Walking by Faith

God wants us all to walk by faith, on the mission field, at work, at home, wherever He has us each day. Sometimes that walk is easier than others. This week started off "full speed ahead" for us. On Sunday, we went to St Helen's Anglican Chruch, where I preached, a real stretch for me, at 9:00 am (with an interpreter), then to St Paul's Maasai Anglican Church for an 11:00 am service. Both of these chruches are under the leadership of Stanley Hotay, the national director of Here's Life Mission to Africa. It was a full day with two church services, a meal after the second service, a trip to Stanley's home (and another meal), and then to our home to prepare for our "Real Faith" studies with BF and Jane on Mon. and Wed. mornings. The "Real Faith" study is a discipleship training, 24 lesson, study put out by Campus Crusade for Christ, which is designed to help believers lay a solid foundation in Christ. Monday afternoon we went for a dental appt. (Pat had to have an x-ray of a cracked crown and got some antibotics for an infection (cost was just under $10.00 for the x-ray, office visit and antibotics for a week). Pretty full day! On Tue. we visited with two Maasai students, from the village where we had the medical mission, who are enrolled in a secondary boarding school in Arusha. We enjoyed a meal together at our home and had them back by 6:00 pm curfew. Today we had another "Real Faith" study, a 2 mile walk from our home, did some shopping and spent the evening at home praying for many people and situations, reading e-mails, and editing this blog. The rest of the week involves a three day (Th-Fr-Sat) training seminar at St Paul's church (where I will preach on Sunday), plus many of the things that are part of our everyday routine. We also need to find the time to fit in some of the assigned work on reports for Here's Life. In the middle of all of this we had a 6.0 earthquake in Tanzania, with its epicenter only 60 miles from Arusha, our fridge shook like an out of balance washing machine and the concrete floor vibrated for a few seconds.

Our "walk" seems pretty full, but then we are reminded the "Jesus Film" staff and teams, who spend much of their time in remote areas where people are being introduced to Christ all hours of the day, and into the night at the film showings. Tentative plans for next week are for us to be in Moshe for a three day pastor's conference, in addition to our weekly "Real Faith" studies, etc.

I can't tell that our daily walks to town are getting any easier so please keep us "old folks" (I will be 65 on July 29) in your prayers. We are so blessed each day that we are continually amazed at what God is doing. We are so thankful to be able to communicate with loved ones, and to have so many praying for us in many different areas of the U.S. (including our new "family" in Alabama)

Our prayer is that God blessings will be poured out on each of you. We ask that you lift up, in prayer, all the African nationals (who are dedicated, spirit filled, disciples of Christ) working with Here's Life, on a daily basis. Please pray for their families also, because many of them are away from home for several days at a time.

Mungu Aku Bariki (God Bless You)

Long Walks and Blessed Days!

Our days often include long walks. Yesterday were going to start the day by walking just over two miles to our "Real faith" study, but Stanley Hotey stopped by and gave us a ride. After the study, we walked to the clock tower area, had a burger at Steers, and then walked to the "central market", a very crowded market area where one can find almost anything. We found just what Pat had been looking for, a large rectangular straw mat to be used, on the wall, as a background for a large "batik" we have had for a week or so. We then walked back through town, shopping for some basic tools and groceries (because of weight restrictions on the airplane, we had not brought any tools over, not even a pocket knife, big mistake) and headed back to our home in Kijenge. We were two tired old folks by the time we got back home. We probably looked like a couple of muzunga "Okies" headed home after the depression, like my grandad did, carrying all their "stuff". After we got home and had a bite to eat, we walked with Sara, our wonderful housekeeper, to the home of one of our neighbors (Gloria), a Maasai, whose daughter died suddenly Sunday morning, after complaining about a headache on Saturday night (she was in her mid 40's). It seems like the Maasai have become a part of our lives ever since we got here. We took some sugar, rice and bread to the family, and expressed our love and concern to them (Sara interpreted). They, graciously, invited us into their home and gave us a soft drink. Sara is helping us to understand the customs to abide by in events such as these.

By the end of the day, God had taken us on a real adventure, which had included 5-6 miles on foot and an opportunity for Pat to witness to a young man while I was in a hardware store trying to buy cheap tools. Bwana Asifiwe (praise the Lord) for another beautiful day He made for us in Tanzania.

Thinking back on the June, 2007 Medical Mission.

I can't help thinking back to one of our hut-to-hut encounters with a young woman who was in such need of acceptance, the kind that only Jesus Christ can give.
Following is an excerpt from my journal:
June 25, Mon.
We went out and visited four homes, over rocks, boulders and hills for a few miles. (much different than the first Medical mission area) We had 10 people accept Christ as their savior. At the first home we visited, we met an 87 year old man who had fought in WW II and he came to Christ. It is so awesome to think that, before the beginning of time, God knew that this man would be waiting for 87, years until the morning of June 25, 2007, for us to be there to share the gospel with him, and that he would become our brother in Christ. What a magnificent lesson that is about God’s greatness and love for us and we ( and all who have been a part of us getting to Africa and are praying for the team) should be humbled that He has let us be part of his plan for people in Tanzania and all parts of the world. On our morning excursion, led the rest of the way by our 87 yr old brother in Christ, we met a young lady (27 yrs old who looked about 18) who obviously depressed. Her name, in Swahili, was taboo (meaning problem). She was probably “taboo” because of her deformed, crippled leg. She had an extreme limp and had gone to school only one year an never went back. Taboo agreed to let me tell her about God, who loves her very much, even though she would never look up at me and talked very quietly. After listening to me for a long time, through two interpreters because she spoke neither English nor Swahili, she was led to the Lord, repented of sin and accepted Christ as her savior. I felt the Lord telling me to tell her that she was my sister in Christ, that she was beautiful, which she was, and that she was no longer taboo, but because God’s grace is sufficient, I was going to call her Grace (Nema in Swahili). She looked into my eyes for the first time an smiled a big smile and her eyes sparkled. I explained to her that we would be in heaven together, completely healed of all infirmities, and be able to understand each other, without interpreters, and praise God forever. As we left, she stood in the doorway, smiling and waving.
June 26, Tue.
In the afternoon one of the translators and I went back to all the houses we visited yesterday and gave them a Bible; we had forgotten to take some with us yesterday. Also, I got to see Grace (Taboo) again and she was smiling and told the interpreter that she remembered that I told her that her name was not Taboo any more but Nema in Yesu Kristo (Grace in Jesus Christ). More tears and another blessed day in the Lord, about an hour from Karatu, Tanzania.

Our new home!

Arusha, Tanzania has been our new home since 5-29-07 and we sometimes feel like strangers in a strange land, but we have been shown an unbelievable amount of kindness by the people in this area. On June 15 we joined with a group from Alabama and headed to Maasai country to be part of a two week medical mission, which turned out to be an experience of a lifetime. Over 1800 men, women, and children went through the medical clinic and 4-6 "Jesus film" showings were presented each night we were there. We lived in tents and had an evengelism room, as well as hut-to-hut evangelism, during the day. During the week that we were at the first site, there were hundreds of people who repented and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Bwana Asifiwe (praise the Lord)