Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
Psalm 95: 1-3
As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving Day, we are grateful for the peace that passes all understanding. We are THANKFUL for friends like you, who have faithfully stood with us these past fifteen years.
In the midst of our gratitude, I had an unexpected bump in the road when I landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport. I have never had a problem clearing Customs for the past six years, but this year, I hit a roadblock. We encountered an issue with Tanzania Customs.
Shalom Centre had secured a tax exemption for the goods; however, we were not informed that we also needed a tax voucher from the Tanzania Treasury Department. This situation had never occurred before. Typically, the tax exemption alone has sufficed. Unfortunately, the customs official we met insisted that we must provide the tax voucher from the Treasury Department before releasing the Backpacks for the kids at Shalom.
Upon my return, the Backpacks were still in Customs. Although Shalom is doing everything possible to obtain the necessary voucher, I felt it was too risky to leave the backpacks without guaranteeing when they would be released. So I decided to bring the backpacks back to Texas.
Of course, everyone is disappointed. Please pray that Shalom can get all the necessary documents so once this is sorted out we can make plans to return with the Backpacks.
In spite of the Customs issue, a true blessing was presenting a check to Shalom for $3500.00! This will provide school shoes for 72 children and buy Government required school books and supplies for all the school-age children. We have not been able to do this every year, but due to your generosity we could do it this year. THANK YOU!
Another blessing was to attend Northern Bible College graduation ceremony. Praise God for FORTY-ONE GRADUATES! They committed to their calling and now celebrated their achievements. Rev. Nimrod Swai, Treasury Secretary of the Tanzanian Assemblies of God, delivered the Word of God to the students. “When you preach Jesus, He will be with you! Once God calls you somewhere to preach, don’t think about food and drink because God will provide for you. Wherever you go the anointing will go with you. Wherever you go, God will go with you!”
The next step for them varies. Some will return in a pastoral role in their sponsoring church. Others will plant churches and some will continue their studies towards their BA.
To God be the glory! Great things He hast done!
Tanzania for Jesus!
Joel & Sally