Children's Training Seminar

This week we had missionaries Mike & Kari Ness and Phil Malcomb as guests in our home for about 10 days. They were in Mwanza for a regional Children's Workers training seminar which was held at the Mwanza Bible College. Children's workers from 6 districts were represented with a total of 52 in attendance.

It was an intense week of training for Children's Directors from various sections throughout the districts as well as Children's pastors. They were trained in all aspects of Children's ministries with a lot of hands-on practice; the week culminated with them going to many of the local churches on Sunday to minister in their children's services. Sunday afternoon they held an outdoor Children's Crusade at one of the churches located near the Bible College.

During the seminar, I taught a couple of classes which I thoroughly enjoyed. Today, Monday, is the final day with a special lunch and graduation ceremonies. Lots of fun but lots of work as well.

Distinctive Vehicles

How do you spot an Assemblies of God missionary gathering? You look for the group of White Toyota Land Cruisers!

Speed The Light is the Youth branch of the Assemblies of God World Missions Department; among other things, one of their contributions to Missions is to provide the means of transportation needed by our missionaries around the world. This can be in the form of cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, bicycles and even camels if that is the only means of transportation available or feasible.

In Tanzania, we have used the Toyota Land Cruiser for a number of years now and it has served us well. We all have stories of being stuck in mud and "winching" ourselves out or plowing through high water with our Land Cruisers. When we travel the remote areas of Tanzania we have always felt confident that our Land Cruisers, with all the extra equipment needed for the various situations we find ourselves in, will get us safely where we need to go and back home again.

Unfortunately, due to the high tax/duties they have placed on bringing this particular vehicle into Tanzania we are being forced to switch to another vehicle. We have several Nissan Patrols on order for our newest missionaries.

The picture you see above of only Land Cruisers will probably be the last time this sight will be seen as an identifying factor to locate where the TZ missionaries are gathered for their Mission's meetings.

Change is never easy even when necessary.

"No"

"No" is a difficult word to say in a lot of situations but it is even more difficult as a missionary in an impoverished nation. And yet, if we did not master the ability to say "No" we would soon be without funds to function here and would need to return home.
We are bombarded on an almost daily basis with requests for assistance from Pastors, Teachers, neighbors and other Tanzanians. What makes it even more difficult is that most of the requests we get for financial help are valid and real.
Today is Wednesday and just since Monday we have had these requests:

• Pastor M needs a new tire for his motorcycle so he can visit his church plants in the villages: $40 for the new tire
• A crippled Christian neighbor has finally been able to purchase a special motorized vehicle that he has been saving for and the owner has allowed him to take it even though he still owes some money: $350 is owed and 1/2 must be paid this week or they will repossess it.
• A worker needs to pay school fees for his child and he already owes us for another loan which exceeds $100: he needs $30
• Another worker wants to put windows in the small home he has with screen to protect from mosquitoes: $80 for frames and screens only - no glass
• A number of street children ask for money when we go into town. Several blind people also tap on the window with hands extended for help.

In all of the above situations we have helped each of the people mentioned on more than one occasion; but we cannot help them every time. When the Bible School starts we will be given a list of those who cannot pay their school fees.

When to give and when not to give; always a difficult decision to make and one we don't make lightly but prayerfully.

There and Back

We returned yesterday from a week long trip across country from Mwanza to Dar Es Salaam on the east coast of Tanzania.
We left from Mwanza on the 5th with another missionary young lady, Lisa, to travel to Dar. We had two Tanzanians with us, Mabesa, a single lady teacher from the Bible College and Salome, the teenage daughter of one of the other teachers. The trip across takes two days so we arrived in Dar on Tuesday evening. After dropping off our three passengers at their destinations we drove to the home of our missionary hosts.
All of the other TZ missionary families were present for the 3 day TZ missionary meeting. During these meetings we take care of necessary business, make plans for future events/ministry, spend time listening to ministry/family reports from our colleagues and spend some relationship building time together. It was a very busy three days; there are 12 missionary units on our field now so it can get a little chaotic but everyone enjoys the opportunity to see our team mates and the children love the time they spend with their "cousins".
We have single men and women, married families with small children, couples with grown children and a couple who are actually past retirement age; the common denominator is a deep love for Tanzania and it's people and a desire to see the people of Tanzania reached with the Gospel. The way that we accomplish our part of this process is as diverse as we ourselves are but it all fits together under one main goal; to reach the lost of Tanzania.
We arrived back in Mwanza Sunday evening very tired and ready for a day or two of rest after four days of travel and 3 full days of meetings...oops, we have guests arriving first thing Monday morning!(today)
So, we are up and running to get groceries purchased, the house in order and guest rooms ready...such is the life of a missionary!

