Category "Reports"

I haven’t put up an animal picture in quite a while, so I thought I’d include this pic of baboons taken along the road going up to the Ailsa farm. But putting all “monkey-business” aside, this month’s issue of the Challenge of Africa touches on several serious matters about the future of the Chimala Mission, as well as a little April Fool’s shinanigan. Thanks for reading!

Believe it or not, the world is growing smaller with the advancement of technology, air travel, and the ever-widening global marketplace. Even in a place as far away as Tanzania, what seemed impossible just 20 years ago is now commonplace. The abundant availability of school supplies, as seen in this month’s featured image—such as rulers, erasers, pencil sharpeners, pens, etc.—has made the necessity of sending expensive shipping containers a thing of the past. Such advancements are helping to make the Chimala Mission a much more efficient and effective mission effort. Thanks for reading!

Going back to Chimala is almost like going back in time. Things are a little bit slower and more down-to-earth. But there’s a trade off. The lack of efficiency and unreliable electricity can test your patience. Patience can be improved, but few electrical devices do well with anything short of premium electrical power. While Chimala is “in the bush”, our hospital equipment is not bush-proof. Damage can cost tens of thousands of dollars. And that’s exactly what we need to get our electrical power source up to par, and our equipment repaired. Please read how you can help. Thanks!

Greetings and Happy New Year! God has blessed the Chimala Mission with the completion of another year and all of the possibilities that await us in 2025. With the faith and prayers of our supporters, God is able to bring about great blessings in the future as He has in the past. It is exciting to contemplate. Thank you for reading the January 2025 issue of The Challenge of Africa!

Traditionally, the month of December is the season of giving; giving love, giving help, and giving thanks. But for the Chimala Mission, December has also been chosen as the season of giving HOPE. The Hope For Humanity Fund Drive offers our readers the opportunity to give a special boost financially to ensure the Chimala Mission remains a beacon of goodness and hope to the surrounding Chimala community. May God bless you and yours this Christmas season. Thanks for reading!

This month’s “featured image” is a stunning view high up above the boys’ dorm of the Herring Christian Secondary School situated nearby the meandering Chimala River, the western border of the mission. We hope you can appreciate the fact that the Chimala Mission estate is not only a large and busy place but also unique in its beauty. Thanks for reading!

Our “ever-changing” world will never outmaneuver the never-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Each soul ultimately needs one thing: his/her soul’s salvation through the blood of Jesus. Fortunately for that reason, our job at the Chimala School of Preaching is fundamentally stable: teaching the doctrine of Christ to those who will learn and then teach others also (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2). We hope you will enjoy this month’s newsletter to get a peek at the various tools of seminars, campaigns, and week-end evangelism used at the CSOP. Thank you for reading!

The “featured image” captured at dusk betrays the real suffering taking place inside these wards. In the story of the Persistent Widow of Luke 18:1-8, Jesus said the judge finally responded to her plea not because he feared God nor man, but only because she kept “bothering” (ESV) him. Persistent prayer and action are the keys to genuine faith (James 2) and answered prayer. It is not a “bother” to God; but sometimes it is a bother to us. As you read this month’s newsletter, please forgive me for “bothering” you about the needs of the Chimala Mission. Only until you see inside these wards can you really understand why I keep asking. Thank you for reading.

Solomon wrote, “Two are better than one…And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:9, 12). We are pleased to announce in this month’s newsletter the arrival of Lee, Tara, Emily and Brody Wright to the Chimala Mission family. It’s a perfect time to announce their arrival to join Nathan, Kristi, Eden, Emmy and Rowan as we highlight our missionaries in this month’s newsletter. Thank you for reading!

Cooler days are now at Chimala as “winter” time sets in the month of July. But the cooler days are as short as the Herring Christian Secondary School “summer break”. Students are now back in class and many of them have been preparing for the all-important national examinations. Spiritually-speaking, however, our desire is to help them prepare for the Great Examination Day when all mankind will stand before the Throne of God. Thank you for reading!

And “how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). The Chimala Mission Primary School was originally designed to educate children to read and understand the Bible–and ultimately to learn of salvation through Jesus Christ. In this issue of the Challenge of Africa, the emphasis is upon the effectiveness and needs of the CMPS. The featured image is head teacher, Venance Mwangelile presiding over the morning devotional period. Thank you for reading!

Since the opening of the Chimala Mission Hospital (CMH) in 1965, an incredible amount of effort has been given over the years in helping with the medical needs of the people within the Mbarali District and beyond. In this month’s Challenge of Africa, hospital director, Exavery Ngullo has happily provided our readers with short stories and typical scenes around CMH. Thank you for reading!

With the world’s population of over 7 billion people, there is no end to the many opportunities to do good. The difference is in the methods, how those occasions present themselves to us, and in areas that require change. That’s what makes the Chimala Mission so versatile for Christians who are continually looking for ways and means to “do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Surely abundant doors of opportunity are swinging on hinges as described in this month’s Challenge of Africa! Thanks for reading.

“Preach the word!” Educating people about God and salvation through Jesus Christ as described in the Bible, is the premium work of mission work anywhere in the world. The Bible students in this featured image are shown with their new homemade quilts donated from the States. This is just a small token of appreciation for the kingdom work they will do in the future, Lord willing. Thanks for reading!

This month’s featured image brings to mind the words from Robert Moffatt that stirred young David Livingston’s heart to leave Scotland and begin his legendary mission efforts in Africa: “I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages—villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world.” Viewed from atop the Ailsa farm are the homes of the people living in and around Chimala that are daily influenced by the works you help support. Thank you for reading!

There’s nothing like beginning a brand new year with new conversions to Jesus Christ. In the featured image, Nathan is standing with a group of Masai children at the village of Matabete where six Masai young people obeyed the gospel. You can read about more successes and challenges to greater works in this month’s Challenge of Africa. Thanks for reading!

In behalf of the Chimala Mission, Mary and I would like to thank each one of you for your love, prayers, encouraging words, and financial support for this great evangelistic effort in Tanzania. As 2023 comes to an end, we would greatly appreciate congregations to consider taking a special collection for the “Hope for Humanity Fund Drive” effort. This is a yearly effort to help shore-up the mission’s financial house in preparation for the 2024 year. We are always asking that the Lord’s will be done for good in all things concerning Chimala; and we pray that you can be a part of helping make that hope come true. Thanks for reading!

November is typically the month that things slow down a bit at the Chimala Mission. The CSOP students have concluded their classes, graduated, and returned home to their families. The primary and secondary schools are wrapping up their examinations and preparing to return home. Even the Chimala Mission Hospital slows down as farmers return to their fields in time for planting season rather than taking the time for their health. It’s also a good time for returning missionaries as it gives them time to acclimate and fall back into the routine of living and working at Chimala. But busy times are right around the corner as January approaches. Thanks for reading!

The world is a big place but is getting smaller and smaller every day. What is the “best” way to get the gospel to all the world? Long-term or short-term mission work? Through radio, TV, preaching schools, internet? The list goes on. All of these are good and productive. But it is doubtful that there will ever be a better method to win souls than through the personal touch of one-to-one relationships. That method is the heart and soul of the Chimala Mission. Thanks for reading!

The gospel of Christ continues to be preached as a result of the work of the Chimala Mission. In this month’s “featured image”, a group of Christians at the newly formed church at Njombe are being spiritually fed from God’s word. The efforts at Chimala Mission are the results of dedicated and giving Christians like you who continue to provide prayers, encouragement and even physical assistance where it is most effective in changing people’s viewpoint towards the eternal. Thanks for reading!

The month of August has definitely been a month of travel. Travel from Mbeya, TZ to Nashville, TN, travel to give mission reports, and travel to Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville, TN. Speaking of travel, we are pleased to announce the decision the Wrights have made to move and work at Chimala beginning in January 2024. Lord willing, Lee, Tara, Emily and Brody will be making the bold move to give a small part of their lives to working at the Chimala Mission. Please open and read more about Lee’s family and their hearts’ commitment to serve in East Africa.

One of the blessings and great opportunities afforded at the Chimala Mission is the privilege to teach and influence people to obey the gospel of Christ. In this featured image, Mary, Kristi, Eden and Emmy are having a Thursday night devotional with girls at the Herring Christian Secondary School. Continuing with the theme to “Seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10), the Chimala Mission works hard to fulfill this mission through the efforts of every department. Thanks for reading!

Late in the day after a series of lessons during the Ladies Seminar, Christians exit the mission church building (Chimala “B) with the traditional greeting-everyone- handshake. The seminars–women’s, youth, and preachers’–are all now history. An abundance of Bible teaching has fallen upon various hearts with new conversions to Jesus Christ. Also, the 2023 container has been loaded and left Montgomery for a series of port calls until it reaches Dar-es-Salaam to be inspected and cleared. It’s final destination is Chimala to help resupply the mission. Thanks for reading!

