African Inland Mission

African Inland Mission
"Christ-centered churches among all African peoples"

Sunday, September 21, 2014

September 20, 2014

Greetings once again to you from Moroto, Uganda!!  Ingrid here…

We are back settled into our room with all our belongings. Lyle says that we are living in a storage space but we hope that we can joyfully live each day for our Lord no matter where we are living.

We had what seemed like a whirlwind trip to the States as we hopped from daughter to daughter from the East coast of Florida to the West Coast of Washington.  We are very grateful for this unexpected gift of getting time with all those we love much sooner than we had prepared for when we said good-bye to everyone last year.  It was wonderful to worship with the parts of the body that we know as family and to be so loved and encouraged.  I have to say that I really needed this time. 

Presenting at Redmond Assembly of God w/Pastor Robroy
This time away from Moroto was helpful to me to get a sense of what my struggles have been in Karamoja.  I realized after returning to Uganda, while still in the central region of the country, that I was struggling with returning to living in the pain of watching a people group day in and day out struggle and try to survive as best they know how, while rejecting the attempts of help that both the spiritual community and the humanitarian community attempt to offer.  Through this realization a new facet of Romans 8:17 was revealed to me.  It says: “…and since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.  But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.”  I have prayed that I would share in Christ’s suffering and have always thought of this as physical suffering, but what suffering in His heart must Jesus have felt when He gave up the privilege of heaven to come down here and walk this sod with the people He created, who refused the only way of life that doesn’t destroy the soul as well as the body.

Lyle & Ps. Noah near Lokerete
In understanding this truth, the Holy Spirit comforted my heart.  I have the honor and privilege to witness, to pray for, and to shine the Love of Christ into the people here and I praise the living God for this.  We have been here 5 days and I was given a profound opportunity to live this, instead of running inside and curling up and pretending that the reality here isn’t real.  I hope that makes sense. 

We have a street boy we are trying to place in school, and he hadn’t shown up when we had agreed to meet.  We found out that he had been very ill with malaria.  He showed up today with his very frail grandmother and we met her and waited for our friend Pastor Noah to come and interpret and advise us on how to proceed.  As we waited, with little Daniel between his grandmother, and me, he nudged me and moved his head down to the ground.  As I followed his movements, my eyes fell on his grandmother’s feet.  Her right foot was missing the little toe completely, and the 4th toe was bloody and about half gone.  I knew that Daniel wanted me to treat her foot, as I have treated his tropical ulcers many times since arriving.  I believe, and Pastor Noah agrees that it probably is leprosy.  The grandmother says that when she gets drunk and falls unconscious the rats eat her toes.  The other foot looks like this one in missing toes, but not bloody.  So I gloved up and cleaned up her wounds and after talking about Daniel and getting some history on him, we gave her and little Daniel a ride to the outpatient hospital, for both of them to get treatment as Daniel was running a high fever as well.  We bought them books to have medical notes written in, as they cannot go without these. 

Children at Daniel's village
The grandmother gave her permission for Daniel to move into Pastor Noah’s home, as he lives on the street, as she cannot provide for him.  His mother is around with a new husband and baby; Daniel’s dad is in prison for murder. Daniel doesn’t live with the mother, but we decided with Pastor Noah to visit her anyway and see if she was willing to have him leave the environment of this slum and move into a stable home.  When we got to the village, and found the place the mother is staying, about 20 very small children, desiring to shake hands with us, greeted us.  They wanted to touch my newly washed hair with their very dirty hands J.  As we were led back to the opening where the mother was, my heart was deeply moved by how much our Lord Jesus loves each one of these children, smiling and wanting attention from Lyle and me.  As Pastor Noah spoke with the mother, I kept feeling tugs on my hair as I got “petted.”  She also agreed for Daniel to go to the home.  We now have to get the approval of the Local Council for that area.

As we left, I told Daniel’s mama I would be praying for her, and my heart was so full of pain and I had to blink back the tears of how these people so precious to God live. 

Please, Please pray for us and for the Karimojong people. I am reading a book and it said something I really felt touched by, that we as praying Christ followers can expect the hardest places to have the most amazing results.  Prayer is truly the weapon needed here to change hearts and transform minds. Only God can do this and He has called us to join with Him in loving and transforming and setting free people who feel there is no hope, eternally or now.  Prayer takes the spiritual battle out of our hands and puts it into God’s hands, and when we in holiness of the truth of what Jesus has done for us, bend the knees in prayer, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

Peaceful spot outside of Moroto
This is really what is on my heart, thank you for joining us in serving the Lord here in Karamoja.  Many have asked about our living accommodations and they are still in process.  The newest date we have been given to move into our home is October 15th.   So we are determining to live each day surrendered to the Lord’s will and let Him chose our move in date.  May He be greatly honored through each part of each day of our lives.

Love, 

Ingrid and Lyle



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