Missions
The IBFCT churches
Since 2010 when the denomination was registered with the Tanzanian government, 27 churches have been planted and over 1,000 people are members of these churches. Churches start as group of people meeting with a pastor/leader under a tree. When 5 people attend regularly a church is considered to be started. As the numbers attending grow the church will aim to buy a plot of land and then put a structure on it. These temporary structures made of wood with corrugated iron or grass roofs are serviceable except in the rainy season. Eventually a proper building with foundations will be built as a place for the church to met. The cost of building can vary depending on where the building is constructed. In towns and cities land is more expensive, but there are often more people there and the church has the chance to reach more people. Since 2010 we have been able to help provide funds to build six IBFCT churches so there is still much to do. If you scroll through the pages in this section you will find out more about these churches and their congregations.
Nyasaka
The cathedral church of IBFCT
The Nyasaka church was built in stages from 2010. In addition to the main church building there is an office, a kitchen, two classrooms, and a toilet block. The church serves as the base for the church's social action programme. There is also a refuge and classroom there where the Masai ministry takes place. There is also the possibility of building more classrooms for the nursery school. The church is also where the Modular Bible School is run from. Currently the church congregation comprises around 70 people.
Video of the Nyasaka site
Here is a video of the Nyasaka church before the Sunday morning meeting. All the buildings here and the plot itself have been provided through monies raised by donations given to Light Church. The video was made during our visit in June 2018.
Baptisms at Nyasaka IBFCT
It is great to see the Lord Jesus Christ continuing to impact the lives of young Tanzanians through the ministry of the Nyasaka church. Below is a picture of 12 baptismal candidates just before they go through the waters of baptism in Lake Victoria in April 2020. Assistant Pastor John Lawi (in the white shirt third from the right standing) is about to perform the baptism service. We thank God that He continues to hear our prayers to reach people in Tanzania and to grow His church there.
Bugarika
This church was planted by Pastor Israel and was based in an area where squatters lived. We have been able to provide funds for the new building which was completed in 2017.
The old Bugarika church was made of bits of wood with a tarpaulin stretched over the top to provide some shade from the sun.
The site was challenging due to the many large boulders in the area, but eventually the new building was constructed.
This is the new church at Bugarika. Our pastor, Dan Belshaw, preached here in June 2018 during our last visit. The church has grown steadily under Pastor Israel John and now has a congregation of around 60 people.
Baptisms at Bugarika. A baptism service was held recently with converts being baptised in Lake Victoria. This was a big deal for Pastor Israel as he is hydrophobic (has a fear of water). Here he is on the right and he is assisted in the baptism by another pastor who knows the lake well.
Pastor Israel preaching to the congregation at Bugarika. Recently Pastor Israel was made homeless when the roof of his house was destroyed by a storm. Please pray for a resolution of this situation and that he might get a new home.
Igekemaja
This church was planted by Pastor Benedict Mathias and his wife Rosa. It started in 2010 with four believers.
When we visited in 2014 the church was a mud brick building attached to the side of the foundation of a new building that was to be built in the future. Paul Lloyd is preaching here to members of the church with James Shija translating. (They both have their backs to the camera).
We were able to provide funds in early 2018 for a major build on this site. This church is in an area of Mwanza and there is due to be a lot of development in the area around the church so there is significant potential for growth in the future.
This is the congregation outside the completed church building when we visited the site in 2018 for a dedication ceremony and thanksgiving service. The congregation now is over 70Â people and continues to grow. They have provided their own sound system and generator.
There was a violent storm in November 2020 and James Shija reported that about 20 iron sheets (about a quarter of the roof) were ripped off. We prayed that the church there kept their eyes fixed on Jesus.
We thank God that He provided funds to allow for the rebuilding of this roof. We were able to send out the money needed in February 2021 despite the issues with fundraising during the Covid 19 pandemic. Praise the Lord that He makes a way when we cannot always see one. Here in the picture you can see the repaired roof.
The Igekemaja church during worship
Nyashimo
The Church in 2014
This was where the church met when we visited in 2014. We could see potential as the congregation had already started to build their own church and this was a village at a key road junction that clearly was going to grow into a small town.
The new building
The new building at built in 2016. The first building collapsed due to a violent storm. This area is close to Lake Victoria and prone to gales. The new building has been strengthened with steel posts to ensure its stability.
The dedication of the new building
It was a great blessing to visit Nyashimo again in 2018 and dedicate the building. Here is a picture of the congregation after the dedication service. Pastor Makanda and his wife Deborah plan to start a nursery school and the building is used for teaching and meetings every day of the week.
