Tanzanian student in Birmingham helps area church reach his homeland

Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Africa, is a long way from Alabama, but that didn’t stop members of Birmingham’s Philadelphia Baptist Church from making the trip to Dar es Salaam not once, but twice to minister to the people there.
   
“I thought this was going to be our second year and we’d be through, but everybody just got more excited about it,” said Pastor Barry Bruce.
   
Located on the east coast of Africa south of Kenya, Tanzania is a poor but developing Third World country of about 30 million people. Even though there are many Christians in Tanzania, the population is largely non-Christian, consisting of followers of the Muslim faith or those of traditional African beliefs.
  
Philadelphia Baptist’s involvement began when a Holiness Pentecostal pastor from Tanzania, Rejoice Ndalima, came to Birmingham three years ago to further his education.
   
Having planted about 20 churches along the Tanzanian coast, Ndalima had already been a tremendous witness in his home country. However, he knew that in order to train others to share the gospel, he needed more training himself.
   
Ndalima began attending Philadelphia Baptist and discovered that the congregation shared his desire to help him help his people. He asked if the church would consider sending a missions group to Tanzania, and plans for the first trip began.
    
“We’d been praying about going somewhere,” said Bruce. “We didn’t think we’d be working with the Holiness Pentecostal Church, but for some reason, God put it right there in our laps.”
   
Five people from Philadelphia Baptist traveled to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, last year. This year, 10 people made the journey, including a high school student and two college students.
   
For 19 jam-packed days from July 16 through Aug. 2, the group conducted an eight-day crusade, held a seminar for pastors, traveled individually to speak in churches, showed the “Jesus” film twice (translated into Swahili for the benefit of non-English-speaking Tanzanians), visited college campuses and researched the needs of orphanages in the area.
   
In all, more than 200 people were saved.
   
Keith was especially touched by the response of the children who attended the children’s sessions held in conjunction with the crusade.
   
“It was beyond words,” she said. “The kids were so hungry to hear about Jesus.” Describing  how approximately 200 kids kept coming back time after time to hear God’s Word, she added, “It was so humbling for God to use us that way.”
   
She was amazed at how quickly the people responded to the gospel message. Invitations to accept Jesus at the Tanzanian crusade were immediately accepted, and people hurried forward, she noted.
   
Bruce felt a special concern for students on the university and college campuses the group visited.
   
“We especially wanted to offer fellowship to the Christians in the universities because they’re really struggling against the grain,” he said. “There’s a real calling among people in our church to go back and help those college students.”
   
Members are now considering the logistics of building a school for pastors on property the church purchased last year near the Indian Ocean.
   
Bruce notes that a group of seven- and eight-year-old girls has started praying for the orphanage after taking up special offerings for their Tanzanian counterparts.
    
“This is something God has placed in our hearts,” said Bruce. “We feel a long-term commitment to the ministry there and we’re trying to figure out where God’s leading us.”