Dear Family and Friends,
A verse I read today seem very appropriate for how our January has gone. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
We feel that we’ve hit the ground running, but the Lord has been so good to us in all our transitions. Two days after arriving in TZ, we found a house to rent, and we were able to get most all of our stuff from Magambua up to the new house in Arusha. It’s currently the rainy season in Magambua, so it was a bit of an adventure with two stuck trucks! One truck was blocking the road as I went down to Magambua, but thankfully he was empty so I was able to pull him out with a tow rope. The second truck was our moving truck, which promptly got stuck just 30 yard from the house in Magambua, leading to twelve hours working overnight jacking up the wheels, digging out, and getting rocks and bricks underneath to try to give it traction. We ended up unloading a third of the luggage to lighten the load, and that did the trick!
Rachel, Drew, and I all tested negative for Covid, so we received the proper certificates to cross the border in to Kenya on January 15th, for them to go back to school. They’ve settled back in to school at RVA now, with various Covid precautions, and are really happy to be with friends and on campus again. We’re able to connect with video calls from TZ, so that’s been nice. Josh is doing well, getting buried in a foot of snow at his college in PA!
After some Unit Leader meetings in Nairobi, I came back to TZ, and then Colin (our regional leader) and I went to Kondoa to visit with the Kondoa Team Leaders and the Tanzanian teammates, and also another missionary from the Kwamadebe team. We enjoyed good fellowship, and some productive preparation in anticipation of the arrival of the rest of their team. Today the team will be crossing in to TZ from Kenya, and we’ll take them to Kondoa tomorrow for their on site Orientation. Melissa and I will be doing the children’s program during the Orientation from Feb. 4th to the 11th. Please pray for the Orientation to go well, for team unity, for strength and stamina, and good health for everyone.
This past weekend Melissa, Colin and I went to Dar es Salaam for some meetings and also a big retirement celebration for Bishop Salalah, who has served for the last 24 years. It was a wonderful Sunday full of praise to the Lord, and connecting with AICT pastors and friends from all over the country. Melissa was also able to spend some good quality time with a missionary friend who is transitioning out of Tanzania back to Canada.
Please pray for us as we hope to schedule trips over the next few months to see our various missionaries in the unit, schedule a Sandawe survey, and also work to connect to churches here in Arusha. Pray that we’d see a breakthrough with Tanzania permits, that the AICT national church would be able to get a Work Permit exemption status for our missionaries. Pray that we’d be able to see the kids some time before their April break. Covid restrictions at the moment in Kenya don’t allow for us to visit them on campus right now. If we can’t see them, pray we’d have good conversations with them over the phone.
Thank you for your partnership in the gospel!
In Christ,
Jon for all of us
The Eagers in Tanzania 