Jambo! One of the biggest challenges on this trip has been sharing the gospel. As much as we love playing with the kids and doing odd jobs around the village, those activities in and of themselves aren’t getting anyone into heaven. The truth is that anyone can be nice to people, but all the nice deeds on earth, without the accompanying message of the gospel, don’t really make any difference for eternity. It’s feels good to put a smile on a child’s face, but if you never tell that child about Jesus, what have you really done?

But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14

That is the question we faced in our team meeting tonight. This isn’t an “evangelism friendly” trip. We’re working among a group of people in the village who already know Jesus, or hear about Him regularly. On top of that, the bulk of our time is spent working on projects like installing a water pump, painting rafters, or, like today, cutting down orb weaver nests. (Orb weavers are beautiful and plentiful, but destructive birds that weave a basket-like nest. Left unchecked they destroy crops.) On top of that, none of us speak Swahili. So pray for us today as we wrestle with this question: How can we bring Jesus into our conversations this week?

Maybe that’s a question you should ask yourself as well…

One exciting twist on this trip has been an invitation to join a group of locals in a soccer match against some Tanzanian military personnel who have been conducting live-fire exercises nearby (about a half-mile). Greg Walker has been playing with them all week, including a similar “friendly” yesterday, but now it looks like Jon will be joining him.