Looking

I have not posted in a while and I want to keep you guys updated so although things are slow right now I decided to write about the past few weeks. Since it is not summer teams haven't been coming down so there has been nothing as far as teams or safaris go. The past several weeks I have been working on building a database and organizing all the music for The Ocean (the international church im involved with). This took a couple of weeks to get up-to-date and from here out won't be much work. I have also been working on putting together a picture directory for the church. This includes taking pictures and finding out to somehow make sure we have correct information for all the members and then finding the best program to use to do this (which i havent found yet). When get the information one of the things we plan on doing is putting together a map so we can find out where the church is spread out and more effectively organize small group things so we can avoid being just a Sunday gathering. Traffic in Dar is ridiculous and going anywhere in the evening is almost pointless so with small groups in each area we will be able to grow and be more effective throughout the week. That is one of the main struggles with the church right now. We are a Sunday gathering. However, people are wanting more and we are wanting more. In my spare time I have been working on Photoshop and photography. Doing different design things for the church and just learning as much as I can about it.
We have just recently had our second Prayer, Praise & Pilau which is on Thursdays and is a time for people to come eat Pilau (rice with ginger and various spices) and enter into the throne room of God. We pretty much just spend an hour seeking God and then hear a short message and fellowship with one another. God has really been moving at P3. We have three prayer meetings throughout the week. Sunday morning before the service and Tuesday and Thursday me, Steve, Joshua, Paul and Dan (the pastor and 3 of the leaders) get together and just seek God on behalf of The Ocean. It is always a powerful time and God shows up and moves during our time of prayer. Yesterday we began to pray for the church and then started praying for that those who aren't Spirit filled would have a hunger for it and get filled. We also began praying for the millions of unreached in Dar Es Salaam alone. As we prayed I really felt like God wanted us to hear that He is searching. I just kept hearing it over and over, "I am searching Paul. I'm looking. Just as in Isaiah I looked for someone to send and just as in Ezekiel I looked for someone to stand in the gap and build up the hedge. My eyes are going to and fro and I'm searching." So I feel led to take this time (as I sit in the office of our house/church and listen to the rain, that we so desperately need in Dar, pour down outside) to just simply remind you, whoever you may be reading this, of who is looking and searching for you as you carry on with work, school, your hobbies, your freetime, your sleep...whatever it is.
1. Satan is searching. Job 1:6,7; 1 Peter 5:8. These verses let us know that satan is going about like a lion seeking someone to devour. He is roaming around the earth, searching, looking for someone that he can destroy. Peter warns us, "Be of sober spirt, be on the alert."
2. God is searching. Ezekiel 22:30; Isaiah 6:8. These verses show us the God is searching. He is looking for someone to send. Someone to go. Someone to pray. Someone to get a heart for their nation and their people and pray for them like their lives depended on it.
3. People are searching. 2 Corinthians 3:2 lets us know that we are a letter read by all men. A letter of Christ, written by the Holy Spirit. So I just want to put out a reminder that your co-worker, your friend, your enemy, the person in the village who has never heard of God, the Muslim, the Buddhist, the backslider, the one running from his/her calling. They are watching you. They are searching. "Is this the one that's going to be different?" "Is this the one that's going to forget about everything for a minute and come talk to me? Even though I look like I want nothing to do with God?"
This is obviously nothing new but is in my heart and is definitely something we haven't perfected yet.

Prayer requests
-Prayer for the village of Mkoko that we went to a while back. Pray God would supernaturally get a hold of them through dreams and visions and would bring growth to the seeds we planted.
-Pray God would pour out His Spirit on The Ocean. We want more than just a Sunday gathering. We want God to radically change lives and use The Ocean to bring about a revival to the youth and business people of Tanzania.
-Pray God would use me on the campus of the university. School starts next week. Pray that I be bold and that I speak everything God would have me speak to everyone He would put in my path and that lives would be change.
-Pray for my friend Issa. He is a young Muslim guy we met on the campus. We have been ministering to him and let him watch the Passion. He now wants to read the bible. Pray we present Jesus to him in such a way that it grips his heart.
-Pray for your missionaries. Pray God would let us be hungrier and hungrier for Him and more and more dependent on Him.

