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Gospel reaches remote villages in Tanzania; discipleship begins

God is moving in the unreached and isolated villages of the Rukwa Valley in Tanzania. Twelve people in a fishing village recently made professions of faith, reports MNN.

For about a year, missionaries with Grace Ministries International have been using a boat to reach villages that are surrounded by Lake Rukwa on one side and mountains on the other. People in several villages have now professed Christ. About 700-800 people live in the most recent village, where a grass chapel is under construction.

"Ted Rabenold had a vision to get a boat that could go on the lake, so we finally did get a large enough boat that could take evangelists out and they would travel along the coast of the lake," said Sam Vinton, Executive Director of GMI. "It's not a deep lake but it's a wide lake, and it has many fishing villages where you cannot drive to."

The new believers receive solar-powered audio recordings of the entire Bible to help them grow in their faith. Also, a team of evangelists will soon travel to the village to teach a Bible course called "Firm Foundations." The course leads students through the foundational doctrines of the Old Testament, including creation and the need for a Savior, before teaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

"It's been used very, very effectively in many parts of the world, and especially in areas where people are starting from zero, so to speak, in their understanding of God and the Bible and Christ," Vinton said.

The villagers follow local animistic beliefs, living in fear of the spirit god of the mountain.

"We try show them how they can be freed from that because we have the true God who has sent someone to save them," said Vinton.

He plans to travel to Tanzania in the next couple of weeks, where he will meet with the 13 GMI missionaries in Tanzania and teach a conference to pastors and their wives for about three or four days.

"I'll be teaching them regarding their responsibilities as pastors and how they can be good servants of God," Vinton said.

[07/17/2008]

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