We finished up September with a few more churches, but the last two weeks were spent back in Wisconsin, preparing to leave on October 2. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the States. What a wonderful opportunity it is to travel and see how God is using other people in their ministries to further the Gospel. We know that God has called us to be in Tanzania, but it is always a bittersweet time when we have to say goodbye. We want to thank Pastor Noonan and all the folks at Faith Baptist Church for loving us and allowing us to have your church be our “home” when we needed to come back.
On the morning of October 2, we left to head to the airport. (Thank you to all who helped us get there!) We were able to meet a very nice gentlemen who helped us with our 30 pieces of luggage. The Lord truly led us to him. He definitely loved missionaries and said he would help in any way he could. Thank you to all who prayed for that. The kids did great on the plane, for which we were also very thankful. We touched down safely in Tanzania on Tuesday night with all of our bags. So now we are back and ready to do what God has called us to do here.
Our first Sunday back, we had 576 in attendance, with 7 visitors, 4 salvations, and 2 baptisms. We had a wonderful time seeing our church folks and meeting the new ones. We have an afternoon teen class every week, so this week we stayed with them. We do thank God for our teen department. We had 84 teens. We are glad that we can reach the next generation. We don’t have an official youth pastor. We do have some people who volunteer, but if you could, please pray that the Lord would send us a youth pastor. Maybe He will call one of the nationals to step up officially, or maybe He will call someone from somewhere else. It is so important to reach the youth.
We do have a few church projects coming up. We need to redo a part of our roof and also our road. Both need repair because of rain. We haven’t had rain since March, but it left some damage. Our road has been eaten away, and our roof leaks in one particular area every time it rains. We will hit the ground running, so that once the rain does come, we will be prepared.
Thanks again for all of the emails, cards, notes, and gifts we received. We do count it a privilege to team up with you all for the sake of the Gospel. Please know that if we can ever do anything for you, don’t hesitate to ask. We love and appreciate each and every one of you.
For His glory,
Mshama Kinyonga & Family