Ministry

This is an area close to our house which I have been going to do ministry.  We have been going to the Baptist Churches in this area so I have been partnering with one of the ladies in one of the churches to go out.  We have prayerwalked, shared the gospel, visited schools and taught there, done a bible study with some alcoholics(who are trying to come clean), and Kevin has been teaching a SS class each week for the adults.  It's been so nice to be out more and feel like we are investing in African's lives again. 

 The children love to give me a high five or shake my hand when we are leaving.

 Here are a few pictures of us walking through the area.  I am also learning some swahili as we walk around.  

 

 Since Hannah is home she was able to go with me to a couple of the schools.  

 Here is one of the schools we went to.  I shared the story of Zacchaeus and then taught them a song from this story.  They caught on quick.  There are at least 200 kids in this picture!

 After being dismissed they all wanted to shake our hands or give us high fives and then they went back to their classes(on the right).

 This is another school we went to.  I was also able to teach here.

These children are precious!

Would you pray today for children writing their exams this week and next week? Pray they will do well and truly show what they have learned so far. Pray these students will have the opportunity to receive a good education.  These kids come together once a week at school with a special group of volunteers who go into these schools and share the Word of God. They are doing a tremendous job! Praise God that is allowed! Pray that these children would hide God's Word in their hearts and one day come to know Him.

Our trip to Dar

 On our flight to Dar es Salaam we were able to see the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. 

 This is where we stayed in Dar.  It is a container that someone had remodeled inside to make a guest room.  It even had a bathroom.  Thankfully, it had air conditioning because it was very hot.

 It was great spending time with the personnel in Dar. Sorry, I didn't get a pic of everyone though.

We were able to go with Karen to the conclusion of her 5 week cake making class.  We got to be the judges as to whose cake was best.  I know...it was a tough job but someone had to do it!  The women above each got a certificate for completing the class.  Karen is taking 5 weeks to teach women how to make a cake in a sufuria over a jiko la mkaa(over a charcoal fire.)

It looks like this.  This wasn't hers just one I got off the internet.  Can you imagine making a cake in this?  Karen is using this program as a way to reach women with the gospel.  Some of these women would never go to a church function but because they are learning how to make cake they can go.  Please pray for Karen as she shares God's Word with these women and that they may come to know Him.

 Laekan is in Dar learning Swahili.  She will be serving in Nairobi when she is finished.  She recently did 20/20 with us so it was fun to catch up with her and visit her language school and meet some of her friends she is practicing with.  We are so proud of how well she is doing!

 This was the view from a restaurant we went to one evening.

From the plane above Dar es Salaam the city looks quiet and nice. You can’t hear the horns, the music, the people, or the machinery. You can’t see the traffic, the people on the side of the road grilling food, beggars, or the beautiful cloth being sold for women to wear. You also can’t smell the exhaust or the yummy food cooking. Most of all you can’t feel the heat! As you can tell it is a very diverse city. Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with about 120 different people groups represented. There is a lot of religious activity as well. There are some Christians, as well as many Muslims, Hindus and those who practice traditional African religion. Would you pray for this huge city today? Would you pray that people will come and work alongside of the few imb missionaries that are already there? Would you pray that God’s Word would be proclaimed and that people will come to know God?

Songea

 We just returned from a trip to Songea, Tanzania.  We rode on this small plane for a little over 2 hours from Dar.  As many of you know, I do not enjoy flying in small planes.  It was pretty bumpy going but thankfully I did not get sick.  On the way back it wasn't bad at all.

 Inside the plane we could see the pilot and all that he did throughout the flight.  Not so much fun when he put his hands behind his head like he was resting and saying by his actions- look Suzie, no hands.  Ha!

 The clouds were beautiful on the way back.  It looked like a blanket of snow.

 Seems like anywhere you go you'll find children who will want to follow you.

 We went out to the Bell's field to see where they are teaching "farming God's way."

 That's some good looking maize.

 I had to take a pic of these leaves because they were in the shape of a heart.

 This is the church that is meeting in this place.

Two ladies I met

 We enjoyed cake and ice cream for Twylia's birthday!

Please pray for the Bells as they serve in Songea, Tanzania among the Ngoni people.  Pray they will have wisdom as to how to reach the lost in their area and that God would multiply their efforts as they are the only ones serving there.

Speed bumps

Speed bumps are ridges or bumps on the road surface, typically at intervals, to control the speed of vehicles. 

We just returned from a trip to Western Kenya.  As we were driving West we were amazed at the amount of speed bumps along the way.  Through every little town or where ever there was a school we found speed bumps.  Sometimes if the road was descending or curvy there would be speed bumps.  Whether we liked it or not there were so many speed bumps  It would be nice if every time you came near a speed bump there would be a sign on the side of the road or that the bumps would be brightly painted so you could see them in the distance.

However, as we traveled West many of the speed bumps looked like this below.  There would not be a sign and it would not be painted.  Most often the bumps were bigger than this as well.

 

On our way back to Nairobi we went a different way.  There were still so many speed bumps but at least these were better marked.  I decided to count them to just see how many there were.  In 6 hours of driving we actually went over 228 speed bumps! Can you believe it?  I still can't!

 As I was marking tally marks on a paper napkin along the way I began thinking about speed bumps which come up in our life.  Sometimes we can see them coming at a distance and we can just slow down and ease over them. Then at other times we don't see them coming at all and have to slam on brakes and go over them way too fast.   Because we can't stay in our homes all the time, we know that we will definitely encounter speed bumps, humps, and even pot holes in life.  Life will not just be smooth roads all the time. So whether we encounter these things as the driver or the passenger, we have a choice in how we will respond, get over the bump, around the bump, or through whatever problem has come our way.  We can not always choose another road completely.  Every one of us will encounter speed bumps or problems in our lives.  Problems which have to do with finances, depression, transition, relationships, our children, our health, death, rejection, and persecution.  The list can be endless.

As believers we can choose how we handle these speedbumps in our lives. We can:

-choose to make the most of the relationships the Lord has put in to our lives.

 -Give thanks! Don't complain!

-Rejoice!

-Believe the Word of God.

-Call out to God in Prayer

-Overcome evil with good

-Respond with Grace

God has assured us that He will not allow us to be attacked with trials or temptations that are too overwhleming for us to handle.  If we look at 1 Cor. 10: 12-13 it says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."  As you mature in your faith, God uses tests and trials to develop your character and ministry.  He will give us the grace we need as we walk through trials in life. If we will choose to respond to trials in the grace of God we will experience the power of God's Spirit, which will be shown in our lives through the fruit of the Spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Peter 4:12–13).