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)