April 15, 2019

Hello dear ones, from a continuing hot season in Uganda.  January and February were melting hot, but even though it has decreased a bit in intensity, we are still wimping along from the unrelenting heat. We are grateful for an occasional rain, which cools temporarily but are looking for the rainy season to begin anytime.

The months are just rushing by so fast, as I thought about what to write, it made my head spin as I tried to mentally recap the past 4 months.  Or maybe it was the effects of the heat or my sinuses screaming, ha-ha. 

Nakiro in the white/black striped blouse

We are so grateful for the team the Lord has given us. The joy of having eleven adults plus 5 children join our team is the multiplication effect it has on who can be reached and the increasing ability of relationships that can be deeply developed. Also, responsibilities can be shared which is a gift to Lyle and myself.  Many people ask what a typical day is like, and that is very challenging to describe, as no matter what we have planned, including trying to have a day off a week, we hold our plans loosely.  A typical example is, Nali, who helps around our house shows up at 8 am on a Monday, and shares with me that our friend Nakiru’s 8 year old daughter burned things up inside their home last night while holding a lit candle which accidentally started the fire.  I didn’t know how badly the damage might be, but knew Nakiru doesn’t have any reserves to fall back on.  She is a young widow with 4 children, whose husband was beaten and stoned to death for having food. I called my teammate Mary, who has language lessons with Nakiru and is her friend as well.  Mary, who had tentatively organized her Monday, quickly changed things and headed to Nakiru’s place.  She was able to let me know mostly only clothing was burned, but everything needed to be removed and cleaned.  Mary stayed and helped Nakiru clean and I rounded up some clothes to try to replace a bit of what was lost.  Here it is normal for young children to be left in charge of smaller ones, and this happened while Nakiru was selling produce in the market in the evening.  I am amazed more things like this don’t happen when young ones are left to handle grownup things like fire.   Our only consistencies in schedule are our ministry times in the bush, at prison and our team day and church.  Even language lessons are not always consistent. 

Family learning how to mold figures from clay.
Mark is the instructor.

Our daughter Monika and her husband Jens and their 4 children plus Shaela’s boyfriend Andrew visited us the end of March.  We had been happy to have Shaela here a year ago in Dec.-Jan., 2018, but for the others it had been two and a half years since we had seen them. It was beyond words wonderful to be able for them to meet the people they have been praying for. Moe and Jens have prayed for my neighbor Napeyok for almost six years, and for them to meet her face-to-face was awesome.  She was waiting for them, when we arrived home and we didn’t make it to our porch, she was so insistent on meeting them first thing.  The joy in my heart for this was so deep. We drove up from Kampala, and it took 14 ½ hours for the journey, a long time for three little ones (9,7 and 3 yrs old) to be in the cars.  They were real troopers.  Coming from a few feet of snow in Montana to our heat really took a toll especially on the adults.  

Soccer in Lotirir.

So often in Moroto, I still feel like a stranger and am still struggling to figure out cultural things, but taking the family around really gave me a contrast.  I realized that I have assimilated much more that I had perceived.  I thought to myself, “I am more African than I ever thought I could be,” that was a great insight for me.  I also realized how desensitized I have become to the overwhelming, never-ending with no answer in sight, problems, as Moe was continually pointing out wounds on the children in Lotirir.  I applied more bandages during church with her there, then I had for a long time.  The reason for that is, their skin is usually dirty and sweaty so the bandages fall off usually within minutes even when I clean the skin, and having horrible wounds is a daily part of life in the bush, which I have for the most part quit trying to address. The children love the attention, but when I came to realize that children were wounding themselves just to have me apply bandages, I knew I needed to stop unless things were very serious.  The family got to play “futball” (soccer) with the kids in the bush and also here in town.  They so enjoyed engaging with the people and Lyle and I were blessed and impressed with how readily all of them embraced the people and were open to trying new things and living in new ways.  Even Cora, at 3 years old, acted like she had done this her whole life. What a gift to us this was.  They were able to meet almost all of the children we have in school, and to play games and Frisbee with the boys of Moroto High. It was also hard for our family to witness the hunger of the people here, it is really overwhelming and they came at the time of no food for months, because of the dry season.  Most of the people are skinny to skeletal. They really were able to get a slice of our life here. It was hard to say good-bye to them, but I was so grateful that I could say “see you in a few months,” since we will be going on furlough in July.

