We should not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation. The church in the Arusha area is now making an effort at taking their spiritual maturity to the next level. Area evangelists, coupled with the help of the missionary team, are fulfilling a rotational schedule teaching on various spiritual disciplines.
Last Sunday, I had the privilege to visit the Ilkiurei church of Christ and teach on the subject: Prayer for the purpose of godliness. Ilkiurei is a new congregation that was started as a result of one of our Safari for Souls campaigns. Prior to my teaching on the discipline of prayer, they had been taught the introductory lesson: Spiritual discipline for the purpose of godliness. It appeared that everyone in attendance gave their complete attention to the things being taught. The questions that followed the lesson verified their sincere interest in the subject. There are a total of thirteen lessons that will be delivered on a rotational basis to all the congregations in the Arusha and Kilimanjaro areas. Please pray that the disciplines being taught will be learned and adopted by the brethren here.
This year we have turned our attention to the new congregation at NjiroChini. The Safari for Souls campaigns will be focusing on this new congregation for the next two years before moving toward the next new church plant. A number of local evangelists are sharing the responsibility of spending several hours each Saturday evangelizing the area. Last Saturday we reached many homes, including some backsliders from last year’s campaign. Although this church is only one year old it has sown much seed and has great potential for growth. During our outing we were also able to visit a lady who has not been attending worship because her husband forbids her from so doing. The husband is an elder at a Pentecostal Church and has been trying to force her to attend with him so he does not lose his position. He brought twenty old men from his church to speak with his wife, but the woman defended what she knew was the truth. Finally, the husband said to her you must stay at home rather than to go to your new church. Then because she feared being divorced, and as you may know that African ladies don’t have a voice in the house, she is silently staying at home without going to the church. Please, your many prayers will make the difference. We know God will hear our prayers. Recently her daughter, who faithfully attends worship, said “it is better for her to be chased away from home than to quit the Lord’s church”.
We would like send our thanks for taking your time to read and be a part of these efforts. Thank you for all the good you do for the kingdom.
In His service
AhimidiweKimaro
Assistant Director, Andrew Connally School of Preaching
A Bear Valley Bible Institute International extension school
Arusha, Tanzania