Schultz Family in Tanzania

Our Sunday service went very well, thank you for praying for us. I preached on our responsibility to witness to others, salvation comes by way of Jesus, and what baptism represents from the story of Philip and the Eunuch in Acts 8:26-40. Several times in my message I emphasized that baptism is only an outward picture of what was done in your soul when you got saved. The people in our area have been taught that baptism is a means of salvation- a way of washing away your sin. But the Bible teaches that it is a testimony of your faith in Christ.

After the message we all went outside to baptize 4 people. While we waited for them to change Filimoni came to me and told me that one of the ladies, Dina was requesting to be saved. Apparently, she had planned to be baptized but at some point during the message realized that she needed to be saved first. Paige Wagoner took her aside and led her through the scriptures and helped her receive Christ as her savior! I then baptized her a few minutes later. What a blessing!

My Swahili was a little rough but evidently, God used it anyway. I am so glad that the strength and ability to do his work comes from him and is not dependant on my own ability.

Please pray for our Saturday Soccer club. Pray that it will continue to grow in scope and that souls would be saved during the Bible lessons.
Pray Jay and I- we have been suffering from some major sinus headaches the past few days.
Pray for next weeks services and sermon.

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This entry is tagged: Baptism, Kingereka, Preaching, Salvation
Posted by BJ at 10:39 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

The past three weeks have been filled with tons activity. It all started the first week of July when we welcomed a mission team from Ohio and Virginia to Tanzania. They came specifically to help Greg and I minister to the people near our church, reach out to the lost with the gospel and help us with some lightweight construction projects. We had such a good time fellowshipping with new friends! It was a much needed boost to our soul. In case you are wondering, there is an open invitation for anyone to come and visit us. You won’t be disappointed.

After we spent 2 1/2 days on safari witnessing first hand God’s amazing creation we put on our “Double V” T-shirts and began 3 intense days of ministry to the local children. “Double V” is our version of Vacation Bible School. I planned some really great games like, Blob tag, dodge ball, big ball volley ball and a few others. After spending an hour with these games the kids began to beg me to finally play football. Not American football but soccer. I couldn’t believe it. They play soccer every day with a ball made from grocery bags. I had a 4’ big ball, several dodge-balls and plans for games that would make them giggle with glee but all they wanted to do is play soccer. So we did. We had several hundred kids show up by the end of the day. One of our visitors from America preached and Greg translated. I quickly scrapped all the game plans and turned our 3-day rally into a soccer championship, just like they were doing in South Africa. The timing was perfect. By then end of the 3 day rally, more than 20 kids received Christ as their savior. Some of them will be getting baptized next week if they get permission from their parents.

The ministry team also rolled up their sleeves and helped us beautify the property and buildings. We sanded, primed, smooth coated and finally painted the interior cement walls of the church. The benches we use for pews received a much needed coat of varnish. Several ladies painted the tin roof a burgundy red color while the men dug holes and installed cement posts along the property line. It’s hard to believe we got all of that done in just 3 days.

As soon as the team left (quite exhausted I must add) I got to work on the final details for importing a 40’ cargo container I shipped from America. The Lord has thus far blessed us tremendously by answering our prayer concerning this container. We have gotten tax-exemption on all of the contents just one day after it arrived in port in Mombassa Kenya. We should have it at our house in the next 3 weeks or so.
I also have begun working on a Saturday soccer activity. Since the kids love soccer so much Greg and I thought it would be a great idea to have an organized soccer activity and then conclude with a Bible lesson. I think it will be a huge opportunity to reach the many kids in our area and begin teaching them to live godly lives.

Please pray:
Pray for the safe and timely arrival of our container to our property and the funds to finish paying for the transportation.
Pray for our Saturday Soccer activity
Pray for continued good health and safty
Pray for God’s will concerning a possible move to another rental house. Details in the next letter.

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This entry is tagged: Kingereka, Ministry, Salvation, Updates
Posted by BJ at 7:04 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

It has been busy around here the past few days. We had a wonderful service on Sunday. Bro Greg preached a great message from Colossians 1 and we had several visitors. One of the visitors named Peter frightened me when I first met him. He was barefoot, very dirty and didn't speak to me when I greeted him. He obviously had been sleeping outdoors on the ground because his clothes and hair were full of dirt and he had a particular odor on him. He interrupted the service a few times with random babblings. I kept a close eye on him. After the service ended it was suggested that a few of the members gather with Peter and pray with him. Afterwards, one of the ladies volunteered to take him home and feed him lunch. He was apprehensive and asked if she was going to beat him. They tried to reassure him that she simply wanted to help him. I don't know if he allowed her to feed him or not but he certainly needs to know Jesus, the Bread of Life. Pray for Peter please.

