Tanzainian E-Telegraph

December 2008 Tanzanian E-Telegraph

2008-12-21T22:07:00.001+03:00

Tanzanian E-Telegraph

December Edition 2008
Bill and Leah DeLaughter
ACM International, Tanzania

Don’t forget to check out our blogs.

www.leah.tzdelaughters.com (Leah keeps her blog updated with pictures)
www.tzdelaughters.blogspot.com/
http://arushabill.blogspot.com/

Dear Friends, Family,

It is really hard to get into the mood for Christmas as yesterday the temperature hit around 95 degrees, which is normal for this time of year. There is one store in town that plays a tape of 70’s Christmas music, full blast making it hard to talk while you shop. I know in America we complain so much at how over done Christmas is, at over commercialized it is, but to be honest, we really miss it.

Tickets, Funds, and Coming Back

Praise God, we are so close to the full $8000 for the ‘Baby Fund’ the difference hardly matters, it is short by only $400. Thank-you and God bless you for all of your sacrifices on our behalf, especially during these times of financial hardships.

Tickets

We now have an arrival date in USA. Our tickets have been booked, paid for, and now all we have to do is wait and board the plane. We arrive in USA February 4^th in Chicago and will catch a connecting flight to Saint Louis, MO from there.

Questions about coming back

The questions we are now concerned with are twofold. First, where are we going to live? And how are we going to get around while we are back?

For the first question, we have had two offers of places to live, one in Indiana, and another in Saint Louis, MO. Both of these were offered rent free to us. What an incredible blessing and thank-you to all who were involved in both offers. Although this was an incredible blessing it did pose a problem. Which do we choose? We have settled on Saint Louis because of the proximity to Leah’s parents, 10 min drive, and also we are familiar with the hospitals in St. Louis.

The second question has not been answered. The need for a vehicle while we are back is very real. If any of you have a vehicle that you can allow us to use from Feb 2009 to June 2009, we are in need on one. Please let us know ASAP.

Reporting to churches and traveling

While we cannot wait to see each one of you while we are back, the reality of it is that Leah’s travel is going to be restricted until the baby is born. Of course, I, Bill, will be able to travel but, it too will be more restricted the closer to the due date we get of April 15^th. After the baby is born, there may be more opportunities to travel.

That being said, from Feb 15^th until March 15^th, I am available to come and report to any who would wish. We have had an incredible year and are eager to share with you all that God is doing through us and those we are training and discipling.

Ministry Updates

Discipleship Program

Because of the Christmas Season, things have pretty much come to a halt over here. The Holiday season starts December 10^th and does not end until Dec 26^th. There are many days in between which everything in Arusha and Tanzania shuts down. It makes trying to get things done, a bit of a nightmare.

Regardless of all of this, the disciples in Moshono continue to meet weekly, regardless of what else is happening on that day.

Leah has also continued meeting with Sangita to disciple her. Sangita is eager to begin discipling two other women, once we leave for the States.

Community Impact

We are preparing for January 2009 which will see the launch of a new ministry emphasis for us; Community Impact is a program which works alongside the Discipleship program. The first undertaking of this ministry emphasis will be a water filtration project in Moshono and Chekirani. We are now in the design stage of a sand-bio filter which uses a series of buckets. This design comes from a friend of ours, Tony Freitas, who worked with us in training people in 2007 in Community Health Evangelism. The good news about this kind of filter is that it can be made available for the cost of the buckets at around $10-$20. The full effectiveness has not yet been proven for these filters as of yet and we look forward to establishing that over the next year. However, they have been used in a testing ground not far from Arusha for close to a year, and the people using them swear by them. There will be the need of acquiring a place where we can wash and prepare the sand that will be used in the filters. Or rather, a place where people can come, under our supervision, and wash their own sand.

At the end of January 2009, we will host a training day which people will take their washed sand with them home and set up their filters.

The Asian/Indian cell church

We are so excited to report to you that this outreach had 5 baptisms this month, and we had almost nothing to do with it. There is another missionary here who has also begun working with this group and come to them teaching them the meaning and the reason for Baptism, then preparing them for it. I am proud to report that this group has been taking the training we have been giving them and then using it to launch themselves into ministry. It is all that we could hope for, that we decrease and they increase in influence with other people from their culture.

