TRUTH for Tanzania

Rachel and her new life in Tanzania

2011-11-20T23:58:00.001-08:00

Third Annual Youth Day and Medical Missions Team

2011-11-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

Our Time in America December 2010-August 2011

2011-07-10T17:12:00.001-07:00

The Lord truly has blessed us with a great time in the United States on our first furlough. We were able to spend a a lot of precious time with friends and family and made many memories to take back to Tanzania. The Lord provided for us in so many ways. Several new churches took us on for monthly support and we got to report to many of our current supporters and prayer partners. After spending two years from our family, this time home made us appreciate our loved ones more and cherish every moment with them. Also, although Tanzania is our new "home", our time in the States made us appreciate how great America is. Here are a few photos that capture our time here the past few months.

Rachel Lynn Henderson

2011-04-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

February 3, 2011 Rachel Lynn Henderson was born! The Lord allowed us to be in the States on furlough for her birth and that day we knew why. After 24 hours of labor and Rachel's heart rate dropping significantly three times, she was delivered by c-section. Due to her stress, Rachel was born with a lot of fluid in her lungs, which developed into pneumonia and a two week hospital stay. Rachel continued to heal at home and now is completely well! We praise the Lord for His provision for us!

It's a Girl!

2010-10-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to take our parnters, Nate and Heather Wolf to the airport. While we were there, Tricia was able to receive a 3D ultrasound. The doctor says everything is progressing well and both mother and baby are in good health. So, we introduce to you for the first time, Rachel Lynn Henderson!

Siku Ya Vijana/Youth Day

2010-10-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

On October 2nd, the TRUTH Center hosted the 2nd annual Siku ya Vijana or Youth Day. From start to finish, we welcomed over 200 teenagers from our small community for a full day of games, tournaments, music, skits, food and a movie. The Gospel was presented two times throughout the day. We trust that the Word of God will not return void and we will see much spiritual "fruit" from the Youth Day in the future.

Meet Baby Henderson!

2010-08-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

We recently found out that we will be expecting our first child! Tricia is almost 18 weeks along and we are expecting to meet baby Henderson around the 5th of February. Tricia and the baby are in good health. Praise the LORD!

Summer Fun

2010-08-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

Although it is the coldest part of the year in Tanzania, we still enjoyed our "summer" interns Samantha and Matt. Samantha taught at the school 4 days a week and Matt taught Science and assisted Nate in the ministries in Basotu. Both were a HUGE blessing to the ministry and we really enjoyed hanging out with them both.

Opportunities to Minister

2010-08-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

Since we moved to Tanzania in December 2008, the Lord has blessed us with many opportunities to serve at the ministries at the Truth Center. God has taught us many valuable lessons in how to serve in a different culture and in a different language. Brad stays busy preaching and teaching at the church, teaching at the local high school and also our Bible Institute. Tricia has been able to run the elementary school in Natalie's absence. It has helped her in her language and leadership skills. Although we will be VERY glad when the Burkholders return, we are also very glad that they left us during this time. We have gained many valuable lessons we would not have otherwise if they were still by our side helping us find our way through our very new surroundings!

Time with Family

2010-06-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

Brad's nephew, Seth, was able to visit us last week. We were so happy to have Brad's first family member visit us here in Tanzania. He visit was short, but Seth was able to do many things. He visited a Barabaig village, ate cow oil and ugali, climbed Mt. Hanang, and went dirt bike riding in the "bush". We truly enjoyed his visit and it was such a blessing to be with family again.

Basotu's First Birthday

2010-06-09T03:27:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, Basotu Baptist Church (the first church plant out of the Truth Center) celebrated it's first birthday. Missionary, Nate Wolf was joined by a group of Americans to help with the day's activities. During the weekend, they hosted the first annual Truth Cup soccer tournament. Brad assembled a group of players from Katesh and Arusha to compete against the Basotu team. Hundreds of people turned out for the event and two people accepted Christ as their Savior. It is our vision to use this soccer tournament each year to reach many with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just another day in Katesh

2010-04-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

There are many days we think, what in the world are we doing here? We get distracted by adjusting to the culture, language and the ministry we forget to appreciate all the great things God is doing all around us. Even the beauty of His creation. God has put us in such a gorgeous location! During our day off, this past Monday we decided to take the dirt bike for a little ride. This beautiful scene is just a few minutes of the beaten path behind our house. It is a huge crater, made many years ago by nearby Mt. Hanang.

2nd Annual Goat Cup

2010-04-22T01:08:00.001-07:00

On Easter weekend, we were able to host our second annual goat cup. Five teams played for two days and the winners received a goat and each received a New Testament Bible. Win or lose, everyone heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Our Newest Addition- Manny

2010-04-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

Two months ago, one of our guard dogs died. His brother, Mocha was left behind, missing his favorite playmate. So during our next trip to Arusha to get supplies we casually stopped in the vet's office to see if he knew of any dogs for sale. They said they had a male Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, but he could not leave his mother for another two weeks. We were only in Arusha for one day and would not be back for another two weeks exactly! It is awesome to see how God works out even the small things!

Exposure brings opportunity

2010-04-22T00:38:00.001-07:00

While the children's ministry team was here, we wanted to expose them to some real Tanzania culture! We took them to a near by Barabaig village to talk to the ladies, see some cultural dances and to witness their very different way of life. We were also able to talk to the village leader and have a official Tanzanian meeting under a big tree. These men expressed their greatest need of fresh water and a school. The nearest school is over 20 miles away and is too far for the children to walk by themselves. We are always praying for avenues to reach this needy tribe. We are now praying for ways to help facilitate these projects. By helping with these projects we also were given permission to evangelize their area and possible start the first church in their village!

Kids, kids, and MORE kids!

2010-04-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

In February, we hosted a group of 12 adults from the States to minister to the children in our area. They visited local orphanages, schools, and hosted a Children Carnival at the Truth Center. Steve prayed the day before the carnival that the Lord would bring 700 children that day. We all thought he was nuts. But, the Lord proved us ALL wrong and we counted over 1000 children! There were games, prizes, music, balloons, and a clown. One of the guests also presented the large crowd with a Bible story and the Gospel. It was a day of complete chaos, but we trust the Lord of the Harvest to bring forth the fruit!

The Timothy House

2010-02-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

It has been the prayer of our missionary partner, Steve, for many years to have a home to minister to local Barabaig young men. It is very common to travel far from your home and family to attend secondary school. This leads to much mischief and pregnancy. After many months of struggling with legalities, the Lord opened the door to buy land directly across from the TRUTH Center. This land will be the future home of the Timothy House. We will use this home as a dormitory for young Barabaig men as they attend school. Our vision goes much further than just to put a roof over their head, but to provide a solid Christian atmosphere and teaching from God's Word. We pray that the Lord will touch many lives and the HE will develop strong Christian leaders.
In this picture, Truth Baptist Church, is praying over the land of the future Timothy House, asking the Lord's blessing for many years to come!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2010-02-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

God has blessed us with a beautiful place to minister. We a have an picture of God's handiwork right in our backyard, Mt. Hanang. Mt. Hanang is a very important part of the Barabaig culture. It is where they bury and worship their dead ancestors. It is our prayer that God will soften their hearts to hear about the only TRUE God to be worshiped!
(You can see three farms in a row in the middle of the picture. Our home is directly to the right of them)

Teaching Others to Minister

2010-02-06T01:47:00.000-08:00

We encouraged the people of our church to minister to the people at the hospital while the medical mission team was here. It is not only the job of the missionary and mission teams to minister the the sick, but it is means so much more when their own people help them, expecting nothing in return. While the team hung up mosquito nets, the church members prayed with each patient, gave them fruit and most importantly, the Gospel. Two ladies trusted Christ as their Savior that day!