Out in Lotirir

As we continue to be busy everyday, we are also trying to organize life here for when we are on furlough in the states.  We will be gone for 6 months, so preparing for school fees to be paid ahead of time and all the materials our boys need during that time has to be planned for. We are buying extra dog food every trip down to Kampala (the only place to get it) to try to have enough to last for six months; getting enough payment on power and water for six months, etc.  Please pray for our brains to not forget anything.  We are also thinking about how we continue to serve and surrender to our Lord even though our location will be changing.  I find it interesting that most missions call this time back in the sending country furlough, as the definition of furlough means: a period of time where a soldier is temporarily absent from service, especially to return to their home town or country.  In the Lord, however, we feel that we are like Paul, in Colossians 2:5, that we are absent from the K’jong and our team in body, but with them in spirit. And as Christ followers, we are never absent from living a surrendered life to our Lord Jesus, doing what He leads us to do no matter where He calls us.  We are looking forward to having a break from the culture we have been immersed in, and praying that these six months can rejuvenate us in ways beyond our imagination.

Family pic on an outing! Photo bombed by a giraffe.

We will land in Seattle, WA on the 14^thon July.  We plan on being in that area till the first part of August.  As of now, we have had a couple of kind offers of guestrooms in Western Washington, a couple of offers for use of cars for a period of time, one church even offered to create a living space for us in their annex, isn't that wonderful, but we are thinking that might not work the best if we need to walk outdoors to get to showers and to cook, but we are grateful that people are joining us seeking how the Lord will take care of us whilst in the states.  We will be spending a good bit of time in Montana, and traveling some to visit children, relatives, and friends.  We know that as children of the King, He will give us what is best for us, and we trust that.  We would love to be able to connect with as many of you as possible.  Please feel free to communicate with us, via email or Facebook or WhatsApp, to let us know when we could organize time together. God has used and is using all of you as life-giving love to us, and we are so grateful for this. 

Cora being held in Lotirir

Please join us in continuing to pray for the believers here in Moroto.  When they understand the Bible and that following Christ is counter-cultural to what they have lived, they do end up being persecuted.  We are seeing some of them growing stronger in their relationship with the Lord and others being very challenged and torn about how to live.  Each of us must chose for ourselves. 

We will be keeping our team in prayer whilst we are gone and would ask you to join with us, that integrity and faithfulness to our Lord and each other would be what is witnessed in these precious people who will continue to serve in Moroto District. When we come back, three of our teammates will leave for their furlough. And the rest are staying for various times.  Looking forward to hugs and talks in person in the near future, Lord willing.

Love,

Ingrid and Lyle

January 1, 2019

Happy New Year’s Day!

As I (Lyle) sit here in our living room here in Moroto I wonder where time has gone. It has flown by so quickly. I am writing this on the last day of 2018 and this will be our first blog of the new year. 

So first of all, we would like to wish all who read this a wonderful New Year and a happy belated Christmas. This blog is going to be more of a reflection. I would like to talk about something I first posted on Facebook in 2013 and then reposted this year. It is a reminder to me of why the Lord has us here in Karamoja and why the Lord has each of you where you are at. Here is what I had written...

"Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! 

I don't know about you, but this is a time of year that causes me to reflect on what the birth of Jesus is all about. The realization that the almighty God, the One who simply spoke into existence everything - out of nothing - would become flesh, live a perfect life, suffer a most cruel death, and become sin so that I might be saved, is beyond sobering. I deserve death, but He offers me life. Not only life, but life abundantly.

