Greetings!
As you heard from me last, 3 members of our board went to Tanzania from May 10–25. This trip was such a blessing in so many ways. Tanzania is such a beautiful place to be. When we arrived at the airport in Dar es Salaam we had a group of men from the CASA team eagerly waiting for us. We went on a business and preaching/mission circuit spending time in Chalinze, Kilimanjaro, Moshi, Arusha, Babati, Dodoma, Morogoro, and many small villages near those regions. Most of our time was spent in Chalinze with our CASA partners. God was certainly working through us on this trip and is using Cultivate Global in powerful ways!
Our ministry on this trip was divided into different parts. The big one for me was preaching. I was blessed to preach two Sunday morning services, a midweek community service, and two chapels for a secondary school and a Compassion International center. Another part of our ministry on this trip was visiting families in poverty and loving local women/mothers in poverty. Many of these women are widows or abandoned by their husbands and are left with many children to care for. We were able to gift each household with a variety of different food and ingredients for meals to meet physical needs. The last major part of our ministry on this trip was with children. We were blessed to get to serve the children at the CASA schools, Noonkodin Secondary Schools, a Compassion International center near Chalinze, and the children at each church service. Each child was gifted with a Gospel Message bracelet for them to keep and also a special snack!
The possibilities and opportunities for Cultivate Global to serve are large. To date, our biggest partner has been Cornerstone (CASA). CASA has a new Executive Director, Paul Kigeja, who is a gifted and intelligent man with a huge heart for the Lord. I could not be more pleased and comfortable with his humble leadership. The new school expansion and updated current facilities from Cultivate Global’s support finish out CASA phase one. The long-term projects and goals with CASA are the same but Cultivate Global’s involvement going forward will look a little different. We will be helping more with business direction and consultation. Therefore, we laid out a plan for profitability and sustainability, fully recognizing that through diligence they will be able to move forward on their own, with Cultivate Global’s involvement becoming less. This is exciting as our vision is to produce profitability and self-sustainability and our involvement with CASA and investment in phase one is fulfilling that. We are passionate about helping people who want to help themselves. After visiting Tanzania and building new relationships, our mission opportunities are expanding. Briefly, those opportunities include more involvement with local Compassion International centers, potentially partnering with Noonkodin Secondary Schools, building and planting churches, digging community wells, and farm partnerships with locals and the national ag university in Morogoro. Any potential partnership we look into is prayerfully considered and grounded on the idea of not gifting and leaving, but rather walking alongside our partners while growing profitability and self-sustainability, ultimately pointing all to Christ.
As I think about leadership and serving others, naturally the best person to think of is Jesus. Jesus taught, illustrated, and gave, but the most important thing he did with that was he walked alongside people and served them. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. That is what ministry is all about: Following Christ’s example, honoring our Father, and loving people. Our desire is to continue to serve and love people as opportunities arise in Tanzania. However, with that comes the need for continued and more support. Recurring monthly donations can be set up online at cultivateglobal.net or checks sent to 793 Worms Rd Grand Island, NE 68801. Please feel free to reach out with any questions!
I am beyond grateful for all of your support and what the Lord is doing. “For His Kingdom!”
— Cody J. Griess