PRECIOUS SEED

The Word of God is living and powerful. 

 I believed the Gospel after reading a Gideon Bible my father gave me which sat on top of my dresser for many years. It was Precious Seed laying dormant, placed there by the Spirit of God to lead me to the Savior when I was ready.

The Word of God is living and powerful.

We have officially been in Africa for one full year! It has been a good year, full of many challenges and many blessings. We are so thankful for the Lord‘s faithfulness to us, and for so many of you who pray for us regularly.

 Thank you!

January was a busy month filled with new animals, new babies, youth work, street boys, new friends in Ujiji, and a visit to Kizenga! 

I guess I’ll begin with the animals. We seem to attract various kinds of animals :) Below is a hedgehog that ended up in our fenced in area.  

He was a cute little guy, and we let him go after we held him for a little while.

And then this guy showed up, a duck or “bata” as they are called here. He stayed for a while in our fence and then we let him go and he eventually found his owner.

Some animals we are not so happy to find, like a large rat, a scorpion (in our bathroom!), and a centipede which is as dangerous as a scorpion. We are thankful for the Lord‘s protection, although the boys are enjoying every one!

 The reading room in Ujiji  is going well, and there are several who come regularly to chat, read, and ask questions.

 We have started letting a few people check out books to take home to read and return. So far the system is working well and we are encouraged to be developing many relationships in Ujiji and sowing Precious Seed.

School started back at the beginning of January, and we saw a decline in the number of children who come regularly. It is so sweet to see many of them stop by after school to say hello!

This was a baby the Lord led us to who needed special attention. He was suffering from severe malnutrition, and the mother did not know what to do as her milk supply was very low. Jennifer was able to get baby formula and help this little guy adjust to a bottle.

After just a few weeks on baby formula, he is putting on weight and looking so much better. We thank the Lord for sparing his life!

We are continuing to work with the street boys here in Kigoma. There is a good size group of young boys that live on the street, and sleep in the market at night. Every Tuesday morning we meet with them for soccer, devotion, and a snack. Please pray for these boys, that the Lord would reach them and redirect their lives!

 They average between 8 and 14 years old. We just continue to sow the Precious Seed of God’s Word in them, pray, and see what great things the Lord will do in their lives. 

We are also continuing to meet with the youth group once a month. January was our month to host, as we work together with Luke and Gina Johnson. Luke led the games this time, and I brought the message. I spoke on “How to Maintain our Walk with the Lord” from 1John 1. Afterward we enjoyed a snack and fellowship together.

We also had the privilege of visiting the village of Kizenga. I gave a message on “Justification by Faith” in Swahili. There are less than 10 adults that come and a small group of children. 

This is the old Church building that has seen better days. This is not the kind of church growth we like to see, weeds growing in a destroyed building! Please pray for Kizenga, that the Precious Seed down in hearts would bring forth fruit in their lives.

Jennifer and Elaina both had birthdays in January which were a lot of fun. We enjoyed eating cake and ice cream and celebrating two very special people in our family!

Speaking of family...

Kittie and Elizabeth will be coming to visit in early March and we are sooo excited! 

If there is anyone who would like to come out for a visit, and a cross cultural experience, we have would love to have you! Seriously pray about it!

Sam says hello :)

We are continuing to grow in our Swahili every day. Although some days are better than others, we are thankful for the progress we have made. As you can see, our work right now primarily is sowing the Word and showing love to those we come in contact with. 

I love this reminder from 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
Amen!

We are trusting God for the increase :)