March 2023

Fresh Opportunities for Training, Giving, Going, and Prayer

Carl, Emmanuel, Mikaeli, and David

Carl Smith and I traveled to northern Tanzania between the dates of February 13 and 22. We were hosted by Emmanuel Lazier and Mikaeli Tatile. We went primarily to survey areas where there are fresh opportunities for CRM teams and supporters to help advance the Gospel among Maasai, and among their Muslim neighbors.

We traveled first with Emmanuel to Handeni, a town located near the larger cities of Tanga and Morogoro. Thousands of Maasai have over the last decade migrated to that area because there were more grass, water, and land available for their livestock. The people who live closest to them are majority Mus... people groups. One of the Maasai pastors, Lazaro, has a vision for starting 100 churches in the area. His ministry has already begun to make inroads among the neighboring people. For example, his church has started a nursery school which currently has 150 children enrolled. Eighty of those kids are from Mus... homes. Six churches have already been started among the Maasai of the region, and some converts from Is..m have joined those churches. The kingdom's advances they had already made came at a high price to Lazaro. Five prominent witch doctors of the region publicly opposed him. Over a two-year period, the Lord removed those five men. When the locals saw that the curses of the witch doctors had no power over Lazaro and the Maasai believers, but rather the very men who placed the curses on them died, their attitude toward Christians changed.

Lazaro has invited CRM to send a team to do a five-day intensive Story Cloth training in Handeni. We spent one morning in that town searching for a suitable venue for such an event, and eventually found a great local hotel. While we have not yet set any dates, we believe this should be a high priority for CRM's planning when it comes to Maasai. It should be noted that thousands more Maasai will soon move to this region, as they are being forced by the Tanzanian government to leave their traditional homeland located near the Ngorongoro Crater national park. Many reports regarding this forced migration of Maasai were in the news during 2022.

Church in the Gelai Region

Carl and I also surveyed the places in the Ketumbeine and Gilai areas where Mikaeli and the Maasai Baptists of that area have started Bible schools. They have asked CRM to help them with constructing facilities for those schools. Toward that end, while in Aursha, we had the opportunity to visit with some welders who fabricate brick making machines. The one we saw most suitable for the cause of our Maasai brethren costs $4,400. While surveying the land set aside in Ketumbeine for a Bible school, we noted that electricity and a water pipeline are located close by the site. We decided that if the Lord blesses us with the funds necessary to buy the machine, Ketumbeine would be the ideal spot to have it located. Bricks could be made for both Bible schools, and for bricking up the walls of local churches. Bricks could also be made and sold locally and the proceeds be used to support the schools. Mikaeli reported that there are currently 5 churches in the regions of Ketumbeine and Gilai which need a roof built.

Unfinished Classroom
of Losimingori 

Carl and I also spent a day teaching in the Bible school located in the Losimingori region, which is situated west of Arusha. The school meets in a former IMB owned house. We discovered that the 12 students at the school were not familiar with either story cloth, so we spent the day giving a survey of both cloths. There were no English speakers present, so I had to do all the interpreting from English into Kiswahili, and of course do all my teaching in that language. Whew! My 66-year-old brain was fried by the end of the day. However, this experience made clear that a 5-day intensive story cloth training also needs to be done in this region. Additionally, we learned that 4 church roofs need to be built in this area. Late last year, CRM donated enough money for this Bible school to build a new classroom. The walls have been raised but a roof is still needed. The cost of providing the roof is approximately $3,500. When that classroom is completed, the former IMB house will serve as their dorm, making it possible for them to enroll more students.

Hard Copy Bibles for Sudan
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, the Christian bookseller in Khartoum currently has just over 1,300 diglot Bibles to sell at $11 each, 250 study Bibles at $49 each, and 150 illustrated Children's Bible story books at $6 each. We have set up a designation on CRM's Clover Give site for donating specifically for this project. We are asking our Lord to touch His people to give to this high priority opportunity. Below are some more testimonies from Sudan which make clear the impact that receiving a Bible has had on those who received one in 2022 through the generosity of CRM's donors. Other reports can be found under the Testimonies page linked at the top of the website.

