Learning Together, Praying Together, Repenting Together

The pastors and church leaders were powerfully moved during the conference to intercede for their people and to repent. Their prayers are fervent and emotional as they recognize how God has made atonement for us through Jesus when He became the covenant for us.

They learn to recognize areas of their lives where compromise has allowed a stronghold of the kingdom of darkness, but that when they truly repent and align their lives with God they can see a change in their lives and often their circumstances as well. Anglican pastors alongside pentecostal, Baptists hand-in-hand with Lutherans, with like-heart and like-mind we all turn our hearts to know the heart of the Father for this land.

All together, we join as one, proclaiming the mighty name of Jesus and acknowledging that

He is indeed Lord of our lives,

Lord of our churches,

Lord of all we possess,

and indeed LORD WHO REIGNS OVER ALL!

Lots of Assistants

We had a lot of assistance this year with our conference teaching. In addition to our U.S. 3-person team, we were excited to include 3 Tanzanians!

Bayo was our fellow-teacher, as well as our main interpreter for the week. We love him dearly, and are so honored to have him as a part of our team.

Polycarp (pictured above, with Bob) was able to join us again this year for one of the days of teaching. He is very passionate about teaching pastors. Ever since he helped us train pastors last year about the Covenant we have with our God, he has continued to spread that message to his first-year ministry students at Agape Bible School.

Aisack, our long-time friend and Maasai pastor, also joined us for conference for the first time. He ministers with our friends at Key Connections Ministry, as they reach out to spread the Gospel among the Maasai tribe. He has been hearing rumors from the pastors in the Manyara Region that there is a movement amongst the churches in that region—a genuine unity, across denominational lines, as all agree to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ and to keep God’s Word as the authority of us all. God has been encouraging Aisack with the same message; so he asked if he could join us, to see this unity and how it is accepted among the Iraqw tribe.

Once again, the pastors who joined us for the conference were engaged and attentive. We see some of the same pastors each time. They like to come each and every time, but inevitably we have pastors who cannot travel or who must be working their farms. Nonetheless, we have new pastors each time as well, pastors who leave excited and energized. . .begging for another conference soon!

The church that hosted the conference is clearly the largest, most modern building for miles around.

From the church property, many walking paths wind between farms and seem to disappear into the “bush” landscape.

Simple Village of Dawari

Dawari is a village in the Manyara Region, bordering both the Iraqw tribe and the Barabaig tribe.

This community is full of family farms. Everyone has a part in working the farm, from hard-working adults to young children.

There were less than a dozen huts/homes in view at any given point during our drive into the village.

However, in the evenings when we invited the community to come for evangelistic movies which we projected onto the side of the church, people emerged from the bush to see this unusual sight.

As Bob began to set up the projector each evening, there would inevitably only be a few people gathered, mostly the pastors. However, with the anonymity that comes with nighttime’s darkness, we found that the crowd grew to hundreds of people, both from this village but also from neighboring villages miles away.

Leaving the paved road

The road narrows as we leave the tarmac to bump along on the way to Dawari, the site of our next pastors conference. Along the way, we passed pastors who were walking in from their villages, as well.

Even in the Dawari region, farmers are very busy responding to the rain and the warmer weather.

As we drew near to the Dareda Valley area, we were in awe of the vibrance of the red dirt, and the almost-neon green new growth.

Many people are out in the fields, plowing and preparing to plant even more seeds.

They are excited about the potential of a second harvest this season!

When a family is fortunate enough to own livestock and a plow, the back-breaking work of tilling the ground becomes significantly easier. But make no mistake, life is still very primitive in the bush, and working the ground is still heavy labor.

The power lines you can see in the distance are taking electricity to larger cities on the other side of the mountains. Very few villagers have the luxury of electricity, vehicles or farm machinery.

Construction Zone

As we travel the remote roads, we see the life of the people played out before us. Children playing around the yard even while improvements and expansion of their homes are underway. Tall-grown grass has recently been cut, in preparation for a new grass roof.

Even young children have heavy responsibility during harvest season, perhaps even selling produce to drivers passing through the area. This lady has a big job, a heavy load to carry! She took a brief break to set down her load and rest. Behind her you can see the ongoing road construction that promises better travel in this area in the future. (This 55-mile stretch of road took us a little over 2½ hours to travel; so we really look forward to improvements!)

The local “hot Spot.” In the middle of one of the small villages we passed through, we saw this funny little scene. A pool table under a little shelter with benches for onlookers, a satellite dish beside a mud and stick structure (we’re not really sure what that’s about!), and a bicycle- the more modern form of local transportation.

It's GREEN! Hallelujah!

We began our trip out to our next pastors conference in "the bush" with great joy as deep green fields and trees adorned the roadsides. Even the mountains were colored with life and growth. Occasional dark clouds overhead did nothing to “dampen” our mood. They merely held the promise of even more rain from our faithful Father. We turned up the volume of our praise music and sang our way into the mountains, giving glory to the Most High God, Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth!

Rainfall softens the hard ground allowing them finally to plow, work the ground, and plant. What a wonderful backdrop for AIM's teaching about our covenant God Who responds to the prayers and repentance of His people, providing for their needs and directing them in His ways.

Even in the valleys, we saw evidence of the expected good crops due to sustaining rainfall. The village of Magugu is widely known throughout Tanzania for their good quality rice. The mood in the village has been very positive because this is an active time of year for the farmers.

Tarangire Day Safari (3)

We witnessed a family of giraffe, majestic and towering, grazing in the tops of the acacias. . .

and the abundant herds of impalas among the bushes and grass. . .

And, of course, the grumpy ones! (warthogs)

Baobabs made a beautiful silhouette as the sky gets dimmer, reminding us that we had just a few more minutes to enjoy our surroundings before the day's end.

Tarangire Day Safari (2)

We found a waterbuck eating at the river. . .

and the zebras, a bit nervous by our presence on the plains. . .

the vervet monkeys (with a baby clinging underneath) resting in the shade. . .

And, of course, we also saw the grumpy ones!

(buffalo)