The Eads to Tanzania

Car Repair and Visiting

I got into a fender bender last month, but haven't had the time to fix the bumper on the Land Cruiser. So, I spent yesterday morning at the welder's readjusting the bumper. I got back in the afternoon and worked on some other repairs. It has been one of those things that needed to get done but I haven't had the time to do for the last month.

Today and tomorrow, I am planning on squeezing in an hour or two in the office, and then I will be making some discipleship visits on students in Shadi and Sweya.

Visit with Sengerema Church

Sunday at 6:30 AM, I left home to head to Sengerema. I got there around 8:30 AM and had some time to talk with Hamisi and visit with the family. Mama Baraka, while still very tired, is recovering well from her recent sickness. It was good to see the faithful core of the church and a number of visitors in the service.

I preached on Matthew 6:5-8, "Sala zisizo Sahihi," or "Incorrect Prayers." God is not impressed with our public displays of religion nor does he hear our prayers if we give them so that we can be seen by others. Also, we shouldn't think that we will be heard if we pray with the same methods and motivations as the pagans. I asked them questions about how unbelievers worship the ancestors at the graves, getting positive responses that unbelievers think that they will be heard because of their loud voices, their repetition of the right words, and their long time in praying. I tried to make the point that in many churches that they may visit, who they are praying to has changed (God instead of the ancestors), but the methods and motivations are the same. This part of the sermon actually broke out into a discussion as people started asking some great questions about prayer. I began to speak about the Lord's prayer (vv. 9-10), but I decided to pick up with that next week, because of the unplanned discussion in the middle of the sermon!

After eating lunch with Hamisi and family and spending the afternoon talking ministry and theology with Hamisi, I ended back around 4:30 PM to arrive home around 7:30 PM.

Today (Monday), after the last three weeks of teaching, I am going to take a rest day with the family. Pray that we would get some good spiritual nourishment and some physical rest.

3 years ago...

It was on a Sunday, after attending one final morning at Parker's Lake Baptist Church, that we headed to the airport. Exactly three years ago, on September 24, 2008, we arrived in Tanzania to begin our life here.

God has been so good to us in giving us the opportunity to serve Him here!

 

Taasisi, Final Day

We have come to the close of a great week of teaching. The students found our discussion of The Reformed Pastor to be very profitable. I was surprised at how vocal they were about the profitability of this section of the notes. Yesterday, we discussed teaching methods within the church and closed the day with a discussion about evangelism. Today, we have a pastors' panel, when we will give the pastors an opportunity to answer the questions of the students about ministry. Then, for lunch, we have all of the students over to our place before they leave to return home.

Please pray that these three weeks of classes, the teaching and discussions, would continue to have an impact in the lives of these men and in their ministries.

Taasisi, Week Three Update

A class of seventeen students (current students and graduates) gathered together this week for one-week course entitled, "The Life of the Pastor and His Ministry." Monday, we worked through Acts 20:17-35, Hebrews 13:17, James 3:1, 1 Peter 5:1-4, and 1 Timothy 4:6-16. I led them through an inductive study of the passages, and this led to some valuable conversation about the work of the pastor.

Tuesday, we talked about the spiritual disciplines as a part of a larger discussion about the inner life of the pastor. Today, Wednesday, I will be teaching through an outline of Richard Baxter's book, The Reformed Pastor, a book that made a great impact on me as I read it in June in preparation for this class.

Please pray for Hamisi, the evangelist in Sengerema, and his wife Mama Baraka. Hamisi had to leave before class yesterday to return to Sengerema because Mama Baraka had become suddenly sick and had to be hospitalized in Sengerema. She had to have emergency surgery, but we still have not heard the outcome.

Taasisi, Week Two Finished

Last Friday, we finished the General Epistles. The class was great. The students were struck by the practicality of James (especially his exhortations about the tongue and favoritism), James and Peter's emphasis on the value of trials and persecutions to the Christian life, and Peter's, John's, and Jude's strong statements against false teachers.

I have told Jana several times, "I am tired, but I don't want to do anything else!" What a privilege to teach such rich truths!

Taasisi, Week Two Update

This morning we are beginning the third day of the General Epistles. Monday, we looked at Hebrews 1-9. There was some slow sledding to be sure. Some of the concepts are so abstract, the priesthood of Melchizedek in particular. I visually portrayed the ministry at the tabernacle by moving around chairs and tables in the classrooms to "construct" a visual of the different restraints to direct communion with God in the Old Testament. This provided some great conversation about Jesus' ministry as our high priest and our privilege to come before God. We have also had a lot of conversation about the warnings throughout the book. This has been some valuable review about the basics of the doctrine of salvation.

Yesterday, we finished Hebrews and began James. Lots of good discussion. Today, I hope to finish James and begin 1 Peter, God-willing. Please pray for the truth to make a deep impact on our hearts.

 

Taasisi, Week One

This past week has been a great time of teaching. Bahati, Lenard, William, Marko, James, Mabula, and a couple of visitors have been studying Acts and Paul's Epistles with me beginning Monday. The class has been a great encouragement to me, and I have been thankful to God for the very positive response that the students have given to the class. The students have been particularly impressed by the faithfulness of the apostles in spite of trials, some of our in-depth conversations about the nature of salvation, and Paul's approach to confronting false teaching and disobedience in the churches. We will be finishing up a little early today, giving us some time for review. Next week, we will be picking up with the General Epistles (Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation). Very exciting times!