May 3, 2016

In our last blog, we were writing from extreme heat, we have now moved into the cool rainy season, and we are praising the Lord for the rain.  It has been here for about 5 weeks now, which is the best spring rains Moroto, Karamoja has seen in our 3 springs here.

Thomas

We are happy to say our short-term team has grown by one so we are now a team of four, which is so encouraging for Lyle and me.  Suzanne Betts, from the UK, has joined us for about 3 months. It is my first experience having another woman who loves Jesus and who I can share my heart with here in Moroto.

Suzanne

Suzanne is concentrating her ministry time here at a girls’ home in one of the slums here in Moroto.  The name of the home is called Project Moroto.  A woman from New Zealand started it last year, and houses 20 girls that are orphans aged from 8 years old to 16 years of age.  Lyle and I had spent one night a week there doing basic Sunday school lessons with them prior to our compassion leave in October 2016.  It has been so precious watching these sweet girls getting to know Suzanne and to hear from her about the God who created them, and His love for them in the midst of their suffering circumstances.  She is also presenting to many children on Saturdays lessons from scripture union, on good choices, and hygiene and basic things.  She has joined me in ministering to the women in prison and also serves with Thomas and Lyle at a local high school.  On one of our trips to the girls

Girls from Project Moroto

home, following a heavy downpour, the car slid off the road in the slick mud and the right side of the car lodged deep into the mud on the side of road. We were all quite a sight as Thomas, Suzanne, and Lyle and I were desperately struggling to free the car. We was also throwing rocks under the car tires and eventually we attached a strap to tow hook on the front of the car and myself along with some Karimojong teenagers helped pull the car free. Lyle and I rushed home after this to clean both ourselves and the car as we needed to go to the Bible study with the prison guards.

Part of the ministry team

Reverend Raymond, the pastor Thomas (our missionary from Canada) was working with left right after Easter for 6 weeks. Lyle assumed Raymond’s supervisory role over the ministry team (Thomas is a part of this team).  This has entailed team meetings and devotions four days a week as well as planning for ministry in prisons and at secondary schools and in other parish churches. In addition Lyle continues to be part of a Bible study with the prison guards on Sunday along with me.

Esther

Our Easter Sunday was lovely with four of our older boys here and one family from our church.  We spent time worshipping the Lord and Lyle shared a bit on what Easter means to humankind.  It was also our last peaceful day up to the present.  We have had a very challenging time since that day: from me once again having malaria and secondary problems from it which I am still battling, to our precious friend and house help Esther dying suddenly that Monday night following Easter.  Culturally we were plunged into a huge lesson on how death is treated here and we were invited to be deeply involved in the process.  She leaves 6 children, two young girls and a boy who are not yet grown who are now total orphans as their father died several years ago and three adult children.  Understanding deep within my heart that God is good even though I know only He could take Esther from this earth, required a bit of processing for me.

While trying to live well with all of that, the rains came, just after the Chinese, who have contracted to build paved roads here in Moroto and in Karamoja, had deconstructed our road.  The roads had been bulldozed with nothing but fine dirt remaining. They had destroyed all the ditches that were used to hold the runoff water during these heavy rains.  As a result, all the water from the hills and mountain above us washed into our yard.  The water was so deep that it was about one inch from coming into the house.  The downward side of our yard had a solid wall that kept the water from continuing to run downhill, so Lyle was trying to put a hole in the wall with a pick axe to allow it to drain and I was wading in the water trying to save guinea fowl, chickens and a turkey that had just started sitting on eggs. We couldn’t believe how swift the water came in. Lyle was able to break a big enough hole in the wall to keep the runoff from entering the house, the rain abated and he jumped into the car to go to the Chinese headquarters to get them to do something before the next downpour.  They actually did respond quickly for this part of the world, and got a backhoe out and created a bit of a ditch, which worked well until yesterday when it collapsed and we again had runoff but not so severe.  We were left with about 4-5 inches of fine silt all over the yard and on our plants, we are still cleaning up!!

Esther, Shamin, and Mwanaisha

Then our car quit running, needing a new alternator and starter but guess what, there are none in Uganda!!!   Our friend and mechanic in Kampala located used ones and got them working within a few days, sent up a mechanic on a bus, a 12-14 hour trip, he got here at 3 am.  The next morning, Lyle and he worked on changing them out, and the car still wouldn’t run, the batteries were spoiled as well.  We needed two batteries that have opposite connections; there was only one type of battery available in Moroto, so as I write we are waiting for batteries to come up from Kampala with the same mechanic. 

The crew going on for a hike

So for the last 12 days, we have been navigating the muddy roads on foot and praising the Lord that we have feet with which to walk these roads J. During this time, Lyle, Suzanne and Thomas took the 20 girls from Project Moroto and a few others up the mountains and the vistas were spectacular from that height. Lyle FaceTime’d me from the mountain so I could share the view.  I wish I was able to join them, but my legs will not allow that. The incline was much more severe that any of the three of them had imagined and the hike was enjoyed for days with the sore muscles reminding them all of what they had done.  The children enjoyed having adults spending time with them and I think everyone involved will remember this day for a long time.

Esther and Simon

We do not take lightly all the many challenges we have faced this past month and as we are studying 1st and 2^nd Peter with the prison guards, we have had a month worth of putting into application, 1 Peter 1:6-7  So be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. 

We truly do believe this verse, and we trust the wonderful joy ahead is the privilege of seeing lives changed from broken ones to new life in Christ, with the destruction of sin having lost it’s power.  We are greatly encouraged by the Karimojong that the Lord has us investing into, as we see them coming to understand more and more Who Jesus is and who they have been promised to be in Christ.

On the hike: View from the top of the mountain

It is difficult for us to believe that in two months we will be boarding a plane and heading back to the USA for a six-month furlough.  This is our first furlough and so we wanted you to understand better as we are learning to understand what this term exactly means.  The dictionary definition of furlough is: “a period of time where a soldier is allowed to be absent from service, especially to return temporarily to their own town or country.”   Now we do feel like soldiers, seriously!!  But that is where the definition takes a turn, we are never absent from the Lord’s service, whether we are in Uganda or the USA. We are told that part of a furlough is meant for us to have a break from the culture we are immersed in, to have a time to rejuvenate in ways one cannot on the field, but we are still in active service working and doing ministry while in the country of our origin.  It is also a time for us to joyously spend with our families, reacquainting ourselves with our many grandchildren. And oh are we looking forward to that part!!!  We will share more about what our six months will look like in our last blog in Uganda for 2016, probably in June.  But we do ask you to please be praying with us and for us, that our supporters who are on the field with us through their financial support will understand that we do need this to continue while on furlough. 

As I close this, the mechanic has arrived and put two new batteries into the car and I heard the sound of the engine roaring to life for the first time in almost two weeks.  Praise the Lord!!