baird robert dawn 1996 tanzania

8/10/2019 Baird Robert Dawn 1996 Tanzania

1/8

THE

LION'S

Se e

the Lion

of the t ribe of Judah . . .

has

triumphed

DAWN BAIRD

Elizabeth

Rachel

Joshua

Mid Yea r

1996

m

iw

COMMITMENTVERSUS

CONVENIENCE

Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view

of

God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as livingsacrifices, holy

and

pleasing

to God - this isyour spiritualact

of

worship. Donot

conform any longer to the

pattern

of this world,

bu t

be

transformed by the renewing

ofyour

mind. Then you

willbe able to test

and

approve what God's willis- His

good, pleasing

and

perfect will

Romans

12:1

2,

V

Before coming to Tanzaniawewere told thatthe people group

called the Makua were a people

that

had

not

been reached for

Christ. So, of course we had visions ofwhat that

would

mean.

We

remembered thewitch doctors from Zaire and expected

them

here,

and maybe more. We had heard also that many of

the

people here

were Muslims, and

that

brought pictures to our imaginations also.

Mostly pictures of bombed out buses and suicide bombers and

religious fanatics? We came with preconceived ideas about what

the

people would be likespiritually.

To date we have visited and

taught at

a Makua village called

Msikala

three times and have had

the

opportunity to talkwith many

people here in Masasi with various religious backgrounds. We

have found that, although these people may be classified as

unreached, itdoes not meanthat they do not have some form of

Christianity among them. For example, at our very first

visit

to


2/8

Msikala

we

spoke

to a bo ut 6 0

men

w o men

and

chil

dren. Themajority

were

adult males

and a

good

num

er

of th em wer e

wearing

the

tradi

tional

Islamic hat

Most of

the

village

leaders m ake

a

claim

to

Islam

Af

ter our teachings

we had a question

a nd a ns we r t ime

Most of the ques

tions

w e

received

w ere ou t t radi

t ional

Chris t ian

practices: infant

baptism,

church

authority structure, and when would we be putting

up a building?

We

have found that almost all the people here

align themselves with some religion- Islam Chris

tianity, or Traditional. They are a very religious

people - just like the people in Athens who wor

shiped an Unknown God so that theywould have

allof the bases covered. Ithink

that

many of

them

believe from what they know of Islamand Christian

ity, and from what they see in their traditional

religion

that

they can

put these

beliefs into any

combination

that

isappropriate for a specific physi

cal or spiritual need. The greatest value of their

religion is Its convenience.

This Romans passage tells us

that

Christianity,

Christ, isour life. We give ourselves to IT to

IM

and

we

do

not

t ake our

lives back, ever

We

are

changed, we

are

renewed by Himto face

each and

every circumstance, seeking Hiswill in everything.

We don't change im or add to Him,or put Him

together with

others

to get the whole picture. He

Is

the

whole picture. A comment by one of

the

Joshua and Shadrack on

th e

mountain

above

Masasi

leaders

at

Msikala, one of them wearing the Islamic

hat, was that ifwe buy thema.grJnding machine for

their corn and they have full bellies,

then

they will

be

better

able to hear our message. Another man,

our contact

person there said thatwe need to build

a buildingand they

will

fill

it. Show strength, show

wealth, do something for us and your religion will

be the religion of the hour, the popular one for

ow

We attended

two

funerals since coming

to

Masasi.

One

was an Islamic funeral where

the

women do

not

attend and

the other

was

a

funeral

of a Christian man from

the

Anglican Church. The

Islamic

funeral

w as all in

Arabic The

leader first

said

his linesand then some of the people responded. I

could see that very

few

of the people there

under

stood Arabic. Ifthere were any words of encour

agement

or instructions, most of them did

not

understand them. At the Anglican service the

wordswere in

Kiswahili The

leader read

them

from

a book and, again, some of

the

people responded.

The

same

words are spoken probably at every

funeral, with little or no meaning or hope for

the


3/8

people listening.

The people here may have heard part of the

Gospel, butmost ofthem are still unreached. They

are still living ina worldwithout sacrifice-without th e

sacrifice

of Jesus

to

save

them

from

their

sins -

without their own living sacrifice to the

Christ.

