Life has been going very well for us here in Tanzania. I hope it has been going well for you as well. We continue to be very busy here. The second term is in full swing here at Waama. Jesse and I enjoy teaching more and more each day as we become more fluent in Swahili. It is exciting for us to get to know some of the students better and hear their life stories. There are so many amazing people here.Our ministry here in Tanzania has two parts: first, to encourage the Church by supporting Waama Bible College through teaching and equipping; second, to encourage the Church by making weekend trips to local congregations to teach and preach and also to show the Jesus Film. Many of our weekends have already been filled with traveling to students' home congregations, visiting their homes (very important in this culture), preaching on Sunday morning, and showing the Jesus Film in the local dialect. This has brought us and many local churches much joy as we can facilitate the sharing of the Gospel in their own language. Take this past weekend, for instance...
We went to a small church about a three hours drive from the Bible School. We arrived there on Friday evening and immediately set up for an outdoor Jesus Film showing. We have found this to be a good means for evangelism as non-believers can slip in and slip out without being noticed because of the darkness. We were very encouraged to have 200 people show up who heard and saw the Gospel in their own mother tongue. This was one of the larger crowds we had ever had. The next day (Saturday), Jesse and I took part in a Youth Conference that was going on at the church. In the evening we again set up for another Film showing. Showing in the same place two nights in a row made us skeptical about what sort of turn-out we'd get. We started the Film and then left to get some supper. When we came back, we found about 600 people spell-bound by the message of the Gospel. It was absolutely amazing! After the Film ended, the pastor got up, spoke, and prayed with the crowd. It was an invigorating time. The next day, we went to the Sunday morning service and then returned home that afternoon.
The picture of the Jesus Film showing that brought 600 people this past weekend. There were probably 30-40 more rows of people standing behind the people you can see. Pictures can't do something like this justice, but its worth a small idea anyway... (In the bottom right is our projector and VCR.)
Many of our weekends are spent doing Jesus Film showing trips like this last one. Though usually not this many people come, it is a great blessing for us to be able to share the Gospel in this way. Many of the students have requested that we come to their village to show the Film. In fact, we are booked through the end of April including five weeks in a row, starting the first weekend of March. Would you pray for us and these showings? These showings have tremendous potential for encouraging the church as well as doing evangelism. Thanks.
Ben
