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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Flowers in front of Mark's home |
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
Thank you for sharing with us Lyle. I loved Marks story and the changes in his life because of his faith in our loving God. God bless you and Ingrid.
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