We look forward to making a public presentation on our trip in the next few weeks, so we'll share more details then.

When we left Tanzania Sunday, our Hoover group and 4 from Georgia had conducted 190 study sessions with 309 different people. We studied with most of those people more than once.

During our time in Arusha, there were 12 baptisms. In the pre-campaign, also sponsored by Hoover, there were 9 baptisms. The pre-campaign is a time when many Tanzanian preachers canvass the area we'll be visiting and set up Bible studies. There's also a post-campaign that will last at least 2 more weeks in which the people we studied with will be visited again for follow-up studies. After that, additional follow-up will be coordinated by Tanzanian churches assisted by American missionaries. This is a crucial time for the new Christians and for those who are close to committing themselves to Christ -- please pray that the follow-up will be done faithfully and effectively.

From talking to others today, it seems most of us will require a few days to get back to normal, as far as sleep is concerned. But we're doing well and thankful for a safe trip.

It was good to eat good ole American food yesterday for the first time in awhile. We stopped at Chick Fil-A as soon as we got out of Atlanta -- that sandwich tasted better than anything I can remember . . .

Being out of the country in a place like Tanzania also makes us appreciate many things here that we don't notice until we don't have them: consistently warm showers, safe drinking (tap) water, readily available and affordable healthy foods, public safety standards, etc. We've got our problems in America, but it's still a wonderful place to live.

We look forward to seeing you all at church tomorrow night. Thanks for your interest in our trip to Tanzania. God bless each of you.

We made it home safely -- thanks for your prayers. The flight home was long, but uneventful. Everyone was exhausted when we got to the building at 4:00.

We'll soon share more details from our trip, but it was a great, successful campaign. Thank you for your help in sending us.

Here's a picture of the three ladies who were baptized after studying with Mickey Alford (discussed in the blog post below). I don't yet have a picture of Lilly.

We welcome Mary, Maria, and Amina to the body of Christ!

All is well here . . . Here are a few highlights from today:

Most importantly, Lilly, Mary, Maria, and Amina were baptized! John Golden (from Marietta) studied with Lilly, and Mickey Alford taught the other three ladies. I'll upload a picture in a few minutes. Please pray that God will bless the local church as they follow up with these new Christians. The next few months will be a crucial time in their young spiritual lives as Satan tries to keep them from growing in their faith.

Here are our numbers at the end of Friday: We've conducted 166 study sessions with a total number of 288 different people. Including follow-up studies, we've studied with 394 people (counting second studies as an additional "person," and so on).

On a much less consequential note, several of us experienced another "first" in Tanzania this afternoon. The church in Kwo Mrombo is having a seminar in and around their rented room (the 12x12 room I mentioned yesterday). While one of the church members, Isaac, was leading us in some Swahili songs, we noticed several of the Tanzanians jump up and start beating something on the ground near Isaac, who was standing just outside the entrance to the room. Everyone finished singing the first verse of the song (except the ones in action), and then we paused while everyone finished killing the snake, which by now we could see clearly. It was green, quite small, and died pretty quickly. Then without missing a beat, Isaac started the next verse of the song. . . . Just another day in Africa, I suppose. 

After the seminar was over, we asked Isaac what kind of snake it was, and he said he wasn't sure, but he knew it was poisonous. He said he thought it was a green mamba. We asked Charles, another Tanzanian Christian, if he knew what kind it was, and he said it was not poisonous, just a harmless green snake. He said Isaac knew nothing about snakes. 

So, it would be the most exciting if we could tell you we killed a green mamba during the middle of our service, but I think Charles was probably right. He was very confident in his view, as evidenced by his trying to get everyone to stop killing it so he could pick it up with his hands and take it somewhere else (at least that's what he said he tried to do). 

The seminar is going well. It's designed for the new Christians in that area and therefore focuses on basic principles. Sid taught yesterday on the church, and I taught on New Testament worship today. Neil Richey will conduct a question and answer session tomorrow. 

But the biggest part of our days are spent conducting personal Bible studies. As I wrote yesterday, most people are receptive to our offers to study the Bible, but not everybody. One young lady yelled at us as we passed by yesterday, "We don't want to receive the Word." Our translator told us he responded to her by saying, "Those who don't want to receive it need it more than anyone else." He also said he thought she was drunk (or taking drugs). Another man told our translators that they should not be walking around with "wazungu" (white people) handing out literature and studying the Bible; instead, we should hand out money. We've passed by his little shop every day, and he's said the same thing almost every time. Our translator told him that money can't buy what's most important, like salvation.

But those are the exceptions by far. Most people thank us for "bringing the Word" to them and invite us back for another study. We go back tomorrow for our last day of campaigning, and many of us will be teaching Lesson 4 of our studies, which is when we teach people how to be saved. Please pray tonight that God will bless the teaching of his word tomorrow.

Thanks for your interest in our campaign. We love and miss our church family back home, but we're thankful you've given us the opportunity to be here.

Greetings from Arusha, Tanzania!

