It has been another busy couple weeks since I last wrote! First of all, I want to thank you for your prayers for the weekend of spiritual meetings we had back at the beginning of this month. It was a blessed opportunity to be reminded of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We also had a great time with our guests from Bildoy Bible School in Norway (March 10-15). We had a total of about 35 students who came in two separate groups over a period of those 5 days. A lot of work fell on Ben during that time as he was the “teacher on duty” but everything came together well and it was a time of encouragement for all involved. Pray that the time these students have had here in Tanzania and Kenya would have a lasting impact on them and their relationship with God for years to come.
After the last of the guests left on that Monday morning (the 15th), we had only the remainder of that week to finish up our classes for this semester. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of work in the fields that needed to be done knocking down weeds between the rows of corn…all 16 acres of it. So, classes were canceled as the students spent the 15th-17th in the field. Fortunately, we still had Thursday and Friday to finish teaching our classes and do our final reviews in preparation for finals which will start today (March 22nd). Pray for the students as they finish this semester and have only 2 short weeks at home with their families over Easter break.
Another recent blessing we received was a visit over this past weekend from some of our good friends – Eivind (the MAF pilot based in Arusha), together with his fiancé, Nadia (from Israel), and Nadia’s younger sister, Neli. They had a free weekend so decided to come see where we live and we were happy to have friends come and celebrate with us the fact that we have finished teaching for this semester. They came Friday evening and left yesterday after church (Sunday, March 21st). Eivind is one of the coolest missionary I have ever known. He just has such a great heart, is so much fun, plus they came is his soft-top Land Cruiser and brought the meat of a Thompson gazelle that he got a few months ago. So, over the course of the weekend, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of Waama, did some motorcycle riding, made a trip up to the waterfalls near our house to do some swimming together, and then had a totally excellent dinner of barbequed game meat. I will attach a picture of the five of us with Eivind’s sweet ride in front of our house. (L to R: Jesse, Neli, Eivind, Nadia, Ben)
Please pray for the students as they do their finals for the semester (March 22-24) and then as Ben and I make our way to Arusha on the 25th (Ben’s 27th birthday). Ben’s fiancé will be arriving in Arusha on the 26th to spend Easter break here. Pray also as she and Ben make a trip up to spend some time with Ben’s brother and his family in Uganda and as I spend that time at a workshop in Kenya for staff of East African Bible schools. Pray also for our upcoming third and final semester to begin on the 12th of April. During this final semester I will be teaching four classes: English to a mixture of students from each of the three courses, The Pastoral Epistles (1-2 Timothy, Titus) to the first-year students, 1 Corinthians to the second-year class, and Introduction to Evangelism also to our second-year students. Please pray for me as I begin to prepare for these classes even during our time away from Waama over Easter break. I certainly continue to covet you prayers for my future beyond Tanzania as well.
As I close, I want to wish you all a blessed Easter season and thank you again for your interest in and participation with this ministry. You mean more to me than I could tell you. May God richly bless you!
In Christ,
Jesse Long
Mbulu, Tanzania