It occurred to me the other day that I asked you to pray for Daniel concerning his health but I haven't given an update on him. He is doing very well now. His fever left shortly after he started taking an antibiotic and he is back to his normal self. The swelling that was in his lymph nodes is completely gone. Thank you so much for your prayers.

In just a few days we will be co-hosting a visiting group from the USA. The 26-person group is coming to help Greg and I minister to the community of Kingereka. We have been putting together all the details for the various ministry and work projects that will take place. One of the most exciting works will be our "Double V" youth rally. It is our version of VBS, which will take place July 10, 11 & 17. I expect that we will have several hundred kids and many parents attend the rally. Pray for souls to be saved, safety as we play the games (Big ball games) and the security of the whole program and staff. I was told that there was one missionary who nearly had a riot take place at one of his VBS weeks. The kids were picking up stones to throw in protest of something we're still not sure of. I don't expect that trouble at all but you will still pray about the security of the rally, wont you?

While talking to the principal at the local school, I was invited to teach the religious studies class on Fridays. This will be a great opportunity to minister to the children and their parents. Pray that this invitation becomes official and that I am effective in this ministry.

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This entry is tagged: Answered prayers, Kingereka, Updates
Posted by BJ at 12:36 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

On Sunday I preached a message entitled "4 amazing statements concerning Jesus". I used the text in John 1:1-4, which tells us that: 1. Jesus is eternal, 2. He is not God the Father- He is a distinct person of the Trinity. 3. Nevertheless, He is God, 4. He is the creator of everything. That's quite a message to preach in English and honestly, even though I wrote out every word of the message, I struggled quite a bit with the Swahili. My vocabulary is still pretty limited. I have a goal this year to improve my Swahili to the point where I can easily translate for you when you come here to visit us. :)

This week we were blessed to receive 50 Swahili Bibles to use in our ministry. A church in Tennessee did all the work in finding the Bibles, ordering them, and Praise the Lord- paying for them. They even had them hand delivered from a city 1 1/2 hours away to our neighborhood. What a blessing! Now I have the difficult task of distributing them. It's not difficult to hand them out- it's difficult because everyone wants one. Because we freely hand out John and Romans booklets I am asked all the time for a complete Bible.

Pray for Daniel. He has had a high fever the past few days. We are watching him to see if he begins to show the signs of malaria or something else. One of our hardest jobs is being both pediatrician and pharmacist for our children. Thankfully, our kids have been very healthy overall and the Lord has had his hand of protection on them.

John looks to be in good condition this week. I was glad to see him at church because he is the one who leads our singing. Thank you for praying for him.

Just for perspective:
On one trip to the grocery store, I paid $31 for 4.5 lbs of mozzarella cheese (which turned out to be spoiled- still working on getting my money back), $8 for a gal of milk, $8 for the cheapest cereal I could find and on the way home, $90 for 18 gal of gas. (I mentioned this on my Facebook status recently but my figures were off by a few dollars.)

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This entry is tagged: Family, Health, Kingereka, Preaching, Swahili
Posted by BJ at 1:14 PM | Permalink | What say you?(1)

Today I jumped into Swahili preaching headfirst. I am certain that I slaughtered all the grammar rules since I did all the translating myself. I preached from Psalms 119:17-24 about how David's life was consumed with knowing, obeying and following the Word of God. The people responded well and I think understood me fairly well.

I learned today that John, a man in our church was involved in a motorcycle accident on Saturday morning. If I understand the story correctly, John and his wife were on a motorcycle when they lost control and dumped their motorcycle. His wife was riding sidesaddle when she fell off and fortunately only banged her knee. John landed on his face pretty hard and also skinned up his arms and legs. To add insult to injury: a friend saw the accident and decided to help take them to the hospital. All three people climbed on the tiny motorcycle and began to head to the hospital. Along the way, they again lost control and had another small accident. John is doing all right but is in a lot of pain. Please pray for them. You may remember that he was the builder in our video. His wife still has not received Jesus as her Savior but clings to her good works for salvation.

