March 20, 2017

Hello, greetings to you from Moroto, Ingrid here.  As Lyle mentioned in our blog the end of January, it does seem like our days pass in a blur. A lot has happened in the last month and a half.

I think two scriptures that capture where the Lord has us right now are these:

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 So I run with purpose in every step.  I am not just shadow boxing.  I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives too.

Hailey, Nita, and Taryn (left to right)

We had barely a month back in Moroto before returning to Kampala with great joy to receive three new teammates, Nita from Australia, and Taryn and Hailey, both from the USA.  We have all been back in Moroto now for little over two weeks and these ladies have been troopers.  They had three days for us to orient them to the area with some culture learning before they started training with an instructor in how to learn language.  That lasted for 6 days with Karimojong language helpers going with them into the area and teaching them words and greetings.  The biggest challenge with this is the helpers were so enthusiastic that they fired so many words and phrases at the ladies that they thought their heads might pop.  The helpers walked them way too far the first couple of days in the morning heat, so we had to be very firm in reining in how far they traveled.  There is sadly a status to being with a Westerner, so our ladies were being “shown off”.  Some of you prayed with me for my pregnant neighbor who the Lord had me intervene when she tried to kill herself almost two years ago. She is one of the language helpers and the joy in her right now is so wonderful.  She shared with Taryn that she knows how much I love her and that when I pray for her, what I pray happens.  Glory be to God!! I was in tears with joy that she is still alive and that her baby is alive and well.  May she come to understand the power that God gives His people and the peace and joy of life to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Danielle (trainer on how to learn language)

I am so proud as the three women have jumped in with cooking, fighting mosquitoes, power and water outages,  (we had power maybe 40% of the time) all without complaint.  They each feel that the Lord has shown each of them a part of Moroto where they will be starting to spend more time.  The beauty of having people who love Jesus deeply and seek His will, is that I have the privilege of watching the Lord lead as they are following Him obediently.  I get to support and love on those the Lord has sent. I praise our God so much for His workers, our fellow laborers, and for the harvest here in Moroto District.

Four of our boys (Moru, Ariyan, Lotuk, and Yeno)

While all this has been happening, our lives haven’t slowed down.  While all the boys and Miriam have been settled into their various schools, their needs continue on a weekly basis.  Please praise the Lord with us that through the generous donations from several people, we were able to finance all the new schools, uniforms, boarding costs etc. with only a little coming from our own pockets.  We do not use AIM support for anything connected with the boys. When the boys from Moroto Secondary School came by to see us for new supplies and money for shaving their heads and for snacks, we prayed for each of them and let them know that we pray for them every week.  They looked at us with appreciation and replied that they also pray for us. It was a very sweet moment.  I am now the shortest one again. They have all grown so much.  They are now young men instead of the boys we met a few years back.  We are so proud of these boys.  Miriam is doing ok now as far as her leg goes.  She is experiencing the normal nerve pain that happens after an extensive surgery.  I have had verbal assurances that the surgeons feel they were able to remove the entire tumor and that this time it should not return in this leg, meaning it could come in the other one.  That last part, in this leg, kind of gave me a chill, which I just placed at the throne of Jesus.

Moses and Veronika

Lyle and I are both continuing with ministry in the prison with both the guards and the prisoners happening on different days.  The joy there is that Moses and Veronika, the two released from being held without charge for two years, are now joining us as part of the ministry team.  Veronika goes with me on Thursday mornings to just the women, and her joy with how the Lord has helped her, is a great witness to the women still in prison.  Moses goes with us on Tuesdays and Saturdays where the general male population can come and join in worship and teaching.  Sometimes the women, who are housed in a different block, come as well.   This couple when released from prison found out that neighbor jealousy in their village was the cause of the false accusations against them.  They had a kiosk store set up in a room of their house, and while in they were in prison everything in the store and house had been stolen and the house vandalized.  They came back to nothing.  It was a very challenging time for them in their faith, but they have forgiven their neighbors and are showing them Christ’s love, which they learned about in prison.  Oh how amazing our Lord is.  As Lyle and I share life with them, scriptures that spoke of helping Christian brothers and sisters in need convicted us.   James in particular speaks of telling fellow Christians to stay warm and eat well but not helping them with the necessities for this to happen, isn’t true faith.  So we sat down with Reverend Raymond and Moses and discussed what they need to recover from this loss, and slowly we are assisting them in rebuilding their lives as they continue giving their lives to Christ’s work.  They had been part of a cult called the message church prior to their arrest, while they learned the true gospel in prison.  We are assisting them in how to share the truth with those in this cult in their village.  Please, please pray for them and their two daughters ages 7 and 5 as they grow into what family looks like thru a biblical worldview, not a cultural one.  Pray for us to be led by the Lord in how we are to disciple them as they live about 40 minutes from Moroto in their village.

