TELEIOS MINISTRY

The mission team from Leesburg Community Church is spending a week with Attila and Adel Toth in Reghin, Apalina, Gornesti, Peris, and Glodeni.

The team arrived in Romania on Monday, June 17, and will fly home Monday, June 24.

On Tuesday, they visited the Farm outside Glodeni. They had a great time with the New Life Children's Home children and toured the Second Hand Shop and the Furniture Barn.

They are off to a great week!

This story comes from Grace Mbuga, one of our partners in Kenya. She is celebrating new life and seeking prayer for a couple who has recently converted to Christianity from Islam. She tells us the story of their struggle, but also the commitment of new believers and the church coming alongside:

Naomi and Hosea are newly married and recent converts from Islam.

They are currently being hosted by a member of my Bible study group and have joined our study group to learn more about the word of God and be able to integrate with the Christian family.

They are running away from their families who rejected them after converting to Christianity. Naomi is expectant and in her 4th month. As a result of all that they have gone through, she has developed high blood pressure.

Their desire is to be reconciled to their families and that through them their families will convert to Christianity.

NEEMA AND MPELI ARRIVED SAFE AND SOUND IN DAR ES SALAAM! ALL THEIR LUGGAGE ARRIVED WITH THEM! REST IN Dar tomorrow. Get some supplies for Children's Home Monday. Drive home to Iringa Tuesday! Great time and great trip!

THEY ARE IN DAR ES SALAAM! SAFE AND FINE! After enjoying their last "American" meal, Mpeli and Neema are heading home. Their flight will arrive in Tanzania Saturday night, then they'll drive home to Iringa.

They had a great time being able to visit with Teleios partners in the United States and getting to see so many old friends!

Mpeli and Neema are visiting from Tanzania April 18 – May 10.

Despite a delay and an overnight layover in Paris, our beloved partners arrived in Greenville Thursday morning.

While they’re in the United States, Mpeli and Neema will be visiting with as many partners as possible and they had a busy first week!

Jimmie Sandlin, Alan, Bonnie and I (Floyd) went together to Tanzania in April 2004 for a leadership and evangelism conference. We met Nemma and Mpeli for the first time in Iringa. On Friday, we celebrated 20 years and all that God has done in bringing us together.

Mpeli and Neema are visiting with the First Baptist Church Chester Tuesday through Thursday morning and are being hosted by Pastor Clay Waldrip and his wife Kathy. FBC Chester are partners in church planting with Mpeli and Neema.

Watch Facebook for updates throughout their visit – we’ve got a lot planned!

Goodbyes are never so good, but they are necessary for mission progress and telling the story. Charles Mbugua
Sunbelt team is at the airport heading home.
THE BIG FIVE: They saw the big five. Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo! Thank you Duncan!
The families are still celebrating the water! Sunbelt Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc. Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.

Together again. Kenny and Will had a special visit with Jane. They were a part of the team that built her house in November 2022. Great reunion and celebration! Then, the safari continued with more eating! Trout Tree for a snack and Sweetwaters for lunch. Game WAZ AWESOME! Rhinos, Buffalo, giraffe, lions, etc. Can you believe mom with three small cubs!

This is how it's done! Sunbelt Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc. Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.

Another great day of hardworking, digging trenches, laying pipes, and giving water lines to the Laburra needy community. Sarah, Esther and, mama Robert were connected today. All are grateful and thankful to sunbelt marketing and our partnership with them. The three ladies said it's a dream come true. They have had this dream from the late 80s and early 90s but never made it even after giving their time and energy to the water project by way of digging trenches. By Charles Mbugua Sunbelt Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc. Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.

Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.The house is finished. Esther and Peter with their two children moved in! It was a great day of celebration for the community, the team, and Esther and Paul (Mama Maina). The team got started early with morning with their Kenyan counterparts and finished up. The house included new beds with all the covering. Tomorrow they move on to water connections—they are so excited. Great three days providing a home for this family.
From Kenny: Just wanted to give you an update that the house was completed. Everyone and I mean everyone worked amazing. We are extremely excited go head to water connections tomorrow.
From Robert, Kenyan partner, The construction of the house is done, great celebration and the Esther and Peter and their two boys have moved in.
The family have appreciated all prayed for God's blessings.
It is a great joy to see this. Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.

The team is working hard--walls up, roof on, floor being keveled. Next is windows and doors! Great job. Kenyan partners opinion: We all like the team, Very hard working and self-motivated-- a head of schedule! That's Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.

Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc. Greetings from Sunbelt Marketing! The team joined Shalom Baptist Church in worship, swallowship, and seeing the OVC and Economic Empowerment partnership at work. They brought greetings to the church and enjoyed a true Kenyan meal. The eating and visiting is over! WORK BEGINS TODAY!

This Monday morning began with breakfast at 7, then work began on a new home to be completed by Wednesday. The work is all muscle. The house is for Mama Maina and her children. The pictures tell the story. Holes to be dug. Lumber to be cut. Nails to be driven. Latrines to be built! Along with a kitchen and the house. All by “hand”. Wait! that looks like Charles is sneaking in a power saw!! Grace Mbugua is leading with the ladies in preparing the chapati snacks and lunch. It’s a community effort!

