2.17.06

Its almost 4pm here now and I guess you are all having breakfast about now - 8am... We have electricity on and off - they just announced that they are going to be massively rationing the power here to deal with the drought.  They are saying they are going to cut the entire country's electrical consumption by 50% starting immediately.  That means we will only have power at night and even at that it will be sporadic.  The power will be off everywhere in the entire country from 7am to 7pm.  This decision is expected to cripple the country’s economy which is already horrifying.

 

Listen to this scenario and chain of events.  The reason we don't have power is because there is no rain to put water in the dam. The water in the dam runs the hydroelectric plant to bring power...  There is no water in the dam not just because of lack of rain, but because the government allowed farming on the banks of the river and reservoir.  Because they allowed farming in those areas silt washed into the river and to the bottom of the dam reducing the amount of water it would hold.  There is NO water in the cities anywhere.  None in the countryside either. The only reason we have water is because the Joshua Foundation dug a well that is currently producing 4,000 liters a day which seeps into the well overnight and is pumped out in the very early morning into storage tanks.  This is enough daily water to supply all of us here at the base.

 

We attended a Joshua Foundation meeting today at 2pm where regular nuts and bolts business is discussed.  This is the jist of some of what was discussed. 

 

There is a church that was planted in ’94 during a dry time where they brought maze to a hungry Muslim village, which was historically very resistant to gospel message of salvation through Jesus, and gave them the food.  These folks were told, this is a gift from Jesus and we do it in his name.  They did not say it was from a church denomination or seek any kind of obligation to them.  They left gospel tracts.  An African man, a pastor, who was trained at the Joshua Foundation went through that town to check up.  From that one act of love, and those tracts, a body of believers had been born into the Kingdom of God.  Noah is the pastor of that church.  They have outgrown that church and need $2,000 for materials right now to buy materials to finish their new one but have many more urgent needs at the moment.  He is caring for them and helping to find them provision.  They are asking for donations.

 

The Bible College module has started but not all the students have made it here for their classes.  These are men who are pastors in the far reaching areas of Tanzania, some over 20 or more churches.  They are men who the team at Joshua Foundation know intimately and have invested heavily in and poured themselves into.  These guys haven't finished all of the leadership training they need to do so that they can minister “the whole word” as Alan puts it. They have not all made it for various reasons: 

 

One pastor has a member of his church with a serious a foot injury which has now gotten gangue green, and whose leg must be amputated.  She has been waiting for surgery because the hospital is not open because there is no electricity or water in the hospital.  There is no water, of course, because of the rain situation.  She is hoping to get surgery today somehow.  He has had to stay to care for her and has not been able to come to be trained to lead these fledgling churches.  No one else will stay with her because the smell of the gangue green is so bad.  Only the love of Christ can help these people and minister to thier needs.

 

There is another Joshua Foundation trained pastor who has cattle that he cannot leave because if he does they will die.  He has no relatives to come help- his brothers are too far away and they are trying to keep their cows alive.  They drought is so bad, and the cows so dehydrated and weak from starvation, that he has to pick each one of them up every morning onto its feet because they cannot get up on thier own.  If he doesn't pick them up (which is breaking his back) they would die cooking in the sun while lying on the sand.  People are dying and the famine is touching everyone. Even some of the local Arushans who are employed at En Gedi are having famine problems.  The crops that these folks planted with the money they earned, which were to be their food supply, have failed.  This isn’t “just” the poverty that is a way of live here.  This is famine and is becoming critical and they need help. 

 

Here at the Joshua Foundation they are talking about having to slaughter the goats because the crops that are being grown here on the base to feed them, are failing.  If they can't feed them they'll just slaughter them so they don't suffer and so they can get some use from the animals.  In the meeting they asked Heather and I if we thought that people in their supporting churches would give financial help if they were made aware of the need.  The enormity of the whole situation is so huge it is mind boggling.  We told them definitely, yes.

 

My heart is breaking for these people.  These are the people God sent me here to reach with a burden from the Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth – with the message of love expressed to man through Jesus Christ.  As John 3:16 says, God sent his son to die for the sins of the world.  He died for you, and me, and these Africans.  These are the kind of  people God is sending me to reach out to with the love of Jesus.  I can reach them quickly, with lots of aid, and the Water of Life.  The cool thing is that the indigeonous leaders are here and being trained to also pastor these soon born churches.

 

This has been a dark land controlled by Satan and his demonic angels.  This situation is a result of the work of the devourer.  He is the author of lies and destruction is methodology.  His lies and the bondage on these people is destroying them.  He has designed and authored this awful circumstance. 

 

No more.  Claim with me this land and people for Jesus in His name.  Show your power, oh, Lord, our God!  Fill us and release your Glory on this land. Pray with me for these people God loves, that he would send people into the government to change to His ways, all the way to the African bush to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and bring the gospel.  The president, realizing the enormity of the situation told the country this week to “pray” for rain.  This is not a small deal that he said that.  Pray for him and for this country, that rain would come as water and Spirit.  That the Spirit would fall like a curtain of water on this land, and that we could set it free with the Glory of God in the name of Jesus.

 

On the technical and plain old fashioned “work” side of this call of getting to gospel to the Tanzanians, we have made many great contacts so far regarding the airplane vision, and even more to come next week.  We’ve met several pilots, and gotten a ton of the information I was looking for.  Also, I have meetings set up with the manager and bush pilots from a European outfit called Flying Doctors who fly into a lot of the remote strips.  I expect them to be particularly helpful because they are well familiar with registering and operating U.S. registered and maintained aircraft. 

 

Today is Friday, 2/17/06.  This is our rough schedule.  Tomorrow I go flying with a Christian bush pilot who is friends with Paul and Liz here at JF.  I will be piloting right seat in a Cessna Caravan.  A 10-is seat single engine turboprop.  We will be going to get an aerial view of the remote villages and strips and to get a look at the terrain, airspace, etc.  Sunday we are going to a crusade with Alan where he will be preaching.  He will be preaching to what may be thousands of people in an area of Tanzania where there have been many miracles taking place and we’re expecting many to receive Jesus.  Monday I am meeting with an MAF pilot in Moshi who is very familiar with flying the bush around here and expect we will get to see each other a lot in the future.  The few pilots in the area all know each other and help each other however possible.  When you see the need you understand why.  Wednesday and Thursday we are going to Magugu  and Kondoa.  The weekend we expect to be out on the Massai step “tenting” it way out there with some missionaries to the Massai to meet, see, and understand the needs we would be ministering to out there.  Monday next week we are going to Dodoma by air on an MAF plane out of Kilimanjaro where we will spend the night at the MAF base and I will make contact there with the East Africa Director of Operations, some pilots, and mechanics.  I will talk with them about many of the details of operation, maintenance, legalities, and flying technique required in this demanding envirionment.  We return to En Gedi Tuesday and fly out for home on Wednesday.

 

Thank you for praying for us and please continue to.  We can tell when you are praying, trust me!!  The enemy does not want to lose this territory and he’s trying his tricks but when Jesus name is called against him by his people he must go! Praise God!

 

Love you all with many blessings,

Scott and Heather

Click here for Update #2, Tuesday, February 22, 2006