WELCOME TO TANZANIA

Hi everyone,

I am sorry that I do not have pictures for you yet but I will try to get you some later. I landed here safely on May 29 at around 8:00 pm (time in Tanzania; 1:00 pm in America). There were no problems at all. I spent around 18 hours on the plane; 2 hours to Detroit, 8 hours to Amsterdam and 8 hours to Tanzania. It wasn't too bad, I watched "The Incredibles" and "Freedom Writers."

Right now I am in the internet cafe and you would not believe it but the song that they keep playing over and over again is Shania Twain's "Still the One." This is actually the fourth time. :0) Well, it has been wonderful here already. We went to the village yesterday to encourage and visit the church that was planted there some time back. Pictures some times speak better than words so I will try to explain as best as I can without them. After taking a 40 minute bumpy ride on dirt rodes with potholes the size of "mini-craters," we came to a stop at this hut smaller than my room. This was actually the home of the pastor of the church that was planted in the village of Londotto a couple of years ago. The pastor, Pastor Longita, and his wife Ra Halle and their two children, Naomi and Philemon all lived there. Also on their property is the church, which was only built about 3 years ago. Before that, the congregation met under the tree close to where the church was built. We arrived at around 12:00 noon and were greeted by Ra Halle and her mother with tea and this type of bread that tasted like donuts without added sugar. They were actually pretty good. The tea tasted like hot sugar water with milk and something else. We (the team) were told to eat and drink whatever the team leader did. This was only proper so we did and we're still here :-). I like to eat anyways so it didn't matter... Just pray that what we eat here does not harm us...

We prayed and fellowshipped for a while. The longer we stayed the more people started to trickle in. The wife, Ra Halle, gave her testimony of how she had wanted to manage a business in town but had been called by the Lord to minister with her husband in Londotto. She had given up so much and her family did not understand why she chose to move. She even said that at one point she and her family moved back and her child, Philemon, got sick and her husband and she did also. She knew she had to return so they did. It was an amazing testimony. I know that many of us make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel but this was so inspiring. The home that they lived in is sooooo small. And even though the living conditions here are not as bad as what we know in America, they do have the opportunity to have more. They know their call and are obeying it. It is amazing. Our leader, Brian, ministered in Swahili while Yohanna translated for the Massai tribal peoples and Habib (the pastor of the church in Moshi, where are staying, translated for us in English. (Shania is being played again for the 5th time...)

Later on we prayed for the pastor and his family and they were very encouraged. The pastor ministered and also asked us to pray for those in the congregation. We left there around 6:00 that afternoon. It was all worth it though.

I will tell you more later and hope to have pictures for you all. Please respond on the comments section. I would love to hear from you all.

Blessings and I love you,
April Nicole

P.S. Please excuse my grammar... I'm trying to write fast because we only have a limited amount of time. :0)