Other News

Our Car

Amazingly, a friend of our who lives here in Arusha, walked up to me a couple of weeks ago, and handed me an envelope with $1000 in it. With the current exchange rate for the US dollar, it is exactly what we needed to repair our vehicle. What an incredible blessing, and a continuation to show how God blesses us through the people that we minister to. So the repairs have been paid for, and now we await the repairs.

I also had the chance to go and see the car in Moshi, where the work is being done 60 miles away. They are doing a great job, and may even have it ready before the end of the month. Hey in USA, we would complain about 2-6 weeks of wait for the work, but here there is a saying, Haraka, harake haina Baraka! Literally, “hurry, hurry, there is no blessing.” It means when you hurry, you lose your blessing. I would rather take the extra time, and they do the work right, than they hurry and it look bad. Praise God again for his provisions.

Family News

We all have had the flu the last week with running noses, fever, and just achiness. We seem to be over it as of today. It was especially hard for Leah, as the meds we could all take, she could not as she was pregnant.

Leah’s health is doing well. She continues to Home School Katrina in first grade. We are currently praying and considering whether to continue home schooling in the US, or to put her into public school.

Heather is an active 4 year old. She thinks that waiting to play for her sister until after school is SOOO dull. We are most likely going to start her in Kindergarten homeschooling next year, which will make her feel more included. Of course, this will be a bit of a challenge for Leah, learning to home school two, as well as care for a baby!

Prayer Requests and Praises

- Praise God that our Renewed Work Permits came through.
- Praise God that we have the required funds for our trip back.
- Praise God for continued stability with Leah’s Pregnancy.
- Praise God for maturity of those in the Discipleship Program.

- Pray for the Asian/Indian Cell group as it continues to grow.
- Pray for Moshono Christian Church as it continues in Discipleship
- Pray for the disciplers and disciples.
- Pray for our family as we prepare to leave things to those we have trained to continue the ministry.
- Pray for a vehicle for us to use while we are in USA.

Season’s Greetings to all, and may God be with you and your family this Christmas.

Because of His call,

Bill and Leah DeLaughter (Katrina, Heather)

Tanzanian E-Telegraph November 2008 Edition

2008-11-29T00:41:00.003+03:00

November 2008 Edition of

The Tanzanian E-Telegraph

Bill and Leah DeLaughter

Missionaries with ACM International Tanzania

Thanksgivings

We certainly have much to be thankful for. Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as I was heading back from Dar, putting our work permit in for renewal with the government , the Lord watched over me. We had been on the road later than we had planned on our 8 hour drive from Dar-es-Salaam to Arusha and at 6:45 in Tanzania, it is pitch black. We were less than 1 1/5 hours from home, where Leah and the girls were waiting, and had come to a speed bump. Speed bumps are a way of life here, I think there may be over 100 between Arusha and Dar. Prosper was with me. I slowed down to go over the hump, to about 5-10 miles per hour as the bump was a rough one with sharp inclines. As my rear tires cleared the hump, we were rear ended by a 3 ton truck going 70 miles per hour. Apparently, he did not see us, the bump, or the sign telling of the bump. My Toyota surf, went about 30 feet and then stopped on the road. Inside I was in shock. Prosper and I looked at each other, I was in a daze from whiplash, but somehow Prosper was clearheaded. My only explanation is that God was involved, which is why we are still alive. Mere feet beyond where our car came to rest, was a bridge which was under construction, the bump notifying us of a detour around. By all explanation, we should have gone into the ravine, off the road into a tree, or something like that. However, the Lord had surrounded our vehicle with his angels I am sure, which brought our car to a premature stop. How do I know this, there were no tire marks on the tar road indicating that I had braked.

We exited the vehicle, and went to the other vehicle. It was not in good shape. The engine had been forced into the cab of the 3 ton Mitsubishi Canter truck. I expected to see blood, and dead bodies, but instead, the three occupants were okay, without a scratch. God’s grace extended to them as well. Prosper called his neighbor, who works for a high ranking political officer in Arusha, and she called the police, who arrived 2 hours later. No, there is no such thing as a quick response in Tanzania, and we were literally in the middle of nowhere.

My fears while we waited, trucks and other vehicles were passing us, was about theft. It is not unknown for people to take advantage of people and steal things from the car, steal any money we had on us, and so on. Again, the Lord was with us, and there was not even a hint of anything like that. When the police arrived in the truck I had rented to go and get them with Prosper, one officer carried an AK-47. This is the first time in my life that the sight of the automatic machine gun weapon that has wreaked such havoc in Africa brought me comfort. This officer stood guard over my car, not allowing anyone near it accept us.

