Thank you so much for your continuing thoughts and prayers on my behalf. God is truly faithful…even when we are faithless. We continually see His hand in the various aspects of our ministry.
By way of update, I think I mentioned in a previous email a young couple in Arusha that we have become pretty good friends with and who have shown much interest recently in learning more about the Bible. Well, from the 1st to the 4th of this month we made one of our periodic trips to Arusha and I was blessed to be able to give them some great discipleship books on that I received for them from my parents. Continue to pray for Glen and Ivy. We are always blessed when we go to Arusha as it means access to a better internet connection, getting some much-needed supplies, making sure our motorcycle maintenance schedule is up to date, and “resting”. For some reason, we never seem to be very successful with the “resting” part but some of those other opportunities make up for that…besides, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to rest when we get to Heaven. J
We arrived back here at the school in Mbulu on Sunday, May 4th, and on Wednesday had the opportunity to do an afternoon Jesus film showing at a village primary school about 1 ½ hours drive from here. Despite all the showings we have done over the past year and a half, it was another experience that is hard to describe. Not only were the young students thrilled to have us but many people from the surrounding villages came, too! As a result, there was standing room only in the cramped classroom, and everyone else stood in the doorway, peeked in the windows, or sat in adjacent classrooms simply listening to the words even though they couldn’t see the screen. While the setting wasn’t much different than what we regularly find ourselves in, it also seemed strange to be reminded of the fact that, for some of these kids, we are the first white people they have ever seen. We sure have some amazing experiences!!
Back here at Waama, this past week, I was the “teacher on duty”. That has its own challenges as this includes overseeing work in the fields, directing the students in their daily chores (i.e. cutting grass, tending the school’s pigs, cutting firewood for the cooks, helping prepare food, cleaning the buildings on campus, etc.), managing special projects, making sure the sick people are taken care of, holding the night guards to their schedule, etc., etc. Thankfully, I made it through the week without anyone dying due to sickness or starving to death. We took a series of pictures that I hope to get up on the blog soon. It should give you a pretty good idea of what goes on during one of our afternoons of work. For now, I attached just one. It is all a cultural, learning experience for me!
This weekend we had our “Spiritual Meetings” for this semester. It was a blessing to be able to have 3 different guest speakers on campus and be challenged especially with regards to the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. It was an especially good reminder when one of the speakers said, “It is not the knowledge of a person (pastor, evangelist or teacher) or even his skill with words that brings about change in another person’s heart. Changing a person’s heart is the work of the Holy Spirit.”
May God continue His work in the heart of each one of us! Thank you again for your part in this work! Until next time…
God’s richest blessings to you!
In Him,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
