August 2009 Update

Buhungu Village, Kigoma Region, Tanzania. The Lord has opened the door for an exciting new opportunity here in the Kigoma Region of Tanzania. A young man - the oldest son of some other missionaries here - has been making a survey of the southern part of the Kigoma Region (a region is like a state in the U.S.). He has been surveying villages to see what peoples are living there, if they have heard the gospel, approximately how many believers, how many churches, etc. This past June, as he was hiking back to a village he knew about, he came across a small village formerly unknown to him (or any of the other missionaries in the area).

The village of Buhungu is comprised of the Tongwe people. The ancestors of the Tongwe, along with their close cousins, the Bende, originally migrated from the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika in Congo, to the western side of the lake in Tanzania many generations ago. When Tanzania first gained independence in 1961, the first leader, Julius Nyerere, instituted a policy which forced all peoples in Tanzania to gather together into larger towns and abandon village life. The Tongwe were very unhappy with this and struggled to adapt to the new lifestyle. After Nyerere died, the southern Tongwe went back to their villages in the mountains of what is now Mahale National Park. In 1990, when this park was officially designated, the Tongwe were once again forced to leave their villages and lands and were resettled in new villages to the north and south of Mahale. Because of this, the Tongwe became very suspicious and bitter towards anything government related.

In addition to the forced resettlement over the past few generations, the Tongwe were also proselytized by the Muslim population in the towns in which they were resettled in the 1960s. They were taught by these Muslims that the God of the Christians hated them and that they should have nothing to do with Christian missionaries or Christians in general. The Tongwe of Buhungu are among the group that later moved back to Mahale only to be forcibly moved once again from Mahale to the surrounding areas. Because they were not happy with the villages north and south of Mahale, they sought new mountainous areas to the east, eventually settling close to the snaking Lugufu river in the village now called Buhungu.

Buhungu is a village of about 200 people, most on one side of the river and a few on the other. The people are all involved in a form of Folk Islam that mixes the little that they’ve learned from Islam through the years with their indigenous beliefs in spells, potions, rituals, poisonings, curses, human sacrifices, and so on. Every mountain, valley, river, and other landmark represents a false god that they worship. Other than the short meeting they had with our young friend in June, the village has never received a missionary or heard the gospel, and the elders of the village had never even met an mzungu (white person).

The Lord provided us the opportunity to visit the village by catching a ride on the helicopter of a medical outreach based in Kigoma. Otherwise it would have required a long day of driving and about 14 or more hours of hiking through the bush in the radiating heat of the equatorial sun just to get there. We were so excited by this truly open door.

The missionary doctor (who is also the helicopter pilot), the young missionary who originally came across the village (Tori Rasmussen), a local brother from Kigoma by the name of Enoch, and myself all arrived at about 9:30 in the morning, making our unannounced and unexpected decent on the village via helicopter. The villagers had recently burned some grass near the center of the village which provided a better clearing for a landing site than anticipated. As you might imagine, after we landed the whole town made their way to us to greet us and to get a closer look at the helicopter. We had no idea what to expect and were blessed and relieved to find them all very welcoming.

After shaking the hands of many men, women, and children and spending a few minutes going through the sometimes lengthy, but culturally necessary greeting process, we began to talk. Tori introduced me to the leader of the village, Saidi, whose title was ‘balonzi’ - ambassador. He was younger than I expected.

Some of the people of Buhungu. I’m the white guy on the left and Dr. Len is on the right. Enoch is just in front of me with the blue shirt and a vest.

We walked with Saidi and some other elders ahead of the tailing crowd in order to get a quick look at the size and layout of the village. Just before coming to the river we stopped at a small gathering of mud-brick homes, the largest of which was that of Saidi. They brought out very small wooden stools, not much more than three or four inches off the ground, and placed them in the limited near-noon shade close to the wall of the house. We proceeded with further introductions and began to talk about why we came. After Dr. Len explained that he would like to come back with a nurse and do a small one-day clinic to help them with basic medical needs, I explained to the village leader that I would also like to return, along with a couple of friends, to bring spiritual medicine - the good news of Jesus Christ. Saidi didn’t even hesitate in his response: “Karibu”. That’s Swahili for “welcome”. I was pleasantly surprised because I knew that they had been warned about Christian missionaries by previous generations of Tongwe who had been so indoctrinated by various Muslim teachers in the bigger towns. I made sure to be clear that while Dr. Len was offering medical assistance, my primary reason for returning on our next visit was to explain the gospel - the good news about Jesus Christ. Again, Saidi and the other leaders gathered there with us had no problem at all with us coming and doing so.

