Greetings From Uganda,
I can't believe how time has gone by so quickly. Not only has it been three weeks since our last post, but it is almost November! In many respects it seems like we just got here! A lot has happened in the three weeks since our last post, so this blog will be a little longer then normal. Ingrid has done another village trip with Julie, this time giving a talk to a local church on how the church, as the family of Christ, should be responding and ministering to families with special needs children. Also, I attended a one week work shop on "Transformational Development." Additionally we have some trips coming up. Ingrid is going to the Ssese Islands in just a few days, while both Ingrid and I will be going to Mbarara for a few days the beginning of November, and then we are going to Moroto, in the Karamoja region, the end of November. The two later trips are to explore where the Lord may want us in the future. After that we will be working with the new "Inn Keepers" for a couple of weeks training them and then our time here is done! This next month is lining up to go even quicker then this month has. So let us fill you in on some of these details.
Ingrid here:) The last three weeks have been both challenging and full of the goodness of the Lord, which makes all the challenges worthwhile! Being able to speak to Ugandan brothers and sisters about what the Word of God says to us regarding all the peoples He has created: "What you do to the least of these you do to Me." How we treat other people and what priority they have in our lives and actions is the measure of what priority we give to Jesus and how we love Him. For me personally, this continues to be a very sobering self-assessment for my daily life. I also shared with them the story in John regarding the man born blind, how Jesus said neither he nor his parents had sinned, but this was for God to be glorified. Meshing this with the many special needs kids and families here in Uganda was easy to do, and how we are to love and support them as Jesus did, not to avoid them. The beliefs here range from a special needs child being the result of a witchcraft curse so to avoid it jumping on you, you must avoid or shun the family, to this being the result of sin and so the family must be avoided. God led me to speak about His power and how it was greater than witchcraft or sin, and how we are to love with His love. It was a very sacred time. After Julie spoke, we had the privilege of praying for those with physical issues and offering our professional advice as well. We got there around 2 pm and finished up after 6:30 pm.
I have felt very impressed to visit the Islands Lyle mentioned. This is, as I understand it, primarily occupied with fishermen in different camps on different islands. There is a Christian presence on the Islands with pastors in most of the camps. Please pray for me that I will be able to encourage and bring comfort to these people from our Lord. I am going with a nurse from Scotland, who works with this people group primarily in community health education. The travel by boat is apparently the most stretching part. The Islands are in Lake Victoria and it sounds like, as in the Sea of Galilee, sudden storms come up without notice. Unlike the Sea of Galilee, this lake is occupied with crocs and hippos, so swimming for safety isn't a good idea.
We had not had a time off work for over ten days because of the conference that was taking place. It was a special time with people staying here from the Congo, both nationals and missionaries, some from Rwanda as well as from Uganda. The ones from Rwanda and Congo spoke primarily French. The missionaries spoke fluent English and their own languages. They came from France, Australia, and Switzerland. As we all sat around one or two tables and shared meals, they were very precious times of fellowship. One man from northern Uganda is passionate about Muslims knowing who Jesus is. He knows the Koran very well and can site chapter and verse. He confirmed what I had read in Voice of the Martyrs, that Jesus is mentioned more times in the Koran than Mohammed. We marveled at their blindness and then stopped to ask God to show us where we also are blind to His truth.
As Lyle mentioned in the intro, God has given us opportunity to go and visit a couple of places to seek His will as to whether He wants us in these cities. As we pray about where the Lord wants us, I have been struck by a comment I read in a recent book about a young man, 19 years old, who was killed in Kenya as a missionary. His mother wrote these words, "We all have to die and the question we have to ask ourselves is not when or how, but why? Will I die for money? Will I die for fame? Will I die for gardening or indeed for any selfish thing? For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake will save it. Lk. 9:24."