While the Police investigated everything, another friend arrived. Charnelle Dunn, a friend we made during language school lives about 45 min away from where the accident happened. When I called Leah to tell her of the accident, she called Charnelle who is with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) who have a base half way between where the accident happened and Arusha. She went to her base leader, Philip, who got the mechanics who work on the base to go with another vehicle to tow our vehicle. They arrived 2 hours after the accident happened, and actually pulled our bumper back, which had acted like a break to our left rear tire, so that the car would drive, they also fixed the transmission cable so that I could engage Drive. Again, amazingly the damage was limited to my rear part of our Toyota Surf, did not involve our chassis.

We discovered that the vehicle which hit us, did not have proper insurance, and if we pressed charges for payment of the extensive damage with the car, the driver of the truck would spend 2-4 months in jail awaiting a trial of our case. Also both of our vehicles would be impounded awaiting the trail and would not be released until the trial’s conclusion. He pleaded with us and offered us $300 for our damages, and taking everything into account, we accepted it even though it will not touch the several thousand in damages. With the acceptance of the money, the case was dropped and everyone went home, per say, 7 hours after the accident happened. I arrived home at 3 am. We went ahead and okayed the repairs to the vehicle not yet understanding where the funds to repair it are going to come from at this time. The repairs will take a month min, and for the most part, our vehicle will never look the same. The repairs will cost $1500 to $2500. Since the vehicle’s rear windows are gone, it is not secure, nor is it drivable that the repairs have begun. So we are without a car.

Regardless of all of this, I am thankful and have great joy in the midst of suffering from whiplash. You see several people in Dar and Arusha decided to start fasting and praying for our trip that morning. I am convinced that that because of their efforts, the Lord worked many miracles. I am in a lot of pain, and am of little use as we plan to move to a new house tomorrow, one better suiting our budget while we are back in USA starting in Jan (more on that later). The Lord has surrounded us with the people in the discipleship program with us, the Indian community and the Tanzanians who are coming to move us in the next few days, and are ministering to us in a way I could not have anticipated. It is a unique position that the Lord has placed us in, that the people that we came to minister to, are ministering to us. We know from Romans 5 that the Lord allows us to suffer so that we will grow in hope and love. Indeed this is what is happening now. The Lord pulled together all the people we have ministered to in the last 3 years to help us in the accident and following. You know you never dream that when you head to the mission field, that the Lord will also surround you with people to minister to you, but he does.

I rejoice with thankfulness in the midst of our suffering and pain, for the Lord is good. We canceled our Thanksgiving plans, and will have a Thanksgiving/Christmas meal instead.

So Are We Coming Back To Have the Baby or What?

So this is the news everyone is asking about. Out of the $7-8000 that we needed to raise to return to USA, we have raised about $5000. Praise God for all of you and your efforts. This leaves us $3000 short, but it is enough to go ahead and book our tickets to return to a USA around Jan 4^th. So we are coming home, pending the remaining funds.

Discipling Marches On

Prosper is completing his final book, and is preparing to begin the process of discipling someone else. It is exciting to watch as he begins the multiplication process, being released into ministry as the first of a movement which we believe will spread all over Tanzania. When he begins his network, we will have 9 Tanzanians in the discipleship process, PRAISE GOD!

Plans, Preparations, and News.

New Tanzanian Mailing Address

For all who send us correspondence, beloved packages, and cards, we now have our own mailing address, finally after 3 years. No more will you need to put c/o of anyone, just
Bill or Leah DeLaughter, PO Box 2407, Arusha, Tanzania.

Please use this address to send things to us in Tanzania. Continue sending any support checks or donations to ACM International, PO Box 37, Barnhart, MO 63012

Moving Plans

In order to help our budget as we head back to USA, we are renting a house much easier on our budget, by about half. The house is owned by another mission organization here in Arusha, and they are allowing us to live there if we basically pay the guards, utilities and so on. This lowers our living costs in Tanzania considerably. We may have to vacate the house, if this mission needs it, but not until July or August, which will give us a place to come back to that is home after having the baby. We are moving out of our current house on the 28-29^th of November. This is a challenge as because of the accident, I, Bill cannot stretch my arms above my head because of pain and my neck is very sore, Leah is 5 months pregnant as well, not to mention we are moving without having a vehicle as ours is being repaired. As I mentioned earlier, those we are involved in have rallied around us and are helping us in a big way.

