December 5, 2017

Lyle here....

I can't believe that two months has passed since Ingrid made the last blog post. Time goes by so quickly. This seems to be a theme. Ingrid began the last blog the exact same way! 

First of all, wishing you all a belated Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas. We all have so much to be thankful for. I don't say that lightly. I know many might be going through struggles and trials or might be dealing with health issues, some significant. But when I think of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have much to be thankful for. 

As a team we have been begun looking at the topic of suffering. I know that this is not a popular topic, but I think it is a doctrine that is all too ignored in our western world view. We try to avoid suffering at all costs. If something is uncomfortable we either run away or we find a way to change it. We don't like to suffer. We would much rather do something pleasurable. Yet the Bible teaches us that in this life we will have many troubles; we will suffer. We see those troubles manifest all around us and in our own lives at times. Some are there by their circumstances and some by their own choices. I know this to be true in my life. Yet through all of this, we are told to count these trials as all joy. If they are circumstances that our Lord has lovingly allowed in order to mold us more and more into His character, count it all joy. If they are a result of our own willfulness, we know our Father disciplines those He loves, so accept His loving discipline, repent, let Him mold you into His character, and count it all joy.

I just read a short piece in a book about an Indian family that had recently trusted their lives to Jesus. Their child fell ill. Their neighbors told them their child was ill because they had abandoned the gods. They prayed in earnest that their child would be healed so that their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would be glorified and his power and majesty would be displayed. In the end their child died. This was not the outcome they had prayed for. Yet they did not waiver in their faith. They had a Christian funeral that was attended by other Christians and witnessed also by many non-christians. As a result of that funeral, many came to Christ. They said they saw that, unlike them, the Christians had no fear of death. They saw the glory and the majesty of our Lord even in the funeral. I'm guessing Martha and Mary felt very much the same way when their brother Lazarus was ill and Jesus did not come and heal him. In the end he also died. Just as God had a greater plan in the death of this dear couples' child, so He had a greater plan in the death of Lazarus. After Lazarus was raised from the dead, many believed. 

So we have much to be thankful for as we serve a loving and faithful God who has our best at the center of His will. But we must trust Him fully, realizing that what we think is best for us may not be best at all. So let us be thankful regardless of our current circumstances. Let us offer Him all the praise and all the glory for the great work of salvation in our lives, that He has purchased through the very life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So as we move from Thanksgiving to Christmas, let us not forget what we are truly celebrating. We are not celebrating the joys of the season, but rather we are celebrating that the very Word who spoke everything into existence became flesh and blood, dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. He came as the Lamb slain before the world began, with the express purpose of purchasing our salvation. Can there be any greater joy then serving our Lord? Yet with this service we are called to die to ourselves, to take our cross daily, and to follow Him. This means we will suffer. Rather then run from it, let's embrace the refining process that our Lord has for us. We think so short term, while our Lord looks at our lives through the eyes of eternity. 

This might have seemed like such a strange beginning to this blog, yet it is what we see here every day. We see suffering. Suffering caused by circumstances, suffering caused by rebellion and sin, suffering caused by other people. We just heard of a young lady that was tied up and beaten by her father and his friends with the door locked from the inside of her house so no one could help.  Why? He gets mean when he is drunk. How do we put these things into perspective? How do we deal with things like this? Ultimately only Christ can change hearts. So while peoples' environments may not change, their hearts can. And when their hearts change, then ultimately how they interact with their environment will change. This is what the humanitarian organizations miss. They try to change the outside, but never look at the inside. But in the meantime, as Christians, we live in the midst  of the end result of the destruction of sin. However, we are called to live joyfully in the midst of this, not wading through the mire, but living as a beacon of hope in the darkness. How we respond to suffering tells a story. It is either a story of light and hope to shine for all to see or it is a story of one who is overcome by their circumstances. 

Too many are believing in a false gospel of prosperity because they don't want to suffer. They want to be lifted out of their circumstances and they desire for the pain to go away. This is all humans first response. The people here are no different. We are not called though to tell them what they want to hear, but rather we are called to tell them the truth of the Gospel. 

I believe this is why Ingrid wrote about Lotirir on the last blog. It shows God's grace and mercy at work in the lives and hearts of individuals. It points to the work He is doing. It displays His might and His majesty.

