God is Being Glorified Through Our Tanzanian Church Planters

Here is a fantastic article CMF wrote about our Tanzanian church planters, Solomon and Sarah Kipi!

http://cmfi.org/church-planters-persevere-see-results-in-hostile-tanzania-region

Church planters persevere, see results in hostile Tanzania region

MARCH 28TH, 2014

Tanzanian church planters Solomon and Sarah Kipi have endured loneliness, persecution and tribal warfare in their efforts to establish a church in a hostile region along the coast of their country, but they are finally beginning to see fruit from their ministry.

“On Christmas, they had 251 people come to hear the Gospel under a tree,” said CMF missionaryGary Woods. “And several weeks ago, 50 people from all three tribes received Jesus as Lord and Savior.”

The work has not been easy. The Kipi family moved to the area two years ago to minister among the Parakuyui, Sakuma and Wagogo tribes in the middle of tribal unrest that has seen up to 70 people killed, according to Gary Woods. There are no churches in the area and the local belief systems have made people opposed to the gospel. Additionally, tensions have been high because of the fighting between herders and farmers.

As Tanzanian missionaries Megan and Michelle Moss recently reported in their newsletter, however, “Satan attempted to thwart their plans and discourage them, but nothing would cause them to give up, not even trouble in building a house and being outsiders in a new community, Sarah being severely burned after being sold gasoline instead of kerosene (for cooking), and (tribal) killings in their community.”

“New people in that area are looked at as outsiders, not guests or visitors,” added Michelle Moss. “They must take a long time to get to know people, especially the village leaders, and establish relationships built on trust and friendship. But while this is a very difficult and time-consuming process, it is actually a fantastic tool in presenting the gospel.”

While there is still conflict between those fighting in the area, Solomon and Sarah have become well-respected by the village leaders.

“When some of the men trying to cause trouble locked Sarah in her house and threatened her while Solomon was out of town, the village leaders sought them out and told them to never do such a thing again,” said Michelle. “This is just one example of their being accepted by the leaders. So after the ongoing storm for the last two years, the Lord is using Solomon and Sarah in amazing ways to further His Kingdom!

Here's a video about Solomon & Sarah! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtDLsxTRt48

Our Mom is the Bomb Dot Com!!!

We've realized we brag on our mom to about everyone in person, but we seriously need to give her kudos on here as well!  Since we left the U.S. we have seen her servant heart blossom like no other!  Seriously, this woman was made to be a missionary mom - so here's where we we give you a sneak peak into how she has spoiled us rotten, loved us unconditionally, and given us such encouragement to persevere!

1) When we left she drove 5 hours over to the airport, only got 3 hours of sleep then got us up for our early departure (and she looked stunning the whole time)!  Little did we know that during the night she managed to slip 4 cards into our carry-on and luggage.  We found two on the plane and cried like babies, and then again once we were in our new home in Tanzania as we unpacked our belongings.  She encouraged us with Scripture and love - it was perfect.

2) Then came our very first day in town and we went to the post office with our teammate only to discover a letter from our mom!!  She sent it the day we left and enclosed a packet of Ranch Dressing mix (Megan's favorite) and some taco seasoning - it was fantastic!  Once we told her it made it through, there was no stopping her, the cards and seasoning packets just kept on coming!

3)  She constantly checks-in with us and offers help in even some of the most ridiculous ways - for example: our team leader was coming back to TZ from furlough in the U.S. for a few weeks and she literally offered to pay for him to bring a bag full of extra stuff just in case we wanted anything (to which we replied we had only been in country for two months....so probably not).

4)  Then came the month of December which takes the cake for being Best Mom Ever!  Mary Moss sent us a card for every day of the month!  Only two didn't make it through, which means we had 29 cards stuffed full with awesome goodies she sent our way + all the awesome notes she wrote inside.  Icing on the cake - she tried sending the first package (which was discouraged previously because our team has had terrible trouble getting packages from the post office) AND IT ARRIVED, perfectly intact, the weekend before Christmas!!

Gifts she managed to stuff in the letters - bookmarks, stickers with Scripture,
and crosses with verses to give others here with words of encouragement

AND OUR FAVORITE - spice packets & Orbit gum

Bookmarks, cards with verses AND Fannie Mae Fudge she makes every year!

Our month of December :)

I love you...and I'm not lion!

And our favorite card

After a month of fantastic gifts, she continues to shower us with her love & cereal :)

So as a tribute to the BEST MOM EVER...we want to say thank you and brag on how our mom is the bomb dot com!!!

Maasai Widows Farming God's Way Training

DAY 1

Clearing land for the plot without turning over the soil -
cutting the weeds in a way that takes less effort and is better
for their crops then using the cut weeds for God's Blanket,
which prevents soil erosion, rapid evaporation, and water runoff

Cutting foilage for God's Blanket to cover the field

Using the jembe hoe to cut the plants as well

Gathering manure from the corrals

Our manure-gathering crew

Our oldest widow is one of the fastest and hardest working in the bunch!

Learning that termites are a blessing from God, not a burden -
we can use termite mounds if there are no other means of fertilizer

Working together to transport the termite fertilizer

Building the rope so we can accurately measure 60cm between each hole for corn
(this was the first time for the women to use pliers - fingers got pinched only 2x)

Talking about what they learned at the end of the day

DAY 2

Our instructor, Joshua Moose, did a fantastic job of teaching the women the
Biblical, Technology, and Management aspects of Farming God's Way.
This meant lots of time in the classroom, but the women soaked in the knowledge!

The women were always worshipping and praying together - at every break,
instead of sitting around talking, these women were singing to the Lord
and praying powerfully for Him to break the yoke of poverty in this land
THEIR FAITH INSPIRES ME!

 DAY 3

Josh used awesome visuals to show the differences between ways of farming

This is the runoff from a field without God's blanket

Now the same amount of water rains on a field with God's Blanket

Now look at the difference in the amount of water and soil runoff

Neema chooses the FGW field that keeps the soil and moisture where it should be!

Now here he puts soil from a plowed field in the left water and we watched it disintegrate

This is soil in God's creation that has not been plowed - it held together and
had lots of bubbles showing great soil structure

Through these experiments, the women were so excited to see that FGW really works!

Ending the training on the third day, we gathered together to pray over the land,
each grabbing a handful of the soil, we prayed for His forgiveness and healing
on our plot of land, each woman's land, and the land of Tanzania

DAY 4

Last day of the training, we prepared our demo plot - 6 rows of corn 3 rows of beans
for a proper rotation - each woman had practice preparing the field to high standards

Row 1 is done!

Then we move the rope 75cm between each row

Hands working together!

The ground was hard - but taking turns and working together, we weren't discouraged

Everyone worked hard

And everyone worked together!

Our last row of corn!

Using the rope gives us straight rows and consistency
to plant in the same place every year so we don't waste
Precision Planting at its finest!

Maasai & FGW

Women dedicated to God and reaping all He has for them!

After all the holes are dug, we add 1TBS of woodash to help with acidity in the soil

Then we add the fertilizer (either livestock manure or termite mound soil)
1/2KG per corn hole or every 60cm for bean furrow - and we use what we have,
and every woman uses a cooking oil that comes in a 1/2KG container so we
used those to give them a proper visual - the only thing that the women
don't already have to do FGW is a rope and seed for the first year!

After the woodash and fertilizer are in the holes, we cover
with 5cm left for corn and 3cm left for beans...then we wait
for RAIN to plant the seeds!

We finish by putting God's blanket over every area
except over the holes until after we plant!

Our demo plot!

And our youngest attendee :)