Rains In Dry Season

We just entered our annual dry season here in Kigoma in mid-May, and it will not rain again in this area until October! That means four solid months, possibly five, without any rain! Everything dries up, dries out, and turns brown. Don’t worry, we are all “Dust fine!”.

Yes, dust from the dirt roads fills the air, our cars, and homes. It’s just part of living in this area. It feels sometimes like a dry and dusty place where there is no water, but even in the dry season there is rain! Each week we see the Lord working in various ways to bring the Gospel (Living Water) to many.

Jesus said that whoever drinks of this water (believes the Gospel), will never thirst again! What a promise! Muslims in Ujiji continue to come in to the maktaba with questions, seeking a Bible, reading glasses, and conversation. Every visit is an opportunity for the Gospel.

We recently had a Muslim man come in who had some really good questions, and seems to be genuinely seeking answers. One way to know if the person is genuine, is if the person is willing to listen… because many do not want to listen.

Many just want to debate or refute the answers from God’s Word, but Saidi has sincere questions, and really listens. Gerald does a great job of patiently listening to his questions, and explaining the Scriptures to him

Saidi is reading the Bible for the first time, let’s pray for him that the Spirit of God will open his eyes to see! Many others like Saidi come and go, (like this man below) but not without receiving a New Testament and possibly other books that explain the Gospel. There is rain in Ujiji this dry season !

We are thankful for the donations of reading glasses we gave received, and combined with your prayers provide us many opportunities to share the Gospel with thirsty souls. Like our friend below who came in for reading glasses, but was eager to read and take home a New Testament!

We recently went to a small market outside of Kigoma one afternoon to do an open air meeting. With the help of our speaker, almost everyone in the market heard the Gospel clearly.

I’m not sure if a Mzungu (white guy) had ever been in that market, by their reaction when I arrived. Let’s just say that they were very interested to hear what I had to say! What a blessing to have these opportunities.

The work in Kizenga is going well. We are wrapping up our study on the 7 Signs in John’s Gospel this coming Sunday. We are praying for the Lord to bring in, and also raise up young men who have a heart for the work, and are living a holy life. I’m sure that is the prayer of most leaders in churches all over the world!

My goal is to work myself out of a job! One way we see the Lord working in Kizenga is through the Emmaus courses. We have 4 young men and a young lady working through the first section of courses which is so encouraging! We have come a long way in a year and a half, praise the Lord for all HE has done!

We are planning to expand the Emmaus courses in our area beginning in July by making them available to those living in remote villages along Lake Tanganyika. Once a month Gerald, Pagi and I will drive down the dirt road which runs south along the lake to visit 5 villages with these studies. We are coordinating with many pastors along this route now, and many are excited about this open door!

In the map above, you can see the 3 villages south of Kigoma, Kaseke, Mwakizega, and Ilagala. In between these 3 are 2 more not mentioned, making up the 5 we plan to visit monthly. Please pray with us as we organize and execute this plan with the Lord’s help, and for the benefit and spiritual growth of many believers.

Jennifer continues to serve the Lord in the Baptist hospital 2 days a week, working in the labor and delivery department. She helps deliver babies each week , and occasionally assists in emergency C-sections!

Regarding the adoption process of little Grace, we continue waiting for the letter from the office in Dodoma. We are trusting the Lord to open this door at the right time. Jennifer, Elaina, and Katie go weekly to visit little Grace while we wait.

Camp Nuru is waiting on the land deed and building permit before we can do anything on the property. This has been hard, but the Lord even works His timing out through a corrupt land office in Africa. We know these things will eventually go through, but for now we wait.

We know our God will bring us through these two challenging waiting periods in His time :).

We thank you all for holding the rope for us as we serve our great and awesome Savior out here in

Kigoma, Tanzania.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for Saidi, a Muslim man reading the Bible seeking. Pray for him to see the truth and believe the Gospel.

• Please pray for many other Muslims who have received tracts, glasses, and New Testaments in the maktaba.

• Please pray for the village church in Kizenga for spiritual growth and young leaders to to be raised up in our midst.

• Please pray for the first village trip to bring Emmaus courses to villages down the lake. Pray for this effort to be a blessing to many, and help them grow spiritually.

• Please pray for the letter to be sent so that we can finish the process to bring Grace home!

• Please pray for these final documents to be released regarding the land for Camp Nuru.

~ The Kinlaws

Church in the village is a little more “relaxed” than most… we see this pretty much every week :)