So on this blog I wanted to talk about what the Lord is doing in a place called Nakapiliman. Nakapiliman is a slum area on the outskirts of Moroto town. Life is hard there. You can see people struggling and suffering there day in and day out. Many suffer because of their own choices.  Alcohol is a god. People make a local brew, "beer," out of sorghum and this is what they "nourish" themselves with. They could grind it and make porridge, but making it into an alcohol serves a larger purpose. They don't live with hope. They live with despair and a sense of fatalism. They see no future. They see only the repetition of one painful day after another. This "beer" gives them some nutrition, but the alcohol in it numbs their pain; their physical pain and their emotional pain. The problem with numbing the pain is that when the anesthesia of choice wears off, the pain is still there. The problem has never been dealt with. Poverty is both in the heart as well as physical. 

Mark is on the right

This brings us to a young man named Mark. Many of you may have heard of Mark in the past. He is a young artist, actually a very talented one whose clay sculptures are very very good. He lives in Nakapiliman. His life used to reflect a poverty of spirit and the same hopelessness that so much characterizes most in Nakapiliman, but no more. I am ashamed to say that I used to avoid Mark. He was an aggressive salesman who kept trying to sell his pieces of art. I bought a few, but he would only take the money and use it for alcohol. He wanted a Bible and we provided one for him. I tried to "witness" to him, but he paid no attention. I was so busy doing other "ministry" that I was not taking the time to really care about his life and share life with him. I would try to be cordial with him, but I can only buy so many pieces of the same thing. My lack of response to his efforts did not slow him down. Mark continued to be persistent. He was always coming by and looking to sell me something or wanted me to support him in something. I think, like the persistent woman and the judge, he wore me down. I always knew that Mark had a tender side, but I also chose not see it. Instead I chose to see a pushy man who struggled with alcohol. I am so grateful the Lord does not see me the same way, yet I was not willing to look at him with my Lord's eyes. This is what happens when one is about doing things for the Lord rather than just being a servant of the Lord, led by Him. 

The covered work area Mark built

I finally agreed to help Mark with a simple structure that would allow him to do his clay works out from under the hot sun or the rain. At Ingrid's encouragement I also asked him if he wanted to do a Bible study. To my surprise he said yes. So we began a Bible study. Our study is the book of John. Also to my surprise, others began joining. At first it was just one other young man, Daniel. Then a man named Paul, then others. Nita, one of our team members, was meeting with a couple of women in Nakapilimen, but when her leg was injured, they began meeting with us as well. A local pastor who began a church in one of the other slums also joins us from time to time along with a few members of his congregation. As time has gone by others who just used to listen to us from a distance have also joined.

So what has God's word done? The transformations are simply remarkable. To steal an analogy from the New Tribes documentary titled "Etow," there used to be darkness in their eyes, now there is light.  As we meet we simply talk about the truths of what scripture is teaching. No sugar coating. Mark has become a joy to be around. Not only has he changed, but so have I. I see him more and more as the Lord sees him. As we study the Word I can visibly see the Holy Spirit impacting him as well as the others. Mark is convicted of many of his old behaviors. He was asking for some money and I had given him a little. He went to one of the other team members and asked them. They told him no. Following one of studies, the Holy Spirit so convicted him, he went to this team member (a female), knelt down, told her he had lied to her and that I had already given him what he needed, and then asked for her forgiveness. For the culture here, this is huge. Men don't ask women for forgiveness and they especially don't kneel to them. This is totally counter cultural. We get a first row seat in Nakapilimen and are allowed to watch as the Holy Spirit transforms lives. So what I first viewed as one more thing to do has now become the highlight of my week. I have the privilege of spending time with other brothers and sisters as He transforms each of our lives. So while the surrounding of these people have not changed, their hearts have. As their hearts have changed, so have the ways they interact with their surroundings. 

Flowers in front of Mark's garden (the garden
has been harvested and is now replanted)

Since Mark is no longer a drunkard his physical appearance has changed. He looks healthy. I encouraged him to start a small garden next to where he lives and helped him with it. He now grows some basic greens for him and his family to eat. But it wasn't just me encouraging him, it was the Holy Spirit encouraging him. Not only did he start a garden for greens, but he began planting flowers as well! This is simply not done. When you walk into the area that Mark lives you are greeted by beauty, not starkness. The beauty is not only in physical appearance, but more importantly in the faces of many who used to have darkness in their eyes. The presence of Christ in their lives has changed them and the way they live.  There is hope, not just in tomorrow but in their value to their Creator.

