I am happy to report that I am back in Tanzania safe and sound and all my bags even made it!! God really blessed my time in the States and I was so blessed to be able to see many of you and get caught up on what is going on in your lives. Ben also had a blessed summer break spending the first half with his parents and younger brother in Brazil and the second half with his brother, Nate Jore, and his family where they work as missionaries in Uganda. He returned here to Tanzania by bus this past Monday (September 29th) and was at the airport to meet me when I arrived the following evening.
We are thankful for God’s many blessings – for His protection and blessing over these past couple months, for the opportunities we both recently enjoyed to see family and friends, for all of you who so faithfully pray for and support us in this work, for bringing us back here safely, and for all He has in store for the year ahead.
As some of you may know, I brought with me from the States a new piece of equipment called a Vista 444 which is part of a new work we look forward to launching this year. The Vista 444 is a totally self-contained unit which includes a DVD player, video projector, speakers, battery pack, as well as a solar panel to charge the battery pack. The unit weighs less than 20 pounds, can easily be transported by bicycle or even on someone’s back and most importantly is operated with virtually no expense. In addition to all this, we estimate this unit is capable of film showings to crowds of as many as 500 or 600 people! Our goal is to equip local evangelists or national evangelistic teams with units like this so they will be able to carry out (even without us) the type of campaigns and crusades we have been involved with over the past two years. I could go on for a long time about why I am so excited about this project but I will save it for another time. For now, please just pray that we would have wisdom as we embark on this new adventure and also check out our blog (http://benandjesse.blogspot.com) where I have posted some new pictures of us and the Vista 444.
In addition to this new project, we look forward to continuing again this year with our work of teaching at Waama Bible School and will also continue to use our own equipment to do village ministry and Jesus film showings on the weekends as we have opportunity. It is going to be a busy year and we are so grateful for your part through prayers and support.
Since we arrived here in Arusha, we have been picking up supplies for the next couple months, organizing and preparing our things for transport to Mbulu (some was even sent today with a vehicle that was passing by where we live), and taking care of other necessary evils like renewing the license, registration, and insurance on my motorcycle. We have also had opportunity to visit with several of our acquaintances in this city including our good Norwegian friend, Eivind, who we saw yesterday. For those that don’t remember, Eivind is a missionary pilot here in Tanzania (working with Mission Aviation Fellowship) and was the one injured in a motorcycle crash shortly before we left on summer break. It was so good to see him back at work and completely recovered, except for some minor stiffness. He thanks you all for your prayers. His motorcycle is for sale.
There is a new Dean at Waama! Interestingly, he is also the one who originally invited us to come to work in Tanzania. He has actually served in this position before but spent the past couple years finishing up his Master’s Degree so we look forward to formally working with him for the first time this coming year. We have been in touch with him since our return and anticipate classes starting on the 16th of this month. We plan to be here in Arusha until early next week finishing up our various projects. At that point, we look forward to getting moved back into our house at Waama and, at some point, making the 2 hour trip from there to the regional immigration office to renew our residency permits before the school opens. Our current residency permits are good through January but we do not anticipate having another chance to work on renewal before that time.
I am going to finish here for today. Thanks for reading. Again, I was so blessed over this summer by the love and generosity of so many of you. I wish I could write personal letters like this to each one of you but we all know that is not an option. In any case, please know that I am grateful for each one of you and cherish your friendship. God bless you!! You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