We just returned to the school (where we sleep) after another day of evangelizing in Arusha. Our group is working in 2 sections this year: Njiro and Kwo Mrombo. Kwo Mrombo is where we worked last year and where a new congregation is being formed. Right now they are meeting in a rented schoolroom (about 12x12 feet), but they should have their own meeting place soon. This part of Arusha is growing rapidly. In fact, we've noticed a significant increase in traffic since last year. That makes it a good area to evangelize because there are tremendous possibilities for growth.

Numbers never tell the whole story, but perhaps they give some indication as to the kind of reception we receive here: so far, we've conducted 76 studies with a total of 152 people. Nearly everyone we ask for a study accepts, and most people who study with us the first time agree to a second study, then to a third, and so on. It's not an exaggeration to say that we could conduct in-home Bible studies from sunrise to sunset every day. We never stop because we have no one to study with. Our day ends when we run out of time.

I don't want to overstate the situation -- not everyone who studies with us is receptive, something Jesus told us about in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. Satan is working here to keep the seed from producing fruit, as he is everywhere. But most people in Tanzania have not (yet) been corrupted by what plagues so many in the west: materialism, rampant immorality, obsession with entertainment and recreation, etc. Consequently, most Tanzanians have the interest and time to hear the Bible taught, which is quite refreshing.

Aside from our evangelism, we've experienced some amazing views the last couple of days. The skies have been clear, so we've had a good view of local Mt. Meru, and today we could see the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro quite clearly, which is about 75 miles away. On our day "off," part of our group went on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater to see all sorts of wild animals, and the rest went to a Snake Park to see (and handle!) snakes and crocodiles and take a short camel ride.

I think the Lord does a lot of good in the hearts of Tanzanians through our teaching of his Word, but perhaps he does even more in our hearts. A mission trip blesses those who go as much or more than it does those to whom we are sent. Thank you for giving us this opportunity. We realize that it is your generosity and kindness that makes it possible. 

Hopefully some of you read this before the mid-week service at Hoover tonight. If so, please tell everyone that we are doing well. I know you'll enjoy the start of our Summer Series as Randy Medlin comes to Hoover to preach.

God bless all of you.

"Are you ready to fight Satan?" was what one African brother asked me after worship service this morning. I suppose that's the first time anyone has ever asked me that, but it explains pretty well why we're here. It's easy to forget that we're in a fight against evil, and going on a where like this, where our primary focus is sharing the gospel with the lost, helps remind us of the fight we're in.

We worshiped with the Arusha Church of Christ this morning, which was the congregation many of us grew to love two years ago when we conducted a gospel meeting and VBS here. As always, the wonderful spirit of these Christians encouraged us, and the singing was beautiful (though we couldn't understand most of it). Eddie Sankey did an excellent job as he taught the Bible class on "Whom do you believe in?" We worshiped with the missionary families tonight. Sid led singing, and Neil Richey delivered a short by very effective lesson on why we're doing what we're doing.

The missionaries' dedication to the cause always encourages us, of course, but I think they're strengthened as well when American Christians come for campaigns. They asked us to sing some English songs that they rarely get to sing, at least with a large group. Most of you have met the Gee family -- Jimmy and Trina worshiped with us at Hoover a couple of years ago when Jimmy first presented the work to us. We've also enjoying spending time with Cy and Stephanie Stafford. These missionaries have made long-term commitments to living and working in an environment where they do not have many of the things we take for granted. They're doing a great work here.

I'm going to try to post some pictures again . . . I'll do that in a separate post (if it works).

We all hope you are having a great day of worship at Hoover. Thanks for watching over our families while we're gone.

Today we spent time at the Cradle of Love, an orphanage near Arusha, and the visit was both heart-warming and heart-breaking. It was touching to see these children being cared for by very compassionate people, but it was sad to hear about the desperate situations that lead to such a need. Cradle of Love gets children when they’re born and cares for them until they’re three years old. Some of the children are there because their mother died during childbirth, and the father needs someone to take care of them until they’re old enough to eat and walk on their own. When the children are old enough (2-3 years old), the orphanage sends them back to their father. In other situations, children come to live at the children’s home until other family members can be located. And in some cases, children are abandoned, and no family can be found. One child there was found in a toilet. Another was left by an HIV-positive mother who decided she didn’t want her daughter after she gave birth to her second child.

The children were very sweet and loving, and most were quite clingy. They stretched out their hands to be picked up again as we were leaving. You can probably understand why some Hoover folks were crying when we climbed into the van.

Tomorrow we worship with the Arusha Church of Christ. Many of the men on our mission team will be teaching and/or leading in some aspect of worship while we’re here, and tomorrow Eddie Sankey will teach the adult Bible class and I will preach. This is the same congregation that we worked and worshiped with two years ago, so it will be good to see them again. By the way, we spent about 45 minutes at an outdoor market today -- be sure to ask Eddie about the nice sandals he bought there :-).

As we begin our worship here tomorrow, we’ll be thinking about all of you, and we’ll certainly join you in spirit as you come together to worship a few hours after we do. If you read this message before worship, please tell everyone at church that we love and miss our church family back home. Thank you again for giving us this opportunity to come to Tanzania and share the gospel.

The Internet connection here is generally slow, but I’m going to try to upload some pictures from today in the next few minutes.

God bless all of you.