God is good and I am excited to have many evidences of His goodness to report in this update!! I was just looking back at my last update and realized that I didn’t say much of anything about Tanzania. I guess it was more a report of my time away from Tanzania than anything.
Well, since that time, Ben arrived safely here in Tanzania. He was a couple days behind me due to a delay in Chicago but we are thankful that both of us ultimately arrived safely along with ALL of our luggage.
Ben and I met up in Arusha where we spent our first couple days picking up supplies for the coming semester and making sure our motorcycles were up-to-date with maintenance and in good shape after sitting unused for the past couple months. One praise is that Ben was able to acquire a different motorcycle from a Norwegian friend whose term here in Tanzania had come to an end. His ‘new’ bike is a 650cc (rather than his old 250cc) and is about 5 years newer, as well. With both of us having bigger bikes (see attached picture), we sure saw a difference in the travel time between Arusha and Mbulu. More importantly, however, is the peace of mind that results from having reliable motorcycles to drive. God is good. Another related praise is that Ben has already found a buyer for his old bike. It really was a miracle and came about without him needing to put up even one advertisement!!
So, we had a safe trip out to Waama. We arrived on the 4th of this month. Right away that week, we began having meetings with the other teachers to get things set for the school year ahead and especially for this first semester. In that first week we had 3 different teachers’ meetings and were able to set the start/finish dates for each of the three semesters, propose a date for this school year’s graduation, set the schedule for each semester’s finals, as well as divide up the teaching responsibilities for this semester. Another praise is that a third pastor has been brought on board to help teach this year. He is not full-time here at the school and is actually the pastor responsible for overseeing a nearby district of churches but this has its own set of blessings. Perhaps most significantly is that he receives his salary from his work in this neighboring district and the school gets the benefit of another teacher who they don’t have to pay but is still carrying a full load of classes. Again, God is good.
Anyway, it was good to get moved back into our house. Students began arriving on the 7th and classes started this past Monday, October 12th. This semester I am teaching ‘Evangelism’ (a 4-credit course), Philippians (a 2-credit course), English (a 2-credit class), and James (another 2-credit course).
I would like to ask you all to pray for the dean as he has been having some health issues. We actually have not even seen him yet as he has been in his home village of Haydom where there is a good-sized mission hospital. I am not exactly sure of what all he is dealing with but I know the problem has particularly affected his legs. My understanding is that he had surgery of some sort within the past couple weeks but is expected to make it out to Waama perhaps even this weekend. Again, please keep him in your prayers.
Perhaps the most significant praise is one that I have not yet mentioned. WE HAVE ELECTRICITY AT WAAMA!! God is so good. I received an email while I was still in the States that said the “power was turned on August 26th” but I had a hard time believing that it was true until I arrived here and saw it with my own two eyes. It is a whole new life. We still don’t have internet and virtually no cell phone network at our house but the step that has been taken is a good one. Thanks so much to all who had a part in this project!! The school will benefit from this progress for decades to come.
Well, I am sure there is much more that I could tell you but I think I will save it for next time. Thank you all so much for your ongoing prayers for us and support in so many ways. God is good and we are excited to be involved in His work in this part of the world.
God bless you all for your part.
In His service,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
