Nebraska Team

Women's Dorm MBC

Orientation time

Jerry Spain's team of 23 people from four different churches, mostly from Nebraska, finished their work and left yesterday to return to the states.  They are a wonderful, hard-working, big-hearted group of people; they were a blessing to us personally as well as to the Mwanza Bible College and the Mwanza District. 
In a week's time they accomplished an impressive amount of work. They put in the footings and put the roof up for the new Women's dorm at Mwanza Bible College, painted the classrooms, teacher's offices, hallway and library, poured new cement flours in the classrooms, poured a sidewalk for the men's dorm, put up a wall to form a storage room and took down a wall to make two small classrooms into one large classroom.
In addition, they went out to the Mwanza District Church Planting School site and put up roof frames for two buildings.
WOW!  What a blessing; thanks to each one of the team members for their sacrifice and hard work and thanks to everyone who prayed for them. 

Pathfinders Team from Madison TN



Campsite at Nyambiti



The Pathfinders team from Cornerstone Church in Madison TN arrived on February 20th to put up a church roof in the village of Nyambiti.

The truck that was to bring the building supplies did not arrive until Wednesday so the team went to the site for the Mwanza District Church Planting School and put in the foundations for the buildings on that property and put together some of the roof components.



Finished roof at Nyambiti village



On Wednesday about noon the truck arrived with the building supplies and the team spent several hours off-loading the supplies to two different locations. 

By staying up until about 1:00am Wednesday and working with lights and starting again Thursday morning about 5:00am, they were able to get the roof project completed for the Nyambiti church. 

Although Satan seemed to try to hinder us on this project in multiple ways, the team persevered and finished the project for the glory of God.  Thanks to the hundreds of our friends and supporters who were praying for this project. Satan and his demons were defeated by the power of prayer. 

Flexibility

As missionaries, one of the factors that determines your success is your ability to be flexible and quickly learn how to come up with and implement a "Plan B, C, or even D". 
For instance, we have a team coming from Cornerstone Church in Tennessee on Monday to put up a church roof and do some preliminary work on the Mwanza District Church Planting School. 
Months ago, a container of building supplies and tools were sent from the states and arrived in Dar Es Salaam on December 3.  Yesterday, with three days to go before the team arrives, we had the final word that the container was being held and would not be released for sometime while about $12,000 in storage fees were being haggled over. 
With the help of our National Church leaders who are sending another container of building supplies that was designated for another site, and the help of our missionary colleagues who are gathering tools and supplies that would have come in the container in Dar and sending them out to us by bus and truck, and with the help of the team from TN who are also bringing items we will need with them, and with the help of some of the local churches to help with food...we are implementing Plan B.  We have three days so we may end up creating some Plan C's or D's before we have everything we need on hand.  However, we have many helpers here in TZ working to make it happen and many prayer partners all over the world who are doing their part as well. 
God will build His Church, Bible College, Kingdom, etc, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.  We are thankful for an all-powerful God and for many partners working together doing Kingdom work. 

Buhangija School



Tim opens some of the clothing bundles



Children sitting at the new tables and chairs



Two weeks ago we visited the Buhangija school for the visually impaired with some guests from the states.  We bought five 50lb bundles of clothing and took to the school; one of the bundles was made up of sheets and towels which were also needed.  We took a large supply of sunscreen and two new soccer balls which were the biggest hit of the day.  Children in Tanzania LOVE to play soccer. 

It was good to see the children; school was dismissed for a short time so we could visit briefly with all the children. The number of CWA (Children with Albinism) has increased at the school to about 200 now which makes for very crowded conditions when the dormitory space was built for less than 100 children.  We are looking at estimates to have new beds made and to help them complete a new dorm that has been started but there are no funds to finish the project. 



We had a chance to examine the 10 new tables and benches that we paid to have built for the dining hall as well as checked the well pump that was broken and we provided the funds to restore it to good working order. There are still many needs remaining.  We will be making perhaps two more trips there before we leave on furlough at the end of March.

Computer Lab



New Computer Lab at Mwanza Bible College



In January, we hosted a team of four men from Africa's Hope in Springfield MO.  Their purpose here in Mwanza was to install the new computer lab at the Mwanza Bible College.  Thanks to their many hours of labor for the week they were here, we now have a wonderful, well outfitted computer lab at the Mwanza Bible, the teachers all have computers, and all computers have been freed from viruses and upgraded.

We have a lab with 12 computers; it will be the first time that most of the students (pastors) have touched a computer.  We will begin with the basics and work our way up from there. We thank the Lord for the gift of the computers and all the software, wiring, remodeling of the room, etc that was provided for this project.