Some of Mark's clay figures in a class he gave

For Mark, almost out of the blue, a tour company that recently came to Moroto has been working with him to provide some of his clay sculptures for their clients. They have also asked him to teach some of the tourists the traditional way of moulding the clay. So as God is changing Mark's heart, others are seeing it, even if they don't recognize why, and opportunities for him to support himself and his mother are becoming available. His dignity is being restored as he is no longer lying and begging for his daily needs.

For some of the others, while their hearts have changed and how they view life has changed, opportunities haven't opened for them like Mark's have. Yet. And still they have hope. Like Mark they now see that this life we live is so transitory. The Bible calls it a vapor. They understand that this world is not their home. That their home is in heaven. So while they have sufferings here, they know that one day they will spend eternity in the presence of their Lord and Savior. They are beginning to see with eternal eyes.

Flowers in front of Mark's home

I will close with the retelling of a sermon I heard on the radio a very long time ago. It was being preached by Dr. Tony Evans. He was talking to the congregation about how comfortable home was. How there was no place like home. You could be at your best friend's house, but it was still not home. His congregation was quite vocal, so as he made his points the air was filled with amens and praise the Lord. Then he gave a brief pause and said, "So if you feel at home in this world, then you have a problem, because this world is not your home." Well the vocality of the congregation was totally absent except the exclamation of one lone saint who enthusiastically declared, "Amen." This is what some of the people in Nakapilimen are understanding. They are understanding that this life is transitory; that their hope is not in what they can gain in this life; but rather their hope is in Christ - the One who died for them, rose from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of His Father and intercedes on their behalf. Yes they continue to suffer, but now they understand that their suffering is not in vain, not a curse or because they have no value to their Creator.  They rest more and more in the truth of Scripture as the Holy Spirit continues to teach them and open the eyes of their mind to holy truth. This is also what the Lord is teaching me more and more. So please pray for me and pray for them, that the Lord will continue doing His transforming work in all of our lives. I will be praying the same for you.

Life continues to be a blur. As I said at the beginning of this blog, the last two months have been very busy and we expect the remainder of the year to be the same. Soon we will be going to a wedding outside of Jinja, then to Kampala for some dental appointments, and then wait there a few days so we can pick up our granddaughter Shaela, who will be spending three weeks with us!!!!!!! After we drop her back in Kampala we come back to Moroto and then back to Kampala to pick up a new teammate! 

So until next time we write, seek the Lord while He may be found, embrace the truth of the Bible, stand firm in the Lord, embrace His purifying hand in your lives and live wholly for Him. There is no better life.

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid

October 2, 2017

Happy October to the eyes that are reading this!!!  I (Ingrid) cannot believe that it has been over two months since we last posted a blog.  I am sometimes surprised when I get word of weather cooling in Washington or Montana and I see pictures of beautiful leaves turning colors as it doesn’t fit the world I now live in.  Fall in the NW is one of my favorite seasons.  In Moroto, we are grateful for the weather we have been having.  The rain has faithfully fallen every few days for months; this is a first for us in our 3 and half years in Moroto.  The harvests have been bountiful for the first time since we arrived the beginning of 2014.  We have been the recipient of this bounty in the form of pumpkins, maze (field corn), local cucumbers, and something like zucchini, but somehow different.  Our friend Irene, a nurse in Lotirir, has been very generous in providing us with these treats, as well as our translator John and his wife Esther.

Since returning to Moroto mid August from our Mission Conference, life has been a blur.  Our teammate Nita, who many of you have prayed for, regarding her skin graft surgery from the injury she received from a motorbike hitting her leg, was able to return with us.  I am grateful and pleased to say she has fully recovered and has a passion ignited for reconnecting with the people here that is contagious.  Our welcome back, as always, was enthusiastic and for Lyle and me it started about an hour after we unpacked.  We spent the next three days with what felt like a parade of people “needing” to have time with us.  Lyle thought we had been home a week at that point and couldn’t believe that it had only been three days. 

We continue our service to the regional prison here, both with the warders (prison guards) and the prisoners, I with the women prisoners, and Lyle with the men.  The Bible study and discipleship time in one of the slums here continues to grow and the richness of the fruit in the people receiving the truth of Christ deeply touches our souls and spurs us on.  I cannot describe the joy deep in my soul in being able to witness the scales fall and someone understand the freedom and peace that comes with accepting the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.  One woman, who had tried to commit suicide many times, now understands why she is alive and she is so glad she wasn’t successful.  Another man, convicted of sin, fell on his knees before one woman he had lied to, and sobbing asked her for forgiveness.  Men in Uganda do not kneel for women for any reason.  This was an absolute miracle.  The joy in him at receiving forgiveness was awesome.  Lyle was pleaded with in another area of the bush to come and share God’s word, so he has started doing that every Saturday.

Tree church, waiting for people to arrive

I am feeling like focusing though on the precious people in the bush of Lotirir.  I wanted to tell just a bit of our story with them.  I first went to this area as the driver for a group of women in the Anglican Church that wanted to meet people in the bush but had no way to travel.  I went there every Sunday with 3-4 women for, I think, two months and I often went on my own during the week. 

Lotirir is on the vast plain about a 20 minute drive west of Moroto town, and the mountain range between Moroto town and Kenya looms large. It is very flat, with the Achaia trees infrequently being the main break on the horizon.  There are many settlements called manyattas that dot this high desert plain.  These are built out of daub (mud) and stick and are designed in a honeycomb kind of style.  There are big fences that surround the outside with a tiny entrance into the settlement. Then inside, each family unit has it’s own fence and huts carved out with more fences, with the dead center usually being reserved for the livestock to stay at night.  Some units, like my namesake Nakut Rose, keep their livestock in their own unit.  Needless to say, livestock smells mixed with human smells waft in the air. 

One does not enter the outer gate without an invitation from someone who lives inside.  I was privileged to have an open door into Nakut Rose’s manyatta.  I would go out to visit and say my few Ngakarimojong sentences; she would love it and then proceed to speak rapidly in Ngakarimojong.  I would reply in her language that I didn’t understand, and like in the USA if someone doesn’t understand you, she would speak louder as though I would get it by sheer volume.  She finally would give up frustrated and just yell at me; good for me I couldn’t understand.   When I would walk the 5-7 minute walk back to where I had parked the car under a tree near the community bore hole, I seriously would deeply feel the pleasure of the Lord.  I knew that God wanted us to develop a relationship with these people. 

Nakut Ingrid and Nakut Rose

Throughout our time here, Nakut Rose has visited us and I have spent time with her and her people.  In her family unit, she is the single adult there, she is the third wife of a deceased man, but has children from his first two wives as well as her own children and a couple of grandchildren living there.  She is a leader in the community and we think more affluent that most.  We have gone out and helped Rose weed her vast gardens and I have taken her to clinics to try to get help for a swollen knee and swelling on the side of her neck.  At one clinic, I was told that she had breast cancer that had metastasized to her knee.  Because of my medical background I felt this was way off base.  I asked the man telling me this, if he was a Doctor, and he admitted he was not.  So Rose and I left and I ended up taking her to a hospital about 40 minutes away.  She didn’t want to go because she is afraid of needles and she thought she would get stabbed with needles.  Through an interpreter I told her that she probably was right but I would hold her hand and be with her.  She finally reluctantly agreed and after making the trip three days in a row, going through time of consultation and X-ray etc. at the hospital, as the Dr. was putting a very long needle into her knee without anesthesia, and I was holding tight to her hand, she gave me the most awful look and yelled at me.  Again I was glad I couldn’t understand.  We laugh about it now, but she was so scared and yet so brave.  That was the time when she named me Nakut, which means gentle wind I am told.

Nakut Rose and I have endured challenges to our relationship.  There was the time I brought out an agronomist to help her learn how to plant cassava as she had told me she didn’t know how to plant it, and her maize and sorghum were dying from lack of rain.  Cassava is very drought resistant.  The young man I brought out is a friend and was doing me a favor by coming out on his day off.  He is Kjong and so could communicate well with her.  She told him she breaks the ground up by hand; I knew she used ox and a plow.  So I challenged her on that, then as he was talking to her, he realized that she knew exactly how to plant this, but didn’t really want to.  I was so upset with her, and upset that I had taken this man’s day off and wasted it for nothing.  Nakut knew that I was upset; I hide it so well as all of you know.  We left and I really didn’t know if I would ever go back out.  I really felt betrayed.  Over the next week the Lord really laid on my heart that I needed to share how I felt with Rose.  Keep in mind that one of their traditional heroes is the best liar - so lying is normal for them. I took my friend Pastor Noah, who also knows Rose and went back out to Lotirir.  As we greeted Rose and sat down underneath the shade of her open aired grass hut, I could tell she was apprehensive about the visit.  I had asked Pastor Noah to please translate directly what I was saying and to not soften it.  He promised to do so.  When I started speaking about her lying she started laughing and trying to make light of it.  I told her that she had broken trust with me and that this had damaged our relationship.  When Noah translated that, her laughter turned to sadness.  She looked down for a bit, we just sat there in silence, and when she looked up, she asked me to forgive her.  I understood that bit, and was very touched by this.  Of course I forgave her, but I did tell her that building trust would take time to happen.  I feel like we went from a superficial relationship to one deeper from that experience.  Today I believe that Nakut Rose knows how much I care for her and she knows that honesty is important in our relationship.  I believe that she cares for me too, but I do not yet know if it is a care that transcends the idea of me being able to help her.  I pray we can get to that point.