Pasaka Njema - Happy Easter

This is Easter week; I say Easter week because the Christians start celebrating early in the week rather than wait until Easter Sunday.
Most of our churches started at least on Wednesday with fasting and prayers for the rest of the week until Easter Sunday.
Our house is located on a hill and unfortunately we are the recipients of all the various sounds that are projected through sound systems that are turned to full blast in not only a number of churches but also several of the local bars. There are no noise restrictions in Mwanza so everyone can make as much noise as they want for as long as they want; and they do.
So, since Friday, there have been non-stop church services with choirs and preaching; all projected at the highest volume possible through large sound systems. The music has been mostly good so it hasn't been too bad except at night when the bars crank their systems up and then we have a mixture of the good and the bad; each trying to be heard over the other.
As with Christmas, there is nothing of the commercial about this religious holiday. We saw no Easter bunnies, Easter candy, Easter Egg hunts, Easter decorations or any of the other things that are part of the American celebration of Easter.
Instead, they celebrate the Risen Savior with great joy and enthusiasm; singing many of the same songs that we associate with Easter.
Yesterday, KVCC, our largest TAG church in Mwanza, showed the film "The Passion" that we had loaned them. The pastor told us today at church that the church was packed yesterday with mostly unsaved people to watch the film; at the end of the film almost the entire church stood for salvation!
That's what Easter is all about; the reconciliation of the lost to their Heavenly Father through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Because Jesus died and rose again, we too have eternal life. PTL.

Those Unexpected Happenings

It's those unexpected happenings that keep you on your toes. The first day that the team from Turning Point Church in Kansas City arrived last week, we had a Green Mamba get into the house. He decided to go into the door facing and has not been found since; we choose to assume that he died. We assume this because Tim almost emptied a can of "Doom" bug spray into the are of the door frame he went into and we have not seen him/her since then.
Later, when Tim and I checked the house before turning in for the night after our guests were in bed, we found a baby cobra in the living room. Thank goodness we had more "Doom" and Tim still had his strong "stomping" shoes on! Sorry, team, we didn't tell you about that one!
It's only the third time we've seen a green mamba in the past year and a half and the second time for the baby cobra. Of course, they would both show up on the same day; I suppose it was kind of a "Welcome to Africa" sort of thing.
The next night, the guard came to the door to let us know that our male Rottweiler, Jeffie, had escaped under the fence and was fighting with a pack of dogs. This was about midnight and we had just gotten ready for bed. Tim went out and he and Charles chased Jeffie around for almost 2 hours before giving up and coming home. Jeffie returned later that morning with not a scratch on him to show for his battle with the other dogs.
Later in the week, on two separate nights our female dog, Gin, killed two of the neighbors chickens who wandered into our yard. Our worker assured us that we did not have to pay for the expired chickens because the neighbors had been warned numerous times about the wandering chickens. In addition, the front toilet decided to malfunction on several occasions.
These are just some of the highlights; sometimes we have a busy and eventful day even before we have breakfast!!! Maybe if we would eat breakfast earlier.....
There were lots of "unexpected happenings" and "last minute" changes and adaptations while the team was here; wonderful lessons in flexibility for all of us. The team, by the way, handled these changes and interruptions with great grace and flexibility.
All in all, it's been a normal week sprinkled with a few unexpected happenings to keep us alert and on our toes.

