ChosenRebel's Blog

Sigh! Tomorrow, I will begin the long trek back from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam, to Amsterdam, to Detroit, to Charlotte, NC and finally to my lovely wife in South Carolina.

My teaching time in Tanzania has come to an end. Today, I preached the morning worship service in a local congregation here in Mbeya. It was a wonderful experience and the church family was warm and responsive to the message. In all, I gave 13 messages in five days and counseled 7 more pastors for 6 more hours on Saturday. Each message takes two hours to deliver because we are working with a translator, teaching 6 to 6.5 hours a day. Twelve of the messages were followed by 30-45 minutes of Q and A. 

Here’s a list of some of the texts and topics that were covered:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
2 Samuel 11 and 12
Matthew 13:1-46
Mark 3:1-15
Luke 6:12
Luke 6:46-49
Luke 7:36-50
Romans 12:19-21
1 Corinthians 11
Ephesians 4:11-17
Ephesians 4:29
Philippians 1-4
Revelation 2:1-7

The Process of Ministry
The Lord’s Supper
Spiritual Gifts
Evangelism
Intensely Local Ministry Focus
Loving Neighbors Well
Equipping the Saints for Ministry
Care of the Poor
Living Generously
Becoming Multiplying Disciples
How to handle abusive pastors
How to handle adultery in the church
How to stay healthy and productive long term in the ministry
And endless questions related to all aspects of ministry and life.

What a challenge and what a thrill! These people are in my heart. I will be praying for them for the remainder of my life. And I will looking for ways to resource them and help them in anyway I can. God bless them as they seek to reach their nation for Christ. I would love to come back here and do some evangelism training. Pray the same thing for Tanzania that I hope you are praying for the USA.

1. Pray for purity of doctrine.
2. Pray for purity of life.
3. Pray for a passionate love for Christ to sweep the nation.
4. Pray that Christ would exalted in the lives of the people.

No pictures yet. That will come when I get back and have time to reflect. And no more for now. I am spent. Thank all of you for praying for me and for the nation of Tanzania.