; they have repeatedly asked us to try and locate the Kiswahili FLSB before they graduate and return to their homes. Due to the fact that many live in remote areas and small villages, they may never have another opportunity to have access to this valuable resource tool. For many of them, this will be the only other resource tool they have besides their Bibles to help them teach and train the people in their churches.

On a recent trip to Nairobi we discovered that the Kenya Assemblies of God has a supply of the Full Life Study Bible in Kiswahili; most of their pastors have purchased the English version. We can purchase these Bibles for approximately $25 each and would like to purchase at least 50 of them to make available to our graduating pastors. The money we receive from the sale of this first batch would be used to purchase more FLSB’s so that we can keep them available to our pastors in this part of the country. Some of them will need to save up for a few months or even as long as a year in order to purchase one of these Full Life Study Bibles.
Unfortunately, we do not have the money needed to purchase the Full Life Study Bibles before the graduation on November 7; we are writing to ask your help with this project. We have found transport to bring the Bibles from Kenya to Tanzania if we can purchase them and have them ready by the middle of October.

We are asking you to prayerfully consider helping us place a Kiswahili Full Life Study Bible into the hands of our pastors so that they can have access to valuable information that will help them “correctly handle the word of truth”.

We appreciate each of you and pray that God will continue to bless you so that you may be a blessing to others.

Menial Tasks

Menial tasks, those tasks that are mundane, boring, time-consuming but necessary, seem to take up so much of our time. Here in Africa, even simple tasks that take a few minutes in America can consume a lot of time.
As missionaries, even though we are on "the frontlines" doing "God's work" we are earthbound and part of the human race; thus, we have our share of menial tasks to be done.
Food shopping, for instance, takes up a good part of a day. There are no "super centers" or "one-stop" shops here. For fresh fruits and vegetables you go to a huge open market and you must barter for each kind of fruit or vegetable individually. You can never say, "I'll take all of this stuff, ring it up". Each item is sold at a different booth and must be bartered for, weighed and paid for one at a time as you twist your way through the maze of stalls carrying your straw market bag. If you pause or make eye contact, it is impolite to continue without greeting them and at least glancing at their wares.
Meat is purchased at the "meat market"; you must view the meats, choose your selection, tell them how much to cut off and wait for it to be weighed and wrapped and then pay for it.
Pre-packaged foods, are available though expensive. Often, you go to several little stores the size of a bathroom, before finding all the items you need. Not all items are available all the time so you must have a "treasure hunt" of sorts.
After shopping you arrive home and you must wash and soak all the fresh fruits and vegetables and while they soak you can cut up the hunks of meat into the appropriate amounts and place them in plastic storage bags in the freezer.
Canned and packaged goods are placed in the pantry; if you find a particular item that is hard to find in stock, you buy a number of them knowing it may be a long time before another shipment comes in.
Anything that is not in a metal can must be placed in a sealed container or tightly sealed bag to keep out any small living creatures that may seek to dine on your precious commodities.
Some items are stored in the freezer for the sake of freshness.
That's just the grocery shopping!
We will pay bills another day. No writing checks or paying on line here! We go to the water company and then to the electric company and stand in long lines waiting for your turn to pay. Mail is collected at the Post Office in town. If you have a water problem or electrical problem that must be looked at by the appropriate department, you must drive to town, pick up the necessary personnel, take them to your home to deal with the problem and then return them back to their work place; they don't have company vehicles to use for transport.
As I ponder these menial tasks, I stir the dog food that I am cooking on the stove; yet another menial task. Our outside worker is off sick for a few days with malaria and typhoid, both common ailments here, so I am cooking the dog food. It's a mixture of ground grain flour, water and dagaa (small dried fish) that must be stirred while it cooks to avoid having it stick to the bottom of the pan; the aroma that fills the kitchen is not a pleasant smell.
These small, seemingly insignificant routine tasks are mixed in daily with the ministry tasks such as teaching at the Bible College, praying for the sick, writing college courses, holding crusades, etc.
All of this mixture makes up what we call "Life"; a blending together of the mundane and the magnificent.
Have a magnificent day!

Our 109 Students

We took a picture of our 109 students enrolled this term at the Mwanza Bible College; it was the highlight of the day and possibly the week for our students. They were excited when I told them that it would be placed on our website so that friends, family and churches all over America could see it. For most of these students the computer world is a strange and unreachable place that they may be able to visit but will never live there.

However, for this special day they went immediately after chapel and changed clothes, fixed their hair and prepared for the big event. It was all accomplished with much laughter and good humor as we arranged and rearranged them in order to get them all into the picture.

This group of people are mostly pastors from small churches scattered across western Tanzania; they consider themselves blessed to be able to attend Bible College. They, their families and their churches have sacrificed for the privilege of being here.

Of course, we will need to figure out how to make 109 copies of this picture; they will all want a copy and it will be placed in a place of honor in their homes or churches as visual proof that they accomplished a phenomenal task.

Time flies...

Yesterday I felt like I blinked and somehow in that infinitesimal amount of time I lost 25 years. Yesterday was our daughter, Jenn's, birthday. Where did all of that time go?
We sent her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, yellow roses, and called her and chatted for a few minutes via Skype.
Time stretches out in front of us sometimes in what seems like a road that has no end; then suddenly, you find that you have traversed a huge chunk of the road and can't quite remember how you got from point A to point B so quickly.
Today at the Bible College we had a staff meeting and realized that it had been several weeks since we had our last one; how did that happen?
We were also reminded today the it will be time for mid-term exams after next week; we haven't even finished closing out the business from the first week of school.
We have finished our first year in Tanzania and have started into our second; I still haven't done a whole list of things that I thought would need to be done in the first few weeks after our arrival here.
I am reminded today of how quickly time can pass and how valuable a commodity it is to most of us. The thing that bothers me the most about the passage of time is not the things that remain on my "To Do" list. It is the time that I have wasted through the years striving to accomplish tasks instead of making good memories with people I know and care about.
Make a memory today that will bring a smile to your face when you look back on it someday as you travel down the road of life.

