Questions and Pocket Knives

Mbugwe receiving books of Ruth & Jonah 2016
"When are you leaving for Tanzania?"  We will drive to Atlanta June 25th to spend the night and depart Atlanta airport early on the morning of June 26th.  We will arrive in Dar-es-Salaam on June 27th.

What books of the Bible do the three groups we will be teaching have in their mother tongue?

Burunge (we have the entire NT and Ruth, Jonah, Genesis, and Exodus)

 Rangi ( NT books, Luke, Mark, 1-3 John, Philippians, Colossians, Acts, Revelation, OT Ruth, Jonah, and Genesis.) 

Mbugwe  Mark, Ruth, Jonah, and maybe Luke( by July).

If you are interested where in Tanzania those language groups are located, and how far they will travel to Dodoma, here is a language map for Tanzania.  Numbers 36, 37 and 42 are the locations for the groups we are teaching.  We are expecting about 20 people per language group (coed). 

Does Tanzania have a national language?  Swahili is the dominant language in Tanzania.  Most of the people attending our workshop will speak Swahili and their native tongue.  They will be reading and teaching the Bible to their people in their native Tongue.

Isn't it dangerous to be a Christian in Tanzania? One of my Junior University students asked this question (Thanks Abby!).  Eastern Tanzania (Dar-es-Salaam) is very heavily Muslim, but they are westernized Muslim.  Here is the breakdown from the World Fact Book

Christian 61.4%, Muslim 35.2%, folk religion 1.8%, 
other 0.2%, unaffiliated 1.4%

The island of Zanzibar off the coast of Dar-es-Salaam is almost entirely Muslim.

How are you going to teach the different language groups if you don't speak their language?  We will have a Swahili translator, as well as, a mother tongue translator. They will have the scripture in their mother tongue.  I experienced teaching through a translator in Zambia.  You can't teach rapid-fire, and you have to think thoroughly before you speak.  Then you pause while the translator ... well translates and then speaks to the students.

How long will you be gone?   We will be in Dar-es-Salaam for one week and then drive inland to Dodoma.  We will fly from Dodoma to Zanzibar somewhere around the 21st or 22nd of July and spend three days there before departing for America on July 26th.  So, we will be gone about a month.  My son, Stephen, will be living in our house during our absence.

Where did you get the material to teach how to study the Bible?  We are using the material I used to teach the Deeper Roots class of the same name.  Links and material are available at http://pandabible.weebly.com.

How can we keep in touch/up-to-date with you and Lynne?  I will be blogging while we are gone.  You can text us using WhatsApp on your phone or PC at no charge on WiFi.  You will probably see us posting on Facebook since there seems to be WiFi everywhere in Africa.  Finally, you can e-mail us

                   larryninas@gmail.com
                   lynneninas@gmail.com

Any specific prayer requests?
  • Safe travel for us and the people traveling for the workshop.
  • Patience and clarity of thought when teaching.
  • Opportunites to encouragement and share the Gospel.  I have a particular memory from Zambia about sharing the Gospel.  Check out this blog post.
If you think of any questions, send them to one of our e-mail addresses.  

I would like to offer you an opportunity to participate in our adventure.  We will be working with 6 translators and a helper during our workshop.  I would like to give a small gift to each of them-a pocket knife.  If you have a good pocket knife that you are willing to contribute e-mail me and I will pick it up with an additional provision.  Write out your testimony or a letter of encouragement and wrap the knife neatly in the letter.  Then pray for the translator who will receive that knife.  I will deliver it with your blessing, and bring back a picture of your recipient.  The IT guy for Wycliffe will also be helping us out, so if you have a heart for IT guys e-mail me.  I would like to have all of this completed by this coming Friday/Saturday at the latest so I can finish packing.

Thanks in advance for your generosity and prayer.

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