Greetings once again from the beautifully warm country of Tanzania! It is hard to believe summer is already over and even harder to believe all that has happened since I last sent an update like this. God truly blessed my time away from Tanzania and I am especially thankful to have been able to see many of you.
For those that don’t know, my summer “break” included time not only in Washington with my family, but also time in Oregon, California, North Carolina, Georgia, Australia, and Brazil. Actually, in some ways it feels like I needed to come back to Africa to rest but, nonetheless, I would not have traded any of the opportunities I had for anything.
To briefly summarize, after arriving home on the 4th of July, I spent my first week in Arlington, Washington with most of my immediate family. My second week was spent in Astoria, Oregon working back at my old desk at LEKTRO, Inc. My third week included an amazing vacation in Eastern Washington with my good friend Eric Paulson, all my brothers as well as my sister, Esther, and several other friends. Immediately following that trip, my brother, Joe, and I headed off for our trip to California and Australia made possible by a friend in the airline industry and some frequent flier miles. We returned from that trip on the 15th of August and already on the 21st of August I was again on a plane, this time headed to Brazil for a LEKTRO business trip. Thankfully, that trip was followed-up by another week back at home in Arlington and those days were followed up by a trip back to North Carolina to visit my sister, Sarah, along with her husband and two boys. However, as evidence to the fact that my self-diagnosis of having both A.D.D. and hyperactivity is accurate, I scheduled some ministry related business into the middle of that trip. This took the form of a road-trip down to Atlanta, GA where I met with the staff of Renew World Outreach, the organization responsible for developing the solar-powered audio/video units used in remote villages for showing the Jesus Film. In fact, I was blessed to have been provided with the money to be able to pick up two more of these units (in addition to the one unit we already have over here in Tanzania). Ben and I are quite excited to put these three units into the hands of local evangelists as early as possible this school year in order to attempt to nationalize the Jesus Film ministry we have been carrying on over the past three years. I returned from my trip to the East Coast on the 17th of September and enjoyed some final days with all my siblings together until it was time to board a plane again heading back here to Tanzania on the 25th.
So, God blessed me with a full and productive summer. In some ways I feel like I am still trying to absorb all that happened but it is good to be back here in Africa. God blessed both Ben and me with safe travel and, though Ben was delayed a couple of days, we are now both here in Arusha and praise God that all our luggage arrived safely as well. These days have been full of preparations for the coming months out in Mbulu. We plan to make the trip that direction this Sunday afternoon so that we can have a few days to get our house put together. As the schedule stands, students should begin arriving on Wednesday, the 7th, and classes should begin the following Monday, October 12th. As we look towards the coming year, please pray for these specific requests:
- Wisdom as we both teach various classes – some for the first time.
- Protection as we travel in this environment on our dirt bikes.
- Blessing on the students who will be studying at Waama this year.
- A prompt and blessed start to the school year.
- Direction and wisdom as we seek to establish these three national Jesus Film teams equipped with the new equipment we have returned with.
Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. I am always amazed as I am home each summer and experience the love and support so many of you show. May God continue to bless you all in your specific calling. I look forward to keeping in touch in the year ahead. Keep up the great work!
In Christ’s service,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
