We serve a mighty God, don’t we? His mercy truly is new every morning. Can you believe that 2020 is wrapping up? I truly don’t think anyone from anywhere could have guessed a year like this, but we serve a God Who knows everything, and that in itself brings tremendous peace. We are always excited to tell you what has been going on in Tanzania through the prayers and financial support that you all provide.
Due to COVID, we had to cancel our Teen Camp. We were all disappointed, but what can you do? Our teens understood, and we explained to them that life can be unpredictable. The president said we are now COVID-free; but school and everything were back in session, and there was no time to have camp. We then had the idea to have an all-night teen activity at the church. We had games, food, preaching, etc. We told them it would just be a time with our teens at GBC and a time to grow closer together. We had 65 come, and God blessed.
We also wanted to do something for our kids at GBC and in Morogoro as well. We had our annual Kids’ Day. It was like a one-day VBS. It was the typical preparation, and we were excited and ready . . . or so we thought. We printed 500 flyers. We knew some wouldn’t come, and we knew some would just take the flyers and do whatever with them. However, that day we ended up with 812 kids! There were kids everywhere! Just trying to play tug-of-war and feed all of them rice and beans was very interesting. We probably looked crazy, but our church members hung together and stayed calm. And even though we all collapsed later, it was worth it because 234 trusted Christ.
On December 5, the Saturday before we left, we had a ladies’ meeting. The theme was “Being a Godly Example.” We had three ladies from our church speak. There were games, food, door prizes, etc. We printed 150 flyers. We also asked who would be in town due to the Christmas Break. That day we had 300 ladies, with 22 salvations. That was the biggest attendance we have ever had. God continues to show us that He is in control, no matter what. Many ladies called and texted to say that they wanted more information about the church.
Not that we haven’t been busy, but we topped off all that with two weddings. One was a middle-aged couple who have been coming for a while. They knew they were wrong for living together but not being married, so they wanted to make it right. We married January (yes, that’s his name) and Elimaria on November 18. The other couple was Amani, who grew up in our youth group, and Leokadia. It was a blessing to be able to marry them on November 28. Watching Amani grow up into a godly man and then marrying him and Leokadia was a great privilege for me.
We arrived safely in the States on December 9. Everything went well, for which we thank God. Only one suitcase was missing out of nine—not too bad. We are excited to be back. We can enjoy Christmas here Stateside. We pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We love and appreciate all of you. Thank you for your faithfulness to the ministry here in Tanzania. We are glad that we can share about the fruit that has been added your account. Thank you all for the cards and emails that we get. It is encouraging to know that we are a team and not alone.
Your missionary friends,
Mshama, Martha, Esther, Benjamin, & Baby Kinyonga