Irene and Betty

Another woman that the Lord has blessed me with is Irene.  Irene has lived in Lotirir for 7 years and speaks English, which is very helpful for me.  She is from Moroto district and has lived here her whole life.  She is the second wife of some man I have never met or seen.  I think she is around 30 years old. She has three children and one on the way.  Irene, out of all the people in Lotirir has demonstrated a character of kindness and compassion for others that is amazing, especially when she is literally the only one showing it most of the time.  When I would go out to Lotirir she would ask me to visit people who were ill and pray for them.  One woman we prayed for had been curled in a ball for months and only ate if someone gave her something to eat.  She had been badly shamed for stealing in the town and emotionally this was the result.  I had prayed for her and asked her to come out from the lean-to she was under.  I told her I had flour for her and beans, but that I would not give it to her unless she moved out on her own power.  Irene translated this for me and was just as firm as I was about it.  The woman finally crawled out and grabbed the food.  She was very angry with me for making her do this.  We left and I kind of forgot about the incident.  About 6-8 months later, Irene shared with me that she was now in her right mind and living normally again.  I was ecstatic!!

Fast forward to 2017.  We had not been out to Lotirir since our team had arrived.  This area was part of our vision for a future mission team: to live in Lotirir incarnationally, living in the love of Christ with these precious people, so that they could see He is real, not just a concept or idea or talisman to ward off evil or hell.  Lyle traveled out to Lotirir in March or April of this year with our team to show our dream or vision to a man visiting from AIM who was trying to capture Karamoja through a photo story.  This was on a Sunday afternoon, and I didn’t go because our three ladies and this man went with Lyle so the car was full.  Lyle walked to Rose’s manyatta and when she saw him she started yelling “akilip”, which means prayers, which is what church time is called here.  She started running around gathering people and continuing to yell akilip.  Lyle didn’t have a translator so the people started singing songs in Ngakarimojong and then on Lyle’s phone, through an app, he put on the Gospel of John in their language.  When he saw that they were getting restless, he stopped and more songs were sung and then he prayed and the people were so very happy.

Out of that experience, we went to the church we attend the next week and asked permission to start meeting with these people on Sundays for church, Akilip. We were only asking for a translator so that things could work more smoothly.  They gave us their approval and offered to us a young man named John Lokiru who has gone through a level of church training that allows him to help lead church services.  John had been working with the people in Lotirir prior to when I first went out there, but due to some difficulties he had left them on their own with resulting hurt as an outcome.  God has used us needing a translator to help him and the community out there to heal and forgive each other.  We didn’t realize this at the beginning of his time with us.  John and Esther are committed to knowing the Lord better and we feel that they are ones God is giving us to disciple.  Esther comes and serves with me in the prison with the women as well.

John and Lyle, and now Taryn and Nita all travel out to Lotirir on Thursdays to have a Bible study with anyone who wants to learn about the One true Living God.  Through these studies, where there is a lot of interaction, the feedback has been that now they understand that the “Akuj” (God) of their tradition is not the same God of the Bible.  They shared that they thought they were the same, and their god is distant and has the qualities of satan as well as good qualities, and that was why they worshipped their ancestors and demons, to try to appease god.  When they grasped that God is only good, and as they learned more of His character, they shared that their lives were changing.  That was when we heard that the men are beating the women less, and are even helping in the gardens.  We have been so joy filled to see God transform, we haven’t offered any lectures on how people should change. 

Tioko

We have been witnesses of serious struggles with this fledgling church as well.  In June of this year two of the women who are considered leaders in Lotirir developed a serious argument.  We had no knowledge of this until we arrived on Sunday for church. We could feel that something was off in how people we interacting, most of them were very quiet and troubled but we didn’t know why.  Some of the women shared with John that this fight had been going on all week, they were so grieved and fearful.  Both women showed up for church and after church we sat down with the two, somehow privately, as people kept walking up and wanting to hear what was going on.   We kept shooing them away, but everyone stayed under the church tree or in close proximity to where we were talking.   There were hurt feelings on both sides, but Lyle was able to remind them of the scriptures they had learned about the weeks before and how Christians were to respond to hurt, with forgiveness, not trying to get back.  They sat apart and each looking out ahead but not at each other.  We were finally able to get them to turn to each other and ask for forgiveness.  The whole church of 25 plus adults cheered when that happened.   Just last week we learned that most of the members are still going to the shrine as well as attending church.  This last Sunday Lyle was able to teach on how sacrificing at the shrine is actually sacrificing to demons not serving the one True Living God.  John said that the people really understood, but we will see as embracing Biblical culture and letting go of traditional culture is a challenge every Christ follower faces their whole lives.  Please pray for this heavenly reality to truly be rooted in their hearts.  This Thursday John is starting to instruct those who want to know about baptism.  I am very happy this is finally happening.  There is one elderly woman, her name is Tioko, who apparently has wanted to be baptized for years but no one responded to her desire.  I have been praying that she wouldn’t die before this happened.  I know God would honor her desire, but it just seems to mean so much to her, that I would love to see this desire fulfilled.  And getting back to Irene, she has continued to show me genuine love; I would say she is the only Kjong I have felt this from.  I am so grateful to the Lord for her.  We continue to build a friendship and I am excited to see what happens.

Where will Lotirir be in the future?  Two of our teammates say they potentially could see themselves living out there in a manyatta in the future.  They have been here for 7 months and understand better at this point what that commitment would cost them in terms of quality of life.  To see darkness in the eyes change to light is surely a motivator to say the cost is worth it.  As of the end of last week, the Anglican Church bought a piece of land in Lotirir to develop as a center for the church, God is moving rapidly, much more so than we could have imagined.  He doesn’t need us, but has allowed us to be part of what He is doing here.  Every one of you reading this has been allowed to be a part as well.  We are grateful for the team of support we have in many parts of the world that spur us on with love, prayers, and encouragement.

We will keep you posted on what is happening in Lotirir through out the rest of the year.  We would ask for prayer that the Lord would prepare a team willing to live in Lotirir, to love these people with His love and show them through their lives Who the Creator of all truly is.

July 12, 2017

Hello Everyone!!

Lyle here: It’s been a little over a month and life continues to move at a record pace! The end of May, our team was able to get away to Kampala, for about a week, which was really lovely. We had scheduled this a while back in anticipation of other team members arriving. We were not able to pick them up as scheduled as they are still raising support, so if you can keep that in your prayers it would really be appreciated. Each of them feels the Lord has clearly called them here, so it will come to pass in His timing. As Ingrid said in the last update, life continues to be challenging mostly spiritually. We continue to understand more and more about the culture we live in and realize, more than ever, how much more we have to learn. Yet, as we move forward in surrender to Him, we continue to see our Lord’s hand each and every day as we serve Him by meeting with and deepening our relationships with people.

We continue to struggle with the accepted violence of this culture. Just the other day one of the young men we sponsor came to our home and explained how the entire class had been severely beaten because the class failed an exam. This is not the first time we have had to address this issue. Last year at another school, student teachers beat the children severely enough that one of our students had a swelling bruise on his face.  Since we have been here, Uganda has passed a law against students being beaten by teachers. Today I went to the school to speak with the headmaster. Addressing something like this is a delicate matter, because the students are afraid, if the beating is reported, they will be retaliated against by the teachers. This was the concern of our student, even as he was telling me that it hurt to walk because of the injuries he received. I was able to speak to the headmaster and allow him the “space” to investigate this while at the same time I left him with the understanding that the beating of students for poor scholastic performance is illegal and inappropriate. He agreed it was and very earnestly said he would be looking into it. We were also able to discuss the fact that if the whole class truly did fail the exam, this was not the issue of the students, but rather a result of poor teaching or a poorly written exam. We also talked about the opportunity he had to help the teacher involved to mature as a teacher and use encouragement rather then beatings to motivate the students to learn. I will be following up on this later in the week so please keep this in your prayers as well.