They

are living ina worldwhere the center of theirworld

istheir stomach. Pray for the Makuapeople forthe

peopleof Masasi aswe teach them about the only

acceptable religion -oneofcompletecommitment.

MZEE ELDER)

Since

moving

into this side of town with the

Carters we have me t a very elderly gentleman

named Mgumbwe.

He

is

all

bent upwithage and

has a hard time walking around. His hands are

gnarled and he has just enough teeth on the

bottom to fit into the space on the top. He is

originally fromMalawi. He cameto Tanzania years

ago to work and has been here ever since. He

married an d ha d children and now he is th e only

one of his family left alive. He lives in a little run

down

house an d has no on e that really cares for

him. Well at least he did not have anyone untilwe

got here.

want to know what he Is sleeping on now.

Please pray for Mzee Mgumbwe that we can

make his life

easier

here

a t the

end

of it

and

that

w e

canhelphimto understand about the Saviorwho has

eternity all ready for him.

G O D

B L E SS Y O U

Bob

and Iwant to say a verybig

THANK

YOU

to those of you who have responded to our recent

callfor help. Thanksespeciallyto you at Bettendorf

Christian Church wh o so generously responded to

th e special offering taken for usand to th e Missions

Committee o f th e First

Christian

Church of Council

Bluffs

for sharing with us. Thanks also to allof you

who have written to say you are praying for us.

There ar e

not

words

to

describe

th e e nc ou ra ge

ment gleaned from your actions. We know that

there are manyof youwho prayand give and only

God knows and we are very grateful for you also.

Please continue to pray for us in these tw o

areas We ar e still

short

of funds to finish building

our house here. We

ar e

currently using our work

W e w e n t

an d

visited him a t

his

h o m e a n d w e r e shocked W e w o u l d

not put our pets inthe home that he

lived in. We are now feeding

Mgumbwe and buildinghim a new

house

O n e

o f

the

m en

w h o

works

on our building project isdoing over

time for me building a ne w home for

Mgumbwe. Wehaveallthepolesup

and tied together th e rafters are on

an d

th e

m ud

walls

will be

finished

soon W e have

to w ait

a

bi t

fo r

the

roof because the grass they use for

roofingisnot dried out enough yet.

We will also be get ting him a bed

mattress an d blanket. You don t

The

Bairds

putting their heads together to send their thanks.


4/8

funds and salaryto keep building.

Also,

since Janu

ary, we have lost around $500.00 a month regular

support, which has drained both our furlough fund

and Joshua's education fund. Itis reallydifficult

to

do

anything

about

this from Tanzania. Ifany of you are

aware of a church looking for a work to support,

please contact us or our forwarding agent,

Lynn

Kohlhagen at 810 Grove Ave., Morris,

60450.

Our last great big thank you

goes

to

those

of you

who have sent our familypackages. When we go to

the

Post Office

to

check our box we are always on

the

lookout for little white slips of

paper

saying we have

a package awaiting us insidel

We pray that all of you feel and

understand

that

you are in this work with us. Without your prayers

and funds

the

Mkua in the village of Msikala still

would not

have hea rd the first

word about what it

means to know Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior.

ENGLISH AS

A

SECOND

LANGUAGE

English

is one of two official languages

here in Tanzania. The other, of course, is

Kiswahili. Every

school child learns to say,

GoodMorningTeacher so that they can begin

their schoolday correctly. Itusually sounds like

Gud Mornig Teecha. Once this phrase is

learned it isused on each and everyperson the

kids

seethatthey

think might understand them.

And it is used any time of

the

day or night. So

when Iwaswalkinghomefromour buildingsite

one

day and saw

two

little boys in

the

path

ahead

waiting patiently for me, Ihad an idea of

what

to expect. Iwas not disappointed The

first boy said, Gud Mornig and the second

said,

Diz Is Da Winda. I think he must

have

been in the advanced

class.

