An Over-Due April Update

Dear praying friends,

It has been a while since we last updated you on the ministry here.

Emmaus Intern
After our trip to Bolivia for the wedding we met up with Alexandra (Alley) (an intern from Emmaus Bible College) in the big city and made our way back to Kigoma at the beginning of February. Alley was with us for 10 weeks and was able to see firsthand many ministries, participate in others, and experience a foreign language and culture. She has just returned to the US for her debriefing. Pray that God would guide her plans for the future.

Disciples of Jesus School
In early March we began a new year at the Disciples of Jesus school and we have 5 consistent students. We hope to gain a few more students the 2nd and 3rd terms, who did not finish the course last year. Teaching is going well. We are in the 3rd module, and have 2 more to go for this term. Pray that the students would grow in their love and knowledge of the Savior.

Volleyball after class. 

Luke finishing up for the day.

John and Jennifer Kinlaw
New missionaries, commended from North Ridge Bible Chapel, Raleigh, NC, are currently studying at language school in Morogoro. They have 4 kids. After finishing they will move to Kigoma to help with the Lord’s work in this region. Please pray for them as they study the language and culture, and practice speaking. Pray for them as they move and settle into life and ministry in Kigoma. Pray for adjustment and vision for them and their children.

Annual General Meeting
We had our annual missionary meeting (required by the government) here in Kigoma. We met with Harry and Ruth Johnson, as well as Steve and Gill Davies from Dar Es Salaam (with Echoes of Service, UK). It was a nice time of fellowship, sharing reports about the different ministries we are involved in and praying for each other. We look forward to being together with John and Jennifer Kinlaw and family next year.

Eating out at the only pizza place in town.

Peter Yamungu
Our friend Peter is currently in the Tabora region with the unreached Wataturu tribe, for one month, doing his research and field work for the Missions course which he completed in December 2017. Please pray for open doors, good contacts, good research, provision and protection for him as he has about 3 more weeks to go. Pray that God would send more workers of light into this dark place.

Peter and his wife Naomi singing during the testimony time in church.

Church Visits and Building Projects
Since our return we have been able to visit 3 village churches, including attending an Easter Conference of the southern churches. Please continue to pray for the church leaders. Two elders have had to be put under discipline because of sin. We need to be vigilant and aware of the serpent’s strategies to destroy and scatter. Please help us by praying that God would protect these leaders from the enemy’s attacks. Please pray for the many spiritual and physical needs, which sometimes seem overwhelming. There are many churches that are at various stages in building their place of worship, and other newer ones that are seeking to purchase property.

Trying on glasses at the Bukuba church; ladies dancing during the worship service.

Easter weekend in Sunuka, and local church singing.

Luke preaching at the Mwakizega church; eating well; men trying on glasses. 

Lamech's adobe house crumbled under the heavy rains; our drive home.

Work and Residence Permits
Last month we began the tedious process of renewing our residence permits, and applying for a work permit for the first time (a new requirement). Please pray that both of these permits would be granted so that we can continue to serve here in Tanzania.

Family
Gina and I continue to be challenged to grow in new ways as we raise our precious children. Gina works hard at homeschooling the girls. Please pray that we would have joy and peace in the pressures of daily life.

May the God of peace be with you all,
Luke, Gina, Esther, Emily, Aaron and Michael

A Rainy Sunday

Today we visited the village church in Mwakizega-Kampande. I (Gina) have only been there one other time, so it was nice to finally make it there again and be with the believers.

Church singing

Luke preaching

After the preaching and the announcements, the Sunday morning service came to a close, it was around 1 pm. The ladies who had been diligently cooking outside under some trees brought the prepared food and all of the dishes into the chapel. And then the rain let loose. It came down in sheets! The tin roof made it nearly impossible to have any kind of conversation. We all just huddled in the dry chapel and watched the foot trails become rushing streams.

Kids checking out the down pour. 

After a lovely lunch of ugali and chicken, the rain subsided to a steady sprinkle. Luke opened up the boxes full of reading glasses and offered them to the older men and women in the church who thought they might need them. They all got their chairs in a circle and passed the glasses down after trying them on. If a pair of glasses was a good fit and seemed to work for them they'd keep it, ask for a case and then give their chair to someone else who was waiting to try some on. Some 20 glasses must have been given away in just this one church.

Trying on some reading glasses.

Well, the rain was not letting up and we had planned to stop at 4 different places before driving back to Kigoma. So, we piled in the car and went to our first stop. It was not too far from the church, an old widow lady was unable to leave her room but she and her husband had helped start this church so we crowded into her room and sang and prayed with her. She was grateful and sang along to every verse of On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.

We then made a quick stop at a former student's house so he could show "mwalimu" Luke the progress that had been made. All in the steady rain and muddy foot paths.

