In the Mean Time

Hi to All,

It's been months since I have posted to this blog simply because I am back in the states now and no longer in Tanzania :o) I am posting now just to give you all updates on my time back in the states.

I am back in school and things are going quite well. I have 3 classes this semester and one, in particular, is preparing me for ministry to Muslims. This will definitely come in handy in the future as I plan to go on more missions trips to countries where Islam is the culture and the religion. I am still teaching exercise classes and keeping in shape. I am also the president of Jabez Praise Dance Ministry here at Regent and we are doing great as well. Check out the blog if you have time (jabezpraisedanceministry.blogspot.com)

Right now, I am praying about an opportunity to go to Ghana next year. It will be different in the sense that it is a ministry and educational study tour. The plans are to visit churches, schools, colleges, and villages. We will also learn about the slave trade and visit slave castles. On the other hand, we will be involved in ministry such as outdoor crusades and evangelism and prayer walks... I am undecided at this point, but I ask that you would pray for wisdom and clarity in all of my decision making.

I will keep you updated on in the future on these various opportunities. If you are interested in going on any trips with me in the future, please let me know!!

Also, I will be finishing up my time here at Regent soon. I graduate May 9, 2008!!! Praisalujah!!

3 More Days and I am Homeward Bound!!!

Hi to All,

Sorry it's taken so long for me to post again. I have been sooooo busy the last two weeks with the team. Even before then, I traveled to a place here in Tanzania (16 hours away from Moshi) called Mbeya for a pastor's conference. We were gone for almost two weeks. So... all that to say, it has been quite hectic for me.... in a good way though! :o)

In Mbeya, the Lord brought together pastor's from many different denominations to unify to plant churches in areas where the gospel has not yet been preached. Though my purpose was to go, observe, and intercede, I was given the opportunity to lead the men in worship and to also debrief with the team. It was amazing!!! I have been amazed at how the Lord is closing up the gap between denominations here to encourage His people to unify. Though the pastor's had their theological differences, they chose to put them aside for the sake of reaching those with the gospel who have never been reached. I will post pics! Please keep them in prayer because there will come a point that they may have to confront eachother because of their differences. Please pray that in spite of those differences, they will choose to stay connected and work threw their issues.

The last two weeks with the team has been phenomenal as well. We have had a full schedule and have been extremely busy since they landed on July 29. We have all had the opportunity to either preach or give testimonies. I have given testimonies and preached on three different subjects: Healing, Unity within the Body, and Walking in Authority. It has been great!!

Many people have received salvation, healing from illnesses, and have received words of encouragement that will lead to deeper relationship with God.

This past week, we held a three-day outreach in Babati and received great resistance from the enemy. Many people on the team became sick and on the second day of the crusade, we were not allowed to preach or pray and lay hands on the sick. We were forbidden by immigration to do these things although Tanzania is an open country. On the 2nd day, I didnt go to the crusade because I decided to stay back with two of the women that were sick. Everyone's faith was tested! We all prayed and by the next day, we were granted freedom to do as we wished. We prayed and others preached... people were saved and their were also healings. The Lord did great things through us and I believe that He will continue to do wonderful things through others in Babati...

At this moment, I am preparing my heart and mind to leave. I am sad to leave because I have made so many friends here and I have connected so well with the nationals. On the other hand, I know that my time here is drawing to an end. I am anxious to see family and friends again and to also REST!!! I am mentally, physically, and emotionally tired though my time here has been life-altering and phenomenal. I can not complain... I do ask that you would pray for refreshing for me though...

God has been doing great things and because of your love and support, I have been afforded the opportunity to come here, be challenged here, be changed here, be stretched here, be molded here, to be used here, build relationships here... the list goes on and on... All in all, THANK YOU ALL AND I LOVE YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!

I hope to hear from you all... My next message to you may be from America though...

