Trip Report: Tanzania 2021

Sharing God’s love story on Mission: Kilimanjaro

By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Happy couple: Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Minja, who have been blessed by Climbing For Christ’s Kilimanjaro Chapter chicken project to pay school fees, buy food, and expand their livestock to include cows and chickens. Jonas, a guide on Kilimanjaro, is also one of our chapter leaders. (Photo by Damson Samson)

God gave me the desire to teach abiding to those disciples He has put in our path to train up in the way they should go. For apart from Him, we can do nothing.

“Without Jesus I can sweat, toil, and build a castle of cards, but divine transformation and disciples that make disciples cannot be done unless Jesus does it.” – Dick Brogden, Live Dead Ministries

We intend to teach about Jesus’ words from John 15:1-17 in Tanzania, Malawi, Nepal, Turkey, and to the ends of the earth. We planned three days of DMD training for the Kilimanjaro Chapter guides and porters last month with that in mind.

But as we prepared to GO on Mission: Kilimanjaro 2021, the Spirit gave co-worker Damson Samson an idea. He suggested we invite the wives of the guides and porters, so my wife Elaine and I could teach them “how God used your relationship as husband and wife to bring forth more glory. As husband and wife, we can complement each other to bring fruits to the Kingdom.

“Then we will celebrate you people together in advance, learning that we are branches. As it is raining, we expect the moisture from the roots via the stem to bring joy to the branches. We are part of the family (of God).”

We said, “Yes, and amen!” to this divinely inspired notion.

I spoke about abiding and Elaine presented a lesson we wrote called, “Aquila and Priscilla: Doing life and ministry together as husband and wife.” Aquila was a Jew, born in Pontus, who arrived from Italy with his wife Priscilla, and lived and worked with the apostle Paul. They appear in Acts 18, Romans 16:3, 1 Corinthians 16:19, and 2 Timothy 4:19.

“It was exhilarating to be able to GO again after being grounded from international travel for almost a year,” Elaine observed after Mission: Kilimanjaro 2021 was carried out from June 22 to July 8.

“Getting to know the Kilimanjaro Chapter members better and having the privilege to speak to them, especially the wives” was highlight No. 1 for her from Climbing For Christ’s 110th Evangelic Expedition. Particularly, she said, “speaking to the couples at DMD training and sharing our Aquila and Priscilla love story with them.”

Damson said: “Marriages have been reconciled through the abiding teaching accompanied by the teaching on how couples can work together to glorify the Father in heaven. This (has shown) how family ministry can be more effective than individuals doing it by themselves.”

Laurent Mbuya with his wife and baby after our DMD study. (Photo by Elaine Fallesen)

Damson and Elaine agreed that the spiritual growth of our Kilimanjaro Chapter members is a joy to witness. “The yields are more than we had expected,” Damson stated. “Many lives are coming to the Lord through the skill acquired.”

Communities are being delivered, he added, from “different spirits” – such as drinking, smoking, even demons. “Healings to their bodies and souls,” Damson said.

Now entire families are being included in the training – as the wives of 18 guides and porters and some of their young children participated on the last day of our quarterly DMD study. This was a blessed time, so much so that Damson lamented being among the handful of “single” men present.

“As others were being strengthened with their wives, I was just alone,” he said.

Damson’s wife (and the mother of his three young children) helps him do ministry in southern Malawi, where they live. He hopes she will be able to travel with him to serve in Tanzania in the future.

We will continue to lift the ministry of husbands and wives together as we abide in Jesus and carry out God’s will. On Mission: Kilimanjaro 2021, that also meant:

Providing $3,000 worth of food and assistance through COVID-19 relief. Damson described it as “the love of the Father being shared with others in a time of need. Many porters and guides in this (pandemic) season have had no work to do. They are struggling with life.”

Looking down on the Mount Meru crater from the ridge leading to the summit. (Photo by Gary Fallesen)

Climbing Mount Meru together with Muslim friends. Damson again marveled at being above the clouds on the 14,976-foot (4,566-meter) mountain, soaking in His creation and how He is using us to love others.
Leading 10 lost sheep to the Good Shepherd. “Heaven was open to many, so the Light was all over, and nothing could have been hidden,” Damson said, adding that even more seeds were planted on and off the mountain.