Dear friends,

Greetings again from Africa!

After intense ministry in Arusha, Nolini and Matongoro villages, and then in Morongoro meeting intercessors and representatives from different churches, we flew to the island of Zanzibar to launch Project Hannah there (Zanzibar has its own president and Parliament, even though it is still part of Tanzania!).

     The streets were filled with women under black veils while others were wearing colorful head coverings and long dresses covering 95% of their bodies. I thought about the discomfort of being covered this way on that hot tropical island. It was my first experience in such a closed country. I saw over and over again women carrying burdens on their heads. Large and small burdens of wood, gallons of water, baskets filled with fruit, clothing, vegetables, etc. They carry their babies on their backs . . . women in Africa are always carrying something! But, time and again, they told me of heavier burdens in their hearts that they carry for years having no one to go to for help. I felt powerless to take those burdens of hopelessness, poverty, abuse of all kinds, the survival of their kids, and so on . . . . but we can take them to Jesus. That’s why we took Project Hannah’s ministry to Zanzibar. This situation is exactly the backdrop against which Project Hannah shines like a powerful lighthouse!

     In the morning, we visited the site of an old slave market in downtown Zanzibar, a terrible place that tells the terrible story of how human dignity was trampled over, body and soul. Men and women were considered as property and sold like cattle. It was hard even to look at the chambers where hundreds of them would remain for days without a bathroom and without sufficient air and light . . . . it was more than survival of the fittest . . . here is the place where one could see evil doing its worst. At the very spot where slaves were beaten in stocks, some until they died, today stands the altar of Zanzibar's oldest Anglican Cathedral erected in the 1800’s.

     In the afternoon we drove outside the town to a small church hidden in a back alley where a group of 40 people gathered for the launching of Project Hannah. During my talk, I mentioned about another kind of slavery happening in many countries today, very much like the slave trade of centuries ago and the need to pray for an end of it. It was wonderful to see that all churches represented in the meeting pledge to start new prayer groups in their own communities.

     Before leaving Zanibar we visited a local radio station and a retired Anglican Bishop, a man of influence in the country who can open many doors for this ministry. In Africa, it is all about relationships and respect. God gave us favor with that old saint.

     During our last meal together, I had the opportunity to record the testimony of the Project Hannah representative in Zanzibar, a pastor who used to be a witch! It is an amazing story of someone totally dominated by the Devil, who even sacrificed his own three year old son to appease the spirits! He was saved by the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus when a friend took him to an evangelistic crusade. For the past seven years, he has been a pastor of that church leading many out of the darkness he himself used to live in.

     We then went to Dar-es-Salaam and we visited the house of the lady who had put her car at our disposal and taken a week off from her busy schedule to drive us to all the places we had to minister (some in other cities, some seven hours away in rural areas). As a token of our gratitude, we gave her a beautiful picture of herself playing the drums with the Project Hannah women and a hand-painted wall hanging of women in Africa (and, we were thankful we were able to get these things, after the gifts I had taken to give were stolen out of my suitcase at an airport). She and her beautiful family were very appreciative and assured us that the car and the driver belong to God anyway, it was just a matter of making room to serve him this way. Beautiful people!

     I will never forget what Ruth and Joyce and so many others did for me in keeping me safe, taking great care with my foods so that I would not become sick, and most of all their efforts in making sure people understood what I said and vice versa. I am thankful that this time I went to the “heart of Africa!” There I saw how sick this heart is and how much it needs the Hope of the great healer of the nations, our Lord Jesus Christ!

My desire to reach to these hurting people is now stronger than ever before.

Blessings,

Marli

Travel through Africa with Marli:

A Call to Prayer (Marli's 1st Africa Letter, 2 1/2 weeks into her trip)

Being God's Healing Hand for Hurting Women (Marli's 2nd Africa Letter, from Dodoma)

Open Hearts, Tremendous Joy (Marli’s 3rd Africa Letter, from Arusha, Tanzania)

Courage Amidst Life's Violent Storms (Marli's 4th Africa Letter)

Hope for the Heart of Africa (this page above, Marli's final Africa Letter)

Marli's Africa Photos (2011 Africa Consultation, Travels; NOTE: photos and other contents of Project Hannah's Facebook Page can be viewed without a Facebook account).