Craig recently returned from Mbeyatown, Tanzania, which is where a large part of SIL’s work is taking place. While there he was able to help with some of the training for our Tanzanian staff.
On Sunday, as Craig walked about a half mile from the guest house up a dirt road, he could hear music. He veered off the road to a rustic building and the music grew louder. He walked inside a very humble building and there were about 30 people worshipping and praising God. Craig was touched by the fact that not only was the praise so intense and heartfelt, but the women were on their knees, on the hard concrete floor, crying out to the Lord. Their cry was desperate and passionate.
After the services, Craig had a chance to talk with Pastor Joey, who has pastored this little church in Mbeyatown since 2002, and, his story was similar to Craig’s. Joey, a Tanzanian, was a trained engineer who received his degree in engineering in Dar es Salaam. As a successful engineer, he had his own consulting firm in Mbeya. Then God interrupted his comfortable world. The Lord told him to serve full time in ministry. You can imagine what his family thought when he told them he was going to leave his well-paying job to serve SIL as a volunteer and then start a church…they thought he was crazy. (We know several of our friends thought we were crazy when Craig walked away from the practice of law to serve in ministry!)
Pastor Joey’s little church started out in a small rental house right next to the mosque in town. However, God had also provided Joey another piece of property across the street from the mosque. Joey decided to use this property to build the church. Well, the folks at the mosque were not too happy, and complained to the local government about the church being built, and Joey was forced to take down everything that had been constructed. Since then, they have been working with leaders in the town, and now after 8 years, they expect to receive a permit to begin construction! The pictures you see are the present location of the church. Joey and this little church trusted God and persevered through the tough process of obtaining the permit! Pastor Joey took Craig over to the property and he was blessed by being able to pray over it.
We can all learn from Pastor Joey and this humble church that desperate prayer can bring perseverance for the joy of the cross. We thank Pastor Joey for sharing this story and for his work in helping advance Bible translation in Tanzania. We are sure Pastor Joey would appreciate your prayers as the construction process begins. (Already, a theft has occurred of a portion of the building materials. Fortunately, however, the police investigated and were able to recover all of the materials for the church.)
What obstacles do you face in your life? Are you on your knees crying out to God? We know that our perseverance does not come from the strength of our own hands, but in our desperate cries of dependence…while on our knees, often from the hard concrete floor.
