P & J Tanzanian Mission

KENYA TRIP AND UPCOMING STAFF CONFERENCE

2008-09-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

A short time after our trip to Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda, we made a five day trip to Webuye, Kenya to attend a conference and visit an orphanage. We drove to Nairobi, flew to Elderet, and drove to Webuye (a long day). While in Kenya, we saw the devastation that was caused from the violence after the recent Presidential election. Many people were killed, hundreds of homes and businesses were burned and hundreds of people are still living in refuge camps. It is so sad to see how enthusiasm for an election can turn violent and affect a whole nation, which was seen as one of the most progressive in all of Africa. Many people who had been peaceful friends and neighbors woke up one day and faced each other as enemies. It makes us more aware, each day, of the need for Christ in the lives of people. It seems to have started much like some of the violence that has taken place at the Republican convention in the US. We need to continuously lift up our nation in prayer. There is no way that we can say that "this can never happen to us" unless we totally forget the influence that Satan has in this world. We saw some, extremely poor, areas in Kenya that are very similar to what we hear that Obama's brother lives in. We were privileged to be able to visit with orphans, their care takers, many pastors and a few bishops from several denominations. We have been blessed that God has put so many wonderful, Spirit filled, Christians in our lives. Every time we travel, we get a real opportunity to see how God wants to use all of us for HIS glory.

There will be a huge "Here's Life" staff conference in Arusha, beginning Oct. 6. Several board members will be here, as well as some other speakers and individuals from the US. All of the team leaders, associates and their wives will be here, from Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia, to attend the conference. It is the one time each year when the whole "Here's Life family" gets together and many have to travel for several days by bus, over bad roads. Please keep all of them, and the conference in your prayers. It will be great to reunite with friends from the US and East African countries. Some will stay in our home, so pray that we will be gracious hosts. We can hardly wait.

We want each of you to know that we could never face the hardships and feel the joys without you "standing in the gap" for us. Thanks for your prayers. it is great to be a part of the body of Christ.

Mwanza Medical Mission and Beyond!

2008-08-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

(I took this from some of Pat’s notes, and letters, because she doesn’t feel comfortable writing on this blog. We were blessed to be a part of the teaching, in the different countries, and I was especially blessed when the women expressed their gratitude for the teaching that Pat did with them. God bless, John)

We have been here at our home in Arusha, Tanzania only 3 days from June 9th until July 17th. For two weeks we were in Mwanza Tanzania on a Medical mission trip. The mission was awesome, yet full of opposition from the enemy. We slept in tents for a week and then stayed in a lodge and went on a safari to see the animals. Then we went to a newplace and stayed in tents again for another week We had a group of Doctors from Alabama and a church group come todo the mission trip. The doctors and nurses saw many sick people every day and gave them medicine. John and I were in charge of going hut to hut to tell people about Jesus. We took 2 interpreters to help talk for us. Many people prayed and asked Jesus to come into their lives each day. Every night of the mission trip, seven Jesus Film Teams (From the Here's Live Africa Ministry) showed the film in different areas. At the end of the two weeks many people had seen the Jesus film and over 23,000 people prayed to receive Jesus. I have one funny story I must tell. When we were driving to Mwanza, for the Medical Mission, we drove 15 hours and we had to stop and pay to drive thru the Ngorongoro/Serengeti areas. While we were stopped at the guard station we watched a huge baboon climb onto a big truck, climb into the window and quickly jump back out of the window with a box in his hands. He started tearing open the box and began eating the eggs that were inside. Then other baboons came to join him. It was so funny because the driver of the truck finally saw what was going on and he ran over to the scene yelling and waving his arms and chasing the baboons away. We laughed so hard. That was a great memory to record. Sadly, our camera is not working properly. It shut down on our trip. It will take videos but no more still pictures. We prayed over it and felt blessed to at least have the videos. Being in Africa with no camera is a bummer! Well, just wanted to thank you for all your prayers. We felt them during our trips as we were well, safe, energized, and spirit-filled. That was all God's glory, for sure. Your prayers are powerful! Please don't stop praying. Love each other good for us. But so be it and to God be the glory! I thank God that Steve and SL encouraged us to lead the hut to hut ministry last year. We did that again this year. I was scared to death last year. That has truly touched my heart and brought conviction. Anyway, this yr., in Mwnaza, I was looking forward to hut to hut. We had such a blessed experience. I thank God, also, that He put me here to practice this because the Africans don't have a clue about our fears or inadequacies. They don't even know our language as we depend on an interpreter. These team-leaders and interpreters are so seasoned. We learn so much from them. Whenever we go to the office for the devotional time in the mornings, it blows my mind how they all take turns giving the devotional and teaching. They just flat preach, I'm telling you. It's amazing. Where do they learn how to do that? They just open up to a scripture passage and read it and then they just get after it. And their praise time and prayer is life changing.

