The True Light

When someone asks me what my favorite verse in the Bible is, I usually say John (1:6) which says, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” (Haha) Now this verse is obviously not talking about me! I admire John the Baptist’s focus, his zeal, his boldness, and his witness of the TRUE LIGHT, Jesus Christ. In the next verse it says, “This man (John the Baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the LIGHT, that all through Him (Jesus) might believe”

Just over 20 years ago I believed, and have never looked back or doubted my salvation. I didn’t want to be religious, I just wanted to know if God was real. Can a person truly know Him? Can we truly know what happens after we die? Can we know before we die that we are going to Heaven? The answer is YES, YES, and YES you can! Ever since I believed, I have shared this same burden John the Baptist had, to be a witness of the True Light that all might believe. This is how we ended up here in Kigoma, Tanzania!

God continues to open doors here for the Gospel to go forth so more people can hear about the True Light, Jesus Christ. I was invited to play soccer and give a devotion again in Ujiji this month. I used the paint board to present the Gospel by explaining the differences between the work of the Law and the work of the Savior to a large group of Muslim youth. I was thankful to have Isaac join me also!

The message was well received, and I only had one heckler who said I should be teaching about Muhammad :) We had a good soccer game together, and enjoyed meeting many new friends!

Gerald and I continue to teach in the schools in Ujiji. We have been going to these two schools for a year and a half now! This month we were teaching from the book of Judges on Gideon and Samson. The children enjoyed these studies very much. Each week when we arrive, some of the children run down the dirt road to meet us and carry our bags.

We had some excitement this week as a snake somehow entered the room through a back window! When one of the boys saw it, he yelled “Nyoka!” (Which is snake in Swahili). I have never seen 80 children exit a room so fast in my life! The boys quickly killed it, Gerald removed it from the room, and somehow we returned to our Bible study. Below is a picture of the final moments of the poor snake. It was green and about 2 to 2.5 feet long. Most likely it was not poisonous, but in my opinion every snake needs to be destroyed :)

In February, we visited a village church Kizenga again. I gave the Sunday School lesson to our class of 2.5 children (2 children and a baby). Japhet, one of our elders from the chapel in Kigoma, gave the Word, and Jennifer gave out muffins to everyone after the meeting.

We (Luke & Gina Johnson and the Kinlaws) invited the youth group over for a time of games, Bible study, and refreshments one Friday evening in February. We taught them the game “Knockout”, a game they had never heard of but enjoyed playing! Luke gave a good message on being a hard worker, and doing all we do as unto the Lord. After the message, we enjoyed some refreshments and fellowship together.

February ended with an elders meeting here in Kigoma for all of the elders from all of the village churches in the region. They meet each year for planning and discussion of various matters. Luke Johnson taught several sessions on “Biblical Eldership” and even translated and prepared booklets for them to take back home and study on their own. Overall, we are thankful for this week of meetings and for the fellowship we enjoyed with these men.

The work in the maktaba continues to go well. I wanted to share about Riziki, who is one of our Emmaus students that I met in a small taxi called a bijaji. He came to the maktaba and started taking the courses. He just received his 3rd certificate of completion (with an A average!), and is now in the last section of courses. We praise the Lord for young men like RizikI who are such an encouragement to us. We gave him William Macdonald‘s commentary of the four Gospels in Swahili.

We are thankful for the open doors here to be a witness of the True Light!

John 1:12

“For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Please pray for the Good Seed that has been sown already and for these doors to remain open in the days to come. Also please pray for all who are struggling with COVID-19 here. May the Lord help us all to be witnesses of the True Light while we have opportunity!

Here is a view of Lake Tanganyika :)