I don't want to preach a sermon, but it strikes me that coming to that realization is not enough; it should not stop there. It should move me to a life of repentance and service to my Lord as it should move each of us. 

May this season and the year to come be a time of introspection that results in service to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, proclaiming His glory in whatever way He may call each of us to serve."

I think that when Facebook reminded me of this post (ok...am I the only one who is creeped out by how much Facebook tells me about myself) it really caused me to reflect on the last five years and the profoundness of how personal this post had been to me. I am not one for New Year's resolutions, after all, most New Year's resolutions (but not all) are simply things we know we should be doing, but have failed to do. So, we put off what we should have done, to resolve to do it once again, as if somehow, we will have more resolve because it is the first of the year, only to continue in the same pattern of failure that caused us to make the resolution in the first place. However, there certainly is a place for reflection. Some of the team is gathering this evening to do just this; to think through the year past, things learned, challenges faced, and to thank the Lord for His faithfulness and pray for this coming year. 

As I read this short Christmas reflection I could not help but to think back about what was going through my mind when I wrote it. Although not stated explicitly, I was saying how we live our lives as Christ followers cannot be an annual resolution. Rather, it must be something that is lived every moment of our lives, yet I realize how often I fall short of this. And the brutal reality is that my failing is not by chance, but by choice. How I choose to live each day reflects my relationship with my Lord – the good, bad, and the ugly. 

Romans 12:1-2says, “¹And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy—the kind he can accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? ²Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.”Living Bible (TLB) emphasis added.

I love the wording The Living Bible gives these verses, especially the question, “When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?”Most of our initial responses is to quickly answer, “Of course not! It’s not too much to ask.” But does my life bear this out? Do my daily choices show that“My old self has been crucified with Christ. it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God, who gave himself for me.” Galatians 4:20 (NLT). If we are going to be honest, there are times this would be true, but there are also times it is very far from the truth. 

Why is this? I can’t answer this for you, but for me I can be too busy doing. As I look back over this last year I see the busyness and the hectic pace of life. I see how there can seem to be so many demands that I feel exhausted. I see how the “ministry” can take preeminence over simply being obedient to my Lord's leading. It is so easy to do on my own initiative (and then call it sacrifice) instead of being a living reflection of obedience to my Lord. Isn’t this what it means when Paul said it is no longer him that lives, but Christ who lives in Him? Why can I be too busy doing when I should be dead to myself and alive in Christ. I mean, I do good things, right? Bible studies, preparing sermons, meeting with people, building relationships, etc. These are all good things, but when I lose the focus of WHY I am doing these things then I have to question, who is on the throne of my life? 

In my mind I know that my life is to glorify the Lord. I know I am to serve Him. But in whose power do I serve Him. In John 17:1-4 Jesus said, “¹After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ² For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ⁴ I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Did you see verse four? Jesus’ purpose was simply to bring glory to His Father. How? Through His obedience. 

Here’s my conclusion. No matter what I do, no matter how good it looks, no matter how good my intentions, if I am not doing it out of obedience, if I have not asked the Lord first, if I have not surrendered to Him, then Christ is not on the throne of my life. 

So, I say again, “May this season and the year to come be a time of introspection that results in service to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, proclaiming His glory in whatever way He may call each of us to serve."

If we are walking in obedience and if it is true that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, then the Lord has each of us exactly where He wants us. We are all in this together. We are all called serve our Lord. Not as we see fit, but as He sees fit. 

This is my prayer for myself, for the wonderful team that we have the privilege to serve alongside, and for each and every one of you. If we all live like this, if the church lives this, then our Lord will be most glorified.

I did want to recap what is going on ministry wise. God has been so faithful and we have seen Him work in so many ways. We also see the enemy working, trying to reclaim lost territory. 

