December 29, 2012

Ingrid here!

Hello to all of you, we are grateful to you for checking in on our lives and what we are doing.  We cherish your prayers. Please let us know how we can be praying for you as well.  I want you to know that God does frequently lay you individually on my heart and I do intercede for you.

The month of December has flown by with so much happening that it is hard to believe it all happened in one month.  We visited the village of Moroto and received deep confirmation in our hearts that this is where our Lord desires for us to plant our tent stakes in Uganda.  That was the first of the month and was in our last blog. Then two days after returning from Moroto, we journeyed by car to Jinga at the invitation of a Pastor to visit his church.  Our travels getting there, which should take 1 hour on a good road, took 4 hours because of traffic jams and road construction.  We ended up following a semi-two trailer truck up a dirt road at the advise of those directing traffic.  We wondered if we had made a mistake when the truck got tangled in the electric wires crossing the dirt road.  I watched in horror as a young man took a metal rod and climbed up the truck and pushed the wires off it.  I was expecting him to get “fried” but he didn’t and slowly the truck moved forward with this man pushing wires every few hundred feet.  Finally we made it past all the wires and the truck started barreling down the road, one trailer would sway to the left with the other one swaying to the right at the same time.  We thought the truck would crash, but somehow he didn’t and we made it past the jam and smoothly made it to Jinja.

5 lanes of traffic trying to go to Jinja on a two lane two way road, but all going the same direction....Notice the big truck in the picture on the left. It's the one we are following on this narrow dirt road.

God blessed us with time on Saturday with Pastor Peter and his wife Prexides and their 3 children, as well as another Pastor from the same church.  We had such good fellowship with them that we were late getting to the boat cruise on the Nile we had reserved.  We got to the place at 5:08 p.m., however we were supposed to be there at 4:30 with the boat leaving at 5pm.  The guard at the gate assured us we could still make it, so we whizzed in.  We jumped out and hurried to the ticket counter where the man called the boat and told us no problem. He took our money and showed us where to walk down to the river.  As we walked we were astonished to see the boat backing up from the Nile to the dock to pick us up.  The crew and passengers kindly greeted us and we were on our way.  Problem was I hadn’t gone to the bathroom for about 5 hours and badly needed to do so.  When I asked if there was a toilet, they pointed me to a little open air compartment on the back of the boat, with a piece of wood around the toiletL.  That was it, for everyone to see what you were doing even if they couldn’t totally see you.  WELL, for those of you who know me, I still needed to do business and so I humbled myself and took care of it. Ah so many ways to be stretched.  It was a lovely cruise and we were so grateful to our God for letting us have this experience.

Sunday morning, I got up and washed my hair not thinking that solar power with battery conversion could not take a blow dryer, so I got to go to church with wet hair.  What we didn’t know then, is that in Uganda, if a woman shows up with wet hair, it means she has just been intimate and has showered afterwards.  So what the congregation thought of me, I just try not to think about.  We were warmly greeted by all and as we took our seats, after meeting two more pastors, Lyle asked Pastor Peter which pastor was preaching, and he replied that Lyle and I were.  As Lyle shared that with me, I had the scripture "be instant in season and out" go through my head.  So Lyle and I both were intensely praying through the worship for Jesus to lead us as we spoke.  God continues to be so amazing to us as what we spoke about individually dovetailed together in unity.  He is so good!!  We were so lovingly treated and the church was so sad that God was calling us to Karamoja, as they would have loved to have us in Jinja.          

                 Us with Pastors of Walukuba Community Baptist Chruch              

Our time at Matoke Inn came to an end that next weekend with a Christmas party on Saturday and us leaving on Sunday. I take comfort in the fact that Lyle and I were allowed to visit all the staff in their homes and so we know where to go to fellowship with them from here on out. It made saying good-bye a little easier although many tears flowed anyway. I will always treasure our time there and be grateful to God for so gently easing us into Ugandan life.