Update on Leah and the Girls

Leah is very pregnant. She is really showing. Trine, our midwife, has been checking her iron levels, and they are on the low side, so Leah will begin taking additional iron along with the usual prenatal vitamins.

We have had a “Thanksgiving holiday/moving holiday” from homeschooling, and the girls have enjoyed their time off. We plan to begin again early next week, once we are settled at the new place.

Katrina and Heather will be in ballet recital on Dec. 6^th. Our friend, Myra, has been having some girls coming to practice ballet at her house every week. Leah will post the pictures of the recital to her blog. Also be looking for a blog about the move, and our new house soon!

Prayers and Praises

· Pray for Bill as he is in pain

· Pray for funds for the repair of our car.

· Pray for the Lord to provide needed transportation over the next few weeks as we prepare to return to USA.

· Pray for the remaining $3000 to come in soon for our trip back to USA to have the baby.

· Pray for Leah and the Baby.

· Praise God everyone was okay in the accident

· Praise God for Faithful friends and supporters.

· Praise God for surrounding us with good people who love us

Tanzanian E-Telegraph October 2008

2008-10-13T10:18:00.017+03:00

Tanzanian E-Telegraph
Bill and Leah DeLaughter
ACM International Missionaries to Tanzania

October 2008 Edition

In this Edition of the Tanzanian E-Telegraph:

All About a Baby

Funds appeal

Tanzania Plans
Discipleship Plans

Goals and Objectives in Bullet Form

Daniel and Ether Moile (Network Trainers from Kenya)
Moshono Christian Church Update
Homeschooling Update
Prayers and Praises

Future Plans

All About a Baby

Last Monday the sixth, I, Bill, finally had an opportunity to go and get a root canal done on a tooth that had been bothering me all summer. Just as I was getting ready to sit down on the chair, I got a call from Leah. She was in tears; she was spotting. I rushed home, which fortunately was only about 5 mins away from the dentist. We called our midwife and rushed out to try and find an OB/GYN and an ultrasound machine. We got to the place where he was supposed to be only to find out that he was at a rural hospital, about 15 miles out of town. So we headed out there. I’m not sure if it was the crisis, but I could swear that the roads were the worst I had ever driven on. When we got to the hospital, there was no Emergency ward. We had to wait an hour until we were registered with the hospital, and paid for the registration, paid to see the doctor, paid to use the ultrasound machine all before Leah was admitted. In the end from the time that Leah called me until we saw the doctor was around 3 hours.

Fortunately, the ultrasound machine showed that, while traumatized, Leah and the baby were okay. No one is exactly sure why the bleeding happened, but it is suspected that stress and overworking herself was the cause. Leah was placed on strict bed rest for all of last week, and today is allowed to get around the house again, but very restricted movement. We will just have to wait and see. Praise God there was no other repercussions from all of this. Oh, and I got my root canal on Wednesday.

This trauma means that I, Bill, have to pick up a lot more of the household duties. Leah has still been able to do homeschooling from the bed with Katrina at a desk right next to our bed. It has also brought a lot of things to light. Because of this, we have had a chance to see what would have happened if there had been a real emergency, and it does not look good. With that in mind, this event has helped us make up our minds about a course of action for the birth of the baby.

We do not believe that Arusha is an option for giving birth at this time. So we are now down to two potential plans: Having in the baby in Nairobi, or returning to USA to have the baby there. Both plans will require a significant use of funds. Our preference is to return to USA, where we have family that can be a part of this joyous occasion. Both plans would require us leaving Arusha in January for 4-6 months, renting a house, and so on. So what is the price tag for this? $4-7000.

Funds Appeal: If anyone would like to help and contribute towards this, please do so. We do not have the funds to make this happen. If we are to return to USA in January 2009, it would mean that we would need the funds by early December of this year to purchase tickets. If you would like to make a contribution, please mail a check made out to ACM International: PO Box 37: Barnhart, MO 63012. Include a note with the check that it is supposed to go towards BABY. That way our Forwarding agent will be able to earmark the funds for that use. Contributions towards this are tax deductible if done in this way.