I’m very excited to see what the Lord may do in Buhungu. If there are some whose spiritual eyes are opened, recognizing that we are all sinners in need of a Saviour and that the Saviour our gracious God provided is His Son, Jesus Christ, then we will rejoice with the angels and return regularly and often in order to continue discipling them and encouraging them in the faith. Please pray that the Lord would send His Spirit before us to begin to work in their hearts and minds in order that as many as are appointed to eternal life might believe (Acts 13:48). In fact, about the same time you are receiving this update (the first week of August) we will be making our second visit, this time with our good friends Bond and Heather Gaona who are visiting from the U.S., focused purely on evangelism. We hope to have an audience with each housing group in the village (about four groups of five houses with about six people per house). I would especially like to have time with Saidi, the leader of the village, and his family. We pray that one or more of the elders receive the gospel and put their trust in Jesus. If they do, then it will be a tremendous aide in our efforts to share the gospel with the rest of the village. Please pray as you read this - before you even put this down - that God’s Spirit would move mightily in the hearts of the leaders and people in Buhungu. Pray that their spiritual eyes will be opened, their hearts would be softened, and their lives changed by the truth of God’s Word and by the power of God’s Spirit.

Kigoma Town, Tanzania. In July, a small team of brothers and sisters in Christ came to visit and work with my good friend Gabriel. Most of the group was from Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg, in Virginia. Some of them were friends of Gabriel’s from his two years spent at Calvary Chapel Bible College in California. Some were acquaintances of ours, and relatives and friends of others we know. We had a great time working together to accomplish ministry while they were here.

Through the “CC Fred” team, many Bibles were distributed to several different villages in the Kigoma Region. We also put on a three day seminar in Kigoma Town which focused on training local church leaders how to read, study, understand, and apply the Scriptures themselves. While these tools seem to be missing from most churches the world over, the problem seems even worse here in Africa. Most pastors - especially those from small villages - have no library, no pastoral training, and little to no education. Honestly, most of them have never even been discipled in the basic truths of God’s word. Through seminars like this one we are slowly but surely providing the necessary tools so that the leaders of the churches here are equipped to study for themselves the powerful and wonderful gift our Lord has given us... His word. Too often they rely on others to teach whilst they hurriedly copy what they are hearing as quickly as possible onto small scraps of paper. They will then attempt to repeat what they’ve heard come next Sunday morning. This is understandable considering the circumstances, but what if the message they hear is not Biblical truth? How will they know unless they are familiarized with the Scriptures and understand the basic concepts of reading, interpreting, and applying the truths of God’s word? Over the three day seminar, three of the visitors - Jason Tickle from ‘CC Fred’, Brian Harrington from CCBC Jerusalem, and Ezekiel Delgado from CC Sonora - along with Gabriel and myself, were able to encourage and exhort some of the local pastors and church leaders, specifically equipping them with some basic tools for studying, interpreting, and applying Scripture to their lives.

Above: Jason teaching with Walimona translating.
Below: Above: Brian teaching with Mikos translating.

The following week, Brian helped out by teaching a two-day class on hermeneutics at the local Bible College run by P.E.F.A. - Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship of Africa. The students - mostly pastors and other church leaders - were really blessed by the opportunity to learn and understand how to study and interpret the Bible for themselves.

Below: Treneka, from CC Fredericksburg,
spending time with the children outside the seminar.

Please pray:
- For God’s blessing and boldness to proclaim the Good News in Buhungu. For fruit from the evangelism and continued open doors and opportunity for returning to further evangelize, disciple, and encourage those who come to Christ.
- For fruit to be borne from the ministry done by and with the Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg team this past month.
- For continued protection and safety for our family, especially in the area of health. God has been so good to us in keeping us malaria-free for so long and we humbly ask that He continues to do so.
- That God would continue to protect us in our travels by car, boat, and air, as we minister in various areas at various times.
- For a permanent healing and solution to the problems that Carrie is experiencing with her wrists.
- For continued and special grace for Jon to overcome the difficulties of, and even be healed of, his sleep apnea.