Quote Of The Week: "For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10
WHOSE CATTLE? The Masai tribe believes that God gave them all the cattle. Supposedly they will steal cattle from other tribes, but do not consider it "stealing" because of their belief that it was theirs in the first place!
ANDREW CONNALLY SCHOOL OF PREACHING: The new quarter for the English Program begins tomorrow with fourteen students enrolled. Classes being taught are "How We Got the Bible" (Jimmy Gee), "Hermeneutics" (Sean Hochdorf), "Spiritual Disciplines” (Ahimidiwe Kimaro), "Genesis" (Charles Heberth) and "Basic English & Writing Skills" (Trina Gee).
"THEY HAVE DEVOTED THEMSELVES FOR MINISTRY TO THE SAINTS..." On Saturday, Gage Coldwater and the Wagner family began the return journey to their respective homes (Texas and Chimala, Tanzania). We enjoyed all the fellowship and laughs! Our deep appreciation is extended to Chad and Gage for their time and effort in teaching "Romans" and "Raising Rabbits & Tilapia"!
KISONGO BIBLE SCHOOL (for the "person in the pew" four evenings a week) begins new classes tomorrow. "Joshua, Judges and Ruth" taught by Ahimidiwe Kimaro, "How We Got the Bible" by Jimmy Gee, "Prison Epistles" by Michael Mitalami and "Reading and Writing KiSwahili" by Paulina Martin. Esther is a non-Christian who desires to learn God's Word but is struggling to read (and speak) KiSwahili. Sent away from home when young, she never learned the common language of Tanzanians, presently knowing only her tribal language. Sadly, Esther cannot even write her name and is a student in Paulina's class. Paulina and I will be studying the Bible with Esther and her friend.
THE BENEFITS OF ATTENDING WORSHIP was the title of the bulletin board Trina "designed" (using that word loosely). Doing the hands-on work was Heather, Happiness and Candace. The benefits listed are the opportunities to: Listen to God's Word, Praising God as a group, Being encouraged to live as a Christian, seeing good examples and hearing all the news of others.
UPDATE ON GRACE: Abigail's friend, Grace, recently became a Christian but was not attending services. Grace had not yet told her parents about her baptism. At the urging of Abigail, Grace asked permission to attend the services that morning (her mom said "yes"). However, she left for boarding school yesterday so we won't see her for awhile. Since official home-schooling is not allowed (people without jobs are exempt from paying the fees to school their children but parents with jobs must send their child to school), the church should seize the opportunity to establish Christian schools in Tanzania (the only one known is in Chimala). Please pray for plans under discussion concerning this very topic. The Tanzanian National Curriculum actually requires the teaching of certain Bible subjects in their schools. Oh, the opportunities!
TODAY IN WORSHIP: Jimmy taught the New Converts, Trina taught the ladies and Abigail, the children's class (Walls of Jericho). At the new congregation in White Rose, evangelists David Bayi and Ahimidiwe Kimaro will be teaching/preaching (Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights).
OPEN WIDE! Trina recently had a second root-canal procedure due to an ill-fitting cap on a neighboring tooth...which needed a root canal a few weeks earlier. {Teenagers: The fillings you get when you are 13-18 years old will not last forever and may start crumbling in thirty years, sometimes requiring a root canal. So brush and floss now or you will pay for it later in more ways than one!}
ANGIOEDEMA? I didn't know the meaning of it until Elijah had an allergic reaction to an overdose of worm medication (Mebendazole). Thanks be to God that he only had a mild case causing his lips to swell (and not his tongue or throat). For more information, Google it on the internet.
LONG-TERM VISITOR: Alissa ("Allie) Reed has had several studies with Jane, the 15-year-old granddaughter of a new Christian (also named Jane). We appreciate her efforts and have enjoyed her company. Allie is a very caring and loving individual whom we will miss when she leaves (Feb. 22) but hope she returns.
HERE COMES THE BRIDE! Sixty-two days until our target departure date of April 14th. The needed furlough funds are now down to $10,000 (if the pledges come through)! We are so thankful that you are working to help us come home for the summer! Has anyone tried the idea of the "one dollar per person" contribution at their congregation? Every little bit helps! Please pray for the furlough fund-raising AND that our TZ children's immigration visas will be completed soon (Senator Bob Corker has tracked the progress, trying to help us leave on time). We truly need to buy our tickets soon to get the 11 seats needed. Time is of essence because we have some wonderful ceremonies to attend (graduations and our oldest son's wedding in May). THANK YOU!
May the Lord bless you for your concern, prayers and generosity. As we begin our ninth year in Africa (ten if you count our very first year in 2001 before starting our second term in 2005), WE THANK YOU for your participation in spreading the Gospel in East Africa. You are changing lives and giving hope to people who didn't have any. We love you and appreciate your sacrifices and are indebted to you!
With Love from Africa,
The Jimmy Gee family