Video of the Dedication of Nyashimo church
Bugando
Bugando is in a rural area over two hours drive from Mwanza. When we visited in 2014 we had to take a ride on a motorbike for the last part of the journey as there were no roads at all. The area is very poor and the people there have very little. This picture shows the typical housing in the area.
This is the church of Pastor Yangole. They didn't have a plot of land when we visited in 2014, but IBFCT has provided money and a plot has been purchased. Yangole also wants to build a school and to help improve the education of local children.
This is some of the congregation in 2014. Many did not have Bibles which cost about £5 at the time. We were able to purchase and distribute some Bibles so that each family who attends has one.
This is some of the congregation in 2018 when Paul Pimbili visited Pastor Yangole at Bugando. In the background is the mud brick church that they had built after IBFCT purchased a plot of land for the church. Unfortunately not long after this picture was taken there were heavy rains and the building collapsed. Yangole says more people have joined the church since this happened. Praise God for the way He is working amongst these people.
The church at Bugando has experienced some hardship but when Paul Pimbili visited Pastor Yangole as part of the modular Bible school training programme he found the church continuing to thrive. Here is a woman who has a serious health condition who asked for prayer. She is seated in the middle, with Paul Pimbili standing on the right.
Mugumu
Mugumu is about 6 hours drive from Mwanza, and at least half the journey is on dirt roads. It is a town of some 10,000 people that was created when settlements were cleared by the government with the creation of the Serengeti National park which it borders. We visited the church for the first time in 2018.
This is the church that Zakaria John pastors. There is a large congregation as you can see from the picture and they meet in the shack made of corrugated iron sheets which is behind them in the picture. It was very hot and dark inside when we visited in 2018.
The church at Mugumu was only renting their property and the landlord wanted to sell. We have provided funds so that the church has been able to purchase a large plot of land with three buildings on. They want to convert this one in the picture into a church and use the others for a nursery school.
We praise God for having the funds to be able to affect this refurbishment. Thanks to the money raised through the shop sales we have been able to meet all the costs of this refurbishment and the church no longer has to meet in the open air. Currently over 100 people attend this church.
Pastor Zakaria is keen to see the community at Mugumu impacted by the church. The town has around 10,0000 people in it and recently the church held a crusade to reach more people for Christ as you can see in the picture on the left.
Pastor Zakaria reports that there continues to be growth despite the challenges of Covid 19. Here are seven baptismal candidates from the church at Mugumu.
Pastor Zakaria continues to preach the gospel despite challenges with funding his children through school. Please pray for God's blessing and favour to remain on him and his family at this time.
Kisesa
This is the church pastored by Daniel Bulidese. When we visited in 2018 they did not have a plot of land and used the area around Daniel's house as a meeting place. Kisesa is a suburb of Mwanza so although a suitable plot has been identified it is much more expensive than a similar area in the countryside.
The church does however have its own sound system and has a worship leader who is an albino, which shows the real heart of this church for all people. They have asked for more chairs as many older people would come to the church if they did not have to stand for a long period of time.
The leadership of this church is strong with Daniel Bulidese having a Master of Theology degree. We have been able to provide funds for a plot of land through the shop sales. We thank God for this and now look to provide funds for a church building at some point in the future. You can see on the left the construction of a temporary building to provide some protection from the heat of the sun and the rain in the rainy season.
The temporary church building was destroyed in the same storm that damaged the church at Igekemaja. However James Shija found that the ministry here continues to grow despite the problems with the building as you can see in the picture here. We thank God that He enabled us to provide money to buy a plot of land for this church in February 2021. Please pray for Pastor Daniel Bulidese and his continuing ministry to the people of Kisesa.
Mhandu
We visited Mhandu in 2014. This church is in a suburb of Mwanza and is led by Pastor Silas Gebayi. The church has partially been rebuilt and requires a roof to complete the building.
Mhandu is unusual in that it is in an area where there is some relative wealth. The majority of the houses here have glazed windows and the church had some younger members who were in good jobs. We distributed some Bibles when we visited the congregation and also some spectacles which had been donated to us.
Another unusual feature at Mhandu was the bookstore which you can see in this picture. The church there have a vision for evangelising the area through this bookstore which is manned at all times and provides tracts and books to passers by and local people.
This is the latest picture of the Mhandu church in 2019. You can see that in five years the congregation there has made progress in the construction of their new building. They have not had any help from us. We would like to be able to help them finish the building work in the next year. Please pray that God would provide the funds to enable us to do this.
Mahina
The church at Mahina is led by Clement and Agnes Matele. It began in their house in 2016 and when we visited in 2018 it was a vibrant church. Clement and Agnes have spent a considerable amount of their own money on building a cement foundation and have some bricks as well.