We are presently in Nairobi staying at our friend Dr. Kelley’s home.  We are so grateful for this place.  Our time here has proven to be challenging as we visit places with our friend, Imam, that are full of suffering first and foremost, spiritually and also physically.  I feel so helpless just navigating through downtown Nairobi, and seeing so many adults with grave disabilities on the streets, seemingly invisible to the masses moving around them.  I have not experienced this in Kampala. Also the street kids are tough for me to pass by.  As we were waiting for Imam on one street, two young boys, maybe 10-11 came up asking for money, and a security guard shooed them away from us.  I hurt so much for them.  As Lyle and I crossed the street, they again appeared and said they were hungry.  I asked them if they would come to a restaurant to eat, and they were more than willing.  As we walked in with them in front of us, two-three men came at the boys to kick them out.  I put my arms around their shoulders and said, “They are with us.”  The staff reluctantly allowed us to sit down and they served them chicken, rice and greens.  When Imam came, we thought we would just pay and leave, but one of the boys, Andrew said they would be chased out if we left, even though we had paid for the food.  So we sat while they savored each bite of their meal.  Please keep them in your prayers, Andrew and Collins.  We prayed for them and shared with them that Jesus loves them and is glad they were born; that He has a future for them.  I know this is true, but it felt so hollow just walking away from them.  Trusting the power of prayer is becoming a greater desire for me, as it is one of my only comforts these days for those who are suffering. Jesus continues to encourage me that He is active here as seen by the following tesitmony.

We have been privileged to meet and get to know a man who was an Imam over 147 mosques in a muslim country, who met Jesus in a dream, where Jesus used the Koran to show him that Islam was false.  There is so much truth about Jesus in the Koran, it even says that a Messiah would come and die for the sins of the people.  Jesus showed him that this was what He did.  This man resigned his position and made his faith known to his former followers and after his former superiors and family failed at bribing him into returning to his former position, they held a funeral for him and pronounced him dead to them and then tried to kill him.  He fled leaving his wife and 4 children behind.  His wife is moving on and marrying another muslim, but his children want to join him in Kenya.  His heart aches for them, please pray for him and his children and his wife.  I comfort myself with the truth that God, who knows all things, knew this man’s path and blessed him with these children, and will make a way for them to know Him and have a life of peace inside even if their circumstances do not change.  God does not promise us comfort in our circumstances but in our souls.  This truth which was so present in the early church and the epistles has a greater reality here for me than when I lived in the USA. 

I must say that in spite of all the agony in my heart for others, I looked over at Lyle on Christmas Eve and said, “I am so glad we are where we are!”   My heart continues to be stretched by our Lord and He continues to narrow my walk with Him into an ever increasing freedom of spirit, Oh I desire to cling to Him more and more for each hour of the day, that my life would be the aroma of Christ to God my Father.  That desire would be my prayer request to you for me in the New Year.  The words to the following song aptly reflect this desire.  I don’t know who wrote it but we heard Ian White singing it.

ALL I KNOW

“Though I feel afraid of territory unknown, I know that I can say that I do not stand alone; for Jesus You have promised Your Presence in my heart.  I cannot see the ending, but it is here that I must start. 

And all I know is You have called me and that I will follow is all I can say.  I will go where You will send me and Your fire lights my way.

What lies across the waves may cause my heart to fear, will I survive a day—must I leave what’s known and dear? A ship that’s in the harbor is still not safe from harm; it was not made to be there, it was made for wind and storm.”

Wishing each of you a New Year following the Light of Christ Jesus, day by day, for His glory and your abundant life.

Love,

Ingrid and Lyle

December 12, 2012

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death. So death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT).

As you read these words what comes to mind? For me (Lyle), I remember how the serpent tempted Eve, and Adam followed. I remember how sin and shame entered the world and how God in His grace and mercy, even then – after Adam’s rebellion, chose to take the life of an animal, shedding it’s blood, to clothe Adam and Eve, covering their nakedness and shame. I think of how Jesus’ blood, as the perfect Lamb of God, was shed for my sins and I thank my Lord for His gracious gift of forgiveness and salvation, as well as His ongoing work of reconciliation in my life. I think of how I was lost in my sin. How, if not for God’s wonderful grace, I would be eternally separated from Him. I think of how He has so radically changed my life and, if not for His mercy, where my life might be now. I don’t know if most of you are like me, that your thoughts went immediately to what God has done for you personally, but when I do ONLY that I miss how sin has impacted everyone around me.