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s s s a a a v

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Ni ailiAxouj^

pjBd36eK0d s n

9666-0S6il

-6jO

) iOJd UON

ZZt-Z-lOeiE

Ni sillAXOua

-UVZ *O0 Od 'NOIiVIDOSSV S3DIA3S NOISSIW

0) ssdjppe Mu

jnoi

p id03 s i^qej6ut|{eujsq} pu9$vscaid 'saoiu noX

eiuezuex

jsese^

S f 9

11

9SS xog

3AV3AOJ9

0L8

uoisuedx^

luesi

ud6emqo>|

uui^n

pjieg

UAABG p ue q og

:ss9jppY SuipjeMjoj

s sa jp p v PI9IJ

u

f u o n 3111


5/8

THE

LION S

See the Lionof the tribe of Judah . . . has triumphed

BOB DAWN

BAIRD

Elizabeth Rachel

Joshua

IN

AFRICA

5

De cemb er 9 9

W E

ARE

GRATEFUL

Great

and

marvelous are

your

deeds,

Lord

God

Almighty.

Just and true are

your

ways.

King of the ages.

Revelation

5:3

We are grateful for God's provisions. During

the

months of

Novemberand December

most Americans celebrate what is known

as the HolidaySeason. Itbegins with Thanksgivingand ends with

NewYears. InMasasi, Tanzania,

the

Baird family, along with

the

rest ofour teammates, joininthat celebration. Wedo this certainly

with the same fervor ifnot exactly with

the

same style as

the

rest

of you inAmerica.

Thanksgivingand Christmas helpusto bring to mindallthat we

have to be grateful for - everything from our physical blessings of

good health and

daily

provisions of food and clothing through to

the blessings of a precious familyand precious friends, all the way

to the best blessing of BabyJesus the Christ Child,Jesus our Savior,

to Jesus Christ our reigning God and King.

Bob

and

I

would

like

to

share

with you from

our

first 20

months

inTanzania, a listof very special ThankYous to people to whom

we

owe

more

than

we can ever repay. People to

whom

we are

indeed grateful. Thislistwillnot be complete, of course. Allofyou


6/8

who have

prayed

for usandsupported usover this

time

have ourdeepest andmost sincere thanks

But,

please

join

with

us

praising

God

forthese

special

blessings.

Thank you:

Bill and Nellie

Parker

(Bob's Sister) for keeping Elizabeth.

Allen and Melody Shew for providing our familv with a place

to

stav.

The Familvthat gave us

$12.500

toward building

our house

here.

Mark

and

Rachel

Shew

for ALWAYS being

there

whenever we need them.

Sherry Deckro. our praver partner, for always having us for

the

Wednesdav mornino

Bible Study at a time which ALWAYS

seems

to fall in August near Dawn's

birthday, which means a

oartv

with

cake and presents.

Shirley Weaver fo r being Dawn' s mentor

and

friend.

Jeff

Nelson

for

keeping

Bob

ooina with

great

letters

and

Dave

Berry.

Charlie and Lenora Sargent for buying

Bob s bicycle.

Duke and Beth

Morr ison for helpino

us

get

a

video

camera.

Lynn Kohlhaaen. our

Forwardino Agent, fo r her patience

and

perseverance

through

the

touah

times

and

the

good.

The Sunday School Classes at Caoe Girardeau for

great

Christmas gifts.

Mission

Committees

at Churches in Bettendorf and Council Bluffs. Iowa:

Centralia

and Moline. Illinois: and Dver.

Indiana, for

EVERYTHING.

Bernie

and

Karen

Swanaer

for always seeing in our needs

ah

opportunity

to

provide.

To The Person

who

anonymously deposits

money

in

our

checking account -

your left hand will never know

what

vour right

hand

is doing.

ToAllof the Churches and Individualswho have given us special donations toward our building fund.

With these Blessings to

ecount

Oh L ord

et

Us

Serve You

Well

CLASSES UNDER

THE CASHEW

TREES

I have always heard about and participated in

ShadeTree mechanics. Here in Tanzania we have

CashewTreeChristianEducation. Myfirstclasswas

under the Cashew

Tree

in Tukae

Wote.

I now have

a second class

underthat

t ree and a

third

class under

a

Cashew

Tree in

Mskala.

When Istarted the class InTukaeWote Istarted

itasa devotional typeof lessoninthe

Gospel

ofJohn.

