Mission Revival

I have just been in a tremendous missions conference in Florida.  The pastor had already preached and taught his people about missions, their responsibilies, and about faith promise.  The conference was all about us; the winning of the lost to Christ.  The mission conference was really a revival to encourage more giving, going and praying.  We each had a night to share our ministries and our hearts.  It was a great week!  The people were excited and ready for us.  They had been praying for this week and looking forward to the missions week.  We had great attendance each night and we increased from Wednesday night to Friday! ( Most meetings actually go down in attendance.)  Part of the reason is that each night the ladies of the church brought different ethic foods and we all enjoyed Mexican, Italian, and Chinese (which was mostly bought through a local restaurant).  During this time, the people talked to us missionaries and asked great questions and got to really know us. 

God truly blessed and on Sunday morning, Faith Promise Sunday, the goal was almost met and now, it will go over and above the goal!!  This is an area that has lots of retired persons on fixed incomes in a bad economy.  Go figure.  God has blessed them and they are trusting God for the future not the stock market. 

I am still on the road but with meetings like this; it is a joy!  Keep praying for me as I travel and make my way down the road to more meetings in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Missouri. 

Newsletter March 2011

Dear friends and supporters, March 2011




Thank you so much for all of the prayers for me the last few months. I am in the states now on a short three month furlough. I was privileged to go to the Philippines for the BBFI global meetings in Cebu City. I was blessed by the ministries at Bible Baptist Church in Cebu. I had nine unbelievable days being ministered to and ministering to others. God has truly blessed the faithfulness of the BBFI missionaries and the national pastors/Christians in this truly remarkable church lead by a national pastor since the late 60’s. I was able to be part of their visitation ministry, taught a Sunday School class, talked with many Bible College students about their futures on the mission field, counseled several young ladies, and prayed with several about Tanzania as their future mission field. God truly blessed all of the fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ in Cebu. Thank you to those who helped me go to Cebu, for the ones who prayed for my travels to the Philippines and then to the states for furlough. I return to TZ in June.



I am in Florida at this time and will be in supporting churches until the first part of April. In April, I make my way to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan for the whole month of May. The first part of May, I will be traveling to Missouri for Fellowship Week when my youngest son and his wife will be approved as TEAM missionaries to Tanzania through the BBFI. Then in the same week, Megan, Nathan and Tiffany, Nathan’s new wife, will be graduating from Baptist Bible College. And if that is not enough, on Saturday after graduation, Megan is getting married to Jeff Jones, who is a 2009 graduate of BBC Springfield.



God has given safety on the road, provision in my needs, and a peace that guides me daily from His Word and His Spirit. I appreciate your prayers as I continue this short, but intense furlough. This is the first time for me to travel by car alone without Tom. I know that some drivers may think I am talking to myself when they pass me in the car, but the Lord and I are having lots of good conversations as I travel down all the highways. My dad always said, “There is no love on these roads, but only the love of the Good Lord.” I agree.



Joanne Foltz

Missionary to Tanzania since 1997

P O Box 191, Springfield, MO 65801

On the Road Again, Furlough

In the past, Tom drove the long miles of deputation and then furloughs.  As he drove,  I talked, watched for signs, looked up things on the map (before the days of GPS) , and would give him a break from driving so he could take a nap.  I now appreciate his willingness to drive more than ever since now I am doing the same but without him.  I have driven from Missouri to Louisiana and now I am driving around Florida.  Long miles with the radio, gospel CDs, and the Lord to keep me company.  I talk to the Lord out loud now days more than ever.  I am sure some drivers think I am talking to myself but I keep an "open line" of communication going with the Lord.  Since most states frown on cell phones being used when driving, I try to keep that to a minimum but they cannot stop me from talking to the Lord!

nine days in the philippines

Here are some pictures of my trip to the Philippines. 

A sweet family surrendered to the Lord

This family has been so active in our ministries here in Arusha.  Baba and Mama Paulo are such sweet people and good parents.  They love the Lord and God called Baba Paulo a year ago to preach the gospel.  He was called to Morogoro to pastor the church there.  They are thrilled to go but on Sunday, His commission service, we all had tears.  The picture tell you that the kids were a little sad but all are ready and happy to go to their "Ur" to spread the gospel.  God has called them to a new area, a new weather, a new home, but they are ready to follow the Lord and obey His call on their lives. 