Our 3 weeks of traveling to 3 other countries was challenging but very rewarding. Over the last several weeks, we have traveled to the countries of Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda to do conferences. Those are not as exciting as the mission trip but they are important because we planted new Jesus Film Teams in those areas. The conferences are for the pastors, of all denominations, in those areas and we shared information that will help them teach and disciple all the new Christians that receive Jesus after seeing the Jesus Films. It is to equip the area pastors to disciple these new Christians. It also teaches the pastors how important it is to work together and to bring down the division between the denominations. In Heaven we will all be one and not divided like we are here on earth. We teach them how we all have the same goal -- to teach Jesus to the lost. We also teach them how to witness in the town before a Jesus film showing. We showed the film the last night of each conference and many people came to Jesus. The pastors were so happy to be a part of helping the New Jesus Film Teams in their area.

We have flown many miles and driven many miles on very rough roads. We have stayed in many different hotels, lodges, and guest houses. Most of them had little or no hot water and the electricity was off much of the time. Many times I could not use my hairdryer so I had to sit in front of the fan. And sometimes we had to just use wipes, that we brought back from the U.S., when we wanted to bathe. In all of our travels we ate rice almost every meal, along with chicken most of the time. We ate Spanish omelets mornings for breakfast. So, the food was not too bad. Sometimes we really miss Mexican food the most. That's our favorite back home.

We finally got to meet Dick and Charlotte Day, who have been missionaries in Malawi for many years, and even visited one of the schools they work with. We got to show the "Jesus Film for Children" in a Government school for children of police personnel; sure is different from what we are allowed to do in the public schools in the US.

We are home and resting up but I am beginning to get antsy! I have to get busy! No problem finding things to do. We are talking about doing some teaching in some of the churches on evangelism and then at the end of a few days teaching we will go out, door to door, putting it into practice.

Tuesday, July 29th, was John's birthday, and Mary and Julius, from St. Paul’s church, invited us to their home for lunch. What beautiful people. We had a beautiful meal and then we walked over the 5 acres of their "family" property. AMAZING!!!! They live close to St. Paul’s church. The area is so beautiful and green. We walked a ways and Mary pointed out her cow to me. I told her she looked so nice and healthy. I asked her if she had a name. Mary said she never thought about giving her a name; so she asked me to give her one. I said okay, her name is now Daisy. She was tickled and so was her daughter (7). We turned and walked down a gorgeous lane with tall, tall trees down both sides. Then we turned off into a huge meadow. Wow, then we walked until we came to the side of the mt. looking down at the running river. We climbed down and took a video (our camera is on the blink now). Then we climbed up the side following a path that passed some wild raspberry bushes and we ate a few! John and I kept commenting on how that area looked like something in a movie. It looked like somewhere in the Amazon. Julius said sometimes you will see monkeys there. Anyway, the sun shinning down thru the foliage was breathtaking. We were blessed. But, even more than that, spending time with Mary and Julius and their 2 children (7 and 3) was so sweet. They prayed a precious prayer over John for his birthday. I feel so FULL! God is good! It is a glorious thing how God can use any of us to bless this ministry in spite of all our weaknesses and humanness. Mungu Awabariki!
Pat

Mwanza, here we come: Medical Mission 2008

2008-05-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

It seems as though things get busier and, sometimes, more frustrating as the days go by. However, there are so many ways that God blesses us each day that the frustrations seem very unimportant, even though the computer, electricity, water and other little things do put a damper on things at times. We still do not have our resident permit so we have to have a driver if we go in the vehicle. Please pray; they now say that they need certified copies of my university diplomas; that will probably take even more time and we leave on the medical mission next week and will have to leave the country after we get back if we do not have the resident permit. Maybe God has somewhere that he wants us to go, outside Tanzania. Travel outside the country is very expensive because of air fare and diesel is now over $7.00 per gallon.

The good news is, God is in control. We were blessed to be able to teach at the Here's Life Conference, for supervisors from Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi, a few weeks ago, a three day conference. There were many prayers for America, and Americans, during the conference. I have also had the opportunity to teach almost every Sunday since we have been here and will be back at St. Paul’s this Sunday. Pat has taught the children at two different churches and they love learning new songs, in English. We were also blessed, just yesterday, to be present when a new Bible study group was started; using the “proclaimer”, an audio Bible listening device that is in Swahili (and many other languages). This is wonderful in cultures where listening is more important than reading. We have been very busy for the last several days doing all-day shopping for the medical mission (June 8-20) in Mwanza (next to Lake Victoria). We will probably leave on Friday, June 6 for the 12-13 hour drive. There will be two American kitchens, at two different sites, and two African kitchens (about 150 total people working at the med. Mission). We will take a break on June 12-13 and then move to two more sites. It is always such a blessing to see people come to Christ and everyone is pumped up, Americans and Africans. We have also been able to spend some time with some of the film team leaders who have helped us do the shopping.

Pat is doing a good job of learning new Swahili and Maasai words. She will soon be able to interpret for me; she has such a good ear for music and sounds! She is my biggest blessing from God. Please keep her in your prayers, she has good days and bad days with her shoulder and neck and when it is bad she can’t play her guitar, which she would do every spare moment if she could. She loves to get alone with the Lord and praise Him and play for Him; I love to just listen to her.

We have been getting e-mails from all over the place and they bless us so very much. The prayer group that meets on a regular basis to pray for us is also a gift from God. In spite of the hardships, which are sometimes difficult to explain, and in spite of the longings for home and family, we know that we are here because God wants us here. HE is so Good. Bwana Asifiwe!

