Tanzania Mission Trip

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Welcome to our official section for the Tanzania Mission Team from the Pastoral Leadership Institute, of which Pastor and Debbie Okubo are a part. If you are looking for pictures from Tanzania, click on Pictures above.

This page was updated on August 1, 2010.

Click on the following links to visit the following sections:

The Latest News
Tanzania on the Map
About the Mission
Worship Music from Tanzania (YouTube videos)

The Latest News

Mission Accomplished

Pastor and Debbie Okubo are now back home from their Tanzania mission trip. During the month of July this has been far and away the most viewed section on our website, as church members, family and friends followed the mission team's Facebook posts and looked at the selections from the huge online photo albums. The Facebook page is still open for viewing the archived posts and the photos.

Here on the right is a slideshow of the mission trip which was played at church on Sunday, July 18.

Mission Trip Blog on Facebook

The Tanzania mission team, organized by Most Ministries, has set up a blog on Facebook so you can follow Pastor and Debbie Okubo on each day of their trip. Facebook members can also leave comments to encourage the whole mission team. Pictures and status updates will be added to this page for non-Facebook members to follow as well. Time stamps are in Pacific Daylight Time; Tanzania is about nine hours ahead of Los Angeles.

Go to the blog >>

Most recent posts (July 12 @ about 1:00am) in order of entry:

This is Debbie Okubo with a little girl during a church aucton. During the offering, people would bring fruits and veggies. Right after church they were sold for various amounts of money to be added to the offering. They would chant a song to up the bidding. The money was raised to support the youth choir. Deb got to buy a "kanga" large wrap used to carry babies. ( Yikes!)
The Tanzanian hospitality has been wonderful. They have taken care of all our needs and taken us under their wing. The people have been very wonderful, especially the little children. The very young ones will come by and insist on sitting on our laps. There is not "stranger-danger awareness" here. Pastor Oscar Lema... says this is the Tanzanian way. Visitors are always considered to be a blessing!
There was one lady who had profound visual difficulties, needed a correction of +6 diopters (very bad eyesight). She was very grateful that we could help. Her main desire was to be able to see who was calling her on her cellphone.
Note: Cellphones are everywhere. At first, we thought this was a strange. High tech in... a low-tech country. Apparently, cell phone service is very inexpensive here.
The love of Christ is very evident here. I have already seen several people wearing their wittness bracelets! Gotta go back to work. God's Blessings. Bye.

Tanzania on the Map

Map of Tanzania's location (shown in red) in Africa

About the Mission Trip

Mission Overview

by Pastor Mason Okubo
June 27, 2010

In a little over a week, we will be leaving for our mission trip to Tanzania, a country located on the eastern coast of Africa, south of Kenya. It is rich in natural resources, yet struggles with poverty. While poverty is a specter which haunts Tanzania, material poverty is not the only problem. There is a tremendous spiritual poverty as well. Barely a third of the 43 million people know Jesus Christ. There is a tremendous need to bring the Word of God to Tanzania.

For our prayer warriors as we prepare for our trip and while we are gone..

We will be holding clinics to test and fit people for eyeglasses. Thank you for all those who have been donating used glasses for this mission trip over these last six months. These clinics enable the people to read, sew, prepare food, plant gardens and crops, obtain jobs, go to school and do innumerable other things which they had previously been unable to do. Pray that the clinics will bless them in such a way as to reflect the love that God has for them.
We will be meeting with many people who have never heard the Word of God. Pray that the Gospel we share might plant seeds in the hearts of those who hear.
Please pray for safe travel, protection, health and the strength to do God's work.

There is a wide world out there of people starving to know Jesus. Jesus commands us to bring in the harvest. The Pastoral Leadership Institute sends pastors on mission trips to encourage interest in missions in their own congregations.

Worship Music from Tanzania

Video: "Yesu Nakupenda" by Rose Muhando

Rose Muhando (also spelled Mhando) is a popular award-winning gospel singer from Dodoma, Tanzania. A former devout Muslim, she had a vision of Jesus Christ while sick in bed, was then miraculously healed after three years of illness, and came to faith in our Lord and Savior.

This YouTube music video is of one of her songs, "Yesu Nakupenda" ("Jesus, I Love You" in Swahili). You can find more about Rose by searching her name on YouTube. Enjoy the music, and Lord bless.

Š2010 Immanuel First Lutheran Church