A beautiful sunrise somewhere along the road up to the Ailsa farm, every morning is a “Kodak” morning. From upcoming Chimala summer events to preparations of a long-anticipated shipping container, life is very busy on both sides of the pond. Wherever you are, thank you for taking time out of your own busy schedule to read this month’s issue of the Challenge of Africa.

Nearly home after a weekend in Texas, this Tennessee sign welcomes us as we cross the mighty Mississippi into Memphis on the Hernando Desoto bridge. Less than two more hours on I-40, and we will be back in Jackson. Trips like this have been repeated many times as we attempt to visit supporting churches of the Chimala Mission—many of which are in Texas. Just a reminder: This is an ideal time to contact me for an updated report or to pick up supplies for Chimala. As always, thanks for reading.

This month’s “featured image” is a snapshot of a lone sausage tree along the edge of a field of newly planted beans with the precipice of the Kipengere Range in the background. This is at the farm in the Wanji area called “Ailsa”. Water from high mountains flow through this region which feeds the Chimala River and canal that is so vital to the flourishing life at the Chimala Mission. The farm, the schools, the hospital, the mission houses, even baptisms–all depend upon this water. Thank you for reading this month’s issue of the Challenge of Africa.

Also, take special note of Dalraida’s new address change on the front page!

With only a few weeks left for the rainy season, Nathan has been spending a lot of time at Ailsa helping Ezekiel and James finalize any remaining planting. Occasionally Kristi, Eden, Emmy and Rowan accompany Nathan to Ailsa. Volunteer growth flowers from the former missionary days-gone-by beautify the landscape while the tractor plants row-after-row of seed. Africa is both beautiful and demanding, but the rewards are priceless as God’s people labor in the vineyard at the Chimala Mission.

Can you help us fill a container? An updated list of things needed for Chimala is on page two. Can you help a preacher’s kid go to school? Parents of precious school children are praying that you can. See these children on page three. Thank you for reading!

In this featured image, Andrew “Gif” Gifford is pictured teaching an ethics class at CSOP with Bernard Kulanga translating. Gif along with Avery Hackney and Perry Baker were recent visitors at the Chimala Mission. Many exciting events and opportunities can be found in this month’s issue of the Challenge of Africa. Thanks for reading!

The featured image in this issue of the Challenge was taken after Christmas on the 30th of December as Mary, Howell and Nathan’s family were beginning the 57 hairpin-curve road leading up to the Ailsa farm to spend New Year’s Eve. The value of the Ailsa farm as a key element to a self-sustaining mission is an established objective. While broken and worn-out equipment tries to weaken our resolve, we are determined to trust that God will reward faithfulness and hard work. Thanks for your support and for reading this month’s issue of the newsletter.

This is the time of year that we focus on our “Hope for Humanity” drive to help the Chimala Mission close out the year fulfilling our financial responsibilities. These are commitments in preaching the gospel, training preachers, educating children, healing sick people and keeping such a mission financially solvent. This month’s issue of the Challenge centers on giving and the motivation behind it: from a child-like faith of giving to the fruit it bears–everything from souls saved by initial obedience to the gospel, to souls crossing the river of death awaiting the resurrection of the dead. Life at its best is giving with Jesus setting the example before us. Thanks for reading!

Featured image: dining with some past Chimala friends – Darrin & Carrie Stapleton with children, Jacob and Alana. Inside this issue of the Challenge, we are asking you to help us restock supplies many-of-which are used on a daily basis at the Chimala Mission. The items we ship on a 40’container will last the mission on average for about two years. But supplies are running low; and in some cases, they have completely run out. Please review the list and see what items you can to help with. This can be a great project for Sunday morning Bible classes including children’s classes where each student can be participant in good works (cf. 1 Tim. 6:18; Heb. 10:24). Small or great, everyone can help. Thanks for reading!

This month’s “featured image” is a picture of the church of Christ at Njombe, about 3 hours from the Chimala Mission and located around 6,000 feet in elevation – which means its quite cool as observed by the coats and jackets people are wearing. This is one of several small and distant congregations that the CSOP is able to encourage. Read more about this church as well as the plans and future needs of the Chimala Mission. Thanks for reading!