A... wrote
Thank you so much for the greatest gift I have ever received in my life. It is my greatest challenge to know how to appreciate you. But our Father who is in heaven knows to do that on my behalf. My beloved brothers and sisters, you have opened my eyes to see and hear something that I was totally blind of it. I have never expected that we had such a great treasure that it was hidden from us. When I read my Bible and understand what it says and I pray, my soul gets pure refreshment. I had no such experience in all my life when I was Mus..m. The study Bible I have received wiped all my confusing points. I am very much blessed it is only me who received study Bible in my area. However, its my prayer that my fellow brothers in their preaching points will also have one. They call me now and then can you look for us this verse in the Bible, and I spend time looking up such a call. Please know that you are making a difference in the lost communities. I am happy with your presous gifts.

Amed wrote
My brothers and sisters in the Lord, thank you for Bibles. Yesterday we had a wonderful moment when we conducted a wedding in our church. It was the first time in the history of our village to have a Christian wedding. People held their Bibles to read. However, many ladies didn't like to hold the Bible because they thought it was the same as in Is..m when a lady in her period, she is unclean, so she is supposed not to touch the Bible. I knew that was a problem because some of them were our regular church members. I told them before the Lord Jesus Christ we are all clean, anywhere, anytime. Then, people gathered around those who held the Bible in each Bibles more than six persons were reading. We started with (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Love is patient is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, and it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...

After reading these verses, a lady named Samira said,

I thank God that I have not married in Islamic tradition. The Lord has shown his truth for us. If we love each other, there will be no divorce. We gave a chance for people to give best wishes the couple. Many people said amazing things. especially after the ceremony. 7 ladies and two young men gave their lives to Christ. Please rejoice with us and pray for our brother and sisters who gave themselves to Christ.

April Training Event
The planning for our upcoming April training in K.... is coming along well. The team currently consists of six ladies and two men, although one more male may soon join. Our partners on the ground ask that we continually pray for peace in their country as there are factors at play at the national level which could lead to nationwide conflict. The event will involve believers from two fringe sections of the country, and folks who live in the capital. I communicated with one leader on Monday and asked him if he had any more reports from leaders who had received Bibles. He answered and said he had many of them, but he has not taken time to translate them because so many people are coming to Christ there in the capital, that he is spending the majority of his time discipling, counseling, and leading Bible studies.

We ask that you pray daily for the Lord's protection over the members of this team and those in S... who will attend. Pray especially over the next two weeks that visas will be obtained from this country's embassy in Washington D.C. This requires coordination with the management of the hotel where the team will lodge. Pray for the funding required to pay for the transport, lodging and food for attendees. A designation for giving to this project is available on CRM's Clover Give page and can be accessed by clicking HERE and on the “Donate” button on the website. We have estimated it will require between $250-$300 to sponsor one attendee.

CRM March 30 Banquet
As was mentioned in our last newsletter, the CRM board will host a banquet on March 30 beginning at 6:00 p.m. The location is the Calvary Baptist Church of Knoxville, 3200 Kingston Pike. A catered meal will be served so we ask that you RSVP to dcrane@calvaryroadministries.org. If you are unable to attend but would like to send a message to be read, or a 1 minute or less video greeting to be shown, please send them to the same email address, or if it is hard copy, mail to 418 Jane St., Cherryville, NC 28021. We would love to hear from you who have a long relationship with CRM. Our focus during the evening will be celebrating CRM's 25 years of ministry. During the event, we will take time to honor Elise Shepherd and Deloris Anderson for the contribution they and their husbands made to the Lord through CRM. We will also be privileged to meet the artists who designed both of the story cloths. In brief, it will be an evening of worship, celebration, and testimony to the goodness and power of God as witnessed by CRM's partners, both residents of the USA, and overseas.

If you desire to donate online you can click HERE or if you prefer to send a check, please mail it to 4100 Fulton Rd., Corryton, TN 37721. If you desire to designate your gift to a particular project, please send a note with the check.

For His glory,
David Crane