We started out the month of September with our Fall Program at church. It was a wonderful few weeks with many visitors. We had four special Sundays, starting out with Kids’ Sunday. The second special Sunday was our Teen Sunday. We had several of our young men run different parts of the service, as well as having a teen choir sing. It is exciting to see these young men continuing to grow and love the Lord. Please pray that our youth would stand strong in this sinful world. Our third Sunday was Grandparents’ Day, which was a special time for the elderly of our church. Since the life expectancy here in Tanzania is around 60 years old, age is respected here. We gave everyone who was 50 years and older a little radio. I cannot wait for the day when they can listen to our church station on their radios. The final day was Family Sunday, where we encouraged everyone to come with their family. We took family pictures for each family present.
An exciting Sunday that we had in October was our Baptismal Sunday. We had never had a special day like this before, but God truly worked. I had been preaching on the importance of baptism, as well as dismissing some of the false teachings on it here in Tanzania. We were able to see 15 people come forward for baptism on this special day. One particular man named Joseph Peter was baptized. He came for the first time on Grandparents’ Day and trusted Christ after the service. What a blessing it was to see him take the step of baptism. He has continued to come faithfully every week. Please pray that God would use Mr. Joseph as he continues to grow in the Lord.
We have several couples in our church who came to us already living together outside of marriage. I have been encouraging each one to quickly make this right by letting me marry them. They have all expressed a desire to make things right and get married, but for one reason or another, each one of their families has complicated the process for them to get married. Please pray that these couples would stand strong to make the right choices.
In the middle of November, we will be returning to the States for two months. We will be visiting several new churches to raise some extra support to help with our radio station. We will also be able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families. Please pray that God would go before us and smooth our way so that we have an enjoyable and prosperous trip.
Your missionaries to Tanzania,
Jerry & Rachel Wyatt