A Life-Changing Encounter With Dr. Chacha
“Mom sent me to buy something in the market and that’s where I met Dr. Chacha. ‘I was just walking around and He saw me and said, “Come here!’ – like he already knew me. He asked me if I would like to move to the City of Hope!”
– Emanuel C
The oldest boy of six siblings, Emanuel recalls, “My Dad wasn’t there for us, although he was alive. Mom was the one taking care of us, but she couldn’t afford to put a meal on the table and pay our school fees. I was expected to take care of the other kids since I was older so I worked on the streets. One day Mom sent me to buy something in the market and that’s where I met Dr. Chacha. I was just walking around and He saw me and said, ‘Come here!’ – like he already knew me. He asked me if I would like to move to the City of Hope.” I didn’t ask any questions or argue – I knew this was for me. I went back home and told Mom ‘I think I’m being adopted.’ She said it was good, so I packed and went to live at the City of Hope!”
Emanuel now had three meals a day and went to class! Baba Doctor (Baba affectionately means father) started a music band. Fifty kids signed up and teachers came and taught them to play. Emanuel loved playing the trumpet and being in community with other kids like him. He fondly remembers making new friends, learning to love and respect others, and to do what is right. He grew spiritually, physically, and academically!
Then within five months of arriving at City of Hope, he was one of 23 students (along with his sister, pictured) awarded a scholarship to Mountain Mission School (MMS) in the US! Then, just as unexpectedly, a few months before leaving, Baba Doctor died in a vehicle accident. “I didn’t know what to do. We weren’t sure we were going to the US now. No one could fill that gap. We prayed and trusted God and then a miracle happened - we were able to go to the US!”
Although Baba Doctor passed away the vision is still alive – showing that it was God’s plan and God’s vision for us. That vision is still alive today.
Mountain Mission became my new home. And before I graduated, I knew God was calling me to ministry/preaching/leadership. I prayed about where He wanted me to go. That summer I went to a church camp and got to know some people from Johnson University and received a scholarship to go there! I’m finishing my Sophomore year at Johnson. I work at summer camps each year sharing the Gospel and recruiting students for Johnson. I am passionate about sharing the Gospel. If that’s what He wants me to do after graduation, then He will provide.
When I had the opportunity to go back to Tanzania for a visit in 2022, I was privileged to share the morning devotion at City of Hope. I encouraged the children to keep Jesus at the center of everything: their work, their dreams, their passions – everything. Everyone has a purpose and no one is a lost cause. We’re in this together…just in different locations. But in the same world…with the same mission: to spread the Gospel.”
You can encourage more students like Emanuel to pursue their advanced education dreams, by…
· Emailing a prayer for these students to succeed in their studies and that they continue to trust the Lord for their “next step” after graduation.
· Giving a one-time financial gift for tuition, fees, textbooks, related expenses.
· Becoming a monthly Hope Partner with a gift of any amount for advanced education.
“ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
- Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)