Not by might, not by power but by My Spirit says the Lord

Oh hello there.  Welcome back to our world in Arusha :o)

 

Rather than tell you about the plague of cockroaches, ants, etc., this week we thought we’d step out from here and tell more of MAF’s work.   We've asked a dear Tanzania friend/worker Mama Kambenga to share in our next few blogs, short accounts from a few of the villages she flies with MAF to minister in:

Kilimatinde safari

"Kilimatinde safari is an evangelistic and health outreach safari to the villages of Mahaka, Mpapa, Dabia and Chidudu in the rift valley.

 

Mahaka.

 

 Since the year 2007 the villagers have continued to learn the word of God while meeting in the local church. The congregation is not big because some still go to ancestral worship. There are also those that have come to settle and are not believers therefore the evangelistic team has a lot of work ahead preaching the good news.

 

 

The people of Mahaka love to listen and learn the word of God.  One day a child of about 6 years climbed onto a roof top and fell down losing consciousness for quite some time. He was unable to sit or stand. His family grieved thinking he was dead. That was when a parent of the child prayed saying these words." You God, in the name of Jesus whom is being preached by the people who come by MAF aero plane, I plead with you to heal my child" Instantly, the child got up and started walking. Those who saw this believed in Jesus.   Praise and glory be to our God."

 

Maybe you’d be interested to hear a summary of some statistics:

*        MAF has more than 140 aircraft serving in around 25 countries

*        MAF flew more than 52,000 hours during 2013

*        Over 78,000 flights were carried out in 2013, flying nearly 200,000 passengers and

6.7 million kg of freight (not including passenger baggage allowances)

*        MAF flew more than 11 million kilometres in 2013 – more than 275 times around

the equator

*        MAF has more than 1,400 staff serving around the world

*        MAF flights serve around 1,500 organisations

*        MAF flew to over 1,700 destinations worldwide in 2013

 

Amazing eh!  Well this time last month we were en route from Dodoma to Arusha, via Dar es Salaam but we omitted to show you any photos from there – although it felt that way we didn’t actually spend the entire time trying to organise the Nairobi appointments, chained to the internet!  Here’s a local fisherman we got “chatting” with and if you look behind them in the faaaar distance you might be able to make out dozens and dozens of other's, making their living:

 

 

 

 

 

Catch of the day to be sold in the local market and hotel; day in day out they are there, fishermen making a living.... he also had crayfish, squid.. all sorts (and we've been swimming there lots, amongst them all, yikes!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A trip to the local market!  His English and our Kiswahili weren’t good enough to establish what these are – anyone familiar  They didn't taste at all like figs or dates, ripened or otherwise ...

 

Meet our fridge: there's plenty of room for you on it (send us a photo!) we try to store so much IN it!  On it you'll see a key verse!  We lost our electricity many times this week, possibly due to multiple thunder storms - one day alone it was off 10am-10pm, varying times on all t'others  days - it would be an understatement to say its frustrating to have it dictate ones' days activities...but grateful to have power at other times!  It makes Zechariah 4:6 even more pertinent, a reminder that we work "By His Spirit"! 

We had lovely temperature/temper cooling rain on the plain/plane/aeroplane ;o)  and snow on the mountains: this closing shot is of Meru.  It watered the swarm of ants that smother our kitchen and washed away a plague of cockroaches; thus far hasn't flushed out any scorpions hoorah! 

 

Enjoy your weekend – we’re just about to fall into ourssssZZZZzzzzzzzz…zzz.zz.z  xx j&c xx