Expedition Season Is Off With A...Hiss?!

The Approach...

As we first came into Lekuti's village, we were greeted by scattered Maasai herding their cattle, plenty of thorn scrub and rocky ground cover, and a lush green vista on the back side of the Ngorongoro Crater that overlooked the Serengeti plains. It was amazing.

And then came the hiss.

No John, that was not a soda cap. To my defense, we had a case in the back of the truck and I couldn't hear the tire leaking when I got out of the truck. Yeah, duhhh.

 

Turns out it was a theme for this trip!

The Payoff...

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. (Ps 54:2)

The man leading the children in song is middle of the group, slightly to the left. He holding a Bible and is an elder of the village and a long-time disciple of Christ. As the Team came in, he shared that our presence, the ministry we were bringing, and our relationships with our staff who come from the village was opening people's hearts to the gospel message. He told us we were "an answer to prayer."

We have been invited to share the Jesus Film and extended discipleship in a series of neighboring villages as a result of what was a long, taxing, but equally as amazing expedition. It all started about 2 years ago...

You may remember when Lekuti was the first of our Maasai staff to come on board, we soon thereafter invited his mom and adopted sister to come stay with us so his mom could get better medical care with our oversight. Her time greatly deepened our relationship with her whole family and people, and the fact that the Lord has restored her health a testimony to the goodness of the God we serve. This, the two years of work relationship with Lekuti, and his recent wedding celebration naturally paved the way for our invite to the Ngorongoro region where his village is. With that we were asked to bring ministry.

The Maasai are a marginalized people, even with their being the face of much of Tanzania's most lucrative resource: the tourism generated in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Kilimanjaro (Arusha) regions. Their way of life is rooted in ancient custom and herding cattle, of which they believe they have a right endowed by God to all the cattle in the world. Many of their ancient traditions like female circumcision and child brides are banned in Tanzania but because of their clandestine nature and the central government's lack of resources the practices continue. We are praying for the light of the gospel to reach directly into these situations to bring freedom from harmful traditions.

We know that the door has been opened. We are praying for keys to handle this privilege in such a way that life can be experienced and celebrated in the fulness of surrender to the Kingdom of God.

We gathered to share a word and to pray together before rolling out...

Water From Above But Nowhere To Drink

The Ngorongoro Crater is in essence a giant dormant volcano that is hollowed out and home to it's own incredible ecosystem. There is a water source at it's center frequented by all sorts of African game, including the carnivores that pray on Africa's largest mammals. Once per day, each Maasai cowboy is allowed to walk his cattle past the lions and buffalo and hyenas to this hole, as it is the only constant water source for miles down the sides of the Crater's outer slopes. In an area that gets plenty of seasonal rain and has lush grazing lands, most of the water drains down the mountain and runs off into surrounding plains like the Serengeti. The Maasai who live on the slopes are always on the move trying to find puddles and ponds to water their herds. It is virtually impossible for this to be carried back to the villages. Even if it were, it is hardly suitable for human consumption.

The Maasai will often drink nothing but cow milk and blood for months on end when water is at its scarcest. In the ward which incorporates Lekuti's village with several others over miles of hillside, there is one well pump that is not deep enough and barely draws water most of the year. For some in the ward it is several miles to walk. We are on a mission to bring a viable well which will pump all year and bring water to villages which are now perpetually thirsty. We believe we can have this completed this year, hopefully even before the worst of the dry season is upon us. 

And we pray the well we dig is not only a physical structure, but also a spiritual source of life in Christ that remains long past our influence can be felt.

The Icing On The Cake

It's pretty amazing when we get to go anywhere on behalf of our King Jesus. When it happens to be into the teeth of the African wild, you simply smile and say thank you for the ride!

What's Next?

• We are hosting 2 of the planned 3 teams coming to Tanzania for Expedition Season. There will be a team helping us launch a church in one of our Tongwe villages, a team coming to do a pastor's retreat and seminar for local pastors, and a team coming to work on a village building project and village outreaches.
• By the end of this month, Musa and Tryphone, two of our national missionary staff, will be accompanying one of our soon to be planted pastors to the village he is going to serve in. They will be meeting with village leaders and the believers to prepare for the coming church. 
• Currently, we are prepping one level 2 village medical seminar and revamping the first responder/first aid course to help some local missionaries as well. 
• Ibrahim, our lead translator and staff missions pastor has begun a church plant in his farm village and we plan to follow up with a discipleship seminar late May or early June. 

