Dear Co-Workers:
Quote of the Week: "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God: God is in none of his thoughts." Psalm 10:4
ALL SCRIPTURE... Somehow we forgot to include a quote for the past couple of weeks. If you've ever noticed, all good and true quotes have their origin in the Bible. From now on, Scripture quotes will begin our report. What could be better?
KARIBU! Buddy Frye was welcomed this week and has completed his course on Ephesians and Colossians. Buddy taught a great lesson ("Walking with the Lord") on Thursday at the Kisongo church building. He spoke at Kwa Mrombo this morning. Buddy is scheduled to speak twice (Solomon & Crisis Parts I and II) at our twelfth annual Tanzania Leadership Conference which begins this Thursday, the 11th continuing through Sunday the 14th (9am-4pm each day). The theme is "National Leadership" (congregations working together on a national level). The scheduled speakers (and attendees) will be of Tanzanian, Kenyan, Ugandan and American nationalities. We're expecting large crowds and much growth from these 4 days of concentrated sermons on the Kingdom. Each day the ladies will have two separate sessions. The women speakers will include two of the local evangelists' wives: Jane Massawe and Julia Mwakabanje, Margaret Wechesa (wife of Francis who is now in Uganda directing a preaching school) and all the current missionary ladies: Anita Hochdorf, Stephanie Stafford and Trina (presenting a lesson on the O.T. character, Abigail, and her contribution to the kingdom).
FOOD PRESERVATION DEMONSTRATION AND DRIP IRRIGATION classes will be taught at the end of the Leadership Seminar late Saturday afternoon. Hopefully, these classes will benefit the local people in their daily life.
MORE SHORT-TERM WORKERS ARRIVE. Denny Petrillo, Nathan Adams, Sid Aultman and Daniel Warren have "crossed the big pond". Denny and Nathan attended Kisongo this morning. Denny taught an excellent lesson on "Worry" at Bible class and preached on "The Purpose of Life" during worship. Pray for Nathan who is not feeling so well. Sid and Daniel attended at Arusha. Others due to arrive this week are: Neal Pollard, Mike Hite, Bob Turner, Bruce Hatcher, Tom Watkins, and Brad Whinery.
GOOD NEWS! Our understanding is that five-year-old Mary (who had broken her arm three months ago but received no medical treatment) has had corrective surgery and has a pin in her elbow, to be taken out after a month. The Hochdorf family was instrumental in coordinating Mary's treatment! Mary's father (Jaffrey) gave thanks to God this morning that his daughter was recovering well.
SPEAKING OF GOOD NEWS...Last week, you read about the recent baptisms. Due to a lack of time, we didn't say all we wanted to about the young man (early 20's) named Allen. In a previous report, we mentioned meeting him while walking around the neighborhood. He told of his future plans to attend a university to study Agriculture and Economics. He knows English and seems to be an exceptional young man. One day he had come by to "bid us farewell" because he was due to leave in one week to attend college. Realizing that we might not get another opportunity to introduce him to the Gospel, we asked Mr. Paul Richey to work him into the studies scheduled for that day. After his baptism, he came by, asked for additional study to help ground him (Ahimidiwe studied with him again) and we discussed his good decision to put on Jesus through baptism. Allen's mother said he was old enough to make his own choices but he was reluctant tell his Dad (who is an elder in the Lutheran church) before he leaves for college. He said he was happy to put some space between him and his family because they would "pull him back" and he didn't want that. Thankfully, there are two congregations near his school. We're asking you to put him on a special prayer list so he will continue his Christian walk and will become a strong member. We're looking forward to seeing him when he returns in February.
HE WHO IS SLOW TO WRATH HAS GREAT UNDERSTANDING. Another young neighbor (16 years old) drank poison because he was mad at his family for the discipline he received. Thankfully, he was immediately taken to the nearby clinic where he received emergency care and survived. His family is related to several members of the church.
YESTERDAY...Heather and Candace attended the day-long graduation ceremonies (11:30 - 4:30) for their friend, Happiness. Afterwards, the worn-out graduates were required to attend another activity before going back to the school to clean the building(s). Not quite what we would expect in America. But, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore."
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS GREAT WORK!
In Christian Love,
The Jimmy Gee family