Here is an update about Tanzania.
Dear Family & friends,
Dan filled you in on the Philippines & S. Africa. We had many great experiences in both places as God moved mightily to save, deliver, & baptize in the Holy Spirit.
Many others were strengthened , encouraged, edified,& refreshed as they returned to their first Love, the Lord Jesus Christ & refocused their faith on His finished work of the cross where everything was paid for & our victory was won!
There was joy unspeakable & full of glory as they realized how very much God had done for them through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus on Calvary’s hill. They entered God’s sanctifying rest & had the JOY of their salvation restored to them. Tears overflowed the BELIEVERS’ eyes as they believed that Jesus paid it all & understood that they didn’t have to pay. & could not pay for anything. They came to realize that when Jesus said ,” It is finished.”,He was correct.
We had awesome classes,services, conferences,& divine appointments, thanks be to God!
Anyway, Dan has asked me to to update you regarding our trip to Tanzania , East Africa. All I can say is , Wow! What an experience ! You’d have to be there to really know what it was like! Our dear friends, Steve & Carolyn Giroux went with us. Many times I turned to Carolyn & said,” I’m glad you’re here because I could never adequately describe this to you !”.
When I think about it I think of a song that says,”I stand, I stand in awe of You. Yes, I stand , I stand in awe of You. Holy God , to Whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of You.”. If it wasn’t the Hand of God , then how did we get there ? It wasn’t our plan. It never crossed our mind. We never would have imagined it even if we tried, but God’s ways are not our ways. He is full of surprises ! When you give your life to Him you never know what to expect !
Our friend , Carolyn, had seen herself in a vision years earlier, ministering in Africa. She didn’t know how it would ever happen, but God had a plan for her !
Our host ,Pastor Sergi,had seen Brother Swaggart & others ministering on Sonlife Broadcasting Network on his Satelite TV. In his country you buy the satelite dish. & there’s no monthly fees. Anyway, he was touched ,blessed ,encouraged, strengthened,& ministered to by the msg. of simple faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross for every need . He laid his hands on the television. & prayed to God & asked Him to send someone to his country to teach this msg. to his people. He contacted our friend, David Borg, at JSM & David hooked us up, since he knew we traveled & taught the Message Of The Cross in various places.
We landed in Kilimanjaro & saw a lot of foreigners coming to climb the famous mountain. Our hotel had a beautiful view of the majestic, snow-capped tourist attraction.
There were many NEW experiences; sights , sounds, smells,& flavors.
In our first church service (we traveled by car as far as the road allowed & walked the rest of the way up a foothill in the jungle to a beautiful church full of wonderful brothers. & sisters in the Lord) the Spirit of God fell as we praised & worshipped The Lord. There were hoots , howls & whistles we’d never heard before & movements of diverse rhythms we’d never yet seen .
Each one of the 4 of us shared what God had put on our hearts & the Lord wove a message to His church in Moshi,Tanzania .
Dan asked for those who had not yet received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, w/ the initial evidence of speaking w/ other tongues to come forward. So many, young & old were filled , refilled & touched ! It was powerful!
We were blessed to go on a safari to the Norongoro Crater. We saw countless zebra, water buffalo, pink flamingos,hippos,gazelles, warthogs , & other birds. We saw elephants, lions, hyenas, rhinos& deer sleeping, frolicking, playing, running, & grazing in their natural habitat. !!! I askedGod to show us something unusual. We saw it the next day as we were driving back & our car slowed to a stop on the highway as an enormous , African elephant crossed the road to get to the other side to join his buddy elephant waiting there. I’m used to deer & turkeys crossing in front of our cars, but gigantic elephants are entirely different as they make your car feel like a matchbox car . No Discovery channel show or National Geographic can prepare you for the real thing. !
We traveled from there to the interior to a town called Haydom. You couldn’t imagine the treacherous mt. road, often passable by only one car at a time w/ gully-sized washouts & no guard rails ever even heard of,yet alone seen there. We broke down for a while on our way & we were able to get out & enjoy the breathtaking ,unspoiled mountains & valleys while our driver fixed the car. Then we bumped. & bounced up one side & partway down the other side of the mt..