October will bring the refugee aid trip to the Middle East, assisting peoples displaced by ISIS. We will keep you informed as we draw closer.

Click on our picture to see our last newsletter.

To partner with the Garrett family for this and other mission work, visit:

www.touchingnationstoday.org/donate

Follow the instructions and use CODE 3068 to note a description when PayPal prompts you.

Or, for checks:

The Garretts

c/o Touching Nations Today #3068

19387 Hidden Oaks Dr

Brooksville FL 34604

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Stories Of War And Peace

When the tragedies happening in the wake of ISIS began making news earlier this year, my heart broke for the innocent people who were being martyred for their faith and for those being terrorized for not bowing to this evil. As our 10/40 team began to minister to the families caught in the fallout, the tug on my heart became stronger. I kept my desire to go and help silent. About 3 weeks after I began praying for this burden in my heart, my husband John approached me after reading a testimony from the 10/40 team and he suggested that I go on a trip to join them. The 10/40 team was leaving on Jan 10th to the Syrian border to work with refugees from Syria, and I felt as if the Lord was directing us to be a part.

I would be going to work with a team in refugee camps and then aid a family of 12 in relocating to a city where their sick Mother could get good medical care. We would be escorting them to start a new life as their home in Syria was under siege. We also would be bringing with us the funds to bless distribution centers with several tons of material help like soap, sugar, diapers, and other help (which was amazing to see when it was all said and done). But the night before I left, I was struck with intense fear. I have a tendency to underestimate intense situations; maybe as a way of dealing with them a little more frequently than we used to. But at that moment every voice (in my own mind and from outside) that questioned me stepping out, every news article I read about this particular place - leaving my husband and children - all hit me like a bus. Who does this? What am I doing? Why would I ever intentionally put myself in harms way? Am I crazy? But peace washed over me. I KNOW that God has called us to these crazy places. I think it's because our answer will always be YES! I AM crazy enough to go when he says go, even if it may not make any sense at all. 2 Corinthians 5:14  says," For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that Christ died for all, and therefore all died." I am compelled. I had words spoken over me three times before I left, that God was going to unlock something in my heart. I didn't exactly know what that meant, but here and now, I feel I have come to an understanding of what that meant.

We hit the ground running in preparation for the family that was leaving the camp with us. Buying sheets  and blankets, dishes and cups, pots and pans, and just about everything you would need to start a home. They were coming from war; having left their home with only the clothing on their backs and a few odds and ends. There were team meetings, prayer times seeking God for direction, and planning for when we hit the Syrian border. I knew we were heading into an unstable, dangerous place. What I didn't realize was the severity, at least until our arrival into the border city. As we were driving into the town where the refugee camps were located, we were greeted with a bomb from one of the U.S. airstrikes that was about 10 miles away (the picture on the front of our newsletter). That was a very unnerving moment for me. Not only did I not realize that we were THIS close to absolute war, but we still had another 5 miles to drive. As we drove closer, the atmosphere changed drastically. We noticed an increase in people, just milling about and walking the streets. The streets were full. We passed refugee camps, scattered wherever they'd fit, with crowds of children playing in frozen puddles of mud, shoeless and without jackets. Fences and anything else that worked held drying clothes.

Stares. There were many many stares from very worn, weary faces. There were people who when you made eye contact with them, smiled. Then there were those who looked at you with hate in their eyes,  a hate that sent a chill down your back. A hate that made it suddenly VERY REAL! We would find out shortly thereafter that ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, and even various mafia and smugglers were very active in the town recruiting, terrorizing, and exploiting whichever population demographic suited them most.

Our first contact was with a woman who was running a food and clothing distribution depot. She was a Turkish women who looked as though she lived off of coffee and hadn't had a good night sleep in weeks. She was a very smart women who had a ton of responsibility. She was intimidated by nothing and knew how to get the job done. She gave us a tour of the depot where they move literally tons of food and supplies from diapers to flour in a matter of hours. From there it was on to the clothing depot where we met a women who's face and story I will never forget. She was a Kurdish freedom fighter. I would have never guessed the life this women lived- she was so very humble and soft spoken - unless I was told. She shared how she grew up fighting for human rights and against persecution. She told us freedom was something she came to experience when she moved to New York as a young women. She lived in New York City for 7 years, and said how her time there, taught her what true freedom was, which brought her back to her homeland to be  trained as a soldier and take part in the liberation of Kobani from ISIS. The ISIS soldiers are taught to believe that if they die by the hands of a women they go directly to hell. And a special place in Heaven is one of the reasons they fight.

