David Bahn – Reflections

My Podcast is on hold this week. You can listen to past podcasts here, including the sermon I preached at Angaza Igoma Lutheran Church in Mwanza, Tanzania

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

It’s time to celebrate! We’ve come to the end of our teaching here in Tanzania. The pastors and spouses have been very gracious to us and we are blessed to have been a blessing to them to whatever extent we have been able to be. At the end of the conference we give out certificates to all the participants – pastors and spouses. They are eager to receive these, and express great appreciation to us for them. We also give them small wind chimes as a gift to remind us that we work together as the wind of the Holy Spirit blows through us.

There are many things we will miss as we leave. We will miss the kindness, generosity, graciousness, and warmth of the people here. We will miss the morning chai, and coffee breaks. We will miss the excitement of the people, eager to learn. We will miss hearing first hand of how the church is exploding here and in other parts of the African continent. Daniel and Heavenlight, our co-presenters, will go home today. Tomorrow in Mwanza, he will meet a group from Nashville, TN. That group will go door-to-door evangelizing, and they anticipate baptizing as many as 1,000 people and planting a new church next week. Amazing!

We will not miss some things. But whether it’s the lack of some western luxuries (which we too easily take for granted) or the nearly constant time and schedule adjustments, we’ve managed to adjust. As I write this (on Friday morning), we are waiting for the day’s scheduled start. It’s only 90 minutes after our anticipated and formerly scheduled start time. “It’s OK,” I insist to Diane. Maybe I’m really trying to convince myself!

Now you have a glimpse into our experiences here. It has been a wonderful week. We have made some great friends and shared some very important things with these brothers and sisters in Christ. We are scheduled to return next year for the final year’s training. We look forward to sharing the insights of missional leadership with these dear people, as God makes that possible.

NOTE: There are other photos available, and if you are interested you can check my Smugmug photo website.