Celebration Sunday – Simba Ulanga

We are packed like sardines in the biggest church in town, seats about one thousand, (Africans that is it, would only seat about 600 Westerners). But today there are about 2,000 jammed in this church. There are about 4,000 outside hoping to catch a glimpse of the new Christian hero named Simba Ulanga.

I was ushered in by church leaders and given a seat right next to the drummer, the last square inch available. As I entered the building a thick wave of humid air hit me in the face and I was hoping this would be a short service but experience told me otherwise.
I am now seated in this massive African crowd and being the only white man strangely enough I do not feel out of place in the least. I belong here though I will never look the same. Simba Ulanga is just now making his way to the front stage as the crowd cheers and a choir is singing a celebration song and of course the drummer is slamming away next to my ear.

Simba was released this last Thursday (Feb.22nd) about noon after his 62-day prison time. He was transported to the court house in a big armored truck; as if he were a terrorist, but to know that he is just a common man. What makes him different, I thought, the difference is that this man loves his God and that he is willing to die for his God and for what he believes. He does not just sing about it, he lives it. He knows who he is in Christ and this is what makes him a threat. I asked myself (this good missionary that I am supposed to be), “Do I truly know who I am in Christ?” “Am I a threat in the Spirit?”

I arrived a bit late on his Thursday court day. The previous Friday was supposed to be his court date but it was denied him once again and the following Saturday the churches were to have a demonstration walk through town. The local government disapproved of this demonstration plan and shut it down immediately for fear of possible rioting. The churches were not happy with this, but what can you do? There is freedom here to hold demonstrations - at least according to the law. But what does the law mean? Several pastors I was talking with there at the court house were telling me that money and leaders have the final say, even above the law itself. A bribe or a pay-off will keep someone in prison or let someone out. If the offender can out-bribe the convicted then he wins. What a great justicesystem I thought, the law itself cannot even defend you!

In the first update I mentioned the Muslims who bribed the judge to keep Simba in prison. I found out that a Muslim business man in Ujiji (the other side of town) who is the one with all the money paying people off. Ujiji is the town where Charles Stanley met Dr. David Livingston back in 1870.

Back in the church, Simba has just made his way up to the pulpit and the crowd is cheering. Simba starts off by saying that he is not allowed to preach in any public setting while out on bail, “I am not here to preach,” he says, “I am simply among my friends giving my testimony of how God has been with me during my time in prison.” He says this several times because some government leaders have been appointed to be here in this service to make sure Simba does not preach lest he be taken to prison again. Simba shared for about an hour, even shared a few scriptures. I was saying to myself, “Simba, you better be careful! At least let someone else read; you just give the reference.”

Simba mentioned a Muslim man he had met soon after arriving in prison. This man admitted that he had been on a committee assigned to kill Simba. This man told Simba that he was very surprised to actually see him in prison, “We had arranged through “witchcraft” for an ambush on your transfer route, you were to be shot down, how did you get here?” Astonished, this Muslim man told Simba that “You better be careful here in prison or you will die before you leave this place.” In Bangle prison there was a small group of Christians and Simba became pastor of this church. Its membership grew. There were six Christians who had converted toIslam but after seeing Simba’s life, they rededicated their lives back to the Lord.He prayed for and discipled many. Many Muslims wanted to know about this Jesus and came to hear Simba whenever he spoke.

Simba spoke of the many in prison who were there because of false accusations. A policeman if paid off will make false accusation on another person; throw him in prison just to get his payoff.I invited Simba for dinner at our house a few days after he was released. Simba has 7 children plus two “adopted” orphaned relatives. He has spent 3 different times now in prisons; these were 10 days or more. Simba along with others of his team have often spent one or two nights in different jail houses around the country. Over our dinner time he told of once he was invited to come and minister at this prison, Bangwe, where he just spent 62 days. Because of circumstances he never did go, he even walked by this prison once and remembered the invitation. He went on to say “Now I am inside this prison and not by invitation, I had many opportunities to minister now.” He said he was shown favor in prison, from the guards and even the inmates.

