Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministry here in Tanzania. February 6 was our first service for our new church plant in Moshi. We had 32 people in attendance and nearly 50 on February 13! This new church is a team effort involving Greg Wagoner’s family and ours. He is taking on the majority of the work for this new church. I have taken all the responsibility for the Kingereka church and am assisting with the Moshi church. In the Moshi church Cathy is teaching the children’s Sunday School class and my oldest son Jay is playing guitar for the song service.
Attending 2 churches on one Sunday morning is a new experience for me. Thankfully, things are beginning to run very nicely in Kingereka. After I preach the morning message two of our guys take over and run Sunday school for the kids. That gives me opportunity to visit with the adults for a few minutes before I have to make the 30-minute drive to Moshi to attend the service there. Continue to pray for our Kingereka church. We are beginning a concentrated effort on outreach this Saturday, Feb 18. It will be the first time for most of our people to go soul-winning. We are looking forward to a revival meeting on March 13-16 and are praying that many would be saved and become a part of our church.
Also pray for God to send us men who would be saved, discipled and possibly become pastors.
Pray for wisdom in leading this church and for my Swahili speaking abilities.
Pray for our new church in Moshi to continue to grow.
Pray for wisdom in leading this church and for my Swahili speaking abilities.
Pray for our new church in Moshi to continue to grow.
Just for perspective.
On Tuesday night I got a call from Greg saying they caught a thief who had broken into the Moshi church and was caught stealing. I went to the church to deal with the situation and was surprised by what I found. A 12 year-old boy was able to slip through the security bars on the window of a Sunday school classroom. While inside he found the crate of Pepsi sodas that we left in the room from the previous Sunday. He opened the glass bottle and carefully poured it into an empty water bottle he found in the trash so that he could leave the glass bottle behind. He was caught red-handed by some people who were at the church. Pastor Ernesti (a Tanzanian pastor) and I took him to his house where we talked to his parents. Normally, the boy would have been beaten by those who caught him or he would have been taken to jail- where he would have been beaten by the officers there. After a long conversation, it was decided that the family would pay for the 2 Pepsis he stole, a total of 1,000 shillings ($0.75) and that the boy would do some volunteer work at the church the following day. Hopefully, this will help this boy repent of his sin and correct his ways as well as give us an opportunity to see him and his parents saved.
On Tuesday night I got a call from Greg saying they caught a thief who had broken into the Moshi church and was caught stealing. I went to the church to deal with the situation and was surprised by what I found. A 12 year-old boy was able to slip through the security bars on the window of a Sunday school classroom. While inside he found the crate of Pepsi sodas that we left in the room from the previous Sunday. He opened the glass bottle and carefully poured it into an empty water bottle he found in the trash so that he could leave the glass bottle behind. He was caught red-handed by some people who were at the church. Pastor Ernesti (a Tanzanian pastor) and I took him to his house where we talked to his parents. Normally, the boy would have been beaten by those who caught him or he would have been taken to jail- where he would have been beaten by the officers there. After a long conversation, it was decided that the family would pay for the 2 Pepsis he stole, a total of 1,000 shillings ($0.75) and that the boy would do some volunteer work at the church the following day. Hopefully, this will help this boy repent of his sin and correct his ways as well as give us an opportunity to see him and his parents saved.
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