Our Blog

February Update

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:44:03 +0300

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End Of The Year Update

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:20:30 +0300

Greetings Friends & Family -
We hope all is well with you and yours. We hope everyone had a good and safe holiday season. This past month has been busy with lots of different events taking place. There is so much to tell about, I am not sure where to start...

ACSOP Graduation -
The last week of November we had the Andrew Connally School of Preaching Graduation. There were Eight graduates in this class. There was one woman to graduate with the class. The school does not train women preachers but she wanted to attend the school to receive a better knowledge of the Bible and be a better leader among the ladies of the congregation. For those of you that may wonder, “Why not train a woman to preach?” The answer is found in 1 Timothy 2:8-12, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. The church does not want to do anything that is contrary to the scriptures. The seven men that graduated will be going into 3 different countries of Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda establishing congregations of their own, and teaching others the gospel.

Arusha and Kilimanjaro Bible School Graduation -
Not only did we have the ACSOP graduation, we had the Bible School graduations as well. It was the Arusha Bible School and the Kilimanjaro Bible School. These schools are open free of charge to anyone who wishes to study the Bible. Both men, women, Christians and non-Christians attend the school. Many of these students who were not previously Christians become so after attending this school. There were 33 graduates in this class. At graduation they wore the cap and gown and received a certificate of completion. There were many proud family members that were there taking pictures and celebrating this event. This was a big deal for the graduates as education is not taken for granted in this country.

Future Preacher Training Camp -
These young men were trained and encouraged in Bible education during a week long camp. The camp was lead by Roger Shepherd who comes each year for this special event. We thank him for his time, effort and love that he has for the youth here in Tanzania.

Tanzania Christian Camp (TCC) -
This year was the first year this camp was conducted. It was a camp similar to those in the states. It consisted of week long bible lessons, sports, singing, etc. There were 101 young campers. It was an amazing event. The youth here in Tanzania do not have a lot of activities centered around them, so this was very exciting to them. Carey was there each day teaching and said that it was a good group. He formed a bond with some of the guys during their football aka soccer games. There were Five baptisms during the week and I know of at least one other the Sunday after. Please continue to pray for these new converts and the youth here in Tanzania.

There are many great things about living in Tanzania and we enjoy being able to reach people whom we would have never had the the chance to meet before.
As always we appreciate the chance to be here doing what we do.

We Send Our Love And Appreciation,
The Samford Family,

Carey, Bonnie, Aubrie, Ayden, and Ryan

A Thanksgiving Story

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:05:53 +0300

According to History.com the first Thanksgiving was in “1621, when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans.”

After moving to this foreign country of Tanzania, I sometimes feel like a pilgrim when I am trying to learn a new culture, a new language and interact with the people.

One certain occasion reminded of “The First Thanksgiving.”

Just before Thanksgiving Carey took some seeds to a friends father, he is an elderly man but able to farm to try provide food for his family. So Carey gave him seeds in hopes that he could try to grow crops. He was so grateful for this gesture of love that he gave us a chicken. He specifically gave it to Carey telling him that it was for me.

So this is me with my Thanksgiving chicken...
(Yes it is still alive) And for those of you that
think it might be cruel to hold a live chicken
upside down, you will find comfort in the fact
that it was quickly killed and eaten. :-)

I hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yourselves and remember that every good thing given and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:17

Until Next Time,
Bonnie

Thanksgiving In Tanzania

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:13:24 +0300

Top 5 Reason why I was glad that I was in Tanzania for Thanksgiving.

1. I wasn’t tempted by the Wal-Mart day after Thanksgiving sale, at 5 a.m.

1. We were able to spend the day with our Christian family here.

1. I don’t have to worry about the holiday traffic.

1. Making my self sick from over eating wasn’t as tempting. (Although I think it still happened with the snacks we had at the Stafford’s house)

1. I truly learn each day what it means to be thankful for the most basic things in life, especially when you see other without anything.
And my children are learning these things as well.

Bonnie Samford

Beanie Babies Travel To Tanzania

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:21:21 +0300

I recently took a trip with the ladies of the church to visit a local primary school that was in need of help. It is a school that is for children that are considered “at risk” or they are orphaned. The school is a register NGO (non-governmental organization) in Tanzania and provides assistance to these little ones. It is run and operated by Tanzanians with occasional foreign volunteers. It’s focus is to give these children an education and at least one meal a day. For most of these children this is their ONLY meal. Their breakfast my only consist of boiled cornmeal and water.

FOOD FIRST
When we first arrived and started visiting with the children, we soon learned that most of them had not eaten that day, and due to the schools low financial donations, they were unable to provide food for these children that day. Those of us that were there took up a collection and got cornbread muffins at a nearby shop for them to at least have a meal the day we came.

EATING PAPER
All of a sudden I noticed some of the children stuffing the muffin paper in their mouths, trying to chew, and swallow. I asked if they knew that they were not suppose to eat that part of the muffin. “ They are so hungry that they eat the paper to become more full.” was the reply. This broke my heart, and I almost started to cry.

BACKGROUNDS
Many of these children may only have one parent (loosing the other to death) or they may have no parent at all, only living with a relative. One child was born without a hand. His father said that he was cursed, and left him and his mother. Superstitions like these are unfortunately common. (Notice his right arm)

BEANIE BABIES TRAVEL TO TANZANIA

One sweet lady in Texas sent us a Huge box of beanie babies for the children of Tanzania. After they had some food (and paper) in their bellies, we gave out the dolls. THEY LOVED THEM! They were so excited to get such a nice gift. Most of the children’s toys here are made of trash that they find on the ground. To have a new doll like this made them very happy. We plan to visit these children again and help where we can.