Here is a new list of the projects we are currently working on as our PMC projects for 2013-2014. Some items, you will notice, are refreshed from our continuing goals and purposes.
Kibaha is located on the major road between Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro, about 50 Km from the city centre to the West; within the Coast Region.
Tanzania, among other African countries, leads in terms of spiritual hunger and response to the gospel. Despite the current economic crises and poor social services provided in the rural areas, the majority of the people are abandoning false traditional belief systems that oppose the Christian faith, - save the minority Islamic population and animists. This makes penetration of the gospel much easier.
The spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been extensive in most areas. The resultant deaths have caused an increase in number of victims - orphans widows, widowers and street children. The loss of bread-earning parents has brought the poverty levels to a progressive increase.
In most parts of the country, membership attendance in churches has increased, especially on Sundays. Christians have grown in number during the past decade - which is a clear indicator of rapid biological and spiritual growth by way of outreach ministries, revival meetings and other evangelistic endeavours.
The pastors, most of them not having a proper theological training, care for up to 50 members. Hence the need for establishing an Inter-denominational Bible College for training of the in-service ministers as well as catering to pre-service courses.
Last year we prepared a need-based feasibility study, which influenced our request for different aid materials from the Crossroad Founation Head Office in Hong Kong. We are now looking forward to receiving a 40 foot container together with another non-governmental organization based in Kigoma, Western Tanzania. We are to receive 40% of the contents. They, and we, have been given a list of the items being donated to us. We will recieve the following;
Clothes for children and adults
Benches
Office chairs
Computers
Cupboards
Bicycles
School materials
Music equipment and
Washing machines
It is wonderful to know that all this material aid is coming, but we have to raise the funds for the port charges, and then the transportation overland, and distribution of the materials. Gulp! That will cost $12,000 in total!
Since we will only receive 40% of the goods, we need only come up with 40% of that total, which is $4,800 US Dollars. We, hereby ask our frie4nd, donor organizations, and well-wishers to contribute generously towards this goal of $4,800. At the same time we would appreciate your prayer in this regard.
Since we expect this container to arrive from Hong Kong in early November, and we are required to move the container by the 30th of November to avoid demurrage charges, we sense some urgency in raising this amount.
Please send your donations via - Western Union, or MoneyGram, or Cheques - to reach us by November 15th, 2013
made out to: The Pentecostal Missionary Church - National
P.O. Box 9848, Dar Es Salamm, Tanzania
Attn: Pastor Gervase Martin Masanja
National General Overseer - Tanzania
We expect to receive a container every month, 12 in total for one year. They will bring gospel literature and humanitarian aid such as:-
Gospel literature, books and Sunday school materials
Bibles, tracts and discipleship training materials such as DVDs, CDs, VHS.
CDs, DVDs, VHS, Hymn books, for teaching and Christian music.
Wheelchairs, bicycles,
sewing machines and tools/machinery for the Skill Training Project in masonry, carpentry, welding etc.
Computers, and music equipment
Again, there will be port charges, inland transport, offloading and sorting and distribution expenses. In this case,, it is estimated they will be $2,500 US per container, with a total of $30,000 for the year. We invite your generous contributions towards this cost, and to think of this is investing in the Kingdom of God, who will in turn bless you richly.
Our ultimate aim is to reach the unreached and least-reached people groups of Tanzania. To that end we have come up with several creative projects that we trust will open such opportunities to us.
We want to train orphaned youths in skills that will help them to generate incomes so they can become self-supporting. We look forward to a good start because, Love Packages, has donated 43 sewing machines, and 7 Bags of clothes to start, These are on the way now in a container. Our aim is to start a tailoring project, to train our church young people for jobs.
However, we are URGENTLY appealing now for help to pay the port authority charges of $3,600 USD so we may actually receive these gifts.
Ever since we started distributing tracts years ago, we have prayed that God - in His time and will, would provide us the printing press machinery to publish our own tracts and books. The cost was always beyond our ability. However, our prayers are answered through Love Packages (USA). They are donating two used printing presses to us! We expect them by the end of October. Once received and set up, we hope to commence our full printing production by January 2014 - of tracts, booklets, brochures, etc.
