What is a toy?

For an African child, the only toys they usually have are the ones they make themselves. We have been involved in an outside crusade this week and while the students from the Bible school set up the equipment, I watch and interact with the children.

Of course, one of their favorite pasttimes is to watch "wazungu"; this is the Swahili name given to "white people". The name "wazungu" literally means "people who run in circles"; a pretty accurate description of white people for the slower moving pace of East Africa. So, all you have to do is show up and you become an immediate source of entertainment for adults and children alike. All it takes is a smile to cause the children to gather around and the fun begins. Some of the braver ones will eventually touch your skin, your freckles, rub the hair on your arms, touch your painted toenails, feel your hair, the opportunity for entertainment is endless. And, if you actually speak to them in English (for those who are learning and want to practice) and Swahili the opportunities are absolutely endless.

I watched the children playing around me and saw the following; boys playing in the sand and loose dirt, children kicking a small ball made of old plastic bags formed into a ball and held together with old string, laughing, chasing, running, a game of tag, and several children playing with the metal hoop pictured at the beginning of this journal entry. They form a piece of wire into a hoop and another piece is formed into a small hook. They run along side the hoop as they roll it along with the hook.

Of course, the rest of the fun begins when the crusade starts; the music and singing begins and all the children dance and sing. Tanzanians love music and they must move when they sing; the children jump, run, twirl and laugh as they sing the praise choruses that the various choirs sing.

And, at the end of the evening, some of the children who have been playing and you thought weren't listening go forward to receive Jesus as their Savior. And, for me, that's the greatest fun of all!

Kindness - where can it lead?

Recently we were giving one of the pastor's who also teaches at the Mwanza Bible School a ride home. As we traveled he was telling us that his church is growing and they now have their own church building and property and are looking to buy more land and build on to the church in the future. As we traveled he pointed out an Orphanage and said that the church had rented a room from them when they first started. They had been searching for a place to meet and finally checked with this orphanage to see if they could use one of their classrooms for their church to meet in on Sundays.
The director of the orphanage asked them what religious group they belonged to and was told that the church was part of the Assemblies of God. The director thought for a minute and said, "A few years ago, a missionary with your group had a daughter who brought a group of students from her school and they spent the day with us. They told stories, did crafts, sang songs, performed with puppets and gave our children a wonderful day of fun. Because of this, we will let you rent one of our rooms to hold your church services in until you can find or build your own building.
We recognized the orphanage; we had been there before. Our daughter, Sarah, was the student who had visited them with some of her classmates almost eight years earlier. Sarah had started a "Kindness Club" at school and the orphanage had been the first recipient of their acts of kindness.
Because of that small act of kindness done by a group of caring young teens, a local Assemblies of God church was given a place to begin having their services in a community where there was not yet a church established. The church now is growing and touching their community with the Gospel and with additional "acts of kindness".
Do a kind deed today; you never know how God may use it later to advance His Kingdom.

Mwanza Bible School (Chuo ya Biblia)

It was our joy and pleasure to teach at two of the morning chapels this past week at the Mwanza Bible School. This school is dear to our hearts; we finished building it and dedicated it right before we left at the end of our first term in Tanzania in 2001. There are 77 students enrolled this semester from all over the western part of Tanzania; they have a desire to be trained to do the work of the ministry. Most have made great sacrifices to be able to attend and some will come with only partial tuition and trust God to provide the remaining amount before the end of the semester. The school will allow them to come and stay if they can pay at least half of their school fees, but the remainder must be paid before they can return for another semester. These are men and women who have answered the call of God and have made a commitment to receive the education and training they need to carry out their responsibilities.

Chapel services are a time of great rejoicing, but also a time of earnest prayer for God to provide for their needs as well as for the needs of their families and churches that they have left in order to receive their formal training. It is a privilege to be able to be a part of their lives for the time that they are here in Mwanza. We will see them in the years to come scattered around Tanzania fulfilling their respective places of ministry.

What is sacrifice?