Happy New Year

Heri ya Krismasi (Happy New Year)
The year 2010 was a very busy year for us and we are so thankful for the strength and wisdom God gave us so that we could do His work for the Kingdom of God here in Tanzania.  I will give a quick summary of our Ministry activities for 2010:
Ministry trips (two or more days) - 19
Guests (at least one night's stay-groups count as one) - 15
Days with guests in our home (overnight) - 150
Days away from home for ministry (TIM) - 121
Tanzania Field Missions Meetings - 3
Tanzania Assemblies of God meetings - 6
National TAG conferences attended - 3
Planned meetings with local pastors/leaders - 9
*Numerous unscheduled and "drop-in" visits)
Seminars Taught: Joyce -1    Tim-5
Preaching services: Joyce-3    Tim-8
Albino Ministry-Visits to Schools: 19
Joyce: Mwanza Bible College Teaching- 3 terms (total of 54 days)
Five Week Evangelism outreach with outdoor meetings in five different locations.
As you can see it was a full year; we had successes for which we thank God and we had some failures and disappointments which we will learn from and keep working to move forward.  We thank each of you for your prayers and financial support; we appreciate your partnership.

Christmas 2011

Mwanza Bible College Faculty

The Christmas Season is drawing to an end and we have had wonderful opportunities to celebrate the birth of Jesus our Savior. 
We hosted a potluck fellowship with the Mwanza missionary community where we shared food, Christmas memories and customs from our families and countries, we sang Christmas songs, read the Christmas story and prayed together.
We had a Christmas party for the 32 Albino children at Jelly's School; we told them the Christmas story, sang songs, enjoyed Chistmas cookies and soda and each one received a Christmas package containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, candy, a pencil, a bar of soap and a small toy (rubber ball, matchbox car or jewelry). It was the first Christmas gift they had ever received and they were so excited they jumped for joy and clapped their hands.  How many American children would have been excited over those gifts?
We also had a dinner in our home for the faculty and their spouses from the Mwanza Bible College; these people have become dear friends through the years as we have worked together. 
We also had Christmas Sunday dinner with our very good friends, Seni and his wife and some of their children.  Seni and his family have been our closest friends here in Mwanza for many years and we enjoyed being part of their Christmas Day dinner.
We also had a traditional Christmas Dinner on Tuesday night, the 27th, with some of our close missionary friends here in Mwanza.
Lastly, we enjoyed a beautiful service at our church here in Mwanza; they even sang "O Come All Ye Faithful" in English and Swahili as well as "Silent Night" and "We wish you a Merry Christmas".  It was a great service. 

Christmas Party at Jelly's

Now it's time to take down the Christmas Tree and put away the decorations for another year. 

Thanksgiving Day

We were blessed this Thanksgiving to have a variety of guests join us for a very traditional American meal.  Missionaries Bob & Murriell McCulley from the new nation of South Sudan (Murriell is Tim's sister), Charles & Tahnya Porter and their 3 children-A/G missionaries from Dar Es Salaam Tanzania, Naomi Glock- AIC missionary who was born in Tanzania to missionary parents 72 years ago, Bill & Tammy Brouwer- Baptist missionaries and good friends, and Lisa Newland- young single Baptist missionary who rents our guest house and lets us be "pretend parents" from time to time.
What a wonderful day we had together; consuming lots of food and playing games and fellowshipping together for most of the day.
We all took the time to acknowledge God's blessings on our lives and express something that we were especially thankful for this year.

Dodoma Bible College Graduation



Three of MBC faculty received their Teacher Certification

This past weekend we attended the Dodoma Bible College Graduation with missionaries Bob & Murriell McCulley; Murriell is Tim's sister and she was the guest of honor and speaker for the graduation.  We drove for nine hours on Thursday to reach Dodoma from Mwanza and got there just in time to make it to the Banquet that evening.
Graduation was on Friday and graduations are lengthy affairs in Tanzania and this one was no different; we were on the platform under a large tent in the hot sun from 9:30am until 4:00pm.  There were 4 groups graduating for a total of 104 students; the one year English class, the Diploma level class, the B.A. class and the first graduation of Bible College teachers in the Teacher Certification program had 19 graduates.
We had four teachers from our Mwanza Bible College who received their Teacher Certificates; we are proud of our Bible College Staff.
By the time we had "lunch" at 4:30 we were finally able to head back to the hotel about 5:30.
We traveled the nine hours back to Mwanza on Saturday; it was a very full three days but it was rewarding to see the number of graduates and to visit with some of our national pastors that we don't have a chance to see very often.

