Dry Season

Greetings from Kigoma, Tanzania! We have so much to be thankful for and much to share with you. Thank you for your interest in the work here, and for your prayer support! We really covet your prayers as we sow the Seed of the Gospel. Similar to the US, the "soil" here can also be really tough and dry, and planting is a hard, slow work.

Right now we are in the midst of dry season (as seen above), and everything is dying all around us. It is similar to fall back in North Carolina, just minus the cold weather. :) In a few months we will start getting rain again and it is amazing how fast everything turns green! Prayer is like a steady rain on a dry and dusty heart. Pray with us for the ministry of sowing going on here in Kigoma. There is a lot of Seed out there, and we just need a little rain to see it come to life!

The Reading Room in Ujiji is continuing to go well! Often the children come in to read the children's books or watch The King of Glory or The Jesus Film. Local pastors come in to check out books to prepare for their sermons, as we function like a library. We have been giving out Gideon New Testaments (as seen on the top left of the shelves) and continuing to have conversations regularly with those who come in.

We are coming to the end of our reading glasses supply which was sent out to us by our home assembly. Over the last month we were able to help several ladies with reading glasses up in Ujiji.

Just recently, one of our friends who comes often to our home to sell fruit stopped by for a visit. As we talked, we discovered that the reason she didn't read much was that the words were blurry and she couldn't see. So we brought out a few pairs and within a few minutes she was reading a portion of the Gospel of Mark to us! Pray with us for this hard working lady to grow in the Word.

I had the privilege of preaching twice in the month of July in Swahili. Once in the small village of Kizenga, as pictured above, and once in our home church in Kigoma. At Kizenga I brought a challenge on evangelism from Acts 1:8. One day we hope to see this group grow, not only in number, but also in grace and truth, and move from under the mango tree into a building beside them (not yet rebuilt).

During the months of June, July, and August we get cooler mornings which is so refreshing. On our visit to Kizenga, it was a breezy cool morning where the temperatures were most likely around 70 or the upper 60's. This prompted the kids to break out their sweat shirts, for at least an hour or so. :)

We never know what the children will bring with them to the meeting. This week, one young girl showed up carrying a very young baby on her back which was only a few weeks old! Elaina enjoyed holding her for a short while on that cool morning.

At our home assembly in Kigoma, I preached on the story of Mephibosheth, "A Picture of Grace". It is always good to reinforce the basic principles of the Gospel, and in this story the Gospel is so clear. I really enjoy these opportunities although I still need my notes which are kind of like training wheels. I grow a little bit in language learning each time I get to preach or teach in Swahili.

We visited the home of one of our elders at the chapel in Kigoma. His name is Swedy and his wife Regina (sitting). Regina had a stroke during the first week of August. After several days in the hospital, she was allowed to return home where we visited them and prayed for her. Her right side is still very dysfunctional, but they are helping her every day with exercises and walking. We are praying she will one day soon be able to regain her independence again. They are a sweet, godly couple and both love to serve the Lord.

They raise pigs on their property and we got to see them before we left. There were several adult pigs and lots of babies at various ages. Katie enjoyed holding one of the babies and she smelled wonderful afterwards too. :)

The work among the street boys is continuing to go well. These boys have really "gelled" over the last several months and are a joy to be around and spend time with. Each week when I arrive, I am greeted by a group of boys that want to show me all of their cuts and scrapes. I feel like a parent to many of them, as I encourage them, give some a hug, and occasionally provide bandaids, medicine, and soap for washing. Often one will show up with a bad case of malaria and needs to be tested and start malaria meds asap.

We are so thankful they continue to come and hear the Gospel. I am starting a paint board series to give them a basic intro to the Bible as many of them do not understand why there is an Old Testament and a New Testament. Pray for these boys, they have many needs, but their greatest need is the Lord.

We had some special guests who came to see the game a few weeks ago :)

See below: (Sam and Katie)

Jennifer and Elaina went up to Matiazo with a lady from the chapel who was having some health problems. There is a mission hospital and also an orphanage there with a few German doctors serving as missionaries. While they waited for her results, they visited the orphanage next door where we have been as a family a few times.

These are two girls of triplets that we have visited before (below). They have a brother who also lives there with them. There is even a set of twins named Adam and Eve there at the orphanage!

A recent highlight for the kids was when they each received packages from the US! The kids really have a good life here, with opportunities to swim, summer weather year round, and a few missionary kids to play with. They are never more excited than when a package arrives!

No matter where you are in the world you need to keep your NC State apparel up to date!

These guys are really growing! Isaac will be 12 in a few months, Sam 7 in December and Elaina 11in Jan, and Katie just turned 5. We miss you all and really appreciate your prayers and support for the work here. We also covet your prayers for the ongoing homeschooling of our children. We have so much to be thankful for! We trust these pictures give you a window into our life and ministry here.

It may be dry season here in this part of East Africa, but through prayer, together we can bring the rains that will bring forth the fruit unto eternal life. Please join us in prayer for the Good Seed that is being sown here in Kigoma.

Psalm 107:35

"He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water..."

This is by far one of my favorite pictures. See how many of these precious children are looking at the camera, and some are even hiding behind others. Precious souls!