Thanks. I love you all and miss you.
Paul

A Call to Prayer

My friends, as some of you may know we are in the month of Ramadan and being in an area is approximately 50% Muslim I am surrounded by several people who are practicing the Sawm and for 30 days sacrifice their source of strength and hydration for the day in order to draw near to the being they call 'God'. Being that Islam is not as big in the states as it is in the rest of the world I feel led to share with you what goes on where Islam is more prevalent. There are many Muslims where I am staying and therefore many people dressed as they believe fit. When I walk down the street or into a store there are several men wearing robes and caps (don't remember the specs, ha). Likewise, the women wear their robes and cover their heads (sometimes leaving only their eyes visible). The majority of stores, tea rooms, restaurants, etc are owned/managed by Muslims. The call to prayer can be heard from nearly every area in every city, it seems like, 5 times each day. During this time of fasting their is more eating (only at night) than usual. Each evening when the fasts are broken large amounts of alcohol are consumed along with various sorts of other wicked activities. Worst of all there is much spiritual activity going on in which Satan is at work. They defend this by simply calling it 'tradition'.

Why do I tell you this? As most of you probably know, one week from today, on September 25, the call to prayer (Adhan) will be heard in your, and my, nations capital. As quoted from the site of those who organized this, "On this day The Athan will be chanted on Capitol Hill, echoing off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill...The peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America's capitol." Also quoting, "IN THE NAME OF ALLAH....We intend to manifest Islam's majestic spiritual principals as revealed by Allah to our beloved prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM) of Arabia. Likewise; we intend to inspire a new generation of Muslim to work for the greater good of all people." All over the site the words, "OUR TIME HAS COME" are written. There are expecting 50,000+ Muslims from all over the nation to come and pray between 4am and 7pm.

This is a call to prayer. My friends I have seen firsthand the results of Islam and it is important that we be in prayer for our nation this week. The time has come that you know longer have to go oversees to minister to Muslims because more and more are rising up in your neighborhood. I challenge you this next week and especially September 25th to be in prayer. Pray. Pray. Fast. Intercede. BECOME ACTIVE! As Jesus said in John 13: 27 whatever you do, do it quickly. May we once again gain a sense of urgency and gain a burden to see our nations come to Jesus. It is our job to reach them, but if we don't the Muslims would be more than happy to do so themselves. I leave you with an excerpt from Carmen's America Again lyrics. Below is a link to the website. In the next few days I hope to add a video on this blog of a young man who is a former Muslim but has come to know Jesus as his Savior! Muslims are being reached for Jesus but the opposite is true as well. Please be in prayer and may the urgency this was written in overcome you as you read and watch the video (if i can upload it).

"If there's ever been a time to rise up Church, it's now
And as the blood bought saints of the living God proclaim
That it's time to send the alarm from the Church house to The White House
And say, "We want God in America again"

I believe it's time America to stand up and proclaim
That one nation under God is our demand
And send this evil lifestyle back to Satan where it came from
And let the Word of God revive our dying land

For Jesus Christ is coming back again in all His glory
And every eye shall see Him on that day
That's why a new anointing of God's power's coming on us
To boldly tell the world you must be saved!"