Ukerewe Island

At the end of October we spent five days on Ukerewe Island, the largest of a chain of 20 islands about 45 miles from Mwanza in Lake Victoria.  We took a 3 hour ferry ride across to Ukerewe and our missionary colleague, Melodie Joice, accompanied us.
We had a full schedule of ministry; Melodie and I conducted a Children's Workers Training seminar on Friday and Saturday and Tim taught a Missions seminar to the local TAG pastors on Saturday.  We had about 20 in attendance at the Children's Workers seminar representing about 14 churches; there are 27 churches on Ukerewe and 5 churches on the next largest island, Ukara. Some of the churches are branch churches connected to other churches on Ukerewe.
On Sunday, we all preached in different churches and God moved by his Spirit; several were delivered from demon possession. There is a strong presence of witchcraft on the island and many demon possessed people.   
Ten years ago there were only 5 churches on Ukerewe and today there are 27 with 5 branch churches on Ukara.  There is still much work to do; most of the other islands, though small, are inhabited mostly with small fishing villages.  Ukerewe is 205 sq. miles and since people walk everywhere we need to establish more churches.
The pastors need encouragement and training and are so very appreciative of any visitors that come to the island to help them in their efforts to spread the Gospel.

Tuesday is Jelly Day

Every Tuesday I visit a school called "Jelly's" to minister to and love on 32 Albino children that attend there and board there year round.  Sarah, our daughter, started visiting there 3 days a week this summer to do group therapy with the children.
Now that she has returned home, I go every Tuesday and tell them a Bible story, play, do crafts/activities, pray with them and be a caring person in their lives. 
This week we talked about the creation story and I emphasized that God saw everything he had made and proclaimed it good; when he created man he proclaimed it to be "very good".  I encouraged the children to remember that God made them as they are and that he proclaims over them that they are "very good".
They drew self portraits on papers with the verse from Genesis 1:31, "God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good". 
It was a great day with hugs for everyone before we left. 

When the sun is your Enemy

Saturday we visited the Buhangija school for the visually impaired which is home to about 150 Albino Children (PWA-People with Albinism).
For the very first time, we were granted permission to have a church service for them; we told a story, taught a memory verse, sang songs, played a game and introduced puppets who sang for the children.
It was a wonderful opportunity to share God's love with these precious forgotten children; however, the day was marred by the physical condition of the younger children.
Many of the younger children (age 6 and under) were badly burned from over exposure to the sun.  They had deep burns on their faces, heads, arms and hands and some on their feet.  Some of the burns and sores were badly infected and the skin had drawn up on their hands and arms so that some of them were unable to straighten their hands out completely. 
The normally playful group of younger children sat listlessly on a blanket during most of our visit.  It was one of the worst things I have ever seen; my heart has been burdened for them since then.
We have visited one of our local churches and asked if they would send a group of medical personnel from their church to the school and treat their burns and infection. 
We hope and pray that the medical team can go soon to visit the school.

Women's Scholarships

Mery, Agnes and Melania - Scholarship recipients

We want to thank the West Texas District Women's Ministries Dept. for providing scholarships for 3 of our ladies this year at the Mwanza Bible College.  Without their assistance, these women would not have been able to attend. 
These 3 women, Mery, Agnes and Melania,  are amazed that women in America would be willing to pay tuition fees for them when they have never met; but that's what the love of God does.  It makes people have generous hearts and a love for people they don't know and will probably never meet this side of heaven. 

Moving Rock

We are almost finished with a project that has taken over ten years to finish; within the next few days the fence around the Mwanza Bible College will be finished!  It will be a time for celebration!
There have been boundary disputes for years and through the years we have lost 1/3 of the original plot to squatters.
However, after weeks and months of going to various government offices and paying various fees, the boundary for the Mwanza Bible College has been officially documented, all fees and compensations paid and the boundary clearly marked.
The first job to building the fence was to dig a hole big enough to "cure"(soaking in water for several days) all of the cement posts that had to be made for the fence.  In many places this task would have been finished in a day.  At the Bible College it was a matter of a few weeks.  Mwanza is built on boulders and rocks that often are as big as a house.  Since we don't have access to equipment such as bull dozers and other equipment to break up large boulders, it is done the way that it's been done for generations here.
You build a fire on top of the boulder, let it burn and when the rock cools it will have cracks in it.  Then, with simple hand tools they begin the process of breaking the boulders into pieces that can be dug out of the ground and carried away.  It is not a job for the weak or faint hearted; for Tanzanian laborers it is work they are accustomed to doing.
These workers are partly students from the Bible College and from the local church.  The hole will be used for an outdoor baptismal tank for the Bible College Church now that it has served it's purpose for the fence building.

