CROSSING THE SEAS WITH THE CAPRARIS

CROSSING THE SEAS WITH THE CAPRARIS
Empowering Nationals to Expand the Church in Africa
August 2015
We are John and Naomi Caprari. We grew up on opposite sides of
the world. Naomi, the daughter of Ken and Kathy Kemper, grew up
as a missionary kid in Tanzania until 12 years old when her family
moved to Michigan. John, son of Michael and Linda Caprari, grew up
in Eastport, New York. We grew up with different backgrounds and
environments; we grew up with similar interests and passions; and we
grew up unaware that God was preparing us to come together and do
great things for and through the gospel. God brought us together at
Grace Bible College—the place that took each of us to the next level
in our faith, taught us what genuine community is, and prepared us for
this next step He has us taking. It’s been said that God calls ordinary
people to do extraordinary things. We are definitely ordinary, and we
believe, by His grace, God will use us to do amazing things.
Our confidence can be summed up in one word: calling. Before we were even married,
we said that we would always be available and willing to God’s calling...and we meant it.
Willing to do whatever for God, we both individually believed God might be calling us to a
foreign mission field. And that excited us.
We are passionate about ministry, anything done for the glory of God that directs people
towards a relationship with God. We are passionate to see ministry happening locally
and globally. With that being said, we have a special burden for people around the world
who do not have nearly the same access to
the gospel that we have here locally. Yes,
the statistics of unreached and unchurched
people around the world are staggering, and
they are enough to move us to meet those
needs. But, what compels us to take action
more than anything else is the gospel, and we desire to make this
gospel more accessible to people around the world, so that they might
respond to it in a similar way.
God has directed us to the city and region of Mwanza in northern Tanzania. This area is located about 20 hours north of the current work of
the Grace Church in Tanzania. The city of Mwanza is the second largest in the country and is growing just as rapidly as other cities in Tanzania. Mwanza is situated just south of Lake
Victoria and is bordered by four countries within eight hours, and a fifth just a couple hours farther. Mwanza is an
area that the national church of Tanzania desires to reach. They are willing and able to send nationals to minister
with us who share our vision for reaching this city and region. We intend to strategically take advantage of all of
Mwanza’s features.
Our mission, what we aim to do on a daily basis, is to empower nationals to expand
the church in Africa. We plan to give tools to those living in Mwanza, so they will effectively do ministry without us, expanding the Body of Christ in the city and region of
Mwanza, and ultimately expanding in the whole continent of Africa.
We plan to take advantage of the size of the city of Mwanza (706,543 as of 2012),
reaching as many as possible with the gospel, and developing as many leaders as
possible to reach surrounding cities and villages.
We plan to take advantage of its geographical location. We want to reach as many fishing villages
along and within Lake Victoria. We want to eventually send out Tanzanian missionaries to some of
these bordering countries.
We plan to take advantage of the gifts and talents God has given us as we
evangelize, plant churches, do women’s ministries, and develop leaders to do
the same.
Our goal is to leave the States for Tanzania next summer. We are an ordinary
couple who has been given a God-sized vision. Although we are not there yet,
we already have begun pursuing this vision. Currently, John is serving as an
intern at his home church, Eastport Bible Church. Come the end of September,
we will begin traveling to churches in the Northwest to begin asking people
to consider partnering with us. Following that we will continue to visit churches and meet with individuals to start
forming our ministry team here in the States. Throughout this process, we will need to continually depend on God,
as well as lots of prayer. So, here are some things you can be praying for:
1. Our focus on our ministry here at Eastport Bible Church while we prepare for deputation.
2. That we will have smooth transitions from East Coast (internship) to Northwest (conferences) and back to
Michigan.
3. That God would start preparing the city and region of Mwanza and us as well.
4. That we would form a ministry team who are financially and spiritually invested in God’s work that will be
done.
Thanks for Crossing the Seas with the Capraris!
Until next time,
John & Naomi Caprari