As I thought about this and why this happens, I thought how easy it is to get used to the effects of the sin that surrounds us every day; the broken homes, the homeless, the orphans, even our environment. Yes, we see it, but it does nothing to stir our hearts. It may stir our emotions for a moment, but not our hearts. If our hearts were stirred, our lives would change. We would pray differently. Where we let the Lord lead us would change. How we respond to what we see would change. When we let the brokenness all around us become “normal” our hearts get hard and this hardness becomes our new normal. This is not God’s heart. He sent His only Son to die the most horrific death – for us. Jesus became sin – for us. Jesus was born to die and He knew it – for us. He compared His life to a kernel of wheat and asked us to do the same. He said true religion is to take care of widows and orphans and to keep ourselves unstained by the world. He told us all the commandments can be summed up into this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these”. What came to my mind is this, if I become numb to the effects of sin in the world around me, how much easier it will be to become numb to the sin in my life.

God, in his grace and mercy, does not want me, or any of us, to remain in this state. He will stir us. He will allow us to experience pain and heartache or to walk through someone else’s pain and heartache to shake our reality, to show us how twisted our normal is and how we need to see with His eyes and feel with His heart. He will do this over and over to tender our hearts and to conform our lives more and more into His image. Suddenly, what our normal is, is set into stark contrast with and challenged by something even worse then what we have accepted as “normal” in our lives.  We can no longer push what we are seeing and experiencing into our little box of “normal”. It is at those times we have a choice. We can create a new normal, hardening our hearts even more, or we can respond in the character of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our trip to Moroto was such a time for me.

Let me begin by saying this is not a place I would normally be drawn to, but I am. Imagine in your minds an old west town. The setting is dry and dusty. There is nothing beyond the town except more desert and dryness. The roads are dry and dusty, except when a sudden rain comes, then they are thick with sticky mud. The buildings are old and worn down, but instead of being made of wood they are made of brick and cement. This is Moroto. Except instead of being surrounded by desert, it is surrounded by savanna. It is still hot and dusty and one gets thirsty just walking its streets. The people there are some of the most marginalized in Uganda. The few readily available natural resources are quickly being used up. The gold, oil, and other such natural resources are monopolized by the government and contribute nothing substantial to people in Karamoja. If you have followed the news, you have heard that most of the foreign aid being given to Uganda for the Karamoja area was pulled because of government mismanagement. Most of the bustle of activity taking place is due to the number of NGO’s in the area, not economic development. I saw Land Cruiser and after Land Cruiser with so many names NGO’s emblazoned on their doors that I lost count, yet this area is steeped in poverty. Every time I walked by a nice compound, it was yet another NGO. This is an area, which until just a few years ago, was rife with war. The Karamojong are pastoralists, but are also renowned warriors. As warriors they made armed intrusions into neighboring countries to raid other pastoralists’ cattle, and when that avenue was closed, would raid each other. We met a young orphan boy who was missing fingers on one hand and his mouth was deformed because of bullet wounds received during one such attack. Things have calmed down due to the efforts of the Uganda military, the United Nations, and the U.S. military. Yes, the U.S. military. We met two very nice young men, both “Rangers” who are working in the area. I asked them what U.S. Special forces were doing here and they replied, “We are more about opening doors, then kicking doors in”. Despite some of the negative things the government has been accused of, i.e. diverting funds, they have stopped the fighting. They have collected many thousands of guns and burned them, but what still remains is a lack of reconciliation and distrust. We saw men and boys drunk, most probably on sorghum beer. Women in the villages were asking Ingrid for snuff. A man and a woman were physically fighting. She was on the ground and he was kicking her as the Police and others watched. The Police did break them up, but then the woman attacked  the man, and was thrown to ground once again by him.  Such was the world we entered. My normal was shaken!

