About 22 years ago, Ruth and I joined a handful of Filipino believers asking God to show us His will regarding teaching Bible in public schools in the Philippines. A Filipino pastor, Kuya Tony, directed our attention to John 6, Jesus feeding the 5,000, and especially to Andrew’s honest response in verse 9 ...”but what good is that with this huge crowd?” We resonated with Andrew...we were so few, we had such scant resources, and the need in the public schools was beyond imagination. But Kuya Tony challenged us to focus on Jesus, not on ourselves!
Now, two decades later, God has overwhelmed us anew with what He has done with the little we had to give. On November 20, 2025, VOICE Philippines celebrated their 20th Anniversary and continues to see God use the program and curriculum throughout that nation. But...we were not there at that celebration. Instead we were in East Africa for the whole month of November witnessing how God is using the Biblical Values program in that part of the world—Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Each nation has its testimonies, but let me just focus on a few stories from Tanzania. Five years ago, we were there to remove the brown paper wrapped around the newly printed first Swahili translation of Forgiveness and Truth...teaching Biblical values was a brand new program for Scripture Union Tanzania. What has happened since then?
Scripture Union staff and volunteers have been able to access the Friday two-hour Religion Class allowed by the Tanzania Department of Education. Huge doors have opened in the Capital, Dodoma, to teach students of all religions. Due to the positive impact, a request was sent to Scripture Union Tanzania “we need teachers from Scripture Union to teach Values in more schools.” A request was also received from the University of Dodoma—“come and teach our students.”
A village in Tanzania was turned around when church volunteers taught the Purity Module to a school where pregnancy was forcing a significant number of Upper Primary girls to drop out of school. Once God’s standard of Purity was taught, there were no further dropouts! Village officials want it to be taught to all of their schools.
In the Mount Meru Region, more than 100 Primary and Secondary Schools have opened to VOICE, keeping their team of 20 volunteers VERY busy. Other schools are asking; more volunteers are needed.
In another area, we were told the Values Class started with 60 pupils. When Purity was taught, the numbers rose to 400 including some Muslim students! Since no school classroom could accommodate that many, a nearby protestant church allowed the Values teachers to come and use their sanctuary! Extra volunteers held the visuals at various aisles so all the students could see the Visuals as the lesson was taught. Officials have noted transformed behaviour.
Multiple testimonies have been noted in the Masay Tribe including the village of Lolkisale. A student who had previously vowed “I will never forgive my dad for beating my mom” changed his mind after being taught the Forgiveness module. At home, he pleaded, “Mom, let us forgive Dad.” God did a miracle and the dad asked the family for forgiveness. That family has been reunited.
A similar story came from an 11-year old boy, Julius. Forgiveness was taught to him at a camp in June, 2024. As camp ended, he refused to go home alone, but insisted that the Values teacher come and “tell my mom what you told us.” The fatigued values teacher took courage and went with Julius to his home. God worked as the Values teacher explained to the quarreling parents about Forgiveness and the family was reunited.
At Liwiti Primary School, a boy confessed hatred toward his father because he had “refused to pay my school fees.” By God’s grace, forgiveness was extended and the father/son relationship restored.
At the Kitete & Myengo School, three girls were being sexually abused by two boys. As a result of the Purity module being taught, all five of them trusted Christ as Saviour and by God’s grace, turned from their sin.
In Tabora, the family of a Christian widow’s late husband seized all she had, leaving her destitute. Bitterness ruled her life until she surrendered it all to God and forgave. God showed Himself strong on her behalf and miraculously provided a house and lot for her which is now used as a House Church. Out of gratitude, she started serving with Scripture Union and among other ministries, teaches Biblical values in multiple schools as well as to local street children.
Transformation stories are not limited to schools and homes. In the Western Zone of Sanga, a Scripture Union staff taught the Forgiveness module in a prison in Shinyanga. A prisoner who had murdered his wife received God’s forgiveness and his 30-year sentence was reduced to 1-year. That prisoner is now free and powerfully teaching God’s Word.
In the Tanga Region last July, 2024, two evangelical churches prayed and presented the Gospel and witnessed God’s power triumphing over witchcraft. An unbeliever who had previously believed the threat that if he trusted Christ as Savior, a lion would kill all of his livestock, gave his motorbike to transport Christian workers to his village. Soon, he trusted Christ and was used to open his village to the Gospel. Now an evangelical Bible church has been planted and their numbers have grown three or four times from the 18 adults and 25 children/youth who started the church!
Just this past June (2025) in Morogoro, after teaching the Swahili Truth and Purity modules to children and youth, 500 of those students are attending church!
And there are more. Half way through this past month, the awareness of God’s multiplying power really hit us. He has indeed taken our “five loaves and two fish” and used it to touch far more than we could have imagined. By His grace and power, the VOICE Curriculum/program continues to expand. Lord-willing, within the next couple of months, the Amharic translation of the Purity module will be printed for use in Ethiopia and the Swahili translation of Self-Control will be printed for use in Tanzania. An Ethiopian gal, Robbie, is in Uganda currently for a two-week deeper exposure to the VOICE ministry with the hope that she will be able to help expand the teaching of Biblical values in her nation. Plans are being made to bring up to six Scripture Union staff from Tanzania to Uganda, maybe in February, for a similar purpose. Uganda is working on producing its 8th module of curriculum, Respect. They also have digitized the teaching of Truth, Purity, and Forgiveness to be used online.
Thank you for praying for us as we revisited East Africa last month. We hope you’ve been encouraged as much as we have by how God has multiplied your efforts and He isn’t finished yet! He alone is worthy to be praised!! We invite you to praise God with us for His amazing work in East Africa, and to continue to pray since there are still millions of children and youth who have not yet heard the truth.