We then headed out to the main road and drove a few miles to the neighboring village. The girls were eager to visit Emanuel and his wife who had just had twins some 3 weeks ago. This was the man whose house had burned down a year and a half ago. The girls were happy to hold a baby each, a girl and a boy. The mom is still at her mom's house, recuperating. *I will try to post a photo later, they are on Esther's camera*

Everyone piled into the car once more, I was holding a sleeping Michael, and we drove down even farther to the next village to visit Lameck. He is one of the elders in the church in the village of Lugunga and also helps with the kindergarten that they have in the church building. We stared to drive down to the village and off the main road and realized it'd be hard to get back up such a slick hill. So we parked the car. And this time we all piled out and walked to Lameck's house, right on the water's edge.

Lameck's house.

Or what's left of Lameck's house. The rains cause damage to these adobe houses. They can't handle days on end of steady rain and so they eventually collapse. He was in the house the morning it fell, but he's grateful that none of his children were there with him. His wife had foreseen (typical...ha!) the trouble they'd have so she insisted on finding another place for herself and the children. One heavy adobe fell on his left hand and some bamboo scratched it a bit. Otherwise he's completely unharmed. They've removed their contents from the fallen house and crowded into the other room they have.

Lameck's house

 In the meantime, the children spend the night at neighbor's homes and he continues to work at finishing his new house, that is farther up from the lake and made of burnt brick. He's eager to get a roof on so they can move in.
He was very grateful for the visit and encouraged too. He walked us up the muddy path to the parked car to give us a proper farewell. We climbed into the car and finally headed for home, after dropping off the three elders at the first village and picking up the two young men who were riding back to Kigoma with us. We were given a rooster as a gift; it'll be chicken soup real soon. And a couple of meters from getting into the car, for the last time, Michael tripped and fell flat on his face. He managed to get mud on the inside of his shirt!
We were finally on our way home, we only had one hour drive. The rain continued to fall. And then we came to a river ... that hadn't been there before. It had managed to cover the road since the rain started that afternoon, deteriorating many other parts of the road. It was an exciting drive! We had to drive thru some fairly deep water 5 different times in that one hour. We were happy to make it home, knowing we'd be sleeping in our own beds, all warm and dry.

On our way home.

Boy in Bukuba

Down this hill...

On this bike!

Would you do it?

January Update

Dear praying friends and family, 

Family

We wish you all a blessed and fruitful new year in the service of our Lord. Some of you may be wondering what we have been doing. We have been in Bolivia for the past 5 weeks and we have one more week to go. We enjoyed Christmas with Mark & Carol Mattix (Gina’s parents) and then more family arrived for the New Year. On January 6, 2018 Christopher Mattix was married to Genesis and we were able to celebrate the grand occasion with them.

Some of the cousins with Uncle Chris and Aunt Genesis.

Apart from those events we have been on some trips, done some hiking and swimming in the river, had times of fellowship with the believers here, attended the meetings and had opportunity to preach and share about the ministry in Tanzania.

Enjoying some outings around Camiri.

Riding in the back of trailers and pick ups.

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday) begins a Missions conference with people attending from near and far. We will be involved with speaking and attending and it runs through Sunday. Please pray for that the Lord would call more of his people into the great harvest, and that there would be good unity, prayer and fellowship.

Travels and Upcoming

Next week we begin our long trek back to our home in Kigoma. We will meet up with an intern from Emmaus, Alexandra Pue, who will be doing her Cross-cultural internship with us for 10 weeks. Please pray for a profitable time of learning for her, as well as adjustment to a new culture. Also arriving is a family, commended from North Carolina (John and Jennifer Kinlaw) who will be doing 4 months of language study before moving to Kigoma to help us in the Lord’s work there. Pray for their language acquisition and adjustment, as well as vision and unity as we will be working together.

Disciples of Jesus School

Upon arrival we will be getting ready to begin a new year of our discipleship course on March 5, 2018. Please pray that the Lord would bring those who are hungry for his word and humble to learn. 

Items for prayer

- Missions Conference

- Our travels home

- Alexandra (our intern)

- The Kinlaws (new missionary family)

- Disciples of Jesus School

Blessings in Christ,

Luke and Gina Johnson

Travel in TZ

 Our trip to Mwanza took 14 and a half hours, not 13 like we had thought! Driving with little ones makes for lots of stops. Especially if one of them gets sick on the last leg of the journey. It's good to be prepared with plenty of water for washing on the side of the road.

Kids keep each other entertained for a lot of the journey. 

Luke was really missing some cruise control by about midday, but no such luck.

We are thankful for an uneventful journey (apart from the incident by the side of the road that had to be washed off a particular kid), the old car ran well and the traffic police let us off with a warning for going 54 kph in a 50 zone. (whew!)

Peter's graduation.

