The Hanang Herald

2012 New Year . . .New Ministries

2012-01-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

2012 not only brought us a new calendar year but also new ministry opportunities. The Timothy House Boys Home was dedicated to the Lord on Jan. 8th by family and friends of the late Tim Hoffman, missionary to Canada. Tim had a tremendous influence on Steve as a youth and the Timothy House will be a ministry to impact young men during their high school years.There are 9 young men living at the Timothy House. Three are faithful church youth who are serving as leaders. It is our goal to continue to develop these young men in the area of leadership and ministry. The other 6 young men are all orphans from the surrounding area who are going to high school. It is our goal to reach them for Christ, disciple them, and mentor them to be dedicated followers of Jesus and leaders of tomorrow.We were also able to dedicate and start using our new classroom building for the Truth Learning Center on Jan. 9. These new classrooms will enable our school to continue to add a grade each year up to grade 7. Currently the school is up to grade 4 with over 120 students. In December we had our kindergarden graduation and end-of-the-year school program with many parents and visitors in attendance. The Basotu Baptist Church has a new church building that was dedicated to the Lord on Jan. 8. This church had been meeting in a rented building for over 2 years and is now ready to move forward on its' own land and in its' own building. The church also has new leadership as missionary Nate Wolf tranfered leadership to Tanzanian pastor Christopher. Christopher was saved and sent from the Truth Baptist Church in Katesh.We had a costume party in October, a Thanksgiving meal in November, and a Christmas party in December with missionary friends and Peace Corp Volunteers in our area. It was fun to have the fellowship and remember some good American tradtions like turkey, pumpkin pie, gift exchange, and football.
It is hard to believe that our "little girl" Hannah is 9 years old already. We celebrated her birthday in Katesh and in Arusha with missionary freinds. Her favorite present was a new sewing machine which she has enjoyed so far.
We had a great Christmas as a family and the kids had a blast opening their presents. Hannah's favorite was her new ipod, Caleb got a telescope, and Sarah some princess dolls.
After losing our long-time family dog Scout we decided to surprise the kids with two German Shepherd puppies. Lulu (Swahili for Pearl) and Taji (Swahili for Crown) have been a great addition to the Burkholder family although they already know how to open the front porch gate and steal our shoes!

The kids dressed and ready for the first day of school at Kweli Learning Center. Sarah will be going to nursery school this year.
Steve and Caleb got to go on safari with a missions group in January. They stayed in the bush and saw hundreds of elephants, giraffe, and lions.

Rejoicing in God's Blessings

2011-09-08T01:57:00.001-07:00

We have been experiencing God's blessings over the last few months of life and ministry here in Tanzania. Here are some highlights.We enjoyed some time as a family in August as we went to Nairobi and Arusha to pick up the Wolfs and Hendersons. We did some shopping and also went camping near Arusha National Park. We found a huge tree on the side of Mt. Meru that we literally drove our car through! The Truth Learning Center now has over 100 students and continues to grow. With the new classrooms now completed we are ready to add grades 4-7 in the years to come.

Natalie had a chance to participate and teach in a womens' conference which was attended by national missionary and pastors' wives in Morogoro and it was a blessing to fellowship with and minister to these special women.

While Natalie was at the ladies meeting Steve had the opportunity to go hunting in the African bush. (Kids stayed in Katesh with friends and fellow missionaries.) We saw a lot of wild game including 4 lions. We have a freezer full of hartebeest and warthog ready for the BBQ. The kids are growing up fast but it is exciting to see them take an interest in the ministry. Hannah likes to sing in the church praise team and both her and Caleb are starting to use puppets in our Sunday School. It is so awesome to minister with our kids and to hear them do it in Kiswahili.

There are no public parks or playgrounds in our area so our yard is becoming the neighborhood playground. The kids enjoy having their friends over to play in their new playhouse which we built together.

10 Years in Tanzania

2011-07-11T04:03:00.000-07:00

On July 4, 2001, we arrived in Tanzania for our first term. We praise the Lord for all that He has done the last 10 years. Below are some highlights of what He has been doing recently: Neema is a young lady who has been very faithful to our ministry over the last several years. She has a real heart for evangelism. She was recently married to a great Christian young man and is now living in Arusha. We will truly miss her and her faithful service in the church. We were able to see 2 other couples united in marriage in the church. Pius and his wife Anna and Paul and his wife Paulina had been married tradionally but wanted to recognize God in their marriage and get legally married in the church. We had a small ceremony and reception during our normal Sunday service.
The construction on the new classroom building for the Truth Learning Center is complete. We still need to do painting, electrical work, and have desks and other furniture made. Recently we have seen 11 students accept Christ as their Savior through the ministry of the school.

The construction on the Timothy House Boys Home is continuing. Please continue to pray that the construction goes smoothly and stays on schedule. Pray that God would bring us the right young men for this new ministry.
Rich and Rose are two of our Bible Institute students who have recently finished the first stage of the program which focuses on basic Bible knowledge and service in the local church. They will continue in the next stage which teaches more in-depth Bible doctrine and focuses on leadership in the local church. We now have 18 students who are studying in Bible Institute at the Truth Baptist Church.

Christopher was saved early in our ministry in Katesh. We have seen him grow spiritually and witnessed how God is using him. He has been working faithfully for over two years with missionary Nate Wolf in our first daughter church plant. He has taken a step of faith to move with his family to the village of Basotu in order to live closer to this ministry and better minister to the people there. We had a special service, offering, and prayer for him as we sent him off to do the work of the Lord.

In May we celebrated both of our birthdays (Steve and Natalie) and also our anniversery (14 years) by spending a few days in Zanzibar while the kids stayed with missionary friends in Arusha. We had a great time just the two of us.

Sarah turned two years old in June and she enjoyed her Winnie the Pooh cake and presents. She is getting so big and is starting to speak in English and Kiswahili.

Caleb had his 7-year-old birthday party in Arusha with missionary friends. We surprised him with a small party and gifts. He likes anything to do with NASA and outer space.

We celebrated July 4th with other Americans in our area (Peace Corps Volunteers) and had a cookout, played some basketball, and had good fellowship. Hannah loves having company just like her mom and can talk your ear off if you will let her.

Building Buildings and Lives, Bush Adventure.

2011-03-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

The new classroom building at the TRUTH Center is going up fast. Praise the Lord for this building project going smoothly so far and for the funds to complete it! It will be for grades 4-7 making our Christian school complete and will provide room to grow in the years to come.

The Timothy House Boys Home contruction is underway. This new ministry will target young men who are in need of housing during their secondary school years. The goal is to invest in their lives and to raise up young Timothys who will love and serve the Lord.

We are not only building buildings these days but are also blessed to see God building lives. We praise the Lord for 8 people who have trusted Christ recently and have made Jesus the foundation of their lives. Those who have accepted Christ have been through various ministries of the Truth Baptist Church such as the school ministry, our Sunday School ministry, and an outreach to the local government orphanage. Below is the 3rd grade class at Truth Learning Center, many of whom have trusted Christ as their Saviour.

Every year the missionaries of the Baptist Bible Mission of Tanzania get together for a week of fellowship, preaching, and strategic planning. This year we had a small group because of several missionaries being on furlough but we still had a great time.

This huge (12 feet long) snake was killed near the place we were having our team meeting. It is the largest snake we have seen in the wild.

I was pleased to hear that hunting season was extended to the end of March this year! After driving 4 hours into the bush from Arusha I was able to hunt Eland, Wildebeest, and Gazelle. There were so many animals that I could have shot them all from the same standing position. The area in which I hunted was in traditional Masai land at the base of the volcanic Mountain of God. (Visible in the picture behind me.) The Masai in this area are in desperate need for water and the young herders that you see in the picture were so thirsty they were drinking the bone marrow from the wildebeest's lower legs as we were field dressing it.

The kids (Hannah, Sarah, and Caleb) continue to grow and be such a blessing. God has blessed us with children who are obedient and who bring joy to us every day. It is hard to imagine what life would be like without them.

