On Wednesday, February 5, our Tanzania Team will be heading out on their two-week ministry trip to Tabora, Tanzania.

I am writing to invite you to be part of this trip through prayer.

This team includes Grant & Kyleen Hughes, Pastor David Anderson & his daughter Rylie, Jessica (our children’s pastor) & Tim Lee, and Bob Payne (pictured above left to right).

Sending this team is part of our ongoing prayer to be used by the Lord to reach the Nyamwezi people of Tanzania with the gospel.

Here are some of the specific reasons for this trip:

• To give some from our Church of the Open Door family a chance to do hands-on ministry with our missionaries Andy and Margaret Andersen as they work among the Nyamwezi people.
• To serve alongside the team in the Tabora community, including teaching soteriology at the Tabora Bible College, teaching an English/Religion class in schools, doing children’s ministry and preaching in village churches.
• To build and maintain our relationships with the various Tabora Bible College and other Africa Inland Church of Tanzania (AICT)/Tabora diocese leaders, including Bishop Joshua Lusato, Pastor Nyuma Kiyumba and retired Bishop Silas Kezakubi.
• To capture the story of the Nyamwezi on video to share with the Church of the Open Door family.

We so appreciate your prayers for this team as they go. Here are 7 ways they have asked us to be praying for them:

1. Please pray that we could have all our responsibilities here wrapped up well with good goodbyes, and that we enter into our departure fully focused and available to the Lord’s will.

2. Pray for a smooth trip in the midst of lots of moving pieces. We have lots of luggage, and multiple flights and overnights through other countries as we try to get our feet on the ground in Tabora.

3. Please pray that our entry into the country would be uneventful. Specifically, please pray that we experience no problems with documents.

4. Please pray that God would use our words, deeds, and relationships to encourage the Tabora community and surrounding area.

5. Pray God would be working in the 50+ pastors we get to teach about salvation, grace and the gospel.

6. Pray that churches would catch vision for the importance of children’s ministry.

7. Pray for team unity, health and for God to work through all of us and our unique gifts to share the love of Jesus in Tanzania as well as when we return home.

Thank you for your partnership in prayer for this team. I am excited to see how the Lord uses this trip to continue to answer our ongoing Breakthrough Prayer: Father, set the Nyamwezi free from Satan’s strongholds and help them embrace the family of God.

With much anticipation,

David Schaller
Associate Pastor

P.S. Be sure to follow our social pages (Facebook | Instagram) for updates and photos from this team.