Simba is only out on bail and he still has a long way to go. His next court date is now April some time; that is of course, if things go well. He left two days ago on the train to see his family who are 1000 miles away. There has been three train wrecks in the last three weeks with numerous casualties. There are also many bus accidents throughout the country, killing thousands. What else can you do, the system does not offer security in any way. Many times one has to choose between the lesser of the evils, there simply does not seem to be any “goods” to choose from.
It is not always easy to see God everywhere, but God is everywhere; it is our job to make Him visible. Many missionaries get frustrated working here where it seems that nothing ever changes, after all these years of Christianity here in Africa has we really made an impact? Yes there is change to some degree, but the spiritual strongholds is something that missionaries are now starting to understand in these spiritual cultures. Until we bind the strongman of the house, how can we ever go in to that house?

In short; over all Africa, 1 out of 4 children die before the age of 5. The average age is 49; about 20 African nations are either in war or have extreme unrest. Islam and Christianity continue to be at war throughout this continent. In specific rural areas the oldest person is only about 15 years old due to all adults dying of HIV/AIDS. The orphans of Africa left behind due to the death of parents from Malaria to Aids are uncountable. The majority of Africans live on less than 1 dollar a day. Witchcraft and slavery are still widely practiced throughout the continent. There are likely several thousand different languages/dialects spoken. In Tanzania alone are 23 “unreached” people groups. A common belief among Africans is that they are cursed from the days of Ham in the book of Genesis. I am not trying to make Africa out to be a terrible place, it is a beautiful place and it has beautiful people, there is a beauty and a simpleness here that will never be found in the West. But the soul of Africa is by and large still without transformation and it is here where my heart cries out, Oh God bring in your truth and spirit that we may all be set free!

As Simba was leaving my house he shook my hand and gave a big thanks to all for your prayers and for those who have sent support. He asked that we continue to pray for him and help him out as we can for the fight is far from over.

I also am grateful to you all for your interest, prayer and support for Simba Ulanga. He and I will continue to be in touch as the months go by. If you would like to continue supporting Simba and the ministry he is involved in you are welcome to use the account in the USA or Denmark. All funds will be passed on directly, no administrationcosts will be taken out.

Blessings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lyle Hall

Bank Information:
Payments within United States only:
Checks made out to “UZIMA” with a separate note designating it to Simba Ulanga.

If transferring funds electronically, please email uzimausa@ywamuzima.org specifying what the donation is for.

UZIMA

Attention: Gaylen Beardsley,

P.O. Box 1875, Silverdale, WA 98383-1875

Phone: +1-360-308-9756

Wire transfer: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. /

Washington State / East Bremerton Branch

Routing number 512006217

Account number 1482166871

Simba Ulanga Remains in Prison - Churches are making a Stand

Greeting to you all once again.

I once again went to see Simba in prison; he was of good cheer, a nice smile as he wore his slippers and his wrap around "skirt". These types of "skirts" are often worn by men in the coastal regions of East Africa which is where Simba is from.

I brought him some peanuts and about one hundred tracts to give out. I had to first eat some of the peanuts before handing them in through the rusty bars. Different people continue to try to poison him since he has been in prison so I was asked by the prison guard to eat some peanuts first, a precaution against any possible poison.

He received his peanuts with a smile, but had some concern for his wife and children back home. Simba’s wife has been very sick over the past weeks and his kids’ school fees are due and there is no dad at home to help out or supply an income. I assured him that we would help with the kids’ school fees.

I was only given seven minutes with him before I was asked to leave. We prayed together and off I went into my free world. Simba’s court date was held last week Friday. The judge did show up this time but it seemed the case went no further. His next court date is the 16th this month.
The head of security in the prison is a Muslim man. He says he likes Simba to be in this prison because the whole environment of the prison has changed for the better. There is a different spirit now that he is here. Simba has been busy preaching the kingdom to all the inmates who also enjoy him being there with them. 39 Muslim inmates have given their lives to the Lord due to Simba’s preaching.

Outside the prison walls various church leaders have written a serious letter to the President of Tanzania (who is himself Muslim) in protest of the religious freedom of this country not being respected. They are also planning a "peaceful" demonstration and will march through Kigoma town to end up at the front door of the regional governor’s office the 17th this month, the day after Simba’s court date the 16th. If there are any objections spoken or stones thrown by any Muslim onlookers this demonstration could very well become violent. Demonstrations here are generally very tense.

There are spiritual strongholds over the nations of Africa that go deep into the occult and these are not easily broken. It will take thousands of pure hearted Christians fasting and praying to break the authority of the demonic realm. A challenge that not many understand nor would they be willing to count the cost of such a spiritual battle.

