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.

Post-Christmas Thoughts

It was our first Christmas Day in thirty years of marriage that we have spent alone; it was our first Christmas without our two daughters with us as well.
All of this considered, it was a good Christmas day for us. If you are a Christian living in Tanzania then you spend part of Christmas Day in church; celebrating the "reason for the season" as the old saying goes. We went to the Bible College church and heard a sermon taken from the famous passage from Luke 2 that tells about the birth of Jesus. It's my own personal favorite passage for the Christmas story.
After the service we returned to our quiet home and prepared a facsimile of the traditional Christmas dinner; a small ham (which we paid about $50 for since we refused to pay almost $100 for a turkey), dressing (thanks to the generous gift of sage from another missionary but missing celery which is not available here), mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh green beans, cucumbers and onions in vinegar(a dish usually eaten in the summer in our family but available year-round here) and a pecan pie (made with pecans sent out in November and local "golden syrup" - not bad).
After we ate and cleaned up the dishes we called our two daughters who are spending Christmas together in Missouri; we used Skype and were able to talk to them and see them at the same time. What a great joy that was for all of us! While we were all "together" on Skype, Tim read the Christmas story from Luke 2; this has been our family tradition since we were married and the girls always knew this happened right before we opened presents.
The girls showed us, via Skype webcam, the gifts they had gotten for each other and we spent a little time talking and laughing together.
I was unable to talk to my family at the Christmas dinner gathering due to some complications, but we talked to the girls again later and they told us what a great day it was.
Thus, our Christmas Day ended; it was a little different for us but we were so happy to be able to see and talk to both of our daughters and rejoice together in the birth of the Saviour.
Merry Christmas!

Answered Prayers

Every day we pray for our two daughters, Jenn and Sarah; it's often the only way we have to help them when problems arise. It can be frustrating at times to be half way around the world from your children. We are learning the true meaning of trusting God to take care of them.

Recently, both of our daughters were in situations that made it difficult for us to be so far away.

Sarah went out one morning very early to go to church; she was performing in the handbell choir that morning. She had driven a short distance when she realized that she had a flat tire; it was actually split and beyond repair. She called a friend to pick her up and take her on to church. Once at church, her best friend's father took her keys and told her not to worry, he went and bought two new tires and put them on for her and filled her car up with gas as well. He would not allow her to repay them; what a blessing!

This month our oldest daughter, Jenn, had her car totaled when another person ran a stop sign and plowed into her front left side. The above picture was taken of her car after the accident. Jenn was not seriously hurt, but was bruised and sore from the seatbelt and from the air bag deploying. We thank God for protecting her. It was difficult to not be able to be there to help her with all of the post-accident business; insurance, police reports, finding a new car, etc.

We praise God for his faithfulness to our children; He is taking care of them and teaching us to trust Him with their care at the same time. It's not an easy lesson to learn; we continue to work on it.

Be blessed today as you rest in His care.

Our First Tanzanian Wedding

Earlier this month, we were asked to be honored guests at the wedding of the son of our very good friend, Seni. We have known Seni and his family since our arrival in Africa in 1997; our families have been friends and we have spent time in each other's homes and shared many meals together.

It was a joy and a privilege to be a part of Alex and Aminatha's wedding; our STL vehicle was decorated for the occasion. We were asked to be the transport for Alexx and his bride for the entire day. It was the longest wedding we have ever been involved in including our own!

We went to a designated location at 9:00 on Sunday morning to have our car decorated. By 11:00 we were at the church; the wedding service took place after the third service around noon.

We ate a late lunch at the groom's home with 60-70 other people and slipped the bride and groom away to rest for awhile. Next came the picture taking which lasted until about 6:00pm.

There was a huge reception at the New Mwanza Hotel immediately after the pictures that lasted until about 10:30. We witnessed many Tanzanian customs as well as a number of tribal customs. There was much gift giving and speeches by both sides of the family and the bride and groom gave out gifts as well.

The day ended at about midnight when we arrived home after whisking the tired bride and groom away to a secret location known only to the groom's parents.

Even though it was a long day; we enjoyed it immensely and learned new things about the people in Tanzania and their customs.

By the way, one of the customs that is very different from ours in America; the groom's family pays for everything.

Woman's work is never done...

There's an old saying that goes, "a man may work from sun to sun but a woman's work is never done".

