Category: Short Term Missions

Today marks the final day of our mission trip to Mwanza, Tanzania, serving the Mwanza Bible Institute and Hope Royal School.  During our time of ministry, God was so powerfully present in ways that kept us in awe as He carried our team through a week filled with extensive teaching, training and discipleship.  Ed Kaleefey, Don Marrell and Neil Kassuba provided instructional support through preaching, teaching and discipleship in a variety of ways to local churches in and around Mwanza, the MBI class, and with the primary students at Hope Royal.  Cindy Marrell, Nancy Roelfsema and Ann Bagley were very busy engaged in teaching, care and support to both the women’s conference which included MBI student spouses, as well as the children’s activities going on each day at Hope Royal.  It was an amazing effort to see each member of the team with their unique spiritual gifts come together and…

Our team’s steadfastness with robust Biblical teaching at MBI and Hope Royal School continues as we are in the final days of the mission in Tanzania.  The inductive Bible study curriculum has transitioned to a practical lesson in expository preaching and effectively preparing a message for sermons as the students are poised to engage with the local churches they serve in.  The women’s conference was rich with a time of worship as well as constructing quilted handbags and beautiful leather coin purses.  The men and their spouses also had a joint lesson on building a healthy marriage within the context of ministry life.  The response was very positive because these issues are common within the culture where most local church pastors are not supported financially by the church they serve at, creating unique challenges both in maintaining a sustainable income which can directly affect the pastor families.  It is encouraging…

The mission team is continually reminded of how blessed we are to be called to serve the bride of Christ, His church, in such a beautiful setting of Tanzania. The people of this country are so incredibly beautiful. Their hospitality and kindness through humility reflect the love of Christ.  Tanzanian culture is very vibrant and those we are encountering are hungry to know the Lord more deeply, to grow in faith and multiply His kingdom work through their ministry.  I’d be remiss to overlook how wonderful the children of Tanzania are.  They are so smart, very curious to explore and have a way of capturing your heart through day to day interactions.  In hearing their worship songs or the roaring laughter and screams that emanate throughout the campus during play time, our hearts well up with joy in praise to the Lord for how He looks down with loving kindness…

Today’s activity for this mission was incredibly vibrant and constructive.  As the day unfolded, it has become clear that those we are serving are experiencing growth and being transformed by an abundance of blessings that came from our Lord above.  Besides their regular schoolwork, the children of Hope Royal had a full day of programming provided through the mission itinerary which included a lesson on “What does the Lord require of you?  Love God and love others.” This was accompanied by a heart craft which included scripture and prayers to encourage the student’s walk of faith.  Across campus, the women’s conference was in full swing where they continued their inductive Bible study lesson while also transitioning to a marriage building discussion focused on love and respect.  Today’s conference ended with the women making sewing kits which they loved and they also sang a powerful worship song to the Lord which…

Today was a very special day as our team began the core ministry work which we have been called to by the Lord. This has been the culmination of months of planning.  The morning started off at MBI with team member and teacher Ed Kaleefey beginning his week-long curriculum on systematic theology and inductive Bible study.  The goal is to teach the Mwanza Bible Institute students how to draw conclusions from scripture through observation, interpretation and application so they are more thoroughly equipped to pastor, teach, counsel and lead their local church congregations.  The session was rich with extremely valuable material as the students were challenged to grow in their ability to skillfully divide The Word while discipling others and changing lives all for God’s glory.  Simultaneously, the Bible class student spouses were engaging in a women’s conference that included an inductive Bible study as well as a session on…

Today was a very special day as the three men from our team were asked to provide the teaching sermons at local churches around Mwanza.  The men partnered up with the women from the team and we spread out to three separate churches in Mwanza; one urban location as well as two others on the outskirts of town. What a blessing it was to engage not only with brothers and sisters in Christ that we have grown to know through partnering with MBI, but also with other believers who we met for the very first time.  We were welcomed with such wonderful hospitality and the Good News of the Gospel of salvation was shared with those we encountered.  We also were able to engage with our Tanzanian friends by seeing the beautiful way that they praise and petition the Lord in their native tongue, all the while having the blessing…