Ministry Team

We have just finished a very busy week; we had a ministry team from Turning Point in Kansas City, MO with us to paint buildings at the Bible College and to do children's ministry on Saturday and Sunday.

We managed to house all 10 members of the team in our home (except for the 3 men in the bunkhouse). It was crazy, hectic, fun, tiring, exciting, rewarding, and a lot of other things all rolled into one action packed four days. Two days, Thursday and Friday, were spent painting at the Bible College. The dining hall looks wonderful after having a fresh paint job inside and out; the doors all around the main building were painted as well as the sitting room of the Principal's home. This team was fast and efficient and they amazed us and the Bible School faculty; you could tell they have done this before.

Saturday and Sunday were spent doing children's ministry; we spent Saturday in Nyakato with 300 children from the ages of 3-14 and Sunday we were in the village of Ukiriguru where we ministered to the children during Sunday school and children's church. One of the team members taught the adult Sunday school class and another team member preached during the morning service. The team brought gifts to hand out to every child at both locations and blessed our pastors and Bible College faculty as well with gifts.

On Monday, we all took a safari into the Serengeti Game Park for some much needed R & R; we were blessed to see a lot of animals and we had a good time together.

The team flew out today to return to the states, however, their lives are forever changed because they came to Tanzania. They touched the lives of hundreds of children and blessed the Bible College, the students and the faculty in the four days they were here. In return, they were blessed by the Tanzanian people they met and left with a greater appreciation for the benefits and comforts they have waiting for them in the states.

They were definitely a joy to work with and they blessed us with their generosity, flexibility and cooperation as well as their tender hearts and love for the Tanzanian people.

You shouldn't be a missionary if...

You shouldn't be a missionary if:
1. You are easily frightened.
2. you won't eat something you can't identify.
3. you can't live without certain foods.
4. you have an aversion to creepy crawly things.
5. you can't adjust quickly to new situations.
6. you are afraid of change.
7. you have trouble saying "Goodbye".
8. you don't like being stared at or standing out in a crowd.
9. you can't imagine driving for hours on dirt roads.
10. you need to spend time with family on a regular basis.
11. your wardrobe must be up to date and in style.
12. you don't want to be laughed at.
13. things that don't work drive you crazy.
14. people annoy you.
15. waiting in long lines for hours is one of your pet peeves.
16. you can't imagine a world without Walmart.
17. fast food is your favorite food.
18. you panic when the lights go out.
19. you think your way is the only way.
20. you think everyone should speak English!

Being a missionary is not for the faint hearted, close minded, weak in the knees, weak in the faith, resistant to change, easily overwhelmed person. It is, however, for the person who feels called by God to go to unknown places to be with unknown people with unknown customs who speak an unknown language and yet they need to know a Savior who is unknown to them.

Month of Guests

Wow, I can't believe it is March 12 already and I have not updated our website for almost two weeks. My apologies to those faithful few who check for updates regularly.
We have had guests almost every day this month; the first week we had the leaders from the TAG National Education Department visiting our Mwanza Bible College. They were here from Monday - Thursday; it was good to have them in our home so that we could get to know them better.
This week we have Michael and Tiffany Richardson staying with us; they are our newest team members and are attending Language school in nearby Musoma. They have a week break from school and are staying with us for the week. It's nice to have them here; they are the age of our daughters and we get to dust off our parenting skills and pretend we have college kids in our home once again. Michael and Tiffany are very gracious and tolerant of us. They are helping us prepare for the team arriving next Wednesday from Kansas City, MO.
This team will be doing some painting at the Bible College and then Saturday and Sunday we will go out into a couple of villages and do Children's ministry. Tiffany is helping me prepare crafts for about 350 children from the ages of 3-13; this involves a lot of writing, cutting, glueing, typing, hole punching, string tying... well, you get the picture.
Michael is helping Tim take care of preparing enough beds(yesterday they welded metal legs on metal frames), buying supplies, locating a small bus/van to rent, arranging for meetings, lining up activities, making contacts and a multitude of other tasks that are necessary when hosting a team.
In addition we have the usual day to day things that must be dealt with both here and at the Mwanza Bible College.
And, since I have a list of things to accomplish today I'd better close for now and get busy!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

Last week was Spiritual Emphasis Week at the Mwanza Bible College. Rob Shipley, missionary from Uganda, was our guest speaker for the week.