Islam on Capitol Hill

Maasai, Sonjo and Flamingos

I am finally writing about the trip we took the 6-18 of this month. The trip was divided into sections. The first part of our trip (6-9) we spent in Moshi at the Tanzania Field Missions Meeting. All of the A/G Missionaries in Tanzania made it out and the first two days were spent fellowshiping, playing CTF with the MK's and some of the missionaries, and most importantly, playing HALO!!! Walker and I were happy to get our fix since his Xbox broke. Friday I also renewed my passport. Tim (a missionary in Mwanza) took me through the Kenyan border and we went what turned out to be a game drive. It was definitely not a bad waste of an hour. Saturday and Sunday we had our meetings and I was able to sit in. At the meeting they discuss business, upcoming projects, and give family updates. Sunday we also had a church service and the missionary I will be living with gave the Word. He spoke about seizing opportunities. Saturday and Sunday Mt. Kilimanjaro uncovered herself for us and we were blessed to be able to look upon her beauty for two days! Monday we headed out to a Maasai area and camped out at Lake Natron. The land was hideous and desolate and many of the cattle are dying due to drought and famine. Monday we saw one of the famous volcanoes of the area and went to the lake to see the flamingos. There were literally thousands and thousands of them within a very close distance to us. On the way in Roger got his vehicle stuck but fortunately was able to get it unstuck. However, on the way out we got both of our vehicles stuck in the mud and spent several hours digging on our hands and knees. We jacked the vehicles up and put rocks under the tires and their path to make sure we could escape. Several hours, a sunset, and clothes and face covered in mud later we returned to camp where Laurie and Kandle were sending people to go find us. That night I "slept" in the one man mini tent that had no screens or zippers and was not able to fall asleep until about 5 am. I spent the night hitting bugs that were biting me and watching snakes look in my tent. When we awoke we went on a hike to a waterfall. When we finally made it to the waterfall we spent hours playing in this freshwater river. We were awed that such a spring could exist in such a dry, dusty place. Wednesday we packed up and left and so did my health. I began feeling very sick and stayed awake just long enough to enjoy a special treat provided for us by the Sonjo pastor that hosted us, goat liver. I have never been a big fan of liver, especially goat liver, especially when I am sick. After I ate I went to sleep and slept from noon to about 6 am, waking up only to take medicine. Wednesday night the pastors prayed for me and I woke up feeling better Thursday morning and only continued to feel better as the day went on. Thursday We spent the day in Maasai territory where we were fed goat jerky type food and some goat with a greenish sauce to go with it. The latter of the two was pretty good but I was glad to leave lunch and head to a boma. A boma is the area where a family lives. It usually contains a few houses built around a pen where they keep their goats and cows at night. We were able to enter a house (built with sticks plastered with mud and straw for the roofs). As I entered I had to duck and was surprised (not sure why since they don't have windows) to find that it was pitch black in the house. The 10' X 10' house was divided by "walls" and had a storage room, kitchen (which kept the house extremely hot) and a bedroom that had enough room for a cot type thing. Once we left the boma we headed for our gesti and i bought a bow and arrow (the arrows have poison on the end) set off of one of the Maasai warriors I met. The next day was spent driving through the Serengeti where we saw thousands and thousands of Wildebeest, tons of Zebras, and several kinds of Antelope (pictures will be on Myspace or Facebook soon). Saturday we headed to a town called Tarime where Laurie saw a doctor for her foot. She had burned her foot Monday by stepping on a hidden fire pit. The burn became infected and began to spread up her leg. She was not able to walk or sleep for a few nights but has received medical treatment and is on the way to recovery. She has spent the past week and a half laying down, not fun for an independent person. Anyhoo, Sunday and Monday we stayed in Mwanza with the missionaries there (Timandjoycejarvis.com) We weren't the healthiest bunch by the end of the trip (my stomach and back hurt, rogers back hurt, and lauries foot was hurt badly) but we enjoyed being in civilization again. Tuesday I headed out at 4 am and spent 17 hours on a bus (enjoying an Arnold Movie Marathon along the way! gotta love African buses). I arrived in Dar at 11 pm and started language school the next morning. I have the joy of going through language frustrations =) it has not been easy but I intend on working on it.

Zanzibar Part 2

Day two of Zanzibar we took a boat out to Prisoner Island and Grave Island. Prisoner Island is and island that they built prisons on and intended to use strictly for prisons. However, they ended up using for a hospital instead. Grave Island has graves of shipwreck members and miscellaneous other graves. It also has thousands of fruit bats! They call them fruit bats because when they hang upside down it looks as though they are fruit. They are huge and have yellow bellies. It was really cool seeing them and I will have pics up on myspace. While on Prison Island we also saw the huge turtles they have there. The turtle are 300 kg and are HUGE!!! There day starts in a mud pit and it takes them about 6 hours to move 50-100 ft where they go spend a couple of hours getting fed by people like myself and then take the rest of the day getting back to their beds. Pics of them will be up as well. The funnest part of the day was when we went snorkeling off of Prison Island. The coral was amazing! We say blue, red and gray, red, green, orange and green and yellow starfish. We also saw several different kinds of fish. After snorkeling we headed back to Stonetown and got ready for another sunset on the beach and some hanging out with the Maasai guys. Day three of our adventure was spent on The Spice Tour! We basically had a tour guide lead us through all the spice farms that Zanzibar is known for. We were able to sample each thing. They took leaves and twigs and made a cone for us to put our stuff in. They also made us hats, a basket and a tie out of grass. At the end of the tour we ate the best fruit ever: white and pink grapefruit, custard apple, orange, tangerine, jackfruit (gross), etc. We also sampled different teas that they made with their spices. Lemongrass tea with vanilla was by far the best!! We then went back in town and then rode the waves all the way home!

Zanzibar...

Tuesday - Thursday of this week the family and interns took a relaxing/scouting trip to Zanzibar. Upon our arrival, we immediately met up with a friend of theirs who is a tour guide. He took us to the market which consisted of a raw fish aisle, a raw meat aisle, and then many pleasant fruits, vegetables, & famous Zanzibar spices! After this we headed to see the famous Anglican church and learn about the biggest slave market in East Africa. They took us to the huge Anglican church and gave us a tour inside. We saw a statue representing the men and women. It had five people yoked together at the neck and we learned that large groups were attached at the neck like this and then put into a prison. As about 12 of us crammed into the 2-4 ft tall slave chamber in the dungeon they taught us that 50-75 slaves would be kept in this tiny cell. They were held often 2-3 without food or water. Many would die of suffocation because the "windows" were only about 1" x 10". Often times the tide would rise so high that water flowed in through the windows, drowning most if not all of the 50-75 slaves. Those who survived were escorted to the whipping post. They took us to a tree which they would tie the Africans to and use as an open whipping post. They informed us that the more of a beating the slave could take, the more he was worth. So the pressure was on as crowds gathered and watched the blood of these men flow freely. It was a very good and informative experience. After this tour we went and ate lunch and then went for some ice cream at the incredible Italian restaurant "Amore Mia". The rest of our day was spent shopping and bargaining. To be continued.......(for real this time)

Mkoko Trip

What a rewarding week it has been. This week has been very long and tiring for such a short week. A group of 18, myself included, left early monday morning and headed for the village of Mkoko. Our goal was to build relationship with a small village that, to our knowledge, was 100% Muslims/Animists (voodoo). When we arrived at the small village just 2 hours outside of Dar we entered a different world. No electricity, no cell phone coverage, no beds, no toilets and no showers. As we entered the village we knew we would be the entertainment for the week for entire village. We knew not a moment would be spent without several Mkokoans spending it with us. Day one of our five day trip was spent unloading vehicles, setting up tents, setting up our "kitchen" (two canopies with two tables under it), and setting up our toilets/showers. Our bathrooms were a 12' x 16' area consisting of wooden poles wrapped with tarp, a 2' x 4' x 3' hole covered by a wooden box with a hole in the top and bottom, and a most importantly 4 very nice signs indicating which side of the showers and toilets was "men" and which was "women". At night we gathered around the guitars and djembe and worshiped God while Charles preached part 1 of the gospel that was divided into 4 nights. As day number 2 roller around so did our first English class with the kids who were, to our knowledge, fairly fluent in English. As we began to teach we realized that none of the kids spoke any English and soon found out that our lesson plans were of no help. As we continued on to the finish line, red faced as ever and in last place...getting lapped by all the drivers ahead of us....twice, we managed to teach the kids the words "small, smaller, smallest, big, bigger, and biggest" without them learning any English! The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the kids and playing soccer with them. The evening service went as smooth as the previous night as Charles preached part 2 of his messages. Day 3 was the deja vu version of day 2, except with smoother English and a few minor interruptions in the evening service. Day 4 Chad and I decided to hike some to prepare for our mountain climbing next week (which we chose Zanzibar instead later on) and we walked on for about an hour and a half on a tiny trail that led to the top of a hill. When we reached the top of the hill we were greeted by a grandma who took us to another hut that offered us water. As we graciously declined we met a man wearing a cross necklace. I asked him if he loved Jesus and he said, "yes" and mentioned that he was not only a Christian but was also saved (two very different things in Africa, ask if you are interested). I asked him in my broken Swahili if the others with him were saved and if anyone else in the village was saved. He responded in broken English informing me he was the only one! Please be in prayer for him as he lives for God as best he can with no Bible. On our final evening Charles preached about Jesus dying for our sins and rising victoriously and as all 16 members of the group stood up and boldly proclaimed, "I believe Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God and that He died to take away my sins!" the atmosphere began to change. I looked on our friends as their thirsty eyes and ears soaked up everything going on, from youngest to eldest. We supplied them with Swahili books full of bible stories, including the Gospel, and prayed for them as we dismissed. At 2 am we set our alarms so we could wire the girls tent shut and collapse it on them. Day 5 we broke down camp and headed home, giving one of the respected elders a ride into town. On the way our workers witnessed to him and he informed them that many lives were changed during the week.

