EXCITING TIMES

Praise the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever!

It is hard to believe we are already in October! We thank the Lord for His mercies over the past several weeks, and we will try to catch you up on what has been going on out here in Kizenga/Kigoma/Ujiji, Tanzania.

Wednesday, October 8th, Tori Hull will begin her journey back to Colorado to return home to her parents and 4 brothers. Tori came out to TZ with her family (Jamie and Lynette Hull - Lynette is Jennifer's sister), but when they returned to Colorado, she stayed on to help us with the many different things going on here. She has been such a blessing, and has helped us in many ways. We will surely miss her, and we especially need to pray for her as she travels alone internationally for the first time.

Tori is pictured above with her cousins, and below with Grace! She feels like a sister to them, and a daughter to us after these several months together. Let's lift her up in prayer as she begins the long journey home.

The following Monday, October 13th, Isaac and Elaina will begin their journey back to North Carolina to spend a month in the US with John's sister, Elizabeth. They are really excited to see family, friends, church family and attend a youth conference at Mountain Top Youth Camp. For us boys, the last time any of us were back on US soil was July 2022! It will be a nice change for both of them, and they will return just before Isaac's 18th birthday late November. Please pray for their travels also, as they return to the States next week.

Looking back over the past few weeks, we have had a lot of activity out in the Kizenga Chapel. Two of our young people got married! Amani and Berta got married last Thursday, and it was quite the cultural experience. Lots of excitement, dancing, and singing! We are so happy for them as they are both very consistent and committed to the chapel.

After the wedding at the chapel building, we all made our way to the reception at their family home in the village of Kizenga. Different choirs danced and sang, gifts were danced up and given, and there was lots of cheering and clapping. A Tanzanian wedding is quite the experience, and I prefer the "village" experience versus the "in-town" experience because it is much simpler and toned down a bit!

It is funny to watch the bride as she is supposed to look sad and not smile because she is not just getting married, but leaving her family. Berta tried to look sad, but it wasn't easy, and we saw her bright smile multiple times during the reception. We were ushered out of the reception behind the house into the courtyard to be served a meal of beans and rice.

This is how small groups often eat here in TZ, especially in the village. The food, either rice or ugali with the beans or other side, is served on a large platter, and the group gathers around and eats with their RIGHT HAND ONLY. The left hand is considered the dirty hand (for obvious reasons). Justin enjoyed the beans and rice, and yes, even John ate some as well, atleast he ate some rice :).

This small chapel did not have the Lord's Supper meeting when we first joined them. After working through various challenges which are common with small, young churches, combined with the good teaching on the Lord's Supper by Jamie Hull, we began breaking bread mid September. This has been such a blessing to the saints to remember the Lord Jesus and the cost of our salvation each week. This also led two of our young men to reach out about being baptized. So, a baptism is being planned and will eventually show up in a future blog post - stay tuned :).

The Sunday School at Kizenga has grown tremendously since we first joined them. There were about 6 kids in the beginning, but once Pagi began working with them and teaching them songs, loving on them, and bringing short Bible lessons, the numbers continually grew each week. Today we average around 60, and can have as many as 100 kids on special days or holidays. Below is our group from this past Sunday :).

The adoption process is ongoing, and we are thankful to announce that the letter which gives us permission to enter the High Court of Tanzania to officially adopt Grace was ready mid September for pickup! Katie joined me, and together we drove the 11 hours to Dodoma to officially pick up this important letter. We also met Zabibu, who has helped us so much throughout this process.

We took advantage of being in a larger city like Dodoma, and enjoyed some good food together before we got back on the road to return to Kigoma. These roads are quite dangerous as we saw multiple accidents on the way, and even saw the aftermath of a truck that collided with a donkey! The donkey did not survive that one.

Katie really enjoyed getting a specialty coffee while in Dodoma! We had a great time together on this trip, and also both enjoyed getting out of Kigoma for a change of scenery. Getting this important letter was a blessing also.

As I am typing out this blog, we received a notification that our case was officially submitted to the High Court of Tanzania in Kigoma electronically! This is a huge praise! We have been told it may take a week to be given a date for our hearing, and the process could take as little as 2 months, and as much as 4 or more. We have learned, through being led astray throughout this process, that only the Lord knows! We praise Him that we are officially at the last few steps in the process. Please pray with us for a favorable ruling, and for a joyful completion of the aadoption.

The Emmaus ministry is continuing on well. We just ordered more certificates of completion, and one more student has completed all 35 courses to receive his final certificate. We are also equipping other missionaries with these courses to use as a discipleship tool in their respective outreaches. The Baptists cover the costs for their saints to come and take the courses for free at the maktaba. Another doctor, who travels to seldom reached areas for a sickel cell clinic and outreach, uses these courses for discipleship. Let's pray for all of the Seed being sown in the hearts of many.

All four of our children are homeschooled using the Excellsior online program. The older two are in high school and very independant, but Jennifer and I tag team the younger two to keep them on track while juggling Grace each day. On top of the homeschool responsibilities, Jennifer is also taking a masters program in midwifery (one course at a time) at Frontier Nursing University. She is beginning a difficult class today (Pharmaceuticals), and could really use our prayers. She will complete this course mid-December, which means the next 2 months she will have a heavy load. Let's pray for her as she takes this difficult course.

On the Camp Nuru side of things, we are at the end of dry season and expecting a good, heavy rain any day now. We have not had any substantial rain since May, and got a shower this past Saturday morning, but not enough to test out the new water drainage ditch we dug to redirect water away from the camp soccer field.

When we get a good, solid rain here, it usually dumps a lot of water in one area. That water runs off into drainage ditches, which fill up and flow into this one large ditch on our side of Ujiji, which runs right through the camp property and on to the Lake. In the picture above, we redirected it outside the wall, and we are waiting for a big rain to see where the water goes. Hopefully this will solve our problem!

Justin Wallace is continuing to pitch in out at the camp in many ways. He seems to draw a crowd of kids everywhere he goes, or does something out there :) His contribution to the work has been tremendous as I (John) am swamped with many other responsibilities. We both regularly speak at the Kizenga chapel, as well as the mid-week missionary meeting. Below, Justin is fixing a generator while the kids watch in amazement.

Well, that about sums up what we have been doing the past few weeks! We so covet your prayers regarding the upcoming travels, the work going on at Kizenga Chapel, Emmaus, Camp Nuru, Grace's court hearing, and for Jennifer & the kids with their studies.

We thank the Lord for your prayers and support!

May the Lord bless each of you as you continue to follow Him!

~ The Kinlaws

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Please pray for the upcoming travels of Tori Hull to Colorado and Isaac & Elaina to North Carolina in the following days. Let's pray for safe travels and no cancellations :)

• Please pray for the work going on at Kizenga Chapel, for the young believers, upcoming baptism, ongoing Lord's Supper, and teaching to be accurate and clear.

• Please pray for the many Emmaus stuidents in various areas. Pray for their spiritual growth, and for the upcoming outreaches where these courses will be used.

• Please pray for Grace's ongoing adoption process, for a favorable court hearing, and for the process to be completed by the end of the year.

• Please pray for Camp Nuru, that the water will follow the new ditch and not damage the soccer field, for continued protection and provision for the work.

• Please pray for Jennifer and the kids as they press on in their studies, especially Jennifer as she completes this difficult pharmaceuticals course.

• Please pray for John as he manages multiple responsibilities for multiple ministries.

John is planning to speak at the 26 Below CMML Conference in NC in March. If we can't all travel by March, then John will come back for a short visit and attend this conference. (Another item for prayer!!!)