TANZANIA
| Morogoro
In
line, with going door-to-door and being obedient to his calling, Tara
and I had one of the most amazing days on “on the field”
doing ministry. We were both tired and exhausted by the incredible
heat and had just split off from the other three members of our team.
Our two translators led us to the house up the hill from where the
others were speaking to a, what we would call, backyard. As we turned
the corner, I was quite nervous finding probably around 30 African
men hanging out. It is pretty abnormal seeing this many men all in
one place, and my safety radar immedietely went up. I began to have
an incredible fleshly fear rise up and made me want to bolt even more
than usual. But, having our two translators with us they told us that
the men wanted to speak to us so they led us to the shady part of the
house with chairs in hand.
I
was calmed more, finding out that it was a hostel for boys that were
going to a local secondary school (high school) and they were on
holiday so they were just hanging out to pass the time. I was even
more excited to find out that they all spoke incredible English.
As
we took our seats in the shade, the boys grabbed any and everything
they could to sit at our feet, eager to hear what we had to say. Tara
and I began to go through our normal spiel of who we were, where we
came from, and then ended with the gospel message. As the routine
predicted we asked if any had any questions. Normally this question
is followed by either an awkward pause and then apanna (“no”
in Swahili) or an immediete “no.” But this time, it was
different. As soon as I asked the question a slew of hands went up,
and one by one I would point to them as would a teacher.
The
questions these boys asked were absolutely incredible, they all came
from varying backgrounds and religions and were all open to
everything God had us say. It was so neat, to cover the gospel in so
many different aspects from how God speaks to us to old vs. new
covenant. They asked about science and faith, the difficulties of
belief, and even about how we as Americans were trying to save our
country.
At
the end of our time spent with these boys we were able to challenge
them to go home and think about what God had said through us today
and to ask God to reveal himself to them. We were also able to pray
for those boys in their continual search for truth in their lives.
No
lives that we know of were saved that day, and no miracles were seen,
but truth was spoken and God softened those boys hearts to what He
was saying. I pray that everyone that we speak to has the same zeal
for truth as those young men did. I pray that all people would see
accepting Jesus as not just another decision like choosing these
tomatoes over those, but as a decision that will influence the rest
of their lives. I desire more conversations to reveal truth and hope
and pray that God will also put people in your lives that you can
speak truth to also. I want to end with a verse in Acts that has been
very influential for me both at home in America and also abroad. I
hope that you will not just read this verse and forget it, but that
you would write it on your heart remembering God’s calling to not be
silent with His message.
“Do
not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with
you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this
city who are my people.” Acts 18:9-10
