Greetings from Waama Bible School where the rains have picked up and it looks like the harvest this year will be good. Unfortunately the rain is very localized this year. Some places (as close as 20 minutes away) have received virtually no rain while other places have received plenty.
Thankfully Waama is one of those places that has received plenty.
Second semester is almost over already! Time is flying, no two ways about that. Our classes are going very well for the most part. My class on Isaiah has proved difficult, mostly due to the immensity and intensity of the subject matter. But even this class has picked up a lot in recent weeks. My remaining classes (Biblical History, 1-2 Thessalonians, and English) are going great and I really love the students. God is so good.
In other news here at Waama, the dean has been working on reorganizing the authority structure here at Waama. As it turns out, I was asked to be the "Academic Dean" and head up the Academic department. This sounds a lot more glamorous than it is. The department's first job has been to update which classes are offered for each year (as far as I know it hasn't been updated since the late 70's or early 80's!). Once this is standardized, we will then start working on writing a syllabus/requirements for each class and hopefully sometime we'll get around to compiling all of this into a school catalog. It is a daunting task, but Jesse and I are confident that, when completed, it will be a huge step forward for the school. Please pray for wisdom for all the decisions that need to be made - many of which will impact the school for many years to come.
**Electricity Update** I was hoping that I would have a little more to update on, but things are moving at an "African" pace. The power company had been complaining that we were taking too long to rewire the campus.
Immediately after Waama got enough money, they hired an electrician who succeeded in quickly rewiring the main academic building (classrooms, faculty offices, library, and chapel) and the cafeteria. Then we waited for the power company to hook the school up to national power. Turns out they couldn't hook us up until the main transformer came from Dar es Salaam (a 2-day journey from Waama). A couple weeks after we finished rewiring those two buildings, we received news that the transformer arrived in Mbulu (nearest city 5 miles away)! All we needed was for them to hook up the transformer and throw the switch and 2 buildings on campus would be on the national power grid! Everybody was excited about this huge step. Then the power company's truck broke down (they only have one truck, a flatbed which services the whole state). So we've been waiting for the past 3 weeks for the truck to get fixed. We're still waiting. So at present still no electricity, but we are hopeful that before March is over something will happen. We praise God that funds continue to come in to help cover the rewiring of the remaining buildings on campus (4 dormitories, 7 staff houses, the pump house, and various small buildings). Thanks to each of you who has shared in this project through your prayers and gifts.
Since my last update, Jesse and I have gone on 4 weekend Jesus Film trips and shown the Film 8 times to an estimated 1900 people! We were also able to teach 3 seminars and preach each weekend we were gone. It has been exhausting, but we really love this ministry. Each weekend we take a number of students with us. We enjoy ministering with our students and getting to know them in this way. Its such a blessing to see so many people get to see Jesus in their mother tongue. Our final Jesus Film showing for this semester is scheduled for Friday night.
Thank you for keeping this ministry in your prayers.
May God bless each of you this Lent and Easter season!
Ben
Mbulu, Tanzania