My spirit is stirred and angered how the enemy has lied and deceived the people of these great nations for generations. I ask myself, where is the power of God, where is God’s presence? Africa is spotted with literally millions of churches, yet where is transforming presence of God? The people of these so-called "Christian Nations" like Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi and others will - given certain circumstances - turn and kill and even butcher their neighboring village though they are all church goers.

God, where have we gone wrong? We know how to "do" church and we continue to bring people to church rather than to bring them to God. We have our bible schools and great missionaries from the West that have been here for hundreds of years teaching truth, and this is all good but if the spirit and power of God is not present, will there ever really be a transformation taking place in Africa? The culture here is a power and spirit culture, this is where the real soul of the African lies and this is what I believe must be targeted and understood in order to see spiritual transformation. Biblical truths without a Spiritual revelation are only words, the mind hears but the soul and spirit do not perceive. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth.

I do not mean to preach but I weep when I read reports like I just read yesterday from Darfur and I quote, "They were raped, they tied them and put cotton in their mouths, then they lit the cotton and burned them to death." The Economist Dec 2nd-8th 2006. This is happening right now, today, even as I write

Thank you for the responses on behalf of Simba. Jette, my wife, has taken the scriptures and prayers sent by some of you, has printed them out and I will give them to Simba. Some of you have shown interest in financially supporting Simba. He sends a big thanks to all of you. God bless you! We continue to raise funds to ensure that all of Simba’s writings are translated into English and French. A big job.

Blessing to you all.
Lyle

Prayer Points:
- Simba’s family at home 1000 miles away, healing for his wife.
- Peaceful demonstration- Salvation for the head of security in prison.

Bank Information:
Payments within United States:
Checks made out to "UZIMA" with a separate note designating it to Simba Ulanga.
If transferring funds electronically, please email uzimausa@ywamuzima.org specifying what the donation is for.

UZIMA
Attention: Gaylen Beardsley,
P.O. Box 1875,
Silverdale, WA 98383-1875
Phone: +1-360-308-9756

Wire transfer: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Washington State / East Bremerton Branch
Routing number 512006217
Account number 1482166871

a few pictures

A Baby Girl

Early Tuesday morning the 21st, just after 3 am, a beautiful little baby girl joined the Hall family. 6 lbs 14 oz, and 19”. Mother and child are doing very well.Her name is Naomi, see her in the attached photo.She was born in our home with only Lyle acting as midwife (he did a wonderful job!), while our doctor and midwife were at the hospital getting a room ready for us!! They arrived shortly after to help.

The big sisters are very excited and want to hold her constantly. We look forward to Jette’s mom coming to visit from Denmark Thursday.
And happy thanksgiving!
With much love from the 6 Halls in Kigoma!

Prayer Update

-Praise that the Doctor and his wife have arrived
-God’s wisdom in important meetings end of November and beginning of December
-Pray for safe delivery for Jette around Dec.1st

Summer Newsletter 2006 Hall’s Happenings

Prayerwalk

If you remember I had gone on a prayer walk, the original prayer walk down south never happened due to some major problems so we went north to Burundi and walked down to Kigoma. The long report mixed with many cultural things is soon to be on our web site.

Ministry

There have been various ministry trips out on the lake in different villages with visiting teams. There will be about 11 teams this year from abroad. Sleeping in huts or tents. I have been asked to speak in many different churches and have been teaching in a bible college here, which I have truly enjoyed. I have never actually written an exam before, I have taken many; now I write the exams and score them, imagine that. We will start to minister in a special camp for those who are blind, crippled, leprosy etc. With no families, they are left here, so we will step in and bring a spark of joy and a smile to their lives. Different ministry opportunities with kids have opened up as well as working with a Muslim family that has become Christians and are now being persecuted for it. They lost their jobs. The wife even had her sewing machine taken away. So we are helping out where we can. I have been in 7 different debates with Muslim leaders by personal invitation. It has been challenging but I have truly presented the gospel starting from Gen. to Rev. Some of you may have heard of my time at this mosque some years ago. The crowds are at least 1000 people and even up to 2000. Pray for us, the battles here are spiritual, yes they mostly come in the form of man but spiritual they are. Life is spiritual here more than just truth, as we westerners think. We must reach them in spirit. We often just give them truth but the spirit is not there to reveal this truth so it mostly just becomes head knowledge. A hard bridge to cross.