We had chapel services in the mornings with the students and the church people were invited to join us for the evening services. Rob was a real blessing to our students as he encouraged us to be leaders who are led by the Spirit and who preach and teach the whole Word of God. Rob gave them much to "chew" on from the scriptures; some of it was contrary to to their culture and will take time to "swallow" and "digest".

Whenever you ask, "If anyone has a need, please come to the front for special prayer" you can usually expect almost 100% of the students to come forward. They have serious needs and the only source they have to receive answers is through prayer to God and his provision.

On the last evening we had those students and church members who wanted to be filled with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or refilled with the Spirit to come forward and probably 90% of the people came forward.

We had many refilled with the Holy Spirit and several church people who received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for the first time. We had one woman who came forward and was demon possessed and she was set free after being prayed for by some of the women in the church.

We praise the Lord for his blessings on our Spiritual Emphasis Week.

Children - #2

Yesterday we spent the day at a small church outside of Mwanza in Nyakato; I wrote about this church in my last blog. However, Tim and I spent the day and observed as they touched the lives of over 300 children in their community. They do this every Saturday and they have children coming from all faiths and some with no religious affiliation at all; Muslims, Roman Catholics, Animists, and others. Their parents send them because they receive a hearty lunch, medical assistance for minor ailments and tutoring for those who are struggling in school. They are aware that the children also receive teaching in the Christian faith; however, to these families the benefits out weigh the dangers.

We watch as the staff spend their day touching the lives of these little ones with the love of Jesus. The pastor moves among them throughout the day giving a pat or a hug and calling most of them by name; the children are flourishing under the love of this pastor and his church.

Children

Last Sunday, Tim and I went to a church on the edge of Mwanza; Nyakato Assembly of God. The pastor and his wife are friends of ours and the church runs about 100-125 adults.
They have a Saturday Children's program that is amazing considering the size of the church; every Saturday they have about 300 children from the community crowd onto their property for a full day of activity.
The children are read to from the Bible, they are taught stories and have specialized activities geared to their individual ages and each one of them are fed lunch. All of these children's are either orphans or are living in poverty; the meal they receive will probably be the only one they get that day.
They have teachers who sit with those who need to learn to read and write or who are struggling in school and need some individual tutoring. They sometimes have nurses or medical personnel who are able to give minor medical assistance or treatment.
They are a small church doing something to alleviate the suffering of the needy children in their community; they receive some assistance with food costs but contribute heavily to the program themselves. When they started the program they had about 50 children coming but they continue to grow year after year.
On Sunday I looked around at the children seated in the church and could tell that they were welcome there. It doesn't seem to matter to this church that these little ones cannot contribute to the financial stability of the church or make any great contributions to the church.
They love them and welcome them because Jesus loved them and welcomed them.

Exciting Week

Some days pass with little change and one day can blend into another; however, sometimes you have special days that stand out. It's always preferable that they are memorable because something great happened or special guests came.
We have had an exciting week; some good things happened that made it a good week. We had our Tanzanian friends, Geoffrey and Christine Lugwisha over for supper and we hosted the monthly Missionary Potluck with all missionaries in the Mwanza area invited regardless of what denomination they are with. We had about 35 people last night and we had a great time.
We did have a couple of things happen that reminded us of God's protection. Earlier this week our neighbor down the road from us had armed thieves come onto their property and attempt to rob them. They didn't get anything from them but they did do bodily injury to the man who lived there and he had to have some stitches in his head.
Then, last night, after almost everyone had left following the potluck we began to smell smoke. In a few minutes the lights went out and there was smoke building up in the house. The smoke was toxic and our throats and eyes were burning as we searched for the source of the fire. Tim's five years as a fireman helped him locate the source of the fire; it was our electrical stabilizer box in the laundry room. He was able to bypass it and restore electricity and eventually the smoke and most of the toxic fumes were cleared from the house. A new stabilizer will cost around $400 but it could have been much worse. We thank God for his protection over us and our home.

Elin (Eileen)

This is a picture of Elin; she is the 19 month old daughter of our night watchman, Charles.

About two weeks ago Elin tripped near the open fire in their one room house; a large pot of water was boiling on the fire. As Elin fell, the boiling water sloshed out onto her body; she was badly burned as you can see in the picture.

When Charles arrived at our home on Saturday evening he told me about Elin's accident the night before. I asked him if she had been taken to the Doctor; he looked at me sadly and said "no". They had taken the jar of honey I had given them a few days before, mixed it with flour and smoothed it on her burns; it was all they had. Tim was gone on a twelve day ministry trip so I had no transportation.

Charles and his family are a typical Tanzanian family; they live in a world where there is no government assistance of any kind. He has no bank account or savings account. His expenses exceed his income each month even though we pay him more than the salary required by law; he has to make difficult choices. Many times he doesn't eat so that his family will have food; I give him food often when he comes to work because I know he doesn't eat much.

He has 4 children; two of them in school and the other two are younger. Sometimes his children have to sit out of school for awhile because there is no money. Charles struggles to keep them in school; he did not have the privilege of going to school more than a year or so and yet he sees the importance of education for his children.

When Charles told me the story of Elin's accident, I gave him money and sent him home to take care of her. He passed by a small dispensary on his way home and bought the items I told him he would need; pain medicine, an antibiotic, a dissenfectant to use in the water they were bathing her in and a salve to put on the burns.

When Tim arrived home a few days later he took her to a doctor at the large government hospital; he went with them to make sure she would receive treatment. It's an advantage to have a "white" person with you at such times as this. We have paid for all the medicine and medical thus far thanks to a donation given to us by an individual on the team Tim was hosting.

Elin is progressing well and seems to be healing without complications. We pray that she will have full use of her arm and that there will be little scarring.

Her mother was tearful when she came to our home and hung her head in shame because she had allowed her daughter to be injured. I smiled and gave her a quick hug, "accidents will happen" no matter where you live in the world.

I gave Elin a small stuffed bear while she was here and was rewarded with a smile. When they left a short time later she was clutching her new toy and smiling.

My Birthday

Generally speaking, I don't like to celebrate my own birthdays by having a birthday party and the older I get the less I like to celebrate them. However, I do like to be remembered by friends and family on my birthday and to spend the day with my immediate family over a nice meal if possible.
Yesterday was my birthday and Tim has been gone on a ministry trip for over a week; I wondered what type of a day I would have. I invited two single missionary ladies to join me for my "birthday supper" last night and when they arrived they had baked me a lovely cake.
We ate supper and played games afterwards and had a lot of fun; one of the ladies spent the night with me since she walks here from her home.
In addition, during the course of the day I received numerous phone calls, phone texts and emails from many friends and family as well as most of my missionary team here in Tanzania. I spoke with both my daughters, my husband and two of my sisters on the phone via Skype.
All in all it was a great day; I felt very loved throughout the day and even though I had to concede the fact that I was a year older it was worth it.
In addition, I looked through my special "Memory Book" that my daughters made me for Christmas with my missionary friends and it was a very enjoyable evening reminiscing as we looked at pictures.

Memory Lane

When our daughters arrived in Tanzania to spend Christmas with us we had agreed not to buy each other gifts; the cost of the trip was our gift to each other.
However, our daughters had spent several months working on a priceless gift for us; they put in many hours making a photo album.
This is not just your "everyday" sort of album as family albums go; this is a work of love and a work of art.
There was a page for my family, Tim's family, our early years of marriage, our early years as a family, special places we lived, special moments and it was truly a pictorial story of where we started and where we are today as a family.
Each page is beautifully done as only a master "scrapbooker" could do it (Sarah) and a journalist and writer (Jennifer) could arrange it; together they created the most valuable thing that Tim and I own.
Tim and I looked through it with awe and wonder on Christmas day and were both teary eyed before we finished.
The girls have returned to the states and Tim has left for a 10-day long trip; unwisely I decided to look through "the album". Bad idea, I got halfway through it and had to quit when I couldn't see the pages anymore and I had to keep blowing my nose...
It is a treasure - just not one that you can look at when you are facing a 10 day stretch alone.

The Classroom

What does it take to make a good classroom? Do you need four walls, a ceiling and a floor? Do you need chairs, tables, chalkboard, maps, pictures, etc.?

In Tanzania, a church or classroom does not have the same definition as a classroom in America. We have visited a number of churches across western Tanzania since our return here in August of 2008 and have witnessed a variety of churches and classrooms. Most rural TAG churches are constructed in a simple rectangular shape and consist of one large room.


So, they must be creative in finding a place for classrooms, especially when it comes to a place for the children to meet. Unfortunately, in this society, children are generally less important than adults when it comes to providing classrooms, furnishings and curriculum.


The picture on the left is where the children of Ukiriguru Tag meet for their class each week; they borrow benches from inside the church for class time and return them after class. No one seems to mind; you will not hear them complain. Well, maybe during the rainy season they grumble a little...

Swahili Full Life Study Bible

Thanks to the generosity of some of our ministry partners, we have received enough money to buy 143 Swahili Full Life Study Bibles for our pastors in western Tanzania. For many of these pastors, the FLSB will be the only resource tool they have to help them study the Bible and correctly teach their people the Word of God. We still have a large number of pastors in TZ who have not yet been to Bible School or had any formal training to prepare them for ministry.

To date, we have purchased 98 Swahili Full Life Study Bibles from Kenya. We keep them with us as we travel western Tanzania; we have had many pastors say, "We are saving money to buy our FLSB and when we have all our money we will come to Mwanza for our Bible"

The picture above is of Esther Mangera receiving the first FLSB; she is an Evangelist and graduated in November from the Mwanza Bible College. She plans to plant a church in the near future.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year (Mwaka Mpya Njema)
We have been in Kenya for almost two weeks; we brought our daughters here to fly back to the states and have been in meetings since then. We are at a beautiful retreat center outside of Nairobi for an East Africa Prayer Retreat. Most Americans would consider it somewhat "rustic" but the grounds are beautiful; green lush grass, bright colorful flowers and a large number of birds.
We have seen many missionaries that we have known through the years and have met many new missionaries as well. It is good to come together as a missionary family to encourage one another, pray with one another and to relax and visit during the breaks. The African missionaries are known to be close knit and the East Africa missionaries are especially close knit; we are a very large family and we look forward to the Brackenhurst Prayer Retreat every two years.
An especially nice asset, for me, is that because of the high elevation here it is very cool here. It's in the 60's in the mornings and up in the 70's during the day; I am loving it.
Tomorrow we head back to Mwanza, Tanzania; it's about a 10 hour drive. We have enjoyed the break but are anxious to get back to Mwanza and go to work!

Post-Christmas

Christmas is finished and we are approaching the final day of 2009; we had a wonderful although short time with Jenn and Sarah. They have returned safely to the states to begin the New Year.
2009 was an incredible year for us here in Tanzania; its hard to believe that it has come to an end. Most of this year's ministry revolved around the Mwanza Bible College; Tim as principal and me as teacher and administrative assistant.
However, with the beginnning of 2010 we already know that our focus of ministry is going to change. The new Principal has arrived at the Mwanza Bible College to assume his new role; we will continue to work closely with the College even though we will not be there in the same capacity. Joyce will continue to teach and Tim will continue to work on projects for the College; we have many good friends there among the staff and faculty and will always be a part of Mwanza Bible College.
Sometime after the first of the year we will begin a different phase of our ministry which will involve a great deal of travel to the five western districts of Tanzania. All the details have yet to be worked out with our National leadership but we know that we will continue to do our part to spread the Kingdom of God throughout Tanzania in whatever way we are needed.
Happy New Year
Tim and Joyce