April and May have been extremely busy for our family. We have been in churches in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. Please pray that God will protect us and keep our van running smoothly as we travel so many miles. God continues to do some miraculous things in our lives as we yield to HIS will. We will share just some of the highlights.
We started off the month of April in a young church plant’s Faith Promise Missions Sunday. The seeds for this special Sunday began taking root when we visited this church completely by faith several months earlier on a very cold and blustery Sunday evening. After the evening service as we sat at a Dairy Queen fellowshipping with the pastor and his wife, we discussed the possibilities for such a day. We enjoyed the opportunity to go out soul winning on Saturday with the pastor, his wife, some folks from this church, and the other missionaries. This was another evidence of God doing a work that only He could do, so that He receives all of the glory.
It was during that same Sunday that the final arrangements were made for our going to Georgia to tape Gospel messages in Swahili to be broadcast in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. Weeks earlier we were given the contact information and encouraged to check into the possibilities for doing the preaching. We needed to know this was from God and not something we were trying to make happen, so we did not initiate contact. We were praying that if it were God’s will, He would bring us together. Not only did GOD open the door and cross our paths, but HE did it on two occasions in back-to-back missions conferences.
The second week of April found us in a church that we had visited by faith on a Wednesday evening several weeks prior. After the service that evening, we were asked if we would be available to return for a Sunday service. We really enjoyed our time preaching about God’s grace, fellowshipping with the folks over lunch, and playing ping pong with some fine young people.
The scheduling of the last missions conference in which we participated before going to Georgia was another miracle in itself. We had previously visited the church months earlier completely by faith, and God graciously prompted the pastor to contact us and invite us to participate in their conference. We were able to use our puppets in their Christian school to be an encouragement to the entire student body in the area of missions. We enjoyed making new friendships, and as in every church we have visited, the pastor and his wife were such an encouragement to us. Please pray that we would be sensitive to HIS leading to churches and individuals that will partner with us in the ministry in Tabora, Tanzania.
We began experiencing overwhelming spiritual opposition as we began our trip to Georgia, but because we knew that God had opened this door of utterance, we were able to continue on in HIS grace by faith. We broke down on the way and arrived much later than planned. The next day there were many challenges to overcome, including technical difficulties that had never occurred before. To God be the glory! Thirty-seven Swahili messages were taped with the plan of salvation clearly presented in each program. It was also such a blessing to be able to preach in the host church on Wednesday, to go visiting with the youth pastor on Saturday, and to present the ministry utilizing our Tanzanian puppets in an adult Sunday school class. Please pray that the Swahili programs will reach many with the Gospel of God’s saving grace!
Check out our website as we continue to develop it: www.FaithTanzania.com.
