March Update

Dear Friends and Family,

    Yesterday was an historical day. The boat (Wings of the Morning) that Luke, his father and many other men have been working on since May of last year was launched. Some 80 men were hired to push the boat into the lake, but only 40 showed up. However, they still managed to turn/lift her 90 degrees before pushing her down the beach and into the water. It made for a good show as the men worked together to the leader’s sing-song chanting and all grunting in response as they heaved the 4-ton boat in unison. There is much work to do still on the boat (for comforts’ sake), but we are thankful that it does well in the water, either with motor power or wind power. We pray this boat will be used for God’s glory in reaching many of the village churches up and down lake Tanganyika.

    Luke had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday on Psalm 84. Much discernment is needed in knowing how to best help the struggling churches and people of this area. Pray that we would show Christ-like love to all that we meet.

    A couple weeks back Luke and Esther joined Harry and Ruth in visiting the small church at Kamara. Emily kept me (Gina) company while I laid low and recovered from malaria. Thankfully we are all now healthy; Emily is a chubby 6-month old reaching for everything and Esther is begging to go to school. 

    At the end of this month we are planning to go to the big city on the east coast for a conference with fellow CMML missionaries from Tanzania. Please pray that the national airlines will resume their flights to our corner of the country so we won’t need to make the 3-day drive.

In His Service,

Gina, Luke, Esther and Emily Johnson