Tuesday, October 29, 2013

From Generator to Light of the World Message



One Sunday morning, just under a year ago, Ruth and I visited the two groups of “STAR Kids” at West Highland Baptist in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  There was interest in a missions project. Fresh from our trip to East Africa, we knew that power outages were common in Kampala which would, of course, hinder progress on the godly values program (plus make life less than smooth!), and so suggested the need of a generator. And that’s what they did!
Well…when we did arrive here, we marveled at God’s provision of a fully furnished house…complete with an inverter system (using several truck batteries)…and got caught up in life. Then, a large envelope showed up in our postal box with hand-made cards from each grade of the STAR Kids, skillfully made with Ugandan flags, pictures of Ernie, stickers, signatures…and pictures of generators! Hmmm, what could we put the money toward which would still be meaningful and concrete for these precious (and generous) children?
In the Philippines, we had gotten involved in the production/distribution of various Gospel tracts which proved effective cross culturally. Here in Uganda, we found a total dearth of tracts. While chatting with the Scripture Union director, Laura offered to do a slight revision on one tract, God’s Offer, and get it printed here—of course he was delighted! Our friend, Larry, who had printed that tract in the Philippines sent us a digital copy and Laura was able to find a printer here reprint them. The offering from the STAR Kids enabled us to give more than 7,000 “God’s Offer” to Scripture Union the week before their 50th Jubilee Anniversary thanksgiving and celebration. This Saturday is an all day celebration during which students from many schools who are (or have been) involved in Scripture Union clubs will march through Kampala…and Scripture Union plans to give each student a tract with an encouragement to use it to share the Gospel with others!
This past Sunday afternoon Ruth, Beth our Uganda friend and I talked to the STAR Kids via Skype video as part of their Sunday morning activities! How thrilling to see their smiling faces, wave back and forth, and share personally live from Kampala with these delightful children. For a while it seemed it would be impossible to use the video with the second group…but God cleared up the internet and we again had a great connection! Since God has already provided a way to have physical light despite electrical outages, their money is now helping to push back the spiritual darkness by presenting the The Light of the World in printed form!
Please pray that the Saturday Scripture Union celebration will bring much glory to our Lord Jesus Christ…and that these tracts will be mightily used of God in the hands of the students who join the celebration. Who knows what God will do with the “God’s Offer” booklets provided by the STAR kids?

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

"Lion Sightings" While on the Road



After much discussion and prayer, we, with some excitement…and perhaps an equal amount of fear…said “yes” to Connie, our co-missionary who has served here in Africa for about 20 years, and to her suggestion that we drive to Malindi, Kenya, where the once-in-every-three-year WorldVenture East African Spiritual Conference was being held. Connie is one those people who has almost unlimited stories from adventures she’s been a part of (some quite scary/dangerous and others downright funny plus everything in between), loves to drive, is fairly fluent in Swahili, and loves Africa…so with someone like that, we found courage to agree to a round trip of almost 2,500 km. (1,550 mi). We agree, it’s not particularly considered a long trip in North America on those wonderful freeways…but with the conditions here, it qualifies as an adventurous and fairly daring road-trip, especially for three ladies! But, we knew that this may be our only chance to drive that direction and see more of the countries where God has placed us, plus by driving we would have the opportunity to do some sightseeing on the way (which flying would not accommodate). We decided to take our car since it is 2 years younger (2004 as opposed to 2002) and its tires are new. Laura got the car checked over, Connie plotted out our route and made reservations at a missionary guest house in Nairobi, and Ruth checked on prices for some tourist attractions. Meanwhile we found out that the 13-year-old daughter of our Uganda friend, Beth, began her school break (she studies at a Kenyan boarding school) only one day later than we planned to be driving right by…so we adjusted our plans to pick her up and bring her home with us.
We are SO glad that we agreed to go. The roads were not nearly as bad as we expected, although still full of challenges. The border crossing into Kenya took just over 1½ hours, but only 30 minutes to get back into Uganda. Both Kenya and Uganda are quite hilly which makes for beautiful scenery. We enjoyed the agriculture as seen from the road and were intrigued that goats, sheep, donkeys, and cows were often grazing close to the road with seemingly no interest in crossing it. Once we got further south where it’s not so lush, we saw the African herders walking/staying with their animals, and that’s where we also saw our first “wild life”—zebras and baboons right beside the road! Our 3-day stay in Nairobi not only gave us a wonderful break from driving but also an opportunity to visit the Giraffe Center and feed those gentle giants, to tour the Kazuri (meaning small and beautiful) Beads factory and gift-shop (and buy some ceramic jewelry), and spend a day in the Nairobi Game Park seeing giraffe, zebra, impala, hartebeest, gazelle, eland, African buffalo, rhinoceros, and several species of exotic birds.
Our two longest days of travel were from Nairobi to Malindi (and then the return trip), which took about 10 ½ hours, much of it competing with literally hundreds of trucks. On our way home, we’re quite sure (although unconfirmed) that we saw the highest African mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro located in Tanzania to the south. (According to the internet, it’s also the highest “free-standing” mountain in the world.) Unless our eyes were fooling us, we think we saw an ice glacier around the top of one of the three (inactive) volcanic peaks.
The reason for the trip, the WorldVenture East African Spiritual Life Conference, was as good as we were told it would be. The times in singing and in God’s Word were precious, encouraging, challenging, and probing. Opportunities to meet other East African WorldVenture missionaries from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Madagascar plus a few from the home office in Colorado stimulated us as we learned of some of their journeys/experiences, some very painful and costly. There was also plenty of opportunity to read, sleep, pray, swim, bike, and a bunch of other activities...plus snorkel in the Indian Ocean—something we thought we may never do again after leaving the Philippines…how good God is!
As you can tell, we had many “Lion-Sightings.” Here's two pictures that Laura took of "real" lions...albeit through wire fences (we couldn't find them in the wild, despite all our looking).