We have been at our house for 1 1/2 weeks and have gotten mostly moved back in. We keep fighting the lizards for ground however. When we left for the US last year they invaded our house in mass and have squatted near every window. The eviction process has been slow and gruesome but we are winning.

Please pray for:
John and his wife.
Our health- the kids have been getting bit by mosquitoes at night. This could lead to malaria.
An elderly lady named Faibe has been ill for several weeks now.

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This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Kingereka, Preaching
Posted by BJ at 4:22 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

I can’t believe it is Wednesday already. Time sure flies when you’re busy cleaning up lizard droppings, dead cockroaches, and huge amounts of dust everywhere not to mention all the work I have been doing. (grin) We arrived in Moshi with very few problems. The Lord blessed our trip and sent some rain to knock down most of the dust. The border crossing went fairly well and only cost $100 for Caitlyn’s visa. She should have been free as a dependant of mine but all of my arguing couldn’t persuade the officer.

Sunday we had a good time at our church in Kingereka. The men in our church ran the whole service. It is a huge blessing to see that the church has not only kept things going while we were gone but they had 2 new visitors this Sunday as well. Our numbers are still few (we had about 25 on Sunday) but I believe there is real growth happening in the lives of our people. There are many people moving to our area and it won’t be too long before this village church becomes a city church.

Please pray for us as we get back into the swing of things. It’s a big adjustment. Pray for Cathy, she HATES dirt, rats, cockroaches (live or dead) and droppings from any animal, all of which we seem to have in abundance. Pray for me as I try to get my Swahili honed so that I can get back to preaching and pray for the kids as they have times when they miss their friends and family back home.

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This entry is tagged: Creepy Crawlies, Family, Kingereka, Living in Africa, Lizard
Posted by BJ at 12:42 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

After a 33-hour marathon of traveling we have completed the first leg of our journey and have arrived safely in Nairobi Kenya. We are going to spend a night or two here before making the 7-hour drive to Tanzania. The Lord blessed us greatly with an uneventful trip. Well, mostly uneventful...

The kids did great on the trip, especially 2-month old Caitlyn, but Daniel had a tendency to leave everything he had behind. The case for his Nintendo DS and possibly one game were left behind on the plane in London. That’s not too bad. We thought he lost the actual Nintendo DSi on the other plane. After an hour-long search of the plane we found it safely tucked away in his backpack. We still have all the kids with us- HA! and all of our luggage made it to Nairobi. All of it! Can you believe it?

Now, I just need to get the tickets for the shuttle to Tanzania and hope they don’t complain too much about the 19 pieces of luggage we have with us. We are also praying for an uneventful border crossing. Please join us in prayer for these items. Also, remember to pray for our family, we had a lot of tears saying goodbye to friends and family.

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Posted by BJ at 12:15 PM | Permalink | What say you?(1)

I am happy to announce that Caitlyn Elizabeth Schultz was born via c-section on Tuesday, March 23 in perfect condition. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 19 inches long.
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We were concerned that the surgery would be very difficult because of all the problems Cathy had in the past with the other 4 c-sections. In fact, the OBGyn who did the c-section asked another general surgeon to assist him just in case there were complications. From my perspective it looked like a text-book delivery. The doctor said that their were no problems whatsoever. Cathy says she feels really good considering all that was done. She is up and walking around and is planning on going home Thursday or Friday.
The staff here at the hospital are really wonderful. One of the nurses who did our birth certificate said she would personally take our application to the county office after her shift ended so that we could get the certificate issued early. She knows that we only have 8 weeks before we return to Tanzania Africa. If we had to wait the normal 2 weeks for the birth certificate it would put a big time crunch on us to get Caitlyn’s passport issued in time. It is such a blessing to see how God cares for his children. It is such a blessing to have you all praying for us. Thank you so much.

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Posted by BJ at 7:51 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Cathy is scheduled for her C-section on Tuesday, Mar 23. We are praying for a healthy baby and a safe delivery. Please pray for Cathy and her doctors as she delivers our new baby girl (who, by the way is still nameless) at 7:00 am Tuesday.

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Posted by BJ at 1:25 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

More often than not we are reminded that we truly live in a whole other world here in Africa. This week I was given many of those reminders.
A man in our church is 28 years old. He is planning to get married soon. He asked me to visit his wife to be and talk with her. I agreed. In the course of conversation I discovered that she is a Christian, she comes from the same area the husband to be comes from and her parents have readily agreed to the marriage. He needs to pay her parents 2 more cows in addition to the amount he has already paid to fulfill the dowry amount. I also discovered that she just turned 16 in December. Apparently, this is not uncommon.

