These are some of the neighbors we see everyday.
Mr. Jordan and Amani are farmers. They work their fields and raise cash crops. Amani lives right next to us and Mr. Jordan lives about a house away. They are very friendly to us (our best friends here) and they both know a few words in English.
Mama Fatuma frequents our house, many times bringing a small gift of fresh milk or eggs. She loves to speak and teach Kilangi to us.
Amani and Alima are our best Rangi friends. They are reasonably close to our age. Amani is always smiling and Alima laughs about everything! From sun up to sun down she is working hard and you’ll never see her sitting around unless she is sitting on our couch bouncing Shazma and laughing. Shazma was born a month after we arrived.
Both families attended the Christmas party. Pray the Gospel seed fell on good ground!

A couple weeks ago Shazma got sick with some sort of skin infection. She was very lethargic and just sat there staring. She could barely keep herself sitting up. They tried the local "dispensary" and then a with doctor—both with the same results, nothing. We were able to send them to the Pahi hospital which is Christian run. They fixed her right up and now she's a healthy, happy baby and we got to show the love of Christ! Praise God.

UPDATE: Right now, Amani and Alima are separated. We don't know why or what the situation is. Mir went and visited Alima after a week and they had such a great time. I had Amani over for lunch and talked to him about it. They are both very vague about the situation, but it really seems that they still love each other a lot. So, please pray with us that this will not end in divorce and God will use us to bring the Gospel to this situation.

Well, first, I'm not necessarily saying we are in an unreached people group. The Rangi have several churches among them. Many Rangi in Kondoa and Haubi are Bible-believing Christians. But Busi is definitely an unreached village. The Rangi total about 450,000. That's a lot of people.

In Busi, there is a church started by a group called "Methodist". They are not the denomination Methodist, they are a Korean based denomination—confusing, I know.
Well basically they built a building and placed a lay person in charge called an "evangelist". Evangelists in Africa are usually untrained, but know enough to preach and lead a church.
There are about 2-8 people that go on any given Sunday. The thing is, no Rangi attend. It's only a smattering of nurses, doctors or teachers imported from other bigger cities. Kind of like an army church or something.

The evangelists name is Samuel and his wife is Anna. They have 4 kids and told us they wanted to go to Bible school really bad. God has placed a burden on our hearts for them and they are good friends of ours. (I can't wait to talk to them!) So, we are going to be helping them get there.

The cost is about $1,200 a year for everything; food, house, school tuition for him, his wife, the kids, supplies, books, clothes, transportation, you name it. So, if you are looking for some place to give to missions. Why not help out a future pastor! Just email us and we'll let you know how you can help.

The church is not doing great and the leaders came to visit a month ago and kept all the offerings and didn't even let Samuel keep his portion. The leadership is very distant, there's minimal communication and no accountability or trust. Since Samuel does not have a job, they are very poor and sometimes don't have enough money to even eat. Our team has been helping them financially for a couple months until they leave for Bible school.

We don't know what the future holds for us here, but this church will probably play a role somehow.

Yep! That's not a mistake. I teach English and Computers in a developing country. Although it's very different from teaching in the States, I do enjoy it. It's a challenge.

Typically, in a week I have about 6 periods of English to Form III (Juniors) and 2 periods of Computers to Form II & III. I prepare my lessons at home based on the Tanzanian curriculum and then go teach. Tests are given by me writing every question on the chalkboard and then the students copy it to their paper, then answer the questions. Nothing is digital.

I figured out last week that it takes me 35 minutes to fill a chalkboard with text! My class is 40 minutes. That didn't leave much time for teaching. (Rant about TZ education system coming later…)

Today I unsuspectingly went to school like a normal monday. I had a good class. As I was leaving, I looked and saw Jared and Megan sitting under a tree. "Why are you here?" I asked. They mentioned they were at school for a parent/teacher meeting and all the staff was asked to attend. They were planning on introducing us and all.

