Wonderful awakenings among the Sangu - January to June 2022

Wonderful awakenings among the Sangu

The 12-village Joseph musical tour with the Sangu is now in the hot preparation phase. In January we were able to check the texts for the Joseph play for correctness of content and language. In the end, we have processed the entire second half of the 1st Book of Moses plus the additional connecting theatrical scenes. That was a lot more text work than I had originally thought. Andy, a translation consultant from Wycliff Switzerland, even helped us with that. 

We recorded all the text in the studio as an audio version and finished editing practice videos of all scenes. At the end of January we got all the actors together for two days and practiced with them how to use the theater script in conjunction with the audio version of the script and the memorization videos. The play is framed by a storyteller who tells the story of Joseph in front of children, while the adult actors and musicians implement the actual story. The children ask questions about understanding and application of the story. So we talked intensively about the application in the life and culture of the Sangu and tried to really touch people's lives with the children's questions and the storyteller's explanations. That took several weeks. After completing the texts for the children, we were then able to record a group of children from one of the 12 villages in April in order to produce an exercise video for the groups of children from the other 11 villages. Because for the tour we depend on groups of children from all 12 villages. Here is a short video of this children's part of the project:

I thanked God with tears


Training for 86 pastors, church leaders and small group leaders


A two-day training session for 86 church leaders, pastors and future small group leaders from the twelve and even a few more villages followed in May. The topics revolved around "Culture and the Bible" and the use of local language and artistic forms of communication for church work and missions. We gave them an overview of the whole Josef project. Then followed a three-day training course for 66 small group leaders. They learned how to start and lead a group, prepare a Bible study, and use the audio Bible players (which were entirely donated by a church in the Netherlands). Two Tanzanian employees from our SIL office in Mbeya helped us with this training. We hoped that we would have at least one small group at the start of each of these villages before the 12-village-Josef-Musical-Tour, so that people who were touched by God's Word and Spirit on the tour could be invited to these small groups be able. This number wanted to double to 24 small groups in 2023. The result of the training brought tears of joy to my eyes several times over God's work. The participants decided to start immediately with 28 small groups in 17 villages and to expand this to 34 small groups this year.

Here the participants of the small group leader training practice in groups how to lead small groups, they plan who they can invite in their villages and when they want to start.

All small group leaders were given a New Testament in their language, for many the first printed text in their language. Reading it correctly is a challenge for most, and Mponzi, a Sangu Bible translator, explains to participants the reading rules of their language, specifically how tone changes the meaning of the word and is marked in the text.

During the training, the culture officer comes along and greets the group, here on the right in the picture. Mwasandube and I call him Cosmas. We have been friends with him for three years. He is a Christian himself, an enthusiastic choirmaster and composer and is very happy about our work. In a conversation these days, he said that it is very important to make the government aware of what we are doing, because many politicians do not yet know what good content can be conveyed with local arts. Cultural expression and good news can complement each other well and have great power for change.

Jumpstart by the

Josef actor

Shitambi is a gift from God! He will, God willing, play the role of Joseph. But beyond that, he's simply put his heart into it, enthusiastic about God and the approach of using the Sangu language and their creative means of communication to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. After our training, he set out on his own initiative to encourage and visit the small groups in their early stages. He has already traveled to six villages since May. His announced visit encouraged some leaders to start the group in their village. There are also difficulties to be overcome. Shitambi is the first to notice this on site. Pray for him for wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit! For example, at the beginning of July I will preach in a village and also talk to the Christians there. A young man who wants to start a Bible study encounters great opposition in his own church, where there are just 2 percent Christians who are having a very difficult time. Here is a short and happy video of the beginning, also with a Sangu Audio Bible player.

"The earth belongs to the LORD and what fills it, the world and its inhabitants." (Psalm 24:1)

5000 euros for a Sangu village

Despite the crises and higher prices, we want to write openly about money. We would very much like to reach the 12 villages with the Joseph performance in combination with Bible sales, family calendars and invitations to small Bible listening groups. We are still missing more than 30,000 euros. Many small amounts and special donations help to achieve the goal.


When all the costs are added up, the cost of the performances themselves, the cost of food, lodging and travel, the completion and printing of the family calendar, any preparatory practice time with actors and musicians, the help of the Bible translators in transcribing, translating and editing texts , the training of the small group leaders, video editing, Mwasandube's salary, without which I would not be able to do all this, then it costs us the equivalent of 5,000 euros for a village. We still lack the money for six villages. A friend called us recently if we needed anything, he would like to transfer something to the donation account. When I told him that a village would cost us 5,000 euros, he spontaneously said he wanted to donate to a village. Wonderful!


We kindly ask you to tell friends or relatives about our ministry, to recommend our newsletter to them, or to ask for support for us. Since we live far away, it is difficult to meet new people in Germany who could support our ministry. However, we need slightly higher donations in order to be able to continue to do the work effectively. This not only affects the Sangu people, but the entire spectrum of my work in different peoples. This is only possible if the donations go well beyond what the family needs. Many of you have been giving very faithfully and sometimes large amounts over the years, congregations keep collecting special donations for us and that makes us incredibly happy, we are very grateful to you and also relaxed, because so far we have been able to do everything that God has in store for us laid his feet. And now we are really seeing the fruits of the efforts of the last few years, and these fruits are full of promise. Nevertheless, we have observed for a few months that we are almost always slightly below demand and that there is not much room left for further projects. A small cushion has disappeared quite quickly over the last year. A very dear woman died recently, who has faithfully carried our ministry in prayer since 2012 and supported it with a large amount. Who is helping to fill this gap? Who advertises us? Pass it on in your community. If you would like more newsletters to distribute, let me know. Everything you give will be used for the people here on site.


The more we have available, the more we can do, the more we can distribute finished products, such as translated New Testaments in written form or as audio Bibles, distribute recorded songs to more people, offer new training courses or camps, where people are helped to experience the Bible as relevant and life-changing for themselves or to be creative themselves so that God's healing words can spread.

Donate Now Back to Kliemtpost June 2022
Share by: