“Now you know the rest of the story.” Paul Harvey

After the big Bible distribution at Joy in the Harvest, we’ve still had a lot happening. Sue has been leading a weekly Bible study, “Discerning the Voice of God,” by Priscilla Shirer, with the missionary women. She also scheduled time with missionary Sally to visit the Baptist Hospital and distribute baby hats to the new mothers in the maternity unit. The crocheted hats were made by ladies at Trinity Presbyterian Church in New Port Richey, Florida, and also by our cousin Mary Beth. The moms were very happy and grateful to receive them for their precious newborns, and the remaining hats (approximately 225) were left for future new babies at the hospital.

Hal has taken part in a couple of meetings to discuss the progress of the Prison Ministry. Our goal continues to be to have at least one pastor approved by the government to visit each prison. However, earlier this year, while we were in America, one pastor was transferred out of the area, and the woman who had been preaching to the prisoners through the fence moved to Dar after her husband passed away. At another Kigoma region prison, one of our pastors had his application rejected by the warden (a Muslim) because he decided the pastor was showing “religious discrimination.” (You really cannot make this up – a Christian pastor denied access to a prison because he spoke about the Good News of Jesus.) Pastor Nelson tells us we should be able to get that decision reversed and the application approved. Nelson is traveling to that prison to resubmit the application.

In the interim, we have presented gifts of Bibles, New Testaments for Muslims (Injilis), and songbooks for each of the prisons. We also have given over 250 toothbrushes for prisoners and 1,600 sanitary napkins for female prisoners.

During his visits to all five prisons, Nelson is hoping to increase the number of prisoners signing up to work on the Emmaus Bible Study. Currently, there are over 30 men in two prisons who have continued to participate and advance in the study.

We both have had speaking events where we’ve had the opportunity to share our love for Jesus Christ. Sue was again invited to share a devotional at missionary Ruthie’s women’s group, where the message about walking like Jesus was well received and sparked some testimonies from the ladies.

Jaklina, one of the women’s group leaders, was a participant in Mary Beth’s crochet mini-course in July.

At the women’s meeting, Sue was admiring the hat Jaklina was wearing when she realized Jaklina had adapted what she learned from Mary Beth, and she created an adult-sized hat for herself. She is very excited about it, and she plans to start her own business by making hats to sell. Here’s a video clip of Jaklina singing to the group. Check out her pretty hat!

Mary Beth was thrilled and impressed, commenting, “This is so amazing! I’ve been wondering if ‘my’ ladies have been keeping up with crocheting. I can tell that she really extended her skill beyond just making the basic shape bigger for an adult head. She modified the construction. I’m very impressed! She’s a natural!”

And one more Bible giveaway story: A young man came to the peyote from the Feeding Center. He had recently arrived in Kigoma from Burundi, and he came to Joy asking for a Bible. When Hal gave Nduwimana the Bible and asked him to read from one of the Psalms, he read slowly and hesitantly because Swahili is relatively new to him. But what a great way to practice his new language – reading God’s Word!

Then Hal noticed Nduwimana’s pants were worn out and badly torn. He was wearing an old jacket tied around his waist to cover them. When he realized that Nduwimana was about the same size he is, Hal went back to the Calvin House to get a pair of his pants and a shirt. When he was offered the clothes, Nduwimana began to cry. Hal comforted him and prayed over him. It was amazing to meet this young man who had just recently lost his mother, had left his home in Burundi and had nothing, and what he asked for was a Bible so he could study God’s Word. He didn’t ask for anything else, not food, not money, not new clothes. And he was overwhelmed to receive not only the Bible, but a shirt and pair of pants as well.

We pray that Nduwimana will serve as an example for us to continue always, in every circumstance, to seek God’s Word.