Tanzania Plans

ACM International (our mission agency) has asked us to establish ACM as a receiving agency. While ACM International acts as in part as our sending agency for accountability purposes, we also have to have a receiving agency in Tanzania. Since ACMI is not a registered agency in Tanzania, we have needed partnerships to be able to remain and work in Tanzania. These partnerships have required that we often need to compromise our own vision so that it would fit into another agency’s agenda. With that in mind, ACMI believes that it would be to our benefit and theirs to establish ACMI in Tanzania as a receiving agency. This means that the way would be clear, as well, for other missionaries with ACM International to join us in Tanzania. It is our goal to begin this process of registration by the end of 2008, hoping for full registered status by the end of 2009.

Discipleship Plans

At the moment we have 7 disciples at various stages of discipleship. It is our goal to have them discipling their own 8 disciples by the end of 2009. One of the disciples will begin discipling his first disciple in January 2009.

This is the beginnings of a Discipleship Network which is a continuation of what Larry Niemeyer began and is continuing to do in Kenya through the Harvest Institute. With the establishment of these networks, the first phase of this work will be completed. While the initial discipleship requires our involvement, the next generation of disciplers join us in discipling others. Our role then becomes network leaders. We ourselves are always discipling, but we add additional roles and encourage others to disciple others. We remain in contact in training them how to be disciplers, how to make disciples, but as the initial six months are meeting with people weekly, that begins to taper off some, meeting less often as they disciple others to encourage them through times of crisis, and remain confided, consistent, and unwavering in their faith and calling.

It is our goal to have two networks established, one with the Tanzanian work, and one in the Asian Indian work by the end of 2009. Our next task is to encourage people in that network to begin to establish their own networks, and introducing people to vision of Community Impact, which is based on the training we received in Community Health Evangelism and altered for this ministry. The 3 year vision statement for this part of our ministry is: By 2011 to establish a movement of network involved disciplers in at least 4 communities around Arusha, who are multiplicating themselves and God’s LIFE in others. As you can see we are well on our way as networks are being established in 2 of those 4 communities. The ultimate goal is to have this ministry established on solid ground by the time of our next furlough in 2011.

Introducing Amos. This picture was taken after his first lesson in discipleship. He and his wife are now in their 3rd week and show great promise of becoming disciplers.

Goals and Objectives for Discipleship in bullet form:

Goals for 2008 and 2009 with the Discipleship Network

Current status

Bill Discipling 5 people

Leah Discipling 2 people

By September 2009

Establishment of two Discipleship Networks

Tanzanian

4 disciplers

They have 2 or more disciples each

Indian

3 disciplers

Each having 2 or more disciples

Begin by end of 2009

Network Multiplication

Tanzanian Network will have multiplied to two networks of up to 25 people discipled, 8 people discipling, two network leaders trained in Leading a Network

Asian Indian Network will have 5-10 people discipled, with 3 disciplers, and one Network Leader trained.

Community Impact Implementation

Network Leaders will begin to be trained in Community Impact

Implantation in with one project in each Network

Daniel and Esther Moile (Network Trainers from Kenya)

In Partnership with Larry Niemeyer’s Harvest Institute in Nairobi, we are bringing down two network trainers to propel this ministry into its next phase of creation of Discipleship Networks. Daniel and Esther Moile have been in discipling people and creating networks in Kenya for 10 years. Their addition to our discipleship effort is a great asset. Starting next week, they will come and begin discipling 7 people themselves including three potential network leaders. It is a joy to join with a national and invite them as part of a team effort in our work. While we do not pay their salaries, we do pay for their expenses for Daniel and Esther to come down once a week for 3 days and also for the printing of the discipleship books together comes to $200 a month. We are still seeking faithful continuous partners to help us with this expense. If you would like to contribute to the Discipleship Expenses, please make your check out to ACM International, PO Box 37, Barnhart, MO 63012 and include a note that says Discipleship Network.

Moshono Christian Church (Haven of Peace Christian Church, Moshono) update

<Here Bill is preaching during his rotation in the pulpit in Moshono. Bill is one of 5 who preach and teach.

Our big emphasis with this group is now giving. In times past the concept in missions is that the missionary gives his dollars and the nationals give their pennies. As a result a dependency is created on the missionary and the church struggles to establish self-sufficiency. I was proud this last Sunday that Momma Teddy, one of the disciples being discipled by Daniel and Esther, gave a lesson on giving and tithing using the example of Hanna and Samuel in the book of Judges. At the end of it, the church had a meeting, and agreed on a course of action for tithing. They each received an envelope that they committed to carry around with them, whenever they receive salaries, profit from business, or gifts, they have committed to give 10% of it to the church, putting it in that envelope and turning it in every Sunday. I was excited to see yesterday as the envelopes were turned in, the usual $2.00 they gave has been increased to $15 in regular giving. One member received a gift of $400 and tithed $40 of that to church as well. It was such a joy to see their faces as they began to realize the implications of faithful tithing and begin to dream of buying land for a church, building their own building, and so on, all with their own funds. They still have a long way to go, but it is such a joy to see growth and be a part of it.

