As missionaries, our first priority is to take the Gospel to small Moslem villages. We have lived in Tanzania since 1987 and have held numerous children’s campaigns in many different parts of Tanzania. We have a trailer and we bring our own equipment such as platform, a generator and sound equipment.
There are a vast number of villages, and though we would like to go to all of them, it is an impossible task. We still haven’t been to the same place twice.
We have built a school called “Amani Nursery and Primary School” for 500 students. Recently it was handed over to the Africans for them to run it independently.
We have in 2012 built another school “Tumaini”, which currently has 280 students.
We also built a home for vulnerable children, which at present accommodates 30 children.
We have built a church in the slums of Arusha. In the morning hours the building is used for pre-school children and has 97 pupils. In the afternoons there is a sewing class for women with AIDS in the building.
We have built a church in the Masai district, and we bring food to the poor people, who have no food. We also dug five wells for the Masais.
We built a church in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. In this area, young students cried out for a church. The church started in April, 2009 from scratch with only the pastor, his wife and their three daughters. In July of the same year 85 people gathered for an ordinary service.
We have built houses for all our co-workers, to provide them with a good place to live. Salaries are not high in Tanzania, so our goal is to give all our co-workers a place to live in the future. We also pay for their children’s schooling as well as their medical bills.
That way, we feel we have done all we can for them. When we leave for good, they will have a roof over their heads, and do not need to worry about a high rent.
The father disappeared and they have had no contact with him for several years. Ruth is a bright girl in school. Her school decided to sponsor her schooling because they are really poor. For various reasons the school recently shut down and Ruth had to find another school.
The mother cannot afford to send Ruth to another school. Ruth’s grandfather is a Maasai and he wants to have her back in Maasai land. He does not want a girl to get eductaed, but instead follow the Maasai traditions for girls: to be married. Maasais think that only boys should get educated.
Ruth’s mother told me that Ruth’s grandfather had received an offer from an elderly, wealthy Maasai who wanted to pay a very large dowry in the form of many cows in order to marry Ruth. Ruth had been desperate because she wanted to stay in school, get her education and choose her husband when the time was ripe. For this reason the mother and Ruth came to our office asking for help.
We trusted God and sent Ruth to a good, Christian school where she is thriving.
We received a sponsor who will support her until Form 4 is completed. But Ruth wishes to continue for another two years and graduate from High School. If any of you would like to support Ruth for a few more years please write us or send a gift to our missions account. Please earmark it “Ruth”.
