It is spring, and with spring comes many changes. There is new life.  What has been dormant for months wakes up.  In many ways, that is how we are viewing this ministry.  Many changes, new life, and giftings that have been dormant for many years are now bursting forth.  God told us three years ago “He was going to do a new thing.”  He keeps amazing us with the continual flow of new things.

Late in February, Dick and Jannice Young heard the call of God on their lives and came to us volunteering to move to Tanzania and take on the role of African Administrators.  We have worked closely with them since the beginning of our ministry and have been close friends for over thirty years.  I think what has happened is that they played on the edge of the pond for so long that they finally fell in.  Everything they are is an enhancement to what we are already doing.  The dreams and visions they have for CCMI are taking us into another level.  Their commitment is for 3-5 years or until the Ukambeni project is completed.

So now, we are going to let them share their hearts with you…

Greetings in the name of Jesus. We can’t begin to express to you the excitement that Jannice and I are experiencing about our upcoming move to Tanzania. As Harry and Kathy have told you, we have been a part of this ministry since its inception. Mostly, though, our part has been to encourage and pray for them, and to help financially support their efforts, as we were able. We must admit we were very comfortable there. During the past two years, God has been gently speaking to our hearts about upping our level of commitment. We began to feel as though we should increase our giving, possibly pray a few minutes longer, work a little harder to make sure Harry and Kathy knew we were behind them 100%. We did all of these things as I know you would, but still it did not seem to be enough. As only God could, He spoke to Jannice and me individually. As close as we are in our marriage of 42 years, we are as different as day and night as to how we approach God and in turn listen to his voice of direction. Yet as different as we are in that respect, we have one thing in common, music. Though we had not spoken aloud to each other what God was showing us, we began to sing in harmony, the same song that He had placed in each of our hearts individually. A song that God himself is singing, a song of love about the Maasai, a people that we don’t even know. That is how we have come to this very important juncture in our lives.

In the Past

This past year our school has been a wonder to anyone who observed it. The Maasai are very intelligent and desiring to learn. There are some who do not read or write, and they were scoring higher on their tests than those who do. About half of the class spent extra time on Christmas break studying reading, writing and math. Their work is amazing. As their academic levels increased, so did their spiritual lives. They have become confident, powerful leaders among their own people. We want to thank you for your generous giving during a time when our students did not have money for food. On behalf of the students, Thank You!

There is a short exercise I would like you to do with me. First, I would like you to imagine being hot, tired and thirsty from working in the garden. You go into the house, open the cupboard and get your favorite water glass (you know you have one). Then, turn on the tap and wait for the water to get cold, and fill your glass. The water is clean and fresh. Now, lift the glass to your lips and savor the cool refreshment. It tastes good doesn’t it? Clean Water. We take it for granted. A necessity of life.

Now imagine you are a twelve-year-old Maasai girl and your job everyday is to get water for your family. You take your five gallon bucket and leave the village hoping that you won’t have to go far to find water. Any water. What you find is tepid and dirty, but it is water. A necessity of life.

For the first time ever, the Maasai of Ukambeni village has fresh water. They don’t have to rely on dirty water from contaminated surface wells. Nor the stagnant water from mosquito infested pools. Not even the puddles of brown filthy water left from a passing rainstorm. The death rate, among infants especially, and the number of deformities caused by water borne disease is astronomical. The well we drilled, water storage tank, solar panels and pump cost $37,000.00. Is there any value you can put on one human life? Again, we thank you!

During the past two years, the region that the Maasai live in has been in drought. The grass for the cattle disappeared; their herds were moved as far as thirty miles away just to survive. Even at that, most of the cattle and some of the goats, despite the Maasai’s best efforts, were lost to the drought. To the Maasai these animals are their livelihood. Simply stated: no livestock, no income.

At best, these people live in dire poverty. In the past year, you have given over $8,000.00 dollars to buy maize in our famine relief program. Our last distribution helped feed 300 families. Domenic is currently interviewing prospective students who will begin their studies in July. He would like to increase the size of the class to 35 students. He has accepted sixteen

students already, and has a list of prospective students that will fill the class.

We are still working on the bid for the de-fluoridation unit for the well. This has been an on-going negotiation since the well was drilled. We are now working with our engineer and the de-fluoridation contractor to decide who will do what and at what cost. We have the money to cover these costs as soon as a decision is made.

Harry and Kathy have been invited to host a pastor’s conference in Uganda in June. This conference will bring an estimated 700 people, 200 of which are pastors, together for a week. A week filled with prayer for each other, hearing the Word of God ministered, and together sharing their faith. These pastors will come from all around the region. Some are refugees from Sudan and others from the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, as these meetings usually go, more will come than what is expected. Pastor Peter Bienga is putting all of this together. They met him five years ago when they held the first ever conference in this remote region. As these conferences go, as the host you cost share the meeting. They have negotiated the cost of the conference with Pastor Peter, but even at that, there are added transportation costs involved. I think this conference is necessary. It is a rare thing for these pastors to be able to come together and hear the Word preached by pastors from the western world. Moreover, this request comes from one man, who over five years ago, was touched by God as Harry and Kathy ministered to him in a small bush conference.

Tentatively, Harry and Kathy would leave the states on June 8 and fly to Tanzania. Then, on to Entebbe and finally to Nebbi for the conference. After finishing in Uganda, they would return to Tanzania to open the second year of school in Ukambeni. The first couple of weeks are focused on foundational teachings to prepare the students to begin their studies with the ISOM materials. Last year’s students felt this time of training was crucial to see them through the year. This will bring them to our arrival on August 19, when they will help us get established in the CCMI house, there in Tanzania. On August 21, the four of us will hold graduation for the first year students. The cost of this entire trip, including the conference in Uganda is estimated at $10,000.00. Overseas tickets have finally dropped in price to $2,209.00 each. However, Harry and Kathy will not buy tickets until they have the money to pay for them. Their integrity in financial matters has greatly ministered to Jannice and me. They will not borrow designated money to charge tickets, hoping to pay it back later. If the money is not there, they just won’t go.

In the Future

Believe me, Jannice and I look at each other sometimes and we can tell we both have that question of, “What in the world have we gotten ourselves into”. It doesn’t last very long though. Do we know exactly what we will be doing once we are there? No. Will we make mistakes? Yes. Our job is to build a relationship with the Maasai. A relationship of love and trust. We, all of us who are like-minded, want to see them succeed and watch them take over this Bible Training Center complex and have it become self-sustaining. Jannice and I are willing to stay and see it through and we know you are too.

A quote from A Field of Dreams…..”if we build it they will come”. I often think of that when considering the Bible Training Center. We have not built it, yet they still come. Two women are sleeping on the ground in a tin shed doing odd jobs for food waiting for the next class to start. They are not willing to go home because it is too far and they will not be denied. They know, somewhere deep within them, they will be changed. They have seen it in others.

The Bible Training Center will be built! There will be dormitories that are clean and safe! The Maasai will have a rural health clinic! Their children will have schools and be educated! The widows and orphans will be taken care of! There will be no lack! God has a plan for the people of East Africa! He is calling to them. “Come, all you who are weary and heaven laden, and I will give you rest”. A rest from poverty, a rest from starvation, a rest from HIV/AIDS and the list goes on. They will come! They hear the song!

Harry and Kathy need your help! We are asking you to help them help the Maasai and the pastors of Uganda. To be able to go and hold the conference in Uganda and to work in Tanzania, they need to raise $10,000.00 by May 8th. We know you have given generously in the past. We are asking you to prayerfully seek God about giving into this ministry. We trust in God’s provision.