Kweli Learning Center is growing!

2010-02-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

The TRUTH Learning Center now has up to 2nd grade and 66 students. We praise the Lord for providing all the money to build three new classrooms. We will now have enough classrooms for up to grade 4. Here are a few pictures of the new building and a few of the students.

A dream come true!

2010-02-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

The longer we live in a third world country, the more we become grateful for the things God has given us and for the great country we live in! One day, as Mama Sadikieli was helping me with some housework. She noticed some old magazines sitting by the couch. She was very curious about all the things that she saw for the very first time. Each time she came to the house she always asked to look at some pictures. When the time came to replace the magazines with some newer editions, I thought of Mama Sadikieli. I asked her if she wanted to take them home with her. Her eyes lit up immediately as she said, "It was always a dream of mine to be able to hang up magazine pages on my wall. But I could never afford it. Now I can!" Here in Katesh, most houses our made of mud bricks with no plaster or dry wall to cover them. So, to make it a little more "homey" the people cover the bad spots with old newspapers and magazines. Now she can make her little one room house and "home." The things we take for granted..........

Our First Medical Missions Team

2010-01-25T00:43:00.000-08:00

We brought in the New Year by hosting a group of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. This was a new experience for our team, so we did not know what to expect. The medical team was unable administer medicine themselves, but were able to minister to Katesh and Basotu physically and spiritually! They spent the first few days hanging over 100 mosquito nets in the local government hospital. This in itself has the potential of saving hundreds' of lives. They also hosted 2 medical seminars for the public and were able to advise over 200 people on basic health and prevention of common sickness. They were also able to hand out over 150 eyeglasses. They also hosted a medical seminar for all the health professionals in the area with a free dinner to all who attended. During there stay, 6 people trusted Christ as their Savior!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-18T00:32:00.000-08:00

Our first Christmas in Tanzania in 2008 was a bit out of the ordinary because we had just arrived to the country. We had already opened our presents with our family before we left the states and were living out of our suitcases. We were blessed to be with Tricia's brother as his family, but it was still not the same. This year, we were able to put up a Christmas tree and a few decorations. We had the Burkholder's and the Wolf's over to the house on Christmas night to eat appetizers, have a gift exchange and sing some Christmas carols. God blessed us with a great time with family and friends in our new home as we celebrated the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. We praise Him for a great first year in Tanzania!

Youth Camp 2009

2009-12-17T02:07:00.001-08:00

Each December the churches from the Baptist Bible Mission of Tanzania join together for a youth camp. This year we had 29 students from Katesh and the new Basotu church go to camp this year. Out of the 100 campers there, 9 students accepted Christ as their personal Savior. It was another fun year! Please join us in prayer for these teenagers that their passion for the Lord will not "fizzle" after the excitement of camp wears off.

Truth Learning Center Graduation

2009-12-17T01:53:00.000-08:00

Another ministry of the TRUTH Center is Truth Learning Center. The Truth Learning Center is a English medium school started by our missionary partners, the Burkholders. The school currently has up to 2nd grade and it is our vision to add a grade each year until grade 7. Natalie oversees the daily running of the school and has recently trained Tricia to manage the school while she is away on furlough. Each year we have a big graduation day for the kindergarden students entering into the first grade. It is held on a Sunday morning for all the church members to witness. Also it gives a great opportunity to preach the Gospel to many unsaved parents. We praise the Lord for a great school year!

Bible School Graduation

2009-12-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

One of the ministries of the TRUTH Center is Truth Bible Institute. We join with other missionaries and their churches to train future pastors, teachers and those who are faithful church members. Each year several students from each church graduate from class one and class two. We had the honor of graduating 4 class one students from the ministry here in Tanzania. Brad was even given the opportunity to teach some classes that weekend for the Bible students.

Siku ya Vijana- Youth Day!