Blessings,

April Nicole

So Far...... ;0) / Trip to Mbeya

Hi All,

Thank you for continuing to pray for me and the people of Tanzania these last 7 weeks!! It has been phenomenal here. So far, I have gone to language school, attended a 2 week healing seminar (BTW: it has changed my outlook on life), begun teaching English at the women's center and I have learned how to sew. I am no "Martha Stewart" but I am doing quite well. :o) The main focus of the first two phases of my internship, language school and ministry at the women's center, has been about adapting to the culture and learning about the people. Now, hear me, it is difficult to to fully adapt to a culture in 3 months time, but I have become more accustomed to the way of doing things here. I have learned how to bargain in the markets, I have learned how to buy groceries here, I have learned certain nuances that should be followed between men and women and elders and youth. I have also become more comfortable with touch as the culture is very touch-oriented. You may see men walking hand in hand here with no connotation of homosexuality attached. It is a sign of close friendship and comfortability with one another...
I have also become better at communicating in Swahili though I am not fluent by any means... :o) Teaching the English class has helped because I have to used Swahili sentences and words in order to explain certain subjects. Moreover, I have learned to worship in Swahili and be free to praise as the Africans do!! It has been amazing.

Now, I am moving into the final phase of the internship. Ministry will be more intense. Friday, I will be leaving Moshi, Tanzania to join a team of missionaries involved in church planting. We will be going to Mbeya which is about 16 hours away from here. It is pretty close to where I attended language school. They will be conducting a pastors conference for more than 25 African pastors. This conference will be geared towards mobilizing the pastors to reach unreached people groups in Africa... so your prayers will be needed. Actually, I will be going to observe, learn, and to also pray earnestly for their success. Another missionary and I will attend some of the services but we are also designated as intercessors. We will be praying for the team as they conduct the conferences. Though I do not like to involve the enemy in my prayer, I know that he does not desire for the word of God to go forth. It is tantamount that we pray that the pastors and their families are protected and that the enemies plans will be confused and thwarted.

Please pray for the following:

• safe travels
• team cohesiveness, unity, and agape love
• the pastors to have open hearts to receive the Word with joy
• the translations from English to Swahili and that they would be accurate to convey exact meaning
• protection from illness
• the missionaries and that they would find a "man of peace" in each village to open the door for missionaries to come to them with the gospel
• whatever else comes to your heart....

Well guys, I have to go for now but I thank you and I love you all and I pray all of the Lord's abundant blessings over you... Be abundantly blessed with His peace, His joy, His love, His happiness, His all!!! Do you have room enough to recieve it yet? ... ;0) I still don't... it's "way" too much... It makes me smile just to think about it...

Mbarikiwe sana!! (You all be greatly blessed!!)

Sincerely,

April Nicole King

Healing Seminar

Well, all I can say is that the Lord is blessing me... I know I have mentioned this in other postings before now, but I didn't realize the Lord desired to work out fine details in my heart. These last two weeks, I have been attending a healing seminar everyday after sewing class and my English class... (BTW: I started teaching the English class b/c the women still desired to have it. That has been great as well. I am growing in my confidence as a teacher and in my ability to think in Swahili and articulate in Swahili. The women seem to understand as I search for words to explain English directions. I will tell you more about that later as we have just started.)

But in this healing seminar, I have learned how deal with the things of the past that may be a complete hindrance to my success and freedom in God in my present as well as future. Though the testimonies given by the church leaders and members during seminar are private, they have been amazing... trust me when I say it... AMAZING!! There are deep wounds within the hearts of God's people and if they are not taken care of, we will continue to act out of those wounded areas and may actually cause hurt to the people we love the most. Ask God to show you your woundedness, then ask for forgiveness of anything that He shows you that You need to repent of and then ask Him to heal those wounds by pouring in His anointing oil and wine. God is good and He is faithful!! He has healed past wounds in my life, in the lives of the families that I have met here and He will do the same for you. Be open and honest with yourself and ask Him to help you through it...