RAINY DAY REMINISCING

2008-05-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Four Pillars of a Man's Heart: (1) "King", vision-to provide (2) "Warrior", strength-to protect (3) "Mentor", wisdom-to teach (4) "Friend", love-to connect

As I read the book “Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart” by Stu Weber, during the rainy season in Arusha, Tanzania (April, 2008), I found myself trying to put a name or a face on a “four-pillared” man in my life. Over the couple of days I spent reading about the “king”, “warrior”, “mentor” and “friend”, many examples stayed in my mind and made me try to think of some individual, in my life, who had exhibited qualities related to one, or more, of the “pillars” of a man’s heart. By the time I was about halfway through the book is realized that many of the situations or examples that had been discussed made me think about a certain individual that I met for the first time in the summer of 1985. It was on a trip to a small town in north Texas that I first heard “him” talk with enthusiasm about the “fightin’ jackrabbits”, which seemed, to me, to be an odd name for a school mascot. After a rather lengthy discussion about what my responsibilities would be at that school, if they decided to offer me a teaching position, I returned to my home, about three hours away. As my wife and I were contemplating the possibility of an offer, over the next few days, I got a call saying that the school was offering me a teaching position, with an extra conference period as a department head. I got another call saying that, while we were considering the position, I would be receiving a contract with the anticipation that I would sign and return it. I spent the next fifteen years teaching in that school, until I retired in Dec. 2000. During the years I spent under the authority of Charles Blanton, I learned many life lessons and I now have names for what I saw in his heart. Mr. Blanton was a servant leader. He seemed to go out of his way to protect those under his direction. He reminded everyone, in staff meetings, not to mess with the long-time secretary in his office. And, on one occasion, during a rather uncomfortable parent conference that I attended, he walked to his office door and told a parent to leave and not come back until he could change his language and attitude. He also told a furious parent, who came to school to fight a teacher, “you can go fight that teacher, after you defeat me first”. The parent left and never caused another problem. Another incident when the warrior ( the one who shields, defends, stands between, and guards) came out in him was when he spent half of the lunch time coaxing a very disturbed girl from a classroom, while she was throwing every thing she could get her hands on at him; it was the home-economics room and there were lots of things to throw. He successfully defused a potentially violent situation.

During one of our frequent discussions, Mr. Blanton related that during his son’s growing up years there were many questions about the Lord, church, etc., but his son knew that the question that never needed to be asked was, “Are we going to church today? As a father, his motto was “we are going to church and we are going to eat at the Jim Bowie Restaurant after church”. We laughed about that but it was just his way of saying, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Over the years, we developed a sort of kinship that allowed us to speak our hearts to each other. Early one Monday morning, Mr. Blanton seemed somewhat “out of sorts” and I told him, “boy, I would sure hate to be the first student that comes to your office today”. (I would never have said that to just any administrator) He turned, with a stern look, went to his office and shut the door. Later in the day, he thanked me for being honest enough to say what he needed to hear. I was honored when he asked me to assist him in handing out diplomas his last year as the “Principal of Bowie High School”. During that last graduation, before his retirement, every student handed him two, or more, fifty-cent pieces as they shook his hand and received their diploma. By the end of the ceremony, his pockets were full of coins and there was a pile of them on the table where the diplomas had been. Another, earlier, graduation experience showed much of his wisdom and character. A senior girl was distraught because her biological father, who had not been a part of her life in several years, was demanding that her diploma have “his” last name on it. He discussed the situation with me and then, with the wisdom of Solomon, had a diploma printed with the biological father’s last name and anther printed for her, with the last name of the “father” who had been the one in her life for many years.

There were certain unacceptable standards of behavior while Mr. Blanton was at the helm. One story is told of a young coach (married), who came to him admitting that he had an illicit relationship with a female student. The coach was supposedly told, “I’ll come over and help you pack so you can be out of this school immediately.”

After we were both retired, we would see each other at funerals, weddings, etc. and share our hearts about how we had worked together, as a team, and affected each others’ lives. Even though I didn’t know him during his football playing and coaching years, and might have missed some of his “mistakes” in life, I was privileged to have him as a leader, mentor and friend; and to see his warrior side on occasion.

Mr. Blanton and I met, in front of the bank, this spring, just before my wife and I returned to the mission field in East Africa. Once again, he expressed, with the heart of a “servant leader”, “warrior”, “mentor” and “friend”, his gratitude to me for coming to Bowie and for my working “with” him, not just “for” him. That conversation reminded me of the talks in the hall, just outside my room, while waiting for the buses to leave; how, sometimes, he could be seen putting trash, from the student parking lot, in the back of his pickup; and of our discussions about the right to use Biblical teaching, as literature, history, and as the basis for our government. He didn’t avoid the tough issues and stood for what was right in the sight of the Lord. He is a little slower now, with his two “new” knees, but is still active in his local church, in love with his wife of many, many years and is still a vital part of that north Texas community. I know it is possible to have a connection of spirits even when we are on opposite sides of the globe. Such is the heart of a man of God. “Mr. Blanton”, thank you for being a blessing to me and my family.
Mungu Akubariki brother! (God bless you)
John T.
PS. If there was any memory was not correct it was unintentional. I just wanted to share my feelings while I still have the opportunity; we never know what tomorrow will bring.