Dennis & Augustine (different boys then mentioned here)
pictured at school. Both these boys were struggling and seem
to be settling into school this term. We are thanking the Lord.

Another challenge we had was a another student showing up at the house who was very sick. The school had already sent him to the “Referral Hospital” for treatment of typhoid and malaria, but his sickness had returned.  He showed up with a high fever and barely walking. We took him to a private clinic where he could be treated properly. It turned out he did have typhoid fever, but the IV medication he was given at the hospital was only for two days instead of the requisite three or four. Also, the type of oral medication he was given was not the correct one. Improper diagnosis, incorrect prescriptions, and mediocre medical care are common at the Referral Hospital. Please pray for them, treatment here is free if you bring your own book for record keeping. They are horribly understaffed for the patient load, they have no no doctors only medical officers to diagnose  and prescribe treatment. May of these officers have their own private clinics and require the patients to go there for lab work and medicine, which have to be paid for.  The equipment the hospitals have may or may not be functioning, etc., etc. We know there are some staff there who care, but with extremely limited resources there is only so much they can do. The clinic we took our boy to speculated that the Referral Hospital may have rationed the IV medication because of limited supply or he got the last of it and prescribed the oral antibiotics they did because it was all they had. but instead of telling him he needed more treatment, they told him treatment was complete.

These types of occurrences, while not every day, are a normal part of our lives. Living accepting that things are just unjust or inadequate takes a toll on us emotionally.  Our typical day is punctuated by interruption after interruption.  Honestly, for me, I get tired of the constant demands and interruptions. I really prefer an organized structure, but the structure here seems to be orchestrated chaos. This is part of the cultural adaptation we  continue to adjust to. In fact, we were called here to minister in this environment. So please pray with us, that we will depend on the strength of the One who called us here, not our own strength.

Church under the tree in Lotirir

Ministry in Lotirir continues!! This has been a wonderful time. Both Ingrid and I go on Sundays and I go on Thursdays for a Bible study. We have a wonderful young man, John, who translates for us. He has been so very faithful and has filled in as the teacher or the preacher when we have not been available or when the scheduled Sunday teacher is unable to make it. He has a heart and a passion to minister in Lotirir and hope to move there eventually. He is getting wedded in August (he is already married but must be wedded in the church as well according to their tradition)  and will then be able to take on more of a leadership role in Lotirir. He has a real vision for the area so please pray with us and with him and his wife Esther for Lotirir. The fruit we are beginning to see is amazing! The church is comprised mostly of women, but there are a few men (pray that more men come to Lord) that come consistently. At the conclusion of one of our Bible studies (we just finished up Colossians) I asked if there were any questions. The ladies responded that they understood just fine and that they also saw how important it is for them to go and teach others what they are learning. Preaching and teaching here tends to be mostly topical, so going through a book of the Bible is normally not seen. The women also said that for whatever reason, that because the Gospel is being preached, many of the men don’t beat them the way they used to. You might cringe at a statement like that, but actually this is a huge change--transformation.  The ladies also said that for those men who have accepted Christ, instead of sitting around and drinking booze, they are working in the gardens. This is typically the women's responsibility, so this is also a big deal. Our Lord is working in Lotirir and lives are being transformed!! Please pray that the seeds being planted in Lotirir are not snatched, strangled, or remain on shallow soil. Please pray that roots go deep and fruit continues to be produced!!

Both Ingrid and I continue to be involved at the prison, Ingrid with the women and me with the men. Both men and women are continuing to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, or recommit their lives. The women prisoners are literally going hog wild for the Lord. They hold their own prayer meetings each night and they sing regularly. They really understand what it means to let the Lord rule and reign in their hearts and that Jesus doesn’t mean release from the physical prison they are in, but rather a release from the prison of the soul and bondage to sin. For me, as I have listened to Ingrid talk about the women prisoners, it seemed that one day she was saying they just aren’t getting it, and then like a page in a book has turned, they are really loving the Lord. Some of the men continue to struggle with works. When asked what they have done to contribute to their salvation, their first response was to pray and repent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for prayer and repentance, but they missed the point that they contributed nothing to the gift of salvation that was given to them and that repentance and prayer should be response to this free gift. I finally picked up my glass case and asked the group I was with to imagine it was a gift I was giving to them. I then asked what they did to earn that gift. They understood they did nothing. We then talked about how salvation is the same thing. It’s a free gift and that our response is prayer, repentance, and righteous living. Please pray for them as this continues to be a recurring theme.

