We post messages from Mokicco here to keep you informed of their developments.
For unto us a child is born… and His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for all the support and prayers that MOKICCO received throughout the year 2023. It was a good year for MOKICCO. The children have been healthy and performing well in school. Some friends from Sweden and Holland visited MOKICCO, and we received much help from Sweden, Holland, and even Tanzania.
In the month of December, MOKICCO’s youth started a youth club, Young Life. The youth began having their own meetings with Bible study twice a week on Saturdays. On Wednesdays, there is leadership training. During their first meeting, seven leaders were chosen to serve as youth leaders. Joseph Shao is one of the youth leaders, and he writes as follows:
Hello, my name is Joseph Shao. I am happy that my friends want me to be their leader. I like Young Life because the club helps us as youth to gather, study the word, and meet Christ. As leaders, we receive training on how to help other youth meet Jesus. Youth life is not easy. We face challenges, but as a group, we support each other with ideas, like starting projects to improve our economy.
Another joyful news is our first church wedding in MOKICCO. As mentioned in a previous letter, many MOKICCO children have become young adults, and we talk to them a lot about the importance of having both parents, not just single mothers. The first wedding in MOKICCO took place on December 30, 2023. A grand celebration at the Pentecostal church in Kibosho, the wedding between Hapiness Chami and Emmanuel Masawe. Hapiness came to MOKICCO when she was six years old. Now she is nineteen. She completed high school and then worked in MOKICCO’s bookstore in KikaSS Arusha. After the wedding, she and her husband plan to start their own business. Her husband is an auto mechanic.
There are two new children in MOKICCO, Thomas Inocent Chami and Eliya Inocent Chami, six-year-old twins. They lived in difficult circumstances. Their mother left them with their grandparents, went to the town of Moshi to seek work but married another man and abandoned them. Their father went to the town for the same reason, looking for a job. He called a few times and explained that he still had no work and was continuing to search. The grandparents are now sick and old and cannot care for Eliya and Thomas. They asked MOKICCO to take care of them. Eliya and Thomas will now live in Bomangombe, where two other children of roughly the same age already reside and attend preschool.
Finally, on December 3, the confirmation ceremony took place. Four confirmands from Kibosho and one from Marangu were confirmed. Confirmation in the Lutheran Church in Tanzania typically involves two years of instruction. So, these five children had already studied for two years, and in Marangu, two began their second year of confirmation instruction this year.
On December 3, 2023, we had the graduation ceremony at the vocational school in Mwangaria. Ten students completed their sewing course—nine girls and one boy. It was a great joy when each student received a sewing machine. They all shared the same desire to start their sewing projects. Thank you very much to all the friends for your help.
We thank God for the year 2023. It was a good year. We wish you all a happy New Year 2024.
Overa Seka Sahlberg
This post is also available in: Dutch
