It is hard to believe the last time I wrote third semester had not even started…and now it is already well underway. God blessed us with a good break for Easter and a safe return here to Waama on the 20th of April. As an item of praise, I am happy to report that classes actually started up later that same week on the 23rd. At that point, many of the students had still not returned from Easter break but a prompt start was important for the sake of those who had (not to mention the shortness of this 3rd semester).
Unfortunately, there are still several pictures from our time off that I have not yet been able to post to the blog. For now, I will include this one. It is from the wedding I was able to be a part of on the 18th between two of our good friends who live in Arusha but are of Indian descent. It was a good time and the happy couple is off to a great start.
With regards to our work here, classes are going well and we are both enjoying what we are teaching. The new classes require a bit of work and preparation time but it is fun to be learning right along with the students.
Our schedule has also been busy with weekend village ministry. Our first weekend after break (April 24-25), we held two very well-attended showings in the region of Antsi, near the Waama campus. That weekend we were also fortunate to have some Norwegian friends visit from Arusha who wanted to experience a Jesus film showing. In addition to the 1000-1200 people who were in attendance that weekend, we were blessed this past weekend (May 1-3) to be in the region of Magang where we held two more film showings with a total attendance of around 800 people. On Saturday night we again had foreign guests join us out in the village but this time 4 girls who are currently volunteering at a mission hospital in the area – 2 from Amsterdam and 2 from Canada. It is always fun to have the company of other “whities”. Later that night, around 12:30pm when the film showing was over and we were preparing to call it a day, one of our students (an evangelist who lives in that area and was with us on the trip) came asking if we could take his wife to the hospital as she was ready to give birth!! Since Ben and I were the only drivers along for the weekend, it delayed me in getting to bed for a couple more hours but it was some fun excitement. We have not yet heard if the baby has actually been born but it had still not come by the time church was out later that morning. It just so happened that day was also my 29th birthday, which I thought was pretty cool and when I told the evangelist he said, “Well, if it’s a little boy, we’ll have to name him Jesse!”
Continue to pray for Waama and the progress of the electricity project here. The transformer that we have been waiting for has still not arrived but we will continue to move forward as we are able and are very excited about seeing all this completed as soon as possible. Thanks so much to each one of you who has given to this project.
I am looking forward very much to my fast-approaching time in the States. Most of all, I hope to see as many of you as possible. Thank you so much for your on-going love and support as we work here. Keep up the good work where you are, too! God bless you all.
In Christ,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
