On January 26th we had our first chapel at 7:30 am to start the new year of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Tanzania-Chimala school. We were joined by our new mission administrator Howell Ferguson, Jim Gregg, elder in charge of the mission and Bill Stenson, stateside administrator from the New York Avenue Church of Christ. All spoke in chapel, greeting the students and encouraging them in there work. The singing was beautiful and heartfelt and the chapel service speaker reminded the students of the great responsibility and privilege to be in school to learn the word of God.
The new Swahili and English students were eager to begin their new journey in preparing to serve the church, the kingdom of God in Tanzania, Malawi and the Congo. We prepared with the faculty the week before we got to know some of the new students. Mkoko, had been a primary school teacher, while Msoshi had been a businessman in the Congo before leaving for his safety to escape the war. Mikael, Asher, Evarist and Fredrich had been a builder, farmer, fisherman, carpenter, and truck diver respectively. Other students had been a secondary teacher, grower of coffee (which I appreciated), government business chairman and tailor. So, why are Isaka, Zwanadi, Day, Bahait, Dereck Juma and Kevin, Alphonce, Webster and Damson at Chimala? To learn to preach the gospel, to better prepare themselves to serve the Lord. They have come to study in an intensive program for two years, provided by all the Bear Valley Bible Institute schools as to strengthen the church in East Africa. They left their jobs, families,friends and some even their countries to be able to be of greater service to the kingdom. Please keep these dedicated Christians and their teachers in mind as they work for the growth and strength of the church.
Garry L. Hill
Bear Valley Bible Institute
Tanzania-Chimala