We were happy to attend Peter's graduation in the city of Dar Es Salaam. His wife was also there from Kigoma and beaming with pride for her husband. He finished an intense one-year course on missions and he would like to reach the Wataturu tribe with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please be in prayer for him as he takes this big step of faith with his family.

December Update

Praise the Lord! We had a nice time at the beach on Saturday, celebrating Esther’s 11th birthday (even though it was a bit rainy).  

Esther's 11th Birthday

Praise the Lord! The graduation for the Disciples of Jesus school went well today (Wednesday). The 7 graduates (the 8th one was not present) were challenged by the Word to go into God’s harvest fields and serve the Master faithfully and with all their heart. Please continue to pray for them in the days ahead.

Graduates.

Tomorrow morning we get up at 4 AM to begin our 13 hour drive to Mwanza, then we catch a flight to Dar Es Salaam to attend Peter’s graduation from the Missions school (Saturday) and then Sunday we fly to Bolivia. We will be there for 6 weeks for Christmas, the new year and Christopher Mattix’s wedding on January 6, 2018. Please pray for our many travels these next few days.

Thank you and have a joyful Christmas celebrating the birth of our kinsman Redeemer.

Blessings,

Luke and Gina Johnson

Rainy season

It's wonderful to be back in warm Kigoma. The kids have enjoyed playing outside every single day, except when we get a downpour and they have to take cover from the rain. We are in the beginning of rainy season and we are so thankful for the good rains in this region. Everyone is busy planting their corn and beans. Even in our yard, the guards have sectioned off a large portion of the property and were busy planting last month. Now with the new shoots coming up, our ducks get herded to a fenced-in area so they don't eat the new plant shoots. Later they need to guard the flowers that come up from the bean plants, and then the ducks will be free to roam once more. The kids are excited for the 3 new nests that the mama ducks have laid, two have 13 eggs each and the other has 5.

Emily in action.

Emily and Aaron catching "kumbikumbi".

Our first week here, we had a nice hard rain. The very next day, the termite mounds were full of activity as the big termites came out of the ground and took flight. The ducks eagerly grabbed at the clumsy termites, the birds swooped down and snatched them up, the lizards were quick to get the ones on the ground and our kids were not to be left out.  They ran into the house to get their empty containers, returned to the busiest dirt mound they could find and grabbed them by the handfuls. About an hour later, when the excitement wore off and the termites were retreating to their underground homes, the kids sat on the steps and de-winged their stash of "kumbikumbi", (flying termites) to get them ready for the frying pan. That evening the kids enjoyed a batch of freshly fried kumbikumbi.

Enjoying their snack after their hard work of collecting them.

Two weeks later we had a couple more hard rains and the kumbikumbi were out in abundance once more. In fact, this time they came for 3 days straight, more than I'd ever seen. The kids filled a 4-liter container! Well, that probed to be a bit much so they gave a lot of them away to the grateful guards.

Enough about bugs...

Kigoma is right on Lake Tanganyika and the port is a busy place. From our house we can hear the horns of the big boats as they arrive from Zambia and DR Congo and also the whistle blowing from the trains as they arrive from the western coast of Tanzania.

Kigoma port.

For Thanksgiving some 30 people came over to our place and we all enjoyed a feast and we thanked God for his provisions and blessings in our lives. We are also thankful for this community of missionaries that we meet with regularly for fellowship, encouragement and teaching.

Thanksgiving.

Kids' table.

Living by the lake, it provides for a great get-a-away as a family. Our kids enjoy the water and all the fun that it brings. Even Aaron, has lately been enjoying looking for small fish with his little net.

Esther and her friend jumping from the rocks.

I have been enjoying the beautiful colors that come with the rainy season. Everything is fresh and green and bursting with new life.

Colors in our yard.

November Update

Hello dear praying friends,

One more week until graduation. We have been going full speed ahead ever since we arrived back in Kigoma about 4 and a half weeks ago. Luke has been teaching at the discipleship course since our arrival and has 2 more classes before the final exam. Gina has been working hard with the girls to get as much homeschool done as possible before our extended Christmas break. Esther will be turning 11 years old on Dec. 8 and we plan to have a birthday party at the beach on Saturday (Remember, it’s not cold here).

Lord willing, on Wed. Dec. 13, 2017 eight students will be graduating from the Disciples of Jesus school here in Kigoma town. We will celebrate and praise the Lord with them at the graduation ceremony. The following day we drive 13+ hours to the big city of Mwanza to catch our flight to Dar on Friday. Then, on Saturday, we will attend the graduation of our good friend Peter Yamungu from the Missions School where he has been studying for the past 8 months. His desire is for he and his family to be a missionaries to the mostly unreached tribe of the Wataturu. On Sunday we fly to Bolivia for Christmas, new year, and Christopher Mattix’s wedding in January. We will begin our travels back to Tanzania at the end of January.