A few days ago, Tim and I went to eat at one of the pastor’s homes here in Mwanza; I should say his “room” instead of his home. He came to the house and rode with us to his place; it’s off one of the many winding streets around Mwanza and he, his wife, and their little 5 year old son, Gospel, have rented a room in the building where a number of others live also. We went into their one little room; there is a bed in one corner with one sheet on it and nothing else. Against the wall there is a small bookcase, two small stools and a little wooden table. Tim and I sat on the two little stools and the pastor and Gospel sat on the bed with the little table between us. Mama (pastor's wife)had a tiny little one pan charcoal cooker in the corner on the floor with a box containing a few old pans and a few mismatched dishes. She cooked ugali (a very thick porridge), cooked greens (michiche), some avocado slices, 3 bananas, and a small pineapple; all grown locally, and two small fish. They placed all the food on the table in tiny little bowls/pans and gave Tim and I each a bowl-no utensils-so we ate African style with our fingers. They wanted us to eat all the food but Tim and I refused all though we took very small portions and ate seconds(eatings seconds and thirds shows that you like the food). We insisted the pastor eat also but the three of them did not eat until we were done and Mama never came to the table with us. The room had no lights and one small window. The pastor left and returned with two soda's; one for Tim and one for me as well as a large bottled water. I was humbled and wanted to insist that they not spend what little money they had to buy soda for us; but we could not cause them to be embarrassed or insulted so we accepted all they gave us with thankfulness and gratitude.
This pastor, his wife, and their youngest child traveled here a year ago by bus bringing only what they could carry in their luggage with them. Their three other children remain behind with family members so they can attend school. Pastor goes out everyday visiting his neighbors, who are mostly Muslims, sharing the love of Jesus with them and trying to build a church in this area that he feels God has called him to; his little church runs about 20-25 people.
He speaks of how blessed he is to be a servant of God and how happy he and his family is to be able to do this work. This pastor is not unique; many pastors across Tanzania live as he does because "the love of Christ compels them".
This is sacrifice! May God forgive us when we who have so much complain about our lot in life and are consumed with our desire for more.
Blessings,
Tim & Joyce

Memory Lane

Every A/G MK (missionary kid) is given a trip back to the field they were on with their parents sometime between their 18th and 23rd birthday. Our daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, have been waiting seven years for their return trip; we left Tanzania in 2001 and just returned last month.

So, after we were in Tanzania for one week, Jenn and Sarah flew out for their trip down memory lane. We had just finished General Council in Dar Es Salaam; the girls flew in on Saturday and we began a whirlwind of travel for the next 10 days that ended in Nairobi, Kenya where we lived for some time during our first term and Jenn lived most of the time there going to school.

The first place we went before heading out of Dar was to the island of Zanzibar just about a 20 minute flight on a very small plane from the coastal city of Dar Es Salaam. We had never been there before so we went there as a family to make a new memory; we had a wonderful visit on the island.

We made a sweep through Tanzania from Dar to Dodoma to Mwanza. We spent a few days in Mwanza and unloaded the container that held all of our belongings we left here in 2001 so that the girls could pull out those things they wanted to take back with them. We spent time at the home of our good friend, Seni, went to a church service at Kirumba Valley, and ate at a couple of the restaurants they remembered.

For the last leg of our journey we spent all of one day driving up through the tea fields of Kericho, Kenya and stopping at some of the places the girls remembered. On the morning of the second day we reached Nairobi for the final leg of our travels. We visited Rosslyn Academy where both girls had attended school; Sarah spent one year there and Jenn was there for three years. We visited friends and some of the places the girls wanted to go.

All in all, it was a fast-paced trip down memory lane but even with some bad roads and long days and a lot of different sleeping arrangements in less than ideal situations, we had a wonderful time as a family and made a lot of new memories.

This time brought closure to our time as a family here in Tanzania and it was a time also to make some great memories that we could pull out in the days ahead as we are separated and remember them. We took lots of pictures which you can view on our website under pictures and also we made a few short videos that are also posted.

On the days when I miss the girls, I scroll through the many pictures we made of our trip together and remember; it makes me feel like we are not so far apart.

Tanzania General Council

Friends,
Our first week in Tanzania was spent in the capital city, Dar Es Salaam; we stayed with one of the missionaries there, Ron & Gloria Hanson.
Tim left every morning with Ron; the men attended the General Council sessions each day while the missionary women and children had our own schedule of events. These events were basically shopping and eating at various restaurants; the missionary family in Tanzania only gets a chance to get together maybe 3 or 4 times a year. It is important for us to bond together as a family and team during these brief times. It is also important for the children to have a chance to play with and bond with their missionary families in Tanzania; most of them will not see there stateside families more than once every four years.
In the evenings, the men joined us and we spent time talking over the events of the day and storing up memories for those long months when some of us are far away in other parts of Tanzania. For us, Mwanza is a long two day drive from Dar Es Salaam and three other families live a long day's drive away.
General Council brought many surprises; all three General Council positions (Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and Sec/Treasurer) were filled with new faces.
The ministers of the Tanzania Assemblies of God overwhelmingly voted for change; as the winds of change begin to blow across the TAG we pray that they will be driven by the wind of the Holy Spirit. It is a new day for the TAG here in Tanzania with so many new faces in leadership positions and we pray that God will grant these leaders wisdom to move forward according to His will.
There was a record number of ministers ordained this year at the General Council; about 250 altogether. It was a moving sight as all the missionaries attended the final evening of General Council to witness the ordination service. The missionary men moved among the ordination candidates along with the TAG leadership laying hands on each one and praying for them to be anointed of God for service.
Pray for the missionaries here in Tanzania, that we will be able to build strong relationships with our various leaders so that together we can do the work of the Kingdom together as one body.
Blessings
Tim & Joyce

