Closed Doors Are Still Penetrable by God

Skype and emails make Africa closer and recently helped me realize that indeed I left part of my heart in Uganda.  The past couple of weeks we’ve been able to chat and email with, know their daily schedule, and pray for two of our VOICE colleagues who spent more than two weeks in an East African island where over 99% of the people follow Islam.  God gave safety as they oversaw the finishing of an office building (thanks to a gift from a foundation) that will provide a ministry base for Scripture Union plus some income from the renting of several business kiosks. 

Picture sent to us of former slave market

We were fascinated to learn that the Anglican Church headquarters is located at the former slave market—who but God could do that? 

Even more encouraging was to hear that our colleagues connected with the Scripture Union volunteer from there who joined a VOICE training we helped conduct a couple of years ago. The volunteer remains optimistic that the growing volunteer base, once trained, can carefully and prayerfully roll out Biblical Values program in schools. That stretches our faith but we know nothing is impossible with God. Join us in prayer that indeed the light of Jesus may shine and accomplish God’s purpose and bring glory to the Savior.

Family Blessings

One of my (Ruth) sisters married a Canadian and God blessed them with five precious children. In past years, Laura and I have so enjoyed visiting them with their parents and were always amazed at how fast they grow up and how smart and capable each one was as they honed the gifts God gave to each.

As the years passed, all of them have married and now my sister and her husband have 21 precious grandchildren. As only God could do it, we were able to see all except one grand-nephew over the past five days and to be in the homes of four of them who live in Nova Scotia. Oh my, the hugs, kisses, squeezes, laughter, chatting, praying, and sheer enjoyment has been a blessing which cannot be measured…especially since I hadn’t seem some of them during the past six years. I was humbled to be prayed for by some of my nephews in law as well as by some of the children, to see our prayer cards on their fridges/bulletin boards, and have globes quickly brought out to find the Philippines and Uganda. Yes, cross-cultural overseas missions requires one to make the sacrifice of being far from family…but God knows how to more than make up for what one might feel was lost! We simply cannot out give Him! What a gracious God we serve.

The Rainbow of Affirmation

One of the projects on my (Ruth’s) “to do” list while I spent time in New Hampshire during the month of August was to purchase a car—I haven’t truly owned a car for several decades! I had done some searching on line while still in Canada and had narrowed the choices down to a Toyota Camry. One dealer who was almost right on our way back to Claremont, New Hampshire, seemed to have several choices, so Laura and I decided to stop on our way home. I told Laura that we would only look—we wouldn’t make any decisions!...famous last words! The 3^rd car we looked at really took my eye…not only did it have one owner and low mileage, it was also a bright blue color—my favorite! The price was slightly higher than I had decided upon, but, you guessed it—I ended up putting a down payment on it.

As we left there to cover the final hour and a half of driving to arrive in Claremont, I began to have second thoughts…did I rush too fast?, should I have waited for another one within my original budget? did the color overpower my common sense? As we drove into rain but still with sun around us, I casually looked for a rainbow. YES, in the rear-view mirror a huge and very clear bow was stretched from one end to the other! After finding a place to pull over, I snapped a picture! As I did, I sensed God telling me that with this rainbow of promise, He was affirming that He had chosen that car for me! A couple days later we returned with the needed documents, etc. and soon I was driving a beautiful blue Toyota off the lot still trying to truly comprehend that it belonged to me! What a wonderful God we serve!

It was too large for me to fit it into one picture!

U-Turn in Michigan

More or less according to plans, Ruth and I left Sussex, NB on July 12, and headed toward Michigan for the SEND meetings and several other stops/visits. Somewhat at the last minute, we decided to swing by Ruth’s home in New Hampshire and also visit her dear friend who had recently been placed on hospice due to cancer. Her peace and contentment…plus continued commitment to pray for us, deeply ministered to us. Within a week, we learned that she had peacefully entered Heaven’s gate to be with the Savior whom she served so faithfully. 

While Ruth and I were enjoying SEND’s Operation Reconnect for returning missionaries on Home Service, I got a shocking email from my brother that my youngest sister had had a heart attack, was in hospital but in stable condition.  Just 24 hours later the call came that my sister was with the Lord.  Ruth and I cancelled our schedules in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois and set out the next morning for a 3-day drive back to New Brunswick to be with family.  We arrived in time for the visitation hours and the funeral yesterday.  The internment fittingly ended with the song “When We All Get to Heaven.”

Even though we are still in shock, we see God’s mercy…the outpouring of kindness and love from relatives, friends, and from our mission SEND has been overwhelming.  We are so thankful that we were in North America and not in Africa.  My sister left this world on July 18, exactly one month after our arrival in Canada.  We thank God she knew the Savior and suffered very little.  Her battle with diabetes and other struggles are finished.  She has now been reunited with her earthly and Heavenly Father.  We continue to pray for her two young adult sons and for God to use the sudden death to bring all of us closer to Him. These weeks have been a vivid reminder of our own mortality and the urgency to use each day to serve our Savior.

O Canada!

