By Rita Langeland
More than a decade ago, Hidden with Christ Ministries purchased a 5.2 acre plot of land outside the city of Moshi, Tanzania. The year was 2011, and our work with orphaned children through our Treasures of Africa Children’s Home was well known to the local Social Welfare office.
The head of the Welfare office (at that time) had begun to pressure us to purchase a permanent location for the children, as she was very uncomfortable that we were renting a building for use as an orphanage. She feared the owner would not renew the lease, and all the children could suddenly become homeless. The Welfare authorities had nowhere to place the children, as there were no government orphanages, so the pressure was on.
We searched high and low, and no buildings were found suitable to house a large number of children. It became clear we would have to buy land and build. After walking and praying over one specific property for 7 days, we felt confident we had found God’s intended location. After a series of miracles, financial and otherwise, the property was purchased. But the faith battle continued, as it took three solid years to receive the Title Deed for the land.
When the Title Deed finally came through, we had only one more hurdle to overcome, or so we thought. Our land was zoned as “Light Industrial” in a large swath of land that had been set aside by the government for industrial development some decades prior. But all the landowners had simply planted corn, and the entire area looked like a series of small farms instead of the intended industrial complex. The Land Office had promised to change our Land designation to “Educational”, to allow us to proceed with building an orphanage and school. But when we refused to “encourage” the Land Officer with a financial “gift,” our promised zoning change stalled out. This went on for years, regardless of writing letters to officials and making in-person appeals. I got to the point of simply laying the entire project on the “altar” like Abraham did with Isaac and was confident that God could raise it from the dead in His perfect timing.
Fast-forward to March 2024. It felt like the time was right to ask the government officials in Hai District, to change the land’s zoning designation to “Educational” one more time. By this point, many things in the government had changed. The previous Land Officer, who had refused to help us without a bribe, had been jailed for corruption. We also had heard that the new District Commissioner, to whom we planned to make a direct in-person appeal, had the reputation of being a very reasonable person.
We no longer planned to request permission to build an orphanage, since the central government had announced its intention (in 2020) to close orphanages across the country and place the children in families. We had successfully moved all the TOA children into families by mid-2021 and now set our sights on seeking permission to build a Secondary School to be called TREASURES OF AFRICA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY. Our need for a zoning change of our property from Industrial to Educational was still the primary issue we planned to present to the District Commissioner.
One of our HWCM Board members in Tanzania, Mr. Shali, a civil engineer, secured an in-person meeting for our Board with the District Commissioner. The Board members came out in force for this meeting, as all of us had prayed together for a positive ruling on our request by the D.C. The meeting proceeded, with our Engineer leading the way. He explained the history of our organization seeking permission for a zoning change for many years. The D.C. listened carefully and suddenly asked exactly where the land was located. When it was explained, he blurted out, “I was just there last week!” Then he explained that he went to see a project that had been built across the road and noticed our iron gate which reads, “TREASURES OF AFRICA” and “Through these gates pass future leaders of nations.”
He asked more questions, such as how another non-profit organization had managed to build a non-industrial project in the same area while HWCM was denied permission. (This had all occurred before he was appointed District Commissioner) By the end of the meeting, the D.C. had called the Land Officer into the meeting and announced in his presence, that he was giving permission for Hidden with Christ Ministries to proceed with the project, and no one should disturb them! Suddenly, our dream had been resurrected from the dead! We left that meeting rejoicing over the miraculous turnaround.
The next step in this project involves completing architectural and engineering plans for the school so they can be presented to the Ministry of Education for approval. Mr. Shali is overseeing this process, as he has been the lead Engineer on a multitude of school projects over the years.
We are asking for your help to bring this dream into reality. Here are several ways you can help:
- PRAY FOR WISDOM AND DIVINE FAVOR WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FOR EVERY STEP OF THE PROJECT. (Especially with the Ministry of Education)
- PRAY FOR US TO FIND THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR EVERY POSITION IN THE SCHOOL – FROM THE HEADMASTER TO THE TEACHERS WHO CAN CARRY THE VISION OF TREASURES OF AFRICA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY.
- PRAY FOR FINANCIAL PROVISION FOR EACH PHASE OF THE BUILDING PROJECT AND FOR OPERATIONAL EXPENSES FOR THE FIRST THREE YEARS.
- PRAY ABOUT HOSTING A FUNDRAISER FOR THE TOA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY IN YOUR HOME STATE! (if you are interested – contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Thank you for supporting this vision for the Treasures of Africa Leadership Academy – where godly leaders for the next generation will be trained!
In early December, Raymond completed his final semester at Liberty University and received the documentation needed to remain in the USA for one year of work experience. During his time at LU, Raymond also completed all the FAA requirements to be certified as an airplane mechanic. In his quest to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an aviation engineer, major milestones have now been completed.
Two days after celebrating Christmas together, another chapter in Raymond’s story was about to begin. In the early morning of Dec. 27th, Raymond and I began the 1400+ mile journey from Lynchburg, Virginia to Amarillo, Texas with all his earthly possessions crammed into his compact car. We were driving to Amarillo because Raymond had been hired by Flight Mechanix, an aircraft maintenance company which services corporate jets, based in Amarillo, Texas. He was scheduled to begin his new career on January 2. Two long days of driving brought us to Raymond’s new hometown of Amarillo. There we secured his new apartment key, unloaded his belongings, made a trip to the big discount store, ate an amazing Mexican dinner, and started the process of setting up his new home.