We were then brought to a conference room which definitely had seen better days. It looked like what I would imagine a makeshift army barracks to look like. We were brought to a room and told to sit, and about 15 minutes later a foreign dignitary from Kobani came in and began to share with us the horrible stories coming from his country. We were told about fathers digging holes in the ground to protect their families from shrapnel, about how those injured waiting to cross the border are being mowed down by the guns of ISIS soldiers, and how his own home was taken by ISIS guerillas. It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life. There really are very few words that can tell how my heart felt at that moment. I felt a gut wrenching sorrow, a mourning in my spirit that to this day I can't shake. 

The following day we helped to distribute food. Because the camps were completely full of people, many refugees are living on the streets, in even worse condition then those in the camps. Those in the camps are given food and some simple supplies. But those in the streets were given only one ration of food a month, if help even found them. Which turned our attention to them. Most were such warm, friendly people who still held on to hope. They were so very desperate, at times skirmishing for their portion of supplies. But when we engaged them, and loved on them, the loved that poured back out burned my heart.

On day 3 we were brought to the only church in this border city. A group of 30 believers, many of them had only recently met Jesus. We were able to sit with 2 of the church elders who began to pour out their hearts to us. While we were sitting their, the realization of what we were really doing hit me. Here we were sitting in this small room, a group of 10 obvious foreigners who were just led off of the street into the back of a building. The electric and lighting flickered off and on. We were all sitting on the floor. It was very tense for me. I felt as though I was waiting for someone to kick in the door and begin firing at us. But as we communed with these 2 elders, the Holy Spirit began to fall and peace again overcame me. They shared how there is not enough time in the day, because the need is so great. They work their jobs from 7 to 11 in the morning, and the rest of the day pour into these families living on the streets. They buy what they need for their family and with whatever is extra they then buy a pair of pants or a bag of flour for a refugee family who is in need. It has been an open door to share the gospel to broken people. One thing said stuck with me. The pastor said its been bitter cold, and for us, when we see snow we think vacation. But when they see snow, they cry because of the hardship the cold brings. They are freezing and have no help.

As we listened, a man walked into the room and when I saw him my heart sank into my stomach. I KNEW him, I KNEW his face; I dreamt of it the night before. I never met him up till this moment, but I knew him. After I shared that with the group we found out 2 others dreamt of him the night before as well! The Holy Spirit began to give me a word for this man, who we came to find out later is a Muslim. Only because of the love of this church and how they are pouring their love out on his people, he began to help and attend services. He began to cry as I told him what I felt the Holy Spirit was saying. The Father knows each one of us so well. He is so passionate for his children, desiring that each one will come to know His love. He knows what each one of us need to bring our attention to him and we got to see that day His love for this man.

There is so much more to write about. The family we helped get out of the camp and to receive medical care is doing so much better. There is a church in Australia which has sponsored a portion of their expenses for the foreseeable future. But there is still a ways for them to go. The church I wrote about needs a transport vehicle to help them better handle the distributions. This entire region of the world needs help, needs us, and needs CHRIST. To hear the stories of the families, the husband who was shot from an ISIS sniper, or the brother who was beheaded in front of his family, was overwhelming at the very least. While we sat with people in the camp and watched bomb after bomb explode, feeling them vibrate through our chests. Until I experienced it, I couldn't even imagine the terror that those little children are experiencing and seeing. Watching people jerk from the bombs in the distance, still hearing the AK's firing from only a few miles away, was so horribly saddening. In the end, I was proud to be a part of this, but my heart has been pierced by these people. I feel as though I won't be able to shake this experience; one I do believe is only the first of more to come.

Here's how to help:

We are organizing medical relief missions to Syrian and Iraqi refugee camps. One is tentative for March, and another is set for October. ISIS victims will receive aid as they did in this trip, as well as simple infection and fungal diagnosis and treatment, as well as medical recommendations we are equipped to make.

