You know the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” Well, we definitely have the rain. We are truly grateful for it, though, because we went a long time without rain, so it’s making up for lost time.
We are so happy that we get to update you all again on the news of what God is doing here in Tanzania. He has truly shown us His blessings, for which we are honored and grateful. It has been busy, busy here since our last update letter. As many of you already know, we have been in the process of building our new church building. We had a goal of finishing it for Easter Sunday. We thank God for the folks of Grace Baptist Church who came and worked hard every day and used their talents to “build the church.” It was a blessing to see folks working together for one common goal.
That goal was accomplished, and by Easter Sunday we were done. We had been praying that God would bring many people that Sunday. He brought 452 people, with 52 trusting in Christ and 32 getting baptized. Along with that, we had 2 weddings. On top of that, we had food on the church grounds. It was like a sea of people. The day was “crazy”! We were exhausted, but it was so worth it. The ministry can be very rewarding. Please continue to pray as we follow up on these new prospects for church and discipleship as well.
We started a bus route in a new area. The place is called Kingorwira. We started out with very few people. There is one gentleman from there who is very faithful; his name is Saidi. He has a burden for his area. He took a stack of tracts and went door knocking. Week after week, he just kept door knocking and praying. If they came, he would follow up with visitation and encourage them to keep coming. The route that started with 4 people now averages 35 people. They come Sunday and Wednesdays. I’m glad that God is using people to help people. There are 350,000 people in the Morogoro Town area. The sky is the limit for what God can do. We need always to be in a mindset of “How can I help someone today?”
Let me tell you a story about one gentleman in our church named Samuel or “Baba Grace.” He has been coming for a few months. He was invited by a friend. He came, listened to preaching, and left. He did that for about a month or so. He came to help out at the church one day and then called me over to talk about salvation. He said, “I was listening one Sunday when you were talking about going to Heaven, and I would like to get that taken care of today.” You see, he was a former witchdoctor. He had been involved in all of that satanic mess, but he left that and had been searching for truth. On March 13, he trusted Christ as is Saviour, and I had the privilege of baptizing him Easter Sunday. He comes faithfully with his two daughters. Please pray for his wife, “Mama Grace,” as she is coming along slowly. She was asking “spiritual questions” just last week. Pray that her heart will be open to the truth and we can nail down her salvation.
We are always grateful to you all for your prayer and financial support. Please know you are welcome to come and visit anytime. We would love to have you. We know that without you all, we could not be here. Thank you for having a heart for missions. We love you all!
Mshama, Martha, & Esther Kinyonga
