Mid-April update.

Since the last blog, it has rained almost constantly. The shortcut to our house, from the pavement, is hardly passable, even by foot. Most of the roads in this area are horrible during the rainy season, not just rough like they are in the dry season. Actually, there is no good season for our roads. We have had many visitors in our home since we got here, what a blessing. We are still without internet and had no water all day Sat. (4-12-08), at least we had electricity. We have had passport pictures made to attach to the application for a resident permit so we can legally drive the vehicle, we surely do not want to do anything which would not be in submission to the authorities (1 Pet 2:13-15). It is quite a process so please keep us in your prayers. I taught on “Christian Submission” Sunday (4-13-08) at St. Helen’s in Arusha (their service starts at around 9:45), and then, after a hour into the bush, at St. Thomas’. It was a long day, but what a blessing, teaching God’s principles to two churches in the same day. The praise was great and the people were wonderful; and at St. Thomas they insisted that we eat with them. We had rice and a bit of “meat”. We finally got back home at 6:00 pm. (Thank you, Doug and Tani Vaughn, for the book “Liberated through Submission” by P.B. Wilson). God is so good and his ways are so far above our ways, He knows what to provide even before we know we need it. Stanley informed us on Monday that he had felt the need to preach on “Submission” at St. Thomas, because of some situations that had taken place there. Without us discussing the situation, God orchestrated the day the way He wanted it to go and I did the teaching without Stanley and I discussing it until after the fact. How cool is that! We both agreed that God was in control and that it turned out best since the teaching was done by an “outsider” from America.
The water is still off and on, no internet, and some electrical surges but it is beautiful this morning (4-14-08), it looks like the garden of Eden. Today we found out that it may take up to a month to get the paperwork approved for the resident visa. With no internet we, we have to go to town to use an internet café and it would be nice to be able to drive our truck; please pray for favor with the immigration service and that our application is approved quickly. Also keep Elizabeth, who works at Stanley’s house, in your prayers. She has malaria again! Diesel is over $5.00 per gallon but the value of the dollar is holding steady here. Yesterday (4-15) we did get to read some of our e-mails at the office but didn’t send any because we did not want to take much of Neema’s time from her work. Today (4-16) we just stayed home, did some reading (I’m reading “Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart” and Pat is reading “Meaningless Words-Broken Covenants”, which I already read. Boy, these are straight from the Lord.

We made it back to Arusha!

(4-10-08) Today we got up at 5:45 and are having early coffee with Pascal and Lazaro. Pascal leaves for Dar Es Salom today, a long journey. We have had many visitors since we got back “home” in Arusha. We have had only two fairly long walks since we have been back and they were very tiring because we had not walked while in the U.S. and are now heavier than we were when we left here in January. The trip was very tiring this time, we even had a 12 hr layover in Frankfurt and had stops in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, but we are adjusting to the different weather, time and customs once again. There is no way that we can express the gratitude and praise we feel for so many of our “family” in the U.S. We have been blessed by much prayer and support. There are so many individuals to thank that it would take pages to list them all but we especially want to thank Pastor Ty, the leadership and our brothers and sisters at Crossroads Church in Decatur for their extreme generosity so we are able to have a vehicle during our work in East Africa. Our “new” vehicle is a 1998 Toyota Land Cruiser (diesel – it is cheaper than gas over here). We also want to thank Pastor Joseph and our “family” at Nocona Hills Community Church for their support of the work being done in East Africa. Cindy, the connection you orchestrated is having eternal consequences, Bwana Asifiwe!

BF left for the U.S. on Tue. so we are, once again, the only wazungu here with Here’s Life. We are anxious to see what God has planned for us each day. While I am in the writing mode I want to recommend some books that I recently read that blessed, and challenged, me more than any I have read in years: The Shack, by William P. Young; Meaningless Words & Broken Covenants, by Tim Coody; and Liberated Through Submission; Gods Design for Freedom in All Relationships, by P.B. Wilson. Read them all the way through, even the difficult parts, and you will be blessed.

We are now in the rainy season in Tanzania so it is much different than our last “tour” but we are adjusting. The sky is a bit cloudy, at times, but the vegetation is almost unbelievable. Since there is no winter, the growing season is all year long; which means that all those “garden grown” foods are available all the time. God really blessed us Sunday (4-6-08) by allowing us to be part of the very first meeting of a new church body of Christ, in an area where the “Jesus Film” was recently shown. Several people helped paint the front of the building and paint a new name (it was previously a bar).

I don’t know when I will be able to put this on our “blog” because we have had no internet since we got here. Hopefully, we will be able to go somewhere, soon, to be able to send e-mail. Please remember that this is Africa and services, that we take for granted in the U.S., are not always available here. We have been here a week and have experienced a short power outage and many hours of no water, in addition to our internet problem.
Please keep us, Here’s Life, our family, the lost of all nations, and struggling Christians all over the world, in your prayers. May God richly bless each of you.
John and Pat