Mid-April update.

2008-04-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

(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

GOING "HOME" TO ARUSHA

2008-03-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Alvord, TX, U.S.A.
We will leave for Tanzania on April 1st, so we would really appreciate your prayers for: (1) our safety on the long trip (2) our success in doing what God has for us in Africa, and (3) our friends, kids and grandkids that we will not see for 12-14 months. All three of those areas are real challenges that need lots of prayer coverage. We would not be able to do what God has put on our hearts without the prayers and support of many individuals in the United States, Mexico, and East Africa (and our church family at Crossroads, Decatur,TX, as well as our "new" church family at Nocona Hills Community Church, Nocona, TX, and our "life group", Bowie, TX). God is so good! We are so grateful that God has put so many wonderful Christians in our lives.

While in the U.S., we made a trip to Mexico and trips to Houston, TX, and Las Cruces, NM to visit family. We also had the opportunity to show a power-point presentation, about Here's Life and our time in East Africa, to a few groups while we were here. There are so many things flying around in our minds as we pack all the trunks and try to include things that are not available in Africa (which we take for granted in America) that we just pray that we don't leave out anything that is important. We are anxious to get back to local fresh fruits and vegetables all year long and to tell all our friends about our "trip to America". We know they will notice that we have gained weight and will tell me that I am fat; they speak the truth and don't mean it to be offensive, just honest. I will try to update everyone as soon as we get settled back in Arusha.

BACK IN THE USA!

2008-01-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

It’s hard for me to believe that it has been six weeks since my last entry. It is now Jan. 15 and we have been back in the U.S. since Friday, Jan. 11 (very late, after a 30+ hour journey from Tanzania). We are trying to get settled in but everything is so different from the life we have lived for the last seven months in East Africa, where almost every waking hour had some connection with the ministry of Here’s Life Mission to Africa. It is impossible to explain all the emotions that we feel. We have to just turn our whole being over to the Lord and let Him give us the “peace that passes all understanding”. Since last May, we have spent time with: a medical mission, staff conferences, pastor’s conferences, staff training, “Real Faith” studies, visits with teams (in Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, and Congo), visits to new churches planted by teams, evangelism in our neighborhood, showing the “Jesus Film” in our home, having meals with local pastors and neighbors (in our home), helping disciple new Christians, speaking at many churches (as assigned by the Here’s Life director), and even trying to help with administrative tasks (while coping with power outages and sporadic e-mail, and lost work). We are so grateful for the patience and mentoring by so many connected with "Here’s Life" during our seven months learning process.

We feel that God is leading us to return to our “home” in Arusha, Tanzania in March. We ask for prayers from all of you that we will remain focused on Christ and His will in our lives as we spend the next several weeks visiting with family and friends, some at great distances from Alvord, TX. Also, please pray that we will be good stewards of the time, resources, and finances that God provides for us. We can never say thank you enough times to really say how much we are grateful for what so many have done to be a part of what God has had us doing. Your prayers, e-mails, and all types of support are precious gifts; and you are a big part of ” Here’s Life” in East Africa.

ANSWERED PRAYERS!

2007-11-29T03:43:00.000-08:00

This week started off full speed ahead, church with Stanley’s family and some friends and then errands and a visit to a family that lost their daughter recently. Later in the day, Pat was not feeling well and was running a fever. Monday she felt a bit better but I insisted that she go to the hospital (clinic) or I would cancel the trip we had planned to the two sites of our medical mission in June. Pat and I had anticipated the trip for some time and the timing was right for us to go, with Pascal and Paul, back to the Ngorongoro/Karatu area of Tanzania.

Monday: We left Pat and Sara at the clinic and the three of us (at Pat’s insistance and promise that she would take a taxi home and let Sara care for her) headed off to visit the Maasai. After getting lost twice during our many hour trip, we finally arrived and set up our tent (so we wouldn’t have to do it in the dark) in the area where we lived in “tent city” for a week in June. We had a great traditional Tanzanian meal at the school headmaster’s house, after visiting with the two head officials of the village (to get permission to spend the night). The phone call we got from Pat was not what we had expected, she had tested positive for tick fever and was also diagnosed with a urinary infection and was given medication for both. Our “instructions” from Pat were to not worry and try to find her friend Paulina and give her the Maasai blanket we had brought for her. When we got to the boma where she lived, we found that she had moved and the people told us they would notify her, so we had to leave the Maasai blanket with a team leader to get to her later.