Some of Moroto team enjoying dinner together along with
some of the visitors from the Kampala office

Generally, since the last blog we have been to Kampala several times for dental appointments. Not a big deal for most of you. In fact, you’re probably asking why would I even mention this. Simply because the dentist is 10-12 hours away depending on road conditions and traffic. This means we end up letting things go too long before we take care of it. This is not only true for us, but for the rest of the team as well. So far, I have a partially finish root canal and need to return to have it finished and to get a crown. We have hosted some of our Central Region leadership on several occasions as they have come to visit Karamoja and the team. We had some friends visit us who we know from New Hope Uganda. We sadly have had to say goodbye to our teammates from Germany who had to return for medical reasons. Ingrid went on a women’s retreat and we were able to go to a couple’s retreat. Some of the team (we are part of them) are beginning a demonstration rabbit project to see how sustainable it will be for the Karimojong in the bush to raise rabbits as a fresh meat supply. The Karimojong have a lot of livestock, but they don’t slaughter them to eat. They only eat the ones that die from disease or natural causes. Having an alternate sustainable source of meat would be wonderful. This coupled with our normal leadership responsibilities as well as areas of ministry has kept us very busy. 

Visiting with some missionary friends, the Jongs, from South
Korea during one of our Kampala visits

We have also changed our focus in many of our Bible studies. We are currently building foundations by beginning in Genesis. We are showing how Christ is the central theme of the Bible, how we are born into sin and how we desperately need our Lord and how this redemptive work of salvation through Jesus Christ has always been God's plan. People are beginning to understand that we are born sinners. It’s not just that we sin. 

Ingrid began this in the women’s prison ministry and the spiritual lights went on one life after another. Ingrid and the team members that participate in this ministry continue to use storying as a vehicle for sharing the Word. Many women have been released and are returning to their homes  with a commitment to the one and only Living God, with their lives transformed by Him. Truly their old selves have died and it is Christ who lives in them. Please pray for these ladies that the fruit of their lives continues shining the light of Christ. He is able to keep them. They go to places we do not reach so follow up is not happening. 

During a church service in Lotirir when Ingrid was preaching, she asked some very foundational questions and it became clear that the believers in the church who seemed to desire a deepening relationship with the Lord were clueless on foundational understanding. With that in mind, we have been preaching straight from Genesis. It has been as enlightening for us as it has been for them as we learn what they thought they understood and then have the privilege of seeing them understand the truth of Scripture. 

Some of the men from the Nakapilimen Bible study. From
left to right, Daniel, Paulo, and Mark

This transition also took place in the Nakapilimen Bible study. We shifted from the New Testament to Genesis and just recently transitioned from one of the team leading the study to a couple of the members leading the study using the Discovery Bible Study Method. It has been so wonderful to see the change in the understanding of Scripture. Two of members, Nasur and Daniel have grown so much and we have seen so much change in their lives over this last year. Mark continues to grow, but sometimes it is two steps forward and one step back. Please keep Nakapilimen in your prayers. This is one of the areas where the spiritual battles taking place are so very visceral and obvious. Lately it has been so noisy its difficult hear. Fights have taken place and drunks trying to engage us in the middle of studies is not uncommon. 

John, Esther, and their newborn son, Ngiru

The Thursday Bible study in Lotirir has been going on well. We are currently in the book of Matthew. A mixture of storying and discussions are being used. While on the subject of Lotirir one of the shifts that has taken place is the number of youths who now attend. The Finches have made Lotirir their home church and have invested heavily into the youth. Many of them walk an hour or so every Saturday just to do Bible study in their home. John and Esther, the lay reader and his wife, have really understood the need for being shepherds. There are still spiritual battles taking place with some attending only to see what they can get or leaving completely and going back to their old lifestyles. Even with that, there are many who used to come because they needed to check off the church box, but now come because they are falling in love with the Lord. We look at their faces on Thursdays and Sundays and see many that are filled with true joy.

