Dear Co-Workers:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, He hears us." I John 5:14
Welcome to November! Yes, in just a few short weeks, the year of 2012 will be history. Our family is fine and we hope you are too. On October 31, the kids invited some friends over, dressed up in costumes and went to the co-missionaries houses (Staffords and Hochdorfs) to present them some cookies (but also got candy in return).
Last week, the government announced there would not be any more water for 3 days so whatever was in the storage sim tanks had to last. We ended up buying a truck load of water for about $80 to tide us over (no pun intended...water..."tide" us over). People pay one year in advance for government water but there is no guarantee you will have it everyday.
The electricity has been off quite a bit for the past few days. But, we are glad that we have had three really good rains. We're not sure what is going on again but, local gas stations in Kisongo have been out of diesel for the past three days...so our van (which is extremely low on gas) has been parked. Maybe there will be gas tomorrow before church or we will be crowded into Jimmy's car. So...no water, no electricity, no diesel!
Allie Reed (visitor from Oklahoma) has been busy going to Bible studies and working some with the children at Arusha. Unfortunately, she has been having a tooth problem and will probably end up with a root canal. Fortunately, we have a great dentist here experienced in doing painless (?) root canals!
Our ACSOP student spotlight is on Peter Ang'atta Were, age 59. Very tall and thin, Peter is married with 5 children (three are his late brothers' children he is raising...very common in Africa). He was formerly of the New Apostolic Church in Uganda. Peter's favorite class was "God's Eternal Kingdom" taught by Wayne Burger in 2007. Scheduled to graduate with his Master's degree this month, Peter is already a great asset to the church.
Our family was asked to bake a birthday cake and come to the party for 1-year-old "Pray God," son of Rehema. Outside twenty-six neighborhood children were singing "Happy Birthday" when we arrived! Counting the adults, thirty-four people crammed into the mud hut living room (10 x 12) ...also remember there was a normal size couch, arm chair, straight chair and small coffee table taking up space in this room. It was a very sweet time and everyone made us feel very welcome. Little Pray God did not know what to think about everyone singing and being in his house!
The TZ 2000 Mission Work began in 1998 under the oversight of Kensington Woods in Hattiesburg, MS. If you are interested in receiving their bi-monthly newsletters (to learn even more about everything going on) please contact Mary Kay Stickroth at mkstickroth@att.net. Also, the TZ 2000 General Fund is in the red for the last month of the year. The goal is to raise $25,000 in the next 30 days. If you can see your way clear to help with this, it would be greatly appreciated (This is different from our own personal needs that we have written about in recent weeks). If you or your congregation can help, please send your contribution to Kensington Woods. The address is on the first page of this report.
In Christ, The Gees