Labor Day

Labor Day almost passed us by here in Tanzania since it is an American Holiday. The only holidays that Tanzania and the U.S. have in common are Christmas and Easter, so we often forget about all the others.
Our Labor Day was business as usual at the Mwanza Bible College. We arrived in time for chapel; Monday is "Principal's Day" each week and Tim always speaks on that day. If Tim is out of town then "Mama Principal" speaks; that's me.
Most of our 109 students have returned; classes started over a week ago but they often take up to two weeks to arrive back for classes. The reason is usually because they are desperately trying to raise their tuition fees.
After chapel, we met with the teachers for "chai break" (morning tea break) and dealt with all the issues that had developed since Friday. We met with the Academic Dean about a number of student issues ranging from lost transcripts to failing grades.
Usually, because Monday is so busy, Tim and I "split up" and handle different situations to expedite things. Tim met with the Dean of Students and they looked over the situation in the library to determine what was needed to get our computer lab up and running.
I met with Mabesa, she is our Registrar and also one of our teachers, about a theological issue that came up in her first class of the day. We made copies of courses to be sent out to the various Districts for their Church Planting Schools, we filed records in the registrars office and did general office work.
Immediately after his meeting with the Academic Dean, Tim met with the Business Manager to decide what to spend money on this week, other than food, which is a necessity. Providing food for 109 students is the single largest cost the school has each term. The decision was made to hold off on paying the utilities one more week and buy a new pump for the well and some cleaning supplies for the bathrooms.
Time was then spent figuring out why there was no water coming onto the property; Tim walked part way down the hill and found a water line was shut off for repairs. Hopefully, it will be taken care of in the next few days. We have a tank for surplus water but it was discovered that the pump was not working. All the water used on Monday was hauled up with buckets lowered into the well since the pump refused to work.
We arrived home in the early afternoon and had two guests. One of the guests is the wife of one of our local pastors. She stops in from time to time and offers to sell me bars of soap; she uses the few shillings profit she makes on each bar to help pay school fees for their son, Gospel. Of course, I can only use so many bars of soap so this time I decline since I purchased quite a few last time to share with our students.
Tim spent the late afternoon working in the garage and I did some laundry and worked on the never-ending pile of typing projects.
We watched a little bit of CNN to find out if all was well in the U.S.A and went to bed.
That was our Labor Day; I hope most of you had a restful day and maybe even one more cookout before summer comes to an end.

Strange Twist

We sometimes refer to the phrase "wearing a different hat"; today we did that for our evening service at the Bible College Church (Bwiru Hill Christian Center). In fact, it is the first time we have done this since 1995.
For thirteen years we have been missionaries; we have traveled to churches both here in Tanzania and in the US. We have been announced as "the missionary" and dealt with all that goes along with that title; the good and the bad.
Today, however, as acting Senior Pastors of BHCC we were once again the Pastor presenting the missionary. We had the privilege of entertaining and presenting a visiting missionary to our congregation. Pastor Kennet is a missionary from Tanzania to the country of Burundi and is back in Tanzania doing his one year deputation/itineration. He is one among a handful of Tanzanians who have been sent out by the national TAG church to be missionaries in other countries/cultures. As a Tanzanian he has done the same things we have done by leaving his country, going to a land where things are foreign to him and his family, learning new customs, eating new foods and learning a new language. One thing he doesn't deal with is always standing out in a crowd as the "white person"; as a Tanzanian he blends in well with his African brothers and sisters in Burundi.
It was a joy to be with him and to spend time getting to know him after the service as we, the Senior Pastors, took the missionary out to a restaurant after the service. It was a nice change to wear the other hat for a brief time; however, we much prefer the missionary hat although these days we are missionaries, Senior Pastors, and Bible School Principals so we are wearing a variety of hats at the same time. It's all a part of that "flexible" thing we hear about all the time as missionaries; wearing whatever hat is necessary to the what needs to be done.
Be blessed

Mwamashimba

We visited a tarafa (similar to a "county" in America) church located about two hours outside of Mwanza in a small village called Mwamashimba.

The church is about two years old and we had been invited to visit this particular Sunday. A visit from the missionary or other leadership serves to encourage the pastor and his family as well as the church members.

In this place, it is a two-hour round trip by bicycle to purchase clean water at 500/=(about 40 cents) a bucket. If the pastor makes roughly $10 or less a month, this is a costly item for them.

They have a local "watering hole" which is used by people and animals alike; it is muddy and must be filtered and allowed to settle before it is even usable for non-drinking purposes.

The adults gathered for the service inside the church while the children and I gathered outside the church under a tree for our service. Some of the adults were fortunate to have chairs while many of them sat on baked bricks on the floor. The children were content to sit on the ground under the shade of a tree.

The wind blew across the dry parched land causing the dust to stir and billow around us making the use of most of the visual aids and object lessons impossible. However, the children were excited to have a special place, a missionary, and a service just for their benefit. Tim had about 25-30 adults in the church and Mabesa and I had about 60-70 children.

Afterwards, we went to the pastor's tiny two room house for lunch; rice, cooked greens and goat meat. A feast in their eyes that cost them more than they earned that week; but to them it was a joy and privilege to serve us as their honored guests. We were presented with a small bag of unground dried corn by the church elders which we presented as a gift to the pastor and his family.

It was a good day and a vivid reminder of the blessings we take for granted.

Death comes to visit

Yesterday, Tim received a text from one of the faculty at the Bible college and our peaceful evening was shattered by tragedy.
A young man from the neighborhood was found on the Bible School property; he had hung himself in one of the trees and was discovered by a woman as she passed by.
The Bible college church, Bwiru Hill Christian Center, had just started the all night prayer meeting which takes place every Friday evening.
And, just a stones throw away from the church where a group of Christians were gathered for prayer, this troubled young man decided to end his life at the end of a rope.
Tim arrived shortly after the police and the young man was taken away; he was known by the police because he had been in trouble with the law on several occasions.
A woman recognized him and identified him; a huge crowd of people had gathered. No one seemed to mourn the loss of this young man; they were merely curious to see what had interrupted their mundane daily routines.
The thought that continues to trouble me? Death claimed this troubled soul just outside the church while people were gathered to pray. I wonder how many times a day this exact scenario is repeated in the shadows of our churches around the world and what, if anything, we can do about it.
As a missionary I realize the tendency to see the lost as people who live very far away in another country; but, they are also our neighbors. Lord, open our eyes and help us to see.

