The last few days have been anything but what we expected. It all began on Saturday night after arriving in Tanga. I had been trying to reach Pastor Gondwe (who is our District leader in the Tanga region) but to no avail. We were excited to meet with the pastors of the area and to see the work that is going on in this area. I was finally able to reach him briefly to tell him that we had arrived. We expected that he would arrive shortly at our hotel to meet with us and go over the schedule for the coming days. When he did not arrive I tried calling him again, but he was again not available. He did not arrive on Saturday night. When he did not arrive on Sunday morning, I began to be concerned. On Sunday afternoon we finally heard from him and found out that he had been in an automobile accident in the mountains and had been hospitalized with three others. While he would be in the hospital for a few days, we thank the Lord that he did not sustain any more severe injuries! We pray that the Lord will grant Pastor Gondwe a quick and full recovery so that he may continue the work that he is doing in this area. We also thank the Lord for his dedication to the work of the ministry here!
Pastor Gondwe told us he would not be able to make it down to see us, but continued to make alternate arrangements for our time in the Tanga area. The following morning we loaded onto another bus, heading back the way we had come just 18 hours earlier. We planned to meet with a pastor in Korogwe, which is a small town right on the Tanga - Moshi road. We had more trouble with this bus as well and spent almost 30 minutes dead stopped on the side of the very narrow highway. With the speed that trucks and busses travel that road we were concerned that we might get hit... but the sent people ahead and behind to TRY and slow traffic down. Once again a two hour bus ride became a three hour one....
Our broken down bus on the side of the road....
Finally we were able to visit the congregation just outside of Korogwe and encourage them with the Word. This congregation worshiped between two mud built buildings with a tarp spread from one to the other for shade. Plastic chairs were set up in the small area for seating those who would be able to come for a Monday service.
The "church" building where we visited and preached.
Russ offered a children’s message and I gave the sermon. They invited us for lunch and afterwards took us to see the place where their former church had stood. It had been built of mud bricks and had been destroyed by a severe rainstorm. We also went to see a piece of property outside of the village that the church has bought from the government and on which they would like to build a church and an orphanage/school.
Pastror Paschal stands where the church building once stood.
From there we returned to Korogwe and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Pastor Paschal, our driver/translator, and another man from the village. I began by asking Pastor Paschal about his background and ministry and it developed into another unexpected opportunity! Our translator was Anglican and the other man was “Full Gospel” and neither were familiar with true Biblical Lutheranism. As we talked the became very inquisitive and began asking many questions about our work and had a very interesting discussion. Both were interested in learning more!
Our translator, Pastor Paschal, me, The Army Man, and The Navy Man (Russ) after our discussion in Korogwe.
Tomorrow we will catch another bus (hopefully a working one) to Makanya where we will visit another pastor and discuss the work that is being done in that area. The Lord’s mercies are new every morning, for us and all His creation.
Please keep Pastor Gondwe in your prayers that the Lord would grant him a safe and speedy recovery from his accident and that he might continue to be about the Lord’s work in this area!
In His service,
Pastor Mayhew
No comments:
Post a Comment