Fourteen of the youth from the town church are taking a short missions trip to Burundi. Please pray for unity and love among the group, effectiveness in their ministry, and safety in their travels.

Please pray for us:

- In all the busyness that we would make time each day to draw near to God through His Word and prayer

- For strength to finish strong

- For the graduates that they would serve the Lord with all their hearts

- For the youth group trip to Burundi

- For safety and patience in our travels

In this season may we remember to bless our gracious God for sending His indescribable gift to us, through Whom we enjoy eternal life and ALL blessings!

Merry Christmas to you and your families,

Luke, Gina, Esther, Emily, Aaron and Michael Johnson

What a trip!

Just wanted to let you know that we arrived safely in Kigoma. What a trip!

The train pulled in at 7:20 pm on Friday. That was way earlier than we thought and a nice bonus to be able to be in our house before 8 pm and sitting down for a supper (that was all prepared in advance by our house helper, Grace). We were all bathed or showered and in our beds shortly after that. Boy, did it feel good to sleep in our own beds. Of course we were all up around 2 am. Emily walked right past me in the hallway with her Bible and into the living room at one point, while I put the boys down for the 16th time. She matter-of-factly tells me that she’s going to read her bible now. Well, I reminded her of the time and that she had to wait for the sun to come up first if she wanted to be out of bed!

It’s just amazing to think that everything went as planned, the car trip, with meeting up with Larry at SeaTac to get our two suitcases and giving him the car, and then onto 3 long flights, the luggage all arriving in Dar, and then our train tickets waiting for us at the motel where we stayed before getting on the train. We had no idea how it would all turn out. We prayed that God would just make things happen because a lot of things were out of our control.

While in Newark, we decided to use the smartphone one last time to check for any new e-mails. So we found a place to sit and charge it for a bit and then we fired it up. The first e-mail that caught our attention was from the man in Dar who had purchased our train tickets… well he said that something urgent had just come up so he was not able to meet us at the train station as planned. So where should he have the tickets sent? Wow, we hadn’t thought of that sudden change. And we had to think fast. So that is how the train tickets ended up at our motel. We had already made reservations at this hotel for one night so we figured it was the safest place to have something like tickets be dropped off.

God protected and guided every step of the way. I had prayed that the luggage wouldn’t arrive. You see I had visions of us arriving at a very crowded Dar Es Salaam train station with 6 pieces of checked luggage, all of our carry on back packs and our 4 kids, ... in the pouring rain. I figured it’d be simpler to have the airline figure out how to get our luggage to Kigoma if they misplaced it and all we had to deal with was our carry ons and the kids. But our luggage did arrive, and the moment of checking into the train station wasn’t as chaotic as it could have been. And it did rain very hard, but not until we were settled into our cabin!

All of our checked bags fit under the bunks, and the two carry ons were used by the boys to stand on and look out the window. So it wasn’t too crowded on the train after all.

So today we are busy unpacking and organizing. It rained in the night and it has stayed overcast all day so it’s nice to have cooler weather. And the cooler weather meant that our beach day was cancelled, and just as well as we have so much to do to get this place ship-shape.

Luke begins teaching on Monday. Tomorrow we will see everyone at the local church. The kids have had a chance to pick guavas and eat fresh mangoes, now they are catching up with the neighbor kids.

And I need to prepare supper.
Bye for now.
Gina for the family

Getting comfortable for a night at SeaTac, or uncomfortable.

The calm train station... maybe it's because we were more than an hour early!

Back on the train, feels so familiar...  it's only our 4th time this year!

First african meal on the train. Dig in!

Lake Tanganyika, at last!

October News

Family News

 As a family we have been in the US since August. We have had a chance to visit family and friends on the west coast. Luke has been able to share numerous times about the ministries in Tanzania to a few churches as well. In all of this the Lord has blessed us immensely by providing for our needs and protecting us on the many travels. You can pray for Harry and Ruth Johnson as they carry the burden alone back in Kigoma. We look forward to our return in November. Luke will begin teaching our first Monday back and the girls will begin the full load of 2nd and 5th grade. 

Discipleship School

The school hasn't skipped a beat in our absence and is under the capable supervision of brother Japhet. Harry Johnson is currently teaching on the End Times.

Pray for the students to be diligent in this last trimester of classes and to finish strong. We hope to have some 10 men and women graduating the middle of December, Lord willing.

Special Prayer

We ask that you pray for us as we continue to seek the Lord in regards to a property that was purchased for the use of the Discipleship School. After 2 years of visiting the local land office, we have not made any headway so we are weary and discouraged. However, we want to trust God and ask that He work a miracle in all this if He so wills.

Blessings in Christ,

  Luke and Gina Johnson