"Electrifying" Praise report

We always know that God is watching over us and all that belongs to us; it is one of those absolutes that we believe without reservation. We preach it and speak it regularly without giving much thought to the magnitude of that blessing; sometimes we need a fresh reminder to keep it real to us.

Recently, we were away from home for a week traveling through Tanzania and into Nairobi, Kenya. One day we received a text from a friend who lives in the small guest house on our property in Mwanza. The text was "the pump in the well outside the house caught on fire and there were flames shooting up but it is out now".

Wow! That will get your attention!

After returning home and investigating the problem we found that one of the huge transformers near our home had exploded sending a bolt of electricity through many of the houses in our neighborhood. In each home, the electricity came out through an appliance or piece of equipment and melted or at least destroyed the particular item.

Our surge traveled through everything in our house including the large transformers in the attic and all the office equipment and exited from the outlet near the pump in our well, not actually from the pump itself. Tim bought the parts for a few dollars and repaired the outlet.

If the surge had exited anywhere in the house, our house could have caught on fire and we could have lost everything.

We have been reminded, once again, that God is watching over us. And, as the scriptures say, He never sleeps nor slumbers. PTL.

Be blessed

Joyce

District Councils

The first two weeks of July, Tim traveled with our National TAG leadership throughout the western third of Tanzania. It was time for District Councils and they were being held a few days apart all across the country.

We are part of five Districts in our part of Tanzania so Tim had a chance to meet leaders and pastors in all five our Districts. For many, it was the first time the national leadership had visited their regions and there was much excitement and celebration involved in each of the District meetings.

Tim and the leadership, traveling in our reliable Toyota Land Cruiser, logged hundreds of kilometers; some of them on paved roads but most were over very dry and dusty unpaved roads. At times the dust was so thick that it was like driving in dense fog. Their days began at about 5:00am and they often went until 10:00 or later at night. It was a grueling schedule of travel and meetings. However, the were received with such joy and excitement everywhere they went that it bolstered their tired bodies and spirits.

They were met at some places by motor escorts, by cheering people who lined the road, by local officials, with gifts and singing choirs. The leadership encouraged the pastors and church members everywhere as they presented the Ten Year Plan to reach the lost of Tanzania and to make disciples; to be people of excellence and integrity and to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19,20.

The leaders wore special polo shirts that they had made and Tim was thrilled when they gave him some to wear as well; he was saved from wearing the dreaded "dress shirts and ties" that I had insisted he had to pack for the journey.

I have included a few of the pictures from their travels.

Be blessed.

Children's Day Tanzanian Style

Recently, it was national Children's Day in the TAG (Tanzania Assemblies of God); this is a very special day. This is the one day a year that the children have the full attention of the church; in this society they are often overlooked and many churches have no ministry to children at all.

However, on this day they are given the entire day; all classes are taught by children, all music is provided by the children, preaching and all parts of the service are conducted by the children.

We spent the week before meeting in the afternoons to practice songs, skits, music and all facets of "our" day.
We had a glorious day! The children were dressed in their best, they were in the spotlight and they were remarkable! I wish I could share all the pictures and videos with you that I took on that day. What a celebration it was. What a day to show the people in our church that the children are able and willing to be an integral part of the church body.

After the services (two morning services with Sunday school in between) the church provided a meal for all the children (about 70) plus their teachers. Enjoy the pictures!

Short Safari Thoughts

Eight people, camping gear and luggage crammed into one Land Cruiser is the beginning of an adventure in and of itself.
Flashes of memory (to be explained in greater detail later): dust, animals, fear, joy, awesome animal sightings, unpacking at the campsite, squat toilets, cold water only, eating for two days with no cooking, borrowed hot water for much needed coffee, putting up tents, blowing up a full sized air mattress by mouth-twice, taking down tents, keeping warm at high altitudes, forgetting your camera, baboons who steal your bag of bananas, elephant in the camp-twice, blue sky, endless view from the edge of the crater, sleeping in the car when the air mattress goes flat, animals rummaging around your tent at night, wishing you had brought your winter clothes for the high altitude, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, driving precariously down a narrow road for steep ascents and descents, laughter, waiting while everyone gets the perfect camera shot, driving for hours and hours, sore muscles, seeing birds, plants and animals you've never seen before, making memories, and traveling on safari with family.
Did I mention eight people, camping gear, food and luggage crammed into one Land Cruiser?
More later!
Joyce

Things you WONT see on an American college campus...

This list could be VERY long; but a few sights this week at the Bible College made me think, "Wow, you won't see that on an American college campus".
1. You won't see students gathered around an outside spigot after meal times washing off their metal plates and spoons.
2. You won't see students washing their clothes outside in buckets and hanging them on the line.
3. You won't see students carrying their chairs around campus from chapel to the dining hall and back to the chapel and back to the dining hall...you get the picture.
4. You won't see students doing assigned work tasks around the campus in the afternoons.
5. You won't see students rushing forward to carry your briefcase for you as you go to and from the classroom.
6. You won't see students stand in class when they want to ask a question and preface their question with "thank you, teacher".
7. You won't see students lined up with their cups at "chai time" (morning break) waiting their turn for their hot tea.
8. You won't see the neighborhood children playing on the campus.
9. You won't see a registrars office with an old manual typewriter sitting on the desk that is actually still used.
10. And, lastly, you won't see 20-25 students sitting around tables outside helping pinch the heads off piles of small dried fish called "dagaa" in the afternoon so that they can have them for supper that evening.
In fact, there are many, many sights that we see every day that you won't see in America. We have grown accustomed to the many sights and sounds that shocked and amazed us when we first arrived here. We always enjoy watching visitors react to the sights and sounds of Tanzania.
Be blessed.

Facebook and Twitter!

Over the next few weeks, our daughter Jenn is going to be making some upgrades to our Web site.

As part of our effort to connect with our friends, family and supporters, we're expanding our online presence starting today!

We've launched a Twitter account, which will post an update when there is a new blog post or new photos added to our Web site. If you're a Twitter user click here.

We also created a Facebook page. If you're logged into Facebook, you can search for "Tim and Joyce Jarvis" and become a fan!