Nita on right

As many of you may already know, one of our teammates, Nita, was involved in a motorcycle accident. The motorcycle she was a passenger on collided with another motorcycle going the opposite direction. She received a very severe laceration on her right leg. This injury could have caused much more severe damage then it did (cut tendons, muscle or broken bones), but it did not. We praise our Lord for that. We got her to a private hospital about an hour away from where the accident occurred, where she underwent surgery and had the wound sutured. Because the blood supply to the wound was compromised it looked like part of the area is necrosing. Ingrid with the support of the attending physician and the medical director orchestrated her transfer to Kampala for more specialized treatment. Nita will need a skin graph.  The insurance company is taking care of everything for her, but even establishing that was quite an ordeal for Ingrid. We had to make the best decisions we could at the time, so we flew her to Kampala without hearing from the insurance company, they were on holiday. Long story short, once the insurance company was involved, they first wanted to move her to Nairobi, Kenya, then to South Africa for treatment. Ingrid went with her as her caretaker, which is expected here. This would have meant a lot of travel for Ingrid as well as for Nita. Ingrid worked non-stop getting the insurance company and the medical providers here in Uganda to talk to each other. In the end the decision was made for Nita to remain in Uganda for the surgery.  The surgery was scheduled for the 11th and and the dead tissue was cleaned out and a skin graft will happen on the 13th. Please keep her in your prayers. Ingrid was able to return to Moroto after a week as Nita was independent once the drain was taken out.  Our unit leader will be her attendant for the stay for the surgery.  We are grateful for this wonderful support from the Cassels.

Small covered work area with K'jong statue inside. Mark has 

a contract for two of these statues he makes out of clay!!

The Bible study in Nakapilimen with Mark continues to go well. Mark and another young man named Dan continue to attend regularly. Our Ugandan teammate Ivan and I lead these studies. Mark is a very talented artist who molds and carves. I was able to help him with a space to work and he is already beginning some projects. With Nita unable to be in her normal pattern here, two of the ladies that she has been meeting to read the Bible spontaneously joined us as well.  This was encouraging for us to see that the hunger for God is genuine and that God will provide a way for those hungering to continue to know Him. As people are beginning to be changed spiritually we are seeing the general quality of life improving. While food is still in short supply, we see a peacefulness that did not exist before! Ingrid continues to be given open doors to speak into the lives of women attending the Anglican church here in Moroto.  As we have mentioned, we feel that one of our greatest areas of mission is with those who feel that they are Christians, but have no biblical idea what that means. She will be attending a training for the "Mother's Union" on Saturday.  The order of organization that she was given was as follows: first wives can hold office; second wives, because they are viewed as temptresses, cannot hold office, but because they are more active than first wives can be members, so can third and fourth wives.  

Our other two teammates, Hailey and Taryn, are traveling to Kenya for their Africa Based Orientation. This is something that all new missionaries with African Inland Mission go through (Nita had already done it). Please pray for them that they get a lot out of the material that is going to be covered and that they are able to ask a lot of good questions. Their time on the field prior to attending should serve them well for this. The training is for three weeks and then they are going to take a week of their vacation to travel. Please keep them in your prayers regarding this as well. Road travel is the leading cause of injuries to missionaries, so all of us need your prayers in this regard.

Ingrid and I will be taking a week holiday over Ingrid's birthday and are very much looking forward to this time.  We are staying in Uganda, because of of the timing of everything.  Our AIM Central Region (six countries) conference will tie into this time so we will be out of Moroto for about one month total.  In time for the birthday celebration and our 20th wedding anniversary.  

Gratuitous picture of our garden. It's doing quite well!!

As you can tell, there continues to be difficult times, but there are more and more encouraging things taking place. We continue to see the Lord working in unexpected ways. The last three very dry years are producing fruit, thank you for standing with us. I know I have been encouraged over and over. I know Ingrid has as well. 

We just want to thank each and every one of you for being such an integral part of the ministry here in Moroto. We would not be here if it wasn’t for each of you. Please continue praying for us, for the team, and for the Karimojong  those who have understood what being Christians means and those few who are serving with us, that our devotion to Christ will be pure and undivided.

Love,

Lyle & Ingrid