Tuesday: We headed to the Karatu area, site of the second half of our medical mission. Our objective was to visit two areas where new churches had been planted (after the showing of the Jesus film) and to find the young lady that I mentioned in our blog after the medical mission. You may remember that the English translation of her name is “Taboo” (probably because of her crippled leg). When we first met in June, she looked depressed, would not look at me and smiled only after receiving Christ as her savior. Pat and I had been praying that she had connected with a church family who would show her the love of Christ. We had a Katange and a Maasai blanket for her and our prayer was that we would locate her in the remote area where she lived, where there was no road to her home. We did find her and the reunion was such a blessing, she remembered that I had said that God’s grace would be sufficient and that I was going to call her Grace (Neema, in Swahili) from then on. She was smiling, was happy to see us, and told me (through an interpreter) that she was growing in the Lord. I wept with tears of joy for her, and sadness that Pat was not there to experience it all. Earlier in the day, we had visited the site of one of new churches, where we were met with praise songs and smiling faces. They gave us a tour of the three acres they had purchased for the building. We prayed over the plot and sang praise to the Lord, then went back to the home of Stanley’s dad (where they have been having prayer and worship service) where we ate rice, chicken, goat, and soup to put on the rice. After dark we attended a showing of the Jesus film and rejoiced (with the angels in heaven) at the addition of some new brothers and sisters to the body of Christ. We got back to the location where we had set up our tent, between a church and the pastor’s house, at just about midnight (what a full day). We were served a big meal by the pastor’s wife, and while we were eating we got a text message that Pat had stomach cramps, nausea, hives and that her throat was swelling. She took some benedryl and thought she might have to have our landlord take her to the hospital. When Paul got the message on his phone (Pat had mine) we all agreed to pray for Pat’s healing. You can’t imagine the seven of us seeking the Lord for Pat’s healing. We first sang praise to Him and then prayed for a long time, all at the same time, as is their custom. I have never witnessed such passion as these Tanzanian brothers lifted Pat up to the Lord, in English, Swahili, Maasai and possibly in another tongue. We had no way to hear from Pat after that because both phones were out of minutes and we were outside of Karatu. My night was very emotional as I prayed and cried out for my “beloved” wife.

Wednesday: After an early morning meal at two different homes (their custom is to feed guests, no matter when you are invited into a home) and a short meeting to evaluate the film showing, we headed home to Arusha. About two and a half hours later we got to Paul’s home (another meal) to meet his family, and finally arrived back at our home. I was so happy to see Pat and report all our experiences and see that she was feeling much better. We found out later that two of our prayer warriors in Alabama had experienced hives at about the same time as Pat, we had all been praying and fasting, on Wednesdays, for the ministry during the time that Stanley has been in the U.S. to visit many churches so we knew that it was an attack from the enemy but we know that the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us is more powerful than the power of the enemy. Bwana Asifiwe! (Praise the Lord).

Today, Thursday, is a time for relaxation and thanks giving to our Lord. Our God is Good. Mungu Awa Bariki! (God Bless all of you)

BITTERSWEET DAYS!

2007-11-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

It has been pretty busy since I last wrote. We have been back to Monduli Juu, to a small church in the mountains at the edge of the Munduli Forest, where we enjoyed the singing and fellowship as well as the scriptures that were used in the message. There were sometimes two interpreters because we speak English and some speak Swahili and some Maasai. I don't think that there is a more colorful group of people on the face of the earth and the mountains are beautiful. We also had the opportunity to visit in the homes of two evangelists from our village. It blesses us so much when people who have very little share all they have with us and treat us as family. Maliaki, one of the evangelists at the Oloirien Lutheran church is bringing his family for lunch at our house this Saturday. Pat finally got her new tooth and we have been able to visit Stanley's (Here's Life Director) family three times since he has been in the US. We also made a quick visit to the boarding school where a young Maasai friend of ours is getting ready for exams next week.

The bitter part of the last few weeks, in addition to the usual attacks from the enemy, took place very close to our home last week. A little boy was killed by a mini-bus that went out of control and ran over him in his yard. He was an only child and an only grandchild. It was hard on our whole neighborhood. We went to the home, along with a few hundred other neighbors, for the funeral and then walked about a mile to the burial site. The line of people was probably a half mile long, all walking to the grave site. We plan to go back to the home tomorrow to offer them the love of Christ the best we can.

Our Thanksgiving meal today consisted of Ugali, meat (with sauce made with onion, tomato and bell pepper) and fresh avocado. Sara prepared the lunch and shared it with us and two young friends from our neighborhood.

This Sunday we will go to church with Stanley's family at St. Paul's and be blessed once more by the praise, worship, and fellowship. We may have the opportunity to return to the area of the June medical mission this next week, for a few of days. We will probably be staying in tents so keep us in your prayers. It will just be about three days without a bath, so the blessings will far outweigh the difficulties.

Please keep Stanley Hotay in your prayers. He will be in the US until the middle of December. He has already been a blessing to many churches and individuals. I just had to add to this because one of our last blessings of the day was a phone call from Stanley. It was great to hear his voice from America telling me how good I looked, Ha!

MONDULI JUU AND THE MAASAI CHOIR

2007-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

We had quite a weekend Nov. 3-4. We left Arusha on Saturday, with our Tanzanian "daughter" Sara, headed to Monduli Juu (northwest of Arusha in the mountains) in a Toyota mini van loaded with 22 people packed in very tightly. We got to Monduli, about 50 kilometers from Arusha, rode in another vehicle about 20 minutes to Monduli Juu, and then walked about 45 minutes into the mountains to a Maasai boma where our friend Isiah lives. We had a wonderful day with him and his extended family who live in several houses in the boma. After visiting for a few hours, and enjoying a traditional meal, we walked back to Monduli Juu and rode in the back of a truck to Monduli, then crowded into another mini van and returned to Arusha. What a day! We even got to rejoice with three of Isiah's family members accepting Christ as their savior.
Sunday, Pat's birthday, we met Isiah and the Maasai choir from Monduli Juu at a Lutheran church in our village (Kijenge), where they sang for the morning worship service. After the service we were all treated to a meal of rice, meat and cooked cabbage and carrots. We got to listen to some great worship music and were blessed by all the members of the church. Isiah's younger brother, Lazaro, is staying with us for a few days before returning home. We are really enjoying his company; he is a very dedicated Christian young man, 18 yrs old.

Arusha Update.

2007-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

(Nov. 1, 2007)

We have been pretty busy since the last of the Americans (Bill and Sally Sandford) left for home on Oct. 22. It seems like more than just a week and a half ago. Sunday, Oct. 21 (the day before Bill and Sally left) BF, Bill, and I were in the Maasai choir at St. Paul's church, what a hoot. Tuesday(Oct. 23) we just stayed home and chilled. During the rest of the week we did our shopping, went to the office to visit with Stanley Hotay about our role in the ministry and discussed his presentation for the meeting in the US. Pat’s dentist appointment turned out to be another bummer, the technician couldn’t get the new crown/bridge off to replace it and broke the crown removal tool, so we have to go back again this week. Pole Sana, TIA, Hakuna matata! One evening, at the banana market, a lady saw Pat’s necklace and asked if she were Maasai, Pat said she was and said some greeting in Maasia. They (several ladies) were impressed and started singing praise in Maasai, before it was all over Pat and I joined in the movement part of the song (trying to get more practice like Sally said I needed). It was quite a deal, all the ladies were having a good time, us too! We had two Maasai students spend the night with us on Friday night, they were on their way home because they graduated . Saturday we met with Stanley, then met with the student we help with fees and took him to lunch. Saturday night we had Munka and his wife (our landlord) over for supper. On Sunday we went to “Field of Salt” church for the second time and I preached on the need for continual self examination in the Christian walk. The brothers and sisters there were a real blessing to us (all 20 of them).
Sunday afternoon we took Neema (Stanley's secretary) out for a birthday dinner, she turned 29 about a week ago. Also on Sunday, Pat made some new friends in our neighborhood and had one of them over for tea yesterday (Mon. Oct. 29) evening. She spoke hardly any English but Sara translated and the conversation turned into a gospel meeting. Bwana Asifiwe! We spent much of the day trying to catct up on e-mails, etc. That takes much longer over here because of power outages and internet problems on an almost daily basis.

We are excited, yet concerned, about Stanley coming to the US. He hasn’t been back to normal since his last issue with malaria and some recent medicine he took for stress lowered his blood pressure to the point he felt bad. I think he feels better now but he is still trying to get everything just right before leaving, which is understandable. We meet with him on both Tue. and yesterday and went with him to the airport last night. His plane was to leave at 9:40(Arusha time) We have been going over things we he wants us to do while he is gone, as well as doing our best to help him be prepared for "life in America". He had asked us to work with Neema, Paul, and Saddok on some organization and editing of his notes and pictures. I hope that our very slight input was not detrimental to the over-all effort. Stanley is so full of ideas and energy, even when he should rest. Our prayer is that our American brothers and sisters will take good care of our brother, Stanley. We got a text message from Stanley this evening, Thur. Nov. 1, that his flight had been canceled and he was in a hotel, probably in Amsterdam. Please keep him in your prayers for the next several weeks, he will be very busy in the US.

Mungu Awa Bariki
John and Pat

They all left on a jet plane!

2007-10-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

The last several weeks have been busy ones. Since returning from Uganda, we have attended a Maasai "send-off" for a bride-to-be, a Secondary School graduation, a yearly staff conference, a two day safari to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Lake Manyara National Park, visited with friends from the USA, had meetings with administrative staff and finally said our good-by to Bill and Sally Sandford from our home church in Decatur, TX.

The "send-off" and the graduation were nothing like we had ever experienced before, full of action and lots of "food". Both of those celebrations were very colorful and lasted for hours and hours.

The yearly staff conference was a great success. Pat and I were privileged to be asked to speak (teach) at the conference, which was attended by "Here's Life" staff, team leaders, associates (and their wives) and several board members and their wives from the USA. After the four day conference we were invited to go and "watch the animals" with some of the Americans, which was a real blessing for us . There were then a few evaluation meetings with staff and board members and finally the ride to the Kilimanjaro airport with the last of the Americans, Bill and Sally. Needless to say, today was a real slow one.

We hope you enjoy the pictures of the events of the last few weeks. We also hope you all got a copy, by e-mail, of our "P & J Tanzanian Mission, Quarterly Report: June - September, 2007. If you didn't get a copy, we apologize and will send you one if you let us know.

Please know that we couldn't make it through the day without your prayers!
Mungu Awa Bariki (God Bless all of you)

UGANDA AND BEYOND!

