October, 2024
Greetings to all the co-laborers in missions, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; our thanks to you all for your prayers and support of the mission field. We are doing well by the grace of our Lord despite our busy schedule. We would like to share the Lord’s grace and what He is doing in the mission field.
1. The Completion of the Mission House (Baraka Mission House)
The mission house is finally completed, after taking about two years to do so. We repeatedly had to stop and start the work according to the situation. There was even a time when it was postponed because of the reconstruction project of the Campus Church (Glory Bible Presbyterian Church).
As soon as the construction was completed, a mission team from Tabernacle BP Church, Singapore, visited us the next day. It was the first opening of the Mission House for guests. Including the missionaries from Kenya, we had 14 guests visiting. There were many opportunities to gather in the Mission House to have fellowship and meals. We truly thank God for His grace that we could finish the construction just before their visit.
The Mission House was named “Baraka Mission House”. Baraka means “blessing” in Swahili, and it comes from 2 Samuel 7:29, “… with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.” We built this house for both short and long-term missionaries, including us. It is also for the next generation of missionaries to be able to focus on the Gospel work without any concerns for their lodging. We hope and pray that Baraka Mission House will be useful, as a place of rest and fellowship for those who are serving the Lord here.
2. Bible College of East Africa Tanzania
By God’s grace, we are doing well this semester without any problems. We started the Fall semester with 25 students, and they are going through the Mid-Semester Exams now. Please pray for the students that they may be hard-working in their learning and studying God’s Word with honesty.
Here are some items of thanksgiving to share about the College:
- The water and electricity supply in Tanzania is not very good. Thankfully, we have received special support for Bible College students on water purifiers from Korea. Since this place is a volcanic zone, there have always been harmful health factors as the water is mixed with lime and fluorine. But thanks to the support of water purifiers, this problem has been solved to some extent. Pray that the students will be healthy while they study at the College.
- With the help of one Korean missionary, the students also enjoy exercise every Monday afternoon. They look forward to this time as they are hard pressed by their studies, quizzes and assignments. Male students will play soccer (Tanzanian people’s favorite), and female students will play badminton. We can try other activities apart from those. Please pray that the students may be healthy in spirit and body and that they may enjoy College life.
- An academic atmosphere is being encouraged among the students. After years of wrestling with the dense lectures and the strong requirements for learning, a positive academic atmosphere first began among the students who were good at, or willing to, study. Now, many students seem to feel: “If I do not diligently study and put in much effort, I will not survive.” The lecturers cannot hide their surprise as they see students studying late at night, or very early in the morning, and sometimes staying up all night. However, we believe that theology is studying the Word of God; so, it should be studied more earnestly and carefully than any other academic field. Would you pray that these students will be able to study sincerely and truthfully so that many good pastors, who are prepared in the Word, will be produced?
3. Church Building Construction Project
After the completion of the Campus Church and the Baraka Mission House, we thought that the Lord would give us a rest. But we realized that God’s will differs from human thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). As soon the essential buildings inside the compound were completed, God led Dr. Park to a work outside the campus. Since coming to Tanzania, the Lord has led Dr Park to build a church for a graduate only once in ten years, but now it seems He is leading him to build more churches for our graduates.
As a first step, we are building a church now. One of our College students, Elias, is a pastor in a barren rural area called “Samaria”. When we visited the area, we found that they had worshipped under a shabby tent that could barely keep out the sun, with only pews inside. Elias had to be there and serve as their pastor, because this place uses a unique local dialect (different from Swahili and Maasai), and Elias knew that language well. Even our local lecturers could not speak or understand this language.
Thankfully, the church’s construction began with the help of missionary Ma YoungJin, who is a part-time tutor in our College. The construction is going well and what is surprising is that the church members voluntarily came to help from time to time, without asking for any remuneration. We pray that the new church, built on the barren land, will be a place of rich heavenly blessings. Please pray that God will provide all the necessary construction needs without shortage.
In addition to this, we will continue to build additional church buildings for students and graduates of the Bible College of East Africa, Tanzania.
4. Jacob’s Dream Project (Chun-sik Project)
If you recall our August letter, missionary Park JongHwi bought a calf (named Chun-sik) last year, with the desire to supply meat to students, and has been raising it. This small act became the starting point, and the Lord moved the hearts of many believers. As a result, some supported in buying more calves under the name Chun-sik Project.
The English name for Chun-sik Project is Jacob’s Dream Project, taken from Jacob’s 20 years of hard work when he became independent from Laban (Genesis 31). Since this project aims to support College students and graduates, we pray that the Lord will provide material resources to help their ministries through this project.
With the Chun-Sik Project, so far, there has been support for purchasing six calves, but only three have been purchased. Due to the recent rise in local prices in Tanzania, getting a healthy and strong calf at an affordable price is not easy. We will try not to rush but wait slowly, with prayer, until we can get good calves. Please pray for good calves for this project.
The number of calves has increased a little, thus reducing the students’ need to mow. The calves are also growing healthy, eating to their heart’s content the quality grass that is constantly growing on the campus land. We pray that this project will help the Tanzanian churches and the pastors from our College. Please continue to pray and support this project.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Eph. 6:10)
In Christ, Rev. Dr. SeungKyu Park and Dr. ChaeWon Ra