On the same theme, there is another man named Moses in our church. I married him and his wife 1½ years ago. Apparently, he had circumvented the normal procedures for getting married and did not fully pay the bride price. He told me that he did. The father of the bride even gave written permission for them to be officially married. But in the past few months the father who has many cows and therefore very rich has run into some huge problems. His cows wandered into someone’s field and destroyed many of the crops. He is being held directly responsible for the damage his cows did. The judgment against him is nine million shillings. That’s about eight thousand dollars. The average income of a family here in Tanzania is about $600 a year. He owes about 14 years worth of income. Now, the father is calling in all the debts that are owed to him so that he can pay this fine. Remember how this Moses has not fully paid his dowry? Well, he still cannot pay the 2 cows he owes and he has no money at all. So, the father-in-law has taken back his daughter and her kids until the dowry is paid. I don’t think he intends to marry her again to someone else but you never know. I think he is just trying to get Moses to pay him his two cows.

This entry is tagged: Living in Africa
Posted by BJ at 6:22 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Greetings from a very hot Tanzania Africa. I so much more enjoy the 85-degree weather than the freezing cold we get in Michigan.
I have been very busy this past week tying up many loose ends. One of the things I needed to take care of was our rent payment. Every year we pay our rent 1 year in advance in the month of January. This year our landlord wanted to raise our rent $200 more per month making it $700 per month! I was really upset. Many of you know that I have been trying very hard to raise additional support. This year while home on furlough we had 3 new churches take us on for support and 1 church drop our support. I thought it was hard but acceptable to take three steps forward and one step backwards until the increase in rent made it three steps backward. I was very frustrated to say the least. I began to pray about this situation. I complained to the Lord that this country is going to kill my spirit and my ability to accomplish anything for God. It seems like they are constantly beating me down. Some thoughts came to mind while praying. 1st, the more battles I fight, statistically, the more battles I will loose. I mean, you can’t win them all, right? Then I thought: if the Lord really wants us to have this particular house (there is a shortage of good houses in our city at the moment) then it doesn’t matter how much the rent is, just pay it. So, I had peace about paying as much as $100 more in rent or moving out if it was going to cost more than that. I met with the landlord 2 days ago and to my surprise, the rent did not increase! Of course we will have to negotiate the amount for next year’s rent later this year. Praise the Lord!

One other item that needed my attention this trip was the oversight of the church plant in Kingereka. I arrived at our church for the Thursday afternoon prayer meeting. When I left we didn’t have a Thursday afternoon prayer meeting. Well, we use to but then we discovered that the market day was on Thursday so we moved it to Tuesday but there was a different village that had their market day on Tuesday so we moved it to Wednesday and then no one came. Ha! Needless to say I was really surprised that the people started their own prayer meeting and that when I arrived there was at least 50% of our Sunday crowd in attendance. We had a good time of prayer and a Bible challenge by one of the men in the church.

When Greg and I left for furlough, we left 3 men “in charge” of the services. Greg wrote enough sermon outlines to last until the end of January and left them with these 3 men. The plan was for them to rotate the preaching responsibility. The end of January has come and gone and while these 3 guys are capable men they are not preachers yet nor quite ready to write their own sermons. I have written more sermons and have made arrangements for people to preach the extra 4 months my family will be gone. Pray for the whole church. They are doing very well and seem to be genuinely growing in grace and truth.

This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Living in Africa, Updates
Posted by BJ at 5:57 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Remember how the cast on Gilligan's Island went on a 3-hour tour and it ended up lasting nearly a generation? That's how I have been feeling the past 3 days.

Thank-you for your prayers for me as I travel to Tanzania. When I left Washington DC the plane experienced very heavy turbulence. There were times when all the passengers cried out in fear as the plane shook violently. I have a suspicion that the turbulence caused a problem to appear with a hydraulic pump. As soon as we landed in Rome Italy for fuel, they began to work on the pump trying to fix it. After sitting in the plane for 6 hours the airline decided they would let us wait inside the airport while they continued to work on the problem. We eventually made it to a local hotel until they fixed the problem. We finally left Rome after a 24-hour delay and have safely arrived in Ethiopia… only to find out that the connecting flight to Tanzania is delayed too. I hope to arrive in Tanzania soon, maybe before the end of the month. Ha!