My friends as you have read this I hope it has been inspiring to you. I would to ask for special prayer for a man that we met last week. His name was Rasheed. He was raised in Mkoko but moved to Dar several years ago. During his time there he was witnessed to by a TAG pastor and gave his life to Christ. When he returned to the village he proclaimed his faith boldly. Only to be denied the right to speak the name of Jesus, forced to marry a Muslim woman, and threatened with his life if he continued in his Christian faith. For over a year he has been praying that God would send him something to encourage him. As he risked his life even being seen with us we were able to spend much time praying for him and encouraging him in his faith. Our prayer is that God would use supernatural dreams and visions to awaken the village of Mkoko and that Rasheed would have the boldness to stand for Christ and proclaim the Gospel to these who are awakened! Pray also for the man that we met wearing the cross necklace. I appreciate you reading this post and pray that it bless and encouraged you, Paul

That I May Know Him

As I was getting ready for church this past Sunday I was reading John 14 and came across this verse in the NASB "'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to Me?'" (vs 8 & 9). I was immediately convicted and began to think , as I read over this again and again, of how easy it has been to find myself in the position of Philip. How easy it is to have been raised in church and to have not truly come to know Him. How easy it is to go to youth camps, be overwhelmed with church and various church activities and even have taken several missions trips and been on the mission field for a month and still not come to know Him. The past week this verse has played over and over in my head and convicted me over and over. My prayer has been "God may I not spend these 9 months and not know You more. May I come to know you more with every place I go, everything I do and every conversation I have." So, just a simple thought, my challenge to you is this: do not be that man, that woman, who was raised in church, who has been saved for 30, 40, 50+ years yet doesn't know Him. Don't be one of the many who spend hours and hours a week doing stuff at church and when they lay their head down realize they haven't gotten to know Him a little more that week. May our prayer be "That I may know Him!"

The people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits (KJV)
The people who know their God will display strength and take action (NASB)
-Daniel 11.32

What A Week

This past week has been somewhat of a crazy one! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had the Casfeta Conference. I ended up spending the night there Thursday and Friday evening. The conference wasn’t necessarily the most fun but I met a lot people and got to know Nkone (The National Casfeta Director) a little better. Casfeta is the students’ ministries of the TAG. It includes primary, secondary and university ministries so it can be compared to Chi Alpha/Youth Alive/Campus Missionaries ministries back in the states. The conference was basically teachings and sermons by the National TAG Directors, tweaking of the constitution, and election of new leaders. After the conference I spent a day by myself at the house and then headed to Kisalanza to meet up with Roger and the team from North Texas. The bus ride was nice and it was definitely the nicest bus I’ve been on. We arrived just in time for supper and then spent a good amount of time staring into the night sky thick with stars. The place we were at is very from any cities and nights are pitch-black. The sky was incredible! Me and Chad woke up early and made it to a lake to watch a beautiful sunrise! The combo of the two was quite healing. We then headed to Iringa for some shopping before we headed off to the Ruaha, or so we thought. After the shopping we headed out and Roger and the other missionaries went ahead since the bus driver knew where the Ruaha was and the only place to make a wrong turn was the very first turn…. You probably guessed it, the bus driver made the only wrong turn possible and we drove 3 hours in the wrong direction before we finally had cell phone reception. We headed back to Iringa but knew it was too late to go to the Ruaha National Park. As you can imagine there are people upset and emotions are flying. Not to mention there was not a designated leader on the bus and there was tension between the interns and the leader of the North Texas team. After an argument and things getting out of hand (we had a talk later and things worked out well) we finally made it to the hotels and resolved everything. We got a little sleep before we headed off to the Ruaha, this time making the correct turns ;) We rested and ate when we arrived and then headed out for the safari. We saw Impala, Giraffe, Zebra, Guinea Fowl, Cape Buffalo, Kudu, Baboons, Elephant and 35 lions!! Not only did we see a bunch of lions, we saw them feasting. We heard them purring as they enjoyed a fresh buffalo. It was the most amazing sound I’ve heard, 7 grown lions purring. Not to mention they were only about 10 feet away (we were safe because they only see 2-D). It was the kind of thing that makes your heart stop and brings goosebumps to your skin. To be continued...