Timothy and Sara with their baby Favor

The Saturday Bible study in Rupa continues, but it is now being led by a Karimojong man named Timothy who truly loves the Lord. We found that when we go out to Rupa the people ask for things. They look to us to fix whatever they think is broken. But when Timothy goes out they listen. Please pray for him as he ministers to the people in Rupa and for us as we work with him and support him from behind. 

The Bible study with the prison guards has begun again after a period of us not meeting because scheduling conflicts. It was one of the guards named Peter who initiated this, he is so hungry for the Lord. It has been such a joy to see Peter change. He has gone from a baby Christian four years ago not understanding God's Word but just "doing" church to someone who is confidently teaching the Word and is taking on helping another guard to to the same. He also has initiated short devotionals and Bible reading at the morning briefing. He had begun this in 2017, but stopped when they were not well received. He was convicted by the Lord that he was to begin the devotionals again and not to fear the disapproval of his peers. He asked for prayer for courage to do this and for the staff to be receptive to God's Word. When we met this last Sunday he was telling us the at the briefings, before he shares business, all the staff have come to expect him to share from the Bible and they are happy to listen. Please join us in praising the Lord for answering this prayer and for Peter's courage. We are going through Acts together and Peter is in awe of the difference in Peter the apostle in the Gospels, before the Holy Spirit came, as compared to Peter in Acts, now filled with the Holy Spirit. This has greatly encouraged him.

On that exciting note, we too are praising the Lord. We have the Sundem family who will be visiting us the middle of March! As you know our granddaughter, Shaela, came end of December 2017. Now Moe (our daughter) and Jens and the rest of family as well as Shaela's boyfriend are coming. We will have a full house, but a blessed house. We can’t wait!

I think that is it for now. Wishing you all a blessed New Year as you serve our Lord in the very place He has you. My prayer for you and for me as co-laborers in Christ, is that we well be able to say, not some of the time, but all of the time, “It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid

August 7, 2018

August Blog post

Hello to you all, it is already August!!  It has been eight months since we last wrote a blog.  And for me (Ingrid) in some ways it seems like it has been a lot longer.  It has been probably our toughest time spiritually since our feet first touched Karimojong soil.  2 Corinthians 6:10a says, “Our hearts ache, but we always have joy.” I would say that this sums up well our lives right now. Contextually, the first part of this chapter of 2 Corinthians describes the Good News of salvation and the hardships of Paul as he lives for Christ.  We do have an enemy that tries to get our hearts, minds and eyes off of Jesus, and it is Jesus alone on whom our faith depends. The battle is very real in our lives.

Lyle and I were able to take a vacation or ‘holiday’ as it is called here the last couple of weeks of July, long overdue (last October) for the level of activity that has been our normal.  We just returned to Uganda on the 30th of July.  It was lovely being in a different setting, having the time to let the Holy Spirit walk with us in revisiting our last eight months and give us insight into our thinking and space and eyes to see the truth in our hearts. We shared with each other what we heard from the Spirit, and were surprised (but shouldn’t have been) that the Holy Spirit was speaking to each of us the same question: what does Biblical joy look like for us in Karamoja?” How does Hebrews 12:2 “For the joy set before Him (Jesus), He endured the cross, despising the shame....” mesh with Proverbs 17:22 “a joyful heart is good medicine.” Does joy look the same in these two different scenarios? It feels like our lives have consisted of joy and sorrow with little in between.  

Shaela with our pet guinea fowl, Mr. Fussbudget
(she would have taken him back to the USA
with her if she could have)

Some of the joys have been the sweetness of unity in the team God has put together here in Moroto District.  In our last blog, we had four ladies from around the world and one man from Uganda working with us in bringing the good news of the Lord to the precious Karimojong people here in Moroto District. Our granddaughter Shaela came to visit the end of Dec. for 3 weeks, and watching her unabashed enthusiasm to don the Karimojong sheets the locals wear, to carry things, carry babies on her back and jerry cans on her head was a delight for us.  Her loving heart felt our challenge, as she loved on children who were uncared for. We are grateful to the Lord for one in our family to visit, and pray that He opens the door for others.  Shaela’s coming was a great encouragement to us.  We are seeing some Karimojong believers growing deep in their faith and the pleasure of watching the Holy Spirit open their understanding to His ways and Will is such rich treasure.  It is such joy.