We want to use every type of technology possible to make you a part of our ministry and keep you included on our activities.

Thanks for your continued support!

The "to do" lists.

"Flexibility" is a lifestyle that you must embrace as a missionary if you are going to keep your sanity. For instance, Tim and I had a schedule that we had set for ourselves for this past Saturday; we were going to get up early and get many things accomplished.
The first thing was that we overslept and while we were still getting ready for our day and before we had even had breakfast we had a visiting pastor at our door. He stayed two hours and five minutes after he left we had two other pastors arrive; they also stayed two hours. By the time they had left it was after 1:00 and we had not accomplished anything on our "to do" list for Saturday. In addition, a single missionary lady needed our assistance for a little project that we were more than happy to help with.
Sometimes you plan to bake and the power goes off, or you plan to go to town and take care of some business and the places you go have decided to close early for some unknown reason. We have guests drop in or we spend long hours at the Bible College because there are multiple problems/situtations that develop that need your attention. Or, maybe the dog gets away and you have to go looking for her. The pipes break or the workers have a problem that you have to help them with... the list goes on and on of the endless possibilites that drive home the need to be flexible and at the same time help you work on that all important virtue, "patience".
You must adopt the African philosophy that people are more important than schedules and there is always tomorrow.
"Haraka, haraka, haina barika"; an African proverb that means that there is no blessing in rushing. So, we take a deep breath, take things as they come, smile, serve some hot chai (tea) to our guests and enjoy life as it comes along. The other option is to get frustrated, miss opportunities that come with every "interruption" for fellowship and relationship building, and develop stress related illness.
It also helps to make your "to do" lists in pencil instead of ink.
Be blessed.

Breaking Bread Together

Occasionally, we have the opportunity to eat together with the students at the Bible College. This past Monday was one of those occasions. One of the local churches, KVCC, was supplying the evening meal for our 110 students and also invited the faculty and their spouses.
Everyone managed to cram into the Dining Hall; there was a head table set up for the faculty and the students sat around in chairs. We don't have enough tables for all the students at this time so they are accustomed to this arrangement.
Tanzanians are extremely patient so there was no restlessness as we waited for the food to be ready to serve and after about 30 minutes it was ready. Meanwhile everyone visited; I visited with the faculty wives which I don't get to do very often.
First we passed by the outdoor water spigot and washed with soap and cold water which is customary here before eating. Again, no rushing and no impatience.
Since Tim is the principal, we went through the line first and everyone patiently waited their turn. When we arrived, only part of the lights were working in the dining hall so it had a candlelight effect. Eventually, the few lights we had went out completely and we had a small battery powered lantern placed on the head table and a small light at the opposite end of the room.
Everyone accepted the dark without complaint and we just ate and fellowshipped together. At the end of the meal we thanked KVCC for supplying the food. Tim said a few words of greeting and then one of the students began to sing a worship chorus. The 150 voices in the darkened room harmonized together without instruments; but it sounded beautiful. There was a holy presence in the room as we sang together and prayed together.
We shared a simple meal of rice, chicken, greens and chapatis. The fellowship, however, was rich and the presence of the Lord was dessert; everyone left satisfied.
Be blessed today.

What a week!

This week has been a week spent working with water; we have had almost none and we have had an over-abundance all within a few days time. Such is part of the every day life of the missionary; we not only deal with the ups and downs of ministry but with the ups and downs of daily life here.
The city of Mwanza has been doing "something" with the water; no one is exactly sure what it is they are doing but we want to think it is improvements and upgrades. At any rate, we have gone to having a small trickle of water on some days to water gushing and spewing in great volumes from the faucets. We don't mind having lots of water pressure but there is such a thing as having too much water pressure.
We had city workers digging up a pipe in our yard because we had discovered a leak in one of the underground lines; Tim was digging with them to hurry the process along. They kept trying to change the agreed upon wages during the course of the digging but Tim held firm to the original agreement.
On Wednesday this week the city turned the water back on and we had so much pressure that we had a pipe in the bathroom burst. By the time I realized from the back office that this sound was louder and different than the sound of the fan, we had water running out of the bathroom and quickly filling the surrounding rooms. I called for Tim who was outside working on an electrical problem and he came running to shut off the water.
It took several hours of bailing water with buckets and then using mops, rags, and the Wet Vac that we almost didn't bring to clean up all the water. We also had a leak due to the extra pressure in the front bathroom as well. On Thursday, Tim spent the day cleaning out all the drains and pipes inside and outside the house so that the slow drainage of the high volume of water would not result in sinks, toilets and tubs running over.
On Friday, a day we would normally have been at the Bible School, I heard another loud spewing noise coming from the kitchen. I raced to check it out calling for Tim at the same time; he managed to get the water shut off before it left the kitchen. A hose under the sink had split in half from the high water pressure. If we had been at the Bible School we would have returned to a house full of water several inches deep. We thank the Lord that we were home due to Mid-term break at the Bible School. Also on Friday, we had a leak develop behind the washing machine due to too much water pressure rupturing the hose.
So this week Tim has been all over the property, inside and out, working on water problems. On top of that, we had an electrician here for two days trying to figure out why the outside security lights were not working. Tim worked with them and after several days they found the problem and repaired it.
We prefer our days and weeks to be filled with ministry; preaching, teaching, helping at the Bible College by training pastors, seeing the lost saved and the sick healed.
However, some days it's just broken pipes, electrical problems, ditch digging and mopping water.
All things work together for good.....

Time

The value of time is one of the marked differences between Tanzanians and Westerners (Americans); the Westerner can tell you the accurate time within a few minutes of the correct time. Tanzanians, on the other hand, don't always know what time it is and appear not to really care what time it is.

Case in point, we were scheduled to have a meeting of the official Board for the Bible College. Most of the board members do not live here in Mwanza and so traveled by boat, bus and car to arrive for the meeting. We were to start the meeting at 9:00am on Tuesday morning; we finally started at 11:00 after all the members had arrived, taken time to greet each other and enjoy a "chai break" (tea time) together. No one was flustered, no one glanced at their watch or looked frustrated.