I have always thought that traveling is not very enjoyable. I like to visit new place very much I just hate the process of getting there. However, on this trip I have had some really great opportunities to talk with many people about the Lord. There was one man named John who I talked to for at least an hour. Towards the end of the conversation he admitted to me that he did not believe that Jesus was neither God’s Son nor God himself. I very bluntly explained to him what was in store for all who reject Jesus. He wasn’t thrilled about that news but we parted ways agreeing to disagree. I am fairly certain I will never see John again or the others I was able to witness to but I know that the good seed of the gospel was planted today.

Thank you again for your prayers for my family and me.

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Posted by BJ at 12:48 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

Today I am making my way back to Tanzania for a short visit. You may remember that we were supposed to have returned to Africa 2 weeks ago but because of a new addition to our family we have delayed our return. Our baby is due the end of March. Many have asked about Cathy's health. She is doing very well; for that we are very thankful. Please remember to pray for her and the kids as I am away in Africa. Pray for my travels today and tomorrow. And pray that I will be able to get everything set up properly at our church and home to cover our delay.
 
In addition to tying up all the loose ends in Tanzania I am going to search for a piece of property to purchase. I am looking for something on which we can build a new church plant. I am also going to look into the possibility of renting a building in another town for a third church plant if the Lord wills. Pray that God would give me clear direction and favor as I work on these things.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for us.     

This entry is tagged: Church Planting, Family, Updates
Posted by BJ at 5:21 PM | Permalink | What say you?(1)

Well, an interesting thing happened the other day. God made the almost impossible- happen. Many of you already know by now but I thought it was time to let everyone in on the big news. We are expecting our fifth baby next year in March. This is a huge surprise to us since we thought Cathy could no longer get pregnant. Apparently, God had another plan in mind. This changes our plans for our return to Tanzania but that is the life of a missionary.

The doctor told us that it would be very dangerous for Cathy to have another C-section so we are praying for a safe delivery of the new baby. It will also be a whole new experience raising a new baby in a 3rd world country so we would appreciate your prayers for the baby's health as well. The baby is due the end of March 2010.

Speaking of health, the whole entire Schultz family has been hit hard with colds, allergies and various forms of whatever is being passed around. I am really surprised at how much we have been ill lately. Please pray for us.

We have been busy preaching and giving a report of our work in Tanzania every Sunday at our supporting churches. However, this weekend we not be traveling but will instead be taking part in a huge teen outreach called "Harvest Fest". We are expecting 1100 or more teens and are praying that many will be saved.

This weekend will be the last weekend "off" until Christmas. The whole month of October will be extremely busy for me as I fly to LA twice, CO once and then drive to Ontario Canada for a mission conference. Please pray for me as I travel and for the rest of the family as the hectic schedule tends to wear everyone down a little.

Thanks so much for your prayers!
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This entry is tagged: Family, Furlough, Health, Updates
Posted by BJ at 7:57 AM | Permalink | What say you?(0)

After being in the US for 1 1/2 months I think I can say for certain that we were healthier in Tanzania than we have been here. Actually, I think the only issue we have been facing is allergies. Apparently, Michigan is producing higher than normal levels of pollens and allergens this year. I’m still leaning towards breathing pollen over smoke from trash fires, exhaust from poorly maintained vehicles and the stench from outhouses and open sewers.

As I write, we are in full swing of our furlough. We have a very full schedule and will not see our home church for a Sunday service until December. I have tried to fit as many of our 55 churches into the six months time that we will be home.

Pray for us as we travel the many miles to visit our churches. The vehicle I am using does not have cruise control. I rely heavily on cruise control to help me maintain a consistent and legal speed. It’s not that I like to go fast it is just that I am not very good at paying attention to my speed. Unfortunately, police officers are not allowed to make exceptions based on this technicality.

Over the next 2 months I am going to try and raise some extra money to ship some John and Romans booklets to Tanzania and if we are able to afford it, ship some personal items as well. Pray for this project.

Many have asked so I will post my state side contact info here. It is only good until the end of 2009.

BJ & Cathy Schultz
BIMI
PO Box 9215
Chattanooga TN 37412

mobile 810_813_6213

This entry is tagged: Furlough, Updates
Posted by BJ at 6:27 PM | Permalink | What say you?(0)