Dear friends and family,
Greetings from your work in Tanzania. Thank you so much for allowing us to be your ambassadors in the Lord’s work among these eager students.
I went on a long safari (journey) Sunday by bicycle and foot that I want to share with you.
Bahati and I traveled to Mlowo on Sunday morning, traveling by foot and bicycle. It wouldn’t be fair to say “bicycle,” as much of the roads are too steep and rocky to ride up OR down. We made good time going, reaching the church in three hours, but the mountains were working for us more on the way than on the return trip. Pushing the bikes up what seemed like more mountains than we’d ridden down, I joked that Bahati was taking me on detours to show me all the hills in the region. He claimed he was taking a different route to avoid the really steep slopes. It took me five hours to get home, sore in muscle, parched of throat, but filled with a joy in the day I’d had among the people. The people of the church I visited are a satellite of a larger church on the far side of the city; a quality group of people who are excited about growing the church in their neighborhood. We had a fantastic song service, much of it led by an elementary aged girl that was simply amazing, filled with the spirit, enthusiastic, and fully animated in her dance choreography. She had a back-up of older kids. The adult song leader had a deep bass voice that I imagined was heard well beyond the walls of the building.
I preached to a very attentive and responsive crowd, Bahati doing his usual very good job of translation. I was able to give some Swahili greetings and interjections, which are very much appreciated by the people. The luncheon with the leaders of the church was held in a small back room of the rented meeting house, which we’d luckily finished before the building was struck by a ‘kimbumnga.” You’ve doubtless seen in America the little “dust devils” snatching up dust like tiny tornados. Well, during the dry season, with the dust inches deep, these whirlwinds can get 50 feet high and quite forceful. The building was immediately filled with a haze of dust, and people were scattering to open doors and windows to clear the air after the whirlwind had passed.
An even more severe kimbumnga hit our house on Monday, completely stripping away the corn stocks laced in our bamboo fence to keep chickens out of the garden, and leaving dust and debris in the front half of the house. We look forward to the rainy season for obvious reasons. Water is a lot easier to sweep out of the house, with actually beneficial end results.
On our way home Sunday, Bahati and I took a route through Ichesa and I got to view the school grounds I’ve written of in the past. Many brick stacks were present and piles of foundation stones. I actually met up with a student on his way back to Idigima from Ichesa. He has a ghetto in Iyula-B, so we had good conversation on our long trip together. He, Alon Mwampamba, wants to be a future math teacher at the Ichesa Secondary School. We always hope that students will give back to the program after they receive their education.
Bible Knowledge classes continue to go well, especially since incorporating the flannel graph set donated by Deaf Missions in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The students are captivated with the illustration of the lessons. With their limited skill in English, the pictures do more than my thousand words can accomplish in many instances. We are studying Abraham in Form I, Moses in Form II, and David in Form III.
I’ll close with a couple of prayer requests.
First, our Form II students are facing national exams in the second week of November. The students organized an all-night prayer vigil, followed by a three hour prayer service the next day with area pastors in attendance. One student accepted Christ at this service, and many others came forward for specific prayer needs. Pray that the students perform well on the exams to the glory of God. Last year, the results were so fantastic that the school received national recognition, which is no doubt the reason for the numerical growth in the school.
Second, VST is in a really critical time right now with all the building going on at so many schools, and most make bricks every year during the dry season for the continual addition of classrooms. The threat and danger, however, is that the bricks can be destroyed by the coming rains if they are not used in construction. The students have worked so hard to make the bricks; pray to the Lord that sufficient funds will be received to buy cement for the many projects and that the workers will be given God’s speed in building. A bag of cement costs 15,000 Tsh, or about $10.50. Idigima alone needs an estimated 300 bags to complete the project goals of this year, so you can imagine the needs of the total 29 schools.
May God’s grace abound to you as you glorify Him in your lives.
Gary and Joanne Grenell, your feet on the ground in Tanzania