This is even more true in developing nations like Tanzania. Although inside the larger cities electricity and running water are available, in the villages and small towns very few homes/churches have water or electricity.

Women cook over open fires outside with wood or charcoal, there are no refrigerators or modern conveniences and water is usually carried from somewhere. Recently, Tim traveled to a small village about 2 hours from Mwanza. He took this picture of a lady grinding grain on stones to make flour for her family.

It brings a lot of meaning to the phrase, "cooking from scratch". For most Tanzanian women there is no such thing as "Hamburger Helper" or "packaged foods". Women and children spend a good part of their day looking for wood, carrying water, and fixing food "from scratch" over an open fire.

Think about it next time you open a can or box to prepare some food or take some meat from the freezer that is ready for cooking. Or, maybe, as you go through a drive-thru restaurant for a "quick" meal.

Blessings!

Rough Ride

You can take for granted some of the simple blessings in life; such as nice paved roads on which to drive.

Here in Tanzania, although many of the major roads are beginning to be paved, most secondary roads are still unpaved. A lot of these unpaved roads are almost impassable during the rainy season and many require four-wheel drive vehicles.

We are thankful for our STL vehicle; it allows us to go many places that we would not be able to get to without it.

We have been doing some exploratory trips in the Mwanza area recently in an effort to determine areas which have no TAG church; in fact, they don't have any churches at all.

Recently, our Area Director, Greg Beggs, came for a few days to visit. We traveled north of Mwanza on dirt roads and found a number of good sized villages with no churches. These are areas we will focus on in the future for church planting efforts.

We also traveled up the hill to visit our Mwanza Bible School campus; Greg took this picture of our Land Cruiser on the road up to the Bible school. It is a steep incline and requires that we use our four-wheel drive to make it to the top.

I'm sure you will agree that we definitely need to have a better road to make access to our Bible school easier for students and visitors alike.

Be blessed today - enjoy your smooth roads!

Thanksgiving Day

Some things can be taken for granted; consider Thanksgiving Day. In America, it is a given that certain foods are eaten with a little variation according to personal tastes and family traditions. But, it is a day to get together as a family and eat a lot of food and, hopefully, take time to be thankful for the blessings we have. In Tanzania it is not recognized since it is an exclusively American holiday.

I spent my first Thanksgiving alone; it was a unique experience but it was a good day.

Tim was in Dar Es Salaam working on getting our residence permit so we can legally be in Tanzania; that is a full 16 hour drive away so he could not be home.

I went to the ladies Bible study as I normally do on Thursdays. Afterwards, one of the single missionary ladies invited me to go to the local vegetarian pizza place for lunch. We had a nice lunch, did a little shopping for groceries and shared a taxi to take us home. For supper, I fixed some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and cut up some raw veggies.

Thursday evening I put in a CD of some old well-known hymns and sang along for awhile. I read my Bible, concentrating on portions that had to do with thanksgiving. I prayed for awhile, first giving thanks for my blessings and then asking God to bless my family, our supporters, etc.

I watched a beautiful sunset over Lake Victoria from my patio and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

A special blessing came when Tim texted me that he had received our residence permit on that very day; a week earlier than they had told him. He would be home on the weekend; what a nice blessing that was on Thanksgiving Day.

It's important to remember among all the tradition of this American holiday; that it is really a day of celebration and giving thanks for our many blessings.

Be blessed and be thankful!

The Difference between "our" and "the".

It's amazing what a difference one small word can make; it struck me sometime back. Wherever we travel, whether to the Bible School here in Mwanza, to various meetings, or to one of the many churches in our area, I have noticed something when they introduce us.
They never say "the missionary", but they always say "our missionary". That may not sound like much of a difference but it is actually very significant.
It means that we belong here, that they consider us as part of themselves. It means that they have accepted us and consider us to be family. It is very humbling, they often clap and cheer when we are introduced.
They know that we chose to come here and came against all the odds that were against us. They know that we want to be here in this part of the country and that we have no desire to be anywhere else.
There are other missionaries in Tanzania besides us; but on this side of the country, we are the only ones who are referred to as "our missionaries".
It's good to feel wanted and loved; especially by "our" Bible school, churches and pastors.
Be blessed today!

TAG Leadership visits Mwanza

On November 13th and 14th, we were privileged to host the new Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) leadership here in Mwanza. These three men are currently traveling to each of the districts and installing the new leadership. In addition, they are announcing the new 10 year plan for the TAG. They have spent much time in prayer and fasting as well as consulting a large number of individuals and groups prior to drawing this new plan. We believe they have been guided and directed by the Spirit of God.