My

students requested that we dosomething more

like

a class. So1developed studyquestionsforJohn

much like the Theological Education TEE) bookswe

used inZaire. We had 10weeks of class, two review

tests

on

the

3rd

and

7th

week, and then

a final

exam

on the 11th week.

Whilewewere goingthrough the bookofJohn,

we, the Team, were scouting the

horizons

for any

signof availableteaching material. Ifound whatwe

needed through our fellowmissionariesfrom ACM,


7/8

June and Howard Crowl,inNairobi. Nairobi, Kenya

iswhere th e Evangel Pressislocated and isthe source

of th e

TEE

program. June and Howard rounded me

up a catalog and the class decided on th e two-part

study of Acts. The Crowls did ail th e footwork for us

to

receive

th o se b oo ks h e re in Masasi.

Thatfirstdasshascompletedthe Gospelof John

and isnow starting into

the

book ofActs. The second

class isalso people fromTukaeWote who saw what

we were doing and wanted to join a study. Now

seven more people are studying the Gospelof John.

Jeff and LoisWhytsell are now in the States for

eight weeks doing their home service. Jeff had

started a class inMskala,also in

th e

Gospel of John.

With Jeff there at home Iam doing that class, too.

The people inMskalaare verydifferent from the ones

inTukaeWote. We don't do a study. Iteach them

from the Gospel, using small portions of scriptures,

simpleapplications.Wehaveaverysporadicturnout

and Ido not know where we

will

go with this.

InTukaeWote most of the people inth e classes

there are with th e Anglican Church. I have asked

th em a bou t

baptism and now know what their

practices are. Intw o weekswe will be doing th e 3rd

chapterof Actsandtheywillseetheapplication ofthe

Great Commission. Then inthe following week I

will

be giving them allof theirother scripturesconcerning

baptism. So around

th e

9t h

tothe

16th of November

we

will

be seeking

to

reap a harvest among these

people for th e Lord. Probably you will receive this

after the fact, but pray for the NewChurch.

QUESTIONS

YOU ASKED

While h o m e this last

s u m m e r

I c a m e t o realize

there are a few important questions to whichmany

ofyouwanted the answers. Ifwe missed anything,

please let us know, but we hope

th e

following list

provides all of those answers.

la . Yes, th e postal system works very well in

Tanzania. AirMail packages take onlythreeweeks.

Ask

th e

postal clerk to send your package

Small

Package and do not put a letter inside. Ifyou put a

letter insideyou cannot getthe Small Package rate.

Things you can send in small package: videos

(without food); snapshots of your

family,

Sunday

School,

etc.; cheese(itdoes not

spoil);

pepperoni;

candy bars

Snickers,

Butterfingers, or M Ms);

packetsof powderedwhippingcream. Please put all

food inzip lockbags.

1b. Surface mail takes

about

three months

but

packages arrive ingood shape.

1c. Yes,you can put little goodies in regular

letters... packages of red Koolaid, a Uptondecaf tea

bag, a Folgers decaf coffee bag, or a package of

unflavored gelatin.

2. We are currently taking a five-year term.

This is

tw o

years on

th e

field, six months Home

Service,

tw o

years on th e field, six months Home

Service. W e will b e h om e th e s u m m er a n d fall of

9 7

onourfirstHomeService. Thisfive-year term takes us

to th e middle of th e year 2000.

3. Birthdays: Bob-January6th, Dawn-August

15th Joshua

-

December

15th.

Anniversary: October 10,1970.

Y O U K N O W Y O U R E

AN MK (Missionary

Kid)

WHEN

Youspeak two languages, but can't spell either.

You have a passport, but no driver's license.

Yourlifestory uses the phrase, Then we

wen t t o five

times.

You watch nature documentaries and you think

about

h ow g oo d

that would

be if it were fried.

You speak with authority on

th e

quality

o f

airline travel.

You sort your friends by continent.

Where are you from? has moret han one

re a sona bl e a nswe r.

The majorityof your friends do not speak

Englishas a first language.

You watch a movie

set

in a foreign country,

an d you know what th e nationals are

REALLY saying into

th e camera.

-copied


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baird robert dawn 1996 tanzania

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