Dear praying friends and family, we want to thank you for your prayers for us this past month.
We have 2 praise items that we are pleased to mention:
1. We received our residence permits (we had to reapply since they had lost the first application papers) and they gave us 2 full years from now.
2. We were given an alternate piece of land for the Discipleship Course, as compensation for the one we bought from someone who was not really the owner. It has been a long wait and has required perseverance and patience but we thank the Lord for answering our prayers and yours.
We thank you for your prayers for the 2 day seminar on giving at the village of Sambara. As follow up I have heard good reports from one of the elders there. Since then we attended the Easter Conference here in town (Friday) and then we went to the village of Songambele for Easter Sunday.
Luke has since been back to Songambele with some elders from the nearby churches to reinstall the other elder in that church. He had fallen into sin, received discipline, confessed his sin publicly and waited for a period while his life was watched to make sure he had changed. We are pleased that along with the congregation's full consent he was officially put back into leadership.
We also hosted, together with Harry and Ruth Johnson, our Annual General Meeting (AGM) of CMML missionaries here in Kigoma (it is required by the government). Ron and Maria Cunningham (an older couple from N. Ireland) attended from Moshi and Steve Davies from Dar Es Salaam. We enjoyed our time together giving and hearing reports and fellowshipping.
We had a local church meeting last Saturday, and on Sunday 2 ladies that have been at odds were able to ask each other's forgiveness and reconcile. Please pray that there would be complete restoration between their families as there may still be some other problems under the surface. This is also an answer to prayer.
This past week was quite a challenge. Our whole family got sick, one at a time with a very bad flu, accompanied by a bad cold. We are all over the flu, except for Michael who just came down with it yesterday, and still has a fever. Some of the rest of us are still coughing quite a bit, especially at night.
On Saturday Luke will be traveling with 4 Tanzanian brothers to the town of Mpanda where there is a new church plant. We will be with them for the Sunday meetings and then begin teaching a seminar on the subject of the church (starting Sunday afternoon and going through Tuesday). We will also be showing Christian and evangelistic films for 2 nights. We will return, Lord willing, on Wednesday.
Please pray for safe travels, that the car would run well, and that God's Word would build up, strengthen and save new souls. Also pray for Gina as she stays home with the kids (some still sick) and homeschools them and keeps house while I'm gone.
You are a vital part of this battle, so keep praying. There is opposition but the Lord is still working so we take courage.
In Christ,
Luke, for the family.
We have 2 praise items that we are pleased to mention:
1. We received our residence permits (we had to reapply since they had lost the first application papers) and they gave us 2 full years from now.
2. We were given an alternate piece of land for the Discipleship Course, as compensation for the one we bought from someone who was not really the owner. It has been a long wait and has required perseverance and patience but we thank the Lord for answering our prayers and yours.
We thank you for your prayers for the 2 day seminar on giving at the village of Sambara. As follow up I have heard good reports from one of the elders there. Since then we attended the Easter Conference here in town (Friday) and then we went to the village of Songambele for Easter Sunday.
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| Church at Sambara |
We also hosted, together with Harry and Ruth Johnson, our Annual General Meeting (AGM) of CMML missionaries here in Kigoma (it is required by the government). Ron and Maria Cunningham (an older couple from N. Ireland) attended from Moshi and Steve Davies from Dar Es Salaam. We enjoyed our time together giving and hearing reports and fellowshipping.
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| AGM attendees |
This past week was quite a challenge. Our whole family got sick, one at a time with a very bad flu, accompanied by a bad cold. We are all over the flu, except for Michael who just came down with it yesterday, and still has a fever. Some of the rest of us are still coughing quite a bit, especially at night.
On Saturday Luke will be traveling with 4 Tanzanian brothers to the town of Mpanda where there is a new church plant. We will be with them for the Sunday meetings and then begin teaching a seminar on the subject of the church (starting Sunday afternoon and going through Tuesday). We will also be showing Christian and evangelistic films for 2 nights. We will return, Lord willing, on Wednesday.
Please pray for safe travels, that the car would run well, and that God's Word would build up, strengthen and save new souls. Also pray for Gina as she stays home with the kids (some still sick) and homeschools them and keeps house while I'm gone.
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| Helpful Aaron |
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| Silly Michael |
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| Emily and Esther relaxing at the beach. |
In Christ,
Luke, for the family.
