Thank
you so much, each and every one of you, for being so faithful in your support
of what the Lord is doing in Karamoja. We cannot fully convey how much we
appreciate all of you!
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| Children at 1st manyatta we hope to place a team |
So
much has changed since our last blog. One of the biggest changes is that AIM has
reclassified the Karimojong as an unreached people group (UPG)! This is huge. As many of you know from
before, new AIM members coming to Karamoja would fall under the new framework
of AIM; meaning that all ministry would be limited to the training of church
leaders. Our unit leaders were able to give a presentation to the Central
Region leadership regarding their findings of why the Karimojong should be a
UPG. After prayer and consideration the Central Region leadership changed the
classification of Karamoja from a reached people group to a UPG. This was so clearly the Lord's hand as this was an uphill road. There was a strong predisposition of the decision makers that the Karimojong were reached (although they were very open to hear the evidence), so we can really see how the Holy Spriit moved in everyone for this to happen.
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In Kaabong where the "Ik" people live in the mountains
Here is traditional style of house
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So
what does this mean for us and for ministry in Karamoja in general? First of
all, for us, it means that any future team members who come to work along with
us are not limited to ministry in the area of training church leaders only. We
could, for example, bring someone in to teach at the “primary teachers college.”
This would then be a platform for discipleship among the students at the college,
most of who (we are told) are Karimojong. The schools these new teachers would
eventually teach at, as well as the surrounding community, would then be their
mission fields. We can now place teams in manyattas the church has not reached (which is the majority).
Before we were limited and could not
have done this. We could bring in community health workers, etc. These are
simply examples, but with the Karimojong being a UGP, we can now think much
more broadly. There are so many things that we “can” do, but our heart is simply
to do as the Lord directs. He has been so faithful thus far and we know that He
has a plan for Karamoja and our part is simply to be obedient to His direction
in our lives.
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| Sunset in Kidepo National Park |
For
both of us, but maybe to a greater degree for me, this reclassification is a
great relief. I think I was seeing so much that could be, but at the same time
could not be addressed in the most “direct” manner. So in other words, I was struggling with how
God was going to do all the things “I” thought needed to be done. Does that seem
contradictory to what I just said about trusting God and just moving in the
direction He takes us? Yes it does, but I think it also points to His
faithfulness as we struggle though what we know to be true in our minds, but
still have difficulty fully understanding in our hearts. It is at times like
these, when our faith is being tested, that God uses situations to build our
faith. For me, this was the case. I knew in my head God has this. I don’t need to fuss about it, yet I
struggled. Through this, I see His faithfulness manifested. We have such a
patient God.
So
now we need to do a little rewriting on our proposal to place a team in a
manyatta and gear the overall vision to a UPG, as well as broaden the scope of
ministry potentials. We will keep you
all posted when this process is completed.
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| Napua (K'Jong for "Dusty") The newest member of the Lathrop tribe |
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| Pastors' conference at our home |
Another
joy was hosting a two-day Pastor’s conference in our home. We had around 30
pastors and church leaders from most all of the protestant denominations
represented in Moroto. Like I said, we
were only hosting it, but both Ingrid and I were invited to speak and spend a little time addressing them at the beginning of each day of
the two day conference. Please pray for the pastors in Moroto. That
they are a unified front, that they recognize and teach solid biblical
doctrine, and that they invite people into relationship with our Lord and
Savior, not just convert them to a religion.
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| Prayer Team (our unit leaders on the left - John & Krys) |
Almost immediately following the conference we hosted an AIM short term prayer team. Some of you may be familiar with this already, but if not, let me explain. Over a year ago a request was put out have a team of people come and pray specifically for northeast Uganda. Five answered the call. There was a couple from New Zealand, a couple from Australia, and a single from Australia. Our unit leaders were in charge of the team. The team was to travel from Tororo (south of Karamoja) north all the way to Kaabong (northern Karamoja almost to South Sudan). They spent time learning about many different ministries, not just AIM ministries, while taking the time to pray for and with the various ministries, churches, and leaders. Ingrid and I drove down to Soroti when their time there ended and accompanied the team for the rest of their time, hosting them while they were in Moroto. We were able to show them some of the Moroto district area. We were able to introduce with them some of the precious people we have come to know, share with them our heart for the area, as well as the vision the Lord has given us. Please thank the Lord for this prayer team and hold them up in prayer as they return to their home countries and share what they experienced and share their heart for lifting up in prayer northeast Uganda.