These and others were orphaned as babies, rescued and brought up by people, thus unable to return to the wild. 
BUT, we certainly saw and marveled at the amazing and awesome deeds of our Lion of the Tribe of Judah, our Creator and Sustainer…in His Word, the plants, animals, birds, fish, and especially in the lives of fellow missionaries. Thank you for praying for us and praise God with us for this perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and all the blessings that came with it.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Battle is not Yours, but God’s



Yesterday Ruth and I made our way to Simba Café to meet two new contacts, recommended by others, who are involved in children’s ministry and wanted to know about the proposed Biblical values school program.  We first talked with Benjamin, a tall athletic built student who is just finishing his undergraduate work and has already started a program to help underprivileged students.  He seemed to envision how such a program could give direction to students and agreed to join us for the next Start-Up Committee meeting.
Our second contact, Monica, arrived late due to Monday morning “jam,” but was bubbling with enthusiasm from the moment we met her.  After we ordered more African tea (spiced ginger tea with lots of milk), she told us a little about the 4-14 Window Ministry she’s connected to (networking of groups who are reaching children between the ages of 4 and 14) and expressed deep concern for the children and youth of today who seemingly have so little guidance to help them navigate through all the evil influences all around. Grieved by the indifference shown by many churches toward children’s ministry, she’s seeking ways to reach them in their families and communities. Obviously, the conversation easily flowed toward the ministry Ruth and I were involved in, VOICE Philippines. As we shared some of what we’ve personally seen God do, she quietly pulled out her Bible from her purse.  With 
dancing eyes, she passionately shared how God spoke to her heart that very morning through 2 Chronicles 20…the amazing victory that God gave King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah.  Outnumbered by the enemy attacking them, the people of Judah came together to seek the Lord (vs. 4) and then King Jehoshaphat led in prayer.  “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (vs. 12).  God answered, “do not be afraid or discouraged…for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (vs. 15).  God’s people were to “take up their positions, stand firm and…the Lord will be with you” (vs. 17).  They believed God and marched toward the enemy, singing and praising God, “Give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever” (vs. 21, 22).  God defeated their enemies, just as He promised. Her encouragement was to remember that the battle for the children/youth is not ours, but God’s. Take up our positions (using the gifts/abilities He has given us), stand firm, and trust God to work! Wow, what a word in season for us!
Before long, Monica volunteered to discuss the first lesson with her colleagues and give suggestions about how the Truth and Honesty Module could be modified to fit the African context.  She also offered to put us in contact with an artist to give a sample drawing.  We praise God for His people and how He continues to bring them across our path! Who knows what God may do as we seek Him together in prayer, take our positions, stand firm, and expect that God will fight for us.