As I seek the Lord, even in Uganda, oh may my motives and heart be purely on serving my Lord and Savior, because He has bought my life with the greatest of price, and my life is not my own but His. I desire to spend myself only on what He leads for me, not even for what may be considered "good" if it isn't in the center of His will for me who He created and who belongs to Him. Please pray for me that this would be the truth of my life. In the end nothing else will matter and even now I know in my head that is the only way to not have an empty place trying to be filled with things other than the will of God, but when looking at what He may be asking of us, to trust Him that the cost will not be more than I can bear. And He is worthy of all cost in this world.
Lyle back again...a little more about our trips to Mbarara and Moroto. The trip to Mbarara will be the beginning of November, immediately following Ingrid's return from the Ssese Islands. Please pray for Ingrid, as this will be a lot of traveling with no time to rest. Mbarara is located about 180 miles southwest of Kampala. It is the commercial center of Mbarara District and the largest urban center in Western Uganda. Additionally, it is the home of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, which among other things is a medical school as well as having a physiotherapy program. This is where Ingrid comes in. We do not know what our visit will entail in the long run, but we do know that one of the team leads is interested in speaking with Ingrid. While there we will also visit the eye surgeon we spoke about in one of our other blogs. The next trip, the one to Moroto, will be the end of November. Moroto is in the Karamoja District, which is in the North East corner of Uganda. Karamoja District is bordered by Kenya on the east and South Sudan on the North. Moroto is located on the east side of Karamoja District and about in the middle of the district from north to south. This region is much more arid and is home of the Karamojong, one of Uganda's most marginalized groups. Rumors about the people and prejudice abound. We have been asked to pray about going there as AIM team leaders for a curriculum based team to help assess what the needs are and what resources are currently in place. An informative video about the Karamojong, although five or so years old, is "Land of Thorns."
This kind of rolls us along to the "Transformational Development" seminar I attended. Transformational Development is simply looking at restoration, not just spiritually, but also holistically. It is all about relationships. Relationship with God, Self, Others and Creation. So instead of just bringing the gospel (which is of ultimate importance), but it is also about restoring health in the other areas of relationship. For example, someone who is poor and views themselves as poor, may never strive to do anything to improve their circumstances. Or, they may never see the need to push beyond receiving aid and supply their own needs. After all, they are poor. A holistic approach not only brings the gospel, but it also helps them to see themselves as God's children and bring them into a biblical world view, restoring relationship in the four relationship areas. This is an extremely simplified description, but it is very beneficial in doing ministry. It really stressed the importance of not coming into a situation and taking over, which continues to marginalize those we came to work with, but rather to involve the community in the solution; their ideas, resources, etc.
On the lighter side, one of the missionary couples here have gone to the States and have kindly let us use their car while they are gone. We drove into Kampala for the first time on our own (remember Ugandans drive on the left side of the road) just the other day and unfortunately drove around the same route twice trying to find the place we wanted to go! It seemed like "Mission Impossible" trying to find the, may I say, huge shopping mall we were looking for. We finally pulled out the GPS on our phone and got there within minutes. We looked at each other and went "why didn't we do this to being with???"
Last thought, please pray for us. We have many decisions we are praying about. If and when to purchase a vehicle. Where God will be placing us once done with New Hope Uganda, and safe travels as I drive to Mbarara. Yes you did read that correctly. I will be driving from (what is to me) the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, in a country where I have no idea where I am going, to a place I have never been. I say that tongue and cheek, but the stretch of road we will be traveling is considered one of the most dangerous in Uganda.
Finally, please pray that we will remain centered in the will of our Father. I was just reminded twice this last week of the narrative in John of the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. One account of the story talked of how Jesus had just come from Samaria where many believed in Him and contrasted that to Bethesda, where only one man was healed. In the world's eyes, Jesus' ministry in Samaria was a success because of the number of people who came to believe. In contrast, His ministry at Bethesda was a failure because only one was healed. Yet, in God's eyes both were as they should be. Success in God's eyes is obedience and Jesus was obedient. The second reminder was in a bible study this morning. One of the men pointed out how the man was putting his faith in the pool he was unable to get to and asked the question what are we putting our faith in, externals or Jesus. The real test of success will be our dependence and obedience to our Lord. As we face this test in a new way, we pray that our hearts will remain tender toward the Lord and our desire will continue to be in the center of His Will.
