It is always a privilege to write to you all and give you a peek at what God is doing here in Morogoro, Tanzania. We are grateful that we can be here and serve the people. We are excited that folks continue to grow little by little. While we are always grateful for the big, dramatic changes, we are also encouraged by the little changes like, “I’m going to start coming on Wednesdays,” or “I’m going to serve by helping count how many people we have in church,” or “I’m going to help in the baptistery.” Small things are big things that make the ministry flow smoothly.
In our last prayer letter, we had one month of our Spring Program left. Like I wrote before, it was our first, so we know we can always improve for the next one, but we are grateful that in the three months over which it took place, we had 192 first-time visitors, with over half of them trusting in Christ. We always make sure that when a visitor comes, they get the opportunity to hear the Gospel. You never know how many chances they will have. One visitor who came was a 12-year-old girl named Jacqueline. She was what they call here a “house girl” or a servant/babysitter for one of our neighbors. Esther actually had been inviting her for a while. One Sunday she finally came and trusted Christ. That next week she went home to her village to visit and do “tribal ritual things,” and she passed away. We thank God that she trusted in Christ. You just never know the impact you can have on someone’s life. Being able to give the Gospel just one more time gives us that driving power to keep going. It also keeps us focused.
On August 12, we celebrated the 4-year anniversary of GBC. God has brought us so far, and we are always excited when we get to look back on what He’s done and what He will do in the future. We had 632 people that day, with 62 trusting in Christ. We had 5 couples from our church get married too. It was a long, busy, and eventful day. We want to thank Pastor Noonan and the folks at Faith Baptist Church of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for money that was sent so we could feed all these people. Thank you also for the special treat of allowing us to be able to kill a whole cow. Thank you to all who prayed and who regularly support us as well. We are all teaming up together for a common goal.
My mother-in-law arrived safely with all her luggage and is doing well. She has been here for three weeks and is learning the language and adjusting to life here in Tanzania. We thank all of you who prayed for her arrival and for her adjustment.
Prayer Requests
• We want to start a kids’ program on Wednesdays during the normal Bible Study time. Please pray, as we are making preparations for that.
• Continue to pray for our GBC Bible College.
• We would like to start a Hospital Ministry. Please pray, as we are in the very early stages of that.
We love and appreciate all of you and are honored that we can represent you here in Tanzania.
Your missionary friends,
Mshama, Martha, & Esther Kinyonga
