Greetings from Uganda!
Much has been going on since our last post a couple of weeks ago. I am excited to say that we have found a language teacher, well actually two of them. One of them is a young man from Karamoja who was on the streets of Kampala, but was taken in by an organization called Dwelling Places, who rescues children from the street and brings them into a group environment where they receive love, medical attention, education, and biblical teaching. The other young man has an equally tramatic background and is now in University. God's goodness is so great! Listening to the story of these two young men touched me deeply as I heard of God's transformation in their lives. The ultimate goal of Dwelling Places is to locate the families of the children in their care and repatriated them. A large proportion of these children come from Karamoja. We were able to spend a little time with them after meeting the staff of Dwelling Places and visiting the facilities. We went into a classroom where they were singing songs and learning about our Lord. After a few songs and some interaction between the teacher and the students we were asked to introduce ourselves. When the children learned that we would eventually be moving to Moroto in Karamoja they reacted with such joy and enthusiasm one would have thought they had just won a million dollars. I can never know for sure why the thought of us moving to Moroto brought such a visceral delight, but I can guess it brought them joy to know that someone cared enough to go where so few have gone. It brings me joy to know they are so excited!
Below are a couple of photos's from Dwelling Places. Notice the picture of the little boy on the left. Ingrid was told that he only began smiling just two weeks ago. Now notice the same little boy in the picture to the left. What a difference a smile makes. As Dwelling Places invests into these precious lives the changes are noticeable! As these children are repatriated back with their families in Karamoja they may be some of the same children we interact with!
This touches me so much and is a wonderful example of how the entire body of Christ works together. A book that we are reading, "The Church Is Bigger Than You Think," puts it this way, "Missions involves the whole body of Christ to evangelize the world." What we are already experiencing is that the missions community is not that large and there are cooperative efforts taking place. Each of these missionaries has supporters behind them as do the organizations. Think about this. People from so many different parts of the world, gathered in Uganda, working together, supported by people from all over the world. Uganda is just one county, yet this paints such a beautiful picture of global missions and the body Christ. Thank you so much for being part of this global community! I cannot fully express how humbling it is and well lifted up and supported I feel by each of you.
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| View from where we are staying for now |
Much has been going on since our last post a couple of weeks ago. I am excited to say that we have found a language teacher, well actually two of them. One of them is a young man from Karamoja who was on the streets of Kampala, but was taken in by an organization called Dwelling Places, who rescues children from the street and brings them into a group environment where they receive love, medical attention, education, and biblical teaching. The other young man has an equally tramatic background and is now in University. God's goodness is so great! Listening to the story of these two young men touched me deeply as I heard of God's transformation in their lives. The ultimate goal of Dwelling Places is to locate the families of the children in their care and repatriated them. A large proportion of these children come from Karamoja. We were able to spend a little time with them after meeting the staff of Dwelling Places and visiting the facilities. We went into a classroom where they were singing songs and learning about our Lord. After a few songs and some interaction between the teacher and the students we were asked to introduce ourselves. When the children learned that we would eventually be moving to Moroto in Karamoja they reacted with such joy and enthusiasm one would have thought they had just won a million dollars. I can never know for sure why the thought of us moving to Moroto brought such a visceral delight, but I can guess it brought them joy to know that someone cared enough to go where so few have gone. It brings me joy to know they are so excited!
Below are a couple of photos's from Dwelling Places. Notice the picture of the little boy on the left. Ingrid was told that he only began smiling just two weeks ago. Now notice the same little boy in the picture to the left. What a difference a smile makes. As Dwelling Places invests into these precious lives the changes are noticeable! As these children are repatriated back with their families in Karamoja they may be some of the same children we interact with!
This touches me so much and is a wonderful example of how the entire body of Christ works together. A book that we are reading, "The Church Is Bigger Than You Think," puts it this way, "Missions involves the whole body of Christ to evangelize the world." What we are already experiencing is that the missions community is not that large and there are cooperative efforts taking place. Each of these missionaries has supporters behind them as do the organizations. Think about this. People from so many different parts of the world, gathered in Uganda, working together, supported by people from all over the world. Uganda is just one county, yet this paints such a beautiful picture of global missions and the body Christ. Thank you so much for being part of this global community! I cannot fully express how humbling it is and well lifted up and supported I feel by each of you.
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| Left to Right: Imam, Milko, Ingrid, Loti |
Many of you may of heard of us speak of our friend Imam and his two little girls, Milko and Loti, who we would visit when we were in Nairobi. At only 35 years of age, after a very brief battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Imam has gone home to be with the Lord, leaving his two little girls to live with their muslim mother. We will miss Imam very much. When we go Kenya in January/February our leadership at AIM has given us a few extra days to try to connect with Milko and Loti. Please be praying for us through this process that we will accomplish what the Lord desires. Please pray as well for Milko and Loti. I cannot imagine what they are going through and what they are feeling. I hurt for them and feel helpless to do anything. We do not understand everything that has happened, but even in the midst of this tragedy we can see our Lord's hand. Not long ago, Imam's ex-wife, who had left Imam to marry a muslim man, abandoning her girls in the process, took Imam to court to get visitation rights. So for a time now the girls have been with their mother on weekends and during school breaks. Now they will be with her full time. Why would the Lord call Imam home? Why would He have the girls with their muslim mother? We do not know these answers, but we do know that our God is sovereign and that He will be glorified through this! We also know that He has promised that this will all work together for the good of "those who love Him". This is what brings me comfort. Also, please pray for Imam's ex-wife. We do not know her name, but she used to profess to be a Christian. I do not know how genuine her faith was, but I suspect it was not, otherwise she would not have done what she did, but she has heard the Gospel. Please pray that God will use all of this in her life to bring her to repentance and into a forgiving, wonderful and secure relationship with the One who can make all things new, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Most of you have heard that we purchased a vehicle! God is so good in providing the right car for the right situation. Things work a little slower here in Uganda, but the car should be in our possession by Wednesday of next week. From there it goes to the mechanics for a thorough check over and any necessary repairs. After a new set of tires that are better suited for Karamoja, the addition of a winch, and a good roof rack we should be ready to go. Please keep this process in prayer as things can move a little slow here.
We also wanted to pass on a great website that is sponsored by AIM. It is called Pray Africa. Here is the link: prayafrica.org. At this website you will find all the different people groups AIM is praying for. If you look on the right and look scroll down a bit you will find a heading labeled "Under Evangelized." Karamoja is listed under this heading. As of right now there are no postings because AIM is not present in the region on a full time basis. Once Ingrid and I are there we will be doing the postings for Karamoja.
We also wanted to pass on a great website that is sponsored by AIM. It is called Pray Africa. Here is the link: prayafrica.org. At this website you will find all the different people groups AIM is praying for. If you look on the right and look scroll down a bit you will find a heading labeled "Under Evangelized." Karamoja is listed under this heading. As of right now there are no postings because AIM is not present in the region on a full time basis. Once Ingrid and I are there we will be doing the postings for Karamoja.
Well, I think that is all for now. Thanking all of you for all of your support and your willingness to continue lifting us up in prayer! Each and every one of you is part of this ministry and we cannot express enough how much we value each and every one of you and how loved you make us feel.
Love,
Lyle and Ingrid