WE NEED:

1. Medical volunteers (particularly with diagnosis skills)

2. Partners and Sponsors

3. Help spreading the word

4. PRAYER!

To partner with the Garrett family for this and other mission work, visit:

www.touchingnationstoday.org/donate

Follow the instructions and use CODE 3068 to note a description when PayPal prompts you.

Or, for checks:

The Garretts

c/o Touching Nations Today #3068

19387 Hidden Oaks Dr

Brooksville FL 34604

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

most gifts are tax deductible

Grab a cup of coffee and let's catch up...

Welcome to our new blog home! Most of you follow us on FB or receive our email newsletters. This blog will be used as a supplement to those methods and a place where we can include more content without having to send an email all the time.

We hope you enjoy this post as it should help to catch us up on everything from the end of our expedition season, to the retreat we just hosted for our team of pastors, and what's in store for us here in Tanzania!

Now!
The 2014 Annual Village Pastor's Retreat just ended. This year's title: "Building What Will Last." It was awesome. Take a look:

Worshiping in the presence of God was one of the central themes of the week.

This is our gang of village changers!

Local church leaders and our village pastors were together for Saturday's seminar.

Janet (far left in white) awaits her time to preach at MMPT Kibrizi Church.

Pastor Daniel with Sadok (pictured left to right) who just received the guitar we were able to bless him with after her led us in worship.

Janet and Nikki taking a stroll next to Lake Tanganyika.

Now that the retreat is over, here's what we're up to:

• The local seminar on Paul's Epistle to the Romans kicks off teaching and training season. Currently John and Nikki are preparing for teaching over the course of the next 5 months which begins with staff and team members, and reaches local schools, village pastors, and beyond. Subjects include Biblical studies, medical training, and vocational training.
• Ibrahim's farm will have 3 hectares developed and planted for this rain season.
• Mzee Josiah is about to finish his first semester of Bible school!
• Steve and Javen are getting treatment and rest while itinerating back in the USA, as they were the victims of a village roof collapse.

Soon To Come.
Ministry plans for the next 6 months, the prospect of digging some wells, and a teaching base!?


 ...So in the video we forgot to mention the wells! In short, we have an opportunity to dig a well in one of our staff member's villages and are in the process of looking for a well driller who can handle the job. If it comes together "well" (no pun intended), we might be able to follow it up with several more...so we will let you know how it goes!

In Review...
Expedition season started fast and ended faster! A month before we planned on ending expeditions, a roof collapsed while being installed on the church in Kamabwensofu, with Steve, Javen, and a fellow missionary dropping with it. They are now home and recovering well in the USA. But up to that point, we touched 7 different villages in ministry this year, and began sustained ministry programs in 5 of them. It was also another year of establishing solid foundations which have now set the stage for a real push into discipleship work that is beginning with teaching and training now in this rain season and will continue through 2015. Here are a few photo highlights...

 It was incredible to introduce Ibrahim to his new motorcycle.

 Getting to participate in CFaN's massive gospel crusade in Bujumbura with Ibrahim was a special time that has stretched our vision.

River passages were the common theme of this year's early expedition season, as our new set of recovery gear got us through places we couldn't previously pass.

 In Missanga we were able to cultivate a deeper relationship with the village and believers there; and for the first time Pastor Daniel (center, in the white and green) was a part of our Annual Village Pastor's Retreat.

Back in August we began investing in a savings match program for Ibrahim to develop some farmland and generate a means of sustainable income for his family's future. 

20 students through Section 1 of our Village First Response and First Aid Course this year.

Nikki, the kids, and Tryphone (far left) with a family we were able to support after their father died with tuition grants in exchange for bringing our medical seminar to their son's school!

Overall, it has been a very productive year. Although we always feel that there is room for more, and opportunities to get more effective and efficient, we have seen the hand of God touch many and open more doors this year that will help to continue and grow the work of the gospel in Tanzania.

Thank you for Sharing this with us and for your prayer and partnership which makes this possible!

To partner with us or donate, mail checks to:

Touching Nations Today (3068)

19387 Hidden Oaks Dr

Brooksville FL 34604

For secure online giving visit:

www.TouchingNationsToday.org/DONATE

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