Tools of the Trade

Greetings from Wittenberg Seminary in Arusha, Tanzania. I'd like to share some specific blessings the LORD has provided here in the past few weeks. 

We are now past the one-month mark since Paula has joined me here in Africa. We are adjusting well to the surroundings and enjoying our day-to-day life in this community, even though we have been challenged with nearly daily power outages that have lasted between four and ten hours.

Paula and Ivy before church at Ambureni parish

Our Sunday School program averages around 10 students, including neighborhood visitors

Our seven seminary students and the Wittenberg faculty are hard at work as we prepare the men for service in our LORD's kingdom. There are 8 weeks left for this last semester of the year. Wittenberg Seminary is developing a website which includes an academic catalog, a student handbook, and an application form for enrollment. You can see the new website HERE.

The students have benefitted from some recent improvements, including rechargeable battery lighting for when the power goes out, as well as wall mounted desks and shelving for their small dormitory rooms:

Each of the students also received a new Swahili Bible and Bible cover:

The men are very thankful for these "tools of the trade" to assist in their studies for the pastoral ministry. 

This fall I have the opportunity to speak "live" via remote video call with several CLC churches for their mission festivals. I have also made a narrated video of the same presentation which you can see HERE. 

I give thanks to God that many hearts have been moved to support our CLC missions program, through your offerings and with your prayers. Through these, along with the efforts of our Board of Missions, our LORD is blessing us with the needed "tools of the trade" for operating Wittenberg Seminary.