Charcoal

Charco Caps, don't leave America without them. Thanks Peggy!!

like this psalm.....

Psalm 20

¹The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; ²Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; ³Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. ⁴Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. ⁵We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. ⁶Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. ⁷Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. ⁸They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. ⁹Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

busy next several weeks coming up. have a chi alpha/youth alive conference tuesday-saturday then get on a bus to join roger and the team in a safari. then we have either a family/intern ministry tour or the ocean ministry tour the next couple weeks. then me and chad (the other intern) will head off on our own to either preach or do work and camp out at a river. then we have a missionary and family tour and will pass through the serengetti.

busy busy need your prayers. thanks! love you guys!!

My First Swahili Church Service

The church filled up a few minutes after Sunday School. After all of the seats in the church are taken the extra room that is in the back of the church is filled with people standing. When the back of the church is filled up people began to stand outside by the windows and doors and within no time there is 30-50 people standing outside. The national, district, sectional leadersof the Tanzanian Assemblies of God (TAG) , and me (they forced me!!) sit up front on the platform. There are 19 in Dareda (including myself). Worship and prayer take place before church starts (no telling how early, people had been waiting about 15 hrs for Roger and company to arrive) and continue a few songs after the service starts. The building is concrete with concrete floors and a few poorly made, wobbling wood benches (with no back support) and some plastic chairs for the leaders. The sound system is one 2.5 ft x 1 ft busted speaker and what looks like a bus horn speaker powered by some kind of weird looking soundboard. A bass played like a lead guitar and a keyboard are the instruments with the drums being the built in drum kit in the keyboard. Everything is ghetto wired and probably every sound piece and wire has a short. The system acts up often but they continue as nothing happened. The church is decorated with baby blue, white, purple, and green sheets. It has several flowers and also ribbons hanging from the ceiling and is topped off with a blue neon light. No one stands still or is quiet during worship (no matter how bad they sing) and prayer. There is quite a bit of leading and repeating in singing, teaching, and praying. Everyone either dresses up or wears their African outfits. The back, middle aisle, and outside are full of people standing for the entire 6 hr service. The service started around 8 or 9 with worship and prayer beginning who knows how long before. The blueprint of the service is this:
Worship/Prayer

Sunday School - TAG General Secretary of CA's (Christ's Ambassadors) Msungu talked about the CA's and their upcoming goals

Offering

Preaching - TAG Assisstant National Director of CA's Sylvester Puta-Puta preached from Daniel 1:1-21 and said Daniel was a man of Kusudi (purpose), nabii (prophecy) and maono (vision). He preached about 10-15 minutes and just started saying, "Receive the Spirit!" Everyone lifted up their voice and prayed in tongues and Swahili. The Holy Ghost fell and everyone began walking around laying hands on everyone. This lasted about 10-15 minutes.

Leadership Training - Done by Roger

Preaching - National Director of CA's Mkoba preached for about 2 hours. I have no idea what about.

All of this was done straight-thru with no breaks in betweeen and there are people that stood the whole time. Most people had open Bibles and took notes the whole service.


