You can help prepare pastors like Javan Asuza Benard to teach and apply the word of God with confidence.

 

When I was a young boy I went to Kenya to find my fortune. This is where I saw a young evangelist known as Sister Mary. I heard her speak and the word of God entered into my heart. As I listened carefully I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

 

When I completed my schooling I returned home to Tanzania. In 1997 I was baptised and four years later I was confirmed. In 2003 the parish council chose me to be an evangelist and sent me to study at Kowak Christian Training Centre.

 

Open my mind

 

My name is Javan Asuza Benard. I am 43 years old and married to Jane. God has blessed us with four children.

 

In 2012 I commenced certificate level studies at the Bunda Bible College. This year I will graduate with a diploma. At college I read many books. I have discovered how books can open my mind and help me understand and apply Scripture. Despite suffering, Job did not curse God. I learned that God is with us in good times and bad times. We should preach with an understanding of the whole Bible as well as what a particular passage is saying.

 

Open our hearts

 

In our parish we have three new churches. These congregations are small and weak and need good teaching. I want to see them grow and develop as they learn more about God.

 

Please pray that I will let the Holy Spirit lead me and show me how to teach the people so they will understand well. Pray that God will open the minds of our people so they may know God as their hope and refuge.

 

May God bless you so much.

 

Your loved brother, Javan Asuza Benard.

 

 

This year Javan Asuza Benard will graduate with a diploma from Bunda Bible College in Tanzania.

 

$45 will provide a pastor or theological student with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary.

You can give a Bible college graduate like Christian Nchimbi the gift of knowledge.

 

My name is Christian Saidi Nchimbi. I am Tanzanian and reside in Dar es Salaam. I declare faith in Christ Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of my life. I believe that God is a God of love and full of mercy. I believe that Jesus Christ is the truth and the only way people come into fellowship with God. I believe in the authority of Holy Scripture to guide us. But this revelation has not always been my companion. It came to me when I began a personal relationship with God. To come to this revelation was the greatest miracle.

 

Christian in name

 

I was third born in a Christian family of eight children. From a young age, my parents brought my siblings and me to church on Sundays. They took me though all the church rites and the sacraments of baptism in 1972, and my confirmation in 1983. At church I enjoyed making friends and I was zealous in my duties. At the age of eight I was serving as an assistant at Holy Communion.

 

However, when I left home in 1986, things started to change. Away from my parents, I began to smoke and drink alcohol and I was concerned only with work. The church was no longer the number one business in my life.

 

I surrender

 

In 2003 I married Christina. When we met her name was Salima. She converted from Islam to Christianity to marry me. For the sake of strengthening her new faith I had to go back to church. After three years she was born again. This posed a challenge for me, until my turn came on 27 April 2008. At a crusade held in the Ilala District of Dar es Salaam the Lord called me and I surrendered to him. Now I see that God has a plan and purpose.

 

My life changed abruptly. I started to attend fellowship every evening and joined a class which started with twenty-five new converts. God gave me strength to grow very fast, and in a few years I became a leader, preacher and teacher of the Word of God. I left the job I was doing and started working full-time with the Anglican Church as an evangelist. This year, by the grace of God, I completed a three-year diploma and was ordained as a deacon. Next semester I begin studying for a degree.

 

Jesus by my side

 

Since I came into a personal relationship with God, I am learning what it means to be a Christian. I have no regrets, and I will not, since Jesus is always at my side. I always welcome the chance to share this insight with people. Jesus has done wonders for me which cannot be contained on this page.

 

Please pray that I hold fast to my faith in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Praise the Lord Jesus!

 

 

Christian Saidi Nchimbi is a student at the Theological Faculty at St Mark’s University College and an evangelist with the Anglican Church of Tanzania.

 

$40 will provide a theological graduate or pastor with an essential theological reference.

Today you can help Andy Bennett give students in Tanzania a lasting gift.