We saw other things though. We saw one of those drunken 12 or 13 year old boys, to whom Ingrid had given some rice, only eat some of it and then give the rest of it to a young child, who was also hungry. We saw a lady, who had no resources, begin a ministry for deaf children. She worked to get space for them in the public school, she learned Uganda sign language, and now there are two teachers for the deaf students, although much work remains. The deaf students range in age from 6 to 17 and have to repeat their grades over and over again. You see, even though space was made for them in the government school, two teachers cannot begin to teach them everything. They are also required to attend the regular classes, but sign language interpreters are not allowed in the class because they are considered disruptive to the rest of the class. So their progress is stunted and slow and often times they grow discouraged, as do their families, and they return to the bush as goat or cattle herders. We also saw joy written all over the faces of so many people. We met a pastor who started an orphanage, the place where we met the child who had been wounded by gunfire. There we saw young boys with wide bright smiles. In other places we saw people who were passionate for the work of Jesus Christ. We saw people who have experienced God’s grace and transformation in their lives and those who desperately need to experience the same. We saw all that the Lord had put on both Ingrid’s and my heart before we ever came to Africa, here in Moroto. We saw hope in the suffering. We saw potential. We saw so much. We see Karamoja in our future, but are waiting on the Lord as to when and how that will occur.

We would very much appreciate your continued prayers as we seek the Lord for the future He has for us. As we move from guest house managers to students at the New Hope Institute of Child and Family care with New Hope Uganda, we know the Lord will be continuing to prepare us for what He is calling us to.

Love Lyle and Ingrid

Here are a few photos of our time in Moroto.

Grassy savanna

A bluff close to Moroto.

Lyle and Ingrid with savanna and mountains in background.

One of the thorn bushes. You can see how this was called Land of Thorns in the video we talked about on another post. These thorns are about 3 inches long.

This goat is standing on a narrow fence to get to the good leaves. One tenacious goat!

Karamojong women sorting through sticks to build a fence.

The fence they were building.

Some of the children we met.














This last photo has nothing to do with Karamoja. The Lord blessed us with a flock, although it looked more like a herd, of Crested Cranes in a field near the guest house. We thought we would share a pair with you!

November 21, 2012

Hello All...

Time continues to fly by. I know I said that last time we blogged, but our time at the Matoke Inn draws closer and closer to being over. We will be leaving for a three day trip to Moroto on Monday the 26th returning on Wednesday the 28th. We move from the managers house to the Inn on the 1st. We will be working with the new managers, bring them up to speed. During that two week period we will visit a Pastor friend in Jinga, then come back to the Inn for a very short time. From there we fly to Nairobi on December 16th to spend some time with a friend, returning to Uganda on the 5th of January. Then we travel to New Hope Uganda, in the Luwero district. This brings us to a couple of prayer requests. If any of you have been following any of the new coming out of Kenya you will be aware that Al-Shabab has been very active in Eastleigh. Eastleigh is an area in Nairobi that is made up mostly of Somali and Ethiopian refugees. Al-Shabab has been targeting this area in protest over Kenya's involvement in Somalia in the war against Al-Shabab. In particular they have been targeting mostly Christians. Please lift this area up in prayer. The second prayer request is for the Luwero area. There has been an Ebola outbreak in the area and I believe there have been five deaths, although there are more confirmed cases. Ugandan health authorities along with CDC and WHO are working hard to contain the virus, but prayer is the most powerful thing we can do.

On another note, God continues to surprise us. To try to shorten a longer story, Ingrid handed out a couple of bibles to some young children who had asked for them. Somehow it got back to the Boda Boda drivers (Boda's are small motorcycles that carry passengers for hire) that Ingrid had bibles, so they asked for some. We handed out a few then asked if they would be interested in a Bible study, to which they replied, yes. We have had two studies so far with a small group of young men who, for the most part, have not done a lot of Bible study. When I asked them what they wanted out of the Bible study they told me that they face many temptations in life and their desire is not to give in to the temptations. They wanted to know what the scriptures said about living a Christ-like life. They basically came and said, we want to be discipled. The hunger in their hearts for the Lord is amazing. Our night guard is another young man who is just eating up God's word. I do not use the words "eating up" lightly. He is truly finding deep nourishment in God's word. The insights the Holy Spirit has given him are incredible. As our time here winds down, only God knows who will step in to facilitate these studies. As of yet, we have no idea, but I know the One, who has started this good work, is faithful to complete it. Please pray for the person our Lord has in mind to fill this gap.