Another good example of this difference in the way time is viewed is the fact that most churches in Tanzania don't have clocks; some have them but they don't always work. And, even more amazing, is the fact that I don't think I have ever seen anyone glance at the clock or their watch during a church service; except, of course, for the non-Tanzanians who are present.

The Tanzanians believe that people are more important than time, relationships are more important that schedules and that, "Haraka Haraka haina baraka". This Tanzanian proverb means "there is no blessing in rushing or hurrying". I think we have a similar one, "haste makes waste".

Be blessed

Widow's Mite

Sunday in church I witnessed another of several occasions that rank right up there with the "widow's mite" found in the Scriptures.
After church, a young mother with an infant tied to her back in typical Tanzanian style came forward and shyly greeted us and gave something to Pastor George. She quietly whispered something to him and then turned and walked away.
Pastor George opened up his hand and showed us the crumpled and dirty 10,000/= (shilling) note; the equivalent to about $8.00. By the simple way she was dressed it was obvious that it was a large sum of money for her to be giving away to the church.
Pastor George explained that she wanted to help buy chairs for the church; each chair is about 20,000/=. However, she had been holding on to the money for some time and was afraid that if she did not go ahead and give it she would be tempted to spend it for something else. She will work on collecting the remainder of the money over the next few weeks/months.
My desire was to return the money to her since she was obviously poor and could well have used the money herself. However, I remember the look of joy that flashed in her eyes in the brief moment she made eye contact with me and I realized that it was not for me to take that away from her.
She may go a long time before she again experiences the joy that simple act of giving brought to her. In the days ahead when times are hard and she has a financial need she will remember the joy and she will be content. She knows what it is to be in need on a daily basis; she does not, however, experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from giving every day.
There are some things more important than money and that money cannot buy; one of them is joy.

Children

We were in the states during April for our youngest daughter, Sarah's, graduation from Evangel University. It was truly a testimony to the faithfulness of God; when she was younger and had health issues we weren't sure she would be able to accomplish a task of this magnitude.
However, she has been living on her own, working and finished school with honors; it is all because of God's love and faithfulness.
We spent time with our first daughter, Jenn, in Iowa where she lives and works. She is the internet manager for a television station. We enjoyed spending time with her in her home; Jenn is an excellent hostess and a very good cook and we had a lot of fun being with her for a few days.
It is an odd experience when you start seeing your children as young adults making their own way in the world. This visit it felt more like I related to Jenn and Sarah as adults; this is sometimes a difficult switch for parents to make. At least, for me it has been difficult although I am making progress. When I returned home I took out the picture albums and walked down memory lane for a little while as I looked at the pictures of them as children.
They may be adults and the way we relate to each other may undergo change as time goes by, but as long as there are picture albums you can go back in time once in awhile when you need it and they can be little children again as you stroll down memory lane. It's OK to go back once in awhile as long as you don't stay there too long.
Be blessed.

Contrasts

We spent the month of April in the US; we were there for our daughter's graduation. While traveling around the eastern half of the country I was struck once again by the huge contrasts between life in the states and life in Tanzania.
Contrasts are part of our life; light and dark, hot and cold, clean and dirty, etc. There are also contrasts just as obvious in the lifestyles that are lived in different parts of the world. There was a particular scenario that brought some of these contrasts very vividly to my attention.
We were visiting family and I was taken on a tour of a new Veterinary Hospital where my niece works as Office Manager. She gave us a tour of the facilities and I was amazed at the sparkling clean surroundings which included new stainless steel equipment, digital ultrasound, separate waiting rooms for canine and feline patients, several surgical rooms and recovery areas, exercise and physical therapy equipment, and boarding rooms complete with video equipment so that the owners could view their pets from anywhere they were traveling. Everything was new, clean and state-of-the art.
As I left the animal hospital, I remembered visiting the small daughter of one of our pastor's in the large government hospital here in Mwanza. The facility is old, run down and less than sparkling clean let alone sterile and it is understaffed. The small room that Shekinah and her mother were in was not much bigger than a bathroom and the one piece of furniture was the small bed that Shekinah was confined to. There was no medical equipment visible in the room except for the pole that held the IV bag; there was no apparatus to help with Shekinah's breathing although she was obviously having difficulty breathing. There was no staff that I saw either inside or outside the room.
Contrast; the hospital's that we Americans have for our animals as compared to the hospitals that many of the Tanzanian people are forced to use.
If I had a choice, I would rather be cared for in the animal hospital I visited in America than in the huge hospital here in Mwanza.
God help us to see the contrasts that should not exist and work to make them non-existent.

Travel

I just checked our blog and realize that I have not blogged in April; we have been traveling and have covered many miles. We left Tanzania on April 2 to fly to the US; we are here for our youngest daughter, Sarah's, graduation from Evangel University.
We spent two days driving across Tanzania and two days flying to reach our destination in the states. In the past two weeks we have been in Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, Iowa and tomorrow we come full circle back to Missouri.
We have been able to see a lot of family and have visited churches in each of the states that we visited. When I wake up in the mornings I take a minute to remember where I am and who I am staying with on that particular morning.
On Friday, May 1, we will attend Sarah's graduation and celebrate this milestone in her life; she will be starting work on her Master's in a few months. We have also been able to spend some time with our oldest daughter, Jenn, who lives and works in Iowa.
The hardest part of this term in Tanzania has been adjusting to our two daughters remaining in the states to live their lives and pursue their dreams. We are thankful for the days that we have been able to spend with them; I'm making memories with my daughters that I can enjoy in the months ahead when we return to Tanzania.
Enjoy your family whenever and wherever you can; none of us have a guarantee of tomorrow. Seize the day!

Babies Everywhere

One of the pastoral staff, Pastor Lukilo, had asked Tim to dedicate their baby; we set the date for this past Sunday. We announced the previous Sunday that we would be having a special baby dedication service for the following Sunday if there was anyone who wanted to have a baby/child dedicated.

Tim was scheduled to preach and during the early service he dedicated one baby; the family could not be there for the second/main service. As the second service progressed, we noticed women slipping up to the side platform and we realized that they were adding their baby's name to the growing list of those to be dedicated that morning.

When the time came during the service for the baby dedications, the list of baby names was read and the names were called out one by one. Mothers with newborn babies as well as mothers with school aged children began to fill the entire platform area. By the time the last name was called we had over 30 babies/children to be dedicated.