We are praying God will bless them with souls!  We will miss them but our best busy people are who God calls.  We need to train and then release them to God's will, which may include them going to a new city, new state or a new country to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Here are the girls, Eliza, Neema, and Agnes with their teacher and friend, Mama Sabina. 

Here is Baba and Mama Paulo with two good friends, Filberto on the left and Abraham on the right.  The blue outfits are from a choir they are both in.  They sang for the last time with the choir that Baba Paulo started a few years ago.  They did a superior job with the song.  We will miss them.  They have been an important part of our ministry in Arusha but now the Lord has called them to another ministry.  May God richly bless them in Morogoro.

Is this our last day on earth in this life?

I know this is an unusual title but this hit me yesterday like never before.  

Last year we temporarily hired a young lady teacher for the month of November.  I was looking for a new teacher with her qualifications but I needed to observe her teaching style and her character.  I liked what I saw and we hired her this January to be one of our teachers at the Christian school here in Arusha.  She came back late from Christmas break because she was traveling  to see her family in Morogoro and Tabora.  Transport here can be tricky to say the least.  She arrived and we put her to work.  She was not active like she was in November.  She seemed tired but she worked hard.  Last week she went to the doctor and was told that she had pneumonia.  Here they say that for a bad cold.  She worked on Monday but was not really feeling well, and on Tuesday she wrote me a message on my phone that she was going to the hospital to get some medicine for her pneumonia.  We tried to contact her Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning with no success.  One of our teachers finally talked with her friend over this teacher's phone.  Her body was in the morgue.

We were shocked.  We knew she was sick but with no information, we didn't know she had admitted herself to the hospital late Thursday night.  She did call her family in Morogoro and said that she was really sick.  Her friend here got a call from her phone on Friday morning but talked with her nurse who said that she was very ill.  The friend went later and they told her that her friend was in the morgue.

We do know that this teacher, Restuta, heard the gospel.  I really don't know what her spiritual condition was, but I do know that she was under the gospel here at the school during devotions in the mornings and in our chapel time.  She heard the gospel.  She came to church here several times. 

We are really feeling badly that she was alone without friends during her last hours.  Did she get the best medical attention?  We do not know.  Did someone pray for her during those last hours?  We had prayed for her in devotions each morning at school.  All that I know is that yesterday was her last day on this earth. 

We went to the little room she rented.  It was locked up.  No one really knew her much.  She was new to the area after her graduation from teachers' college last year.  Her family is in Morogoro, 10 hours away.  We knew her slightly but she left a mark on our students.  At a prayer time after we heard the news, many tears were shed by teachers and students. 

We need to tell others about Christ when we are with them.  We do not know if that is going to be their last day on earth or not. 

I came upon a bad accident where one man had bled to death on the road after an accident of a Pepsi truck and a daladala, a public transport small van.  The van was in the ditch on its side and at least one person died at the scene.  All were shocked but the moment before the accident, I am sure, the people in the public transport van were talking or laughing, not knowing that in the next few seconds their lives would be changed and one would die on the road. 

Is this your last day here?  What are you doing for Christ?  Live your life like today is your last.  Tell others about the Lord and what He has done for us on the cross.  Don't delay or be lazy.  Keep faithful to His call on your life, and give the precious gospel to the ones you  come in contact with day after day.

Pinball or Video game?

When the kids were home, they played video games with their dad.  Tom was very competitive and really liked to win.  He did not like to lose.  Sometimes the air was tense and all were glued to the screen with white knuckles and flying fingers.  My grandson is following in the same footsteps.

Well, traffic in Tanzania is so much like the time with the white knuckles and things flying past your vision.  It is sometimes like you are in slow motion but you better be on your toes.  With slow bicycles weaving in and out, motorcycles coming down the middle white line both ways, walkers trying to find a crossing place, wooden pushcarts with loads of cement blocks or grain , herds of animals, fast driving public transport vehicles, overloaded buses, big blue trucks loaded with rocks or people which are coming side-ways at you, and many unbelieveable and unexplainable things to distract and disturb the natural easy flow of normal traffic.  Did I say normal?  Did I say natural easy flow?   That does not describe the traffic here in Arusha.  It is "dog eat dog. " No turning back or backing up, . . .all forward and fast . . .and if you see a hole in the traffic or on the opposite side of the road, take it! Don't worry.  The police are almost worthless.  They won't stop you when you do this.  Unless they want tea or a present. 

You need to pray for your missionaries in foreign countries.  We have unbelieveable traffic and it is the most dangerous thing we do.  We face death so many times on the road.  We overwork our guardian angels!