It seemed fitting that I (along with Ruth) was the first missionary to have the opportunity to present a report in the new church building of Hammond Valley Community Church, Kings County.  Years ago, during my teen years, it was this very church under a different name and location where I trusted Christ as Saviour!  As we presented this past Sunday, July 1 which is also Canada Day, we recalled that exactly 5 years ago we were bidding farewell to family at the Halifax International airport, departing for Uganda.  God met us in Africa and provided for ministry in His amazing ways.  A taxi driver, named Fred, was sent by WorldVenture, (our mission in Uganda), to pick us up from the Entebbe airport that evening of July 3, 2013, and drove us to a beautiful compound in Mutungo, Kampala. (As it turned out, about a year later, Fred became our ministry driver.) He helped us unload our luggage into a fully furnished and outfitted 3 bedroom bungalow—our neighbor had even made the beds and had food in the refrigerator—the place we called home for the next nearly five years.  WorldVenture helped us get orientated, including driving on the left side of the road, and within a couple of weeks had a car for us. 

Our first Sunday, we met Beth who became our closest Ugandan friend and colleague. Early on we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Scripture Union Uganda.  Beth, the previous National Director of Scripture Union Uganda, now serving as a Scripture Union Ugandan missionary to South Sudan and Ethiopia, introduced us to people who could serve as consultants on our “Start-Up Committee.”  Beth also taught the first VEC (Values Education Class) in Africa in a nearby Primary School and became a frequent guest in our home.  She now has taken the leadership of the program which is part and parcel of Scripture Union Uganda.

As I watched nearby Canada Day fireworks last Sunday evening, I admitted that Canada still feels strange in many ways.  But we can rejoice that our citizenship is in Heaven (Philippians 3:20). Little by little, just as Uganda became “home” to us, we’ll begin to feel at home here too. The fireworks also remind us of the heavenly celebrations which have already taken place and will continue to take place as children and youth join God’s family through Biblical Values being taught in Philippine and East African schools.  God’s love for the world and His work as the Lord of the Harvest continues on in the nations of the world with July 1, 2013 and 2018, being a little part of what He is doing.  Praise Him!

Home? Where’s Home?

“Welcome Home!” What a warm greeting to hear from family and friends! But those well-intended words also bring an uneasiness in our hearts and emotions (which you may also have experienced). Less than two weeks ago we left what had been our home for 5 years with many who had become friends and “family”—the tears were not a few. Just the other day, I made a comment about the weather—“so different from home” and then caught myself with an emotional surge…Uganda is not my home anymore. As we’ve unpacked things that have been stored and find objects and pictures from the Philippines, our heartstrings are once again stretched—we called that nation home for about 28 years and left behind many we love and are “related to” (spiritually and by culture). Now “at home,” we have to concentrate as we pull out to drive—which side of the road and which way to turn; grocery and department stores almost paralyze us with many choices and stuff; “burn our eyebrows” (as the Filipinos would say) as we study owner’s manuals to figure out dish washers, electric stoves, automatic washers, etc.; shake our heads in dismay as we overhear conversations about trivial matters and complaints. How often we’ve had to ask help for how to put the debit/credit card in a machine (or flash it), or what this or that means, or what trash goes in what color bag and where to put it for pick-up, and the list goes on. In time, all will become familiar again, but for now, we are keenly aware that we are strangers to this “home.” Such adjustments cause us to once again raise our eyes toward heaven and rejoice that our true and eternal home is with our Savior where there will never again be farewells and departures!

In the midst of all of this adjustment, God has provided Laura with her first “home”. Last year, this two-story townhouse, part of the same quiet area her missionary aunt retired in, came up for sale. With the encouragement of family, she took it as God’s leading. When Ruth is in Canada during this year of Home Service, she’ll rent space from Laura J. Several have generously donated furniture, linens, small appliances, dishes, glasses, silverware, kitchen gadgets, etc.—such a big help!  Another friend planted flowers and shared a casserole for our first meal. We’re both grateful for God's provision and are working hard to find the right place for everything…including those reminders of our past homes in the Philippines and Uganda! Praise God with us for this gift…and especially for the unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ and His promise of an eternal home with Him!!

The Entire School is Singing the Truth!

Last night we met with the VOICE Africa Team for a final time together and enjoyed a Mongolian barbecue as a treat. Two who have gotten married since we arrived brought their wives (both of whom worked with Scripture Union during our first years) . Several shared highlights and memories, all of which warmed out hearts. But the one that truly captured us was the National Director’s who shared that as he was taking his children home from school the previous day, he played a recording of some of the VOICE songs in the vehicle. Somewhat to his surprise, all four of his children began singing along! When asked how they knew that song so well, they replied that it is sung every morning during the flag raising ceremony. It’s the theme of the Truth module:

I believe everything God says is true.
I believe God made me special.
I believe everything God says is true,
For the Lord is good, He is good; for the Lord is good, He is good.
I believe God has a plan for me.
I believe God will help me.
I believe everything God says is true,
For the Lord is good, He is good; for the Lord is good, He is good.

When we mentioned to him that the writer of that song was sitting right next to him, he was so surprised—one of his senior staff members! Ruth and others had conducted a VOICE training for some of the teachers from that school over a year ago, and we knew some of the classes had been taught the Truth module. But none of us had any idea that the Head Master (Principal) had chosen the song to be sung every day by the entire school. Praise God for the open doors in this country to teach the truths of God’s Word…and pray that many more will take advantage of the wide open door.