April 2015 Newsletter

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22 (NIV)

Life in a New Culture
We have been in Tanzania now for more than a month, and there are things we are beginning to understand gradually. One of the things we have noticed is that cars' steering wheels are on the right, while in Nigeria cars' steering wheels are on the left. This is especially strange for me (Christy). This means traffic will be on the left, and we will have to be careful how we cross roads in Mwanza. For Dixon, this is not a strange thing for him, because he has been to Zambia and South Africa before and knows all of these changes in traffic.

One thing we came to realize is that the food here are no different from that of Liberia, or we may say the culture is a bit similar to that of Liberia. With this in mind, we do believe that adjusting will not be too difficult for us. Our biggest challenge will be learning the language, which is where we are now. Within the past one month, we have been able to know some vocabularies, and we are now able to visit markets and other places without people having to accompany us.

We are now comfortable using Tanzanian money to get goods and services. Dixon can now travel to town and get all that we need and do bank transactions without someone helping him. For me Christy, I am able to go to the food market and get all the food needed for the house.

Ministry
Since we arrived to Mwanza, we have been worshiping in the church Dixon is assigned to in Kisesa. Our first service there, we went with a translator who was helping us translate Kiswahili to English. After that we got a member from the church who could understand English a bit, and he is helping us for now. We can say gradually that we are beginning to fit in.

Since the church has no pastor for now, the Bishop has asked me (Dixon) to take over as  pastor of the church. A Sunday ago, I had the opportunity to give my first sermon using a translator. This was something that I am not used too, but I guess I will have to live with this for now, until I am fluent in the language. It was a wonderful time for me to bring the message of love and hope in Jesus Christ to the congregation. After the service, we had a meeting with the elders to see how we can grow the church both spiritually and physically. I (Dixon) was more concerned about the spiritual aspect of these growths. We decided as a church that we were going to be meeting on Saturdays to study the Bible and pray.

Christy has not yet resumed work, since the school she will be teaching and serving as developer is still under construction. Moreover, she is carrying a baby and will need some rest for now. We think she will start officially the last quarter of this year. However, she has been able to visit the site and give her impute on what needs to be done to make the school attractive to the public. The management of the new school has taken her perspective into consideration. We are happy to announce that since the last time we visited the school site, there has been some progress made in the construction work. Our friends Eric and Linda Funke were able to raise some funds, and through that, the school now has toilets that will serve the students and staff when the school finally begins.  The diocese has also been able to construct a staff block, which is a huge development. There is still lot to be done in the school, but we pray that the money will come so that the school can meet government standards.

Eric and Linda Funke Visit
Some weeks ago, we had the opportunity to have GLO missionaries Eric and Linda Funke over at our house for visit. This was their first  visit since we moved to Igoma. We had a wonderful time together discussing ministries and how we can better served the people of Tanzania in our various ministries. It was also a time to pray together for our well being and our various ministries. They also brought a Swahili language learning book for us, to help in our language learning process, which we are very grateful for.

Visit to the Tarangire Safari Lodge
Also a week ago we had the opportunity to make our first visit out of Mwanza. This visit took us to Tarangire Safari Lodge to see our friend and a great supporter to our ministry Annette Simonson and her lovely family. We had a wonderful time at the Safari Lodge seeing beautiful wild animals. We really enjoyed the trip, and all expenses were paid for by the Simonsons. They have  really been a source of encouragement and support to ministry in Tanzania.




For some of you who have never been to Africa, we recommend that you come and visit Tanzania and especially the Tarangire Safari Lodge. You will be able to experience the wildlife of Africa, and it is also a great place for rest and reflections.  www.tarangiresafarilodge.com. You will always be in our prayers and heart, Annette and John Simonson!
 
Car Project
Earlier in March, we explained our challenges when it comes to transportation, and we wrote asking that you pray and support us in getting a car for our ministry in Tanzania. We would like to officially informed you that we have been able to meet our target in getting the car!! We were able to order a RAV4 2006 for $6,200 from Japan, which was a blessing for us. Our previous plan was to get a 2005 RAV4 for the same amount, but when we met a friend in Tanzania, he told us that with that amount we can get a better car with good mileage. He was able to help us in the process of ordering a car from Japan, which we did. The shipping company has just informed us that the car will arrived in Tanzania on the 22nd of April. We are hoping that with the remaining cash in hand, we can pay the custom duties, pay for vehicle registration, purchase new tires, and pay for insurance. To all of you who supported this project, we say may the good Lord, Jesus Christ reward you greatly and answer the yearnings of your heart.

Challenges
Presently, we are having problem with the issue of water in our community. Sometimes we get running water for just three(3) or four(4) times a week and this is a big challenge for us. When there is no running water, we will have to use  buckets to get water from a hotel near our house. However, we have been able to construct a wall for a tank (similar to the one in the picture) that will be able to store 2000 liters of water for us. Whenever there is no water running, we can use the overhead tank. The challenge now is we haven't been able to purchase the tank, due to lack of funding. The tank and installation will cost about $600. We are praying and trusting that we will get funding soon enough to purchase the tank, which is the only thing remaining to complete our water storage process.

Prayer Requests

• For Christy as she continues to gather her strength and carries the baby that is growing more than the normal growth. It is nothing to be alarmed about, but we will need to keep praying for a successful delivery. She visits the doctor once every six weeks, and we are hoping that as we enter the middle of this month and get closer to the expected day of delivery, she will now visit maybe once every two weeks.
• We have not been able to get our missing luggage yet and we have already fill in claims forms. The airline has yet to respond. Keep praying that we can find the luggage before the airline get back to us about claims.
• For our ministry here in Mwanza , especially for Dixon as there are  a lot of issues to put in place in the new church. We were able to start a Bible study with just seven (7) people and for the past three weeks. We had increase in number to about twenty people who are coming on a regular basis. This is really something to thank God for.
• For our water challenges as we look for solution to solve the problem.
• For us as we await the church to complete our residence permit process, it has been more than a month now and we haven't been able to get our permit. Our visas expired on the 13th of April.
• For the Nigerian elections. Pray that all parties will accept the outcome of the results.