Haydom is a lovely , remote town, which, thank the Lord,recently got electricity. Pastors & teachers & their spouses traveled for days by foot or bicycle to attend the 3 day teaching conference that Dan taught on the message of the cross.
They were spiritually hungry as they listened attentively , furiously taking pages of notes. Revelation of the goodness of God & the completeness of our salvation in Christ Jesus came to them. & they rejoiced greatly. They entered the rest spoken of in Hebrews , chapters 3 & 4. Their hunger was satisfied !
Each evening , after the conferences, we went to the market to sing praise & worship,& preach the glorious, life- changing gospel of Jesus Christ! Many believed & gave their lives to the Lord, becoming new creations in Christ as they were born-again of the Spirit, just as Jesus said in John, chapter3 that we must be born again in order to see & enter the kingdom of heaven.
One of my personal highlights was being able to go to the government school to preach Jesus Christ. & Him crucified to about 600 students . This was not on the original schedule, but w/ less than a day’s notice, God put it on our schedule .
About 500 kids were adopted into the family of God that day as they received Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior ,as John1:12 says ,that to as many as receive Him ,God gave the right to become children of God, to those who call on Jesus’ Name & are not born of flesh & blood or of the will of man , but are born of God.
Steve & Carolyn’s son- in- law, Brian , texted Steve that morning. & said he woke up during the night & felt like we were going to be ministering in a school. & he prayed for a mighty move of God. He knew nothing about the school visit but he knew the One who had planned it ! Brian does campus ministry himself so he had a heart for it. & a sensitivity in the spirit to it. God answered his prayers ! Praise the Lord for open doors & His anointing!
I was about to whisper to Dan to tell the kids that they could pray to God anytime & God would hear their prayers, but as I was about to ask him ,I heard Carolyn telling the students that exact thing & telling them how much God loved them.
Pastor Sergi did an excellent job translating. God had prepared him beforehand by having him learn English in a Swahili speaking country. Dan had sent him one of his teachings on a CD. & Pastor Sergi listened REPEATEDLY to learn Dan’s pronunciation & accent so he could accurately translate. Dan & Pastor Sergi also practiced in the car before the first service.
There was a fluidity in their presentation. & they were both anointed as the river of the Holy Spirit flowed from them to the hearers.
Sunday morning we traveled to another town 3 hrs. away for a combined service of several churches. There were between 2,000 to 3,000 people gathered for an outdoor service. They sat on the ground. & in the trees . Most of them walked & some if them bicycled for many miles on the mountain roads to attend.
They were the pastors, teachers ,&
Spouses who attended the seminar in Haydom. & their congregations.
To say the welcome was warm is an understatement . It was so enthusiastic that they made Dan. & Steve honorary tribal elders , conferring on them cloths of the tribal colors. They gifted Carolyn & me w/ gorgeous, colorful scarves. We could feel the love & we loved them back.
Before we went to Tanzania it had crossed my mind , what will it feel like to be in a country area where there are no other white people? Well, it didn’t feel any different to me. We all just felt like people. After all, that’s what we are,people. God likes variety. He created roses in many colors & they’re all beautiful & they are all roses. We are all just people w/ different color. & we are all beautiful .
It is a special privilege to be able to travel to different countries & feel the SAME Spirit in the family of God. There is such instant comfort when you sense God’s sweet , familiar Spirit( I mean that you recognize Him, not that it’s a. ” familiar spirit “).the Hy Spirit feels the same all over the world .
Before we left the country,Dan was able to lead the girl at the front desk of the hotel to the Lord. I talked to her later & she told me how happy. & good she felt !
There were so many salvations all over on our trip this year ! There were well over a thousand. The harvest truly is plentiful , but the laborers are few. Please, pray for more laborers. & open your own mouth, let God fill it w/ wonderful words of life & cast your net. & sow your seed. The hour is late, let your light shine. Many are searching & they don’t know what they ‘re looking for . How can they call on Him in who they have not heard? How can they hear w/out a preacher. ? We ‘re ALL called to preach the good news.
Mungu a wa bariki, ( God bless you all ) ! Thank you for all your prayers. & support.
Imekwisha ! ( It is finished )
Love in Christ Jesus,
Dorene w/ Dan