This week, five of us from my home church were scheduled to be in Tanzania, training our church planters and encouraging the body of Christ in the Mara Region. The door for us to travel overseas was closed, but that did not stop Father from ministering to his people. He raised up a dear friend of our ministry, Pastor Zakayo – a Tanzanian brother – to stand in the gap on our behalf.  He ministered in a powerful way to our faithful brothers and sisters in the Mara Region.  One attendee even shared that it was “one of the most powerful conferences [he] has attended.”

95 Pastors and leaders gathered at the conference to be trained, refreshed, and sent back out into their often challenging mission fields. These leaders are bold and are serving God faithfully. Some are literally risking their lives everyday to advance the gospel in their communities. They are very generous, and they are determined to take what they learn and multiply it so that by God’s grace they can see their nation transformed for Christ. They worshipped, learned, encouraged, strategized, and spurred each other on for another year of ministry.

As they go back to their families, their teams, their churches, and their communities, pray that the light of Christ will continue to shine through them. God is moving in the Mara Region! What we have seen and heard from them is beyond my comprehension. I humbly bow in reverence, awe, worship, and praise to God. This is His doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

There are several things God has taught me through this experience, but here are two that I can share with you.

1. God is in the business of changing our plans to His plan, resulting in something much better than what we could have ever hoped for.
2. Dealing with change in plans requires us to focus on God. When our minds are set on him, even when we don’t understand we can trust that God has it under control.

So when God changes our plans, look for his blessing of something new and unexpected. While the pain of change may be very real, God’s grace is sufficient to carry us into his next steps for our lives and ministries. For the “things of God” lead to life-giving plans. Thank you for linking arms with us to cast His marvelous light in places held captive to spiritual darkness! Lives are forever being changed, and we are so honored to partner with you!

Yusuph Emmanuel

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