Global Health Engagement 2018 – Team East Africa Update #2
Today we took our first adventure/Indiana jones ride to the village of Nyantole, the home of our church. We were able to connect with the local pastor Onesimus and the evangelist Fideli to introduce ourselves and participate in a period of worship. We then had the opportunity to participate in a friendly game of soccer with some of the local players. This game was an historical event as we were the first Americans to come to the village to play soccer and worship together. This game was highly publicized as Onesimus rode in on his motorcycle with a speaker strapped to the back, preaching about our coming. Almost the whole village lined the field to watch the game. Within the first half we put up an excellent try but fell short 3-0. At half time two of our team members, Lina and Daniel, shared their personal testimonies about how they came to Christ in hopes of bringing light to the Holy Spirit and his eternal love. The second half we persevered and were able to hold them to one goal. When the game was over, both teams shook hands and congratulated each other and we all gathered to take a group picture. Fideli then mentioned that if anyone had questions about the Gospel or Lina/Daniel’s testimony that they were welcome to come to church tomorrow morning. He then wanted Dr. Salley to give a short evangelistic message, but the village councilman intercepted the microphone and gave the people a “friendly reminder” that Jesus was a great prophet, but all “good Muslims” follow Muhammad. Because the village is mostly Muslim, the team that came last year did not have the welcoming experience that we did. The village was very excited that we were there, and many of them were very enthusiastic when hearing the testimonies and the Gospel. Fideli handed out Bibles at the end of his speech and there were several people that ran up to grab one. This experience was encouraging and uplifting for us because it really showed us that God had been and is still continuing to work in this village. When we left, the kids all chased our cars and maintained the same excited energy they had the whole time. I think today was the first time we got to experience the authentic culture of Kigoma and it made us very excited for all the ways God is going to use us to help these people. As we continue on with our trip, we will be praying that the people of Nyantole will become even more receptive to Jesus’ teachings and hopefully seek to follow Him.