8,270 miles away and across 8 time zones I was blessed to witness a beautiful picture of what it looks like to be partners in the gospel with a community of believers from a different background, culture, and continent. Each day, our American team of 10 partnered with 8 Tanzanians to achieve our common goal. Our combined team was also able to equip over 10 local pastors and 5 local medical trainees. We greatly depended on each other to help achieve our goals. If our team of 10 had shown up in the village without the support of our Tanzanian friends we would have seriously struggled.
There were two memorable moments when this partnership was so evident. One was on Thursday of our trip. I remember standing in a corner of the church getting a sip of water and taking a minute to look around. I was overwhelmed when I realized that the clinic was mainly being run by the people we had trained. One of our goals was to leave behind people who were trained in how to assess basic medical needs. It was amazing to see this in action.
The second time I was blessed by this partnership was on our last day in Dihombo village. Mari Beth, our team leader, had come down with a nasty stomach bug. Pastor Joel asked that she be escorted into the church so that we could pray over her. She came in and sat in a chair in the middle of a circle that included our team, our Tanzanian team, the pastors she had poured into throughout the week, and members of the church congregation. We stood together as one and lifted up unified prayers for healing.
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:3-6
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