by Mark Holt
Vice President
HWCM Board of Directors

After many years of being on the Board of Directors and financially supporting Hidden With Christ Ministries, my wife and I found ourselves on a plane headed to Tanzania for the very first time. For more than a decade, Rita had encouraged us to go see the ministry firsthand, but I had always jokingly said that I was not fond of bugs or dirt.

After we got off the plane, our team from River City Church in Arizona, began to experience the unique sights and sound of this beautiful country. People were driving on the wrong side of the road. Motorcycles and bicycles and small 3-wheeled taxis were everywhere. And hundreds of Tanzanian people were walking along the sides of the roads or congregating in front of the many shops and stands along those roads. Tanzanians are a handsome people and very friendly.

But as we rode along in the van I said to Rita, “I didn’t realize that they were so poor.” Rita replied, “What you are seeing, really isn’t the worst.”

Seeing these things first-hand, I began to appreciate even more the work that Hidden With Christ Ministries has been doing in Tanzania for over twenty years. We got to experience a Sunday service in the Maasai church which Hidden With Christ constructed in Esilalei village and saw the well which had been drilled for needed water. We saw the “Mission House” and “Transition House” that God had miraculously provided for the ministry’s workers and older orphan girls who needed a place to stay when college was not in session.

But the thing that touched me the most was when we went into the HWC Ministries office in Moshi. I saw the wall filled with the photos of all the orphaned and other needy children that are being sponsored through the TOA KIDZ Project and supported by so many people in the U.S. and other countries.

The ministry is committed to not only educating each orphan but also nurturing them in the Christian faith. One could see that the orphans were being given a chance to fulfill their God-given destiny. Each child’s life there is just as important as your life and mine.

At the TOA KIDZ Annual Christmas banquet we were amazed at the accomplishments of these children and young adults. They were achieving high academics and going on to study medicine, agricultural economics, and other incredible vocations. Some of the college students spoke at the banquet and we were impressed by their ability to speak publicly and communicate effectively.

I wondered how a nation can be changed when there is so much need there. But I realized it is one life at a time and then those individuals touch others…one at a time. The ministry of HWC is raising up Godly leaders, leaders who will have a bigger platform to influence not just one person, but hundreds and even thousands. That is the commitment of Hidden With Christ Ministries’ work in Tanzania.

Toward the end of our trip, we went to pray over the property that the ministry has purchased to build a school for the orphans. The sign over the gate of the future school property aptly and prophetically reads:

“THROUGH THESE GATES PASS FUTURE LEADERS OF NATIONS”

I have to say…I’m so glad I went to Tanzania! The need is great, but the work of HWC Ministries is greater than I realized!

To those who give to this ministry, your support is helping to change not just a child, but a nation!