THE LION'S

See the Lion o( the tribe ol Judah . has triumphed"

i1P?OAWN
Elizabeth, Rachel & Joshua

April 1997

AFRICA

HANDS ON
When we lived in Zaire I worked in the Theological Education

program (I.E.). Wedeveloped a systemof I.E. schoolsservicing the

areas in which our churches were located. In this program my

responsibilities were in the area of developing teachers' guides for

the existing I.E. books, leading seminars for churches that wanted
to start I.E. classes and organizing seminars to train and encourage
the I.E. teachers. One of the classes that Ideveloped was an eightweek study entitled "How to Lead Someone to Jesus." The actual
text study lasted only four weeks. The first four weeks the teacher
trained the class in the use of the book. The second four weeks

each class member taught a non-believer from the book and from
what they had learned in class. Duringthe second four weeks the
students still met in the T.E. class to discuss questions or problems
they had encountered. Theresultsofthisclasswere two-fold. First,
many Christians found out that they could carry the Gospel to
someone else; they could do it and God would bless It. And
secondly, was the fact that hundreds of people learned about Jesus
and in faith were buried and raised with Him to new life.

Here in Masasi there is not a T.E. program. But, from my

experience with T.E., I have started two classes and have adapted
T.E. materials. As we grow here, someday we could have a system
like Zaire; but for now I am the teacher, using T.E. books and
writing additional study materials. Inour studies, first inJohn, then

in Acts my initial class has been becoming more

aware ofthe realJesusasopposed to the "1raditional
Jesus." In Actsthey sawhowthe Disciples-Apostles
worked to fulfill their commission. Theysaw for the
first time the timing of baptism. Next, we studied
from the letters about the meaning of baptism.
And they allwanted to be baptized. One man even

taught hiswife and she alsowanted to be baptized.

Brigita, Isaya's wife, raised to new life.

Starting a new life.

Whatever part God has given me or will give

me to play in his service has eternal significance.
But when he gives me the gift of hands-on partici
pation, I am most grateful.

Isaya Yasini prepared to die with Jesus.

When mystudents made their decision, Ithink

I felt like a new Dad. Everything had to be right!
Howwould we baptize them? Wouldwe dig a hole

and put plastic init- temporarily? Would we build

a regular baptistry? My thoughts were, "Let's do it
right!" And, "Do they really understand?" Every
thing had to be right so their experience was all it
could possibly be. Iknow... the reality of baptism
is in the faith of the one being baptized and in the
response of his Savior. I knew that! But it did not
relieve my anxiety. Iwanted it to be the best. So,
I ran around like a chicken for a week until we had

it all together. Our Team had planned both a

baptism and a communion service. It was great!
Praisethe Lord! When Ibaptized those people into
Christ, I think I might have had a slight glimpse of
how God feels about it. Ifelt likethose people were
my children- like babies. I felt protective, proud,
and happy. Ifelt wonderful and it wasn't even me

Daniel Chinguva sharing in the body and blood of Jesus.

STRANGE OR
Zacaria and Kristina extended us an invitation

to a meal In their home and we gladly accepted.

Theyare students inBob's first Bible classand newly
baptized. Bob and I rode our bikes three miles out
to the village of Tukae Wote on a hot, humid
Thursday afternoon, bringing along our own drink
ing water and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
As Bob went to sit with the man and chat, Kristina

proudly showed me around her garden. From her

I learned that the blossoms on the kind of squash
that are grown here can be cooked and eaten with
the vegetable itself. Housed in a bamboo pen,
Kristina also keeps two sows. They are so familiar
with her voice that they come when she calls, turn
their backs to be scratched, and playfully suck on
her toes when she gets close enough. The pigs are
not pets, though; one isto eat and the other isfor
breeding.
Later on, sitting on a woven mat in their dark,
cool mud hut, we enjoyed a meal of ugali, which is
boiled cornmeal, and mbazi, which is a pea-like
vegetable Kristina had cooked to a nice sloppy
mush. Somehow the conversation got around to
cultural relationships and who could eat at the
same meal with whom in their culture. Normally,
women here do eat with the men unless there are

a lot of kids. Inthis case. Dad gets to skip out eating

with only the older boys. That's right - Mom gets
stuck with all rowdy, messy toddlers. So far, I'd
heard mostly what I'd expected to hear. Then
Kristina volunteered, "If my parents were eating
with us, the men and women would have to eat

separately." When I asked her why, Kristina ex

plained that the women could not eat with the men
because if her mother did anything embarrassing at
the meal, her mother would lose the respect of
Zacaria, her husband. This apparently, would be
terrible. Strange to me, but normal for here.
On the other hand, within this same family is a
situation not unfamiliar to some American families.

Zacaria and Kristina have been together for ten

NORMAL?
years. She is 27 years old and he is 36. Kristina Is
very unhappy over the fact that she has not been
able to give Zacaria any children and has asked me
to pray that God would bless them with a baby.
Zacaria could have left his wife a long time ago over
this problem, but hasn't. Obviously, because he
loves her. Normal to us, but different for here.

As long as we are discussing the unusual, Iwill

tell you about how we have found it fascinating
here that women may not kill chickens. Now you
might think, "Well,what woman would want to kill
a chicken anyway!" Since there are no grocery
stores where fresh meat is nicely prepackaged,
someone has to kill dinner. After inquiring several
times, we have the vague idea that it has something
to do with a woman not being able to shed the
blood of an animal. Something tied up in these
peoples' animisticbeliefswhich, with time, we hope
to understand. Usually, ifa person brings a chicken
to our door to sell, part of the bargain is that the
seller kills the chicken. They get to keep the head,
feet and intestines in payment. If a woman comes
sellingthe chicken, she brings a man or a boy along
to kill it, then proceeds with the cleaning. Indeed
strange and too bad about those intestines!

PRAISES AND PRAYERS

1. Praise: Just as Joshua and Dawn were studying in Biology about how to pasteurize milkwe found a
source of fresh milk. Now we have fresh milkto drink instead of powdered.
2. Praise: WehaveE-Maill -In Masasi, Tanzania! Iam amazed! We have to send through a hub in Dar
that is being run by MissionaryAviation Fellowship, which connects with a hub in Nairobi, but we are
still connecting with the net. So if you would like to send a message we are:
RLieb@MAF.Org.
3. Praise: On Friday, March 7th, Dawn's Mom came successfully through a surgery on her bladder.

4. Pray for Don Filipse, Trena Lieb's father, who has been diagnosed with cancer of the liver.
5. Prayfor our new Christians at Tukae Wote. Praythat they willgrow in wisdom and grace and that they
will be willing to plant their faith in others.
6. Pray for Tanzania to get the needed rain for this season. As I ride back and forth to work t ride through
the gardens and I see the corn leaves curling from the heat. Please pray for rain!

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