Well, let us start off by saying, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. We cannot believe that 2014 is almost over. As we look back and see God’s goodness to us throughout these months, we are truly encouraged by His love towards us. We consider it such an honor to be called missionaries to the people here in Tanzania. Thank you all so much for the sacrifices you make to keep us here on the mission field.
First of all, thank you to all who prayed for my shoulder; it’s doing much better. While it’s still a little sore, it is healing great. On November 9, we had a “Big Day” at the church. It was the day that we signed the charter members and a day for those who needed to be baptized as well. Everyone was given a Bible, and we ate on the grounds that day. We praise God for 155 people in attendance, with 24 baptisms. We thank God that He is growing His church and that we can be a part of it.
Grace Baptist Church continues to move forward with the Gospel, and because of that we are seeing fruit
that remains. I wanted to take the time to share with you two stories of God’s grace and timing. Our neighbor, whose name is Christian, does cement work, and he was working at our house for a few days. We started out by making casual conversation. After a while the conversation switched toward spiritual things, and he trusted Christ. He has been faithfully attending the services, and we can see a change in how he lives and thinks. On the “Big Day” that we had at the church, Christian was baptized. Please continue to pray for him, as a few weeks ago, he came soul winning for the first time.
On Saturday, December 13, we went out soul winning in an area called Kichangani. There was a lady named Mama Wawili who was carrying a heavy bucket of water on her head. We thought we would just be able to give her a tract, but we didn’t expect her to stop because the bucket was heavy. Well, my wife gave her the tract, and Mama Wawili stopped right there in the street and started talking about her situation.
She was Muslim, but her nieces were Christians. They were eight-year-old twins whose parents had both
died, and they were living with another aunt. They were getting beaten by this aunt, so Mama took her nieces in to live with her. She was looking for a church to send them to. We went to her house and met the girls and told them where to meet the van the next day for church. Well, the girls came to church the next day, along with Mama Wawili. Please pray for her salvation; pray that as a church we can slowly win her heart to the Lord.
We have a ladies’ meeting coming up on Saturday, December 20. It is my wife’s first one, so she is excited but a little nervous at the same time. Our theme is on the virtuous woman. Pray that many ladies will come and be encouraged.
Please also be in prayer for permanent property for our church, as the building we rent holds 60 comfortably, so Sundays are really are packed. Pray also for transportation. We would love to buy our own van so as not to have to rent one every time. Thank you so much for your prayer support. We know the power of prayer and don’t take your prayers for this ministry lightly.
Please know that you are welcome to come and visit any time. We would be delighted to have you. We love you all and appreciate you. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Your missionaries to Tanzania,
Mshama, Martha, & Esther Kinyonga