Amazing! Simply Amazing!

Due to several factors I haven't been able to update for a few days and that we are getting ready to leave for safari within the hour, this will be short.

SUNDAY:
One of the most amazing and greatest days I have had -- ever!

We traveled two hours (one way) to the "church under the tree." There was a visiting choir/dance group from Mwanza, a wedding party there to have their (previous) wedding blessed at the church, we got to introduce ourselves and "give words of encouragement), the previous assistant to the bishop preached, he called for those wishing to be baptized and at least 24 came forward, which they asked us to do (Yes!), and after the 3 hour service (and we could have stayed for more!), we went to the home (very "humble" and similar to others in the area) of the bride and groom in the village and were seated in a place of honor. Then, when we got back, all of us went to a nice restaurant as a group. Simply amazing!!

MONDAY:
We were going to see just the last 50 people who were registered for the eye clinic. (We knew there would be more than that!) That morning we were told they allowed another 10 to register, for a total of 60 for the day. (Matt and I guessed we would see 75-80.) We ended up seeing more people that day than any other!! We saw 129 people! That brought our total to 600 people served and 801 glasses given! - A bit more than the 400 expected!

Simply amazing!!

SAFARI:
It is very unlikely that there will be Internet access or power for us to be able to contact others or to update on here further. If I can send an update, I will, but please don't expect it.

Blessing to all of you! Keep the prayers coming!!

"I Rejoiced With Those Who Said, 'Let Us Go to the House of the LORD!'" ~Psalm 122:1

We are blessed to go the the Lord's House this morning and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Well, "house" may not be entirely accurate.

We will be traveling about 2 hours (each way) to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as the Lord's tree. More precisely (if memory serves), it is "the church under the tree." This group of Christian men and women have been worshiping the Lord under a large tree in the village until they can build a more permanent structure.

We have been asked to be prepared to introduce ourselves and for the pastors to "bring words of encouragement" to the people. [Short sermonettes, we suspect, of about 5 minutes.] We have also practiced a few songs should we be asked to sing.

May the Lord bless your day in His "house," wherever it may be, today! Rejoice in it as you praise Him!

Caution: God at Work!

These last two days have been long, tiring, and worth every minute!

As power and connectivity issues continue to limit what we can post for now, I'll share just a short summary:

• Tuesday afternoon and early evening we had our on-site training. While we were training, we got word of a gentlemen who had to leave that evening (because of a death in the family, if I recall correctly) and we agreed we'd see him and use that as a chance to put our training to the test. We noticed when we finished the training, more than the one person was waiting. All said, we saw 20 people on our first evening in Mwanza before the actual start of the clinic!
• Wednesday we helped 111 people from around 9:00am until a little after 2:00pm, when we had lunch. (Great food, by the way, which is provided for us!)
• Wednesday, late afternoon we were driven to a new church building in a neighboring town. The "evangelist" (different from the pastor) met us there. We were too late to make "cold call" visits to many people, but he took ALL of us to two of his neighbors. We shared the Gospel there and 5-6 people in that household were baptized! We went to a second home and 1-2 more were! [It's late and my memory may not completely align with the factual numbers.] That was fantastic!!
• Today (Thursday) followed the same schedule for the most part. We served 117 people at the clinic and, after a 2:00pm lunch, went back to a village. We broke into three groups and hit 2-3 homes with each group. One group went to homes where there were already baptized members. A second group had a baptism in each of the two locations. The third group went to three homes and came back with 9 baptisms!!! GOD IS AWESOME! [The details of some of these - especially the 9 - is incredible!]

Tomorrow we will serve at the clinic [some great stories there, too!] The same as the last two days but in the afternoon they will take us around Mwanza for a tour. We are all looking forward to that!

The people here have been so kind and are genuinely fun to be around!

We praise the Lord for His hand in us being here.

Please keep the prayers coming!

In Mwanza!

We are all settled into the rooms we will be in for the next week and near the church where we'll be working.

One of the biggest challenges is not as much the lack of reliable cell/data coverage (which is a problem), but rather the lack of electricity in most place - including Jen's and my room!) So, keeping phones, cameras, and computers charging and working will be very difficult.

If you don't see as many updates, this would be the reason. We'll do what we can when we can!

God is good!

Blessings to all!

Sweat Dreams

Room at the Impala Hotel in Arusha, TZ

Once we got to Kilimanjaro we had another drive on a bus for around 45 minutes before getting to the hotel. (A picture of our room this morning is what you see here. Jen was not pleased I took the picture with the bed unmade.)

This morning we get to actually SEE Tanzania as last night it was dark on the drive. I mean DARK! Hardly any street lights and homes were using candles almost exclusively.

It's overcast today as we drive back to the Kilimanjaro airport for the flight to Mwanza, where we'll be spending most of our time. (I'm writting this while on the bus now.)

I gonna look more at the sights, now.

God is good!

O, What a Beautiful Morning!

With apologies to "Oklahoma," this is a beautiful morning site!
I took this from my seat about an hour outside of Amsterdam, over Ireland.
What beautiful sites the Lord has created and what a blessing that He has entrusted mankind to build planes which can take us to see and experience so much of it.
There are still "many miles to go before we sleep," but with sights like this, you'll get no complaints from me!
Sent from phone.

Less Than 12 Hours

Well, Jen and I are pretty set. the bags are packed (mostly) and I think we have all of what we (think) we need.

We will miss our family so much but know the Lord will watch over them and us when we are apart.

I feel compelled to praise the Lord [from Psalm 150]:

Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens! Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

Less Than Two Days!

In under two days all of us will be on our way to Tanzania via Amsterdam!

It’s exciting but also a bit daunting. Even so, we praise the Lord for allowing us the privilege of living and sharing the love and salvation of Jesus Christ there.

We will all work to keep updates here for any who desires.

Please keep us all in your prayers and hearts.