Since returning from furlough we've been rotating churches each week. This month we decided to change that so we can spend more time at one place. This will give Bill the opportunity to preach a series of messages. Tammy also hopes to begin using Sunday School as a means to teach the ladies every week.

We're excited about what God is going to do this month!

Two preachers from the church at Bwiru (started by Greg Wagoner), Delphinas and Musa, have had the burden to start a church on the island of Sengerema. For several months now, these two men have been alternating going to Sengerema every weekend. They have been visiting, winning souls, and meeting with a group of new believers every weekend. They didn't have a place to meet so they used people's homes, grain storage units, or wherever they could meet. Recently, one of our supporting churches, the Fellowship Baptist Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, donated the funds in which to build this new group of believers a modest church building.

This past Sunday was the first Sunday for them to meet in their new building. Everyone was excited!!! Invitations were given to the village chief and other leaders in the community. Leading up to the service on Sunday, there were special evangelistic meetings on Friday and Saturday evening. There were over 200 in attendance at the special meetings on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, there was a big crowd including the village chief. At the invitation time, many responded by putting their faith in Christ as Savior. A total of over 60 adult salvation decisions were made over the weekend. This is the exciting part of starting a new church. Now comes the tedious work of teaching and training new believers. Please pray for this new church that God would protect it from spiritual wolves, and that these new believers would grow in grace. Also, pray for Delphinus and Musa as they work with this new church.

Now before you feel too sorry for us not having an oven for over six months, we do have a small European stove. We purchased it when we starting having problems with our oven about a year ago.It has been a good little oven, but it is LITTLE. With all the baking Tammy does, it is a blessing to have her American sized oven working again.

God blessed our Sunday services yesterday in a great way. At one of our new church plants in the village of Mayoka, we had 52 people gather for an 8 am service without a building. Our assistant pastor Pelegrino preached the Gospel to these dear people, and six responded by receiving Christ as their Savior. In the village of Fumagira there was an excellent crowd, and two people received Christ as Savior. In Sengerema at our other new church plant, there were two who also received Christ as Savior. I preached in the village church of Igekemaja on Sunday morning, and we also had a good group in attendance for the morning service. I preached on soul-winning from Matthew 10, and the Lord seemed to really move in the hearts of the people. Many believers responded to the invitation to be better witnesses for Christ.

Early this morning (Monday) we began buying supplies to start building a church building at our new church plant in Mayoka. We also have the money to begin building at our other new church plant in Sengerema. We appreciate so much the Fellowship Baptist Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, for helping us with these two projects. We are also praying about another church planting opportunity in the village of Kitongo. This is another village without a Gospel witness. There are still so many of these villages that need to be reached for Christ. We would appreciate your continued prayers for these new church plants.

Another blessing is the funds that we received from a donor to purchase this piki-piki (motorcycle) for Pastor Pelegrino. The purchase of this motorcycle has allowed us to start this newest church plant in the village of Mayoka. Pastor Pelegrino is now able to preach an early service in Mayoka and then ride over to another village for a later service.

Our plan was to drive to our mechanic's shop and leave the car there while Lisa took us to church. However, by this time, Bill had discovered it was the fan belt and the car was overheating. The car was acting worse so we pulled into a gas station to call our mechanic. The mechanic told us we shouldn't drive the car, but should find someone nearby who could replace the belt. About that time we see another co-worker, Ray Weekly, passing us. We flagged him down and he, along with assistant pastor, Pelegrino, helped us find a mechanic who could replace the broken belt. Pelegrino was also able to call a church deacon to preach for Bill. With our bases covered, we waited while two men replaced the broken belt.

As we waited I told Bill that Mlango Moja (flea market type place) was across the street and I needed shoes for Abby. She and I walked over, and within 15 minutes not only bought a pair for Abby, but for myself as well! This was a task I needed to get done later in the week, so I was thrilled to be able to use my time wisely while we waited.