Family Highlights

RACHEL: Rachel is in home school and always has her mind on having fun. She is growing lots. A great thinker, taking piano and wants to be tough like the boys.

ACACIA: She wants to be a girl, she’s also is in school, loves her life but finds it hard to be the middle kid. Some moments are hard, but there is always a smile behind her big beautiful eyes.

MIKAELA: Who she wants to be like is hard to say, she is all her own. Tough but likes to look pretty with mom’s lipstick generally smeared around the face. Loves all types of animals.

BABY: Ok yes, they say that real missionary families have 4 kids so we thought we would try to qualify.. Jette is 4 months now. Hope for a boy. I need a boy in this house.Animal life: So far 9 rabbits, 1 dog, 3 snakes, 2 chameleons, 1 cat, and 10 birds.

YWAM UZIMA

We are still on the look out for a ship, some good possibilities but. The hangar for the helicopter will be built starting next month so progress is coming. Another nurse plus the doctor and his wife will join us in two months or so. Look at the Uzima report soon to be sent out.

Family Prayer Points
- safe pregnancy for Jette
- for the three teams coming out soon

- pray for a person/teacher to come out and give a hand in home schooling
- Gods favor on the work here, there have been some tough times here for us

The Package

Dear friends and family,

We are doing fine here in Kigoma, it is quite hot at the moment, right around 85 F most days, but no complaints. We just pray for rain to come soon. Many parts of Tanzania have had no rain at all and there are even reports of people dying from starvation in some places. In one area called Tabora people are said to be selling their cattle at only $4 a head compared to 200$ here in Kigoma, because they are unable to provide food and water for them. Please help pray.

We would like to share with you some things happened in the last few days.
Yesterday (Wednesday) we received a package from some good friends in Denmark. We received it the day after Mikaela’s birthday, so it was perfect timing. Lyle got it at the post office in the afternoon, so it was in the car still when we drove to the weekly missionary fellowship meeting that evening. We were so excited about receiving it that we opened it on the way over there. But we left the package in the car since there were other kids there who hadn’t been so lucky.

When we got in the car to go back home, the package was NOT there! The car had been locked, but the windows had been left with a little crack open because of the heat. We have no idea how anyone could get that package out. Everyone was asking around and searching under our car and the other cars, but the package was GONE!

Naturally, we were all very upset and sad and all three girls were crying, but we had to leave without the gifts. When we tucked the girls in their beds we thanked the Lord for the package and prayed that it would be recovered, and if it was not found that Jesus would comfort us some other way. We know that a number of the other missionaries also prayed that the gifts would be located. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep because I began thinking about theat incident. I was sad, also on behalf of our friends, for what should I write and tell them? “Thank you so much for the presents, so sorry to tell you they were stolen from us.” And I was upset. Upset at those who had stolen from my girls. Mad at myself for not leaving the package at home or brought it from the car, or I should have closed the windows all the way and triple checked that all doors were locket. (We have central locks so we know the doors were locked, but in the middle of the night you don’t reason that way) To escape all those thoughts, I decided to pray. Quite frankly I didn’t feel like it but I prayed a while for whoever did this. I prayed for my children that they wouldn’t be too sad and upset at the loss; and for myself that God would give me His love for people here in spite of this situation. And I prayed for our friends who sent the package. After that I slept well till morning.

This morning a young couple from the fellowship night came over with three little gifts for the girls to encourage them. Around noon we received a phone call from the bible school where we had been last night, that someone had come across the package under a tree in a corn field behind the campus and our neighbour would bring it back to us later. But obviously no one knew if everything was still in there. Rachel was so over the moon to hear that, but I was worried that she might be disappointed, so I tried to explain to her that there was a possibility that some of the things had disappeared.

This evening we were given the package. Imagine our joy when the only thing missing was one sheet of stickers, everything else was there! Socks, nightgowns, marshmallows as well as two sheets of stickers. We are all praising the Lord for an amazing answer to prayer! Why the package had been left out there in the field we don’t know. Whether the perpetrator put it there to return later and pick it up unseen or whether they realized that they couldn’t get away with it and left it there to be found without being found out themselves we will probably never know. But that really makes no difference; the main thing is that God heard our prayers! What a great God he is, to think that he cares for us in such practical and tangible ways!

Remember that he cares for you and your loved ones just the same!
With love and blessings from Rachel, Miriam Acacia, Mikaela, Lyle and Jette