2009-10-06T08:25:00.001-07:00

On October 3, we had a day of activities for the youth of Katesh. We had various sports tournaments, games, a movie, food. We had over 100 teenagers! Five accepted Christ as their personal Savior. The youth of the church were so encouraged and saw the fruits of their labor.

The TRUTH Learning Center

2009-10-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

The TRUTH Learning Center was started by our ministry partners, Steve and Natalie Burkholder in 2007. The original intent was to have a nursery and Kindergarden to give the local children a good start to their education and a to introduce them to Christ at an early age. However, after a year, the parents and local government requested that we add more grade to have a complete primary school up to grade seven. We now have over 50 students up to 1st grade. We will add 2nd grade in December and one grade each year to follow. We praise the Lord for the opportunity to give these children the only Christian education in our whole district. Here are a few pictures of the the building process that we are in right now to add more classrooms.

2009-08-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

While in Tanzania, we are serving with several other families of like faith. There are missionaries in several different parts of the country that are starting churches, schools, orphanages, and medical clinics. Lazaro is a faithful church member and Bible student in one of those churches located in the city of Arusha (about 4 hours from our town) He is part of the Maasai tribe. The Maasai is the largest tribe in Northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. He asked us to visit the village where he is originally from and where all his family still live. We made our first trip to visit the Masaai this weekend. It was quite and adventure and was filled with many new experiences! As we entered the area of the homes, we were greeted by his father, mother (plus his father's second wife) his grandmother and all the children from each one of the wives and grandchildren! The children greeted us with bowing down in order for us to touch the top of their head. We were then ushered into the hut of the Bibi (or grandmother) for a delicious bowl of old curdled milk mixed with corn. Then after we got our fill of that, we then went to the father's hut to eat rice and beans with a cup of hot tea. After our visit, Brad was able to pray for the family in Kiswahili as Lazaro translated it into Kimaasai. We then traveled down into the center of the village for an open market where we passed a portion of God's Word to hundreds of the the Maasai people. It was such a great experience to see Lazaro reaching out to his own people. When Lazaro first became a Christian, his whole village looked at him as being crazy. Through his testimony, Lazaro is now a respected man in his village and many people have accepted Christ. It is Lazaro's desire to move back to his village and start a church so they can hear the Word of God every week.

Worlds Apart

2009-07-23T01:48:00.000-07:00

We have now been in Tanzania for almost 8 months. We are adjusting to the many changes in our daily life; the food, weather, bugs, landscape, the people and the language (just to mention a few!) We praise the Lord for a smooth "ride" so far. He has meet our every need! Recently we needed some bricks delivered to our house to build a small shed. I looked out the window to find some cows outside the dining room window hauling a large wooden cart. This method was used many years ago in the US, but it still works here in Tanzania. As mentioned we are getting used to many new things! This picture is a good illustration how we can be worlds apart, but yet we can accomplish the same tasks. Just at very different speeds!

A Trip to Civilization for Baby Sarah

2009-06-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

My brother, Steve and his wife, Natalie had their third child June 4th, 2009. Her name is Sarah Elisabeth Burkholder. Both Natalie and Sarah are happy and healthy. My (Tricia) mom was able to spend two weeks in Nairobi, Kenya to help take care of the kids while Natalie recovered from her surgery. Brad and I took advantage to meet Sarah and to visit my mom. An additional bonus was to visit Nairobi, Kenya to enjoy some civilization and good restaurants! While we were there, we went to a giraffe park. We learned that the giraffe has a very clean mouth and its saliva is actually a great antiseptic. That little fact may explain why Brad actually fed one from his lips!

