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Side Effects
  ! "$#&%'$()( Our primary assignment The child
*+)#,#- ./" 0#12435/762/.8 here in Tanzania is to work in pictured here
9;:'< * 9 /1>=@?BABCDEGF.H teaching and administration at was brought
to our gate
the Assemblies of God Bible some
I&J(& 9 GK"LM#,#-N College in Dodoma. However, months ago,
O7P QRP0 BS;CBTGF being a missionary is not a life deathly ill
UVWXYJZJ35.6,/.) that can be reduced to a job de- with ma-
[ 9]\ 3 9 I^'_a` 9 laria. The
OWbKMNBcW?0EEdeFBTfFBTKTGD0gg scription. Here are some of the
mom had no
[ XYJ (hN0Kjik0X7P K"2k other effects of our being here. husband, no
< /jN0 j/0// BP K"2k job, no
®°¯²±W³˜¯‹´ money, and no way to get medicine for her
_,lm$n;%on();pW",$lq/" 12;"L/r baby. We were able to help. As a side benefit
/M sB'1hb>!$X@$&(0s0"#,&KYKl of our ministry here, we get to see this little girl
nj"tW%#q()/121q$"Z0pK()$$#uv%!" 1h at church almost every week. We wanted to
n.# /1.weikMXf7P "ukexWP share her picture with you and let you know
that she is probably alive today because you
helped send us to Tanzania.

›œfž˜Ÿ} @œ When we moved to Dodoma, we needed

to hire night watchmen because of the prob-
¡¢ R£¥¤¦ ;§R¨§ lem of thieves. We asked a Tanzanian leader
to send us trustworthy people, and Antoni, a
< o "L!1- "L/@/f$/.© 1 new convert in a recent evangelistic meeting,
%$ 112;/BX@5j/;12V1hb> was among those he sent. There was one
ª \ /VG %&1ub@BnW"vl2XY&( m problem: Antoni was legally blind. It turns
lq"… %!b7&(&MZenG1K%!o/",#q1-&(8( out Antoni was living with his wife and four
X@K12b.#7,%LmBP]OG"LLm]1qb.1 children, rent-free, in a house owned by the
man who sent him to us. Antoni was jobless
%]v% ()(0%]B"L«)MmJl8nj(&( m/W
$lqlq$/1- s0$( m!s0$"2m'j¬mv%!]/"- and there was little hope of his finding a job because of his eyesight.
b/"LBP For very little money by US standards, we were able to send Antoni to the best eye
hospital in Tanzania for surgery and corrective lenses. He is still blind in one eye but
OW()0$#q!pK"Lm!12b71 : K©&# can now see well enough out of the other to read a large-print Swahili Bible—and to
pW"LX@8#2!Kllq",n. 12l8nj(KXY&7)#­r work as a day guard for us.
12"2mt%&(&(Wl2 ()(n" 1hb>BnWk$b1-# We have never met anyone as grateful or as loyal as Antoni. The man who started
/>fn. ()fnj" l2$ 1qb P out as a charity case is now the best employee we’ve ever had. He is very careful with
his money and now owns his own modest home and the plot it sits on. Antoni plans to
start his own business making cement blocks when we go back to the US, and toward
that end he has already bought a cell phone and is saving up for a cement mixer.

Snapshots from Antoni’s baptism in the AGBC Chapel baptistry.


"!$#%&')(+*,!.-/01324$!5! 768:9;.!<1=.%>@?

The woman in the

foreground of the accom-
panying picture, shown
singing and waiting to be
baptized, is the niece of
one of the elders of our lo-
cal church (her uncle is
visible behind her). We
first noticed her when we
moved here (long before
this picture was taken) be-
cause she would always go
forward for prayer and end
up writhing on the floor in
apparent agony of soul.
Many in the church as-
sumed she was demonized
because of her actions.
Bible school student-
leaders surrounded her and
prayed for her but somehow her wound remained un- out, then she quietly thanked us and left.
healed. Every Sunday ended with the woman too ex- I was anxious to see how she would be the next
hausted to struggle anymore and she walked out of the week. My heart leapt when I saw her walk in the door of
service a picture of shame and embarrassment. At the church with a big smile on her face. She was smiling
first, as a newcomer to the school and to the culture, I and I was crying. It has been more than a year now, and
just watched and prayed for the woman, but when this she has truly been set free. She has that same smile every
was repeated three or four weeks in a row it really week, and she almost glows and radiates peace. As pic-
bothered me. I prayed for her in my devotional time tured above, when we had a baptism service during the
and felt in my spirit that she was broken-hearted, con- last school term, she was one of those who was baptized.
fused, and needing help and attention, but not demon- She has since become one of the solid, founding members
ized. I decided that the next time I saw her go for- of another church plant
ward, I would be the first to pray with her and try an- As much as we would love to be able to make that
other approach. kind of a change in someone’s life, we know we can’t.
Sure enough, the next Sunday morning she came All we can do is show up, try to obey, and let the Lord do
forward for prayer, so I went over to her. She started the rest. To God be the glory!
out on her knees, then she leaned forward until her
head was on the cement floor, then she pushed her
cheek down against the cement and began to drool and

 



started to roll over. At that point I grabbed her by the
arm, commanded her in Swahili to stand up in the
name of Jesus, and hauled her up before she could
think about resisting. I told her that she was not de-
mon possessed, but broken-hearted, and began to tell
her that the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and
peace, and this is what she needed. I explained the
passage from Matthew 12:43 and following, of the
danger of being an empty house swept clean, a baby
Christian who needed the church to rescue her every
week. I encouraged her to begin to seek the Holy
Spirit so that she could have strength not only for her-
self but to minister to others, and that in ministering to
others she would find joy. As I spoke to her in my
labored Swahili, her countenance changed and she
began to weep normally instead of the tear-less acting
out that we had seen before. Eventually she was wept
Even just showing up is more than we can do on
our own. We rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and guide us, and we rely on you to enable us to be here.
We need your prayers and your financial support.
We are very grateful to report that our account has
stayed strong throughout our time in Africa. We have
even been in a position to help other missionaries from
time to time when they were in need . We are very, very
grateful that you have helped to put us in this position.
Asante sana! (Thank you very much!).
Soon we will be coming back to the US to report
back to our supporting churches and to raise additional
support for the increased responsibilities of our next
term. Please pray that God will give us the strength and
support to keep showing up.