January 13, 2014

Greetings Everyone,

Lyle here. Happy New Year to all of you.

It has been a while since our last post and so many difficult things have taken place. The end of December our Ugandan grandson died and three days later Ingrid's brother, Gary, died. 

As many of you know, Ingrid traveled to the U.S. on December 15th to visit her brother who had suffered a series of strokes, which eventually left him alive, but non-responsive.

Gary at 37, died at 58

She had found out about his strokes from our daughter, Moe (Monika), just prior to Thanksgiving, but at that time he was still commincating with gestures and the hospital was looking to move him to a skilled nursing facility for rehab. Ingrid had been able to speak with Gary on the phone during this time and he was able to respond with a thumbs up, however his condition worsened and the overall plan changed from rehab to hospice. We had been actively seeking the Lord's guidance as to if or when Ingrid should travel, and at His leading, booked her for a trip leaving on December 15th, arriving back in Uganda on December 27th. Ingrid spent almost as much time traveling as she did with Gary and Moe. While she was there, there were only two times he was conscious. Once was when they moved him from the hospital to hospice (in and out of consciousness) and the second time was when Ingrid was sharing the Lord with Him. He stayed conscious the entire time. Gary's lifestyle was one that totally rejected Christ and he had not been open to the gospel. We thank the Lord that Ingrid was able to share with him. We do not know what transpired in Gary's heart during that time, but we know that our Lord is faithful to give an opportunity for repentance up to our last breath. Some of you may have known that Ingrid lost her sister to throat cancer and as she wrestled with how she had lived her life for herself instead of God,  Ingrid was able to share that it was never too late. As her sister, Monika, surrendered her life to Christ, years lifted off her face and she looked more youthful as she was dying of cancer then she had before. Her life was not longer the same and she spent her remaining days glorifying the Lord. Ingrid has taken great comfort in the privilege the Lord had given her to have the opportunity to share with both her sister and brother has their days on earth were ending and we also take comfort knowing that Moe had also taken time to share Christ and the Good News of forgiveness and redemption with her Uncle Gary.

Ingrid arrived back in Uganda on the 27th and on Saturday the 28th we left for a Central Region AIM conference and shortly after arriving learned that our 10 month old Ugandan grandson, Frank, had died. While Ingrid had been in the U.S. I had been talking with Ronald and his wife, Rebakah (pronounced Rebecca). Their son had been very sick since the 26th of December, most probably from cerebral malaria. I was also passing information on to others in the U.S., so that they would be praying as well. As a little history, we had met Ronald and Rebakah while we were at New Hope Uganda, the beginning of 2013. We spent five months with them and were there when Frank was born, a beautiful gift from the Lord. Please keep them in your prayers. 

Ronald, Rebakah, and Frank

We drove them to the hospital with Rebekah in labor, and drove them home with this precious gift, their first child. We were there with them as they struggled wondering if he had some physical defects in his legs and we were with them as they rejoiced that he did not. After returning to the States, to go full time with African Inland Missions, we stayed in contact with them. When we retuned to Uganda we went to New Hope to visit them. The joy they had in Frank was amazing. They were young parents and like I said, Frank was their first child. So when Ronald called me Saturday afternoon and said, "Uncle, my son has died," my heart dropped. I could hear the pain and disbelief in his voice. He had been so hopeful he would recover.

Ronald and Frank

As I told Ingrid we both were so full of grieve and sorrow. Our leaders at AIM gave us permission to leave the conference and attend the burial the next day, Sunday. Some of you may have experienced these feelings, and if you have, I am so sorry. There is really no way to describe how one feels welcoming a new life into the world and then ten short months later kneeling by a lifeless body. Rebakah was completely overcome with grief and Ronald was doing his best to keep things together, but you could see and feel his deep pain.

It was just two days after Frank's burial that Moe told us Gary had died. While expected, it was not anticipated it would be so quickly. As I mention this, please pray for Moe, as she has been the one who has been dealing with all of this, taking on the responsibly of being the court appointed guardian of Gary and is now the executor of his estate. She is doing this in addition to her being a wife, a mother, and working full time. If you know Moe, you will know that she is giving 100% to all of these things.

As for me, while Ingrid was gone I felt really alone. I know I should not have, but I did. I found myself counting the days waiting for her return and cooking Christmas dinner just seemed empty. I had invited some two Ugandan friends over for dinner and the compound manager where we were staying also came. Once dinner and conversation started I really did enjoy the time we had together and the emptiness was gone, but I wonder what I missed out on, what relationship could have happened at other times, if I had not been feeling sorry for myself, been self-absorbed and just filling my time waiting for Ingrid to return. While it is natural to miss her deeply, my sufficiency needs to be fully in the Lord. This is an area the Lord is continuing to grow me in. 

Shortly after the conference was over we traveled to Karamoja to look for housing. We knew housing that fit the budget would be difficult, but there was not anything even close, so finding long term housing did not happen, but the relationships we made or followed up on were incredible. The purpose of the trip, in our minds had been about housing, but God may have planned relationships as the primary purpose all along. We met so many people and received so much excellent advise. We followed up with Bishop Joseph, the Bishop of southern Karamoja for Church of Uganda. We enjoyed our time with with Pastor Noah and  met an 83 year old gentleman from Texas, Bill, who is heavily involved in working with orphans in Moroto.

Us and Pastor Noah

Us with Bill (in back) and the boys

We met with some CLIDE (veterinary medicine) missionaries, Dr. Valerie and her husband Waffle, as well as a new member of their team, Emily. We met Canon Isaiah, who is retired from the Church of Uganda.

Canon Isaiah with us and Linda Byler

We met many people in the local government who will be very important in future ministry as they are responsible for approving our activities to ensure they compliment, not duplicate, what others are doing. All in all we saw God's hand throughout the entire trip. We were able to find temporary housing, a self-contained unit, which is a rectangular room with a bathroom in one corner, a stove and a small fridge in the other, and of course a bed. I am guessing it would be about 15' x 20' overall. The gentleman, Israel, who owns the hotel we will be at is a Christian and a builder and would love to build us something to rent, but as of right now the amount AIM can pay and what he needs are not close together. Even if this were never to work out we are so looking forward to getting to know him better. He seems to have a wonderful gentle spirit about him. Where we will stay in the long run, the Lord knows, but in the short term we know this is exactly where God wants us and we are so excited to get there. 

As we have been missing spending time with our Indian friends and extended family who are working and living in the U.S., God has given us a young Indian man as a neighbor who is doing volunteer work in Moroto. He is as excited to get to know us as we are to know him.

Us and Israel

I am writing this blog entry from Nairobi, Kenya as we begin our three weeks of Africa Based Orientation with AIM, so you can see we have been busy with much traveling, especially Ingrid. Please pray for us regarding long term housing in Moroto, but more importantly, that when we move there in mid February, that we will continue to build relationships and that our lives glorify our Lord. 

So while this time has been filled with tragedy, it has also been filled with joy and expectations of where the Lord is taking us. We know that God is faithful and He will see us through all of this. As we follow Him we know hard times will come. The Bible tells us this, but we also know that as we walk in His will we will experience His peace and that He will continue to direct our paths. So it is with confidence, not in ourselves, but in our Lord that we move knowing that what the enemy would like to use discourage us, our Lord will use to build His kingdom.

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid