Closure Time

Our official farewell with Scripture Union Uganda and our final leadership meeting with these dear people happened Monday.  It was a time for not a few tears, especially as we sang “Great is Thy Faithfulness” with the guitar and African drum. Mixed in were also plenty of happy memories and words of appreciation.  Huge flasks of hot African tea were brought into the Board room plus a beautiful cake baked by our National Director’s wife.  Testimonies were shared from various ones, including two puppeteers—some mentioned situations that we had long since forgotten about. The final one to share, the National Director, chose to end by singing a touching good-bye song as a solo, mixed in with more tears, and not only from us.  Somewhere in the program, our main artist for the Values project (not a Scripture Union staff member) popped in carrying two large frames. We soon were each presented with a portrait of ourselves, drawn by him upon the request of Scripture Union, and the Hebrews 10:6 verse of encouragement. After our fellowship each person added their signature to the portraits before it was fully framed. We finished with a circle of prayer, holding hands as we entrusted one another to the Lord...with more tears.

We thank God for these past five years that have both stretched and strengthened us as we’ve worked so closely with Scripture Union Uganda. The ministry is now in their hands, but we know that ultimately, it’s in the hands of the Lord of the Harvest, the same One Who called us to Uganda and enabled us to accomplish as much as did get done. Together with Scripture Union Uganda, we look forward to see how He will lead the VOICE program forward.  Thank you for being such an intricate part of seeing VOICE Africa birthed and begin to grow through your prayer and financial support. And thank you for continuing to pray that this strategic ministry will indeed “be a VOICE in the wilderness” to prepare the way for many children and youth of East Africa to come to Chris Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The Lord of the Harvest Doing His Amazing Work

One thing good about age is that we get to see more of how God graciously uses our feeble efforts in the past and multiplies them in His time. He is also such a master at “connecting the dots!”

I well remember, back ten or more years, praying with Christian leaders for a certain area of Manila. Hand in hand with prayer, I encouraged pastors to get involved in teaching Biblical values in that area. What an encouragement when Pastor Joey and his wife Del responded to the challenge. But then more prayer was needed because the schools proved to be very resistant—that area was a stronghold of the leading religion of the Philippines. Eventually Pastor Joey and his volunteer values teachers were allowed to teach the Biblical values in one of the Schools near his church.

Soon after that, Pastor Joey invited me to attend an EvanTell seminar being held in his church. It was there that I was introduced to the evangelism tool called CrossTalk.  Upon the suggestion of Pastor Joey, the facilitator of that seminar, now the head of EvanTell, graciously made time in that training for me to share about the VOICE program with all who attended. As a result of that seminar, VOICE Philippines benefited much from the generosity of EvanTell as we incorporated CrossTalk into the “Phase Two” or direct evangelism with students—those who showed spiritual interest following the Values Classes. Pastor Joey became the Philippine EvanTell representative and so we connected often with him. (And now, to connect yet another dot, literally hundreds of thousands of CrossTalks have been printed and used here in East Africa.) 

Just yesterday, I received an email from the head of EvanTell regarding several matters. He then went on to tell me that Pastor Joey is now on the VOICE Philippines Board of Trustees and…God has opened doors in that religious part of Manila. A number of churches have now joined forces with Pastor Joey’s church and committed themselves to reaching into the schools…the schools are open to the teaching of Biblical values!  Praise God for vision bearers and how in God’s time He opens doors and does work beyond what we would have thought or dreamed. All praise to Him.

“He’s Got The Wind And The Rain….”

It was a quick one-night trip to the Midwestern Scripture Union Region this last Friday and Saturday.  Leaving behind the super heavy Kampala traffic due to the closing of the first term of school, we headed west and soon were enjoying the lush green country side on a not-so-bad road interrupted with significant speed bumps each time we approached and left a town. Upon arrival in Hoima, we got directions to the Scripture Union Office… “after some speed bumps, you’ll see the sign.” But before we saw the sign, we saw Innocent, the Scripture Union Regional Administrator, and he pointed us to their modest office which was very recently given to them.

After we toured the office compound, Innocent took us to a nearby school, “Feel At Home Nursery & Kindergarten” which served as both the venue for Friday night and Saturday morning meetings as well as our overnight accommodations. There we found our friend, Grace, the Regional Coordinator busy in the kitchen preparing the meal for the 30 church leaders invited that evening for vision casting about teaching godly Values in Schools.  As the dinner hour approached, the wind suddenly picked up and brought a torrential downpour. We were rather disappointed, especially for Grace’s sake, since even moderate rain often hinders people’s attendance. Laura found herself singing "He's God the Wind and the Rain in His Hands" to one of the church leaders who arrived ahead of the rain...it seemed like a new song to him.  Little did we know that Grace had gone upstairs and was pouring out her heart to her Heavenly Father Who assured her all would be fine.

When the skies cleared a few minutes later, in came the people.  In the end only three of the invited did not make it, and none of their reasons were related to the weather. The 2 hour meeting went well as people were introduced, the new-to-them program was explained, and testimonies of its impact were shared by both children and teachers. The delicious Ugandan meal was enjoyed by all as people talked with each other before heading home.

Once the last guest had left and we had picked up our visuals, Ruth and I went to the upstairs room where we would spend the night, quite tired but grateful for the opportunity to serve in this region. Then in came Grace (who was staying two rooms down from us) and proceeded to talk non-stop for well over an hour, relating her amazing testimony, which included several miracles, of how about three years ago God called her to work in this region. It hasn’t been an easy journey…but she ended her story by saying that the just completed meeting was yet another miracle. She sensed God assuring her that the ministry was turning a corner because not even the hard rain had managed to keep away those church leaders. It was with full hearts that we praised God together and prayed that indeed what God started that night would continue for His glory. What a vivid reminder that even the winds and the rains are no challenge to God as all things are indeed in His hands!

Only God…

It was only a few days before the SEND Canada Director, Mag’s arrival in Uganda that Laura and I began to realize we were witnessing another startling example of God’s perfect timing. The date for the Scripture Union VOICE Africa Curriculum Celebration and Thanksgiving was set months ago in cooperation with Scripture Union leadership. We viewed it as sort of a climax of our time here—an opportunity to celebrate with and give thanks to those who had worked with us to accomplish the goal of developing and publishing six Biblical values modules on three levels. Even more importantly, we wanted to use it as an opportunity to praise God together for this achievement. With that date set, we began making plans and inviting the participants

Totally separate from those plans (so we thought), we began to learn that Mags indeed was serious about his desire to come and visit us before we leave Africa. Due to several unanticipated events, Mags had to change the dates for his visit, so that in the end it was barely a week before his arrival that all was confirmed. With each change of plans, Laura readjusted the proposed schedule of how he could spend his time in a meaningful and worthwhile way. It was only when all was confirmed that we realized he would be here for the celebration…and then it dawned on us just how appropriate that was.

As you probably know, SEND does not work in Africa and so back in 2009 when God first called Laura and me to this continent, we realized it might mean that we would have to change missions. However, several weeks after we sensed God’s calling, Mags (and another colleague) arrived in the Philippines to speak at our Annual Philippine Conference. During that conference, we invited him and friend to come to our home for a meal, which they graciously accepted. During that meal, we hesitantly shared with them this “strange” calling; we had no idea how they would react to that news. Immediately our dinner guests encouraged us to move ahead and assured us of their support. Mags’ willingness to go beyond the norm was such an encouragement to us and indeed he kept his word. So, humanly speaking, he and colleague were the instruments God used to allow us to serve in Africa and still remain under SEND.

Now, more than eight years later, God perfectly arranged it so that Mags could be here to celebrate with us the completion of what we felt God called us to do and witness a little of the impact the curriculum and program are making. We had previously arranged for someone else to share the devotions during that event, but they graciously offered to give that opportunity to Mags once they knew of his arrival. His participation in this significant event truly increased its value to us and to the others who attended. Once again, we shake our heads in amazement as we remind ourselves of the truth we know so well in our heads but so easily forget—God is indeed sovereign! Praise His holy name!

A Huge and Unexpected Gift!

During our 2-day retreat, as we were casually chatting together, Beth received a message on her phone and suddenly broke out in loud exclamations of “Praise the Lord…Amazing…Wonderful…Thank You, God!” After a while she came back down to earth long enough to explain to us what had happened.

As background information, Scripture Union Uganda has an amazing scope of effective ministry which they carry out on a minimal budget which keeps them trusting God from one month to the next. At times the staff are not paid at the proper time, simply because there is not enough money. But that never stops them from pressing on to use every opportunity God gives to them to share the Gospel and disciple the children and youth who come to Christ.

That financial situation is true, not only for the National Office but also for each of the eight Regional Offices. Some regions have offices that have been loaned to them free of charge by churches or groups; others pay rent for office space. The latter was true of the Midwest Region with its rented office space in Hoima, about a 3 hour drive from Kampala. With very little notice, the National Director received an urgent phone call from one of the long-time Scripture Union members from that region, insisting that the National Director and the Chairman of the Board come on Friday. They recruited one of our VOICE workers, Chris, to drive them and off they went, not knowing the purpose of the meeting nor the reason for such urgency.

As they and the Regional Coordinator for the Midwest Region met with the one who made the phone call—a somewhat elderly man who actually owns the building where the Scripture Union office is—they were perplexed to see a number of other people there, some who were unfamiliar to them. Without any notice, the landlord passed over to the National Director and the Chairman of the Scripture Union Board signed papers saying that the entire building now belongs to Scripture Union—a total gift. It was then that the former owner informed the other people, who also rent office space in that building, that from now on they were to pay rent to Scripture Union…thus giving them a significant source of regular income! Needless to say, all who went to Hoima were overcome with joy and praise. It was Chris, the driver, who took the time to send a message to Beth which caused the explosion of loud praise! Join Beth and us in praising God for this huge unexpected gift!!

Post Easter Reflections

It was a joy this past Sunday evening to attend an (after) Easter Concert and have yet another opportunity to ponder the amazing work of our Savior.  During the second part of The Kampala Singers "Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desire Concert," the conductor invited the audience to join in several Easter hymns, one of which was new one to us.  But one was our all-time favorite, especially Ruth’s…“Low in the Grave He Lay.” Amazingly enough, it had been included in the Easter service we attended earlier this year…which is fairly rare with so many more modern songs that are usually sung. To sing it with the marvellous choir and all of their harmony plus a pipe organ accompanying us, was an absolute delight!!

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior;
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord
Up from the grave He arose,
with a mighty triumph o’er His foes. 
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
and He lives forever, with His saints to reign
He arose, He arose, Hallelujah Christ arose!”

We have attended most of the Easter and Christmas concerts that the Kampala Singers have offered during our five years year. Having a fellow World Venture missionary as one of the choir members gives added incentive, plus the refreshment of hearing a well-practiced choir sing songs of praise to God adds to the enjoyment. Our colleague and friend Beth, happened to be with us that evening. The concert brought back precious memories of her High School Choir days and previous concerts performed by the Kampala Singers when she was a student.  What a wonderful opportunity to have a post Easter celebration and the reminder that we should be celebrating Easter every day.

Birthday Blues

My stomach problem continued and after missing one meeting, I wondered if our trip southwest to Mbarara would proceed.  “But, if not now, when?”  I packed my pillow and decided I could recline in the back seat with Ruth sitting in the front with our substitute driver.  The plan worked well and I managed some rest before arriving in Mbarara and preparing for our Puppet Workshop that began the next morning.  Ruth was a big help and also a fellow missionary family in Mbarara that volunteered to do a Values script for the Workshop.  The father-son performance was amazing. 

When it was time for our lunch-out with our participants, we especially enjoyed getting to know one deputy Head Teacher (Vice-Principal) that had come from quite a distance (close to the Tanzania border) to learn puppets. She shared that she started teaching the Honesty Module in February of this year, but instead of doing it in the classroom setting, she was teaching it to all of her 1,000+ pupils twice a week during their assembly time. “Pupils are enjoying; it’s making a difference; they are humble, avoid telling lies, have stopped taking things from their classmates, and are showing fruits of honesty, even obedience.” 

While Ruth continued on with the program of visiting a VEC class facilitated by two young volunteers, I opted to return to our Guest House and sleep.  Ruth recounted afterward that her newly-met companion, who also attended the puppet workshop, was a real advocate for children and their spiritual nurture! She’s nearing retirement age but continues full throttle as a church worker assigned to oversee the spiritual welfare of more than 70 church-founded schools in the area. She dreams of training the school chaplains in each of those schools and equipping them with the Values curriculum so that they can teach it in their schools! It’s a huge dream…but we serve an almighty God who also loves children so we look forward to see what God will do.

Just as an update on my health, that evening of the puppet workshop I started back on “normal food.” The next day we returned home and the following day I was able to fully enjoy birthday pizza.  Praise God for fresh strength and God’s mercy and enablement.