Understand this was not a normal service but Roger and team were presenting the Miaka kumi ya Mavuno (Decade of Harvest) vision. The TAG plan to grow from 2 million AG believers and 2,000 churches to 10 million believers and 10,000 churches by the year 2018. The team was presenting the vision and explaining goals and strategies. This service was in Dareda, Tanzania, Africa.

Culture Stuff

Africa, if you can imagine, is a little different than America. Here are some of the cultural differences I have noticed.

• The way the women are treated here is very different. "Women are for the kitchen." Thats the way one guy put it. When we are invited to someones home we sit down at the table and a woman comes with a pitcher of water and a bowl to wash our hands. They generally start with Roger or me since we are wazungu (white) I guess. The table is already generally set in several bowls. At this time they uncover the food and we fill up our plates. The food is generally the same no matter where you go. We usually had rice, either peas or beans, some kind of beef and sometimes chicken (both of which were not at all tender and had bits of bones, tendons and who knows what else), and fresh fruit (pineapples, bananas, mangos, oranges, avocado and cucumber) which is awesome! The meal is served with a soda or water and at night is served with chai! When we were on the road and entering into peoples houses we ate this meal twice a day. Breakfast is a chapati (a tortilla type thing), a boiled egg and a slice of bread served with none other than chai. Anyway, when the women meet you they do a little dip out respect and sometimes bow all the way on their knees. They clean up after the men (which tend to be pretty lazy by now). Everything here is about respect and the women and young people seem to get the blunt end of it.
  

The Past Several Days......

I can think all of you enough for your prayers and support. I am extremely grateful for your prayers and money and for all the life that was spoken into me before I left. It truly has been an experience the past week and I have not been able to blog. So here is my week in capsule form. The past several days I have:

• seen Big Ben, Parliament, London Bridge
• Eaten at "The Albert"
• seen monkeys, baboons, zebras and ostriches
• Eaten at a place called the Simba Hotel (they generally use the word hotel and restaurant as the same word) where I was served deep fried chicken served with several hairs and that was too hard to chew
• slept at a hotel called "Babylon"
• ridden in a bus that arrived 6 hrs late and that broke down (45 minutes into the journey) for 6 hrs. We were told the possibility was very high that we would have to sleep in the bus in a small village that was in the middle of no where.
  
• ridden on the worst dirt road ever in the back of a bus. After the ride my lungs were sandboxes from all the dirt I breathed in, my insides were mush, my spine probably looked like your average tree branch, and I was convinced that I would never be able to have kids again due to all the bouncing
• taken a bucket bath
• eaten amazing fresh African fruit (Pineapples, Mangos, Oranges, Lichis, Bananas, finger bananas and then Avocado and Cucumber)
• experienced Africa Chai Tea!!! :)
• ridden in an STL vehicle
• been to several 6 hr African church services (i will blog about the first one in the next few days)
• seen 6 ft tall anthills
• seen Mt. Kilimanjaro
• traveled with Msunga (General Secretary of the Christ's Ambassadors of the Tanzanian Assemblies of God), Puta-Puta (Assisstant CA Director of the TAG), and Mkomba (National CA Director of the TAG)
• seen the Indian Ocean
• sat in the "hotseat" (since the Muslim population is so high, anytime you eat pork you are in the "hotseat")

I will blog some more cultural stuff later and post pics when I get a chance. Thanks for thinking of me and praying for me. God has been faithful and is going to do good things this year! Check back in the next few days for more blogs. Love you and dont be a stranger......

it's just fitting as i get ready to head to the airport to post this. it is my creed. it is your creed.

Disciple's Creed

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me - my banner will be clear!

(Written by a young African pastor
and tacked on the wall of his house.)

5 days

Well right about now I am feeling that certain nervousness/anxiousness/excitement as the countdown 'til I leave reaches 5 days. In my mind I am going to Haiti since I don't know what to expect and that is the only thing I can relate it to. I still need close to $7000 or about $700 monthly. Thank you for visiting my site and for the interest and support you have shown me. I will post on this site about once a week, I suppose, so check in as often as you like. I am jealous for your prayers and grateful for your support.

Until all know,
Paul