The plan is aggressive and brings many changes. Our two districts, the Lake District and the Western District which make up the western third of the country, have each been divided into three districts. Our two former districts are now six smaller districts; and new leadership has been installed in each new district. The exception is the Mara region which is the vast area between here and the Kenyan border. This region has only 13 established TAG churches and thus it has been placed under the Mission Department of the TAG; it will receive assistance from the national church to help with church planting and evangelism efforts. We will be involved with these efforts in the Mara District since we are the resident missionaries in this part of the country.

The key words in the new ten year plan are excellence, accountability, and integrity for all levels of leadership from the national office down to each individual pastor and church official. There will be an aggressive effort made to train all of our pastors and to grow the TAG from 200,000 adherents to 2,000,000 adherents in ten years. We will radically increase our evangelism and church planting efforts and our efforts to adequately train and prepare our current pastors as well as new pastors.

The plan definitely will usher in a "new day" for the TAG and will require that we all, the national church, the local church and the missionary body to work together as one team to see the Church grow in Tanzania.

May God help us and the Holy Spirit guide us! We live in difficult times but we also live in a time of great opportunity for the spreading of the Gospel.

Women's Conference + 1 Witch

The Lake District Women's Conference was held this week at the Mwanza Bible College; women began to arrive on Monday and the conference was on Tuesday and Wednesday. I was one of several speakers scheduled for the conference. This is one of the few times a Christian woman in Tanzania can leave her heavy responsibilities of keeping a home, working a garden and raising the children to do something special for themselves. Many of them come with heavy burdens; some are childless and their husbands can take another wife or even return them to their families if they don't have children. Some of them have unsaved husbands who beat them and mistreat them and they have few options; by law, the children belong to the father if the mother wants to leave.

Many women here have a hard life; most have to haul water to the homes, work gardens, cook over charcoal fires and take care of children in often primitive conditions. They don't always have access to medical care for themselves or their families.

So, they come to this yearly event to be encouraged, strengthened, and to get a short break from their many responsibilities. Things are getting better for women here but very slowly and often there is little change in the rural areas.

We had over 150 who registered with additional visitors and some visiting pastors; plus we had one witch. She came alone from Sengerema which is a two hour drive away. Her vocation was discovered when she came forward for prayer with a group of ladies and when hands were laid on her in prayer she fell, writhing and twisting, to the floor.

I learned her story later after she was taken away by a group of ladies for more prayer and counseling. She was sent here from Sengerema to place a spell on the women so that they would not be able to receive any of the teaching during the conference. She was also supposed to stay for the minister's conference immediately following on Thursday and Friday and place the same spell on them.

She refused salvation even though women prayed and talked with her all day and treated her lovingly and compassionately. Finally, after she had tried to take another woman's baby, she was escorted off the Bible School property and told if she tried to enter again they would have to call the police.

While she was on the premises the Principal's adult son was attacked by a local drunk outside the Bible School gate with a knife. He escaped but with a deep knife gash across his upper arm and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches and treatment.

Witchcraft is on the rise on this side of the country; but God's people here know how to pray and they are not afraid to confront the powers of darkness. They do so on a regular basis and treat it as a normal occurence.

The women's conference was a success; women were strengthened in the Word of God and encouraged. About 20-25 women received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They were given Godly council by the women at the conference and returned to their homes to continue their daily lives; hopefully, equipped to continue in the faith and to persevere in difficult situations.

Graduation

Saturday was graduation day at the Mwanza Bible College; we were so excited to witness our first graduation there. We finished building the college and it opened in January 2001; we were here for the dedication in June 2001 and then we left to return to the states for our furlough.

We stayed in the states for seven years due to various health issues and have finally been able to return to Mwanza.

A total of 30 students graduated; 28 men and 2 women. There was much celebrating and rejoicing and we were so happy to be here and be able to take part in the activities of the day. It was a long day but Tanzanians love to celebrate and they are never in a hurry. They have so many difficulties in their lives that when an opportunity arises to celebrate, they savor the experience and take their time.

After the graduation, lunch was served and we continued to fellowship and enjoy the day. I had two pastors come up to me who started in that first class in January 2001and were part of the first graduating class from the Mwanza Bible college; both were in the class I taught on "Missions" that semester right before we left Tanzania. It was a joy to meet them again with their wives.

