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Our group from La Sierra University ( Riverside, California) was enthusiastic and excited as we began our trip to Arusha, Tanzania, where we would be holding a series of evangelism meetings on behalf of The Quiet Hour and Global Evangelism/Share Him. We were exhausted after the long flight from Los Angeles, but our minds were filled with the possibilities of the days to come, and it did not escape our thoughts that a transformation would take place.
 Arriving in Arusha, we found it to be a city filled with safari vehicles and more than its fair share of tourists. Our hotel was conveniently located in the middle of all the bustle, within walking distance of Internet cafés, restaurants and markets.
The meeting site assigned to me was in the middle of a neighborhood called Majengo, less than two miles from the Burka SDA church. It was because of my college student evangelism experience in Ghana in 2004 that I felt called once more to go out and preach. I carried this hunger and anticipation for witnessing within me since I found out that our team would return to Africa.
By the first night of our meetings, I was brimming with hope; I was set and ready to preach. Due to various logistical variables, however, I did not preach that first night. I felt extremely discouraged, to the point where I questioned whether God had actually intended for me to be His effective instrument in Tanzania. I wondered whether it had anything to do with me being a female preacher in a culture not accustomed to seeing women in that role.
After prayer and long discussions with my roommate Stacey Gurgel, I decided that nothing would stop me from sharing God’s word. At first the supporting church members from my site were hesitant and shy around me, but soon we began to share smiles and prayers.
 When I began to lose my voice after the first week, church members gathered together to pray for me and gave me various home remedies for my throat. I felt that God blessed my translator, Abel Lusega, as we worked well as a team.
The attendance and interest in the meetings grew steadily each evening. I saw the interest and excitement in the faces of the children and their parents as they heard about Jesus. As darkness fell over the audience, crowds of children and adults would huddle around the screen hoping to get the best view of the words and pictures of God.
One night, when the attendance was about 200 people, I felt driven by the Holy Spirit to make a call for all those who had been impressed by the sermon. More than 15 people decided to give their lives to Christ that night. Among those were a Muslim lady and a Pentecostal clergy member, eager to be baptized into Jesus Christ.
God blessed me as I saw the Holy Spirit reap the harvest in Arusha, Tanzania. I learned what it means to share God through joy and through suffering. Sharing God’s word burned within me and it was my pleasure to complete the evangelistic series.
 Like Paul says, nothing compares to the joy of knowing Jesus. When I saw 30 people baptized from my site alone on the last day, I could not contain the joy of knowing that God and all His angels were rejoicing for each person in that baptismal pool, and that I had the honor of being a small part of God’s eternal plan. Nothing compares to the joy of knowing that through Jesus, I will see all of my brothers and sisters in heaven again.
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