Dear praying friends,

Thank you for praying. I have had perfectly safe travelling. Pray for a very articulate Indian Australian, who sat next to me on the Melbourne-Delhi leg of the journey. An ever-so-tolerant Hindu, he was highly intolerant of Jesus’ exclusive claims (Clearly that was added to the text!).

Dar es Salaam

It was so good to stay with my old friends in Dar es Salaam, the Scots, and to preach to the Dar Christian Fellowship. I didn’t get to meet with Doreen’s alcoholics, prostitutes, etc., in the heart of the city, as she is sick, but her work is going on and their plans to use their gifts to run a restaurant are very exciting.

That was followed by a late afternoon meeting with a small group from Mbezi Beach (Dar) Moravian Church. An old friend from Mbeya, Boaz, arranged that, and he and his daughter were very clear on the gospel. Others were soon convinced.

Mbeya

After flying to Mbeya, the first work involved a long drive to a small Lutheran Church close to the border with Malawi. They took some convincing, but after the afternoon session most had crossed over. I had taught their pastor last year, which helped.

Since then, I have gone with a faithful Lutheran pastor in Mbeya to small home Bible study groups in his church on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons last week. After preaching to his church this last Sunday, I followed it up with a Sunday afternoon fellowship group. And I have just got back from another Tuesday home group with some of them, Most people were quite in the dark, but very teachable. It is absolutely delightful to see the light dawn on them.

The Zambian Border

Last Friday, I drove down to Tunduma, on the Zambian border, and met with Moses (See his letter) and his son, Nathan. It is fantastic to see how Nathan is soldiering on with his Dad for the gospel.

Saturday I got to meet up with my Baptist friend, Formeni—the one who was savagely beaten and left for dead years ago. He is so strong and healthy now and was very keen to get me to answer people’s questions in the Ndaga market—just for a short time, though. Pray for those who got answers. The big news from Ndaga is that “Osama”, whom we and many townsfolk searched high and low for some years back (if you recall?) is alive and well. The rascal had fled to Arusha in the north of the country to escape debt collectors! Please pray for his poor wife, who was convinced he had died. And pray for him, too—for repentance. He came home for one day or so, and then left again.

“The Icing on the Cake”

Of all the meetings since I got back, today’s was the icing on the cake. It was with a small group of local Lutheran pastors. When I asked my usual questions, the response was woeful—most of them were quite “under the law”, but we had 4 or 5 who were clear on grace. By the end of the Bible study, even the most vocal opponent of the gospel stated, “Nakubali” (I agree), and “Today I have learned a big thing (kitu kikubwa)!”

Keep Praying

So thank you for praying. And please continue for more such Sunday work and home Bible studies over the next 2-3 weeks, before I head to Burundi to speak at a conference of Presbyterians arranged by Didi, a student of my friend, Ian MacIver, in Uganda. That will involve five week-day afternoons, on Justification, followed by two smaller meetings on Christian Marriage. I will also be working with the Anglicans in Bujumbura, the capital. I will be there for two weeks, arriving July 8 and returning July 24. Please pray for all the arrangements, and not least, that I will get a visa.

Finally, the long-awaited meeting with the lady heading Immigration here has had to be postponed again, as she has been called away. Please continue to pray for this.

With lots of love to you all,

John.

PS: Bank Account details:

Bank: Suncorp
BSB: 484799
Account Name: Grace Christian Church_Tanzania Mission
Account Number: 609328416