Raising Our Staff in Faith

In the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) that we attend each Wednesday morning, we’re focusing on the Life of Moses. The assigned reading/questions this week included the crossing of the Red Sea. If there ever was an “impossible” situation, the Israelites with the Egyptians behind them and the sea before them qualifies! We were struck with the “par excellence” of our God as He opened up the Red Sea. God could have done it without Moses, but He chose to use Moses and his staff as it was raised in faith.

Our current situation fades in comparison…but we can identify. We know that each step forward is God at work…we just have the privilege of “raising our staff in faith.” Myriads of details easily overwhelm us—proof reading, formatting, artist coordination, illustration adjustments, digital printouts, cover designs, ISBN numbers, purchasing of paper, negotiation of prices, coordinating with three different printers, supervision of work, making payments and getting proper receipts, arranging for deliveries, quality control, and packaging choices (you wouldn’t believe how much time has gone into merely finding the right size plastic bags!)—to name a few! Mixed in have been interruptions and power outages. Parking in the area where the printing is happening is a huge challenge in itself and so, once parked, I have often opted to take the “boda-boda”—motorcycle public transportation where I sit side-saddle due to wearing a skirt and hang on (well, there’s nothing to hang on to!) as they zoom through Kampala at life threatening speed through indescribable traffic gyrations and jams to get me to my destination.

BUT, praise to our Lion of Judah, the TRUTH Lower Primary Teacher’s Manuals were delivered to Scripture Union today and the Visual Aid Books are to be delivered Thursday! God is making a way and accomplishing His purposes…and giving us the privilege of having a small part in what He is doing. YOU also have an important part as you pray with us. Trust God with us that we will emerge on the other side of the Red Sea with all three levels of the Truth curriculum in hand ready to be put into the hands of volunteers who will teach it to the hundreds and thousands of students who so desperately need God’s truth and direction in their lives.

Eleven Years Ago

Can you remember 11 years ago—where were you, what you were doing on Monday, October 13, 2003? If you were in Canada, you probably were celebrating Thanksgiving. Yes, 11 years ago Canadian Thanksgiving also fell on Monday, Oct. 13—a piece of trivia not lost to us! Eleven years ago, Oct. 13, 2003, we headed to Payatas, Manila, (a well-known squatter area built up around a huge dump) at the invitation of Kuya Tony (who’s now with the Lord) and his wife, Ate Zeny, plus two other church volunteers to observe their Monday morning Religious Instruction Class program at Payatas Elementary School. Their regular weekly schedule allowed them to teach each of the 12 classes of Grade six students. Two teams were formed and as soon as each team finished one class, they went to the next until all had been taught. I went with Ate Zeny’s team and Ruth went with Kuya Tony. Little did we realize what God was going to do in our hearts that morning. As we sat in the crowded classrooms, squeezing in to share the worn wooden desks with the students, we were stirred by the huge potential of such a ministry. Ate Zeny asked me to share briefly with the students; Thanksgiving was my focus…and now 11 year later, our hearts are filled with Thanksgiving all over again for that experience. Eventually, VOICE Philippines was birthed and has continued to grow as Bible teaching churches reach out into the nearby schools with His Word and Godly values.  Thousands of students continue to be reached daily and Heaven will reveal the numbers that have trusted Christ as Savior. Now here we are launching VOICE Africa! We remember with praise to our Lord the great things He has done. 

Many details are unclear as yet but we look forward in faith that He who loves the children has a plan that they be reached with His precious Word. This past week we submitted the Lower Primary Visual Aid Book. Today I saw the Visual Aid Book Cover. Tomorrow they will finish the printing and show us a ring bound sample for approval. Minutes ago we approved the final digital copy of the Teachers Manual which should be printed by the end of the week. Thursday I will accompany our Artist to his contacts and we will begin the “hands on” process of printing the Lower Primary Activity Sheets ourselves.

Praise God for those who have prayed and given to make possible the reaching the next generation in school classrooms through the teaching of Godly values. We look to God in expectation as we attempt great things for Him. Thanks for joining us.

Life Is A Daring Adventure

Indeed! Thursday afternoon, we enjoyed a quiet cup of herbal tea with our friend, Lorrie, (fellow missionary from the Philippines who’s been here doing ministry for the past four months and was spending the last two nights with us before returning to the Philippines). We were quite struck by the saying attached to that tea bag—a quote from Helen Keller:

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”.

Little did we know what an adventure-filled week awaited us!

·         Less than 2 hours later, after our friend Beth had also arrived to spend the night with us, we suddenly lost our electricity…even though everyone around us still had lights! Usually when we lose the power our wonderful battery back-up system kicks in and gives us enough power to run lights and the refrigerator—but not this time! After getting candles to our two guests, we both worked past midnight searching for adapters, lights, and running power cords from a neighbor to get two lights working, one for our night guard.

·         Friday, Laura piled the car full of Scripture Union (SU) volunteer vocalists and headed to the back rutted and narrow paths of Kampala to find a “friend of a friend” recording studio in a modest home.  For the next hours we sang and hammered our 2 of the four 1-minute Truth Songs all done in four-part harmony. Then the student volunteers needed to be dropped off in the rain at Makerere University.

·         Friday, the electrician came and pushed a reset button which gave us lights…with the warning that our back-up batteries were nearing the end of their life.

·         Friday, Beth left, the sheets were changed, and another friend of Lorrie arrived for debriefing and farewells and to spend the night here. Just as darkness was falling, we lost our power again. Pushing the magic reset button only gave us relief for about 20 minutes…obviously the batteries were dead. Out came all the stuff to provide lights to guests, guard, and us—at least a bit faster this time!

·         Saturday morning, our helper’s 9-year-old energetic son came since he didn’t have school and two neighbor children came to give him a piano lesson. Ernie emerged under pressure from our guests and gave a few minutes of comic relief.

·         The electrician returned and figured out a way to connect us directly to the incoming electricity (without going through the batteries) restoring our power again.

·         The kids left, Lorrie and her guest left, and we quickly prepared a green salad and left to join the Brand family (one of our compound neighbors) farewell at another missionary home getting home just as darkness fell…but so grateful that we still had lights!

·         We arrived to find our colleague Beth back again and prepared to spend the night with us…at least we had lights this time!  

·         Sunday was enjoyed as a worship day along with sharing and prayer with Beth. 

·         Monday found Laura at the studio once again with the college volunteers finishing the final two one-minute songs. It was a scramble to get everyone in who needed a ride in the pouring rain as we cautiously made our way through the mud and narrow passage ways back to SU.

·         Tuesday (today), we found out that our artist’s laptop is broken and thus he cannot help with final revisions to the artwork. Both of us headed to Nasser Road (Print and School Supply Center of Kampala) to get help with pagination and the digital master of the Teacher’s Manual. Laura braved a public motorcycle (boda boda) and purchased blank CDs from a supplier.

We are now home still working on final details of Truth printing. But we have lights and a great God who has seen us through a full week. We thank Him for His Presence and grace through each daring adventure as life unfolds.