Mahina has a very strong vision to reach the community around it and they have been busy supporting a church plant in Geita despite not having their own building finished. This only started nine months ago and the church plant under a young pastor Joachim has been very successful.
With their strong leadership and clear vision this is another church that we would like to support. We have been very blessed with the church's charity shop in the market square, and are now in a position to release £4,000 to the construction of this church.
Here is a picture of a recent baptismal service held in December 2020 with Pastor Clement Matele on the right baptising a new believer in the river Nyakurunduma.
The building work has moved forward as you can see from this picture. The walls are largely complete and now the roof has been added. We were able to fund this through our charity shop opened in October 2019. Praise God for His provision for this work. The materials form the old temporary church building are now being used at the church plant at Iwelashima. The congregation under Pastor Clement's leadership now numbers over 70.
The work at Mahina remains dynamic and the team there have recently started a ministry to young people called PEACE (Possessing Excellence As Children Empowered). This was begun in January 2021. Here is a picture of the teacher there with some of her pupils on the steps of the church.
Mahina
The church at Mahina is very vibrant and they love to dance and worship God. This is a video that one of their worship teams, Daud Method, made in September 2020. The song is "Jesus My Commander."
Nyasangai IBFCT
This is the church of Nyasangai where Pastor Lucas Maisori is the minister. Nyasangui is a smaller church with a temporary mud brick building as their chapel. This is to the east of the Serengeti close to the border with Kenya.
The church here consists of 11 adults and 18 children. The picture here was taken by Paul Pimbili on his visit to Lucas's church. This is after the evening service.
The new IBFCT church at Ntagacha
Pastor Lucas Maisori continues to preach the gospel
Recently (the summer of 2021) we received news of a new church planted by Pastor Lucas Maisori. This is the church at Ntagacha which is in the area of the Serengeti. Pastor Zakaria John sent us these photographs of the new church. We praise God for the way He continues to inspire people like Lucas to preach the good news of the gospel and reach out to more Tanzanians.
Here is the congregation being preached to during the service.
Pastor Lucas with some members of the congregation after the service. Pastor Lucas is the tall man in the middle of the picture.
Nyawilimilwa Geita
This is the church at Nyawilimilwa Geita. It has only been going since March 2018 and was planted from Mahina IBFCT. The pastor there is Pastor Joachim John. The church has grown quickly but has experienced division towards the end of 2019.  The church has purchased a plot of land with funds from IBFCT and a temporary shelter has been built. There is now a need to build a permanent building. Praise God for the way he has moved in this place and please pray that He continues to keep his hand upon Pastor Joachim. Currently there are about 40 people in the church.
Video of church at Nyawilimilwa Geita
Many Tanzanians find worship and music very important in drawing close to God. Here is a video made by Paul Pimbili on his visit to Pastor Joachim, and this shows that the church has grown rapidly. Pastor Joachim puts this down to the use of music and worship in his evangelism.
Loliondo IBFCT church, Manyara district
Bahati Tate seeks to reach the Masai of the Manyara area for Jesus Christ
The church plant at Loliondo.
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Pastor Bahati Tate (on the right in the picture) is one of the Masai to come through our programme at Nyasaka. He graduated (May 2020) from the East Africa Bible College based in Arusha which he attended with our financial support. His desire is to now plant churches in his Masai homeland. We are seeking to support him in this. Here is his first church plant at Loliondo. Remember that in Tanzania a church is five people meeting under a tree! The church has now grown to around 25 people. Please pray for God's blessing on Bahati s work of reaching the Masai.
This is Pastor Bahati's house. It is the traditional Masai house with a plastic sheet for a roof. Bahati has experienced some difficulties and was attacked and beaten for sharing the word of God initially. However with continued prayer support he has seen an improved situation.
This is a picture of a church outreach meeting at which more than 50 Masai attended and several people made a commitment to follow Jesus. Bahati says that now many Masai are open to receiving the Word of God.
These are some of the new church members at the church plant at Loliondo.
This is the church gathered under the tree where they meet. Please pray that God would help us to provide funds for the church there to be able to purchase a plot of land and put up a permanent building there. The ministry there still faces many challenges. Pastor Bahati caught Covid 19 in May 2021 and was hospitalised for two months. During this time his mother died. Please pray that God would comfort and strengthen him in his loss.
Shibula-Ilemela IBFCT
A new church planted by Pastor Paul Pimbili
The work at Shibula-Ilemela began two years ago and the church meets in a room rented from a local school. It has grown significantly in the last year and now has over 40 people attending. On the left is a picture of the church choir with some of the congregation dancing in front of them. Music and worship are very important means of attracting Tanzanians to the word of God.
