Working Together

We are thankful for the girl's safe return to Tanzania after 3 months in the US! Thank you all for your prayers! Sam and I were able to meet them in Dar, and we stayed a few days to let their jet lag wear off a bit before returning to Kigoma.

We are together again, and our life and ministry are so much more fruitful when we are together :) I was reminded through this 3 month journey of how much we need the Lord, each other, the Tanzanians, fellow missionaries, our church family back home, and all who support us in different ways. We are all working together to accomplish the will and work of the Lord!

The girls have been enjoying our Sundays in the village! Lots of little ones to hold and plenty of kids to get to know. Kizenga has been going well, and we are seeing some fruit as we all work together. This year during the rainy season we had some big rains that caused some minor flooding, especially in low areas like where we cross a small creek to get to our church property. The water carved out some of the bank of the creek and made it impossible to cross in the car. I took some guys out there last week, and together we were able to repair several areas to make it much easier on our car and everyone in the car! We are thankful for the vehicle the Lord has provided for us!

With all that manpower, we also cleared some grass, covered a hole for a bothroom (out-house), and did some other small jobs to clean up around the church. We hope to continue building the walls and the roof over the next few months since the rains have stopped and dry season has arrived.

This past Thursday I took a small group of youth out to Kizenga for a day of door to door ministry. It was really good to get to know our neighbors, and meet some new people. One lady, who lives close to our chapel, was ready to put her faith in the Lord Jesus! Praise the Lord for that, and we look forward to more fruit to come!

I was able to get back into the schools to continue our Bible study immediately after the girls returned. It's such a joy to teach the Word of God to so many children who are so eager to learn! We are studying the Book of Acts and covering Paul's first missionary journey.

We appreciate prayers for these precious children! That is no doubt one way you can work together with us in the work here, through prayer. We are so thankful for the many who donated reading glasses to be given away in the maktaba. It's not only helped so many to be able to read well, but also gives us an opportunity to give them a free New Testament in Swahili and some literature that explains how to be saved and know for sure you are going to heaven when you die. Here are a few pictures of the many Muslims who have come in for glasses in Ujiji and have left with a Bible in Swahili (all for free).

We continue to persevere in prayer as we go through the many challenges regarding building a youth camp here in Ujiji. This is another area where we need the Lord's people working together in prayer. We need to purchase the second plot to have enough space for the camp. The seller has said that he is ready to sell, but has not been very cooperative. We have just been waiting and praying, and we would ask you to pray with us that he would be willing to sell, and that it would go smoothly. we also need prayer just for overall protection from the Lord through this journey. We praise the Lord that an account has been set up through CMML for this project.

We know, the Lord has led us this far, and we trust that He will guide us through in His time and His way and with His power!

Thank you all for your prayers and support for the work here! After one of our workdays out in the village, we gave our empty water bottles to the crowd of kids that were watching us. It was humbling to see these kids so happy to receive an empty water bottle! It was like we gave them all ice cream cones or something, but such is life in the village! (Below)

PS

Kigoma is a great location for short term mission trips for indivuals or small groups! There would be many opportunities for you to serve the Lord here if the Lord wills :)