We've been in Mwanza, Tanzania for almost 2 weeks now. We've been paired with "Rooted Remnants of Restoration" for the two weeks and it’s been a great chance to learn from them and pour into them, too.
Kyle came back after 2 weeks at home for Med School interviews. It’s been GOOD having my bro back! He’s a necessary element in our team—we missed him!
This is a photo of part of the fam. Picking him up from the airport!
Ministry for the last few days has been from 4-6 pm. And I sit here sometimes and think. . . what do I do with all this time on my hands? It’s outside this idea of structure and schedule, which is something you learn about on the Race—flexibility. Most of the times I just take my guitar outside and sit on the cement wall and play for the neighbors passing by. The kids come and sway back and forth and when I'm lucky, they'll even try to sing along or dance, too. Theres a lot of time we have for Jesus time and to process thoughts and scripture. This also leaves a lot of open time for being intentional in pursuing people in the community, as well as our WR family.
Ministry this past week was hard, though. It was door to door ministry in which the translation from English to Swahili made circumstances difficult with a translator that didn't know much English and a name like mine that no one can seem to pronounce—which has gone from “Kawon,” to “Kaynn,” etc., which only makes me laugh. So I had to pursue our translator in asking questions and seek out the opportunity to share this past week. There was a few days where I felt like I was not needed in ministry. And imy mind automatically went to the mentality of, "I didn't come all the way to Africa, to sit here." I want to be doing something!
But I had open conversations with God about it. Conversations that spurred on a yearning to talk with people. A yearning to have conversations that are legit in sharing the gospel, my heart, and testimony with people who are worthy of love. And I think thats what I needed for that moment in time. To actually WANT to be doing it. To not be complacent in the place I was.
And Friday was one of my most exciting afternoons of Ministry on the Race. Friday Spencer and I went into the village with and I got to talk with Magesa, a young man who’s heard the gospel but had A LOT of questions. And I was able to share my heart and truth with him. Give him scripture references and be real about this deep relationship that God desires of him. He was excited, came to church on Sunday and I gave him a bible. He’s SO excited that he’s going to help translate at some of out hospital visits this week.
On Friday, I also got to share the gospel with a married couple and I got to lead them to Christ. Them and a group of children that were playing nearby. It was exciting to see how the Lord worked in my circumstance. I was able to share His love and truth with people. I wish you could understand how it felt. How it felt to feel that people were being added to the kingdom. I wanted nothing more than to REJOICE! And so I did.
I shared at Church on Sunday about Radical Obedience and what that looks like in our lives and it went well. One of my favorite quotes on it is by David Platt,
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy… It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”
This is our church. Its small in width, but GREAT in length!
These are some photos from our week of ministry in the village in Kilimahewa, Mwanza
On our way to share with peopl!
Sweet little lady that was outside her home
There is beauty all around. And the sunlight peaks through & the shadow proves the sunshine.
The kids are precious. You'd love them.
How can you resist this smile?!
All in all, I've learned a lot here. And I'm continuing to grow and continuing to pour into people.
Love, from our family, in Tanzania!
