Tanzania, Africa
Chimala Newsletter – Darrin & Carrie Stapleton – February, 2004
Greetings from Chimala! We trust that all of you are well. Carrie & I continue to do well. It seems like I just finished writing January’s newsletter and it is time to now write February’s! Time continues to “fly by”, which is why we must redeem the time that is at hand. Andrew, Carrie, and I safely returned Bill Stinson, Chris Parker, Heath Stapleton, Fred Lemmons, and Marian Rowe to Dar es Salaam to continue their journey back to the States. We are very thankful to them for being able to visit the work here in Chimala!
The work, in general, continues well. We have been enjoying the rainy season this year—the best in several years. Last year the crop situation was not good. So, hopefully the rains this year will enable all the people to get back “on track” again as their crops are their livelihood.
The work at the hospital continues well with a large number of patients passing through the doors. The staff keeps very busy. The evangelists continue with their daily teaching in the wards and to the patient’s families. Please pray for these efforts.
The Nursery School and Primary School work is going well. We have 67 nursery school students and 410 primary school students. We are very thankful for the dedication of our teachers. The Bible knowledge program continues to go well. We are also teaching Bible classes in another primary school in our area and also at a secondary school in Chimala. So, the teachers are very busy with these efforts. Please pray for them and their work.
The School of Preaching students and teachers are busy as usual with classes and evangelism. Jason has started teaching classes, while Chris is teaching a new converts class each week during the evening. Jason, Chris, and the teachers have been busy with evangelism also. They have started a new congregation at Mpolo, which is about 30 minutes away from the Mission by vehicle. I believe there are seven to ten in attendance now. They have only been able to go a few days each week for the past two weeks. Please pray for the work at Mpolo and throughout Tanzania.
An interesting note—Jason’s four-year-old son, Levan, who recently saw the ocean while in Dar es Salaam, looked at his dad and said, “Our God makes good things.” Truly we have a loving and caring Father and we have the opportunity to share His Word with many people. All of this is possible because of the love that you have to make sure His Word is being spread throughout the world!
In Christian Love,
The Stapleton’s