2007-09-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Our mandatory two week exit from Tanzania to Uganda would have been an insurmountable burden without the prayers and support of many people. We praise God for you. Our journey started in Arusha on the 29th of August when we left on the bus for a 15 hr. trip to Kampala, Uganda. The trip took us through Nairobi, Kenya and around lake Victoria to the heart of Uganda in an amazing “24” hour bus ride over the roughest paved roads in the universe, with potholes the size of a suitcase and a couple of bus breakdowns. Since there was no toilet on the bus, we made a few stops in the 24 hours we were on the bus, for “restroom” breaks, which were on the side of the road with the men going to one end of the bus and the women going to the other, in the bush if there was a bush available. It was quite a shock for non Africans, they (the Africans) seemed to be used to the whole 24 hr “adventure”. We arrived in Kampala and met Faustino Ringe, who had waited for about 7 hours, with the people at the bus station telling him about every 30 minutes, “Oh, it should be here any time now.” We had to stay two nights in Kampala because of problems with the ministry team truck and finally headed for Paidha, Uganda, which is only about a mile or so from the border of Congo. The roads got worse because the potholes were more numerous and some of the roads were not paved, which is not always a disadvantage because the potholes are more rounded if the roads are not paved. But, there is also the rain on the dirt roads, which makes for even more excitement. On the road to Paidha, we saw several refugee camps that still had people living in them several years after the wars in Uganda and a saw the leftovers of the reign of Idi Amin, one of the worst dictators in the history of the world, who almost devastated his country. The area around Paidha is beautiful, it is in the mountains and you can easily see the border between Uganda and Congo. We also met Faustino’s wife, Florence, and his associate team leader and his wife, Francis and Mary.
After a night’s rest we loaded up and headed for Yei, Sudan, which was the site for the quarterly meeting with the teams from Uganda, Congo and Sudan. It seemed that every time we made a trip it ended up being a more challenging adventure than the one before it. The trip from Paidha to Yei would have taken about 3 hours at the most, it took us about 11 hours of one new experience after another. We experienced (on all dirt roads) a bus hanging off the edge of a bridge, trucks overturned, many long lines of trucks and other vehicles stuck in the mud and several detours. By the time we got to Yei, we had crossed part of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and part of Sudan and had to go through customs and get visas in each of those countries. (Because of our travels have had to purchase visas twice in Kenya, three times in Uganda, once in Sudan and once in Tanzania, to get back to our “home’ in Arusha.)

The Sudan visit was a real blessing for us, as well as an eye opener as to the difference in prices and standard of living in places just a hundred miles apart. The prices in Sudan, for food and petroleum products, were higher than anywhere we have been. Even bottled water was twice the cost ( U.S. dollars) that it was in Uganda. We stayed in Sudan for three days, got stuck for several hours trying to get to a Jesus film showing, had to do without running water, had no electricity at times and ate all the local foods including several types of ugali, chapati (like a tortilla),many kinds of bananas (some cooked) and boiled fish that is still looking at you as you eat it. We were blessed to meet Wilson and John, the team leader and associate, in Yei and found them to be very dedicated men with a real heart for the souls of the Sudan people. They face many hardships on a daily basis. We were honored to be able to take part in the quarterly meeting of the Congo, Uganda and Sudan film teams under the supervision of Faustino Ringe.

Our return trip to Paidha, Uganda was about the same as the earlier trip. After a night of rest at the hotel in Paidha, with no running water and electricity some of the time (our home for the next several days), we took several trips toward the Congo to show the Jesus film in small villages. We saw many people with very tattered clothes, no shoes and a joy in the Lord that was very refreshing. Many of the people, in the area within a mile of Congo, who looked terribly impoverished, were very industrious and had gardens, banana trees, cassava, jackfruit trees, pineapple plants, different kinds of greens, and other food items. One gentleman asked me to take his picture with his hoe so it would "look like I'm working". Their homes were very small with thatched roofs, dirt floors and no windows. They were all anxious to meet the mzungu (white) people. Some of the young children were frightened by our white skin, other children wanted to bow, shake hands or just touch us (we still have a great joy in thinking back on that area and the people who blessed us with food and fellowship in the Lord). We were able to witness many people receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior as a result of the film and the gospel being taught by the Here’s Life teams. While in Paidha, we attended church with Faustino and his wife Florence (who, by the way is a great cook and gracious host) for a great praise, worship and teaching service. The monthly meeting of the Congo, Uganda, and Sudan team leaders, associates, volunteers and their wives was held in Paidha while we were there. Pat and I (she taught the women and I taught the men) were asked to teach a 1 ½ hour session specifically for men and women. We were honored and blessed by the response and the dialogue which followed the teaching.

Our next adventure was the several day trip back to Kampala to catch the bus for the return trip to Arusha, Tanzania. We left Paidha, headed for Gulu, in two vehicles (eight of us) to have film showings and visit the site for a conference to establish a new Here’s Life team in Lira. By the time we got to Gulu, we had abandoned one vehicle (we had to push it about a mile to leave it at a church) and loaded all the film show equipment on the other vehicle and all of us had to squeeze in for the remainder of the several hour trip to Gulu. We had two nights of film showings (praise, aids film and Jesus film) and had follow up lessons during the days. I was privileged to be able to teach some of the follow up on security, relationship and fellowship in Christ. We were also blessed to be served local food at the pastor’s home each day. From Gulu, it was on to Lira for a one night stay to check out the location for a conference, in October, where local pastors and volunteers will be trained in preparation for a Here’s Life team being planted in the area.