The Requirements before that can happen involves;
a Plate-making machine
Cutters
Camera for dark room operations
Start up finance
An estimated expenditure of $30,000 USD for first year is thus needed.
However, we do have high hopes that this will be an income-generating business. Printing will attract reasonable charges in the competitive market. Proper books of accounts will be maintained at all times. The turnover profit margin after one year of operation is expected to exceed the $30,000 initial financial input. We therefore, appeal once again to our previous and new donors to enable us take-off in order to make our dreams come true.
We are currently spending three months, from August through October of 2013, celebrating our 25th birthday of this Literature Dept. The climax will be a great evangelistic campaign in which 350 preachers/ministers from within Tanzania and abroad will participate. We expect a soul-harvest of 1000 will be realized!
Costs . . . - to be covered by Edward Eteshola (GPLDM), who has agreed to support the campaign with part of a gift of $5,000. We are proud of him, and appreciate his financial assistance. He also funded the printing of Swahili tracts in the USA, and some port clearance costs.
The government of the United Republic of Tanzania, through the Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) issued a notice to demolish all buildings within close proximity to the Dar-es-salaam - Morogoro Road. Our church building is among many such buildings. Because of that notice, at the Annual General Conference (2012), held at our present premises, we agreed to look for alternative premises where we could construct the church buildings and offices for the Gospel Literature Distribution; and its storage facilities.
We do understand the reason; the density of traffic and the resultant congestion raised concern of the Minister for Works, who saw it fitting to increase the present 2-lanes to 4-lanes.
Our response, guided by Romans 13:1-3, was to find, and buy a plot of land for $15,950 USD. This plot has been paid for in full by gifts of visitors.
Phase 1 - a 400 seat church building for worship services, conferences and seminars.
- five rooms to rent out to business men, so the church becomes self-supporting.
- a printing workshop building with darkroom, for the printing presses.
Phase 2 - Add a 20-room hostel for guests and students of the School of Ministry as an economic investment toward self-sustainability.
Phase 3 - offices of the Pastor and Managing Director of the Gospel Literature Distribution.
- build a godown (warehouse) for equipment off-loaded from three 40 foot containers.
- School of Ministry building, and the equipment required to run the school, including computers and books.
For a long time our church has been ministering to the needs of the people living with disabilities. Mainly we supplied wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and walking sticks for the blind. Under the direction of Pastor Gervase Masanja, we have distributed these items in big numbers to the community, government hospitals and centers for the disabled in and around Kibaha, benefiting thousands of people. Our special thanks go to; Wheelchair Foundation, Love Packages, Joni and Friends, all of the USA. These organizations have been a blessing to us by way of supplies and cooperation.
The disabled do suffer without these aids, especially when they need to walk and/or do physiotherapy exercises. They are many (in number) and the majority are poor and thus cannot afford to buy them at the market prices (expensive). We have the burden and vision to help. Failure for the disabled persons to access such necessary items brings sorrow and frustration. They feel they are disadvantaged citizens. Sometimes the community regards them as social misfits.
In 2009, we donated 50 wheelchairs to disabled people located at Mlandizi town. Among them was a 22 year lame old girl who had never walked since birth. She was helped to come out of the house and as she was being given a wheelchair, she shed tears of joy.
In extending our ministry to them we need to construct a godown (storage area) where we shall stock big supplies of artificial limbs and wheel chairs etc.
In 2012, Pastor Gervase visited USA where he met the Management of the "Limb International." This organization supplies artificial limbs. Discussions were held with them and it was agreed that, if we set up a clinic, they will send to us these supplies. Later they would train local personnel to assemble them. We can then easily look for the people with this need and give them.
Please help with financial assistance!
We need donations so that we can construct the building to house the clinic and godown for storage purposes. The cost is estimated at $15,000 USD for the Training, and $35,000 for the construction. The total required is $50,000. USD.