ARUSHA, Tanzania (BNc) — Boma Ng´ombe [“Village of Cows”] is the hometown of Ahser Mbasha. It is located at the foot of beautiful Mt Kilmanjaro in Tanzania on the road between Arusha and Moshi.
Ahser Mbasha
In the mid 1970’s a young man came down from the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and passed through Boma Ng´ombe as he journeyed to some unknown destination. There he met a man by the name of Ahser Mbasha and, according to local custom, greeted him with respect because he was an older man.
Before continuing his journey, he handed Ahser two tracts, “God’s Plan of Salvation” and “True Worship.”
The name of the young man is not known, but the tracts were written by Andrew Connally (1931-1992), one of the missionaries who established the church of Christ in Arusha. The tracts, published in Ki-Swahili, were distributed widely.
Tanzania
For the next twenty-five years, Ahser kept those two tracts in his Bible and read them over and over. When he compared the teaching in the tracts with what his preacher taught, he noticed a difference. But when he compared the tracts with what was written in the Bible, he noticed that it was the same.
In 2000 – twenty-five years after receiving the tracts – he decided to find the people who had written them. The address on the back was: “Arusha church of Christ, P.O. Box 1076, Arusha, Tanzania.” Ahser got on a small bus called a “Dala Dala” and made his way to Arusha – a little more than an hour away – in search of “the church of Christ.”
Arusha Bible School
Ahser met a new Christian by the name of Fariji Paul, who introduced him to Francis Wechesa. Francis enrolled Ahser in the Arusha Bible School. After further study, Ahser obeyed the Gospel. Upon graduating from the ABS in 2002, Ahser was faced with a dilemma. He said to Francis: “I will now be returning to my home village where there is no preacher and no congregation.” Francis said: “Congratulations preacher! Go plant the true New Testament Church in Boma Ng´ombe.” And that is what he did.
Information supplied by Cy Stafford.
2013-12-25 at 7:53 pm
To or for me it ministers to and reminds me of what God spoke to Elijah when he was feeling a little depressed and lonesome: Behold I have seven thousand who have not kneeled to Baal and their lips have not kissed him (1 Kings 19:18). Give thanks and praise to the mighty and the great I Am.
2014-02-24 at 7:34 am
I will remember this story. It answers the age old question, “what about those who live far away and have never heard the Gospel?” Everyone is called to repent and God will get the Gospel to everyone. By faith I know this is true. – Dan Mayfield