The ministers, as well as me, who attended the two week seminar have been trained to minister to emotional woundedness that people within the church may have. The ministers here have declared that their church will not be a wounded one so I ask that you all pray for healing in the hearts of the members of Maskani Yake... They would love to know that you are keeping them lifted in prayer.

Back in Moshi

Hi Guys,

Sorry it has taken me so long to write again. Well, I am finished with language school and back in Moshi, Tanzania where I will stay for the remainder of my trip. I have to say, it has been amazing being here. The Lord has shown me that He has brought me here not only so that I can minister to the people of Tanzania but that they can also bless me. Now, I should have known that it was not one-sided, but usually ministers are great at giving but forget to recieve... :o) Glory be to God though. He always brings us back to the middle.

Prayer requests:

This week and next week, I will be attending a healing seminar for the leaders of Maskani Yake (the church that I am affiliated with here). This seminar will be used to help deal with any issues that ministers may be suffering from that happened in their past but may be affecting their present. I ask that You would keep the leaders lifted up and that they would experience healing from the very root of their beings. Pray that the Lord would bless those that are leading the seminars. Pray for the leaders to be patient, humble, and honest with themselves and the counselors... How many of you know that we are all in process and the Lord wants us to be free from anything that would prevent us walking in freedom and prevent us from being in close fellowship with Him? Please pray... :o)

On a different note:

Because of certain changes that have taken place in the center, my plans have changed. Instead of teaching English at the Women's Center, I will minister through fellowship and relationship. Actually, they will be teaching me how to sew... I am sooo excited about that. The women will be more open to receive from me because they are using their gifts to teach me... It's great how this works. In this culture, guests are usually honored. So they enjoy blessing the guests. They will have the opportunity to do what they do best and that is to give. This should open up the door for them to feel more comfortable with me because they know that they have something to offer. So, it's two-sided again... Side note: Me questioning God... So, if it is two-sided, what am I supposed to give? The Lord's answer to me... Give of your heart. Love the women and watch Me work. Be patient, be gentle, be humble... I am their God and I am your God. I love them just as much as I love You and I desire to see them whole much more than you do. Just love them and watch me work. Me...So be it.... Amen!!

I am grateful though... I am eager to see how the Lord is going to work everything out. Pray that we (the women and I) would be open to God's work in using us to edify one another. I am not sure right now how everything is going to "pan" out, but God does. It is all in His hands and I trust Him with the changes that have been made. I just pray that my time at the center would be fruitful, whether it's huge or small. I just want for Jesus to be glorified!! :o)

Anyways, let me hear from you guys.. Ninataka kujua kuhusu wewe!! (I want to know about you). It blesses me to know how you are and what God is doing in your lives. We overcome by the word of our testimony. So if you have one... I would like to hear it...

Yesu anampenda na mimi pia ... (Jesus loves you all and me too!!)

April Nicole

2nd week in Tanzania

Hi Guys,

It has been an awesome 2nd week so far for me. It has been a bit trying because God has designed a very unique situation for me to grow in an area that I didn't know I needed more growth in. You know how sometimes you want to meet people's expectations of you by doing what you think they would like for you to do... Well, it's kind of difficult to meet some one's expectations when you do not know what they are... Now that I am in Tanzania and I am in a culture that I am not familiar with, I can't try to meet any body's expectations but God's. You see, because Tanzanians have a different worldview than my own, things that generally matter to Americans may not matter to Tanzanians and vice versa. Because I look like I am African, they automatically expect me to speak Swahili and to understand their culture. So when I start speaking "baby" Swahili and I don't understand all of the cultural nuances, they are a bit shocked. It's not a great big deal but it still matters. I didn't realize why I was somewhat frustrated by this expectation until I talked to someone about it last night. I realized that the reason I was disturbed was because I wanted to meet their expectation. To be honest, it is impossible for me to meet that expectation. I will not be fully fluent in Swahili in three months, I will not fully understand the culture in three months and... I am not a Tanzanian. :o) Anyone who knows me well, knows that I can sometimes put too much on my plate... :o) I'm the type of person that will try to meet expectations that are too high... Does anybody know where I'm comin' from? I know I'm not the only one! :o) Though I was hoping to speak fluent Swahili so that I can begin to understand the culture more and the people for that matter, I can not do it right now...well not using that method.