We had to pay a whopping big bill of $13.00 (and John and Romans booklets) for a new belt and labor charges!! Can't beat those prices; and especially considering it was roadside service on a Sunday!

We still had time to make it to the service in Igoma so we headed that way. Pastor Gervasi preached out of Revelation 2:1-7. It was a great message on losing your first love. This service was a great blessing to us after the months of struggles it had just last year. When we returned from furlough they were running around 10. Today there were about 50. Many of whom are new converts!

After church we went to the New Mwanza Hotel for lunch. As we were leaving, Jon gave the guard a naan (Indian bread with butter and garlic) as well as a John and Romans booklet. As we drove off he sat there reading it. So unlike America where they throw them down.

Now for a laugh... As we were heading home I saw this man walking toward us. I did a double-take and confirmed that yes, he was wearing a pair of underwear on his head! You just gotta laugh!!

We pulled onto our street and stopped to buy some phone cards. A man was there with his bike loaded down with water. He couldn't get up the hill so he asked Jon if he would help. After buying the phone cards Jon helped him push his bike up the hill. What a blessing to see our now grown son helping this man!

As you can see, today was full of adventures! Life never gets boring in Tanzania!!

The day was filled with much excitement. The ceremony was a traditional Tanzania celebration. After receiving their diplomas, each graduate had an opportunity to give a short speech. Then family and friends came forward to offer gifts of congratulations. Pictured here is Delphinus receiving a garland from his wife.

An additional blessing for us was having a part in Pelegrino’s graduation. Pele is a close friend, as well as the assistant pastor in two of our churches.

Watching these men graduate was a highlight of our years here in Tanzania. We feel privileged to have a part in training men and women to do the work of the ministry through LVBC. When we are long gone from Mwanza, these faithful men and women will continue to carry on the work. Our time couldn't be better invested!

This past Sunday we were blessed to have veteran missionaries Greg and Paige Wagoner, Tim and Kim Whitfield, and Robert Mickey here with us. We had these missionaries share what they've learned over the years on the mission field. Two pieces of advice that seemed to come up over and over again were: #1 Learn the language! Don't make excuses. It's hard, but you must learn it in order to be affective. #2 Don't go home for your first furlough until you desire to come back. Good advice for two of our first term missionaries here in Mwanza!

After some godly counsel we had a time of singing. My heart soared as a room full of believers sang praises to our Lord! There is great joy in singing Swahili hymns and choruses, however, to sing in our own language...words can't describe it! We followed our time of praise and worship in song with praise and worship in prayer. Again, what a blessing to come before the throne of God together with these servant's of His. The service ended with Bill sharing an encouraging word from 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Of course no Independent Baptist meeting would be complete without FOOD! The Mwanza missionary ladies brought a variety of goodies to share. We all had a great time of food and fellowship. Yep, definitely a Baptist meeting!!!

One Friday during Bible College, we set aside for a Marriage Seminar. Chairs were set up front with missionaries Tim and Kim Whitfield, Greg and Paige Wagoner, and Bill and Tammy Brouwer. Each couple had their turn to teach on the marriage relationship. Bill and I enjoyed tag-team teaching!

After several hours of instruction there was a time for question and answers. Let's see how you would answer some of the questions asked:

1. If a man has three wives when he gets saved, what is he supposed to do?
2. What do you tell a young lady whose father is making her marry an older man who looks to have AIDS?
3. Is it OK to go out to eat with a woman before you are married?
4. If your wife tells you all the time, "My parents said to do this and this, what do I say?" (Sound familiar?!)
5. If you give your husband advice that you think will benefit the family, but he doesn't agree, what should you do?

Thankfully we don't rely on our opinions, but have the Word of God to guide and direct our counsel.

The service began with some great singing provided by the choirs from both churches.  Each choir sang two specials, and then children's choirs from each church sang several specials.  Then there were several specials from individuals.  Afterword, groups of children from each church recited memory verses.  There was also much congregational singing.  Are you getting the idea that the length of the service was of no concern for these dear African believers?  At these special services, they make plans to spend the entire day at church.

I think this term of ministry here in Tanzania can be accurately summed up by 1 Corinthians 16:9, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."

During the eight months of this term on the field we have had the joy of seeing many, many souls come to Christ. Matter of fact, these eight months have probably been the most productive months that we have ever had on the mission field in terms of seeing lost people saved. However, at the same time, we feel that we have faced greater opposition and Satanic attack this term than at any other time on the field.

For example, when we returned from furlough to the field in July of last year, we were immediately confronted with problems at two of our works. The church at Igoma was severely attacked from within. Several rebellious men had tried to split the church and run the pastor off. God mercifully intervened to save this church. When these men were unsuccessful in chasing away the pastor, they then decided to leave themselves. However, in doing so, they did influence others to leave the church as well. In the aftermath, the pastor was very discouraged, and the attendance was down significantly. We knew this pastor and church needed some encouragement. For the past five or six months, we have been going soul-winning with this church every Wednesday afternoon. God has blessed in a tremendous way. Many people have been saved. They have baptized 27 new converts during this time. They have visitors almost every Sunday morning. The pastor and his wife have been so encouraged, and so have we, to see God rescue this church.

Then, we had also been conducting services at a school in a place called Kisesa. The national who had been helping us conduct services there went AWOL. He had some personal issues along with some church problems, and he just quit on us. This was not an indigenous work. We were preaching the Gospel there using a school building that was available to us with the prayer of having an indigenous church plant there some day. This is a very needy area with no Gospel witness. Please pray that God would raise up a national with a burden for this area. In the meantime, we will go back into this area and try to help the new converts there. We will try to get some men from the Bible college along with myself to take turns meeting with these dear people on Sundays to continue teaching them the Bible.

Also, on a personal level, I was hit with malaria and typhoid fever at the same time starting in late November. We have had malaria before, but nothing like this case. I couldn't seem to get rid of it. I had typhoid for two months and malaria for three months. Praise the Lord, about two weeks ago I finally tested negative for both typhoid and malaria. However, it has left me very weak. Please pray that God would give me my strength back.

We certainly do not want to end this prayer letter on a negative note. God has been doing some amazing things through the ministry here. We mentioned two of our works which are struggling, however, the other churches are doing very well. The point we wanted to make in this prayer letter was that we really need your prayers. God has opened up for us some tremendous doors in order to reach many for Christ. However, as Paul stated, "There are many adversaries." Please earnestly pray for the work in Tanzania that God would continue to bring many to Christ and that His name would be glorified.

We greatly appreciate your faithful prayer and financial support.

Bill and Tammy Brouwer
Your Missionaries in Tanzania

These ladies left the village of Fumagira at 8AM. They walked six miles to the town of Igoma. There they rode a dala-dala (mini van used for public transportation.) Unfortunately that vehicle broke down and they had to catch another. This dala-dala dropped them off in the middle of Mwanza city. From there they took another dala-dala to our section of town, Bwiru. However, this vehicle also broke down. After finally arriving to Bwiru - some 12 miles from Fumagira - they walked a mile up the hill to Ibungilo Baptist Church. The pastor's wife, Justa, then led them a mile back down the hill to our house. They arrived around 1:30PM. Now those are some persevering friends!!

It is customary here to serve food and chai (tea) to your guests. When we finished our tea and banana bread, we sang some traditional songs (mapambio.) Afterward I gave a short devotion. We had a lovely time chatting and getting to know each other better.

One highlight of the afternoon was when the baby Lisa Newland was holding wet all over her! I wish I would have had my camera to catch her facial expression! She handled it like a veteran though.

They are already planning our next visit. They want me to teach them how to bake banana bread. Yikes! How do I do that without an oven!!! Guess I need to work on learning how to bake using a charcoal camp stove like they have here. Any suggestions???