How on earth did we end up in Tanga, Tanzania?

If you had told me at the start of 2016 that I would be in Tanzania, married to a beautiful Kenyan, working as missionaries, I would have questioned your sanity and yet here we are. Interestingly for me, this journey started 40 years ago when I first felt a call to Tanzania, it was suggested I gained a bit of experience first and that experience lasted 36 years and the call was forgotten, by me, but not by God.

In 2016 a crazy chain of events took place, In September God connected me to a Kenyan called Rachael, as we spoke daily as friends, we soon began to realize that this was a God connection, we had a similar vision and a similar heart after God, and 6 weeks later I found myself at Nairobi Airport waiting to meet Rachael for the first time. Both of us had experience serving God over many years, but what God had in store neither of us ever suspected.

We were married in January 2017 and we now believed this was us together in Kenya, serving God forever. However, God had another plan and one morning the following June, we were on the balcony having our morning devotions together, and I heard God say so clearly, I want you in Tanzania, specifically Tanga. I was like “where did that come from?” At that point I still had forgotten about my call 37 years previous. We had never discussed going anywhere else, never mind Tanzania, what amazed us most was that at the same time God said the same thing to Rachael. We knew God had spoken, even so, over the next few months we sought God for more confirmation, which He provided many times and in many ways.

In the September we got on a bus and travelled to Tanga, Tanzania to check out the land, we stayed here a week and just knew we had heard right.

In March 2018 we left Nakuru, Kenya with three suitcases, with little money, leaving everything else behind. We travelled by bus to Tanzania, a very emotional journey as for Rachael she was not only leaving her beloved country, but also her son and daughter. Little did we know they would end up moving too and working with us.

It has been an interesting five years, many blessings, many challenges, but God has been faithful. We obeyed God, knowing that we had to trust Him totally for everything, for me I’ve never had to live by faith like this, but God continues to supply and we thank Him every day for His goodness. Now five years on so much has happened and during this time God has transformed and moved on the things we had planned to things completely different

Mark