Two to three weeks back, one of our assistant pastors from Inter-City Baptist Church, Dan Winnberg, returned from a two-week mission trip that he and his wife, Meredith, made to Mwanza, Tanzania in order to assist the Howell family in various phases of their complex ministry, such as Dan teaching in the Grace Baptist Institute as well as helping with the church planting work and Meredith assisting with the Tumaini Children’ Home. When Dan returned, he brought back the nice soapstone dish pictured above as a gift from the Howell family and the students from Grace Baptist Institute.

As you look at the plate above, the names of the Institute students are painted on the top of the plate and “Taasisi Ya Kibaptisti Ya Neema” [Grace Baptist Institute], Mwanza, Tanzania, 2007″ is on the bottom. In reference to the details of the plate, the two men are traditional warriors of East Africa, known as Masai, and are also nomadic cattle herders. The warrior on the left has a spear in his left hand and a shield in his right. The man on the right with a staff in his hand is standing by a tree. As nomadic cattle herders, the three animals between the two men are cows. The two huts above the men are traditional huts made out of mud and grass. The picture of the huts is something of an anomaly since the traditional Masai huts are made of dung with a flat dung roof.

When I went to Mwanza last summer, my desire was to be able to minister to the Institute students and members of the three churches at Sweya, Shadi and Nyagaliro. As it turned out, I believe this group of believers did more to minister to me than I to them (to check out pictures my trip, click here). When I received plate, I was humbled by the thoughtfulness of the Howell family and the students at Grace Baptist Institute. I also thank my sovereign God who in his sovereign electing purposes is saving out a people for his name sake from among the people of Tanzania, as well as throughout the earth (Rev 5:9). To my friends in Mwanza, thanks so much for your thoughtfulness.