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Our primary assignment here in Tanzania is to work in teaching and administration at the Assemblies of God Bible College in Dodoma. However, being a missionary is not a life that can be reduced to a job description. Here are some of the other effects of our being here.

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The child pictured here was brought to our gate some months ago, deathly ill with malaria. The mom had no husband, no job, no money, and no way to get medicine for her baby. We were able to help. As a side benefit of our ministry here, we get to see this little girl at church almost every week. We wanted to share her picture with you and let you know that she is probably alive today because you helped send us to Tanzania. When we moved to Dodoma, we needed to hire night watchmen because of the problem of thieves. We asked a Tanzanian leader to send us trustworthy people, and Antoni, a new convert in a recent evangelistic meeting, was among those he sent. There was one problem: Antoni was legally blind. It turns out Antoni was living with his wife and four children, rent-free, in a house owned by the man who sent him to us. Antoni was jobless

and there was little hope of his finding a job because of his eyesight. For very little money by US standards, we were able to send Antoni to the best eye hospital in Tanzania for surgery and corrective lenses. He is still blind in one eye but can now see well enough out of the other to read a large-print Swahili Bible—and to work as a day guard for us. We have never met anyone as grateful or as loyal as Antoni. The man who started out as a charity case is now the best employee we’ve ever had. He is very careful with his money and now owns his own modest home and the plot it sits on. Antoni plans to start his own business making cement blocks when we go back to the US, and toward that end he has already bought a cell phone and is saving up for a cement mixer.

Snapshots from Antoni’s baptism in the AGBC Chapel baptistry.


"!$#%&')(+*,!.-/01324$!5! 768:9;.!<1=.%>@? The woman in the foreground of the accompanying picture, shown singing and waiting to be baptized, is the niece of one of the elders of our local church (her uncle is visible behind her). We first noticed her when we moved here (long before this picture was taken) because she would always go forward for prayer and end up writhing on the floor in apparent agony of soul. Many in the church assumed she was demonized because of her actions. Bible school studentleaders surrounded her and prayed for her but somehow her wound remained unhealed. Every Sunday ended with the woman too exhausted to struggle anymore and she walked out of the service a picture of shame and embarrassment. At first, as a newcomer to the school and to the culture, I just watched and prayed for the woman, but when this was repeated three or four weeks in a row it really bothered me. I prayed for her in my devotional time and felt in my spirit that she was broken-hearted, confused, and needing help and attention, but not demonized. I decided that the next time I saw her go forward, I would be the first to pray with her and try another approach. Sure enough, the next Sunday morning she came forward for prayer, so I went over to her. She started out on her knees, then she leaned forward until her head was on the cement floor, then she pushed her cheek down against the cement and began to drool and started to roll over. At that point I grabbed her by the arm, commanded her in Swahili to stand up in the name of Jesus, and hauled her up before she could think about resisting. I told her that she was not demon possessed, but broken-hearted, and began to tell her that the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace, and this is what she needed. I explained the passage from Matthew 12:43 and following, of the danger of being an empty house swept clean, a baby Christian who needed the church to rescue her every week. I encouraged her to begin to seek the Holy Spirit so that she could have strength not only for herself but to minister to others, and that in ministering to others she would find joy. As I spoke to her in my labored Swahili, her countenance changed and she began to weep normally instead of the tear-less acting out that we had seen before. Eventually she was wept

out, then she quietly thanked us and left. I was anxious to see how she would be the next week. My heart leapt when I saw her walk in the door of the church with a big smile on her face. She was smiling and I was crying. It has been more than a year now, and she has truly been set free. She has that same smile every week, and she almost glows and radiates peace. As pictured above, when we had a baptism service during the last school term, she was one of those who was baptized. She has since become one of the solid, founding members of another church plant As much as we would love to be able to make that kind of a change in someone’s life, we know we can’t. All we can do is show up, try to obey, and let the Lord do the rest. To God be the glory!


 

 


Even just showing up is more than we can do on our own. We rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and guide us, and we rely on you to enable us to be here. We need your prayers and your financial support. We are very grateful to report that our account has stayed strong throughout our time in Africa. We have even been in a position to help other missionaries from time to time when they were in need . We are very, very grateful that you have helped to put us in this position. Asante sana! (Thank you very much!). Soon we will be coming back to the US to report back to our supporting churches and to raise additional support for the increased responsibilities of our next term. Please pray that God will give us the strength and support to keep showing up.