The trip to Tanzania was scheduled to start on Friday, 3rd July 2015. Everyone of us in the team was excited to be part of this noble task of proclaiming the good news about the coming kingdom of our Messiah. Some of us were more elated to have another chance to preach the gospel across the borders soon after the Malawi Mission early in the year. The divine mission would this time round take us to
Tanzania, a country where you will find Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is the tallest mountain in Africa. The official language in Tanzania is Kiswahili and therefore that meant communicating with the locals would not be a challenge to any of us.
A team comprising of 9 members and led by the General overseer Hezekiah Kuria Karanja left Nairobi on 3rd July 2015 for Tanzania. The others included:
1. Elder David Gitari Mwangire
2. Elder John Muchoki Gaichare
3. Elder Micheck Mburu Muchiri
4. Elder Wilson Maina Kamau
5. Elder Peterson Kinyeru Kabugo
6. Sister Eudias Wambui Kuria
7. Sister Edith Njeri Gitehi
After leaving Nairobi, we were destined for Himo, a town which is situated southwards of Tarakea, a border of Kenya and Tanzania. Though long and tiresome, we were excited and determined to cover the 300 km journey by bus. The serene environment helped us to relax and feel refreshed. The brethren welcomed us warmly and we were even surprised to find that they had already erected a stone building for a church, which was near completion. Their dedication and diligence in serving Elohim was very evident especially due to the fact that they are small in number and young in faith too. Tito, who has given part of his land for church construction could not hide his joy to welcome the Kenyan team to Tanzania.
We had a very lovely session to welcome the Sabbath together with other brethren who had joined us at Eilasit and traveled together to Tanzania. We also met other brethren at Himo who had come from Taveta, Kenya, which is only about 20 km away. The General Overseer encouraged us to continue doing the will of our father in heaven because it would never be in vain. We will soon get our reward, when Yahshua is revealed and comes in glory.
Despite the cold and chilling weather in the morning, Sabbath service was very vibrant. Eder Muchoki gave a sermon and reminded us to keep sanctifying ourselves, to be wise and have knowledge of the word. The divine messages were about the second coming of Yahshua and the need for us to wait patiently for his revelation. The messages also talked about the need to advise and pray for the youth Group.. The General overseer took the moment to encourage the congregation. He praised Elohim because of Brother Tito for providing a place where the church could be built. He was very happy with the People of Tanzania for remaining firm and called upon them to remain united and steadfast so that the gospel of Yahshua could be preached to the whole country of Tanzania. He also commended them for the young church choir that gave marvelous presentation
In the afternoon the Elders joined the Men at Himo to further encourage them while the Sisters did the same to the fellow Sisters of Himo. They advised them to maintain unity among themselves and channel their efforts in building and strengthening the church. Brother Tito was ordained by the General overseer to be a church leader at Himo. Also, brother Martin from Taveta was ordained too as a church leader to assist in the service.
After Sabbath we converged for a meeting to discuss the main agenda for the mission. This was on how we would help the brethren to complete the construction of the church. It was agreed that we should pledge for construction materials, give out cash donations and also go an extra mile to provide the required human labor for the project, a move that would help to cut down on cost significantly.
On Sunday morning, we woke up very early, to get ready for the construction work planned for the day.This must have been the busiest and most tiring of all the days we would spend at Tanzania. After taking breakfast, we embarked on gathering stones for cementing the floor of the building. Meanwhile, the women from churches in Arusha and Himo worked in the kitchen to prepare lunch. Everything was moving on well as planned and by evening, we had accomplished our objective. All the glory to Adonai!It was the last day we would spend the night at Himo, and therefore we left for Arusha very early on Monday morning. We were hurrying up for Arusha, where the General Overseer was expected to pray for a sick person. Arusha is about 100 km from Himo town. After we arrived, we recognized some of the brethren there. They had already accepted Yahshua and even baptized when they visited Kenya during one of the feast celebrations. They were very happy to see us and gave us a very warm welcome.
The General Overseer was directed to the place where the sick man was laid. He was a school
headmaster and according to his family, he had not eaten for a long time because he claimed that bread had worms in it. Also, he never used to accept anything from his wife, but instead he used to chase her away. He had even stopped going to work because of his condition. However, after the General Overseer prayed for him, he woke up and took tea with bread! He was able to recognize the people that were around him and even embraced his wife. Everyone was happy and we praised Elohim for the miracle.
The General overseer encouraged the brethren at Arusha and after praying with them, we embarked on our journey to Nairobi on the same day. Although we were physically exhausted, we were very joyful in our hearts for the successful mission. Besides the successful church construction, the brethren at Himo and Arusha were left spiritually stronger and blessed than ever before. Elohim had crowned the mission to Tanzania with glory and that is why we were able to accomplish a lot in just a short time. We give all the glory to His name.
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