Elections, Evangelists and Enjoyment

Dear friends,

Playing Golf

The year is going by very quickly and we are now approaching the rains again with the weather hotting up rapidly. We have had a busy time since our last blog beginning with a very enjoyable visit from Christine's old school friend Rachel. We had a lovely time camping in various parts of the country and showing Rachel some of our life in Dodoma.

With Rachel

We recently had national elections in Tanzania, which for the first time ever were hotly contested as the opposition party really stood a chance of winning. The ruling party did, however, get into power again and Tanzania has a new president John Magufuli. We praise God that though the elections were controversial they were peaceful. Please pray for the government of Tanzania under its new leadership.

Please pray for the university which is working itself out of long term financial troubles that have not been helped by the government's decision to delay the opening of all colleges and universities until after the election. This has made for a longer than usual break when Paul was able to take a little time off as well as finding time to devote to things that have been "on the back burner" such as e-learning developments and his research. With just a few days now before the majority of our students return, Paul is very much back in work mode with the timetable to complete as well as new courses to teach and maybe some new responsibilities. In all the busyness and changes, please pray that the university is able to live up to its aim of being a centre of excellence for developing humankind holistically to learn to serve.

Daniel's Birthday

In September we celebrated Daniel's 12th birthday with a "Narnia" party. He also began secondary school this year, a relatively easy transition here as he is continuing in the same school with the same class. He is very much enjoying the challenges of secondary school and is doing really well. He has also joined an after school Christian discussion group which he is enjoying. Isaac is also doing well at school and continues to be very keen on his music. He came second place in the school talent show this year and has been helping to lead worship at the cathedral. At the moment the university English church is having a break during the long university break.

Music School

Christine has been very busy at work and we praise God for a very fruitful time. In August we held our annual music and worship school which was a huge success and blessing as always. The picture shows Godlove, one of our previous students, who along with former student Leonard, helped with some teaching this year.

Evangelists Training in Tunduru

It is wonderful to see the fruits of our work in this way. In September we carried out the second of our training courses for lay evangelists in Tunduru, Southern Tanzania. It was an amazing course with over 100 evangelists being trained and carrying out evangelism in the local area. You can read more about these projects on my work blog http://actmission.blogspot.com 

ACT Amani FM Research Team

We are also in the process of developing an Anglican Church radio station. With the help of some funds from FEBA UK we carried out research amongst local communities to determine the priorities of the radio station. The picture shows 2 of our research team with the "ACT AMANI FM" T-Shirts. Please pray as we try to get a license for the radio and search for funding to make it possible.

With Christine's family

Christine is currently having a short visit to the UK to see her mum. The picture shows us enjoying an autumn walk with Christine's mum, sister and nephews.

Welcoming Mama Welby

Kikuyu Gospel Singers, Christine's Swahili choir was involved with the welcome of the wife of the archbishop of Canterbury "Mama Welby" when she came to Tanzania as the guest of honour at a Mother's Union conference. This picture shows her being welcomed as her car approaches the conference centre. We were also involved in singing at a community health event singing songs which we wrote a couple of years ago to raise awareness about various health issues. We continue to sing at various churches in the area and to hold prayer events at our local church. Please pray for this work.

Son of Justine and Salome

With Grace and family

We recently visited Justine, who Christine used to work with in the Youth department of the Anglican church, and his wife Salome who have just had a baby boy, shown in the picture below. We also had a lovely weekend recently with Grace and Festo in Kilimatinde and met their new baby, William. This picture is in Kilimatinde with some of their family and friends.

With love from
Christine, Paul, Daniel and Isaac.xxx