Seek first the kingdom of God (in Singida)

Today I want to write about a young brother who is an inspiration to me, and I hope his will be to you. His name is Samuel Nandi.

Samuel

I first met Samuel in Nairobi, Kenya last year. He was a quiet, reserved young man. We was a active member of the church by then. I remember he was asked to lead a prayer by the preacher and his shyness caused him to pray so quietly it was impossible to say, "amen".

The next time I saw Samuel was in Arusha, he had come for a Leadership study we had arranged. Again he was very quiet, but there was something about him. At the end of the study he told me he wanted to stay in Arusha to go to a tourism college and could he stay at the church building. Of course the brethren were happy for him to do that and he became a part of the congregation.

At the Leadership Study

Samuel was has a Kenyan father and a Tanzanian mother. He speaks very good English and he is very intelligent.  He showed a great interest in studying the Bible and learning. I ended up finding him work around the church building that needed to be done to help him with the cost of furthering his education.

He was waiting to start college at the beginning of this year when he told me he wanted to go to his family village in Singida to visit his mother. We have had this happen to a number of Christians and unfortunately we have not see these brethren again. I was wondering if this was going to be the case with Samuel.

Around that time Anne and I traveled to Malaysia to assist the brethren in Kuala Lumpur and then went on to Perth. While there I received an email from Samuel telling me he had started 2 congregations! One in the village and one in the town of Singida.

With Samuel and his family

Since then, readers of this blog will know that I have made a number of trips to Singida to help the work there. The congregations are small, the Christians are young, but the truth is being preached. Samuel had been living in the village with his mother and step-father, but he was concerned about the lack of growth in the town. He could not afford the cost of the bus ticket (Tsh 4000 - about $2.40) each way, to help them. He therefore decided he needed to move to the town to help the church there.

Just as we all do, all around the world Samuel has Samuel has to deal with the problem of supporting himself financially, and helping the church. He has just come up with a plan and I am so very proud of him.

Together with another new brother, Edward, Samuel found a unfinished house in Singida town and started renting it. The deal is that for the first 2 month it is rent free, but these young men have to do some work on the house - they are doing that.

They have set up the building so they can use the main room as a place of worship for the church on Sunday. During the week they are using it teaching school to the children of the area.  The local schools charge parents Tsh 200 ($.12) a day for after-school tuition. Samuel and Edward are offering their "school" for Tsh 100 a day! This means that these young men are earning around Tsh 1000 ($0.60) a day with which they are able to buy some vegetables to eat.

Edward teaching a Maths class last Saturday

The students on the seats (not built for comfort, but they work)

I am so proud of Samuel for doing this. He could leave Singida and get a job that paid good money, but he is putting the Lord first in all he does.

Please pray for this brother and the work he is doing.