Full of Blessing

It is hard for us to believe that we arrived in Kigoma just over one week ago! It has been one busy week FULL of blessing and reunions with many friends. Here the days are FULL and our hearts are FULL as well. Here is a glance at what we have been up to this week.

Street Boys ministry may be back! I have reconnected with a good sized group of street boys that I worked with before the Covid chaos. We met this week and played soccer, I gave a Gospel message/testimony from our time back in North Carolina, and then enjoyed some refreshments together. We agreed to meet each Thursday at 4pm! One of the boys was very sick and needed meds, which I got for him. The next day we saw him and thankfully he is doing much better. I wept as I saw these guys smiling and having fun for a change. Pray for them :)

Although I was out in Ujiji with Gerald in the Maktaba on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the whole family stopped by on Tuesday after a visit to the immigration office so that we could all greet Gerald together. It was a special time, and we saw the Lord‘s blessing as two pastors from the villages had come to collect Bibles to take back with them, and even two Baptist missionaries stopped by unexpectedly. Thanks to Gerald, the Maktaba has not missed a beat, and is continuing on strong there in Ujiji.

A friend of mine, Hal, from a local radio station, Joy In Harvest, stopped by the Maktaba Friday to discuss the Emmaus courses. They have pastors who are able to get into the prisons to minister to the prisoners in our region, and wanted to use the Emmaus courses as a discipleship tool. I am excited about this possibility, and we covet your prayers as we will work out the logistics. Below is a picture of Hal and I, with two Masai friends of mine.

Gerald and I were able to get into two of the schools to teach this week. It was the last day of school before their break. It was a joy to see the smiling faces of so many students again. We taught from John chapter 4 about the woman of Samaria. I was also able to give a testimony in each class about my time in North Carolina and how my mom turned to the Lord two weeks before she died of cancer. They listened intently as I shared about my mom and from the Scriptures. We will start again in September when they return to school, so it was so nice be able to visit them before their break.

Our first Sunday back at the chapel and Kigoma went very well. I was able to stand up during the testimony time and share about our time back in North Carolina and again, how encouraging it was that my mom turned to the Lord. So many knew her from her 2 visits there, and prayed for her often. They rejoiced with us to know that she has gone to be with the Lord!

Here is a short video of the choir from our first Sunday back :-)

Our children are doing very well and have really enjoyed being back in Tanzania. Isaac is busy getting ready for RVA, sewing name tags on his clothes, and making sure he has everything he needs. Katie made some lemonade to sell to the neighbors and her friends near us. I love her marketing slogan!

Sam is having a blast with the Johnson boys spear fishing in Lake Tanganyika on Saturdays. (He didn’t spear those fish)

One of the kids found a hedgehog near our home and the kids enjoyed playing with him. (Below)

That was one busy week! There is definitely that feeling that we are right where the Lord wants us to be. This week was so FULL of blessing as we saw the Lord working all around us. The days are FULL here, and our hearts are FULL as well :) We covet your prayers as we continue to serve the Lord here and look forward to seeing how He leads us in His work in the near future.

Speaking of the near future, some have asked, and we do still have the burden for a youth camp here in this area. We are looking to the Lord for His leading and His timing in all of this. We are keeping this before the Lord in prayer on a daily basis and will update as things progress.

Thank you so much for praying!

Ephesians 3:20-21

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”