New Leadership

Tim was in Dar Es Salaam the last Sunday of October for the instillation of the new leadership for the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG). In the history of the TAG, this is only our third Superintendent. The first one lead the TAG for over 20 years and Ranwell Mwensingole has provided excellent leadership for the past 16 years. Change, obviously, comes slowly to the TAG; but, in a surprising turn of events we believe that the Holy Spirit has brought change in the form of new leadership and in an innovative and aggressive new 10 year plan for the TAG.

At General Council in August the wind of change blew through that gathering and all three elected positions were filled with new people.

We, as a missionary body, believe that God has ordained these changes in leadership and has also given direction for the next 10 years of the TAG. Changes are needed and yet they will not be easy for the Tanzanian churches and ministers; we believe that God will give us all wisdom and courage in the days ahead.

The instillation service was beautifully done and there was a wonderful graciousness exhibited by the departing leadership and by the new leadership. There was a wonderful spirit of excitement and expectation and a spirit of unity; the TAG will move forward together as one body listening to the Spirit of God as He leads them down new roads that He has prepared.

The picture above shows our three new leaders; from left to right they are: Ron Swai/Secretary-Treasurer, Magnus Mhiche/Assistant Superintendent and Barnabus Mtokambali/Superintendent. We have known all three of these men for many years and have had them in our home both here in Tanzania and in the states. We look forward to working together with them.

Creepy Crawly Things

The late rains have finally arrived here in Tanzania; we have been having occasional showers for the past month. However, for the past week, it has rained torrents each day. The seasons in Tanzania are based on the coming of the rain; we generally have rain in abundance twice a year. The first, and lengthier rain comes in May/June and the second shorter rains come usually in October. It is not possible to travel to certain parts of the country during the rainy seasons because the dirt roads turn to mud holes and even rivers.
The rains are a celebrated event in Tanzania; with the coming of the rain people know that their crops will grow, the dust will be settled so that you don't have to sweep and dust every single day(this is a concern only, it seems, to non-Tanzanians), and things that have been brown like grass, trees, and plants will turn green with life and there will be flowers growing in profusion.
There is, however, something else that comes with the rains. I have noticed that new life is bursting forth in the insect world as well. In the mornings our porch and sidewalks are covered with wings that have been dropped from the flying insects as they hatch out and fly off in the night. I have seen all kinds of creepy crawly things both inside and outside of the house; some of them I don't remember seeing before. Some are interesting looking and some are scary looking; all are unwelcome in my house.
So, I keep my trusty can of Doom (a powerful bug spray that I am sure would be banned in the USA) and use it on those things that venture into the house.
The rains are a good thing; without them we would have drought and famine and dust and very little color in Tanzania. Water is too valuable and often too scarce of a commodity to use frivolously so it is not wasted on grass and non-essential plants. However, along with the new life that springs forth comes new life in the insect world as well; this new life I can do without. However, you have to take the good with the bad so I enjoy the green grass and trees and blooming flowers and I keep my can of Doom nearby to banish the insects that come along with all of the good stuff.
Of course, the many different species of birds in Tanzania thrive on the insects during this time of year. There are also some tribes who gather the termites in baskets when they are hatching out by the millions and cook them in hot oil; they are a good source of protein.
So, I guess beauty and value are in the eye of the beholder; as for me, I'm staying stocked up on Doom!
Be Blessed!
Joyce

Making Choices

Today, I would like to introduce you to Isacka. We have known Isacka by sight for many years. He used to "walk" to town each morning at the same time my daughter, Sarah, walked to school. Isaak used to walk on his hands, he arranged his legs yoga style, put flipflops on his hands and walked with his body swinging between his arms. He walked about a three mile round trip into town and back each day. We never really met him back then but he was always smiling and pleasant. Sarah always greeted him with the expression, "Shikamoo" given to adults or people of importance to show respect.

Since we have arrived back in Tanzania this time we have actually met Isacka. He has told us that he got polio as a small child in the mid 1970's and has not had use of his legs since then. He has managed to purchase a special adult tricycle that is pedaled by hand. He stores his tricycle at our compound each evening and continues up the very steep hill to his home the way he used to travel; walking on his hands.

He asked permission to continue to store his tricycle at our compound when we arrived back in Mwanza. Isaak has made some good choices in his life; he has refused to become a beggar or look for handouts or use his handicap as a reason to be lazy or even to feel sorry for himself.

He has a shoe shine/repair business on one of the corners in town and goes to work every day. He is married to a sweet lady and they have three children together. Isacka is a Christian and attends church every week. He is happy and well adjusted; he looks you in the eye and smiles and is thankful for the blessings he has been given. Wow, his attitude should be a pattern for all of us who don't have to walk through life on our hands and yet can find nothing to be thankful for.

Isacka is saving money to buy a "pikipiki"; it's a sort of motor scooter with an enclosed body that can carry another person as well. He wants to start a little taxi service with his Pikipiki and will shuttle people around town. He would give up his shoe repair business and, as an extra bonus, he would be able to ride his pikipiki all the way up the long steep hill to his home and could give up walking on his hands. He's making plans, like most of us, for his old age when he will not have the strength in his arms to carry his body along the roads.

He has saved about half of the money he needs to buy his pikipiki; we are praying with him that the rest will come in soon.

Be blessed today, and if you are able to walk upright on your own two feet, be extra thankful today.

The Motto Family

Sunday we attended the church plant near Pasiansi; it is on the outskirts of Mwanza towards the airport. Pastor Ezekiel Motto started the church about 2 years ago and the church is growing and thriving.

Tim preached for the the morning service; the churches are always so appreciative that we are able to visit them. They know that we actually cover an area the size of the state of Indiana which has hundreds of churches; we will probably never get to visit all of them even if we continue to try during our four year term here. The best we will be able to do, is to visit the various sections and have the pastors in each of the sections come together for a combined meeting.

Pastor Motto, his wife Grace, and his three daughters live in a small house next to the church. In addition to being the pastor of this church, Motto is also a teacher at the Mwanza Bible College and is also the Secretary/Treasurer for the Lake Victoria District.

His children are still shy around "wazungu" (white people); especially the youngest girl, Shekina, who is not quite two years old.

We had a pleasant visit with them after the service and was served the traditional soda before departing. We took along our camera and took some pictures of the Motto family; their oldest daughter is ten years old and attends school in another city. The two in the picture are Eunice (6) and Shekina (not quite 2). They may be shy around us, but like children everywhere, they love having their pictures taken.

The building in the background of the family picture is the side of the church building; they have been blessed to be able to afford to build a brick building with a metal roof. Eventually, they will have the floor cemented and permanent doors installed.

Be blessed.

Heroes of Tanzania

This week has been a busy week with pastors coming to the house and Spiritual Emphasis week at the Bible School here in Mwanza. I would like to introduce you to a few "unsung heroes" of the family of God who will probably never be recognized this side of heaven. However, I know that they are definitely heroes of faith; going about their business unnoticed by people.

First, we met Pastor Edward this week; he was a student at the Bible School when we opened it in 2001 right before returning to the states. Yesterday he was just visiting during Spiritual Emphasis week and was invited to the front to greet everyone. He came, walking slowly, his body was twisted and his hands and feet were turned and twisted. It was painful to watch until you focused on his face; there was nothing deformed or crippled about his face. He wore a huge smile and there was joy radiating from him. He came forward and made a joke about the special "walk" that God has given him and then he sang a little happy chorus about the goodness of God. We learned later that while he was attending the Bible school there was a problem with the supply of water to the water tank and Edward offered to climb up and fix it. He fell from the top of the tank and afterwards lay in a coma for week in the local hospital. They were not sure he would ever leave the hospital; it is obvious that even though he survived he must have received some type of head/spinal chord injury. And yet, he is a pastor and he is married with a family and he is...happy and content and joyful. Amazing.
Secondly, we had a visit from Pastor Samwel from Musoma in the Mara region; he is the Presbyter for that region. When we were here the first term we had helped Pastor Samwel purchase a bicycle. He still has the bicycle but now that he is presbyter he needs something a little faster; like a "pikipiki" which is a motorcycle. The Mara region is a huge area and the villages are far apart and isolated; he is unable to visit his struggling handful of pastors regularly because he can't get to them easily. Many of the villages do not have buses or transportation that go to them and he can't reach them in a day's time on his bicycle. He does his best and we will be praying that God will supply him with faster and more reliable transportation.
There are so many of these servants of God here in Tanzania; doing what they do in difficult circumstances and they rarely complain. They count it a joy to be servants in the Kingdom of God; I need to strive for that kind of servant heart and uncomplaining attitude.
Be blessed today.