Praying, Praising, & Persevering!

We would like to begin by thanking each of you who pray for us, it means so much to have your support, holding the rope for us as we serve the Lord down here in Tanzania. We have had a very busy August and September and would love to share some of the highlights and also some answers to prayer we have seen!

Above is a picture of the first day of school for our children and our helper, Loata, who is a MK (missionary kid) from Fiji. We thank the Lord for Loata's help over the next few months while she has a gap in her own schooling. She is an answer to many prayers, a delight to be around, and also a big help with the schooling load. Loata's help and also the Lord leading us to rent a room away from our house to do school each day have been huge answers to prayer regarding the homeschooling.

This school room has removed school from the home, added more structure to our day, and feels more like a regular school day for the kids. It has two actual rooms, one for Sam and Katie, and one for Isaac and Elaina, and a small bathroom. We can't thank the Lord enough for this provision and how He answers prayer!

There is also another person who may be coming out to help us at the beginning of next year. We met her at language school, she is a retired teacher, and recently contacted us about our need. If this works out for her to come, she would come in early February and hopefully finish out the school year with us. Another answer to prayer!

I (John) drove with Harry Johnson to Moshi, which is on the other side of Tanzania, for an elders conference and met many of the leaders of the assemblies in the northern part of the country. We drove 19 hours straight! I had the privilege of preaching twice from Acts 20 on "Taking Care of Yourselves as Leaders" and then on "Feeding the flock of God". The ministry was received well by the 40-50 in attendance, and it was a delight to fellowship together with them.

The town of Moshi sits at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I was expecting to get to see this great mountain, but the clouds kept it hidden all week. One day during the conference during a break, the clouds cleared and I was able to see the peak. I was thankful for this opportunity and took this picture. This was also an answer to prayer, God cares about the big things and little things too! He can move mountains, and He can move clouds :)

It was great to get back to Kigoma to Jenn and the kids after being gone for almost a week! Isaac lost a tooth! Sam was pretty excited too, as you can see in the picture :) Another exciting event was our rabbits had babies! We have 3 rabbits and these are their first (surviving) babies. The kids love them, they are pretty low maintenance pets, & pretty quiet. They are so cute and adorable.

The reading room is continuing on well in Ujiji, as books are regularly checked out and returned. The "The King of Glory" and "The Jesus Film are both shown there regularly, mostly to interested children, but occasionally to curious adults. We thank the Lord for the light He has placed in this village and pray He will use His Word in mighty ways as His promise is that it will not return to Him void, but will accomplish the thing for which it was sent. Thank you for your prayers for this work of sowing the Seed of the Gospel in Ujiji.

The street boy ministry is also continuing to go well. Recently we only had 7 boys show up, but later we found out that one of them was hit by a motorcycle. Thankfully he was ok for the most part, with scratches, cuts, and a few bruises. The next week we had 27 show up!

The group changes a little each week although there is a core group that has been coming now for almost a year. As I have mentioned before, when they first started coming, few of them would admit they had sinned. As we have taught them the basics of the Gospel, (That God loves them, that all have sinned, what sin is, what God has done to pay for our sins through Christ, and how God is ready and willing to forgive all who believe in His Son and give us eternal life) and now they understand and agree with these precious truths. We are just waiting for these truths to go from the head to the heart :)

I love in the Gospels where the four friends brought the paralytic man to Jesus. They could not get in to the house because of the crowd, so they went on the roof, removed the tiles, and lowered him down to Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith... He was moved with compassion and Jesus met the greatest need in this mans life, not his paralysis, but He forgave his sins! That is what these precious boys need, everyone needs that and I pray you find it in Christ before it's too late. Once they receive Christ, then He can begin to lead them on to a better life. Please pray for these boys, they have such a hard life.

I thank the Lord for the many opportunities to teach and share the Gospel over the last month. After the elders conference in Moshi, I was invited to preach at a fellow missionaries home church. It was a real experience for us as they were a bit more lively than we are used to, but they were hungry for the Word and love the Lord.

I preached at our home assembly in Kigoma this past Sunday and was also invited to the Boys Club which meets each Saturday afternoon (Pictured above). There I gave a Gospel message to these boys and explained the doctrine of "Substitution" through the old story of "Big Jim & Little Johnny" I learned from Chris Schroeder and The Ezekiel Project. What a blessing it is to explain to young boys how much God loves them, and what Jesus has done for them so they can be saved and receive eternal life!

Again, we thank you for your prayers and support for the work here in Kigoma, Tanzania. We thank the Lord for the many answers to prayer we have seen, especially in regards to the homeschooling of our children. We thank you for praying for the reading room, the people of Ujiji, the street boys, and others who we get the privilege of sharing the Gospel too. Also, we would ask you to pray for our children, that each one would be clearly saved and by their own choice, follow the Lord with all their heart.

I"m reminded of one of my favorite verses, one that motivates and encourages me to keep pressing on and persevering for the Lord. He is worthy of it all!

1 Corinthians 15:58

Be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord."