“If The Lord Was Not Beside Us….

“Kama si Bwana aliyekuwa pamoja nasi, Israel na asema sasa….” – Psalm 124:1

“If the Lord had not been beside us, let Israel say….” – Psalm 124:1

This passage from Psalm 124:1 is the theme, selected by the Lion of Judah Academy alumni, for the 20^th Anniversary Celebration. It was splashed above the stage area. It was printed on the back of the official shirts. It was cited over and again by students, speakers, choirs, and others.

“If the Lord had not been beside us…,” then the school, from the first day up until now, simply would not have happened! But the Lord was with us…every step of the way

God did it all. God started it. God showed the way. God has sustained and provided every day along the journey. Printed immediately below the scripture was this: “Glory to God.” Every part of the celebration has reflected and been infused with that wonderful truth: God HAS been beside us, every step of the way. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Our hearts have been overflowing since last Saturday…there is too much to include in a single post so there will be more. However, in this post we are going to include a few things:

First, an update on a couple of important prayer concerns

Second, a link to a special 20^th Anniversary video, with a brief overview of the history of the school

Third, a link to Saturday’s graduation entry of the Form Four students, because the 20^th anniversary celebration was combined with the graduations of Class 7 and Form Four. The Form Four students were a lot of fun to watch as they entered!

First…the brief prayer update…

The celebration of Saturday was followed, on Sunday, by two great challenges.

#1 – School Director Mtebe traveled to Bariadi to preach Sunday morning. On his way back to the school he was involved in a very serious accident. He, Praise God, was not hurt. While traveling at highway speed the front left wheel literally came off the vehicle!! Although the Landcruiser swerved severely into the other lane, then to the shoulder, there was no oncoming traffic and he managed to keep the vehicle under control until he reached a stop. So we are praising God greatly for that! Also, apart from the damage to the wheel and suspension, no other damage was done to the vehicle.

In an entirely separate incident, however, things did not turn out well at all. Mtebe is married to Pili, one of the four co-founders of the school. She received word that at almost the same time Mtebe had his problem, one of her nephews (Geoffrey, though I’m not sure that is the correct spelling) – who was also a Simba wa Yuda alumni – was in a very serious vehicle accident and was killed.

So, in the midst of the overflowing joy of the anniversary celebration, the Mtebes – and the entire school family – was faced with these two great challenges. Please pray for Pili especially, because as the head of her clan, all the responsibility for dealing with this tragedy has fallen upon her. Also pray for her family…as you thank God for Mtebe’s protection. She, along with many family members, are right now traveling to Dar es Salaam for the funeral.

#2 — Here is a link to the YouTube Channel with the 20^th Anniversary Video

#3 — Here is a link to the YouTube Channel with a clip of the Form Four students entry dance

More to follow! In “the best laid plans” I had hoped to post almost daily for the past week…obviously that was a failure! The daily realities of being here at the school, and enjoying all the anniversary events, really got in the way! I’m going to try to do better in the coming days!