John Rowse – March 2017

Dear praying friends,

Thank you all for your continued backing. This spell home has been a great time with the family, plus overhauling the English version of the course-book. Tomorrow (Thursday 17/03) I head back again to Tanzania. God-willing, I should be in Australia next in the second week of June, in time for my 70th birthday on the 13th. Firstly, a big THANKYOU point: both my work permit and my residence permit for Tanzania have now been granted. I have photocopies of each, and someone will meet me at the airport in Dar carrying the originals. Hopefully they should let me in.

Please pray …

1. … for Kay and Asha back here, and for all our family. Asha has a heavy workload with year 11. Philip still has a lot of travel, and his strange condition could rise again at any time, and Julie has had issues with her pacemaker, and has had to have more surgery. Rebecca is battling on, with chronic fatigue. Kay’s knees and hips are giving her a lot of pain and she is losing sleep a lot. I have had excellent help from Greg, a top retired trade-school teacher from church, as well as another couple of great friends from our home Bible study group, to put in a ramp to our front door. None of us is in a wheel chair yet, but we’re looking ahead. (That’s not ‘faith’? Well, my ‘faith’ must be pretty dismal because I am also expecting to die one day!)

2. … for safe travel – firstly to Tanzania and then early next week flying to Mwanza and then (by bus – do pray about that one!) to Musoma on the East of Lake Victoria – and more bussing after that.

3. … for the seminars there is northern Tanzania, which will also be further “on-the-job” training for Daudi Ores:

  • At Rorya, on the Kenyan border, with PEFA pastors (Pentecostal Fellowship of Africa), and at Tarime nearby (including a little more work with police – on witch-hunting);
  • At Bunda, south of Musoma, at the Anglican Bible school;
  1.  Soroti
  2.  Kasese
  3. Ng’ora
  4. UGANDA
  5. TANZANIA
  6. Mbale
  7. Kanungu
  8. Kampala2

• For other church leaders in the area who are still planning. Others want seminars later, as there is a food shortage at this time. So please be praying about that.

4. … for an Easter UKWATA conference (secondary students) being planned for Singida.

5. … for the meetings arranged already – and for more, God-willing – in Uganda after Easter:

  1.  in Kasese again, for some follow-up work, training a smaller group of trainers for eight archdeaconries, who will continue the work back where they come from,
  2. in Kanungu, with pastors of the Anglican Diocese of Kinkiizi, also in SW Uganda (still to be finalized);
  3. some more work in the Ngora, following-up on the last seminar there with Anglicans and also a seminar (or “Grace Clinic”) for folk from different churches, being organized by the pastor of a huge Pentecostal Assemblies of God church in Ngora;
  4. for a seminar in Soroti with Baptist pastors and evangelists from across the Teso-speaking area of Eastern Uganda.
  5. for a possible seminar near Mbale (further east), currently being planned with the folk from the Bushikori orphanage.
  6. For further planning.

6. Please also be praying for some real administration “headaches” back in Mbeya. Pray for Shabani: he is holding the fort well. He is learning Excel and taking on more responsibility.

June-July Deputation.

I do a workshop on Justification for the Riverina Christian Convention later in June, and thereafter I will be heading further north for deputation. So please bear this in mind. I will try to visit you and your churches – or home groups – in late June and July, and then Tasmania. If there is a time around then that would especially suit you or your church, please email me as soon as possible.

Please be praying that we might extend our support team. We have had one major supporting church reduce their support recently, and two others stop it completely, as they now have their own home-grown missionaries. That is how it is when you do not have a home sending church or mission. You are the “ring-in”. But we are SO thankful to the Lord that he has maintained us and this ministry for many years, and we thank him for those of you who have picked up these “strays”, and are continuing to be behind us.

I am also keen to do home dialogue evangelism here in Australia. (You simply open your home for an evening, and invite friends, workmates, neighbours, family to a night with a difference – hearing missionary speak on working with police to combat witch-hunting in East Africa). I am also eager to do “Grace Clinics” when I’m here in Australia, either in home groups or through preaching or church camps. Above all, I3 am keen to get to churches where pastors have been labouring to preach grace, but not so sure the message is getting through.

A special request.

We are immensely thankful for the church in Brisbane that has been very kindly helping us with handling donations. Their help has saved us a large amount each month in accountants’ fees. And yet it is a big load for their unpaid treasurer. I hope you will all understand that we want to lighten their load as much as possible. One way to do that is to relieve them of having to send receipts. It is not they who are our sending mission; they are just helping us. So instead of asking them for receipts, can we ask you either …

  • to please drop an email (or letter – 64 Pioneer Rd, Grovedale, Vic. 3216) to Kay just saying how much you have deposited each time, or …
  • if you pay by cheque, to please send it to Kay (but don’t make it out to her! Just make it, as usual to “Brown’s Plains Presbyterian Church_ Tanzania Mission”), and she can do the rest, or
  • if you deposit by hand or by regular direct debit, to please ask your bank what you should do to make sure your name shows up on the bank statements. I know some of you will say, we don’t need a receipt, but if there are unidentified donations we are still concerned that we have not acknowledged someone’s kindness.

Thank you all again for praying.

John – with love from Kay and Asha.