Thanks for taking the time to read the extra long blog!!
Lyle and Ingrid
Lyle back again...a little more about our trips to Mbarara and Moroto. The trip to Mbarara will be the beginning of November, immediately following Ingrid's return from the Ssese Islands. Please pray for Ingrid, as this will be a lot of traveling with no time to rest. Mbarara is located about 180 miles southwest of Kampala. It is the commercial center of Mbarara District and the largest urban center in Western Uganda. Additionally, it is the home of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, which among other things is a medical school as well as having a physiotherapy program. This is where Ingrid comes in. We do not know what our visit will entail in the long run, but we do know that one of the team leads is interested in speaking with Ingrid. While there we will also visit the eye surgeon we spoke about in one of our other blogs. The next trip, the one to Moroto, will be the end of November. Moroto is in the Karamoja District, which is in the North East corner of Uganda. Karamoja District is bordered by Kenya on the east and South Sudan on the North. Moroto is located on the east side of Karamoja District and about in the middle of the district from north to south. This region is much more arid and is home of the Karamojong, one of Uganda's most marginalized groups. Rumors about the people and prejudice abound. We have been asked to pray about going there as AIM team leaders for a curriculum based team to help assess what the needs are and what resources are currently in place. An informative video about the Karamojong, although five or so years old, is "Land of Thorns."
This kind of rolls us along to the "Transformational Development" seminar I attended. Transformational Development is simply looking at restoration, not just spiritually, but also holistically. It is all about relationships. Relationship with God, Self, Others and Creation. So instead of just bringing the gospel (which is of ultimate importance), but it is also about restoring health in the other areas of relationship. For example, someone who is poor and views themselves as poor, may never strive to do anything to improve their circumstances. Or, they may never see the need to push beyond receiving aid and supply their own needs. After all, they are poor. A holistic approach not only brings the gospel, but it also helps them to see themselves as God's children and bring them into a biblical world view, restoring relationship in the four relationship areas. This is an extremely simplified description, but it is very beneficial in doing ministry. It really stressed the importance of not coming into a situation and taking over, which continues to marginalize those we came to work with, but rather to involve the community in the solution; their ideas, resources, etc.
On the lighter side, one of the missionary couples here have gone to the States and have kindly let us use their car while they are gone. We drove into Kampala for the first time on our own (remember Ugandans drive on the left side of the road) just the other day and unfortunately drove around the same route twice trying to find the place we wanted to go! It seemed like "Mission Impossible" trying to find the, may I say, huge shopping mall we were looking for. We finally pulled out the GPS on our phone and got there within minutes. We looked at each other and went "why didn't we do this to being with???"
Last thought, please pray for us. We have many decisions we are praying about. If and when to purchase a vehicle. Where God will be placing us once done with New Hope Uganda, and safe travels as I drive to Mbarara. Yes you did read that correctly. I will be driving from (what is to me) the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, in a country where I have no idea where I am going, to a place I have never been. I say that tongue and cheek, but the stretch of road we will be traveling is considered one of the most dangerous in Uganda.
Finally, please pray that we will remain centered in the will of our Father. I was just reminded twice this last week of the narrative in John of the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. One account of the story talked of how Jesus had just come from Samaria where many believed in Him and contrasted that to Bethesda, where only one man was healed. In the world's eyes, Jesus' ministry in Samaria was a success because of the number of people who came to believe. In contrast, His ministry at Bethesda was a failure because only one was healed. Yet, in God's eyes both were as they should be. Success in God's eyes is obedience and Jesus was obedient. The second reminder was in a bible study this morning. One of the men pointed out how the man was putting his faith in the pool he was unable to get to and asked the question what are we putting our faith in, externals or Jesus. The real test of success will be our dependence and obedience to our Lord. As we face this test in a new way, we pray that our hearts will remain tender toward the Lord and our desire will continue to be in the center of His Will.
Thanks for taking the time to read the extra long blog!!
Lyle and Ingrid