Ingrid here, To all who prayed for my travels thank you.  As I was sitting in a little boat with an outboard motor, a couple of feet off the water in the rain and wind, I had such great peace inside as I knew who was my protection and shelter, and I knew that He would have faithful people interceding for me. My time in Ssese Islands was oh so wonderful.  I was able to meet pastors and their wives in 5 fishing camps. They had come back from a retreat a week before and the missionary I was with wanted to check with them to see how God had been speaking into their lives in that week. The retreat addressed whether people who profess to believe in God as our Father in heaven actually live understanding this. Repentance was talked about, as well as forgiveness. As we spoke to these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ, what I found so amazing about our heavenly living God is that He does live actively in people no matter where they live.

These camps are very very poor, some are not even allowed to grow banana trees for food because of who owns the land.  The suffering from poor choices and hard circumstances is very obvious, but God's light is shining here as well as is His favor in the lives of those who are surrendering to Him daily. I met a pastor who had as a young man walked away from his village swearing he would never come back because of hatred for his father. This particular pastor was so convicted of his hatred and its destruction in his life at the retreat, he went for the first time in over 20 years to his village and forgave his father. He was welcomed back with open arms, and he and his wife had God's peace shining out of their faces as we heard this testimony.  One young wife ran up to us and just kept exclaiming "I'm not an orphan" she had finally received into her heart that she had a heavenly Father who would never leave her and was delighted in her birth and life. The joy in her face was in stark contrast to the darkness in the camp she and her husband live in. I could go on and on, and though the scenery was spectacular, when I think of Ssese Islands, I will think of people as God's beauty there not nature.

Lyle and I survived driving to and from Mbarara, with Lyle having a severe cramp in his jaw most of the time.  The term defensive driving has a whole new meaning in Uganda. Again thanks for the prayers.

I was able to spend a day at a special needs school, the same one I visited last November, almost to the day. I was there at the request of a physical therapist to offer suggestions in areas that are usually OT related but that she is covering.  It was a wonderful day, always a very painful one in my heart as I interact with these precious children desiring nothing but love, and I wonder "why Lord"? I know He doesn't make mistakes, and I know that their future does not end in this life, but when little ones or big ones seem to have little hope of a future here, it is hard.  

(Ingrid with Sumaya above and two teachers on the left)

Our days are not only passing quickly but I feel as though we are having to push through a thick liquid most of the time. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but it is definitely warfare, which means something good is coming:)  PLEASE pray for us however the Holy Spirit leads!

As we spend our first Thanksgiving away from all our loved ones who normally gather together, I am attempting to keep in the forefront of my mind, all the innumerable reasons I have to be thankful.  I truly am grateful for where I am, for the lives God is allowing me to "do life" with both here and in America. I know that I know that I know I am where my Creator wants me to be. This quote truly reflects my heart for the present and our unknown future.

“It is no small comfort to me to know that God has called me to my work, putting me where I am and as I am.  I have not sought the position and I dare not leave it.  He knows why He places me here-whether to do, or learn, or suffer.”

         Hudson Taylor---Pioneer missionary to China

This scripture is my Thanksgiving message to all of you...may you find the riches of our Lord in His living and active Word.

Psalms 62:5-8 Find rest, O my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God.  He is my might rod, my refuge.  Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

Lyle again,

Last time we asked for prayer about us purchasing a car. While we have not yet purchased one, the Lord has provided three different vehicles for our use. Three separate missionaries, while on home assignment, offered us their vehicles!!! This will take us all the way through our time at New Hope!!

OK...to finish this blog up, here are two absolutely random pictures. We went to the home of one of the staff members here and she raises chickens, both layers and fryers. Some lay eggs and others are dinner. I don't know which one is in this picture, but I think Ingrid took a spectacular picture! We could not resist this last photo. Yes, that is a Starbuck's bag of ground coffee Ingrid is clutching with longing, glee and excitement all rolled up into one look! Who would of that we would have found that in Kampala, Uganda.

Please feel free to add your own captions to these two pictures...