A Specieal Thanks

We also want to give a special thanks to Teen Mission USA and Concord Christian Church, North Carolina for helping us purchase a Laser Printer to print out the needed material. To date in the last 6 weeks, the printer has been very active in printing 450 Come Share My Faith books, 5 Discipleship books, and Discipleship tools for the Discipleship Network. Thanks Again

Also, during the summer some people contributed $600 towards a portable baptismal pool. We intend on using those funds to puchase a mobile baptismal pool from ARM. The cost for these is $800 plus shipping. We would also like to purchase a 2nd and bring them back when we return to USA after the baby is born.

Homeschooling Continues

Leah and Katrina are continuing to do homeschooling. “I love reading.” -Katrina . Although the complications with the pregnancy have required that we change things up a little, and now we have moved the homeschooling room into our bedroom. Not a bad move, as rainy season has come to Arusha and you had to go outside to get to the class room.

Prayers:

Pray for the funding for our trip back to USA so that we can have the baby without fear of complications
Pray for Leah and the baby’s continued health
Pray for the Discipleship Network

That they remain consistent in their Faith

That they remain confident in their vision

That they remain stable in times of hardship

Pray for wisdom as we establish ACM International in Tanzania
Pray for Moshono Christian Church

Praises

That Leah and the Baby are okay and healthy
That my, Bill’s, tooth is without pain =-)
For the partnership with Daniel and Esther Moile
For the faithfulness of Moshono Christian Church
For clarity of vision and purpose
For God’s provisions
For faithful supporters

Thank-you all for your prayers, financial faithfulness during these uncertain times, and your consistancy in lifting us up to our Lord in your thoughts and actions.

In Christ,

Bill and Leah DeLaughter (Katrina and Heather)
Missionaries with ACM International Tanzania

Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.

2008 September Tanzanian E-Telegraph

2008-09-17T20:59:00.000+03:00

Tanzanian E-Telegraph
September Edition
Our Big Announcement: New Addition to the Family

We are VERY excited to announce that we will be welcoming a new baby to our family! The baby is due in April. Billy has been quoted as saying, “Please Lord! I need a boy. I’m getting outnumbered here.” Read more at Leah’s blog http://leah.tzdelaughters.com/ ! This addition to our family has put several objectives for the next two years into perspective. Please pray with us as we prepare ourselves, our family, and our plans for this exciting time for us. We will let you know as it develops. There are many choices facing us in this including where to have the baby.

Introducing Haven of Peace Christian Church in Moshono, Arusha, Tanzania
The new church plant that we are helping Prosper to start has developed a partnership with Haven of Peace Christian Church in Dar-es-Salaam. Pastor Alphonse came up in August to spend time with Prosper and the other church members, teaching them about the basics of church. He helped them to find a place to hold church. They had been meeting in Prosper’s small home, but there wasn’t room for more than about 5 or 6 people there and would no longer hold the 17 people who come. However, they didn’t have the money to rent a room to meet in. Meeting at our house was a temporary fix; we wanted the church to be self-sufficient. Pastor Alphonse from Haven of Peace, along with Prosper and the other members were able to talk to a teacher/administrator of a local school in Moshono, Amos. Amos agreed to allow the church to meet at the school for free, which is a huge blessing!
Bill has been in Dar for the past week along with Prosper and Mama Teddy, another member, meeting with the leaders of Haven of Peace Christian Church about joining with their registration. Every church in Tanzania has to be registered with the government. Churches of the same “denomination” usually go under the same registration. Since Haven of Peace is a Christian Church, we thought it would be better to go with their registration, then to start a whole new “denomination” in the country. After meeting with the leaders, Haven of Peace Christian Church has agreed to allow the church plant to get registered under their registration! Praise God!
Prosper has now returned to Arusha and is busy filing the paperwork with the appropriate governmental authorities, which will give this church legal status. We praise God for Haven of Peace Christian Church and their willingness to help and mentor new churches.

