Eastup Nov 2018

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:1).

November is the month of Thanksgiving and, while we are to be thankful always, I am acutely aware this year of the many things for which I am thankful. God continues to be so faithful and has abundantly blessed my first month of life in Tanzania.

Many prayers were answered as I traveled to my new home. Just when it seemed that it would be nearly impossible for me to get on a flight that would arrive in Amsterdam in time to meet up with my teammates, the Martins, God provided a helpful gate agent who was able to reroute my flights to still arrive on schedule. Feeling so thankful, I landed at the Kilimanjaro airport with the Martins and was warmly greeted by my other teammates, the Nickels, as originally planned. I am so thankful for a wonderful team that has welcomed me in and made me feel right at home.

I quickly got settled in to my house, which was already very nicely decorated by previous missionaries. That was a big blessing because decorating is not one of my strengths, nor a task I enjoy. I am surrounded by colorful plants, chirping birds, magnificent views of the mountains, and the beautiful sounds of children laughing, playing, and singing.


My new home


Mount Kiliminjaro as seen from the Village

I have already been so impressed by the school, of which I have been given the opportunity to become the headmaster. I am thankful that I am inheriting a staff of teachers who work well together, are committed to their work, care about their students, act as role models of godly living, and have fostered a positive environment for learning and growing. There will be much more to share about my amazing teachers in future newsletters. 

I am thankful for students who are eager to learn. As I have visited classrooms, I see students working hard and actively engaging in their learning. When I join them for lunch, they happily tell me what they have learned that morning. I am blown away by their ability to memorize and recite scripture. What a joy to walk past the classrooms as they sing their hymns each morning. I see them developing good character traits and values. This often shows most in their willingness to serve others. You can see that these young men were even eager to pitch in and help with scrubbing the exterior of the Junior Secondary School.

Construction is moving along on our three science labs for the secondary school. These labs are a requirement for the registration of a secondary school in Tanzania. Our prayer is that the construction would continue expeditiously so that our secondary school can be registered before the new school year and the labs are ready for use by January. We want to be able to offer Christian classical secondary education to both our resident and day students. Please join us in praying that all will go smoothly with the registration process and that God would grant us favor with the authorizing authorities. I am thankful for the hard work of the construction crew and Phil, our Village Administrator.



My list of thanksgiving is endless, but I will save the rest for sharing in future newsletters. It is a joy to get to share these blessings from the first month. I hope that you also are acutely aware of God’s many blessings this Thanksgiving.

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