Back in Tanzania January-February 2011

2011-03-04T04:39:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in Tanzania for another term of service on December 31st, 2010, just a few hours before the New Year 2011. The following are some highlights of our first two months:

A missions group from Liberty Baptist Church in Canton, OH, ministered alongside local believers in the village of Basotu doing evangelism. Local tribal dancing gathered a crowd and the gospel was given.

The missions group also ministered together with local believers in Katesh in a children's outreach. Over 800 children received the gospel one afternoon. The group also ministered in two orphanages. The theme for 2011 for the Truth Baptist Church is "2011 . . . Going Forward Together". It was a blessing to see 3 people go forward in their spiritual lives following the Lord in believers baptism. Maria is a young lady who was saved at our youth meeting. Caleb was also baptized and gave a short testimony in Kiswahili.

2011 looks like it will be a year for building. We have 3 building projects starting this year. Below is the new classroom building for the Truth Learning Center. Construction is also starting on the Timothy House Boys Home and also the Basotu village church building. (More pictures coming soon.)

Hannah and Sarah showing off their smiles. Hannah is losing teeth and Sarah is getting more!

Back in the USA!

2010-09-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived in the USA in April, 2010 for "furlough". This is a time of rest, relaxation, and reporting to ministry partners. We have had a great time with family and friends and also seeing God work. The following are some highlights.

With Missionary Steve Saint at the missions conference at Canton Baptist Temple. Steve is the son of missionary martyr Nate Saint who was inducted into the Christian Hall of Fame during the conference along with the 4 others who who were killed in Ecuador.

There is nothing more American than riding a Harley Davidson! I was able to go on a motorcycle trip with the RPM ministry of Canton Baptist Temple. Thanks Robert!

Sarah enjoying her birthday cake at her 1 year old party at Grammys house.

Grammy and Papa (Burkholder) with their grandkids after a bike ride in Ohio.

Caleb turns 6 and parties with his American friends.

Sarah gets walking lessons from mommy. She is a now a walking tornado!

Hannah with her BFF's at day camp at camp CHOF!

Steve speaking at camp CHOF to over 100 middle school campers. There were many saved and spiritual decisions made.

We enjoyed the city of Chicago while reporting to churches in the area. We are above the city in a glass box on top of the "Sears" tower in Chicago. The city is literally below us.

Hannah and Caleb about to be drenched at a water park.

At Daytona beech in between church meetings.

While visiting a new church in Kentucky we had the chance to go to the Creation Museum. It was a great day of learning about God's creation and if you get a chance you should go.

Great Start to 2010

2010-02-27T05:55:00.000-08:00

We had a great start to 2010 and seen the Lord bless and provide in so many ways. Below are just some of the highlights. Thanks for your partnership and prayers.

In January we had a medical missions team come. They did a mosquito net project, two health seminars, and also a banquet for the health professionals in our area. Hundreds of people heard the gospel and were shown the love of Christ.

God has provided the funds for the completion of our classroom building which will enable our Christian school to continue to grow up to fourth grade. The school now has 4 classes and nearly 70 students.

God has provided the funds to purchase additional land next to the TRUTH Center for a new ministry called the Timothy House. This new ministry will focus on reaching and mentoring young men for Christ. We also hope to use the Timothy House to train young men in ministry. More news about this new ministry soon!

The Lord blessed with another missions trip, a group of 12 people from different churches and ministries. This trip was focused on children's ministries. There were visits to three different orphanages, work done at our school, and two special outreaches to children in Katesh and Basotu. Over 1500 children received the gospel.

We were able to visit a Barabaig village (Datooga) with the mission group and it turned out to be a great day. We met with the ladies, the elders, and the young people did traditional dances. (I even had a chance to get in on some of the dancing!) We talked with them about many things, and shared with them a few gospel songs that were recorded in their own language. The Lord could be opening a door for the gospel in this area. Please pray.

Our family continues to be blessed with good overall health and safety. Hannah enjoys playing dress up with her friends, Caleb enjoys playing on the new "monkey bars" they got for Christmas, and Sarah loves putting everything she can into her mouth!

Family News

2009-11-10T23:37:00.000-08:00

While the work and ministry here in Tanzania moves on so does our family life. Sometimes time is moving too fast. It seems like the children are growing and changing so much everyday that we are overdue to update everyone on their progress. So here goes...

HANNAH: Hannah will be 7 years old in about 3 weeks! Boy does that make her mom and dad feel old. She lost her first tooth on Sunday--she didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 months old so we weren't surprised that she was so late to begin losing them. Hannah was so excited, laughing her head off while blood ran down her chin! She is doing wonderfully in school. She is homeschooled 2.5 days a week and is in the first grade. She also goes to our school at the Kweli Centre 2.5 days a week and is in Standard 1. She loves both schools and is learning so much. She is quite the little leader of her gang of girls at the Kweli Centre. It will be a rude awakening next year when we go to the States and she's not the novelty that she is here!

CALEB: Caleb's big news is that he can now ride his bike without training wheels! Every Monday is Steve's day off and he spends the afternoon playing with the kids. Steve suggested two weeks ago that they take off Caleb's training wheels (Caleb is 5) and we were surprised Caleb went for the idea! He did so great, and was very proud of the bumps, bruises, and cuts all over his legs. He will be amazed when we are in the States next year and he can ride on pavement instead of rocks and dirt--it will feel like glass to him! He also is doing well in K-5.

SARAH: Sarah is now 5 months old and weighs a whopping15.5 pounds! She has started eating cereal and bananas now, so we expect her to continue to fatten up. We wish she would sleep through the night, but it's hard to get frustrated with such an adorable child!

NATALIE: I continue to work at the school 2.5 days a week, and homeschool Hannah and Caleb the other days. I'm thankful for my sister-in-law, Tricia, who is a great help to me at school so I don't have to carry the load alone. The Kweli Centre is Sarah's second home, and she even has her own bed/playpen there. She's like the school mascot! We are still trying to have ladies meetings at church each month, and I teach Sunday school and Bible club once a month too. I am looking forward to going to Morogoro and Dar-es-Salaam for Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping in a few days! It's hard to believe the holidays are almost upon us again! The kids are excited about getting out the decorations this weekend.

STEVE: Steve continues to do more than I thought humanly possible--preaching, teaching, traveling, dealing with government things, communicating with supporting churches, etc., yet still makes time for his family. He carries a heavy load, but does a great job and we are so thankful for him.

Hunting Trip 2009

2009-09-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

One of the great privileges that we can take advantage of living here in East Africa in the hunting. I was never a hunter in the US and the first time I shoot a rifle was here in Africa. I was not sure I would enjoy this hobby when I first started but after five years of hunting now here in Tanzania I can say I truly do enjoy being out in the “bush” and am learning more each time I go.

This past week I tried something that I had never done before and that was actually setting up camp in the bush in area we would go hunting. I was able to invite my missionary friend Vernon Smith on this trip and it was a great time of fellowship as we slept under the stars and cooked our own meals over the camp fire. We were about 2 ½ hours from Arusha and about 1 ½ from the main road leading from Arusha to Nairobi. It was very dry area and I can not even begin to explain the dust.

The first evening we set up camp but I did not sleep much do to the excitement of hunting the next day. We got up at 5:00 am and we were hunting with our three Masai game scouts and trackers by 6:00am. We were hunting for four animals which we had bought a license for . A warthog, eland, grant’s gazelle, and wildebeest. The warthog and eland were the priority as they had eluded me in previous years hunts. The Gazelle and Wildebeest were our back up animals so that we did not go away with anything.

While looking for fresh Eland tracks the guides yelled for us to stop the vehicle and as they spotted a warthog. He had come out of his whole in the ground just as we had driven by. He ran about 20 meters before stopping to look back. When he did it was a shot in the neck that had brought him down. 1 down and 3 to go, and it was only 7:00am.
While the guides skinned, gutted, and packed up the warthog, I took off with the main game scout in search for fresh eland tracks. Tracks where everywhere and soon we were on some tracks that looked recent. We followed these tracks through the deep dust for over an hour and before long, there they were, three Eland, the largest antelope. They immediately ran and we chased them on foot. They would stop to look back from time to time but never gave us a good shot. I decided to take a shot before they were lost again in the thick bush. It was about 200 meters away and it appeared it landed but after chasing them again we lost the tracks and there was no sign of blood. We decided to head back to the car and try again with some other tracks.

It was not long after that 2 Wildebeest were spotted in an open field by themselves. It was Vernon's turn to shoot and after getting a good position and picking out the biggest one he took care of it with a nice shoot to the heart.

Now with two animals in the down and neatly packed into containers in the back of the car the search for more Eland tracks started again. We soon spotted a herd of Eland which immediately ran away into the bush and the hunt was on again. We followed tracks again for about an hour and knew we were getting closer because of the fresh manure and other bodily functions along they left along the trail. Once they were in sight I took another shot from far away but apparetly missed again because there was nothing to show that it was shoot.

We were exhausted from an active morning of hunting and so we decided to take a break. We ate lunch under a tree and were back to hunting again. It was not too long before we spotted another herd of Eland which once again ran away from us the opposite direction. One was separated from the group and we choose to follow him. Thanks to the great driving of Vernon he was able to get us close enough this time to bring down this huge animal but it took three shots. While skinning him we noticed he has been shot four times! This was as Eland from one of the earlier hunts and a shot through the back of the ear was just a few inches off from bringing him down earlier. It was good that we got this one so that it did not have to suffer with a wound.

After over an hour of skinning, gutting, and packing the meat into the car it was now around 4:30 pm. We decided to head back to camp and if we saw any Gazelle along the way to go for our last animal. About 15 minutes from camp we saw a large herds of Gazelle in a wide open field. They were very far away and it was windy this time of evening. We tried to get close but they would run away each time. We decided to take a few shots but after each of us trying a few times the distance and the wind proved to be too much. I decided to take one more last shot, I chose a nice mature male in a group of about 20 which were walking in a straight line. To my surprise he went down with a shot to the heart. We stepped it off and it was 330 meters, my best shot of the day and maybe ever.

We made it back to camp with about 1/2 hour of light left. While a few of us skinned the Gazelle the others hung up meat in the trees of our camp site. We enjoyed some grilled Gazelle with our Masai guides around the fire that night to end the day.

The next morning we packed up camp and headed back to Arusha with a car full of meat and memories that will last a lifetime.

Surprise It's a GIRL!

2009-06-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is right, the baby "boy" we have been waiting for for nine months now is not a boy at all! You can imagine our surprise as a beautiful baby girl was born. I guess the ultrasound technician made a mistake and our own eyes deceived us. However, God knew all along and He makes no mistakes. We are so pleased to have a happy healthy baby girl. So without further ado let me introduce you to SARAH ELISABETH BURKHOLDER. She was 8 pounds and 11 ounces and perfectly healthy. Natalie is doing fine and healing well. Enjoy the following pictures.

Sarah's first picture after she was born. This is her reaction when I told her she was a girl. Just kidding. She got much happier after seeing mommy.

She has "sleeping like a baby" down pat even with Daddy flashing the camera in her face!

Natalie is the only one who can really make her happy and "smile".

We are blessed to have "grammy" (Steve's mom) here for the birth. She has been a big help with watching the other children and loves to hold her newest grandchild.

Hananh was thrilled to have a sister, what she wanted and prayed for all along.Even Caleb is happy to have sister and be the ONLY boy in the family.
A very proud daddy!

Some Busy Times

2009-05-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Truth Baptist Church at the TRUTH Center celebrated its 4-year anniversary in March. Many of the church people invited friends and relatives for the special day. There were 5 baptized on this day and it was a joy to baptize Hannah as one of them.

It was also a special day because the Burkholder family (Mom, Dad, and brother) was here for a visit. With Brad and Tricia Henderson (Steve's sister and brother-in-law) now in Katesh working with us it was a unique family reunion in the African bush.

We have officially begun Stage 2 of the TRUTH Center project. The first step in Stage 2 was the drilling for water on the property. As we continue to grow and expand the ministry we will need more water. After a month of trying, we drilled past 200 meters and no water was found. However, hundreds of people received the news of the "Living Water" as we handed out copies of the book of Romans to those who came to watch the work. Please pray for water to get to the TRUTH Center in some other way. Pray also for the other steps in Stage 2 such as building new classrooms and getting more land.
The vision of the Truth Baptist Church is to start churches in the villages surrounding Katesh. From May 1-3 we saw this vision in action as a team from the church led by missionary partner Nate Wolf held evangelistic meetings in the village of Basotu. This new church plant met for the first time on Sunday morning May 3. After all the weekend activities 5 people made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The Truth Baptist Church will continue to help this new church until it can stand on its own.

We will be heading to Nairobi, Kenya in the middle of May to wait for the birth of Samuel (Baby Burkholder #3 which is due to be born the first week of June. Please pray for a safe delivery for Natalie and a healthy baby.

Blessings of 2008

2008-12-30T03:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Praying Friends,

It is hard to believe that 2008 is over and 2009 is here! In many ways this past year as been very challenging for us, but we praise the Lord for the many blessings as well. Below are some of the highlights since our last letter. Please join us in praising the Lord for these blessings and praying for the requests.

Friend Day- On October 26, the one-year anniversary of the TRUTH Center, we had "Friend Day" at the Truth Baptist Church. We challenged our church people to bring relatives, friends, and neighbors. They did a great job inviting people and we had over 250 adults in attendance. One faithful lady brought 8 friends. The best part of the day was that 5 people received Christ as their Savior. Please pray for these new believers and also for us as we follow up the other visitors.

School Graduation- We also had a special day on Sunday December 5 for our kindergarten graduation. Many parents, family, and friends came for this special service. They were amazed to listen to their children sing songs to God, recite their Bible verses, and receive their certificates. We had a great first year for school ministry and in January we will be adding a nursery class and also first grade. Please pray for us as we need good teachers, more students, and also wisdom as we get the school registered with the government.

Youth Camp- In December we took a group of 19 to youth camp in the town of Babati. We rented a boarding school which was on break and met with two other Baptist churches. We had over 70 youth at camp that participated in games, quizzes, memory verses, discussion groups, and services. Praise the Lord for the 7 youth who made the decision to accept Christ. Pray for these young people to be dedicated to the Lord in the youth ministry of the church.

Picture: The youth leading a service after returning home from camp.

Missionary Team- We were so excited to receive Brad and Tricia Henderson as new missionaries on December 8th. The church surprised them with a church wide meal and gifts. They are getting adjusted to Tanzanian life and culture. They are putting the finishing touches on their home and getting ready to start language school in January. We are also excited to have Nate Wolf and family returning from furlough to join us in a few weeks. We also praise the Lord for a new missionary that will be joining our team in June of 2009. Rather than being "called" to Tanzania, he/she will be born into the team as Natalie is expecting again. Please pray for our family and ministry team as it grows and ministers together.

Picture: Brad received a welcome gift of a traditional Datooga "toga" and Tricia received material to have a traditional dress made.

Picture: The first photo of the new "missionary" that will be joining our team in June 2009

Family Christmas- We had a wonderful Christmas celebration together as a family and are looking forward to all that God has planned for us and the ministry here for the upcoming year. May God bless you this New Year and as you continue to partner with us through your prayers and support.

Picture: The kids enjoying their new trampoline!

One scrambled egg for 16 people!

2008-09-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Steve was able to go hunting recently and along with bringing home a car load of meat from shooting 2 Grants Gazelle and 2 Wildebeest, he also brought home an ostrich egg from a nest that was found. We scrambled the egg and it fed 16 people, as there were two missionary families traveling through Katesh.

Pray for this Land

2008-09-25T04:35:00.000-07:00

Please pray for God's will concerning a piece of land next to the TRUTH Center that could be used for future ministry. With the future expansion of the Truth Learning Center we will need more land for other ministries to grow. We will need the local government's permission to use this land and then follow the process for getting it re-zoned for ministry use. We will be submitting our proposal to the local government very soon. Please pray if it is God's will for us to have this land that He will bring it to pass.

Kweli Learning Centre (Truth Learning Center)

2008-09-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

We opened our school in January 2008. The school year here in Tanzania runs from January to December--three months on, one month off. We currently have 27 children, and will be adding first grade in January, and a new grade each year to follow. Please pray that our school will glorify God in all that it does, that we will influence children and parents spiritually, and that we will have a good testimony in our community.

Enjoy these pictures! Some are of our field trip to a local farm, others are from a small program we did for the parents, and the rest are just fun days at school. Please pray for these precious children--we are so proud of how they have grown mentally, physically, and spiritually in the last 9 months!

Missions Conference June 2008

2008-07-03T08:06:00.001-07:00

The Truth Baptist Church had its first missions conference in June 2008. God truly blessed and the following are some of the highlights: We started each morning with a prayer meeting and fellowship. God answered many of these requests during the missions conference.

Over 20 people went to the village of Basotu to do a spiritual survey of the area. After interviewing over 100 people and recording their answers, it was determined and we are burdened that a Bible-believing church is needed in this area. Please pray for this new area and ministry.

On the second day of the conference over 20 people went to the village of Garawja to dedicate a new water well and present the gospel. Over 200 people heard about the "everlasting water" of Jesus Christ.

Each evening we had services with singing, preaching, and a missions video. Our theme was "The Harvest is Great, but the Laborers are Few." God worked in many people's hearts about giving and going for the harvest of souls. Pray for a young man named Christopher who surrendered to the ministry during the missions conference. (He is pictured above wearing green, with our assistant pastor and missionaries.) Our two church missionaries, Daniel Lekunga and John Naftari, did an excellent job presenting their burdens and ministries. Our church people had them in their homes for meals, gave a love offering, and they were each given a goat in appreciation.

After the three day conference was over, we took our missionary John Naftari home to his ministry in Bariadi. We also took 3 Bible Institute students and assistant pastor Eliya. These young men did an excellent job sharing testimonies, witnessing, and teaching. We were able to help our missionary John start a new church plant under a tree in a nearby village. We thank the Lord for the 27 souls who accepted Christ during our time there.

May 2008

2008-05-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

We had a blessed Easter weekend with 4 people accepting Christ as Savior and 5 baptized including this Datooga man. Please pray for the Wolfs as they leave for furlough at the end of June. They have done a great job their first term and will be missed. We look forward to them coming back next year.

On a recent trip out to the villages to observe some water projects that Lance Whyle (Natalie's father) is coordinating I was able to speak to about 50 people who had gathered and was also able to pass out gospel tracts. I was given a goat in appreciation. We plan to do more evangelism when hand pumps are installed in 4 different villages in the weeks ahead.

Vacation!!!

2008-05-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

Steve often refers to 2007 as a "suicide year"--we started construction on the Truth Center just days after returning from the States, we hired a pastor part time, our church took on 2 Tanzanian missionaries to support, we started a school, we began several new ministries/outreaches at church, we had many guests including a group from our church in Ohio, and the list goes on. So needless to say, we were ready to get away from Katesh for a while!

The day after Easter, we left Katesh for 3 weeks. First we went to Moshi (at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro) for 5 days for a meeting with the other families in our mission. As always, it was a special time of fellowship and fun, along with encouraging messages by the men and sweet testimonies from the women.

After the meeting, we drove another 7 hours to Dar-es-Salaam, a city of several million people on the coast of Tanzania. We stayed with our dear friends, Dave and Bonnie Jones, and we enjoyed shopping and eating out at restaurants--two things we rarely get to do! We were also able to go to the American Embassy to get a new passport for Hannah.

From Dar, we took a 20 minute flight to the island of Zanzibar. This was by far the smallest plane that I (Natalie) have ever been on! I've never been on a plane where I could see out the front windshield, and where the pilot can talk to you over his shoulder. But it sure beat the horrific 3 hour boat ride! We spent one week at an amazing resort on the northeast side of the island. The only negative thing of our whole vacation was that it rained off and on for about 4 days--we weren't aware that this was monsoon season until we got there! But it really didn't keep us from having fun--we were wet anyway from swimming in the pool and ocean. Besides swimming, we played on the beach, took long walks, walked around historic "Stone Town" to do some shopping, took a small boat out to Prison Island to see the turtles, and just enjoyed spending time together as a family. It was so nice to have no distractions or specific things that we needed to accomplish. The kids enjoyed having our undivided attention, and we enjoyed giving it to them.

After Zanzibar, we spent a couple more days in Dar before driving back to Arusha to do our shopping and banking. On the way home, we stopped at Tarangire National Park for a short safari. Even though we live here, we never get tired of seeing the amazing wildlife that God has created. We had such a special time away, but there's no place like home!

Building People at the TRUTH Center

2008-03-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Building Families and Children through the Truth Learning Center.

As a child, I (Natalie) always looked forward to the beginning of a new school year. Meeting my teacher and my classmates, buying new supplies, anticipating all of the exciting things I would learn --these are some of my favorite memories. However, I never could have dreamed that I would find myself on this end of the school system--as a teacher and manager of the Truth Learning Center! God blessed all the months of preparation as we opened our school on January 7th. We now have 24 children, ranging in age from 3 to 7. I have 3 assistants, and the day goes by quickly as we have Bible class, English, Math, Social Studies, and several activity centers. Tears come to my eyes as I listen to the children quote their Bible verses in English, some of whom knew nothing about Jesus before coming to our school. Please pray that we are able to lead these children to Christ, as well as impact their homes for God's glory.

Each week we have a different theme for the school, such as "I am Special" or "I Can Be Healthy" or "Farmers Help Us." All of our activities and lessons, and even the Bible story for the week, reflect these themes. The children have learned so much, even difficult concepts, from recycling and conserving, to the food pyramid and oxygen. During activity center time, they rotate to different activity centers every 15 minutes to put together puzzles, make a craft, learn vocabulary words, or memorize a poem. Nearly everything we do at our school is a completely foreign concept here in Katesh, where at most preschools there are over 100 children crammed into a room with no chairs, no visuals, no hands-on learning. We are gaining a positive reputation in the community, and our hope and prayer is that it will draw people to the church.

Several people have asked how they can contribute to the needs for the school. I very much appreciate the offers, and have compiled a list of some specific things that we need. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the list.

Building Future Leaders

We are blessed to be working with a fellowship of independent Baptist missionaries and national pastors/missionaries here in Tanzania. Several times throughout the year we all get together for fellowship, teaching, and prayer. We were privileged in February to have this meeting at the TRUTH Center with Truth Baptist Church hosting the meeting. Our local church people did a great job preparing and serving meals to the missionaries and pastors.

Building the local church--It is one thing to lead people to Christ, and it is an entirely different thing to disciple them and bring them to maturity in Christ so that they can lead others to the Savior. We are thankful for the 7 Bible Institute students who are actively involved in our ministries on a weekly basis. We are preparing a series of teaching on spiritual gifts to help people identify how God can use them to serve in the local church. Please do pray for the members of our church, that they will truly know what it means to live in Christ.

TRUTH Center DVD--A new DVD documenting the construction and dedication of the Truth Center is now complete and available at no cost. Please contact us if you would like a copy of this DVD.

New Year 2008

2008-01-02T00:39:00.000-08:00

TRUTH Baptist Church: The church continues to grow since moving to the TRUTH Center location. We have seen many new vistors and decisions for Christ recently. We open the TRUTH Center each weekend for games like volleyball, net-ball, soccer, and playground. We also have an indoor game room where the youth can enjoy board games, carpet ball, and other games. We use this game time for opportunities to witness to people who would not normally come. We have seen several start to attend our services and a few have trusted Christ as Savior as a result of this outreach time.

Youth Camp: In December we were able to take a group of youth to participate in youth camp with other independent Baptist churches. The campers enjoyed the games and fellowship with other youth, but most importantly made many spiritual decisions during the services. Many campers were able to memorize the entire Sermon on the Mount during camp.

New Missionary: The Truth Baptist Church was able to begin to support its second missionary in December. Daniel Lekunga, from the Maasai tribe, is living with and reaching his own people in the bush of Tanzania. It was an encouragement to our church people to see a fellow Tanzanian with a burden to reach his own people. Please pray for Daniel and his family as they minister and also for our church to have a vision for local missions.

Holiday Services: We had a busy December with special services on Christmas and New Years Eve. On Christmas we were able to have a baby dedication and fellowship with a church-wide meal afterwards. On New Years Eve we had a midnight service with 120 in attendance. 54 people stayed for an "overnighter" until the morning. We had a great time fellowshipping and playing games. It was a great way to end 2007 and start 2008.

Missionary Perk: One of the many "perks" of being a missionary in this part of Tanzania is being able to enjoy hunting. Because of being so busy this year I was only able to go hunting once. Nate Wolf and I, along with another missionary friend, enjoyed a day of hunting where we shot 4 gazelle and 1 wildebeast.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Tanzania! We had a really lovely holiday as we reflected on our Savior's birth over 2,000 years ago. Needless to say, it was a different celebration than the one we had in America last year, but still good. On Christmas Eve, we went over to the Wolfs' house for food and fellowship, and enjoyed celebrating Hayden's first Christmas with them. When we got home, we let the kids each open one gift, and they loved that! Then we got up early this morning to finish opening the rest. Hannah's favorite gift was a doll from her grandparents, and Caleb's favorite gift was a Spider-man back pack. We hurried over to church for a special service. The children's choir sang the Swahili version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and after the service, there was a delicious meal of rice and beans, which all 120 of us enjoyed thoroughly. When we got home this afternoon, we relaxed and played with our gifts, and talked to family on Skype. Tomorrow we are going to Babati for 2 days for a Christmas party with 3 other missionary families, and also Steve will be going hunting for the first and last time this season. He is really hoping to come home with a warthog--that would make a great New Year's Dinner!

Happy 5th Birthday, Hannah!

2007-12-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

Considering our location, we tend to group holidays/celebrations together so that out-of-town guests can kill ALOT of birds with one stone! So, the day after Hannah's K-4 graduation, we had her 5th birthday party. Usually we have some sort of theme, but Hannah, wanting to be sensitive to the fact that there would be BOYS at her party, decided to avoid anything "girly" and just have a costume party--even the adults had to dress up! This led to one of my more embarrassing moments in Tanzania as I tried to explain to a local seamstress how to make a Larry-Boy costume for Caleb. Anyway, Hannah was Genevieve, Caleb was his favorite superhero, Moriah was a princess, Shawn was a policeman, Jamison was a firefighter, Hayden was a dinosaur, Steve was a fisherman, Nate was a tourist, Heather was an Indian, and I (for lack of planning) stuffed a pillow in my shirt and was a pregnant woman. Hannah's favorite gift was a slip-and-slide, so after a big serving of yummy ice cream cake, we all headed outside to watch the fun.

Hannah's K-4 Graduation

2007-12-19T10:52:00.001-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we had a special little "K-4 Graduation" for Hannah at home with the Myers and Wolfs. (Can you tell we don't get out much?) She shared with everyone some of the most interesting things that she had learned about this year, quoted some Bible verses, and read part of a small book for us. Steve prayed for her, that God would help her to continue to love learning her entire life, and that she would bring glory to Him while obeying His plan for her life. We celebrated with punch and cookies, which Hannah made by herself. We are very proud of our daughter!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-12-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

It happens every year--someone in America asks us, "So, are you having a special Thanksgiving service at church?" This year, it was my mom, so I can't groan too loudly! Ok, my American friends, Thanksgiving is only celebrated by AMERICANS. No, we do not have a special service at church, and nor are turkeys readily available. I did manage to buy one imported from Kenya at the bargain price of around $4 a pound. It was a 22-pounder, so you can do the math. Anyway, we really did have a special celebration with our AMERICAN friends. The Myers came with their 4 kids from Babati, the Wolf family joined us, and 4 Peace Corps Volunteers in our district came over as well. The kids did a short-but-sweet program where they quoted Psalm 100 and sang "We Gather Together", and before the delicious meal we went around the table, sharing about the blessings we've experienced in the past year. We had already decorated the house for Christmas the previous Tuesday, so we enjoyed listening to Christmas music, and after playing football and basketball outside for a few hours, we watched the movie "Elf" while eating turkey and bacon sandwiches.

TRUTH CENTER NOW OPEN!

2007-10-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord the TRUTH Center is now open! What a great weekend here in Katesh! It has truly been the highlight of our six years of service in Tanzania. A group of 8 people from our home church, Canton Baptist Temple, including our pastor Mike Frazier have been with us all week. The group helped with painting and other finishing work for two days. We then had two days of evangelistic meetings where we passed out over 18,000 invitations and gospel tracts in the morning. In the afternoon and evenings we had games, singing, preaching, and a gospel film on the grounds of the TRUTH Center. All the activities were made complete by the dedication service of the Truth Baptist Church on Sunday morning with over 200 in attendance. Through the week of activities 16 people made a profession of faith in Christ. To God be the glory!

We have included the following pictures and will be adding more soon. In the near future we will be producing a short video of the entire project that we will make available to you. Thank you for your prayers and financial support that have made our vision a reality!

Life Goes On!

2007-10-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

Even when we fail to update our blog for several weeks at a time, LIFE DOES GO ON! Maybe that's precisely the reason WHY we don't have time to write updates! Here are a few highlights of the weeks (and months!) gone by...

VISITORS FROM KENYA: Back in August, our friends who are missionaries in Kenya, Bob and Ericka Clark, came to visit for 6 days with their 3 boys, Vance, Edward, and Riley. They have ministered in Northern Kenya for several years to the Turkana people. Life there is difficult, but they have persevered and God has blessed. We really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them better, and the kids had alot of fun together as well.

BABIES, BABIES, AND MORE BABIES! I want to wish the best to those nearest and dearest to us (in heart, if not in locale) who have welcomed new babies into their hearts and homes over the last few months. My sister Andrea gave birth to her 5th child in April, a girl named Katherine (Kate). Baby Hayden, 1st son of our teammates Nate and Heather Wolf was born in Nairobi in May. And finally my brother Dan and his wife welcomed their 3rd child in August, a boy named Aslan. Congratulations to all!

TRUTH CENTER: It has been such fun watching every stage of the TRUTH Center be built! Amazingly, the construction workers are putting on the finishing touches as I write this, and then we have some big jobs to do like landscaping, painting the inside walls, and getting the furniture built and arranged. But God really has had His hand in this whole project. We are looking forward to the group from our church coming at the end of this month for the Grand Opening. We have some exciting things planned, so please be in prayer for all of the festivities.

HOMESCHOOLING: Hannah and Caleb continue to do well with their schoolwork. Hannah has finished all of her K-4 books, so for the next 6 weeks we will just do some review work and fun activities. Here in Tanzania, schools run from January to December, with a month-long break every 3 months, so we are following that same schedule. We will officially finish our school year before Thanksgiving. Hannah and Caleb especially enjoy learning about other countries. Last week it was Japan, and this week it is The Netherlands. The countries that Hannah is most interested in are China and Iraq. I love that my kids want to know about the world, and are not just confined to the "American" realm, although they are certainly proud to be Americans! Starting in November, we'll begin studying about the Pilgrims and Indians and Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower, in preparation for Thanksgiving. They will also memorize Psalm 100 to recite at our Thanksgiving celebration. I am so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my kids, and really invest in them and make learning fun. Because Hannah is also very interested in learning sign language, my mom is sending her dvd's for Christmas to teach her all about it, so that will be a fun new aspect of our curriculum.

TRUTH LEARNING CENTER: Something looming on my horizon is the opening of our new English-medium school (kindergarten) at the TRUTH Center in January 2008. At this point we are planning to only accept children who are 5-6 years old, as they prepare to enter 1st grade the following year. We hope to have 20-30 students, and I will be the main teacher, although I am praying that God will lead me to some competent assistants. This will be the first Christian school in Katesh, and we are praying that if it is God's will, He will lead someone from our home church to start a full-blown elementary school. We are excited about the possibilities. Please pray that we will get a good number of students as well as assistants. Hannah and Caleb will attend since I will be there all day, but I will have to supplement Hannah's studies at home. Caleb should do very well, although he is only 3, since he has a head-start on the other kids--he already knows English!

ASANTE ELIYA! Asante is Swahili for "thanks", and we truly do thank God for sending us Eliya 6.5 years ago when we lived in Bonga. He has worked for us since that time, even moving his whole family to Katesh when we came here 3.5 years ago. He has been so incredibly faithful and trustworthy, and we praise the Lord that he is confident of his call into the ministry, and is now working for the church full-time. We had a special surprise party for him to show how much he has meant to us.

WANAWAKE WA IMANI: "Women of Faith" is the name of our ladies group that meets one Saturday morning a month. We are studying Elisabeth George's book, The Remarkable Women of the Bible, and are enjoying it so much. This Saturday we are studying about Rebekah. We usually have around 10 women, and we play games, sing songs, share prayer requests and pray together, and of course have our lesson with a question time following. Please pray that these women, who come from various backgrounds and walks of life, would truly grow in their relationship with Christ and with one another.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: We have the neatest Sunday school kids around! They often arrive an hour early and wait outside for us to unlock the building. When we started our church in March 2005, I began teaching them chronologically through the entire Bible. Would you believe that after 3.5 years we are about halfway through the life of Christ? They have learned so much and retain an amazing amount of information. We had a contest two months ago where they had to learn the books of the Old and New Testament, as well as 26 Bible verses. This month's contest is to raise 10,000 shillings (a little less than $10) to give towards the church's water project for the TRUTH Center. If they reach their goal by this Sunday, then we will have a special party with hot tea and cookies. $10 might not seem like much, but most of these kids are only given about 2 cents a week by their parents to do as they please, so it can be quite a sacrifice to give it to the Lord. I praise the Lord that we have been able to train several new teachers so that now I only teach once a month. It is exciting to see others catch the vision for teaching children God's Word.

UNTIL NEXT TIME...I hope you feel a bit caught up. It felt good to get all of that out of me! We see God's grace in our lives on a daily basis, and we do ask that you specifically be in prayer for us this month as we finish the TRUTH Center and dedicate it to the Lord.

Pressing On!

2007-08-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

What about the unreached Datooga tribe? Our burden and vision for the Datooga tribe is still the heartbeat of our ministry. Living in the small town of Katesh, we are surrounded by several people groups, including the Datooga (Barabaig), Iraqw, Wanyaturu, and several other smaller groups. While most of the Datooga still live in the villages surrounding Katesh, we have been able to minister to those who do live in or near town. We praise the Lord that two Datooga men were recently saved and baptized in the Katesh church. We also praise the Lord that there is one Datooga man who has recently joined our Bible Institute program. Please pray that the TRUTH Center and the Katesh church will have the opportunity to reach the thousands of people in the surrounding villages as our vision continues to grow.

Truth Center Progress! The TRUTH Center is now in the final stages of construction. The walls are being plastered, windows and doors are going in, and soon the construction will be completed. Although construction is not finished, we have already seen the Lord blessing at the property. In June we had open air evangelistic meetings in the field next to the TRUTH Center. Praise the Lord for 15 souls who made professions of faith. We also used the newly-built baptismal to baptize 5 believers. Please pray for the completion of the construction and the needed funds to reach our goal.

Missions Giving Started! God is continuing to build and strengthen the local church in Katesh. We have just finished almost three months of teaching on tithing, offerings, and missions giving. We praise the Lord for an increase in the offerings over the last few months and especially for the commitment to give towards missions. Praise the Lord that this young church not only pays its own bills each month, but will soon begin supporting national missionaries. Please pray for the church as it also begins to support Assistant Pastor Eliya full-time in the months to come.

Day Off and Daddy Time. Steve has enjoyed spending time with Hannah and Caleb on his day off each week. They enjoy dirtbike rides to the amazing crater and climbing "Hannah's Hill" with a picnic lunch.

A Busy June

2007-06-29T03:43:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that 2007 is already half over, and that we've been back in Tanzania for nearly 4 months now! And the month of June has flown by for us as well, as we've been incredibly busy and blessed in our lives and ministry.

Revival Services/Youth Rally
The Wolfs came back just in time for our special revival meetings, which were held June 22-24. Five young men came from the Baptist church in Arusha to assist us with outreach, and we had a Tanzanian man named John come from the Mwanza area, where he serves as a missionary. After the morning services, we had a meal together, and then spent the afternoon canvassing the town, passing out tracts and invitations to the other activities. In the evenings, we met down at the TRUTH Center, where we played volleyball, big ball, and soccer. Following the games, there was special music and then a gospel message given by John, while the children were taken aside by the youth and taught a separate lesson. We praise the Lord that we were able to lead 15 people to a saving knowledge of Jesus, and this week we have been eagerly visiting them and following up on their decisions. Please pray that those who attended the revival services will become faithful members of our church family.

The TRUTH Center
This week the roofs are being built at the TRUTH Center. We know it won't be long and all of the buildings will be complete--isn't that exciting? Since we had the evening sessions of the rally at the TRUTH Center, we were able to get a picture of what it will be like when we are using that facility every day of the week, for God's glory--the future is bright! We praise the Lord that funds continue to come in for the furnishings, but please do pray about the remaining $10,000 that is needed to reach our goal.

Kenya

The first week of June, we went to Kenya for 3 main reasons. First of all, to see the Wolfs (our partners here in Katesh) who had been in Nairobi for 2 months for the birth of their first child. We were so thrilled to meet little Hayden Nathaniel, who was born on May 15th. What a beautiful baby, and what content parents! Our second reason for going to Kenya was to have a little fun (fun for us is going out to restaurants, shopping malls, and playgrounds!), and we spent two days doing that. Our third reason was to visit the ministry of Jerry Daniels in Nanyuki. When we have shared our vision for Katesh and the Hanang District, many people have told us, "That sounds just like what the Daniels are doing in Kenya!" So for many years we have wanted to see their work first-hand, to get ideas and advice, and mainly just to be encouraged that this vision can, in fact, be accomplished. It was an incredibly profitable time, and we are so thankful that the Wolfs were able to go as well, so that as a team we could see what God has done in Nanyuki. Steve and Nate enjoyed talking to Jerry and the Kenyan pastor, and I (Natalie) spent two days at their preschool, trying to form a model in my mind of what our school should be like. While in Nanyuki, which is located on the Equator, we were also able to go on a safari, where our favorite animals were the chimpanzees and "Morani", a "tame" rhino.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

On Monday, June 25th, we were thrilled to celebrate our son Caleb's 3rd birthday! He has been looking forward to his Spider-man birthday party for several months now, and was not disappointed. Our good friends, Rodney and Lynn Myers, along with their children, Shawn, Jamison, Moriah, and Cherith, drove an hour and a half from Babati to join us for this special day. The Wolfs were there as well, along with Heather's parents visiting from Michigan. Caleb is such a joy to our family, and we can't imagine our lives without him.

Did You Know?

Many times people ask what we do during the week. Sometimes we get so busy in our routine that we forget to mention the ministries that occur on a weekly basis. On Wednesday afternoons we visit those who have visited our church. On Wednesday evenings we have Bible study at church, which is a special and informal time when everyone sits in a circle and listens to teaching from God's Word, and then the floor is open for questions and discussion. On Thursdays we have a Bible club in the field behind our house. On Fridays we teach a Bible class at the secondary school. On Saturdays we have church cleaning in the morning, followed by a meeting to plan the service for the following day. Everyone who comes for church cleaning is given some sort of job in Sunday's service, whether it be welcoming guests, praying for the offering, or sweeping the floor before church. On any given Saturday, we also have discipleship classes, Bible school classes, or a ladies meeting. On Saturday afternoons, we teach another Bible club at the local government orphanage. On Sunday mornings, we have Sunday school at 9am for the children, and then the service at 10am for the adults. On Sunday afternoons at 4pm, we have a youth service where we play volleyball and other games, sing songs, and have a challenge from the Bible. There are so many more ministries that we would like to start once we have the facilities of the TRUTH Center at our disposal. Please begin now to pray with us that God would burden specific people in our church to oversee new ministries.

On a Personal Note...

Thankfully we are all healthy at the moment, for the most part. This time of year is very chilly and windy (in the low 50's) so we have colds and coughs from time to time (even in Africa!). Hannah and Caleb are doing well with homeschooling. We will try to finish Hannah's K-4 year by December 1st, and she and Caleb will attend the school that we will be starting at the TRUTH Center in January (although I will continue supplementing their studies at home). My father will be arriving on July 1st for 5 weeks to continue with his water projects. Please pray for good success in those efforts. All in all, we are so thankful for our life here in Tanzania, and for the ministry of which we are privileged to be a part. We so appreciate your prayers and correspondence. May God bless each of you in the place where He has you!

Teaching All Things

2007-06-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things." An important part of the Great Commission is not only to preach the gospel, but to teach and train believers in the faith. We praise the Lord for 6 souls recently saved, and also for the opportunity to teach and train believers thus fulfilling the second half of the Great Commission.

The Katesh church had its first two graduates of the Bible Institute. Eliya and Ester are a husband and wife team who have been actively involved and instrumental in the church. Eliya has served as assistant pastor and Ester is now scheduling all the children's ministries and is an excellent Sunday School teacher. This month 7 new students will start the Bible Institute program which requires them to be actively involved in the ministries of the church.

Recently we had an Evangelism seminar where 15 people learned about the importance of personal evangelism and also techniques to use while sharing their faith. Those who attended are using what they learned to share God's Word with lost family, friends, and neighbors.

The TRUTH Center construction continues and the walls for all the buildings are now complete. Excitement is growing in the church and community. Lord-willing, the roofs will be going up soon and the grand opening and dedication is still planned for late October. Please continue to pray for the $10,000 still needed for the furniture, supplies, and equipment for this ministry center.

Water, Weddings, and Walls

2007-05-07T02:32:00.000-07:00

Water: Praise the Lord water was found in the village of Simbay! This village is where we started our first church in 2002. At that time we began working with the village leadership in trying to solve the water crisis there. Lance Whyle, Natalie's father, led the project and after two attempts at drilling over the last two years water came rushing out of the ground. The villagers were excited to say the least. We were able to hand out hundreds of gospel tracts and share the hope of the "Living Water", Jesus Christ, with the crowd who had gathered. Drilling will continue in three other villages in the weeks to come. In July, hand pumps will be installed and these new wells will be dedicated to the Lord.

Weddings: On Sunday May 6 we were able to see two young couples unite in marriage during a special church service. These young couples were already living together for some time but felt the Lord convicting them about not being married. Please pray for these couples and for others like them as they grow in the Lord.

Walls: The walls are now going up on the TRUTH Center buildings. It is exciting to see things starting to take shape. It is also exciting to "need" these new buildings as we are growing out of our current rented one. For the past several weeks we have had full services and some standing in the back for lack of seating. Please continue to pray for the construction of the TRUTH Center and the ministry it will have. Please continue to pray for the needed $14,000 to complete the project with furniture, equipment, and start-up supplies.

No Other Foundation

2007-04-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor 3:11

I was told by the building contractor that laying the foundation is the most important and also the hardest part of building. The foundation's quality will determine the strength of the building which is built upon it.

The foundation for all that we do in ministry here in Tanzania is the Lord Jesus Christ. For two years now we have been preaching salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ and building a local church on this truth. Upon this foundation we are seeing people make spiritual decisions that are changing their lives. We had "standing room only" attendance for our Easter service and celebrated the resurrection of our Lord with believers baptism. (Picture: Assistant Pastor Eliya baptizing a new believer.)

Speaking of foundations, the foundations for the TRUTH Center buildings are now completed. All of the work is being done by hand, including making cement blocks on the building site, and the digging of a 15-foot deep septic tank. Construction will continue with the walls going up in the weeks ahead.

Please continue to pray for the spiritual foundation that we are laying here in Katesh, Tanzania. Pray also for the contruction of the TRUTH Center which will be built on the spiritual foundation of the way, the TRUTH, and the life, Jesus Christ.

Services on Sunday, April 1st

2007-04-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

We were once again so pleased to have such great attendance at church! We had 51 adults in the morning service, and since we only have about 45 seats, some folks had to stand, but our church people were thrilled to be faced with such a "problem"! We plan to buy 10 more chairs this week. Praise the Lord, Mama Ema was able to lead one woman to the Lord following the service. In the evening youth service, we had about 40 young people there to play volleyball and we also introduced them to UNO. They loved it! It was funny to hear them shout, "UNO!", no doubt the first Spanish word they've ever spoken. We were also glad that many of those who accepted Christ last week came to church again this week. Now we are trying to get them to commit to going through our discipleship lessons. Please pray for these new believers.

Progress on the TRUTH Center

2007-04-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

These days we have a hard time keeping ourselves away from the land in the middle of town where the TRUTH Center is being built! We have been so pleased with our contractor to this point. Steve is thrilled that he has not personally been bothered with the details of the project. Our initial fear was that he would constantly be hounded anytime they ran out of nails or someone showed up late for work! But once we signed that contract and paid him half his money, the contractor has just taken over and run the whole show. Last week they laid the foundations for the two main buildings, and this week they are making the cement blocks to begin building the walls. Steve told the contractor he just wants to be able to see a little progress each day, and we haven't been disappointed. Please continue to pray for our church people as they raise the $500 to bring water to the site. They have quite a ways to go, but are excited about the challenge.

Hanang Christian School

2007-04-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Our school doesn't officially have a name, but it sure is a fun place to learn! We are thankful to have a large enough house to be able to set one whole room aside for our school. It is a bright, cheerful place and Hannah and Caleb love to hear me say, "It's time to go to school!"

Easter is coming!

2007-04-02T02:10:00.001-07:00

I took some pictures of the children in their Easter clothes, compliments of Grandma, and I thought you all might enjoy seeing how adorable they looked. On Thursday, the Myers family (friends of ours, and missionaries in Babati--about 75 min. away) will join us for lunch and we'll dye Easter eggs and do some special activities to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. On Good Friday we will have a special service at church and observe the Lord's supper. On Saturday we will have our Easter meal with Nate and Heather Wolf, because immediately after church on Sunday, we have to drive 5 hours to the airport to pick up my dad who will be coming to Tanzania for 5 weeks to work on water well projects. We will update our blog following all the Easter activities of the weekend, but until then, may we all be especially mindful this week of the tremendous gift that God gave to us in His Son, Jesus.

A bit about Caleb

2007-04-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

Our son Caleb will turn 3 on June 25th. He is so different from Hannah, so completely his own person. He's hit some pretty big milestones in the past two weeks, however. He started school (just some preschool things like colors, shapes, letters, and numbers), and he finally got his big-boy bed! He just loves it, although he looks like such a little speck in it! He must have been really unhappy in his crib though, because ever since he's slept in his new bed, he has not woken up once during the night. I can count on one hand the number of times I have slept through the night in the last 4 years, and 3 of them were this week--what a treat. Caleb loves to play outside in his sandbox, especially if I put a tub of water in the box with him. I figure if my kids are really dirty by the end of the day then it was a great day for them. He also likes to dress up in his Spider-man and Buzz Lightyear costumes. If he wants to be Superman, he has to settle for having a blanket tied around his neck as a cape, and if he wants to be a soldier, it seems that his normal clothes suffice. Last year, you could not get him to sit still for 5 minutes to read a book to him, but now I will find him laying on his stomach on his bedroom floor with a pile of books in front of him--he'll stay there for 30 minutes or more. He has two little buddies his age (Ibrahimu and Baraka), but since they are all still so young, they tend to fight more than play. He does like a boy named Ali an awful lot--Ali is almost 9, and will let Caleb do anything he wants, hence Caleb's devotion to him. Caleb enjoys hearing Bible stories and we are trying to get him to pray something other than "Dear God, Save my life. Amen." We're not sure where he got that prayer, but it seems to cover all the bases. He and Hannah are good friends, as they are only 18 months apart, and normally they play very well together. His favorite thing to do in the whole world is to ride the motorcycle with his dad. He just screams the whole time, "This is FUN!"

A bit about Hannah

2007-04-02T01:41:00.000-07:00

Our daughter Hannah turned 4 in December. She is a sweet and talkative girl, and has such a sensitive spirit towards God. When we returned to Katesh a few weeks ago, we set up a schoolroom so that we could begin homeschooling her. She loves to go to school! Right now we are only doing it 4 days a week, for 2 hours a day, but she enjoys every minute of it. Hannah is glad to be back with her best Tanzanian buddy, Rehema. Rehema is about 9 months older than Hannah, but about 2 inches shorter. They have such a good time together playing dress-up and singing songs in the backyard. After Easter, Rehema will join Hannah at "school" on Thursday afternoons. I know that Hannah will enjoy having a schoolmate. Since we've been back, we've been encouraged to see that Hannah is beginning to relearn Swahili. She gets a little disturbed though that every child in town knows her name and screams it repeatedly while we run errands. On Saturday nights, she always remembers to pray that God will bring alot of people to church on Sunday--maybe that's why we've seen such an increase in attendance! Since she no longer takes naps, her afternoon ritual is to watch an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." She thinks Nellie is just beautiful (although mean) and sometimes asks me to call her Nellie instead of Hannah. She would enjoy a pen-pal, so anyone reading who has a child her age, feel free to write!

A Harvest of Souls

2007-03-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

We had another great Sunday here in Katesh! This morning Steve preached from the book of Acts, focusing on the fact that we as Christians need to testify about God's grace in our lives, especially to those who don't know Christ. It was a long sermon (over an hour), but it was so chock-full of great Scripture and practical application that everyone listened attentively and followed along very closely. We had a good crowd--about 47 adults--and at the invitation, 8 people came forward to accept Christ as their personal Savior. We were able to speak with each of them individually, and it was obvious that the Lord had just prepared their hearts and our church to reap some harvest today. We also had an amazing offering--about $12 in the regular offering, and about $8 for the water project at the TRUTH Center. Also, after the service, two men talked to Steve about needing to marry their girlfriends who are also the mothers of their children. The Holy Spirit is definitely at work in people's hearts, leading them to make decisions about things that we've not even addressed yet. And tonight at the youth service, we again had nearly 50 young people for volleyball and service time. We are astounded to see how the Lord is at work. We feel like for so long we've just plodded along, but what an encouragement to finally see some visible fruit.
The TRUTH Center property is progressing as well. Tomorrow they will begin laying the foundations for the buildings. Steve plans to stay on the grounds all day on Monday to make sure that everything is done properly and according to our plans. So far we have been very pleased with the contractor and his workers. Pray that things continue to go smoothly and on schedule.

Dedication Day

2007-03-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 18, 2007, was a monumental and historical day in the short life of our church. After a wonderful sermon about the Apostle Peter's vision from God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, Steve shared with the people about our vision for the TRUTH Center. At the end of the message, one of the older men in our church, Jackson, shared with the people how he believed that they would be able to raise the $500 needed to get water to the TRUTH Center property. This will be a huge task for them, considering our weekly offerings average $5 and the average person with a job is paid about $2 a day. The people were excited by this challenge, and after the service, we all sang as we walked together (through the drizzle and mud) to the TRUTH Center property. The contractor and his assistants met us there, and we stood in a circle, holding hands, and dedicated the land to the Lord, as well as the project and all of those who would be involved in it.

Back Home in Tanzania!

2007-03-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Tanzania! We arrived on March 7, 2007, to begin our third term. Our 7 months in the States were amazing. We visited churches from Connecticut to California, from San Antonio to Chicago, and were blessed to see places like the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Carlsbad Caverns, Disneyland, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Colorado, the Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas. All of our pictures are posted on Snapfish, so feel free to take a look. Of course the biggest highlight is always to spend time with our families and friends. The children had new cousins to meet and enjoyed being spoiled by their grandparents. We also enjoyed every minute we spent at our home church, Canton Baptist Temple. They were such an encouragement to us in so many ways, and we couldn't be here without their love and support.
Thankfully, our trip back to Tanzania was fairly uneventful. We flew from Cleveland to Detroit to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, and within 3 days of our arrival, we had all 19 pieces of our luggage. Northern Tanzania has had an incredible amount of rainfall late in the season, resulting in flooding and roads being washed away. On a positive note though, everything is lush and green and beautiful. Nate and Heather Wolf met us at the airport. We were so thrilled to see them again, as we only had a few short months together in Tanzania before we went on furlough. They were so faithful to watch over the ministry, as well as our home, while we were away. After "relaxing" (i.e. banking, paying bills, grocery shopping, etc.) in Arusha for a few days, we started on the 4 hour bumpy ride to Katesh. The transition thus far has been remarkably smooth, and it almost feels as if we never left. Our Swahili came back quickly and easily (thank God!) and nothing was too startling, at least not as it had been after our first furlough. We arrived home Saturday night to find our home clean and in perfect order (thanks to the Wolfs) and Heather even took it upon herself to prepare all of our dinners for us for one week (thanks, Heather!). That night we had pizza in their gorgeous new home, and we were glad that they had invited Eliya and Esta Chepa's family as well. They are our dearest Tanzanian friends, and the Tanzanian leaders in our ministry. We had a wonderful evening catching up and reviewing all that God had done in each of our lives in the past 7 months.
On Sunday morning we headed to church. Hannah enjoyed being in Sunday school again, although her Swahili is almost completely gone and she had no idea what was going on. The worship service that followed was wonderful too. We were so excited to see several new faces, as well as familiar ones who had remained faithful during our absence. Following the service, the church people had a surprise welcome back party for us, while also celebrating the 2 year anniversary of the church. This was entirely unexpected, and we were so touched by the amount of work and planning and expense they had gone to. The best part of all was that the Wolfs had not had anything to do with it--it was not their idea and they had contributed nothing except for the 2,500 shillings as was required for everyone else. The people had prepared an array of food--rice pilau, white rice, meat, salad, cucumbers, mangoes, bananas, and soda. They had decorated with balloons and plants and foil streamers, and had a big sheet on the wall that said, "Karibuni Nyote--2 years--Mchungaji Stefano na familia yake" (Welcome everyone--2 years--Pastor Steve and his family). After the meal (they also had sacrificed to feed the 40 faithful Sunday school children--what a treat it was for them to be included!), Eliya read a history of the church, including average attendance and salvations and baptisms, as well as the various ministries which have been added over time. It was encouraging to be reminded of all that God had done in such a short time. We were able to greet them and share with them about how the Lord had answered their prayers in regards to the TRUTH Center. They were so excited as we told them how the work would begin even this week, and they wholeheartedly affirmed that they were ready to physically join in this labor. Later that evening we attended the youth service--many of those who had been at the church very early in the morning to make preparations for the celebration had never left at all during the day and did not leave until after the service ended at 7pm. We love the people that God has brought to our church, and we are looking forward to what the Lord has in store for them and for us in the coming months.