 

“I want to be a pilot.” Jackson is thirteen. He has big plans and a shy grin. Jackson is in form 1 at Mchungaji Mwema Secondary School. He clasps a Bible and a booklet on his lap. “I know that education is my best chance for a future. I want to pass my exams, get a good job and honour God.”

 

We can’t do it alone

 

There is great demand for Christian education in schools. Although the Bible Knowledge syllabus has been approved by the Ministry of Education, there are very few government teachers qualified in theology. So pastors from different denominations are putting their hands up to help. With sufficient teachers and course material this new program could be taught in 20 schools throughout north-west Tanzania. Over 1,000 students like Jackson have elected to take the subject and are enthusiastic about studying the Bible.

 

Because God loves us

 

This is a poor region. Most children cannot afford to buy a Bible, and the government’s free education policy means that parents cannot be charged for the cost of the course materials. With your financial support, Jackson and students like him will receive a Bible and class notes. “If I had my own Bible, I could use it all the way until the end of school, and maybe even after that!” Jackson says, “Having a Bible and good notes will help me to study and pass my exams. I like reading and studying the Bible. I want to understand God because God loves us.”

 

Will you be a part of this unique evangelistic opportunity in Tanzania? Will you enable students to learn about Jesus by providing a Bible and course notes?

 

Please pray that Jackson will come to trust and obey our heavenly Father and become an agent of his love and grace in Tanzania.

 

Andy Bennett is an Australia missionary collaborating on the new Bible Knowledge syllabus with the Anglican Diocese of Kagera.

 

$13 will enable a student to study Bible Knowledge at a secondary school in Tanzania by providing a Bible and notes.

Happiness Mbumi graduates from Bible college with her own copy of the Africa Bible Commentary. With your support, Revd Paul Mungata will equip more Bible teachers like Happiness.

 

Armed with a Diploma in Applied Theology and your prayers, I am expected to help raise the standard of Christian education in the Diocese of the Rift Valley. Currently there are 174 catechists in the diocese. Most of them have had no theological training.

 

I am also deeply concerned for the training and well-being of pastors.

 

Training the trainers

 

As the principal of St John’s Bible School at Kilimatinde I have been given the responsibility for transforming Bible teaching in my diocese.

 

Only 13 students are currently enrolled for our three-year Certificate in Theology in Kiswahili. This must change. To meet the urgent need for training, enrolments must at least triple with the next intake. Of course, this means training and appointing new teachers at the Bible School.

 

Deeper teaching

 

My own certificate-level studies did not qualify me for this task. So in 2010 I arrived at Msalato Theological College to prepare myself for this challenge. Because there are so few resources in Kiswahili, I had to study for my Diploma in Applied Theology in English.

 

My first three years at Msalato were tough. I lived away from home and had to travel back and forth to visit my family. However, in my final year my wife Neema and our youngest daughter joined me in Msalato. We were blessed to be able to live in one of the college houses. Neema loved taking part in the English program for pastor’s wives.

 

I completed my diploma in June 2014. I feel very blessed to have been able to attend Msalato Theological College. I gained there a higher level of theological education with deeper understanding.

 

Work for books

 

I received a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary from SparkLit three years ago when I took part in the college’s Work for Books program. When I graduated I was presented with a concordance. I am very grateful to SparkLit for supporting my work in this way.

 

Books have been very helpful to me during my time as a student. But I know they will be even more useful in the years to come as I work to teach and equip others. Completing my four-year diploma was hard. But I now face an even greater challenge.

 

Will you pray that our teachers and students will gain a deeper understanding of God’s word? Please pray that lay and ordained leaders will be equipped for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Pray that graduates like Happiness Mbumi will lead God’s people in a true way.

 

Revd Paul Mungata is the principal of St  John’s Bible School at Kilimatinde in the Diocese of the Rift Valley, Tanzania.

 

$30 will provide a theological graduate or pastor with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary.