The Day the Bus Couldn’t, But God Did

January 2025

We landed in Moshi on January 22nd, 2025, and without missing a beat, jumped straight into ministry.

No time for jet lag—we were off and running!

Our first outreach was with a team from Texas who would be putting on a kids' day and wanted to visit a village church. Paula, their leader and our friend, had mentioned that, along with the playground they would be assembling, they brought balloons and were planning to try their hand at balloon animals for the kids. Naturally, we were intrigued. See, most of our extended family sings, but we clown—literally! Balloon animals and clowning go hand in hand for us, and "Uni-Mike" has a PhD in balloon creations. About 300 balloon animals and 1,000 swings later, we had a successful and exhausting day.

The next day, we made arrangements for a Coaster bus and headed out early for Moita

—affectionately known as “the tree church”—to worship with Pastor Elisha.

We knew it would be a bit of a drive, but we didn’t know just how challenging the journey would be. Roads were washed out, others were deeply eroded, and the mud was so slick we were dangerously close to sliding off the road into deep pits—multiple times. This wasn't the rainy season, so all of this was unexpected.

More than once, we got out of the bus to lighten the load while the men literally pushed it to one side to prevent us from going over the edge. Eventually, we had to stop altogether. The bus couldn’t go any farther.

So we walked.

Over a mile in the heat, along slippery trails, all of us were sweating and praying we were almost there. And then, as if scripted, Bro. Jonas shouted, “The bus is coming!” 

A group of strong, determined Maasai men had pushed it out and got it back on solid ground. Talk about teamwork and divine timing.

We were supposed to arrive at 10:30 AM. We got there at 1:15 PM. Honestly, we thought we might’ve missed everything. But when we arrived, the people were still there—waiting. Seventy-five to eighty believers gathered, ready to worship. And that’s exactly what we did. With joy and energy, we worshipped in three languages. Singing, clapping, dancing, praying. Heaven met earth that afternoon in the most beautiful way. The Scripture brought forth that day was, “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. He goes before you, behind you, beside you, above, and below. And He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.” We felt it strongly that day.

We chose to take a different road home—still rough and rocky, but solid. No mud, no slipping, no gullies, and no danger.

That day reminded us: ministry isn’t always polished. It’s rarely convenient. Sometimes it’s muddy and exhausting. But it’s always worth it. Because God goes before us, stays with us, and makes a way—even when the road gets washed out.