By Mike Goodwin, President • Evangelistic International Ministries
For the past four years, Evangelistic International Ministries (EIM) has partnered with Baptist Medical Missions International (BMMI) in Tanzania, East Africa. This partnership has been invaluable to the people of Tanzania. We’ve seen God save many souls, which has helped grow existing churches and plant new ones. EIM is deeply thankful for our ongoing collaboration with BMMI.
On Sept. 3, we embarked on a 42-hour journey to Shinyanga, Tanzania, with our EIM dental team and the BMMI medical team. We arrived on the evening of Sept. 5, ready to set up and begin the clinic the very next day. What we and our EIM Tanzania Director Renatus Kanunu didn’t know was that the Tanzanian government would not allow us to conduct the clinic this year. We were informed that November is election season in Tanzania, and a law had been passed the day before, banning large gatherings until after the elections.
Bro. Renatus had already secured signed permission papers for this year’s medical clinic, but a regional government official overrode them. He tried every possible approach, holding several meetings on Sept. 5 with the local police chief, village chairman, and regional officials, but to no avail.
You can imagine the disappointment. A 20-member team had traveled halfway across the globe, only to be told we couldn’t do what we believed God had called us to do in Shinyanga — meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people in the village of Bubiki (pronounced Boo-Be-Key).
But it didn’t take long to realize that the sovereign God of the universe had another plan, one written before the foundation of the world. Having led evangelism teams to Tanzania for 10 years, I knew immediately what God was calling us to do — evangelize.
On Sunday, we worshiped at Bro. Renatus’ church. What a joy it was to praise God alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. After the service, we returned to the hotel, ate lunch, changed clothes and went back to the village. We split into four teams and began house-to-house (or hut-to-hut) evangelism. I reminded the team that we weren’t in a contest to visit the most homes. Our goal was to build relationships, understand where people were spiritually and learn what religion they practiced.
For many on the team, this was a brand-new experience, knocking on doors and asking to visit. Each team had an interpreter and a local church member with them. What we discovered was that nearly every household welcomed us with open arms and genuine curiosity. We were treated with kindness, and people listened intently as the gospel was shared.
Over the next four days, we visited three different villages where the BMA of Tanzania has churches. We partnered with local pastors and church members, going house-to-house to share the gospel. It was incredible to see our team grow more confident each day, learning that every home had its own story and required a unique approach to sharing the good news.
Each evening, as we boarded the bus to return to the hotel, I overheard team members sharing testimonies of what God had done in specific homes. They spoke of what they had learned from those they ministered to. They saw that while Tanzanians live simpler lives than Americans, their lives are still incredibly hard. Moms face the same struggles as moms in the States, but with fewer resources to solve them. Many on our team had seen undernourished children in clinics before, but they had never witnessed the conditions in which these children lived.
More importantly, the team began to see people not just as those enduring hardship, but as souls heading toward eternity.
The physical needs became secondary to the spiritual ones. Our team shared the gospel with Muslims, animists, Catholics and even those with no belief system at all. They witnessed firsthand that the God of the universe can transform lives, even among those who had never heard the gospel before. And that, dear friends, is the most important thing any of us could ever witness.
Though our medical mission was halted, God’s mission could not be stopped. He continued drawing boys, girls, men and women to Himself. What the enemy meant for harm, God meant for good. He was so gracious to us on this trip. He allowed us to witness His work, gave us boldness to share His gospel and revealed His power and might. And to all that God did, we can shout, “Well, Glory!”
I want to personally thank the BMMI team for your flexibility and sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us next year.