All the pastoral staff as well as the church elders were needed to move among the group and individually pray for each child and parent. There was one father on the platform with his two children; besides Pastor Lukilo he was the only man that came forward. It spoke loudly of the fact that many women attend church without the support of their husbands.

However, it was a wonderful time; it had obviously been a very long time since there had been a baby dedication at the church. I suggested that we try to have them a little more frequently so that we would not have to do "mass dedications" in the future.

It was a special day for these mothers and children. For a few minutes, these women and children had "center stage" in a traditionally male dominated society where women and children are so often taken for granted. We all relished the moment and took our time; allowing this time to be savored and stored in the hearts and minds of these mothers and children creating special memories for the future.

Commissioning Service

During the recent visit of our national leadership at our Bible college here in Mwanza; all of the new leadership for our Bible college were commissioned.

It was a great day for the college; they had never had a visit from the national leaders and the leaders of the Education Department specifically for the benefit of the college. Our national leadership spent the day at the college and were given a tour of our campus. They were able to see for themselves the many needs that the school has; they promised to help us take care of some of the more pressing needs as soon as possible.

After a lengthy chapel with our student body and faculty, they had lunch with the students and insisted that they not receive any special treatment. They waited in line with the students, ate the same food as the students (ugali which is a stiff porridge and fish) and sat with them. They ate with their hands just like the students; refusing the offer of spoons. Many Tanzanians eat with their hands and don't use eating utensils and so the leadership ate their food in the same way.

The faculty and student body were in awe of this type of interaction with leadership; the custom here in Tanzania is that leadership is held in very high esteem and considered to be on a level above the average person. This goes back to the tribal customs; the chiefs of the tribes were treated as royalty and had almost a "god-like" status.

Our new leadership is not only teaching the "servant-leader" model of leadership, but they are living it as well.

At the end of the day's activities they had a meeting with the faculty and allowed them to ask questions and express concerns as equals; the faculty were amazed that they would do this.

During the afternoon session, the new Board for the college was introduced; the Board is made up of the bishops from the six districts on our side of the country and Tim who is the acting principal. They were commissioned as a group and the leadership and congregation prayed for them.

I have included a picture of Tim as part of the group being commissioned and also a view of the student body and faculty during the chapel service.

It was a great day for the college and the students and faculty were encouraged.

Two Week Schedule

How would you like a rundown of our schedule the past two weeks? Ok, here we go!
Ron Swai arrived for Spiritual Emphasis week; we had two services each day and we had all the faculty and their spouses to our home at the end of that week on Friday. On Saturday, the 28th of February, Peter and two young men from the states arrived. We put all three of them in the second spare bedroom since Ron was still occupying the first one.
Sunday morning, Tim traveled with Peter, Garrett and Chris to visit one of the local churches that they had helped build. Sunday afternoon Ron left to return to Dar. On Monday morning, we went to chapel where Peter spoke and then they flew out on Monday afternoon. Monday was spent at the Bible College preparing for the big event the following day; all the leadership would be arriving and spending the day at the college. Leadership began to arrive by boat, bus, and plane on Monday and continued through to Tuesday morning. Tim was kept busy picking people up and taking them to hotels and getting them settled in. Thankfully, we have a wonderful staff at the Bible College who took care of most of the preparations going on there.
Tueday morning Tim picked up our General and Assistant Superintendents at the airport and we spent all day at the school in meetings. We had a dinner that evening with the students and leadership and also with our out-going Registrar to celebrate her 22 years of service with the Education Department.
We had a faculty meeting with the School Board and the leadership that same night that went until about 10:30. We arrived home with our two guests who were staying with us, our General Superintendent and the Assistant General Supt of the TAG. We were all exhausted but it had been a wonderful day!
We all went to bed around midnight and Tim and the others left to travel to Musoma at 5:00am on Wednesday morning. They spent the night there since it was a three hour trip one-way. They returned on Thursday evening around 7:30 and we had a late supper and went to bed.
The next morning, Friday, they again left at around 5:30am and traveled in the other direction to Shinyanga which is a 2 1/2 hour drive over rough dirt roads. They spent the day there and arrived back that evening in time for a leadership meeting here at one of the local churches.
The next morning, Saturday, there was a special meeting for the churches in the Mwanza area and a huge crowd showed up for the event. Immediately after the meeting, Tim took the leadership to the airport to fly back to Dar.
Wow, what a busy two weeks! Tim and I had two services to attend yesterday, Sunday. This morning Tim spoke in chapel at the Bible College since Monday is Principal's day and we took care of some business there that was urgent and had a couple of meetings as well.
When we arrived home this afternoon, I started some laundry, did some food preparation, and started to do some baking. I stood for a moment with my apron on and stared at the ingredients spread out before me.
I then took off my apron, put the few items I had gathered away, and left that job for tomorrow. I opted to do some computer work instead, for that I can sit!
Unfortunately, Tim will be busy until late this evening taking care of some pressing business for the college.
Sometimes I think we are getting too old for this; but, after a few good nights of sleep we will be ready to go again. Better busy than bored!
Blessings!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

This past week was Spiritual Emphasis week at the Mwanza Bible College; we invited the first principal of the school back to speak. Ron Swai is now our General Secretary for the TAG(Tanzania Assemblies of God) and is a good friend.

It was good to reminisce about the early days of the Bible College; we finished building it in 2001 and Ron was our first principal. In those early days we did not have electricity or water on top of Bwiru Hill where our college is situated on the very top overlooking Lake Victoria.

It wasn't too long before electricity came up the hill to our property although water was carried and then later pumped from further down the hill. Back in those days we had a lot of hopes and dreams for our Bible College; we started with about 30 students that first year.

We have been graduating about 30 students every year and we currently have 65 students enrolled and we have seven teachers, one visiting teacher and a principal plus other support staff.

God has been faithful to His promise to establish the Bible College and it was good to have Ron come and encourage us. Although we have a ways to go yet to have all the buildings and supplies that we need; we have come a long way since those early days.

During Spiritual Emphasis week we had chapel every morning with the student body and services in the evenings which were also attended by the members of the Bwiru Chrisitan Center which is located on our campus.