Some Thirsty Guests

2009-05-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago we noticed a strange smell when we turned the water on. We prepared ourselves for the worst and thought we would be cleaning out a clog in our septic system. We soon discovered that was not the problem. We were never so relieved and the problem that we were about to discover was nothing! Brad climbed up to our water tank to find hundred's if not over 1,000 bees inside our tank! With the help of Kingu, he and Brad managed to kill them all with a little smoke and several cans of insect killer. What a sight to see Kingu with Brad's motorcylce helmet on his head, running around the yard with a can of "Doom" in each hand chasing the bees! Here is a picture of Kingu scooping out the left over bees out of the tank. This is our new life in Tanzania!

The Birth in Basotu

2009-05-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

We wrote in our last prayer update about the first church plant out of Truth Baptist Church in Katesh. Fellow missionary, Nate Wolf and Tananian church member, Christopher are pastoring the new church. They had their first Sunday service the first weekend in May. That weekend, church members from the Truth Baptist Church spent the weekend in Basotu preparing for the first service. A team of Bible students volunteered their time to play games, sing songs, hand out invitations, and preach to crowds of people. Four people trusted Christ as their Savior! We also were able to show some Christian films on Friday and Saturday in front of the church. Seeing a "movie" in their small village sure drew a crowd! Here are a few pictures of the events that weekend.

Ladies from Katesh (Mama Emma, Mama Hidijah, Mama Joshua, and Mama Frankie) enjoy some free time before the service

The crowd gathers before the service begins on Saturday

The mass "Exodus" of children to hear a Bible lesson

The Goat Cup

2009-05-11T04:04:00.000-07:00

During Easter weekend, the TRUTH Center hosted a volleyball tournament. Four teams of young men from Katesh competed for the grand prize.......a goat! Never did we think that we would travel to the market to buy a goat as a trophy. During the tournament, the participants and the gathering crowd were able to hear the Gospel.

2009-03-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

As many as you know, Tricia's brother, Steve and his family have been in Tanzania for over 7 years. Two weeks ago, their parents and oldest brother, Mark came for a visit. Before they headed back to America, we took them on a safari. Here are some highlights of our trip.

To give you a perspective on how close we REALLY were!

Taking their afternoon "Cat Nap" getting ready for the big kill!

This male lion was about 30 yards from our car, what a great sight to see!

The meanest and ugliest animal in Tanzania; The Hyena

This guy was right outside our car window

Our Vicious Guard Dogs

2009-03-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

We officially introduce to you Mocha and Max. We recently got them from a missionary friend. They are German Shepard and Doberman mix. We have always thought that having a puppy was torturous, let alone TWO! But these little brothers love each other and play and sleep together all day. They just want us for the food! Here they are before their 4 hour car ride into the "bush." They did not know what they were in for!

Our Home in Katesh

2009-03-12T02:49:00.000-07:00

As of two weeks ago, we are offically moved into our first Tanzania home! It is still a work in progress, but we praise the LORD for providing us with a home that will comfortable accomodate our visitors and it is in a great location! Here are a few pictures........

Our backyard with a great view of Mt. Hanang

The back of the house

Our the Town of Katesh

2009-02-02T00:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some picutures of around town. This is our hardware store! "Katesh Depot"

The view from our front yard

Language School

2009-02-02T00:08:00.001-08:00

Hello Family and Friends!

We just got back from our first three week session of Language school. We prepared ourselves for a very strenious time, but we loved every minute of it! Granted, since it is an intensive course, we had a lot of information thrown at us at once, the accomodations, teachers and staff were excellent. Our classmates were from all around the globe, including Germany, Phillipines, Denmark and of course the USA! We spent many hours laughing together and making new friendships as we all struggled spitting out our new Swahili words!

Greetings From Tanzania!

2009-01-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

Hello from sunny Tanzania! We have been in the country for over 1 month! We spend our first few weeks in the town of Katesh where we will be ministering at the TRUTH Center and establishing a home. We spent that time preparing things for our house. We are now on day 2 of Language School. We will be here for three weeks. So needless to say, we have a lot to learn! We will use this blog to keep in touch with you all as much as possible. We would love to hear from you!