Mungu ni Mwema

"Mungu ni Mwema" = "God is Good" in Swahili.

We have been enjoying the Lord over the past month! He is so good, and a joy to serve! We thank you all for praying for us, and supporting us in various ways. We even see His goodness through your love and care for us :) His Word is a treasure of Living Water, and we hope you are staying "hydrated" these days!

The past month has been full of activity, and we thank the Lord for His strength to be able to continue on in the different ministries He has given us. Kigoma is a challenging place with it's culture, poverty, lack of options, and even it's location. Our main "grocery store" is smaller than the bathroom in Walmart! Nevertheless, the Lord sustains us with more of Himself. He is worthy of us facing any extra challenges or suffering as we serve Him!

We have been needing a break from the stresses of Kigoma, but one of the challenges of Kigoma's location is that there is no place close to go to get away. Dar Es Salaam is a 22+ hour drive, and so we settled on Arusha since we had not visited there before. Arusha is only a two day, 19 hour drive away! YAY! The temperatures are much cooler there, which we enjoyed very much. We also visited a few touristy places, but mostly rested.

Awkward 5am picture at the beginning of our road trip

The kiddos are REALLY growing!

As already mentioned, temperatures were between 55 and 75 degrees in Arusha, and we all enjoyed wearing long sleeves for a change. Overall, it was a wonderful week of rest and relaxation, enjoying the cooler temps, and just having some down time together as a family.

MAKTABA YA NURU YA ULIMWENGU

"Light of the World Library"

This place is actually not a library, (although we do have over 100 Christian books in Swahili to be checked out or read on site), but an "outpost" for the Gospel in the Muslim village of Ujiji where we show Gospel films each afternoon, offer free Gospel tracts and Gideon New Testaments, reading glasses, and Emmaus Bible courses.

Back in Kigoma and Ujiji, the past month we had a steady flow of people come in for reading glasses and Gospel literature. The maktaba has been going strong since December of 2018! Almost 7 years of consistent witness to our Muslim friends and neighbors! Many have expressed to Gerald how surprised they are that this place is still open, but the Lord is using it in many ways as shown here in the pictures from recent visits.

A local muslim man came in for reading glasses, but left with a Gospel tract and a Gideon New Testament.

This local muslim lady came in for reading glasses, and we always have them check the glasses by reading the Bible or Gideon NT. She was thankful and also left with her new glasses, a Gospel tract, and a Gideon NT.

Children feel confortable and safe here, and enjoy coming after school to color or to watch The King of Glory. We cannot officially teach these Muslim kids the Bible without serious problems, but we can let the Film do it! Pray with us over the many seeds sown in the hearts of all who come in for various reasons. The Lord is working mightily in the hearts of many in Ujiji.

Even little Grace is helping us out in the maktaba!!!

The Emmaus ministry is going on steady and I continue to have more students completing the 36 course program. It is a joy to be a part of this work, as Emmaus is a tremendous tool to disciple and equip pastors, teachers, and various servants of the Lord without the huge expense of Bible school. We go to them, they study at their own pace, and each study is equivelant to $1.

Here are some pictures of our recent trip down the lake road to bring Emmaus courses to 6 different villages.

Pagi goes with Gerald and I each time, and he gathers kids together and does a little kids club with them teaching them the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. It is amazing to think that half of the population of Tanzania is under the age of 21! Kids and youth everywhere!

The school schedule in Tanzania is different than in the US. They begin in January, take a month off in June, and finish in December. They have just finished their month off in June and are ready for us to come back and continue our Bible class with them. Every government school in TZ has once a week a class called, "Kipindi cha Dini" meaning, "Religious Period". They divide the muslims from the Christians for a religious class led by a local church or mosque leader. Rarely does a Muslim teacher come, so the Muslim students slip in our class or stand outside the window. We are thankful for the open door, but wish more Tanzanian Pastore or teachers would take advantage of this. This is one way we encourage Emmaus graduates to use their knowledge, by teaching the "Kipindi cha Dini" in a local school.

The small church in Kizenga is going on well. We had an average of 75 kids for Sunday School over the past month. We have a small group of adults, and are seeing signs of believers "waking up", which is an encouragement to us. I preached on "Justification by Faith" and "The Fear of the LORD" over the past month. This church is lacking in leadership, as most village churches are. There is a tremendous need for strong, godly, holy church leaders who have a burden for the Lord's people. I'm just guessing, but I think that is a need EVERYWHERE in the world! You know how to pray for Kizenga :)

CAMP NURU (Light) construction is going slow, but well. We are currently trying to figure out a drainage issue while it is dry season. There is a large drainage ditch which cuts across the property, and during heavy rains dumps massive amounts of water on us. We appreciate your prayers as we decide how to reroute the water in a way that would not damage other surrounding properties.

We were following the ditch in this picture to see where it begins, to try and reroute it further up, but could not find a better option. We have a plan, but we are asking for your prayers for wisdom before we build that section of wall. Thank you!

Progress!

We are officially on our last few days of the 6 month fostering period for little Gracie, or soon to be Grace Joy Kinlaw.

There are several steps still ahead which could easily take the better part of a year or they could be completed in a few months. We know these circumstances are all in the Lord's hands. The fostering period officially ends on July 24, 2025. There are a few things we can be praying about as we arrive at this last period of the process.

ADOPTION PRAYER REQUESTS

• Please pray for the social worker, Xavier, to be diligent and send in his report of the fostering and recommendation for us to adopt.

• Please pray the Social Welfare office in Dodoma will be diligent to release the adoption permission document.

• Please pray for the Lord to lead us to the right TZ lawyer who is properly qualified, and experienced with adoptions to help us through the court process.

• Please pray with us that our case could be handled in the High Court in Kigoma and not in Dodoma - huge need!

• Please pray for the judge that the Lord would give us favor and he/she would not take long recesses (as we have heard of happening before).

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PRAYING

THE LORD IS ABLE

Jennifer is continuing in her Masters program in midwifery online. She is doing great and enjoying this very much as this work is dear to her heart. We are seeing the Lord's hand in it often as it is not easy. Without the Lord's help, with everything we have going on in our life right now, she would not be able to keep going.

Well, that about sums up the past month for us! Again, we thank you all so much for your interest in us, for your prayers, and your support in various ways.

Truly the LORD is GOOD!

Mungu ni Mwema!

~ The Kinlaws