I trust that the Lord will give me insight in ways that I never imagined. So that is my expectation though I still expect to speak fluent Swahili by next week!! I'm just kidding...

I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you... Keep me posted on what's goin on in your neck of the woods... and I will keep you posted on what's going on here...

Ubarikiwe (oo-bar-ee-kee-way: Be Blessed),
April Nicole

Studying in Iringa

School has been fine for me so far. I have only been to one class because we arrived to Iringa on Thursday night. Gaudy left to return to Moshi on Friday morning and I started my first class shortly after she left.

I am actually picking up the language pretty fast. I know how to count to a million already but I need to be able to remember the verbs... So pray that I can retain about the verbs. Though school has been fine, staying in a tent has been an adjustment... Oh, I thought you knew... I am at a campsite (Riverside Campsite). The teachers come up to the site to teach us Swahili throughout the week. I would send you some pics but there is no flashdrive hookup at this cafe... I will try to send you some the next time we come. I can bring my laptop to do. But yes... a little friend named "Lizard Thing" woke me up this morning...lol... I don't know what kind of sound he made but it was enough to make me get up and get movin' I got up and washed my face right outside my tent opening (as you can see I didn't say door) and brushed my teeth... got dressed and went for breakfast... Bacon, eggs, and crepes... it was good...

Anyways, my time is running out here so I have to go... keep in touch with me guys.. and keep praying... I will let you know later about a experience Gaudy and I had on the bus before leaving to come to Iringa... We had the chance to witness about Jesus to a Muslim minister who was trying to witness to a man that was sitting next to us... I have to go so I will tell you later... Love you all.... Aprili Mfalme (April King in Swahili)

The Dalla Dalla in Dar es Salaam

Hey Peeps,

Thank you all for your kind and encouraging words. I am sooo blessed to have all of you in my life. The last couple of days have been pretty good for me. Though it is taking some getting used to, I am adjusting.

The Dalla Dalla:
On Wednesday morning, Gaudy and I took a bus ride to Dar es Salaam so that we could be closer to Iringa. We decided to wait until Thursday so that we could ride on a safer bus line... Thanks for your prayers because we arrived to Dar es Salaam safely and all put together :o) When we got to our hotel, we prayed and just asked the Lord to protect us and our things. I was"itching" to walk around so we left the hotel room to go into town. Now, for those of you that think I am referring to the bus system in America... think again... We caught a ride on a "dalla dalla" and boy was it quite the experience. The concept here is that a "dalla dalla" is never full.

We jumped on and it was already full according to American standards... So we were pretty smushed for lack of better word. I knew that it would be this way so I wasn't uptight about it... It was the ride back to our hotel that threw me for a loop.... :o) After walking through town and going to the ocean, we waited about 20 minutes to catch a dalla back to our hotel room. Wehn we finally saw one, we jumped on the dalla and squeezed our way in. It was even tighter than the first one that we rode on. Gaudy was standing about two people away from me and we were both haunched over the front seat. Yes, it was uncomfortable. There was a man right behind me... so I kept trying to push my backside to right of him so that I wouldn't be right up on him... :o/ He didn't seem to care either way but I was feeling a bit uncomfortable by this point. One of the other men on the bus motioned for me to stand up straight. I didn't realize that I could but I found away... I told him thank you in Swahili which is Asante (ah suhn tay)... I had finally gotten used to the idea of standing there so close to men that I didn't know until the dalla pulled over to let more people on... About three people jumped on and I had to transition to one foot... Mind you, we are in traffic.... We were on this dalla for about an 1hr 1/2... So... the rest of the time I just jumped from one foot to the other when one leg got tired... Though I was uncomfortable, I knew that it was apart of Tanzanian life so I was able to bear/bare (I can't remember which one is the correct way to say it) it.... Though I was dirty and smelly by the end of the trip, I realized that it wasn't so bad... We arrived back in one piece and I got the chance to experience a small percentage of life as a Tanzanian... It was alright :o)

