From July 29th to August 12th, BTBAB sent its first team ever to Tanzania on the east coast of Africa. The six team members hailed from Ireland, England and Germany but became one family in their new home outside Dar Es Salaam on the Mwandege YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base with hosts Jeremiah Kiwinda, a Kenyan Pastor, and his wife Beate, a midwife from Germany. During our time we lived with, and as, locals of the base – waking when they woke, eating what they ate and doing chores from chopping coconuts, to removing soil and stones from bags of rice and beans – which we then would eat for lunch and dinner, albeit somewhat al dente if we hadn’t done a good job!
Countless ministry areas were established on the base including a School, Carpentry School, Sewing School, Discipleship Training School & Medical Clinic. We had the opportunity to be involved in numerous ministry areas; for example, Margaret was able to share a moving personal testimony and do wonderful work with women in ‘Sarah House’– women who had been forced to leave their homes due to pre-marital pregnancies or forced into prostitution (‘Sarah’ meaning princess in Kiswahili). The team spent time doing arts, crafts and games relating to God’s Love in ‘Hope House’ – a centre which provided care for children and their family post-surgery for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida. In addition, Katy and Brenda shared testimonies and brought a word on ‘Trusting God to fulfil dreams’ and ‘Freedom in Christ’ respectively in a local Church; while Christian, Hannah and Elaine shared their testimonies in the nearby school and at the YWAM base. Form here we travelled via dirt tracks and past mud huts to the beautiful ‘Karibu Nyumbani’ orphanage in the very remote and rural area of Kibaha. This provided a loving home for 14 children, the youngest of whom was 10months and the oldest who was 8 years, who had been abandoned or whose parent(s) had passed away. The orphanage is run by 3 ladies (or Mamas, as they were called) – one of them, Mama Fifi (or Fiona Hendy) is an English lady whose parents founded the House of the Open Door, where BTBAB holds some of its training weekends in the UK!). The team engaged in an abundance of children’s ministry, we prayed with the kids, took over the pre-school and primary school for the morning and, in addition to playing games, we taught on hand & dental hygiene. Drama and Dance ministry featured heavily on this trip, with the whole team taking on Hollywood-worthy roles in a silent drama which was performed in churches and schools. The team also learned a song in Kiswahili and performed this song in 4 different languages in various settings. We performed a dance almost everyday and taught this dance to classes in the YWAM school!
A total of £1425 was raised, £230 of which was donated for Malaria Testing and Treatment, while £400 was given to help establish an on-site Fish-Farm as a source of food for the orphanage. The remaining amount will be given towards a fishing project in Tanzania at a future date. Similarly, prior to our arrival, the orphanage had been deprived of running water for 1.5 months which greatly impacted the crops and livestock. In order to prevent this in the future, they had to purchase a water pump which cost them a substantial amount of Tanzanian Shillings. Prior to the team’s departure from the UK, someone had donated a specific sum of money which was given for the exact cost of the water pump! Furthermore, medical & dental supplies, school supplies, soaps, reading glasses, toys and games to name a few were also left to bless the people at both of our locations.
Finally, to the Lord, families & friends who supported us and prayed for us, and to our respective churches, namely Skylark Church, Chelmsford; Grace Family Church, Liverpool; Listowel Christian Fellowship, Listowel and Hebron Christian Faith Church, Coventry – we say: Asante Sana!
