| March 5, 2007 |
Dear Friends and Family,
Warm greetings from Tanzania! We arrived "home" in Tanzania on January 19th and it has been pretty much a whirl wind
ever since! The past 6 or 7 weeks have flown by! It was wonderful being back on North American soil again
and catching up on family activities as well as sharing our ministry experiences and plans with our various friends and
supporters. God is so good and so faithful!
After a week of getting reoriented, we were back in the swing of things - Glenna spending every Wednesday in Igoma updating data
in the computer and catching up on the week's activities there. Things are progressing well at the clinic. The
Ministry of Health has recently assessed it for a "Maternal Child Health Unit" which allows for prenatal, postnatal, and well-baby
follow-up visits and health teaching as well as providing government supplied vaccines. Once initiated, this will be a
real boost for the clinic in terms of added services
John was invited to preach at Bugando church on January 28th and two weeks later Glenna's turn was up. God blessed in
the services despite the wind and rain. The wind was so strong, the first week, that during the closing prayer Pastor
James had to reach up and grab the rafters to keep the roof on the church! A lively prayer meeting ensued! After
waiting out the storm, we found pieces of metal sheeting on the ground from people's houses and on reaching our car found
someone's whole roof had blown off and was wedged under the back tires! (No damage to the car - PTL!!)
The following week - February 15th, we started a four-day seminar in Musoma. It was a good restarting place - only a 3
hour drive on paved roads - at the church of the Senior Bishop for the Tanzania Missionary Revival Church. The theme
was following and serving the Lord in these last days. At the Bishop's request, Glenna took a session on tithes and
offerings - a much needed teaching. Several pastors and bishops from various denominations were in attendance. The
Lord blessed and those in attendance were grateful for the teaching. We also had an opportunity to visit some homes -
a new believer converted from Islam, a family where only the wife was attending church (the husband came thereafter), and others
who had been away for awhile. We were able to encourage and pray with them.
As I alluded to earlier, the rainy season has continued late this year. There has been unusually strong winds and rain
in February, generally a dry month before the long rains begin in March. The wind and rain has caused considerable
damage to homes, roads, crops, etc not to mention some church buildings. One of these, the Philadelphia Full Gospel
Church, was hard hit. Its reed mat walls and plastic canvas roofing was torn and falling down. On hearing
of our return to Tanzania, Pastor Robert paid us a visit to seek out any available help for his church. After talking
and assessing the amount of funds needed we prayed together and told the pastor we would send word of his need to Canada and the
US, leaving it in the Lord's hands. He left encouraged. A week or so later, we heard word from John's
churches in Virginia, that by some miraculous event the required amount had been donated and was waiting in our account. We
were privileged to be the bearers of this answer to prayer to Pastor Robert! He was overwhelmed with gratitude and
agreed it was a miracle for him! The work started immediately to repair the building and on the return from our
seminar in Musoma we saw great improvement. Rough timbers now form the walls and metal sheeting covers the roof. This
Sunday, March 4th, we were invited to preach and had an opportunity to praise God for His provision and blessing to this small
congregation. Since the repair of the church building, Pastor Robert reports that his congregation has grown and last
week he baptized several new believers. Praise be to God!
Future seminars are already finding their places on our calendar - March 10th we will both be speaking at a youth seminar at an
African Inland Church just outside Mwanza; later this month we will be heading to Sirari (a border town between Tanzania and
Kenya) to do a four day seminar; and in April, a week of teaching leading up to Easter here in Mwanza.
As said before, it is exciting to be involved in the work God has called us to and we feel very privileged to be able to serve
Him here in Tanzania. As the early Christians in the book of Acts, we are called upon to testify to what we have seen
and heard. The needs are great and the opportunities bountiful. We appreciate and covet your prayers:
- for safety and protection as we travel
- for God's wisdom, discernment and power in delivering His messages
- for His leading to places He would have us go
- for the continuation of God's provision for our financial needs
In His service,
John and Glenna Peterson
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