Knowing what I know about African culture, I knew the meeting would last for hours. So, I tried to sneak away. Well, I soon became surrounded by other teachers and parents. There was no escape!

So, I gave in. That was around 9:30am. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 10. As is normal, it began at 10:30.

I used to think 1 hour board meetings at work were bad. But now I realized there was air conditioning, plush chairs, beverages, bathrooms, breaks if it went more than a couple hours, food if it was over lunch—I had it made!

This took place under a massive tree and it was all in Swahili. To make things more difficult for us Westerners, we sat on straight wooden chairs. It's already hard to sit doing nothing while listening to a language you don't know, but the meeting didn't end until 3:00pm! No break, no food, just sitting for 5+ hours.

So, how was your day today?

Here are some pictures of the most recent projects; chameleon cage, camping bench, Nia's bed, Thailie's desk and bench, candle holders.

Chameleon Cage

This is my pride and joy. I spent weeks making the cage. Mainly because every screw has to be pre-drilled (about 80!) and I am using hand tools (saw, drill, screwdriver) AND all the wood here is hardwood. It's like working with metal more than wood. But in the end, I was very pleased with the outcome. Although the door won't seal—at least the animals never get out!

This is not cool! Many guys stand back-to-back in here and pee on the wall. Plus, there is no door. Everyone can just see you going. This is not ok for shy peers!

Jared and I will just pick a stall for some privacy.

"Today there is a very, very aggressive and concerted effort among evangelical people, so many of whom don't know the true gospel..not just Roman Catholics but also Protestants, to embrace Roman Catholicism as if it is a true religion. This...this run to embrace Catholics and declassify them as non-believers, declassify them as a mission field is being led by very prominent leaders in evangelical positions, both in churches and para-churches." — John MacArthur

There has been some discussion of working with catholics and we have some in Busi.

As you may have realized, I am a defender of the Gospel. I will at least state my beliefs in Scripture. And if it's a secondary matter, not from Scripture I can/will let things go.

I am out here in Africa because there is so much junk muddying of the lines of Orthodox Christianity, making it incredibly hard if not impossible to evangelize. Africans take the name of Christ in vain. This is the real meaning of the fourth commandment. If we are not clear in our beliefs and what the Bible says, then we are just as helpful as the Peace Corp. Then there is no need for evangelism.

If you love Jesus and want His name to be hallowed, how can we stand aside? Luther didn't. That's why we are protestant. Friends, let's not forget the Reformation.

It seems as though there is only Islam and Catholicism in our area. If Catholicism is sufficient, then let's leave. We need to be a dominant voice. And our message will be watered down and destroyed if we join hands with people that call themselves Christians, but don't believe in the Gospel. This is confusing to the world.

"The Protestant, to remain Protestant, must hold that the issues that still divide Rome and Geneva are issues where salvation is at stake. If they are not, they are issues that do not justify continued schism within the body of Christ and they can and should have been worked out in the first place at the Reformation within the context and authority of the Catholic Church."—Excerpt from an interview with Douglas Wilson

What is heresy?

[belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious (esp. Christian) doctrine:]

"HERESIES are those doctrines and practices which are contrary to the Bible. They are also called "human traditions" or "doctrines of men". Both Peter and Paul predicted and warned that in the later times "false teachers" would rise within the Church and bring in "damnable heresies" and "doctrines of devils". (Read 2nd Peter 2:1-3, and 1st Timothy 3:2-5). Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, for they transgressed the commandments of God by keeping their traditions. “in vain,” He said, "they worship me by keeping for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:3,9)." — Rev. Stephen L. Testa

Simply speaking it is wrong or anti-Biblical beliefs about God, Bible, Christ etc… These stretch farther than the simple "not knowing" or "mysteries" of God, which all Christians hold in balance. No one can know everything about God, but heresy is going against what the Bible says to be true OR creating something that's not in the Bible and claiming it to be divine inspiration.

I do feel the need to clarify, that I do not believe all catholics are going to hell. Just as I don't believe all mis-taught, or mis-guided protestants are going to hell. That is between the person and God. I am simply saying that the teachings and doctrine of the Roman Catholic church are at their core heretical and to believe them knowingly and submit to them is heresy.

There are many catholics who go to church every Sunday and love Jesus and don't have a clue what is going on in their religion.

Below is a short list of some of the major Catholic heresies. Then there is an exhaustive list and the dates they were made official dogma. These are a big deal. At the bottom is a list of more resources from trusted scholars.

Fast forward a month.

Yesterday morning on the way to Babati, I mentioned that I would also like a tree if they find some. Well, the whole day passed and no one remembered Dawn's banana trees.

It was about 8pm and pitch black as we left town. I casually mentioned what a bummer is was that we forgot the trees. Apparently, that's not a problem in Africa.

Peter said, "Why can't we just stop at someone's house and buy their trees?"

It wasn't hard to read Dawn and I as we were roaring with laughter. I blurted out, "I'm sure we can! (knowing what I now know of African culture) It would just be very anti-American! You can't just show up at someone's house at nighttime and ask them to dig a tree from their backyard and sell it to you!"

Since I was the driver, I said, "Please, just tell me when to stop." Mind you, we are driving over a mountain by now and houses are very sporadic and there's no electricity, so they are dark and impossible to see.

A while later, out of the blue Peter points into the woods and yells, "Look! There's a fire!" I responded with a disbelieving, "So?"

"Well, let's stop and buy a tree." "Oh yeah, of course!"

So, we stopped.

Peter and Gideon left to talk to the people with a fire. Dawn and I stayed behind to watch the car.

We were laughing and talking about how funny this situation is and compared it to our Western up-bringing. I was thinking, "Why would these people have banana trees and why would they sell them to us if they did?"

After about twenty minutes we were thinking either our African teammates are successful, or they got roped into Ugali and Chai. Then suddenly, I heard "Whack!"

I yelled, "I hear a whack! I think they are cutting trees! I'm going to check."

So, I walk over and sure enough—I was put in my place. There is Peter and Gideon in the dark, full of sweat and dirt, digging up baby banana trees while 5-6 women stood around laughing and speaking Kilangi! I asked if they got three and they said, "Ha! We got more than three, we have eight!" One was almost eight feet tall, another six and then several shortys.

I ran back and switch places with Dawn, then drove the car to where they were and loaded up the trees.

As we were leaving the scene, Peter recalled, "The women were suspicious at first, but once we started digging, they began laughing and teasing us in Kilangi!"

Today Peter and Gideon came to help me plant my tree in manure, sand and straw.

All I can say is that I'm still smiling and will be every time I remember getting my banana tree.

Friday I went up the mountain to attempt to pray and read in seclusion. I slept there two nights in my hammock. I brought food and supplies for 3 days. It was fun, hard, exhausting and sometimes scary.

I wanted to grow closer to God, but I don't know if I did.

I read the entire book, “The Insanity of God” in one day. It was really good. I cried a lot. I can really relate to the author. He went through a lot of the struggles I am going through. I didn't have a spiritual revelation and my face didn't begin glowing, but I learned a lot—through the book and the hike.

I think that all the questions in the world about life, missions and ministry can be answered with one word. Abide. Abide in Christ and He'll do one of two things—give you an answer or take away the question.

I learned that I don't like being alone. On the mountain, even for 2 days, I missed my family a lot.

I learned that praying on the mountain is no different than praying in my bafu. Except it is a lot more work. I'd rather just find a shady tree with no one around.

I learned that I can't survive on my own. Even with all my “mountain man” skills, I could barely catch a snail for breakfast if I needed to.

I learned that missions isn't about projects or helping the needy, they will always need more. It's about sharing the Gospel and that's it. Food projects, water projects, hospitals, clinics, teaching are all good, but useless if we never share.

“Don't give up in freedom what persecuted Christians won't give up in persecution.”