Tumefika! (We Have Arrived!)

Dear Friends,
Tim and I arrived in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on Sunday night, August 3. We had a safe trip but two days of flying is a long time; we were glad to finally get to our destination. We were met by some of the Tanzanian missionaries who came to welcome us back to TZ.
We will stay in Dar this week for the Tanzania A/G General Council and we are looking forward to seeing many friends this week and meeting the new missionaries on the TZ field since we left. We have to take care of business such as getting our phones, picking up our vehicle, and buying a few supplies that we need for here. We will work all the business in around the busy General Council schedule.
We woke this morning to the sounds of Tanzania outside our window and I was smiling before I even got out of bed! Ahh, a dream come true!
Blessings
The Jarvis'

Kwa Heri! ( Swahili for "Goodbye")

Dear Friends,
We have raised both the cash amount and the monthly pledge support required for our reduced budget; we have been given final clearance. We will leave for Tanzania on Saturday, August 2 and will arrive on the 3rd in time for the Tanzania Assemblies of God General Council which convenes on August 5.
We are rejoicing at the goodness and faithfulness of God. We are also thankful for the many individuals and churches who have prayed for us and who have given financially to our ministry.
All we can say is "THANK YOU"! We pray that God will richly bless each one of you.
Please continue to pray that in the months ahead we will be able to finish raising the remainder of our monthly support that was cut from our original budget; we are $1,500 per month under our original budget. Until that happens, we will continue to trust God to provide for our needs and provide the funds to keep us on the field.
We have been amazed at what God has done for us financially in the past few weeks; truly we serve an awesome God!
Blessings to each of you!
Joyce

"Marvelous Things"

I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9: 1,2

Dear Friends,
We have met our requirements for monthly support according to our new reduced budget and we praise God for that; we are going out $1,500 short of our original budget. We will be at a disadvantage financially but we believe that we will continue to have new ministry partners join us and that our original monthly budget will eventually be met. God will take care of us while we are being faithful to do His work in Tanzania.
We are still $5,000 short for our cash budget; we believe that this is going to come in some time this next week so that we can receive final clearance to leave for Tanzania.
We have tentatively set August 2 as our departure date; however, we cannot finalize that date until we receive clearance.
Please continue to pray for all of the last minute things to fall into place; our desire is to be in Tanzania in time for the Tanzania Assemblies of God General Council which convenes on August 5. We will keep you updated as we press on towards our goal!
Blessings to each of you!
Joyce

Status Report

Friends,
It's been another long week but we have seen the Lord's hand working on our behalf. We have had some additional monthly support come in this week; we now only need $455 a month in monthly support and we still need about $14,000 in cash.
We know that this is an insignificant amount to God; we know that if it is His will for us to go to Tanzania we will go. Please continue to pray with us that God's will for our lives will be accomplished. We have about four weeks left to raise the remainder of our funds.
If He speaks to your heart to become a ministry partner with us; please be obedient and let us know as soon as possible.
Blessings to all of you!
Joyce

Progress Report

Dear Friends,
We have come to the end of a very long week and we want to give you a report so you can continue to pray for us. We know we have many prayer partners praying for us across this country and in Tanzania and for that we are grateful.
God has brought in $7000 of our cash budget this week; we still have $15,000 more to raise to reach the minimum amount we need. Also, $200 of the $800 in monthly pledge support has come in.
Our deadline of July 31st looms ahead of us and will be upon us before we know it.
Thank you for your love and support; pray for a good harvest of funds for next week!
Blessings
Joyce

Waiting...

Waiting is one of the hardest things we have to do in life; Americans especially are an impatient lot and we have grown accustomed to having things instantly. The human population as a whole are by nature impatient; it must be interesting for the eternal God who has always been and always will be to listen to our complaints about "waiting".

Tim and I are now in the "waiting" mode. Since our meeting last Wednesday we have been in a flurry of activity. We have now notified every church/pastor in Michigan and Southern Missouri about our July 31st deadline; we have called, emailed, or sent a letter to each one. We have emailed our list of family, friends and missionaries. We have followed leads given to us and we have called a number of churches/people in several other states. In all, we have made about 800 contacts.

Now we must wait and pray; we have to believe that the God we love and serve can speak to the hearts of people on our behalf. Our future is, has always been, and always will be in the hands of our Lord. We will accept the future that He has for us; even if it is not the future we want for ourselves.

Thanks to each of you for your prayers on our behalf; we will continue to update you.

Be blessed today,

Joyce

Good Things are Happening

Dear Friends,

We want to update you on events of the past few days. If you read the earlier postings you know that we have a deadline of July 31; we need to have all of our cash ($26,000) and the remaining 25% of our monthly pledge support ($2,200) completely raised.
Yesterday we met with leadership to discuss some options; they have heard from the National Church in Tanzania and from the missionaries and all of them have said that we are desperately needed in Tanzania. Because of this and the fact that we are 13 year veterans, we were given the choice to make some personal concessions to cut our budget.
We believe that God wants us back in Tanzania and we also believe He will provide for our needs if we will step out in faith. With this in mind, we allowed our budget to be cut down to the bare necessities and a large part of these cuts were in the area of our personal salary.
After the cuts, we now have 90% of our budget raised; we only need $800 more in monthly pledge support to come in by July 31. We still need to raise $22,000 in cash; there was very little we could cut from the cash budget.
We believe God is going to honor our willingness to cut our personal benefits, including our retirement fund, and will bring in the funds we need before July 31.
Please pray with us and if you are able to help with monthly pledge support or give towards our cash budget, please contact us at tim.jarvis@agmd.org .

Blessings to all of you!
Joyce Jarvis

People of Faith

Hello everyone,
I had a very long talk with my oldest daughter, Jenn, yesterday; it did my heart good. First, because I only talk to her a couple of times a month and so I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with her. Secondly, it did my heart good because sometimes you wonder as a parent what kind of an impression you made on your children as you raised them and what they remember about their lives.
My daughter spoke to me yesterday about a conversation she had with a co-worker a few days ago. She told them that she was raised in a family of faith and she watched her parents help people in need all her life. She remembers that her parents loved people and lived to help people; that we were people of faith who trusted God to meet our needs because we were faithfully trying to meet the needs of others. She said something like, "Mom, I know everything is going to be OK; God has done so much for us already and I know He is going to take care of this too."
We still need about 24% of our support by the end of July; we have been calling and leaving messages with churches and pastors. Our financial status has changed little since the last blog I posted; however, we are choosing to live as people of faith. We trust God with our future just as we have always trusted Him in the past. Whether we go to Africa or not is not dependent upon our efforts; it is in the hands of the God who is faithful and trustworthy. Today in my devotions I read Psalm 121:1-8, read it and be blessed.
In Him,
Joyce Jarvis

Urgent Prayer Request

Dear Friends,
We were contacted by AGWM (Assemblies of God World Missions) today; we have been given a deadline of July 31 to finish raising our funds. If we have not raised all of our funds by this date, we will not be allowed to return to Tanzania. Currently, we have raised 75% of our monthly pledge support needed and we still need $26,000 in cash.
Please pray with us for this urgent need; we will post updates every few days on this site so that you can keep track of our progress.
We need a financial miracle; please pray with us for this need.
We believe that our God is able to meet our needs!
Be blessed,
Tim & Joyce Jarvis

Status Report May

Friends,
I want to just give you a quick update as to where we stand in our support. We were at almost 78%; however, we had a budget increase which dropped us back down to about 73%. The Lord has given us several new ministry partners this week and our monthly support is now back up to 76%; please continue to pray for us.
We have been itinerating for 21 months now and had hoped to leave for the field this past January; we are urgently needed in Tanzania. We are the only missionaries assigned to the western region of Tanzania; this region is about the size of the state of Indiana. There are still many unreached areas in that region. In addition, there are a number of new churches there that need our help in becoming strong indigenous churches that will reach their communities with the Gospel.
Please continue to pray that we will be able to return to Tanzania very soon; we know that God has called us and He is more than able to supply our needs.
Be blessed!
Joyce

Variety

Yesterday we went to two different churches; one in the morning and the other in the evening. Both of them are Assemblies of God churches but were very different in their style of worship and the way the services were conducted. The variety that exists in our churches has always amazed me; as we have itinerated these past twenty months in churches located in seven different states we have seen all parts of the variety spectrum. We have seen everything from very conservative to very liberal and all things in between.
I suppose this has to do in part to the variety that exists among individual people as well as different parts of the country and even between city and rural areas; America is a melting pot of so many different cultures. In Tanzania, there is less variety in the order of service and in the worship style than there is here in the states. I think it's because they are less exposed to outside influence and they are more the same as Tanzanians in general. The biggest variety we noticed in Tanzania is in the instruments they use during their worship time; we've seen guitars with various numbers of strings, keyboards of all sizes, drums of all varieties, shakers, boards, pop bottles, and even a whistle in one church. Anything that they can use to make a joyful noise with they use to worship God.
It reminds me of the scripture in Revelations 5:9, "...ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation". In heaven, they will be singing and worshipping God around the throne throughout the ages. The song and the worship will basically be the same, however, the variety among the people will be unparalleled.
Be blessed today!
Joyce

Tanzanian Friends

Hello everyone,

Recently, we had an opportunity to spend a little time with some Tanzanian friends. The Mhiche's (m-he-chay) came to the states to see their oldest child, Daniel, graduate from Evangel University in Springfield MO. Neither of them have ever been to the states before and they were both a little overwhelmed with the many things that assaulted their senses all at the same time. They were in awe of the wealth and possessions that the Americans have and take for granted. Mama Mhiche spoke to me in Swahili about the beauty of this country and how clean and neat our streets and cities were kept.

I remembered back to how we were overwhelmed when we first arrived in Tanzania at how poor the Tanzanian people were; there was poverty and disease all around us and it assaulted our senses as well. We come from totally different worlds; one very affluent by African standards and the other very poor.

We came together for a common cause; we each had a desire to reach the Tanzanian people with the Gospel. We became friends and formed a bond of friendship with mutual respect for one another; we are all part of the family of God doing the work He has called us to do.

Mama Mhiche hugged me and said, "Now that I have seen your country, I understand what your family left when you came to Tanzania".

As the scriptures say, "we are compelled by love".

We are anxious to return and work together with our brothers and sisters in Tanzania to see the lost come to Christ. Please pray that we will be able to return soon.

Be Blessed,

Joyce Jarvis

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Friends,
Today is Mother's Day; a day of great joy for me personally. Both of my daughters are out of state today and so we are not able to be together. However, I know that they will both be calling me sometime today to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and to tell me they love me.
This day is probably the most emotional day of the year; many are joyful and nostalgic about today. Others, because of various situations experience deep sorrow, regret, or loneliness on this day. The emotions we feel on this day have to do with our experience in the area of motherhood; very few people do not experience some type of strong emotions related to this day.
I am thankful that I have two beautiful, loving, Christian daughters; I have been blessed.
However, I think of the mothers today in the country of Tanzania where there is no holiday that honors them. Few of them see all of their children grow to be healthy adults; there is a very high mortality rate among infants and children in most African countries. Mothers watch helplessly while their children who are born with complications die because they do not have health care available to them. Many of them watch their children die because of diseases and illnesses that are preventable and curable; but they do not have the money to buy the medicines or medical care that they need to survive.
I have known women whose husbands sent them away or took another wife because they were not able to bear children for their husbands. In Tanzania, it is a great shame for a woman to be barren. I have often prayed with women across Tanzania who were barren and came to me in desperation asking me to pray that God would give them children. I have seen some of these women bear children and have seen them rejoicing because God has blessed them.
I feel blessed today that I was born and that my children were born in a country where we had health care available to us. I look forward to the time I can return to Tanzania and again have the opportunity to minister to the incredible women of that country.
Be blessed today!
Joyce Jarvis

Licensed

Hello, everyone

We just finished attending the Southern Missouri District council this week; it was a very busy time. This was our first time to attend the council for this district; we attended all of the events in an effort to meet as many pastors and officials in this district as possible. Each day we were at our booth before the morning sessions started and stayed until at least 10:00 each night. We made ourselves available to answer questions about us and our ministry in Tanzania.

I, Joyce, received my credentials (license) with the Southern Missouri District council on the final evening of the council; it was a highlight for me. I am now a minister with the Assemblies of God and am licensed through the Southern MO district. Tim is ordained through the Michigan District; this makes us both Michigan and Southern Missouri missionaries. Sarah was able to attend the credentialing service and presented me with a dozen red roses from Jenn, Sarah, and Tim.

I believe that being a licensed minister will open doors of opportunity for me to minister more effectively both in the states and in Tanzania.

Be blessed,

Joyce Jarvis