School of the Holy Spirit

At the end of August we traveled to Dodoma to attend the first national School of the Holy Spirit with speakers from America and Malawi; there were over 600 sectional and district leaders in attendance.
The week long conference focused on the fact that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is given to give us power to fulfill the Mission of God. 
The days were packed with teaching and meetings with a service every evening.  We, as the missionary body, were blessed to be a part of this conference.  We saw hundreds filled and refilled over the course of the week. 
We saw leaders coming forward to repent of sins and to receive fresh anointing on their lives and ministries. 
We believe that we will see positive results from these meetings in the weeks and months ahead.  God moved mightily among our leadership by His Holy Spirit.

Women's Ministry

The Women's Ministry Department (WWK) of the TAG have a manual for the individual groups in each church to follow; it basically instructs women how to be a blessing to their church, their pastor, their leadership, their families and their community.
The church at Kisesa was closed for awhile and has been reopened for about a year.  They have started up the WWK group in the church and are attempting to fulfull their goals to be a blessing. 
As part of their efforts, they contacted us and asked if they could visit us in our home and be a blessing to us. 
They arrived on Saturday about 11:00 and stayed for a couple of hours. We sang together, prayed together and spent time getting acquainted.  At the request of the pastor I spent a few minutes encouraging the women and commending them for their desire to be a blessing and for their valuable ministry within the church body.
Women have a very difficult life here and rarely receive any recognition or thanks for what they do.  I always to encourage them and show them my appreciation whenever I have the opportunity.
They brought Tim and I gifts; we each received a piece of material to have a garment made (very common gift here), two watermelons and a bag of oranges.
I had prepared some refreshments for them which they enjoyed; some of the food they were familiar with but I also introduced them to sweet & sour meatballs and banana bread. 
It was a nice visit and the first time for most of them to be in a "white person's" home. 

Babati Church Planting School

Tim has spent a total of about two weeks working on the Church Planting School in the Manyara region in the village of Babati. 
This school will train pastors specifically for the purpose of starting a church in an area where we don't yet have an established church; they will attend for four months before being sent out to plant a church.
Tim and his team put up the metal frame and the roof which is the most expensive and difficult part of the project and the district finishes the project by putting up the brick walls. 
It is one of the ways we partner with the Tanzania Assemblies of God on various projects.  The TAG is growing and maturing rapidly and we continue to adjust our relationship with them as they take the lead more and more in evangelizing their nation and training leaders and pastors.  We praise God for the way that the national church of Tanzania continues to mature and grow into a strong indigenous national church. 

Albino Outreach Ministry Video

Tim and I have been developing an outreach ministry to the Albino people of Tanzania; we have put together a short DVD (3 1/2 minutes) to help in our efforts to educate people about Albinism in Tanzania.  Our prayer is that God will speak to your heart about reaching out to these precious people.

Faith and Sarah

We are enjoying having our daughter, Sarah, with us; she is doing group therapy with a group of 32 Albino children at a nearby school.  The first few days the children were withdrawn, didn't make eye contact and barely spoke.
After only 3 weeks they are talking, sharing some of their feelings, laughing and interacting with Sarah. She is concentrating on self esteem issues, dealing with emotions and learning to talk about feelings rather than keeping them bottled up inside.  Even though she will only be with these children for two months, we believe she will make a difference in their lives and help them learn to cope with some of the many issues in their lives.
Faith is working at a nearby orphanage with several children who need physical therapy and who have learning disabilities.  The small boy she works with that has Cerebral Palsy, his name is Sita, has already showed improvement in the mobility of his arms and legs.  Faith is excited because he has finally received a special wheelchair that will be much more comfortable for him than the toddler stroller he has been using.
It is a joy to have these two young ladies with us and we will miss them when they leave later this summer; Faith leaves in about 10 days and Sarah leaves August 12. 

Sunday at Antioch Christian Church

Yesterday was a full but fairly typical Sunday here in Tanzania. We traveled with our two guests from SoMO District office, James McHaffie and Phillip Roop, to a nearby TAG church.  Pastor Gwalalika has been a friend of ours for many years and we visited his church the first time in 2000.
At that time, it was a small one room facility with reed walls and a grass thatched roof. 
Now, it is a large cement building with several rooms and a separate children's building with a membership of over 200. 
Pastor Roop preached both the 7:30am and the 10:30 am services.  In between we were given the customary "chai" (hot tea with milk and sugar) and chapatis. 
After the service we did the usual photo session and toured the facilities and listend to the future plans for church growth and expansion.
Finally, we traved to the pastor's home and were treated to a wonderful Tanzanian meal with a variety of food generally reserved for honored guests: rice, roasted potatoes, cooked cabbage, chapatis, stewed chicken, fried goat meat, tomatoes and cucumbers and Papaya.
We spent some time visiting with the pastor and his wife before leaving to return to Mwanza; we arrived home about 4:30 tired, well-fed, and blessed.