In late January two more men from Uganda joined our team and in February a woman from the UK came.  In March we welcomed two new families, one, seven in number, from the states and one, three in number, from Germany.  So within a month our team more than doubled in size, with many cultures to blend, and our desire for the team to gel in unity was the foremost prong of our energy. We were not unaware of the war being waged in the spiritual invisible realm during this time, as sharing the Good News of freedom from darkness through Jesus Christ, which we are here to live and proclaim, is not what the enemy wants; and if those sent to live this can be kept from living the Oneness that Jesus and the Father displayed, then our presence would be useless. 

Karimojong warrior with his walking stick 

It was interesting with new eyes on the ground, living and working with us, to see what we have become used to.  We live in a land where spears and bows and arrows is normal for boys and men to be carrying along with long walking sticks with a large ball head, dressed with sleeveless T-shirts and sheets wrapped around their waists, females of all ages in pleated skirts and T-shirts being the norm.  Shepherds, mostly boys often as young as four to five, moving livestock, mostly cattle, goats and sheep across open land is something we have grown accustomed to, an everyday experience.  Polygamy is the normal family structure, teaching the new team members the vernacular “the co” means co-wife, and there usually are more than two with many children “produced”, again the local vernacular.  The most common way to get water is to fetch it from boreholes instead of wells, with manual pump handles and a faucet with the water deposited in jerry cans.  Shaela conquered this well, as you then lift the 44 pound plastic can onto your head or haul several in a wheelbarrow and carry it to your home, many times a long distance over rough ground.  

Except for mobile phones (most adults have one) and a erratic bit of electricity which most do not have, as well as motor vehicles buzzing along the roads, (again a majority don’t have but see) life toddles along at a pace I read about in the Bible. This is called ‘footing’ meaning walking. People commonly wash their clothes in rivers or basins with jerry can water, often drying them on bushes or the tall grasses in the sun, they bath in the same rivers in broad daylight with no privacy (mostly boys and men), and clean motor vehicles and motor cycles in the same rivers when there is water in them.  Some have what they call bathing shelters, three sided or three and a half sided enclosed areas where the women usually bathe with jerry can water. People live life a lot slower here, just as the lives of the people in the Bible, allowing us the privilege of having the Word seem a lot more tangible. We live much of that life in our present reality.  As I was reading in the Old Testament about the rhythms of life back then and the weapons used in everyday life there, it was so relate-able. I read that there are over 65 references to arrows in the Bible and all the scriptures I have read relating to spears describe an active violence associated with them.  This too is part of our lives here.

The sorrow we live with is being witness to destruction of the human soul in so many ways. Abuse in all forms is also a normal part of life; being abused and beaten is accepted as a part of everyday life.  It is hard to know what is helpful, as the ones abused are so grieved by it but seem to accept it instead of fight it.  Many incidents are alcohol related as the consumption of large quantities of alcohol is also a normal part of life. Most people seem to have the mindset, as I see in the US as well, that if someone is prospering financially, then “God” is pleased with them, and if you are abused or things are going badly financially, then “God” is punishing you.  People are the same all over the world, associating physical comfort with Godly approval and yet Jesus lived just the opposite with no financial gain and had God speak over Him, “this is My Son in whom I am well pleased.”  He also suffered much physical abuse at the hands of people thinking they were doing God a favor.  That is one of the examples I use with those having been beaten, I let them know that Jesus understands, that He too was beaten as an innocent person.  I then build from there.  It is amazing how many people do not know that about our Lord and Savior.  His suffering was for our sakes, and also for us to take comfort in.

