More precious than gold or diamonds report

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. Ps 19:10

We started this year’s mission trip to Tanzania in the town of Mwadui, in the distance you could see huge piles of dirt and tailings from a nearby diamond mine. There a well, next to the church, was dedicated by Bishop Gulle. This was one of three wells paid for from the offerings of hundreds of children from Schools and congregations from the Mid-South District. The trip ended at the last service at Mwendakulima in a small school room. After the service we drove to the foundation for their new church building to ask a blessing on the congregation and their new venture. This backdrop was a mile or two from piles of dirt from the new Gold Mine in Kahama.

We did not return to the USA with any Diamonds or Gold but with a sweet taste in our mouth as we recalled the many new friends we met in the small villages. We have so many pleasant memories of the hundreds of people who joined us in baptisms. Over 800 men women and children were baptized during our short stay.

A perfect testimony to David’s words in Psalms 19....... The law of the Lord is perfect restoring the soul The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple.

The needs are many but we see the obvious needs for more Pastors and evangelist. We continue to support the Mission Training Centers where the lay evangelist are trained but we also need to find a way to support those men who want to attend the seminary.
Pray for:

• A Mentor for the new Christians so they can continue to grow in the Lord
• Pray for the Church Plant Ministry (CPM)
•  Pray for the outreach of the evangelist, pastors lay members as they share the gospel
•  Pray that God uses your gifts to share the Gospel
•  Pray for continuing educational support for pastors and evangelist in the ELVD

Gift leads to consecration of Bishop for Tanzania.....

 "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me".

Matthew 25:40

Sometimes we will not know this side of heaven what  impact our words or actions will  have for eternity. Even the smallest things may have long term consequences.

How many church members are active in church today because as children someone, maybe a Sunday School teacher, pastor  or a neighbor ,noticed them and encouraged their faith.

Here is a true and heartwarming story. A  young boy living in South Western Tanzania, a member of the Sukuma tribe, was raised with traditional  beliefs which included worshipping  their deceased ancestors.  

One day a  man  transferred into their  village with his work.   He performed his normal daily activities but he   also volunteered  one hour each Friday in the public school to share  his faith and  beliefs to the fifth grade class students.  Schools had a one hour class each week for students to have religious  instruction. They had Muslim, Catholic and Protestant teachers and the students could go to whatever group they chose.  The  man teaching  the Protestant group noticed that one student took a  special interest in what he was hearing  so he invited him to church to  attend confirmation classes he was also teaching.

The family did not approve,  but he came to  church and was eventually baptized and confirmed. When the time came for this man to move away from the village he announced in church that he wanted to give a farewell gift to the church. That gift would be that he would pay for one person to go to Bible College and this young man would be the recipient of this generous gift.  This education would have never been a possibly without this support.  

After successfully completing Bible College this young student went on to Seminary and was ordained a Lutheran pastor. He pastored  a number of places in Sukuma land. In 2009 at the age of 45, this young pastor was consecrated as Bishop of the East of Lake Victoria Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. This diocese is one of the fastest growing Lutheran districts in the world.  Bishop Andrew Gulle shared this story of his life with us and said that he invited this  man to his consecration ceremony and reported that the man cried with happiness at the event. Sometimes God allows us to see  the fruits of our labor to encourage us. And even better ending to this true story is that Bishop Gulle reports that his family are now baptized believers.

The partnership of the Mid-South District and the East of Lake Victoria Diocese (ELVD)  may not seem like much  by the worlds standard but it is the only pure mission outreach help the diocese receives.  The number one request from the ELVD is for help to train new pastors and evangelist to spread the word to the people in the district who have not heard the gospel message.  One components of Fan into Flame is funding to support Church planting ministry training help for the ELVD.

Many people feel they do not fell called to go on an actual  mission trip to Tanzania but we can use our gifts and talents to support this ministry thru Fan into Flame.  Our part is to be  willing to offer them.

The Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda

The Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda (LCMU) is about 15 years old and they've never before had as many pastors as they have right now. As we were preparing to go to Uganda for the first time, the church had only one ordained pastor. By the time we arrived in Uganda a year and a half ago, the church was served by two ordained pastors and three brand-new vicars. Today, the LCMU has five ordained Ugandan pastors and five vicars. And next month, five additional vicars will be returning from Seminary. It's a great time for the ministerial staff from across the country to start meeting together for mutual encouragement, to raise and address opportunities and challenges in the church, and to advise the LCMU Board of Directors on issues of ministry and theology.