We were encouraged and challenged during the week; everyone benefited from the teaching, worship and prayer during this past week. Students spent hours in the chapel seeking for a closer relationship with God and a clear focus for their ministries.

The above picture is of our chapel/Bwiru Christian Center.

Blessings.

Wanawake wa Kristo-WWK Day (Women of Christ)

Sunday was WWK Day in the TAG (Tanzania Assemblies of God). This day is set aside for the women of the church to conduct all of the services/events for that day. It is looked forward to and planned for all year.
This day can be counted on to go longer than the normal service time; after all, this particular group of people only get this one special day a year to express themselves freely in our churches. The women of Tanzania are the "work horses" of this country; as they are any many countries. Many of them have very difficult lives; they are sometimes beaten by their husbands and they have little recourse. For those who have Christian husbands, their lives are still difficult. They live much like the pioneer women of the early days of the United States; they carry water from a distance, they cook over open fires outside, they plant gardens for their food, they bear children in abundance and often lose some to sickness and disease. In this country they have few rights and privileges and although changes are coming slowly, they have little to rejoice about.
However, the Christian women I know here rejoice in the midst of their hardships and face life with great courage and determination. They have joy and hope that comes from their relationship with God which transcends their daily circumstances. These women know how to celebrate; they sing, dance, perform skits, wave flags, blow whistles and generally have a good time on their special day. WWK Day is a day set aside for them to celebrate as Christian Women and they take their time and savor every moment.
At the end of the service, they present generous gifts to the pastors and elders of the church. They celebrate on their special day; but, as is their custom, they also give generously to the leadership of the church. They believe that part of their purpose for being is to minister to the leaders in their church and they do so, even on THEIR day. They inspire me!
Be blessed.

Mountaintop Experience?

Sunday we were invited to preach at a church we had not yet visited; it was started after we left to return to the states by Pastor Paul Buhwahwa.

It was a different mountaintop experience than I've ever had before; let me tell you about it.

Since we had never been to the church before, we stopped at the pastor's home and picked up him and his family so that they could show us the way to the church.

We drove along over the very muddy, water-covered road and maneuvered our way to the base of a hill; the pastor instructed us to park our vehicle. I began to have an uneasy feeling that I should have worn "walking shoes" rather than "church shoes".

We proceeded to climb over the rocks and around the various houses until we arrived at the very top of the hill. The church sits on the top of the rocky hill and, in fact, the large rock at the top forms part of the floor of the church. I breathed a sigh of relief for having made the climb without injuring myself since I tend to be rather clumsy and accident prone.

As the service began, so did the rain. Within a few minutes there was a downpour in progress that sounded like a very loud drum as it beat upon the metal roof of the church. Soon, Tim and Pastor Paul had moved off the platform and were standing directly in front of the congregation yelling at the top of their lungs in an effort to be heard above the roar of the pounding rain on the metal roof.

The thunder began to to clap in harmony with the drumming on the roof and at the same time the wind began to blow with great gusto. The church has huge windows on all four sides of the rectangular shaped building which affords a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately, those huge windows are just gaping holes at this point since the church has not yet collected the money needed for actual windows.

So, added to the noise, we now have wind-driven rain blowing across the church in a near horizontal pattern. The people, in good Tanzanian fashion, accept what they cannot change and make the most of a bad situation; they move to the opposite side of the room and huddle together to stay dry and warm as Tim and Pastor Paul (acting as interpreter) continue to yell as loud as possible in an effort to be heard above the "roar of nature".

Every few minutes the wind would change direction and thus the rain would pour in from a different direction causing everyone to shift again in an effort to stay moderately dry and warm.

To this scenario of rain, wind, shifting people and noise, add the valiant efforts of the board members to keep me and my belongings dry and you have the makings for a very funny "home video opportunity". It was one of those occasions when it would have been great to have a video camera to capture all of this chaos in order to view it later.

The rain continued long after the service was over and we continued to move and shift around the church waiting for it to end. The choir sang, people visited, and the children played; Tanzanians take things in stride and accept life as it comes.

Finally, the pastor suggests that it has let up sufficiently to "make a run for it". I immediately envision myself plummeting to my death at the base of the rain-soaked hill as we scramble over the rocks and through the mud. We kindly explained that I was physically incapable of "making a run for it" even over dry level terrain.

However, with a prayer and a firm determination to survive we started down the hill carefully; Tim in front of me leading the way.

We made it safely to the car, locked in the hubs and headed out in four-wheel drive through the water and mud. We arrived back at the pastor's home along with the ten people who crowded into our Land Cruiser without getting stuck in the mud.

We had a lovely lunch and visit with Pastor Paul and his family and afterwards made our way home. I determined that in the future I would ask in advance about the location of the church and dress accordingly in case I have another "mountaintop experience".

All in all, it was a good day and we survived to do it again!

Be blessed.

Container Arrival

At the end of December, our long -awaited container full of our personal goods as well as ministry items arrived. We filled it, sealed it, prayed over it, and sent it on it's way back in July.

We had hoped it would arrive before the holidays since we had included a few special food items for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

However, we are thankful it arrived safely and with very little damage to our belongings. It was a wonderful day of discovery; finding items we had been waiting for and not finding a few things that we thought we had packed but must have forgotten.

We want to thank all of our wonderful friends at Bedford Christian Center in Temperance, Michigan for the excellent packing job they did. And, all that Northern Quilted toilet paper that Gary donated to use for packing and cushioning did the job!

Plus, we were able to share the TP with other missionaries and they were thrilled to have real American toilet tissue! It's the little things in life that make a difference!

We have also been able to distribute tools that had been donated to us to a number of missionaries. We have already distributed puppets and other ministry items to various churches in the area. National churches and pastors as well as missionaries have benefited by the arrival of our container.

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to bless others with items that make their life and ministry easier and better.

Blessings.

