Taste of Home

This is the year of visits for us! Jennifer‘s mom (Patti), came out for three weeks in March, and we all enjoyed her company and encouragement. In April, my sister, (Elizabeth), and our friend Ally came out for just over a week! They were also a great encouragement to us in many ways. Both visits gave us a “taste of home” that has given us all strength to press on in the work here.

The trip out here is 3-4 flights over two days with little sleep, and when Elizabeth and Ally finally arrived we were all excited to see each other! They brought out many things that we were in need of such as clothes for all of us, shoes, and bacon bits!

Ally is no stranger to TZ as she came out with us for the first time in 2018, and taught Isaac & Elaina homeschool while we were in language school. The picture above is from Easter 2018! This was Elizabeth’s 3rd time coming out to see us here in Kigoma.

Elizabeth and Ally were able to come along to see and experience many of the ministries going on out here. Wednesday is one of my favorite days because we go to teach the children in two elementary schools in Ujiji. This week our lesson was on “The Word of God” and its importance to the believer.

Our first school has around 60 students right now, but the second school has as many as 90 in the Bible class! They are all very attentive, and are usually singing when we arrive :) Here are a few more pictures of the recent school visits.

Each school has many Muslim students that will not come in to the class, but some will listen through the windows. We welcome them all to stay and listen to the Gospel, even from outside the window!

They stopped by the maktaba before and after the school ministry. Gerald continues to be a faithful servant and a perfect fit for the maktaba. We are so thankful for his ministry :) We regularly have Muslims stop by to discuss spiritual things. Many are searching, and recently we were able to talk with one young man who is so close to trusting Christ as his Savior. No doubt, God is working in Ujiji!

Emmaus courses are going strong and keeping me busy with grading courses and also keeping our cabinet stocked up! While we were at the maktaba, Pagi stopped by and we got this picture together. The Lord led Pagi (below on right) to me a few years ago to work with in evangelism. He is a young, gifted evangelist, and a joy to serve with!

The maktaba also continues to have people on a daily basis coming by for reading glasses, New Testaments, and Gospel tracts! Pray for these fokks to have their physical and spiritual eyes opened to the truth :)

Elizabeth and Ally, along with Jennifer, Elaina, and Katie visited the hospital in town where Jennifer works. Jennifer was able to show them around and also gave out New Testaments w/tracts and baby hat/socks to the newborns :)

We also visited the orphanage, which is about an hour away, to see “Grace”. The orphanage is minutes away from the Burundian border in a mountainous area which is often much cooler than Kigoma - which is always refreshing! Even more refreshing is spending time with this special little girl :)

We received the letter we were waiting for, but were only given permission from the TZ government to foster an 8 year old and up (which we are not interested in doing). Now, we are in another waiting period as this gets sorted out. Please pray with us for the Lord to move in their hearts, and grant us the permission needed to give this baby a loving home :)

Next stop was Kizenga :)

Pagi also leads our Sunday school each Sunday along with a Kids Club meeting on Fridays. The kids just love his youthful, energetic, teaching style. We are glad to have our new benches and curtains also! We are encouraged at the growth we are seeing in Kizenga .

We also have a good size group coming on Sundays for the adult meeting. We are really praying for the Lord to raise up more qualified men to help in the work with teaching and shepherding. We are starting a series on the 7 signs in John’s Gospel that will hopefully give everyone a clearer picture of who Jesus is, what the Gospel is, and our great need of a Savior.

There is one elderly woman who has come for two weeks in a row, who is most likely in her 80s or even 90s. She doesn’t speak Swahili, but only a village language called Kiha. Through a translator, I asked her is she had believed on the Lord Jesus, and she said she had not. After more discussion, I asked her if she would like to, and she said she would. I then asked her if she was able to agree with God that she was a sinner, deserving of judgment, and in need of forgiveness, to which she immediately shook her head with an emphatic no! She would not admit she had ever sinned, and could not be reasoned with from the Scriptures which say otherwise! Please pray for her (“Bibi” - Swahili for grandmother)

We have been experimenting with a speaker so that more people can hear the Gospel in our open air ministry. I don’t have the deepest nor loudest voice, but this speaker did help! We are planning to try a different speaker on Monday as we do a meeting in a village called Mahembe. Please pray for the hearts of the people here to be soft, tender, and ready to receive the Gospel! We recently ran out of paper, and were able to find this paper (below) although it is about half the size of the board, but it still works fine :)

I have been working with Pagi on the paint board, and he has used it at an outreach with the youth of his church. It’s exciting and encouraging to see him using this tool to bring the Gospel to many in our area and teaching others how to use it :)

Please pray for us as we have several open air meetings planned this upcoming week along with our regular ministries. Thank you!

We had to say goodbye to Isaac as he returned to school for his last term of his sophomore year. He is doing well and really enjoying RVA :) While he was home, the guys (Isaac, Sam & I) had some quality time together with a night of camping and swimming (which means the girls had a girl night!). I love sitting around the fire with my boys!

We thank you ALL for your support through prayer - financial gifts - and VISITS! What a blessing a visit can be! Our little “taste of home” has encouraged us so much!

~The Kinlaws

“Cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it after many days.”

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Fun Fact:

Ally has a fear of lizards! 🦎

It took great courage to come back out to TZ, because we have tons of lizards, geckos, and monitor lizards!

While swimming in lake Tanganyika, a monitor lizard like the one pictured above in Elaina’s hand, swam by the girls and Ally shot out of the lake faster than you could imagine! 😂

Not so fun for Ally, but definitely an African memory!