Reaching out through crusades
Several of the IBFCT churches have held crusades to engage with their local communities. The one at Shibula-Ilemela saw a strong response as can be seen on the right as people give their lives to Jesus. Please pray for the continued evangelistic efforts of IBFCT and that God would speak through the pastors and impact peoples lives.
The church at Tarime
Tarime is a town in the area near the Serengeti. It is one of the few towns in this area. In 2020 Pastor Alex Zacharia and the congregation there joined IBFCT.
Bishop James Shija and Pastor Daudi Jackson visited this new IBFCT church in April 2021. Pastor Alex is wearing the suit jacket in the middle of the photgraph and his wife is in the red and gold dress on the right hand side of the picture. The church has nearly fifty people attending it. They rent a room and are standing outside it after their sunday service.
The church at Sayaka near Magu
Pastor Jonas Peter plants a new church in Magu district
This is the new church planted by Pastor Jonas Peter in 2021. James Shija visited the church in July and formally welcomed the people there into the IBFCT denomination. We first met Pastor Jonas Peter in 2018 when we visited the church at Kisesa where he was serving as assistant pastor under Pastor Daniel Bulidese. Jonas felt God calling him to go a plant a new church in Magu district and this is the result. The church there rent the building they meet in. Please pray for God's provision for a plot of land and the means to put a building on it going forward. (Apologies for the poor quality of the photo).
Pastor Lucas Makungu joins IBFCT. Pastor Clement Matele wrote in September 2020:
"Another pastor (Lucas Makungu) from Nyehunge village of Sengerema – outside of Mwanza city, joined us at Mahina Church. He has a church at Nyehunge village with 25 adult Christians and 20 children. With his own money, he has already made achievements as can be seen in the photo. He is interested and have decided to serve God through IBFCT. Our IBFCT Executive Secretary for Mwanza Diocese (Pastor Benedict) has visited the Nyehunge Church and talked with Christians and local Church leaders.  Therefore, I can believe that we have another local church at Nyehunge."
A new IBFCT church at Nyehunge, Mwanza.
The church at Kagera
Pastor Lazaro Makuri sees the Lord move in Kagera
This is a picture from Pastor Paul Pimbili who visited the church at Kagera recently in 2021. We have never been to this church or met Pastor Lazaro. The caption explains how the congregation has outgrown the church.
This is Pastor Lazaro Makuri. He works as a labourer and has recently completed our modular Bible school which has been running over the last three years at Nyasaka in Mwanza. In this time he has seen the church grow from 10 adults and 20 children to 42 adults and 34 children.
Here we can see the offering being taken at a Sunday service. We thank God that He has enabled us through our table top sales to provide money for this church to buy a plot of land. Currently the church is on rented land. Hopefully the Kagera IBFCT church will now be able to build a permanent home there.
The church plant at Iwelashinga
Pastor Joseph Azariah responds to God's call to serve Him
Church plant at Iwelashinga
This picture shows some of the congregation of the church plant at Iwelashinga. This work is being supported by the IBFCT church at Mahina. Pastor Clement and his wife Agnes are helping Pastor Joseph Azariah to plant this church. You can read more about Pastor Joseph below. This temporary church building has been made with materials which were formerly used at Mahina plus materials that Pastor Joseph has bought with his own money. Iwelashima is a suburb of Mwanza quite close to Mahina. Please pray for this work and that God would have his hand upon Pastor Joseph as he steps out in faith. The congregation is currently about 20 in number.
Pastor Joseph Azariah
Pastor Clement Matele told us by email:
"Pastor Joseph Azariah and family came at our church in April 2019. He was saved by Jesus Christ in 1993 when he was living in Bunda District of Mara Region. Since that time he has been a Christian in the Evangelistic Assemblies of God in Tanzania (EAGT) and Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania (FPCT) denominations holding positions of Church Elder and Deacon. He shifted from Bunda to Mwanza seeking for a job in Mwanza for the livelihood of his family and rented in a neighbouring house from us. He has been telling Agnes and I that he has a call to work as a Pastor but he has been failing due to denominational restrictions in serving as a Pastor. As he came into IBFCT, we instructed him about everything and he was satisfied to serve as a Pastor according to his call. It seems that he has a call to work as a Pastor. He has bought 15 iron sheets for his Church by using his own money. He told us that he wanted to serve God at Iwelashinga and he has some good Samaritans over there that provided the plot temporarily for the Church." The church continues to grow steadily with 20 people in the congregation in November 2020.
