Manna

“He (Jesus) called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish”

Dear Friends,

As you know, Tim is interim principal this term at the Mwanza Bible College and I am teaching a class. We have been praying about the financial situation of the Bible College since we were first asked to be interim principals; there is a long list of needs and a “0” bank account balance so we have really been praying!

On Friday, we had a meeting about the food situation for the students; we have about 70 students and they are scheduled to have meat three days a week. We discussed how much the meat was going to cost and was also reminded by the food manager that in a couple of days they were scheduled to have fish; the price of fish has gone up since last term. The faculty suggested that we buy “cow intestines” for the Saturday meal since they are less than half the price of beef and mix it with vegetables. I was horrified, but the staff assured me that most of the students and they themselves ate them from time to time and it would be fine. I was so glad that I was not going to be at the Bible College for the Saturday meal!

Saturday morning I was alone since Tim was away for some meetings on the opposite side of the country and I spent time praying about the finances of the college. I was told that in their “all night” prayers on Friday night that the faculty and students also prayed about the matter.

Sunday we received a text from our academic dean, Mollel. He said that they had been given some fish by a local church and they didn’t have room for it in their freezer. I contacted him and told him we would come and take some of it to our home and keep in our freezer.

As we drove onto the school campus, we saw the students busy cleaning fish; there were lots of fish! In fact, they had filled their big freezer full and they had more than two thirds of the fish remaining. We quickly called our friend, Seni, and it a short time we had made arrangements for a local business with large walk in freezers to take the fish; for a small fee they would freeze and store it for us. When they had weighed all of the fish, we had 1,500 pounds of fish! We have enough fish to feed the students three meals a week for 10 weeks, that takes us to the end of the term!!!

We are so thankful for this miracle that Godhas given us; truly it seems like manna from heaven.

Please continue to pray for the Mwanza Bible College for the following needs:

· We need tables and chairs for the dining hall – there are no tables at all.
· We need more dishes, bowls and cups; the students eat in shifts and then wash their plates for the next group.
· We need water in the faculty duplexes; currently they get it from an outside faucet.
· The school truck is out of commission; it will take about $500 to get it running, licensed and insured.
· The school copier is broken; it will take about $100 to fix it.
· We don’t have enough books for the students to have one in each of their classes; some classes don’t have student books at all.
· We don’t have all the textbooks for the teachers to use; some of the ones we have need to be translated into Swahili.
· We need basic cleaning supplies and tools for the buildings and property.
· We need our road fixed; taxis charge twice the normal rate if they have to go up to the Bible college because the road is so bad.

There are other needs but these are the most important and basic needs.

Thank you for your faithfulness; we are privileged to be here and we are grateful that you make it possible for us to stay.

Workers Together for the Harvest,

Tim and Joyce Jarvis
Missionaries to Tanzania