The spears and arrows in Karamoja are used for hunting, as offensive/defensive weapons and for inflicting pain.  We know women who are pricked by the spears or arrows of their men as punishment.  One woman tried to hang herself as she saw her drunken husband coming into the manyatta; she thought death was better than one more episode of torture.  How do we speak life and truth into a reality of destruction?  We have found that what speaks the loudest is our actions not our words.  Kindness, compassion, forgiveness and wanting to get to know someone individually, even in asking what their name is, is making an impact.  We are seeing individual lives being slowly transformed and that is joy, but we also have sorrow of watching some who gave lip service to change, turn their backs on the truth of scripture.  One woman, who I had a two year investment in, made the statement that God didn’t really think we could follow the Bible and forgive, He had to know it was too hard.  Oh how my heart broke, but I know that only the Holy Spirit can draw people into the truth, I cannot.  What I can do is live the truth, because it is Christ who lives in me.  His power can conquer the sin, which the enemy uses to steal, kill and destroy souls.  I have to remind myself of this very often.

Annabelle and Ingrid praying for an
ill person in Lotirir

I feel very privileged that the Lord is allowing me the honor to live His word and to share His word and truth with the Karimojong people.  Lyle and I share the gospel many times a week with groups as well as the mutual sharing our own team partakes in. One such time continues to stand out to me.  I was sharing at our little church in Lotirir about why sacrifice was necessary in the Bible, and had transitioned from the Old Testament examples which were to prepare us for the last sacrifice needed, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins.  I then asked the question, “if you have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in your life, and you go to the shrine to sacrifice an animal, what are you telling God?” Our church is very interactive, I am happy to say, and many answered, “we are saying Jesus wasn’t enough.” One elderly lady piped up and said, “ I go but I don’t join in, so I am in the middle.”  The Lord quickly brought to my mind that spiritually there is no middle, there is light and dark.  I was able to share that with her, and bring out scripture that communicates this. The church grew very quiet, including the man interpreting for me.  He stopped me and asked for a time of prayer, and he was quiet for a very long time. Pray for him and his wife, who are the lay readers for this new church.  They have been able to move out to the bush to do life with the people on a daily basis.  Their names are John and Esther.  They are a young couple who I believe genuinely love the Lord, and want to know Him better.  We realize that all of us, must look at what are cultural lies being told to us, where we have believed the lie of middle ground and we must put them aside and chose to live a pure Biblical culture.  Our team is all in process of doing this, and we are asking the Karimojong believers to be moving in this way as well. 

Please pray for our team, one of our Ugandan brothers, has had to leave us, his job transferred him elsewhere.  He is dearly missed as his life was a reflection of a humble sincere walk with the Lord.  I was so sad, and had trouble accepting that this was God’s will, but I am trusting this to the Lord.  Most of our team, if not all, have had lots of struggles with people they are investing in being the recipients of violence or having family deaths that we know could have been avoided in our home countries.  It is hard to accept what we see as needless pain, suffering and death here, when it would not happen where we come from.   Even the joy of having a baby born has a sadness to it when the father only comes around to impregnate the mother but provides no help or support to keep this precious soul alive.  Oh please pray for me, what does joy look like for me here? I am desiring to think like Jesus did while he was on earth, to put my thoughts and energy into what really matters, and to not waste emotional energy on things that God wouldn’t have me investing in.  I don’t think I am there yet, I struggle with having my focus on wanting to have people have at least a minimum of physical comfort yet knowing that I cannot sustain this, and what matters forever is where the soul ends up.  These precious people are so dependent on outside help that their default is for someone to give to them.  Our desire is for them to understand that God has equipped them with everything they need to care for themselves.  That is part of the deep darkness that covers this region, is the people buying into the lie that they are helpless to help themselves.  It is a spiritual poverty that only the Lord has the power to break, and He has asked our team to be a light set on a hill for all to see, to be an example, living life with the Karimojong. He didn’t say, we were to be the light in every house, may we only be responsible for what our Lord is asking of us, and finding our joy in obeying our Creator, meeting His expectations of us, not our own or other human beings.