When we got back to the hotel, we went to eat and then we took some time to dance and worship the Lord. I taught Gaudy a dance that goes to the song "Beyond the veil." It was great!! God is sooo good y'all...so good.... She taught me the song, "You are Alpha and Omega" in Swahili and we sang it together, just worshipping the Lord. It is amazing how the Lord can take two people from two sides of the world and bring them together to glorify Him. It is great...

Day 3: Preparing to leave for language school

Alright guys... nothing too outstanding today.. but I did get a chance to eat a traditional Tanzanian dish today... It's called Mkande (muh-con-day)... It was actually pretty good. It's made with beans and corn.. the beans are cooked in a coconut sauce and some other stuff.... I forgot... I just ate! I will be leaving for language school tomorrow so please keep me prayed up. I have a bus ride to Dar es Salaam tomorrow, a town about 7-9 hours away and then I will travel to Iringa the next day.. another 7-9 hours... I'm excited about it though. Being able to speak the language here will definitely help with being able to witness in their mother tongue (most people speak Swahili and their tribal language... so Swahili is actually their second languge. With there being so many different tribes here, learning Swahili is my best bet). Just pray that I pick it us quickly and easily. I have heard that Swahili is a pretty easy language but thats just what I heard :o)

Well love you guys and I pray the best for you too... Oh yeah, I got some really good nuggets from Ephesians 2 this evening. I could not help but reverence God for all the blessings that we have in Christ. Check it out. I am sure that it will bless your soul.

Blessings,

April Nicole

Safely in tANzaNiA!!

Hi Everyone,

Just want you all to know that I made it safely to Tanzania last night around 8:00 p.m. The combined 18 hour flight + the additional 7 hour lay-over was not too bad :o). I watched an edited version The Negotiator on the first 8 hour flight from Detroit to Amsterdam and then I watched National Treasure on the second 8 hour flight from Amsterdam to Tanzania. I didn't sleep too well on the plane, but I slept a good 9-10 hours when I arrived here last night.

The first day here has been great... I spent some time with some of the friends that I made last year. We went into town to buy bus tickets for my trip to Iringa, which is about a 14 hour bus ride from here. Pray for safe travel there and back... I will need it ;o) I will be in language school in Iringa for 4 weeks. One of the women here will be traveling with me. She is from Tanzania and can help with communicating... I am very thankful for that. She is also very nice and down to earth... Lacyndra, Debbo and Joell asked about you today... We also went looking for shampoo and soap... and NO I didnt find the kind that I was looking for but what I found will have to do...

I will post more later guys.. I have to read and pray and go to sleep. I need to be rested for all the things I have to do in the morning to prepare an overnight stay in Dar es Salaam... I will tell you about all of that later...

Blessings,
April Nicole

We went for lunch today and I couldn't help but to buy one of the drinks that Tanzania is famous for... according to Lacyndra... STONEY TANGAWIZI!!!! That is the picture that I have added. I will post more pics tomorrow so please check out this blog later....

Well, Ladies and Gents....

I would like to thank you all for your financial support and also your prayers. It is greatly appreciated. Right now, I am still in Virginia Beach, Va finishing a research a paper. Of course, I am ready to head to Africa... but that's almost 3 weeks away. I have created this blog so that you can keep in touch with me while I am in Africa this summer. I will keep you posted on how things are going with me and I would also like to know how you are. So please feel free to drop me an email or two or even post to this blog.... :o)

I pray that you all are well, as am I and I hope to see some of you when I arrive home to Americus in mid-May. Anyways, I love you all and I will definitely keep in touch....

Blessings,
April Nicole