Sunbelt Marketing, Inc.Sunbelt Marketing, Inc. Team woke up ready to go this morning—even getting to Nyeri a little early. After the two hour ride, they stopped for lunch, picked up Charles, and headed to meet the Nyeri OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) leadership at Nyeri Baptist Church. Here they met with Elizabeth and Margaret (OVC leadership) and several of the OVC young people whose life has been impacted by the partnership with Sunbelt. The team saw one innovation now used in the OVC program—the young people receive training in income generation. The training areas include barber skills, salon for hair and nails, and custom bead jewelry. Their eyes were opened to the transformation these young people have experienced because of Sunbelt’s partnership. The next stop was the Golden Gate Hotel near Mwiega, Kenya, were the team will be staying through Friday. Tomorrow the will head to the Shalom community to be with the Shalom church that Robert pastors, visit with OVC, and have a real Kenyan home cooked meal!

Sunbelt Marketing team has arrived in Kenya. They are excited! Robert and Duncan picked them up, and all are headed for short nights rest. It's Nyeri tomorrow! Robert, Kenny Strickland, Jeff Ti**le, Will Moran, Sedrick Robinson, Corey Copeland, and Ge**er Hernandez! Eight days in the sun and the shadow of Mt. Kenya.

Teleios partner Attila Tóth has shared with us an exciting day of baptisms in Glodeni, Romania on Sunday:

It was a great celebration yesterday at Glodeni where we celebrated our God's work. We are very happy about our new sisters and brothers who were baptized. Please pray for them to be faithful in this new life.

Bonnie and Floyd are on their way home. The party is over.

Wedding! More pictures!

WEDDING DAY!
-Family Dinner
-Worship: Marriage Ceremony (3+ hrs)
-Reception (5+ hrs)

Wednesday and Thursday morning were days of hard work, dancing, people arriving from across Tanzania and beyond, women gathering to prepare for the meals: cleaning the rice, peeling pounds of garlic, and bags of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. The grill master has been working since Wednesday morning—Thursday at noon is the Nyama Choma (grilled seasoned goat meat—I saw two goats ready to cook). The women of the community and ACTS Fellowship came together to get everything ready—Pre- wedding and wedding food committee. Thursday morning, this morning, they arrived before dawn to begin the work. The wedding is a community affair. The parents are not fully responsible—there are committees who handled things from food, decorations, fundraising, invitations, and an overall committee. Yes we had a rehearsal at the church.
Harry Mwasanjala, Neema and Bonnie’s father, arrived from Tukuyu. Great reunions! First met Him in April 2004—his invitation led to all we do in Tanzania.
Can’t wait for the wedding this afternoon is the worship service. Then, pictures and a rest. At 6:30 The reception begins! No posts until Friday as it will be early morning before all is finished! Then Bonnie and I get up, get ready and fly out of Iringa at 10:30 AM for Dar es Salaam.

The Send Off of the Bride has a long, cultural tradition. The Bride’s family sends off the bride to the groom’s family. She stays with the grooms family until the wedding when the couple forms their own family. During the sendoff, the bride says, “Goodbye” to her family and is welcomed into the family of the groom. There is a lot, a lot of prayers, biblical blessings, and gospel songs. Suma presented a cake to her family and served them saying goodbye and expressing appreciation for them. Then, she brought a cake to the Mwaisumbe family—Mpeli, Neema, and the family representatives (23 in all). Two special times during the ceremony that Bonnie and I like is when the groom’s family dances in bringing suitcases for the bride to pack her things and go home with them (But most of the time now, the bride does not do like in the old days where she literally when with the grooms family). The brides family decides if they will accept the luggage and the families tease each other over whether or not they will accept the luggage conditions. The second special time is when Suma has to find her fiancé in the middle of the crowd. She did find Maka—she gave him the gift of a guitar (because he loves to play Gospel music on the guitar). Once that is done they dance together and are presented to the crowd together. Throughout the ceremony dancing breaks out and both families will empty their respective tables and join in dancing. The send off lasted about 3 hours and a half including the meal.
Now we wait for the wedding

The Kennys and Days are in Nairobi finishing up some last minute shopping and enjoying a meal before they head to the airport. Their KLM flight was cancelled—BUT, they were rebooked on Kenya Airways for a Nairobi to JFK, New York and then home. Glad they do not have long delays.



Saturday they wrapped up their safari and stood on both sides of the equator at Sweetwaters. They head back to the Abedares Club for Saturday and Sunday. Sunday they worshipped for the first time in the new sanctuary of Bellevue Baptist Church. After worship, they enjoyed a delicious meal with Pastor Stephen and Anne. Sunday night, all the families gathered for a final time of fellowship and saying good bye. Today, the Kennys and Days were off with Duncan and Charles to the Blue Post for some shopping and Nairobi for lunch. In a few hours, it will be boarding time heading home.

Today, we said goodbye to the Kennys, Days, and Mbuguas as they headed for Sweetwaters for Safari with Duncan and we headed to Nairobi with Robert, Lucy, and Floyd. Thanks for the prayers - we had an easy trip to Nairobi then Dar es Salaam, Tanzania arriving in Iringa.

Bonnie was greeted by the singing and dancing of the children welcoming Mama Bonnie! We are back at home.

The Kenya Kenny team will worship with Bellevue Baptist Church on Sunday morning and then have Sunday dinner with Stephen and Ann. After that, they will drive to Nairobi on Monday to fly home to Nashville.

Bonnie and Floyd have begun the "wedding" part of the trip. We will help send off the bride, Suma, tomorrow (Saturday) in Iringa. Then Bonnie and I will relax for a few days. The families begin arriving on Wednesday for Maka and Suma's wedding on Thursday!

These are exciting days as we have watched Maka grow up and now we are able to be there when he and Suma begin their own family.