The Rains have come...

Greetings from Kigoma, Tanzania! After almost 5 months without rain, the rains have come and with the rains comes the sunsets! During dry season the dust fills the air and every sunset look the same, but during rainy season the haze is gone and each sunset is unique and amazing as the sun sets over Lake Tanganyika and the mountains of Congo.

We have been busy here in Kigoma over the last month and have much to share with you! Everyone is healthy and doing well, and for that we thank the Lord. Yes, the rains have come and everything which was dry and dusty is now green and lush in a very short time. This visual illustration is an encouragement for us to continue sowing the Good Seed.

The Street Boys ministry every Thursday is continuing to go well. Each week we have 10 - 25 boys who show up for soccer, a Gospel message, and refreshments. There is a small core group that has been coming each week now for one year, and there are some new boys each week also. It's amazing that we have been meeting together now for a whole year! I look forward to this time each week to spend with them, and to the preparation of messages for them. I'm praying and looking forward to the day when I will see the visible fruit from all of the Seed sown in their hearts.

This is one of the boys, Ayubu, who is actually from a village a few hours away by bus. He has no mother and a father who is not involved in his life. He came to Kigoma to get school clothes for his younger brother, but was unable to find any way of making money to purchase them. He joined up with the group that roams the streets and played soccer with us on Thursdays. When he told me about his situation, I purchased the school clothes and a bus ticket for him to return to his village. He was so excited to be going home, even though home for him was a difficult situation, it was a better situation than living on the streets in Kigoma. This is a picture of us at the bus station just before he left to go home.

Ayubu needed to get a few personal items before his trip home, so he took me to the place where the street boys sleep at night. It was humbling to see the conditions these boys live in (below), as young as 7 or 8 and as old as 17-18. They have a very rough life, some by choice, some not by choice, and others because it is the better option. They each find an empty room, grab some cardboard and try to get some sleep.

I am thankful for the time Ayubu had with us and trust that the truth he heard each week during the time he was with us will stay with him forever. We appreciate your prayers for these boys and their salvation.

This past month I have had lots of opportunities to use the paint-board to share the Gospel. I was invited to teach a group of young boys for a Boys Club which meets on Saturday afternoons. I have come 3 times now to this group and look forward to more opportunities in the future. We have covered the basics of the Gospel, the purpose of the Law (10 Commandments), and also recently we studied the Trinity and and some attributes of God.

I enjoy spending time with these boys, they seem to enjoy learning about the Lord and are very attentive to the lessons. After I finish teaching the lesson, one of the leaders comes up and reviews the lesson again for the boys. I like this practice as it helps them take in these precious truths and they are able to answer the review questions the next week! (Above) is Isa reviewing one of the lessons for the boys, and (Below) is Shauri reviewing one also.

We have started visiting the many village churches in the Kigoma region with Luke Johnson and his family. Over the past month we visited 2 village churches where both Luke and I preached at both places. These two churches are very young and are in the early stages of church growth. We had the privilege of having the Lord's Supper with both groups for the first time. We also gave instruction from the Word of God on the subject, and it was a blessing to remember the Lord together with them.

One of the churches was located south along Lake Tanganyika about a two hour drive, and we had to cross the Malagarasi River on a small ferry. (Above)

All of the kids enjoyed that experience!

Below are some pictures of our trip to "Kalinkungwe". There are so many children in the villages and they love to come see the "wazungu". This makes for an excellent opportunity for the Gospel, which I learned on this first trip.

The kids get a little dirtier when we go to the village also :)

The other village church was located in the village of "Kamala" and is much closer to Kigoma. This small church (below) really grew recently when a family believed the Gospel and came into the church. The Sunday school was already functioning, but this family and their excitement for the Lord really revived this small group and now they are doing great. On this Sunday, I taught the children and Luke preached the main sermon to the entire group. This group also provided a lunch for all of us after the meetings and we enjoyed some nice fellowship together.

Below are some more pictures of our visit to "Kamala".

The reading room in Ujiji is continuing to go well. One of my friends who started reading the New Testament several months ago stopped by to inform me that they now know without a doubt that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and has become a Christian! I was amazed to hear the story of how the Lord revealed Himself to this person! This was a huge encouragement to me, and a reminder that the Lord is working, although we cannot always see what He is doing, at times we get a glimpse :) Praise the Lord!

We covet your prayers for the reading room in Ujiji as many are coming to check out books, get a free Gideon New Testament, or see "The King of Glory" in Swahili.

One prayer request we would like to leave you with is regarding our visa to live and work in Tanzania. The visa is in two parts (work permit and the resident permit), and expire every two years. This past Saturday John's work permit expired, and in December the resident permit will expire also. We have applied for our new work permit and are waiting for an answer from the labor office, but as we wait we have been given permission to continue working. We have seen other missionaries denied their renewal and have also heard of new laws tightening the grip on foreign workers in the country. Pray with us for the Lord's will to be done, for favor with the government and labor office, and for peace while we wait an answer.

Yes, the rains have come... we are thankful for the green grass and the beautiful sunsets, but more than that we are rejoicing over the one soul saved recently, and over the Good Seed that has been sown. We are also thankful to be able to keep working while our paperwork is processed for our visa, and we are thankful, sooo thankful for your prayers!

Praise the Lord