Greetings friends and brethren,
I hope that you're having a great Easter weekend with your family and friends. It warms our hearts to see all of the photos on social media of our friends enjoying Lads to Leaders or just family get-togethers. Those are good times.
We're enjoying good days here as well. The weather is beautiful and God's work is thriving. Here are a few highlights of the work that you are helping to make possible with your prayers and support.
Children's Seminar in Boma Ng'ombe
Last Saturday the Maynard, Gaines, and Massawe families were privileged to take the monthly Children's Seminar to the village of Boma Ng'ombe (which means "Cow House"). This little village at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro provided a great setting for the well-attended seminar. As usual, Tiffany, Anna, and Jane taught the children lessons about the Bible, and gave the ladies some tips on how to better teach the Bible to their children.
Meanwhile, Daniel, Justin, and Desdery had a Bible study with the men beneath the shade of a nearby tree. Afterwards, three men expressed a desire to put on their Lord through baptism. We promptly went down to a local river. While ladies doing their laundry on the banks of the river looked on, these men were washed clean of the stains of their sins.
Plans for Family Seminar
The rotating Spiritual Discipline Seminar has now run its course at all of the congregations on the initial schedule. The area preachers met yesterday to discuss future plans. Our next traveling seminar will be "What Every Family Needs", based on the book by the same name from Faulkner and Brecheen. We are strategically enlisting the help of some of our older preachers and church leaders in order to benefit from the wisdom gained from their experiences. The brethren seem to be excited about what this seminar will have to offer their congregations.
We'll also be spreading the Spiritual Discipline Seminar to some congregations that did not get a chance to receive it the first time around. This will be done by men who served as "Timothy's" during the first round. After all, teaching to teach, and enabling men to share what they've learned with others is the name of the game around here.
Concluding Ilkiurei Quarter
This year the focus of cooperative evangelism is on revisiting and boosting some of the newer congregations in the area. The first quarter was spent at the Ilkiurei congregation, as area evangelists devoted a Saturday each month to doing personal work in that neighborhood.
In the coming quarter, our attention will shift back to Njiro Chini. This will also be the location of some of the Safari for Souls campaigns that are making preparations to come in the next few months. Please keep these efforts in your prayers.
New Chicken House
Cy Treatments
Our brother, Cy Stafford, will take a new round of chemo treatments this week. Please pray that the side effects are minimal, and that the treatments are effective. He should also be having bone marrow evaluations during his stay in the hospital.
As always, thank you for being a valuable part of this team. Together, God's kingdom is growing stronger and stronger. May God continue to bless our service together.
Till all have heard...
Daniel Gaines