The nineteen day adventure ended almost the same way it started, with a 21 (a bit quicker this time) hour trip from Kampala to Arusha. The excitement started even before we got to Kampala from Lira. About 20 miles from Kampala the truck died and we found that the diesel fuel filter had fallen off and the threads were stripped. We finally used a piece of tubing from the radiator for a bypass of the filter and made it to our destination. The Kampala to Arusha trip was during the night for a long part of the trip, just like going the other direction. You haven’t lived until you have ridden a speeding bus over naroow winding roads, filled with potholes, partially through the mountains, at night, in the rain. I guarantee it will keep the adrenalin going and you will spend much of your time in prayer. Remember, the bus driver goes nonstop for 21-24 hours over very challenging road conditions.

Finally, we arrived back in Arusha. We had a lifetime of excitement, blessings, frustrations, and close calls in a very short period of time. Our God it to be praised, His mercies are, indeed, new every morning!

We never cease to be amazed at how God is working in the hearts of the believers in Africa. All of the Here's Life Mission to Africa team leaders, associates and volunteers have an unmatched enthusiasm and desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Their love for lost souls takes them to the enemy's camp almost every day. The new believers accept their new life in Christ with a joy that is readily seen in their lives. As you pray for the lost people of the world, please remember that you are just as much a part of His plan to reach the lost as we are. God works through each of us in His way and in his timing.

A busy month and Lydia Rose!

2007-08-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

We have some good news to report. Our son and daughter-in-law are the proud new parents of their fourth child, Lydia Rose Tefertiller, born Aug. 8, 6 lb 13 0z and 19 in long. Needless to say we spent several days trying to get e-mails off and respond to questions, etc., about the health of Shelly, our daughter in law, and Lydia Rose. Lydia's birthday is a national holiday here in Tanzania, called Nane Nane, on which all schools are closed and workers have the day off. It is like a giant farmer/stock show in which thousands turned out to enjoy the exhibits and buy some crafts, etc. We walked from our house to the exhibit area, which is about 2-3 miles from our home, just a brief walk for us seasoned walkers.

Since our last blog, we have attended two training conferences (three days each). One was at St Paul’s where we went out into the neighborhood, with the 5 truths booklet, after the last session, which was on a Sat. If I remember correctly we had about 45 people who accepted Christ. The group I was in, with Paul (Stanley’s asst.) had 15. The other conference we attended was the Pastor’s conference on the other side of Moshi. It was a great success.

Pat has had four dental appointments because of an infected tooth and some dental repair work that had to be done. She still has a couple of visits left. These visits usually take half a day or more because we have to wait for a taxi, then wait at the dentist and than call and wait for a taxi to return.

We met with Stanley Hotay(national director of Here's Life)on several occasions in July, but have only been to the office two or three times because of the studies, conferences and the many days when we were very busy. We have been blessed to have been able to establish a personal, as well as a working relationship with Stanley and have been very blessed by his cooperation, assistance and pastoral attitude in helping us fit in, not only with the ministry, but as brothers in Christ and in helping us gain an understanding of the local culture. He loves the Lord and is extremely dedicated to the ministry and to uplifting and encouraging everyone in it.

Our problems have been very few but the travel, and different culture are sometimes areas for concern. We have found that the more you try to hurry, the longer things seem to take. I think our time in Mexico missions prepared us for Tanzania in a way that many Americans would have trouble understanding. Things often just don’t seem to happen in the same time frame the way Americans would expect and we just have to get used to that. We have come to love the people and to accept the way of life in our community. Our biggest problem is with the things that take many hours of frustration because of the internet provider, power surges, slow e-mail, computer problems and some things that I just can’t get to work. I have spent hours going through reports and trying to organize them only to loose the whole thing because of a power surge or because the internet connection all of a sudden went to local only. Just the other day I spent over an hour writing an e-mail to our supporters, only to loose it when it was sent because of a power surge or something. Another was deleted because, according to the computer message, it was sent to an illegal e-mail address.

Pat and I try to spend time each day in study and prayer and we continually pray that our day might glorify Christ and that we may be good stewards of our time and the money that God has allowed us to use. We do not have a TV, have not been on safari since the medical mission in June, and have only watched four DVD’s since we got here at the end of May. Each day we try to spend a bit of time mentoring Sara (our housekeeper), visiting with the workers across the road (we were invited the other day to eat our first ugali with them and we used the opportunity to share Jesus), and being good neighbors (we took some food to one of our neighbors who’s daughter died suddenly, another opportunity to share Christ’s love). Our hope is that our time and money has always been well spent and used for the glory of Christ. Most of the time it seems as though the days are just not long enough.

Since our last entry we have had earthquakes that shook our house, made dozens of walks, heard people call Pat "Moma Kijenge" (the place where we live), took our first ride in an overcrowded mini-bus, preached at a new church, out in the country, called "Mbuga Ya Chumvi" (In English it's name is "field of salt"), and one day on the way home with BF they had traffic stopped for some really important person, in a limo, with military escort (the next day we found out it was Bill Clinton). Except for having to wait for the motorcade, we have been very blessed!

Walking by Faith

2007-07-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-07-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-07-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

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)