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| Pastor Noah sharing in manyatta |
Pastor Noah and Reverend Joseph accompanied us into some manyattas and into the slum areas of Moroto where prayers for individuals and believers happened. They were also able to meet with Church of Uganda's Southern District head, Bishop Abura and pray and encourage him. It was a wonderful time and we could see
their heart for prayer as well as the encouragement they gave those they prayed
with. All of the team seemed touched by their time in Moroto and they expressed both sobering shock and postive experiences. They found it daunting and
exhausting and wonderful all at the same time. We then continued on with them until they flew out of Kaabong.
On
the other side of this coin there have been a great deal of challenges. We have
really had the opportunity to live out James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trails of various
kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And
let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing.”
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| Greeting villagers outside of Rose's manyatta |
Our
connection to the power grid is an example. As we had asked for prayer on this, most of you probably know, it turned out that the connection of our home to the electric lines was
done illegally. It is very difficult to briefly explain all that has transpired
with this situation, but the bottom line is we called into question some things
that were done by the Moroto electric office by sending some inquiring emails
to the Kampala office. So, the day after
we left Moroto for an almost two week Christmas break in Kampala we received
word that our power had been disconnected. If we would have known this was
going to happen we could have taken everything out of our refrigerator/freezer,
but we didn’t. So, when we returned home after having been in Kampala, we were
greeted by a terrible stench from the rotting contents of our
refrigerator/freezer. When Ingrid opened the freezer door to get the meat out,
it changed from terrible to horrific. We are talking a stench of biblical
proportions. Like judgment day has come and it’s in our freezer kind of biblical
proportions. Next comes the refrigerator. Yes, the stench had migrated. This was no simple migration. I think the
stench was carried from the freezer to the refrigerator one molecule at a time
by the maggots. There were that many maggots! We literally had to disassemble
parts of the freezer and refrigerator to get all the maggots out. Even then,
there must have been some eggs laid in hidden areas by the flies as part of
their contingency plan in case the first wave of the maggot invasion failed. For
several more days we continued to find the occasional maggot. Ingrid was like a
well-trained Special Forces soldier. As wave after wave of the rotten meat was
extracted she carried it out and disposed of it, like clearing landmines. While
the meat was being cleared I was off doing some vital and immensely important
logistical work far away from the stench. Some might say this was just an
avoidance technique, some would be correct. She then took on the maggots. It took
several hours, but eventually most all the maggots were cleaned up (except the
hidden ones). It has been over a month now and the smell is still a little
discernable at times, but nowhere close to what it had been. The most
frustrating thing with this situation is that it was entirely avoidable. The
Moroto office could have done things differently, but chose to do things
illegally instead and then choose not to do the right thing when they could
have. Even now, we still have money that we paid, but may never recoup or get
applied to future utility costs.
Additionally,
each day has seemed to bring unexpected challenges and interruptions. For every step forward
there were issues trying to push us back or distract us. God has been so
faithful and these issues have only driven us to a greater dependence on Him. I
would say this was not always easy, but I also know we could not have continued
on in our own power. During this time
Ingrid has had malaria, severe dehydration, and she got an really bad infection in her ankle (before
traveling with the prayer team) that gave her a fever and really knocked her
out in general. It required some double dose antibiotics to treat it
effectively. We also feel that the resistance we have been getting is simply a
physical expression of the spiritual war that is taking place in heaven.
Ephesians 6:12 says it all, “For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Please pray for us, that
we live verse 13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having all, to stand firm.”
As
you can see, since our last blog, a little before Christmas, life has been
challenging, yet extremely rewarding. To me it feels like we are beginning to really
settle in and see some fruit in the form of ministry. One of our unit leaders
told us that they had been told early on that it takes about a year before one
begins to see effective ministry. I don’t think I had heard that before. If I
had, then I had forgotten it. I wish I had known or remembered, then maybe I
wouldn’t have felt like I was just “spinning my wheels” so often, which really
takes me back to the lesson our Lord is teaching me that I mentioned in the
beginning of this blog; that I simply need to trust Him and not rely on my own
expectations and understanding. Proverbs 3:5, “Trust tin the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own
understanding.”
As I
began, so I will end. Thank you so much, each and every one of you, for being
so faithful in your support of what the Lord is doing in Karamoja. We cannot
fully convey how much we appreciate all of you! Please continue to pray for us and for the Karimajong people, only God can draw them and keep us on the right path. Prayer is His way through and we are so grateful we are not alone on this journey, but have all of you with us here.
Love,
Lyle
and Ingrid