"So, on April 9, with great joy, the LCMU convened its first ever Ministerial Conference. In attendance were four of the five ordained pastors, four of the five current vicars, and the two missionaries-Rev. Jacob Gillard and Shauen. Rev. Gillard hosted the conference at his home in Kampala. The conversation over the course of the two-day conference ranged from the assignments of the new vicars arriving next month to the strengthening of church records collected from each region, to the care and support of pastors who work in the remote parts of Uganda and are able to come together in fellowship with other pastors only a few times a year.

"Praise the Lord for the workers He has brought up in this land-and for their first ever Ministerial Conference. May this mark the beginning of a new era in the Lutheran Church Mission in Uganda."

Church at Nyangokolwa....Tanzania

Nyangokolwa  is  located about 15 miles from Bariadi.  We drove to this little village after the church service in Bariadi, some of the villager people were waiting for us under some large shade trees.  The church adult choir sang and danced  for us,  the choir director led the group my making clicking noises to get the group in rhythm later the youth choir sang and dance. (Maybe Jodie should consider a little dance number for the Holy Trinity choir) 

We all introduced ourselves and share our testimony with Pastor Mkaro preaching to this group of 100 members which seemed to grow and grow as the service went on.

Pastor Mkaro pastors the church in Bariadi and has 11 other sub parishes that have started through the work of the church planting ministry and the area evangelist who go into the surrounding areas with Pastor Mkaro. 

After the service we divided into 3 groups- children, youth and adults.  We shared Bible stories and they asked questions about America and how we live here. They were fascinated to learn how we cooked our food  They told us about the church they were building, they had poured the foundation and  made bricks for the walls but needed to make more.  The congregation did  all this work cleaning the spot, breaking rocks for the foundation, making bricks  by hand.  No power tools or equipment only strong backs and hoes.   They told us that they did not have enough money  for wood for the roof trusses or steel sheets for the roof.   I gave them $200 of the to be used for the roof..  This will not be enough to finish the job but will get them started.  (They will probably need $300 to $500 more)

They also asked if we could help them get Bibles as very few people have Bibles or Hymnals. 

We had previously purchased bibles with part of your money and gave them to the Pastor Mkaro when we first arrived.  He gave them to the confirmands.  The thought this was a good way to get them into the hands of all the family groups.

A month in Tanzania....a report from Cliff Herd

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Here am I
Isaiah 6:8

Cliff and Nancy Herd, members at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Chattanooga, have returned from a 4 week mission trip to the East of Lake Victoria Diocese of the Lutheran church of Tanzania in Mwanza, Tanzania. Cliff is a retired pastor (pastor emeritus) in the Mid-South District taught two courses (New Testament & Church History) to 34 men who were preparing to serve as deacons. This diocese is experiencing tremendous growth and there are only about 80 pastors to serve over 70,000 members.

Lay evangelists received 3 months of training and were commissioned as deacons to serve in Word & Sacrament ministry. Many of them have 4-5 congregations with one serving 8 congregations. Nancy and Cliff were honored to participate in the Palm Sunday service commissioning the deacons. It was a 5 ½ hour long service as the Bishop commissioned each deacon personally. It was most inspiring with 5 different choirs from area churches. Cliff had previously returned to the USA in November, 2009 from Indonesia. There he taught a 4 week intensive course on the Lutheran Confessions (Book of Concord) to 8 pastors who were chosen for their leadership skills and training as future leaders in their church body, Batok Lutheran Church of Indonesia.

Your God given gifts can also be used in Tanzania

Nancy Herd...report from her month in Tanzania....

Open my eyes Lord...I want to see Jesus....

 Nancy Herd, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Chattanooga, recently accompanied her husband Cliff, on a month long trip to Tanzania. While he was teaching a deacon class she worked at Nakato Clinic run by International Health Partners of  TZ  a partner of  the East of Lake Victoria Diocese  (ELVD) .

Nancy was given the task of sorting over 3,000 pairs of eyeglasses that had arrived in many boxes via a large shipping container.  She classified them according to male/female designs and by lens strength.  She used discarded cardboard boxes and arranged them so they could be easily dispensed.

She tested the vision of all the deacons and their wives and also saw another 200 people that came to the health center from the village.  Nancy brought a set of  5 “flippers” for vision testing  and trained a nurse who works full time at the health center to use the “flippers” and dispense the glasses.

“This was a most rewarding mission trip as we both felt we were serving our Lord and helping make more and better disciples for Jesus.  What a blessing to serve in this area of East Africa and see how the Lord is growing His Church,” said Pastor Herd.  

God can also use your gifts and talents in Tanzania.  Contact the District office to find out how your talents could be used.

   

Tanzanian prayer needs and upcoming trip 2010

   This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.

    1 John 5:14-15

Four weeks from today the Tanzania Mission Group will be leaving for our trip of a life time to Tanzania.  We ask you prayers for us as we travel and as we reach out to the Sukuma People in the East of Lake Victoria Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania.  We plan to reach out to the area of Mwadui  and Kahama  3 to 6 hours  south and east of Mwanza.

Africa is a huge continent that is almost 3 times larger than the USA.

Tanzania has a total area of 364,900 square miles, it is slightly larger than twice the size of California. Tanzania is located on central east side of the Continent.

We ask that you pray that God uses our word and actions to bless those we contact. We ask that you pray for the hearts of those hearing the words be touched and drawn to Christ our Savior.   Consider making The ministry of the ELVD a priority in your giving outreach.

The mission group, from Memphis    Mike, Cindy, Cathleen and Cassie Jurgensen,  Kirk Neugebauer, Steve Owens,  From Arkansas, Laurie Gent, from Middle Tennessee,  Tom and Naomi Bolt, Bob And Susie Allen

• Pray for the continuing work of the Pastor and evangelist in the ELVD
•   Pray for the Church Planting Ministry (CPM) in the ELVD
•   Pray for the district mission trip to Tanzania in June of 2010
•   Pray for hearts to be stirred

Check out our new missions blog.   www.lcmsmidsouthdistrictmissions.blogspot.com

Bibi Marge report from Bariadi

Marge Beam, John Janssen and Karol Rader from Jackson Center, OH visited Bariadi in May 2009. This was Karol ‘s first trip, and John’s second trip with Marge her 7th trip. We saw much progress since our trip in '07. The three of us stayed in the orphanage and it was very comfortable. We discussed the opening of the orphanage for the children and hopefully it will open in October of this year. There are a number of things which need to be purchased for the orphanage. Cupboards need to be built for children to store their belongings. They need dishes, pots and pans and cooking vessels for the kitchen.

When we arrived in Bariadi, what a surprise to see the lawn so green and slowers growing along the walk ways. It was beautiful. They had had quite a bit of rain to make this possible.

On Friday our second day there we went to Luguru to dedicate the church there. This church building was started several years ago and finally they had enough money to put on the roof. They will have worship there each week even though they still need floor and benches. The church was full of people for the dedication and will continue to grow.

On Saturday we went to 3 sub-parishes. The first was in a very small church building which they have built making their own bricks. It was full of people and still growing week by week. The children recited the books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The evangelists in the sub-parishes are taught by Pastor Mkaro on how to work with the people and children. Pastor Mkaro goes to the sub-parishes periodically to baptize and give communion as it is not possible for Pastor Mkaro to go each week. He has 10 sub-parishes. Bishop Gulle was with us and gave Bibles and mosquito nets to the people in the sub-parishes. The Bibles and nets were provided by Bob Allen from Tennessee. The people in this parish insisted we eat before we leave. So we did, delicious chicken, rice and soda.

The seconc sub-parish was waiting for us at their unfinished church building. They have foundation and part of the walls up several feet. They still come there to worship each Sunday. The children sang and again recited the books of the Bible. Pastor Mkaro inttroducred a young boy about 9 or 10 who had been coming and singing in the choir. One Sunday he brought his mother to church and after attending the servicre decided she needed to join the church. Pastor Mkaro said this boy is and "evangelist". Bibles and nets were given to some of these people as well.

We arrived at the 3rd parish about 3 o'clock and they had been waiting for us since 10 o'clock. They have land for their church but do not have a buioding started yet. They meet under a tree. Pastor Mkaro introduced the council of the church as he had done in the other parishes. The same procedure here as in the other parishes. What a blessing to see so many people come to worship anytime during the day or week. They are a very happy people because they have the love of Jesus in their hearts.



On Sunday Pastor Mkaro was installed as District Pastor of Bariadi and the sub-parishes. This increases his load but does not increase his salary. Pray for him as he takes on the task of having thousands of people to shepherd.



For three days in Bariadi they had a Sunday School Seminar. Teachers came from sub-parishes as well as Bariadi to learn how to teach Sunday school. Karol from US taught them two songs in English. They loved it and wanted to sing the songs over and over. Marge gave a Bible story. She told them they had a very important service of teaching the children about Jesus.



The women of Bariadi church has organized a group call Pambazuko Women's Group to offer assistance to widows and orphans. At this time they have 40 orphans they work with giving them food, clothing and school supplies. Once a month they invite the children to Bariadi and provide a meal for them. They invited the children to Bariadi and provided a meal for them. The children were there while we were there. We gave them a cross necklace, pencils and beanie babies which came from someone in US who gave away their collection. The ladies also help young girl orphans to sew. They have two pedal sewing machines and the girls can make things to sell to make money for themselves.

One more story----- An older gentleman lost his wife through death in October. He was having a difficult time dealing with her death. The people of Bariadi Church came to his rescue. They helped during his mourning time. After a time he gave his heart to Jesus with the help of Pastor Mkaro and the Holy Spirit. Not only did he receive Christ but the rest of his family did also. Because of this a church as started and now since October they have 200 members and still growing.

Pray for all the work going on in Bariadi and May God continue to bless these people.

Casting Our Nets in Tanzania

Luke 5:4 Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch
Casting our nets in Tanzania……… This year’s Mid-South District mission trip took us to Ukerewe Island.

Ukerewe is the largest island in Lake Victoria, it is approximately 25 miles long and 10 miles wide with an area of about 200 square miles locate just (25 nautical miles) north of Mwanza It is linked by two ferry boats that carry everything that goes to or comes from the island. Each day at 8 and 8:30 the ferry boats leave the harbor in Nansio and head south to Mwanza. The arrival and departure of the ferry’s is a big event in the Nansio, the main town on Ukerewe. The road to the boat dock is lined with people selling all sorts of items, trucks loaded with product to ship are loaded on the ferrys.
The shoreline of Ukerewe Island is carved into numerous bays and it is surrounded by at least a dozen smaller islands. Each morning and evenings the shoreline on these little bays are covered with people coming to get water and to bathe. Each night the island is surrounded by hundreds of fishing boats lit by a lantern.
Fishing is an important industry in Ukerewe District and a lot of fishing boats, as well as canoes and traditional dhows, can be seen plying the narrow waters between the many smaller islands and villages. Ukerewe Island is a rocky island with small hills. The landscape varies between flat land, cassava and rice fields, plantations, rocks, rocky and sandy shores, and beautiful lakeshore. Most of the 150,000 inhabitants are living in the many traditional villages scattered around the island.
Petro Nakembetwa is the district pastor and MTC coordinator for Ukerewe Island and is located in Nansio. He pastors the congregation in Nansio as well as preaching regularly at each of the 13 sub-congregations with a Deacon and Evangelist. Once a month the 13 evangelists come to Nansio for 2 or 3 days for the monthly training. The MTC students are Sospeter Mafuru, Rovocautus Mwinula, Leonard Deogratius, Elisha Kamiali, Joyce Lwabuti, Emmanuel Kamalamo, Tito Makaranga, Alex Mkyama, Osward Manyaski, Winlight Kirenga, Eliasi Mchele, James Daudi, Christopher Terguli,
Each day we left our little motel in Nansio early to head out to a small village and the new congregation. The main road out of Nansio was tar and gravel for about 5 miles then it turned into a dirt road. We arrived at the villages each day with a great greeting from the congregation. We usually had a meeting where we signed their guest book and introduced ourselves. We then divided into teams to go out to individual homes to talk and share the gospel message. We invited the family to the church service and the movie.
We went back to the meeting area to prepare for the service. The meeting area could be under a Mango tree or in a government building of some sort. In the late afternoon, we had a worship service of singing, preaching and baptisms.
We would then eat dinner and wait for darkness when we could show the movie, (The Life of Christ) and have more baptisms.
We left the island with many new friends after preaching to over 2000 and visiting the homes of over 70 families and 489 were baptized.

We left seized with amazement over the catch that had been taken. Luke 5:9