Baptisms

The new church plant held its first baptismal service! Four people were baptized, including our guard, Hajji, who Prosper led to the Lord during our first term. Hajji’s conversion began with Bill’s parents giving him a Bible a little over two years ago, which he read in its entirety within 4 months, a process he still continues today. It was quite a memorable experience.

Bill and Prosper baptize Haji (who
has changed his name to Vincent)
Bill’s Bit about the Baptisms

It happened in a river not far from the church. It was difficult to find a place where the water was not too deep, nor the water running too fast, but we found it. Only to discover when in the water that there was a ledge, which we stood on in the water, and if we stepped off of the ledge we would fall into a cave of unknown size under the water. So very carefully we went down to the ledge and there I, Bill, stood there with Prosper. The first one into the water was Hajji. Hajji has been close to our heart since he first started learning more about Jesus, and knowing him began to change his life.
Hajji had attempted to join local churches while we were in the USA like the Pentecostal Assemblies of God, Lutheran, and others only to be told that he was not yet good enough to be baptized and was told that he needed to sit in the ‘black seats’ which are reserved for those the Pastor feels are being sinners. Being in these seats excludes them from participating in Communion, being a member, and other things. Hajji stopped attending any church about 9 months ago, discouraged that this ‘Christianity’ was no different than the Islam that he had come out of. The sad truth of it is that we have discovered a large number of new believers who fall away because of the ‘religion’ of the church. Prosper and I met together with Hajji for weeks removing doubt and giving confidence to him about Jesus. A month ago, Hajji joined Moshono Christian Church and started asking why he could not be baptized. We immediately saw that we had a problem. This church has no baptismal as it meets in a school. We looked into building a portable system, and it is in the works now, being built (thanks to Hamilton Church of Christ who provided most of the funds for this).
Regardless, four people were baptized, no mishaps other than a pen that got washed downstream. Two others that were there had stories similar to Haji’s where the local churches would not baptize them until they were good enough. Praise God for Prosper and the Moshono Christian Church for providing a place for people who are seeking God to get to know Jesus. What a privilege to get to see and be a part of people following their Lord and Savior in obedience in baptism.

Discipleship Update

A lot has been going on with our discipleship ministry. Prosper has been continuing with this discipleship. While he is going through his discipleship, we are going to partner with Daniel and Esther Moile, disciplers from Kenya. This husband/wife team will be traveling down to Arusha weekly to disciple members of Moshono Christian Church. Look for more information in October about this family who has been in the program for many years in Kenya, and their vision for this movement in Tanzania. Bringing this man down is going to cost us an addition $250 a month which is not in our budget yet.
Leah will begin discipling Sangita, the leader of the Asian Ladies’ Bible Study on Monday! Once she is discipled, Sangita will then disciple the women attending the Bible Study. We are excited to see the discipleship taking off, and have been very pleased with the material prepared by Larry Niemeyer.
Sangita has been praying about starting an Asian Couples Fellowship for a long time now. She feels that now the time is right to start this meeting. Her husband, Raju, has been growing in his faith, and has even been sharing the gospel with non-believers! They plan to start their Couples Fellowship by next week. We are very excited for them. When Sangita came to us in the beginning it was because she wanted us to lead this fellowship. Instead she and her husband are now the ones who are going to lead this fellowship, which is what we told them we would help them achieve. Read more in October’s newsletter.

Family News

In addition to expecting a new baby, we have other family news. Heather is turning 4 on September 13th! We had a small party at home. Look for pictures on Leah’s blog.

Our Newsletter and News Moves into the Blog age!

Click here http://www.tzdelaughters.blogspot.com/ to read this current newsletter blog style. From now on you will be able to read and make comments on it if you would like to.
Watch for Upcoming Updates to Website and Objectives for a 3 year plan!!!

Praises and Prayers
· Praise God for a new baby on its way, and pray for the health of the baby.
· Praise God that the church plant found a place to meet, and is being registered.
· Praise God that the discipleship has been able to continue and grow.
· Praise God for our supporters that make it possible to be here.
· Praise God for our health, for a house to live in, and a vehicle that drives.
· Pray our partnership with MCD, that it will blessing to both us and to them.
· Pray for Sangita and Raju, as they begin their Asian Couples Fellowship, that they would be able to be a blessing to the Asian (Hindu) community here in Arusha.
Thanks for reading!

Serving Christ in Tanzania,
Bill and Leah DeLaughter.
Missionaries with ACM International, Tanzania

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