A Death and a Birth

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.  One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.  They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.”  Psalm 145:3-5

Part way through the extended trainings that we were involved in last week, in the early hours (my time) of Wed., Nov. 29, I received news from family via email that Aunt Mildred, my mother’s sister, had peacefully slipped into Heaven on the evening (NB time) of November 18 at Sussex Health Center in New Brunswick, Canada. Although I knew she had been admitted to the hospital a few days earlier, I still was not prepared for such a quick passing. Ruth knew her well also and together we cried and prayed. I decided not to join Ruth for breakfast with the other two trainers, Pat and Ingrid, who were staying in a different room. As only God could do it, following breakfast the first person to come to my door to express sympathy was Pat, an Indian woman from South Africa—Aunt Mildred served in India for 37 years as a missionary. Later that day I was able to be in touch by cell phone with my Mother, brother and sister and together we thanked God for her life and that God took her with minimal suffering. We all dearly loved and admired our missionary Aunt; she certainly was used of the Lord to interest me in cross cultural missions. The following day, while we were again involved in the ongoing trainings at the Scripture Union Camp which borders Lake Victoria, I took an opportunity to withdraw, sit quietly on the beautiful shore of the lake, process my loss a little bit more, and write some memories to be shared during the funeral. God used Psalm 145 to minister deeply to my heart…“one generation will commend Your works to another…” God also profoundly comforted me by the fact that virtually the very hour of her funeral service in Sussex (11:00 a.m. November 22)—Death—was the time we were launching VOICE Africa—Birth.  As Aunt Mildred’s life and ministry were remembered, God answered her and others’ prayer by launching VOICE Africa. Although God has taken one of His servants home, His work continues from one generation to another.  Praise Him!

A Helping Hand

Ministry work has been intense and prolonged these past couple of months as we have stepped forward to publish our first VOICE Africa module, “Truth.” Early morning and late nights have made me wonder how the stress and strain might be lessened. One day I decided to see if our former neighbor’s driver was available to drive me to my errands of interacting with the printers in “town” (down town Kampala), where I have been almost every day for the past weeks.  He was!  Fred proved to be such a help I asked him to be the driver for succeeding days.  As I have bought paper, negotiated prices, check on the progress, transported the printed materials to Scripture Union, Fred has been an invaluable help to carry and pack (oh my, what a skillful and efficient packer!) materials in the car and then help unpack.  He can squeeze through tiny openings into parking areas, go through terrible ruts and potholes so smoothly, back up with utmost precision and confidence, calmly drive through intersections with dozens of motorcycles coming from every direction, and choose countless shortcuts to avoid traffic jams—all of which are stress points for me. As Fred drives I am able to phone the printers to make arrangements, talk with Scripture Union to arrange for deliveries and organize volunteers to help once we arrived, and so much more. How I praise God for His mercy and help during these full days.

Fred at work, packing the car!

Celebrating African Style!

I, Ruth, just celebrated my third birthday in Africa…but it was the first time I celebrated with anyone besides Laura. In 2012, during our second visit to Africa, I woke to 6 big balloons in the little Guest House where we were staying (it was my 60^th!) and we did manage to find some ice cream that day! Last year, it fell right in the middle of Scripture Union Uganda’s 50^th celebration plus mission meetings…and so again, it slipped by fairly quietly. To be honest, both years I quietly grieved our departure from the Philippines where we enjoyed such wonderful celebrations in a culture that loves such occasions, remembers everyone’s birthday date, and where we knew we were accepted and loved.

Well, this year, although I’m still missing the Philippines (especially when a video like the one I’m attaching comes from the VOICE Philippine family-see link below), I’m also smiling widely from the delighted “hug” from God this past Monday evening. We had decided to invite the Scripture Uganda family to celebrate with us in our home, since many of them had never been here. (We live on the other side of the city of Kampala with many traffic jams between us and them!) We put together a menu of Ugandan food and then added a couple dishes that they may be not so familiar with—we figured we had enough for about 30 people. About 16 Scripture Union staff arrived and joined the 11 from our Ugandan family here (helper’s and administrative assistant’s families). First time through the food line, virtually all of the Ugandan food was gone and a fair bit of the other…but then most came back for seconds and virtually everything was gone! (In the Philippines we plan on left-overs to send back with some who often don’t have enough food...but that was impossible this time!)

Then, using the guitar and three African drums they brought with them, songs of praise to our God filled the house…oh my, such volume, smiles, harmony, clapping, and movement …dancing to the Lord as they call it! The most vibrant songs were in Luganda (the local language) and were interpreted for us, plus some English songs too. Then they entered into a time of sharing a verse of Scripture with me and/or a song—most did both, mixed in with affirming words which brought tears as I realized that God had indeed given us a family here that also loved and accepted us. Several led in fervent prayer (as the Africans can do so well) for me and for God’s continued direction and blessing. Since we had a few kids, Laura consented to Ernie’s request to get out of his suitcase J…unfortunately the almost 3 year-old dissolved in tears when Ernie said her name, but was reassured by her loving Aunt (Susan, our Administration Assistant) to the point that she was talking about him as they went home that night. Then out came the cake with burning candles and the singing of several lively renditions of Happy Birthday. We served that with ice cream and banana bread (banana cake as they refer to it which is an all-time favorite, also true in the Philippines)…and again, there was hardly a crumb left and not one drop of ice cream. Many hugs and words of thanks and affirmation were said as they left our home. No, Uganda doesn’t yet feel quite so familiar as the Philippines…but by God’s grace we know we belong here and have family to reassure us of that. Thank you, Lord. 
Link to VOICE Philippines Birthday Greeting:
https://www.facebook.com/n/?video.php&v=728828553859294&aref=101880745&medium=email&mid=ac4234aG41868f7dG61293a9G1dG8707&bcode=1.1415194145.AblBevABicrTUp9V&n_m=ruthlhaynes%40gmail.com