As I close, I have shared much transparently from my heart.  I pray that you can read it, pray for me, and still love me.  I want to briefly update you on some of our ministry areas a bit more.

Lotirir 

Shaela being prayed for at the church under the tree in Lotirir

The lay reader John and wife Esther have moved there.  Esther is pregnant and will give birth in September I think. Please pray for them to let the Lord transform their thinking as they are an example to the believers out there. Our little church is starting to make cement block to begin collecting them to start building a church structure, this is an exciting step of faith for this church.  Land has been purchased and we now have, I think, about 200 blocks.  Pray for hearts and minds to be open to the living Word of God.

Rupa

We are holding Bible studies in two different areas of this sub county at their request.  We have a young Karimojong man who has a heart for this area, he and his wife just had a baby girl named Divine Favor.  Pray for them to be wholly grounded in the truth of scripture and obedience to it not to culture.  Their names are Timothy and Sarah.  Pray for the peace of Christ to prevail in our times with the people, as most times we are met with lots of disruption. The few who are sincerely hungering for the Word must compete with people wanting to cause confusion or by people demanding that we give them things.  One of our team members had a rock thrown at her and it hit her in the forehead. Another woman was groped by a boy no more than ten years old - a darkness like we have never seen. One of the families on our team has a desire to work with a group of boys who live in Rupa, kind of like an orphanage but not all are orphans just abandoned.

Nakapilimen

Our Bible study there is a highlight as we are seeing some lives being transformed through understanding God’s word. Our next step there is teaching these believers how to study the Bible for themselves thru a method called Discovery Bible Studies and for them to begin leading the Bible studies.  Pray that we can equip them well, as most bibles here have no references or ways to cross reference in the Bible.

Prisons

From left to right released prisoners: Joyce & Sarah part of
our prison ministry and some guy we don't know

Joy and sorrow: So some of our most passionate believers have been released, praise the Lord, but oh do we miss their presence.  A couple of those released have stuck around and are joining us weekly in sharing in the prison so we have the ability to get to know them better and encourage them on the outside.  We have been able to help them find jobs to support themselves.  One of them, I had mentioned about a year ago, when she asked me if she had to give up brewing alcohol to give her life to Christ. I just told her Christ would help her find work, and He has not failed her.  The joy in her eyes comforts my heart.  Three of the women, who I have had the privilege of watching the Holy Spirit transform, have been transferred to another prison.  Two of them are in for murder.  They had told me they were being transferred and as they are illiterate I was able to give them a recording of the NT in a box called a “Treasure”.  One of these three women was the one, I talked around a year ago, who had a dream and saw a crown of thorns. I explained her dream with Christ carrying the crown of thorns for our sin; she said she wanted to follow Jesus.  I had felt led to tell her to talk to Jesus and with Him repent of her sin, as opposed to me praying for her.  When I came the next week, a radiant light shined out of her eyes, and I knew she had met the Living God.  That light continued to radiate as long as she was with us. Please pray for these three to remain faithful to the Lord and go deeper still with Him.  Their names are Regina, Veronika, and Maria.

Team

Our team members are in four different churches in Moroto, it has been a pleasure to watch everyone obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit and not shrink back from following His leading.  One family feels that Lotirir is to be their home church.  Please pray for all of us as the church is a mission field, with many feeling they are saved by going to church instead of having a vibrant loving relationship with God.  Pray that we will love these ones well, and be humble lights of life. One of our team members is teaching discipleship at the Church of Uganda Diocese Training Center for Karamoja.  We are excited for this opportunity to have young men and women actually have an opportunity to understand what relationship with our Lord is supposed to look like. Please pray for these students to give their lives to Jesus and to live for Him alone.  At this same college, Lyle is involved in setting up a rabbit farm to provide protein for the students and hopefully a sustainable way to have the college generate some cash flow.

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.