Child's Play

I had just finished teaching at the Bible School and was waiting for my ride to come and take me home. Tim is out of town in Morogoro; he is meeting with the other Bible School principals and the national leadership as they endeavor to work on the school budgets for the next year.
As I sat in the shade near the front gate waiting, I glanced across the compound and saw the son of one of our resident Bible School teachers.
He is about 4 years old and he didn't see me watching him as he played. He had taken different size rocks and was playing his version of "good guys and bad guys". The rocks were his "action figures"; I was intrigued as I watched him playing under a bush for shade.
He looked just like any little boy in America playing outside by himself; except instead of expensive toys he was using rocks for his "action figures".
He was making all the typical play noises and using different voices for his characters. I am constantly amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of the people here in Tanzania; even the children know how to use the simple things around them to create something useful.
Almost every day there is a group of local boys who play their version of kick ball on the road in front of our gate. Their ball consists of plastic bags packed tightly into a ball shape and held together by string wrapped around the ball like a net.
The toys that these children fashion out of what we would consider useless items and trash bring just as much pleasure to them as the expensive toys our American children play with. The Tanzanian children have little time for play but when they do have the opportunity they take full advantage of it.
Be blessed today!

Busy in Mwanza

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been two weeks since my last post. Time has gone so quickly; we spend a few hours each day, Monday through Friday, at the Bible School and Sundays we are at one of our churches ministering. Many churches now have an early English service and another service following that in Swahili. If you add Sunday school in with that and then the time it takes them to prepare a meal for us over a charcoal fire; it makes for a long day. However, we enjoy the opportunity to visit our TAG churches and to encourage the people as well as the pastor and his family.
We visited the church at Mkuyuni this past Sunday; our good friend, Charles Mkumbo is the pastor of this church. When we left Tanzania in 2001, they were meeting in a tiny little building not much bigger than an average living room in America. We took a picture of all the people standing outside that little building on our last visit there in 2001; we found that picture stored with our belongings when we arrived back in Mwanza.
Now they are in a new building that is much larger than the old building; again, they have outgrown this building and are needing to expand. God has blessed the efforts of this pastor and his family and they have even started a branch church a little distance from them. The branch church is growing rapidly and is no longer supported by it's mother church at Mkuyuni.
During the service this past Sunday we had eight people come forward for salvation; we rejoiced along with the people over these new converts; they will be discipled and will become a part of this growing body of believers.
Before we left, Pastor Mkumbo took us by the house of a young woman named Happy. I had prayed for Happy before we left in 2001; she was barren and her Muslim husband was going to take another wife or return her to her family if she did not have a child. It is very important in this culture to have children; women who are barren are looked down upon and carry a heavy burden of shame.
Pastor Mkumbo came out of the house holding the hands of two beautiful children; a girl and a boy. They were Happy's children; God heard our prayers and saw her tears; He blessed her with these two precious children.
Sunday was a good day!

Broken Nets

There is a story in the New Testament in which Jesus comes upon Peter, James and John coming in after a long night of fishing; the boat was empty because they had caught no fish. Jesus told them to cast their net out one more time on the other side of the boat. As the obeyed, the net they were using began to tear because it was so full of fish!
We have been praying about the needs at the Mwanza Bible college; especially about the food situation. On Friday the faculty met to discuss the situation of how to provide meat for the students; they are supposed to have red meat twice a week and fish once a week; Tanzanians are not accustomed to having meat more often than that. Our food manager mentioned that they were supposed to have fish in a few days and the price of fish has gone up recently.
Sunday, God provided "manna" for the Bible college in the form of fish!!! Not just a few fish, but about 1,500 pounds of fish! You might say our nets were so full they were breaking. We filled the freezer at the college and still had over two thirds of the fish remaining. We called our friend, Seni, and in a short time we had taken the remaining fish to a local business that had walk-in freezers and for a small fee they allowed us to put all the rest of the fish in their freezers.
God met our needs like He does so often; abundantly more than we could ask or think! We have enough fish for our seventy students to eat three times a week for the full 10 weeks of this term!!! God is good!

Principal

Dear Friends,
This week we began our duties as interim principals of the Mwanza Bible College. Tim is actually in Arusha this week for leadership meetings so I am acting principal this week, am teaching a class, and am helping out in the registrar's office. So, it's been a busy week! Tim and I have no training to be the head of a Bible College; we finished building and opened this college during our first term and have done some teaching there, but this is a new challenge.
We have about 70 students enrolled so far; more may come next week. Every day there are decisions to be made that are normal for here but are never dealt with in America. For instance, this week one of our dilemmas was whether to buy one big cow or several goats to provide meat for the Bible College this term. Unfortunately, the Bible School truck is broken so we don't have transportation to bring the goats from the market outside of town back to the Bible School. So, we have been forced to buy meat for this week from the local meat market where costs are much higher. The students usually have meat three times a week which is normal for Tanzania.
We had to decide whether the money was available to buy chalk and erasers for each of the classrooms. We had to decide whether to allow students entry or not because most do not come with their full fees; we opt to allow them entry and pursue the remainder of the school fees during the term trusting along with them that God will provide. We dealt with boundary disputes with our neighbors this week and had to walk to town to have copies made because our copier is broken. Our printer is almost out of ink so we are trying to use the printer as little as possible until we have the funds to buy a new cartridge.
The students have been told in some of the classes that there are no student text books available because either there aren't any in English or we don't have the funds to purchase enough for everyone to have one so they must share.
There is never a boring day at the Mwanza Bible College; we are thankful for a dedicated staff and faculty that are willing to take one day at a time and trust God to provide for our needs. We take so many things for granted in America; here, nothing is taken for granted including water and electricity.
Have a blessed day!

Kisorya

In December, we were privileged to travel into the Mara Region to hold a seminar on Leadership for the pastors in that region. The Mara Region is about the size of the state of Rhode Island; there are only 15 TAG churches in that region. Only seven of them have their own plots and buildings; the TAG national office has declared this region a mission's district and has placed it under the national Mission's Department. We had twelve pastors who attended the two day seminar; they were so thrilled that we were willing to come and be with them. They were eager to learn and eager to have someone to voice their concerns and ideas to.

We had a wonderful time with these men and women; they are in difficult areas and are isolated from other TAG churches. There is an A/G church in Kisorya; they run about 50 adults. The inset is a picture of the church building and a picture of the pastor and his family.

Pray for the pastors and churches in the Mara Region; pray for the hundreds of thousands of people who have not heard that Jesus loves them.

Blessings.