11 years ago, the Belz family made a hasty departure from our home, and our life, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa. This was due to health issues Holly had developed, and little did we know it would be many years before Holly would be able to return. However, in God’s perfect time and way, Holly and I have just returned from her inaugural return trip to Africa. “Man plans out his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (Prov. 16:9)

With joy in my heart, I report that she did exceedingly well in all aspects and was able to bless many other women and children from the communities and associated with the networks. She led a devotional time for abused women, led prayer times, encouraged many of the women and children, and “tested the waters,” confirming that she is able to return to Africa and thrive in a cross-cultural context. Praise God with us for this significant answer to prayer.

Meanwhile, Pastor Aaron and I trained in two networks, one in Gulu in the north, and one in Iganga to the east. We taught the Whole Story of the Bible, a workshop our team recently rewrote. The participants thoroughly enjoyed the training, and seemed to grasp the transformative principles of seeing every passage in view of the Whole Story of the Bible, and using the Whole Story to move them from the message to the original readers toward a relevant message for us today. Both networks are actively reproducing the workshops, training other preachers and ministry leaders in their communities and all the way up to refugee camps near South Sudan. A couple of the coordinators shared their testimony: Andrew from Iganga commented, “This Pathways training is more useful than all the Bible school training I’ve received in the past. It is simpler, more practical, and more reproducible.” Coordinator Charles said, “This is the best and most important training, more important than anything else I do. (Sidenote – Charles does a lot of other work.) I could see myself working at this training for the rest of my life as my primary calling.” It was a truly positive experience training this network as the “lightbulbs clicked on” and the participants gave testimony that what they were learning would transform not only their personal spiritual life, but also their preaching and their ministries. The Whole Story workshop has that potential, so this was very encouraging.

One of the highlights of the Whole Story workshop was seeing the enjoyment of the participants as they acted out our one sentence definition  of the Whole Story (with gestures we taught them): “The Bible is the story of God and His progressive plan to redeem a sinful people to Himself, through Christ, by the Spirit, for His glory.”

Praise and worship times during the training were awesome!

On the way back to the airport, we stopped in Jinja at the source of the Nile:

Praise God for His grace in allowing us to return together to our beloved continent and African brothers and sisters. Thank you for your faithful and fervent prayers over the years. God is good!