Greetings Fellow Workers;
We greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our hearts and our prayers are being offered up to our Lord for all those suffering the recent losses caused by the severe weather in the Southeast. As most of you know, we too recently suffered a loss. Our dear brother and servant of God, Moses from Kioga has passed from this life to the next.
We first came to know Moses when Aubu and William came down Mt. Meru, meeting Francis Wechesa saying; “Moses has sent us down from the mountain to be baptized” (just sounds so Biblical). These two young men informed Francis who was, at that time, new to the Arusha area, that Moses had taught them the Gospel. Upon future investigation it was learned that Moses had gone blind (most likely due to his diabetes) and was not able to make the three mile journey down the mountain for worship.
After some time it was decided that it would be best to start a new congregation at Kiogo so our brother would not have to ride on the back of Francis’s motor cycle each week, up and down the mountain. The Church began meeting in Moses’s goat shed, a space six feet wide, seven feet long. Each Sunday morning, brother Moses would sweep out the small mud and stick building. After several months the congregation began to grow and the last time I personally worshipped there we had twenty three people in that very small room.
Men like Cotton Box, Gene Davis and Dupree Galloway working with Moses and David Bayi (one of our ACSOP graduates) and with the monthly support from the West Side Church of Christ, Salem, VA and so many others, the congregation now numbers in the eighties. Because the Church cared, the Kisonga congregation has a meeting house.
Last year our brother Moses asked if we could help him by building three small rooms so his family would have a place to live. He knew his health was not good and was concerned about his wife and four small children. Through the wonderful generosity of the Lord's Saints in America and through the efforts of the men who can and constructed the rooms, his widow and children have a place to live.
Stephanie and I have been blessed in many ways as missionaries here in TZ. One of the greatest blessings was the privilege of knowing and working with this spiritual giant. His humble spirit has inspired many. His zeal for teaching the lost, preaching the Gospel and his commitment to the truth of God’s Word will forever stand as a living testimony as to what Christianity is really all about. Moses was blind, but now he sees. He sees what God has promised all who obey! Thanks be to God!
Tomorrow (Sunday May 8th) will be a long day. We will begin by worshiping with our Church family at Kioga. The funeral will follow in the afternoon, at 2:00. We solicit your prayers on behalf of all the family and friends who will mourn this great loss. A special thank you to everyone who made it possible for Moses and so many others to be blessed by the Good News, the Family of God and the Hope (and now reality for Moses) of Heaven.
In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Exel