Kids being kids as we were walking around Moroto

Lyle and I were walking the ladies around Moroto, when we were invited into the home of one of the women I have ministered to.  Whilst we were there, I was asked if I would be willing to be the speaker for the Mother’s Union for International Woman’s Day.  I drew in a deep breath and prayed to God, as I knew that our team had only been in Moroto two days at that point.  I felt the Lord speak to my heart, “Why are you here if not to proclaim My Name wherever I open the doors?”   So I agreed to do this, and I ask you to join me in praising our heavenly Father for this gift.  I was able to share from scripture how God sees women, and to show them that He made women to be image bearers of Himself as well as men.  The joy I felt as I saw the faces of women change as we looked at how Jesus broke with His culture and treated women as God had intended for them to be treated and how Jesus Himself understands the challenges of submission as He submitted to the Father while on earth.  Both men and women were deeply moved and grateful for this truth.  I do pray that the seed that was sown gets planted into fertile ground and that hearts are tender to receive this truth, of a loving Creator God Who wants unbroken relationship with us through Jesus Christ.

This coming Friday, Lyle and I are hosting an “akimuj” night for the couples group of our church.  That is the K’jong name that was given to the idea of a potluck get-together.  It will be the first one since the group started over a year ago. It meets every two weeks with a different person sharing a topic except now for the akimuj nights, which will happen 3-4 times in the year. We are looking forward to getting to know the young Karimojong couples in the group better.  They really have a heart to know biblical truth and culture; Lyle will be sharing in two weeks on having Christ in every part of life.   We were so blessed when we were asked to join this group.  I thank the Lord for community.  

To further encourage us, the Lord has sent a young single Ugandan man to Moroto, who loves Jesus and took a job here simply because the Karimojong are an unreached people group and he desires to see people come into a relationship with their Creator that leads to life eternal.  An AIM member in Kampala gave him our contacts. His name is Ivan, and we spent this last Sunday together attending the Karimojong church service and the Bible study for the prison guards.  He and Lyle already have a date set for weekly Bible study.  Please pray for him and for us as we have been praying for men to join the Moroto Focus Team and he is willing to be part of what we are doing. 

Mark

Lastly please pray for a precious young man named Mark.  This man is maybe 25, he has survived most of his life on sorghum beer and hard alcohol.  He is probably 6 foot 3 inches and maybe weighs 150 lbs.  He has known us since we arrived three years ago.  He carves art out of asbestos and models clay into baked figurines and tries to sell them to westerners.  He would come drunk to sell us things and I would tell him no because I didn’t want him to spend what I gave him on “booze” as it is called here.   So he started coming not drunk just smelling like booze.  We would very occasionally buy something for a few thousand shillings, (3500 shillings is about one dollar).  Either Lyle or I would tell Mark no spending this on booze when we paid him.  Mark always agreed not to.  We have no way of knowing what he did, but I had shared with him that he was killing his body and soul by how he was living.  He seemed to understand but as most here do, he continued in his ways.  Last year we gave him a Bible and invited him to our church, he said he was catholic but accepted the invitation. Usually this would be with the hope that he would get something from us for coming.  We do not work that way.  But he would continue to come and he seemed interested in the Bible.  When we came back to Moroto this January, he was at church our first Sunday back with his Bible but I could tell that his poor body was not doing well.  Last week he came to our gate very sick. He told Lyle that he had stopped drinking two weeks earlier. Lyle took him to a private clinic and he has a form of medication resistant malaria, which is happening here more and more.  He was given IV treatments and was told that he needed to eat greens and fruit.  Lyle gave him some shillings to get these items, but instead he bought beans and posho (maize corn flour).  He wanted Lyle to support his food needs.  Lyle shared with him how he could sell his art to shops and make money, but he isn’t willing to work that way so far, and so we are giving no more money for food.  Instead I am buying fruit and greens for him.  Lyle and he are meeting this Wednesday to discuss where he creates his artwork and Lyle also wants to see if they can do a bible study together weekly.  It is convicting because as Lyle shared in the last blog, we can give to the poor but if we don’t love them, it is meaningless.   Please pray that we will love Mark with God’s love right into the kingdom where destructive living no longer has power over him.

As a closing thought, Lyle mentioned to many of you whilst we were in the states, that he was going to build a prison for our 16 plus chickens and two turkeys when we returned.  He hadn’t been able to start it prior to us leaving to pick up our team, but while we were there our neighbors chicken got sick and died and so did all of ours. Lyle was sad and relieved at the same time. When we arrived back in Moroto, our male and female turkey were also so sick that we thought they were going to die. They were not eating or drinking, but I got them to eat my precious apples that I got from Kampala, ahhhh!  So somehow that pushed them through and now two weeks later, they are now back to normal.  Within the last week, Moses and Veronika gave us a hen as a gift, and my friend Lopuka gave us a cock (rooster).  Lyle was once again sad and happy at the same time.  Soooo, now he and Simon are building a chicken/turkey prison.  The guinea fowl are not destructive and so will be free to roam, but this way we can garden with success.

The new chickens and an old turkey

Please know that we thank our Lord Jesus for each of you, having you be a part of our lives is such support and encouragement to us.  You are in our prayers individually for those who let us know prayer requests and as a group.  May these coming weeks find all of us with a greater awareness of our need for a Savior and drawing deeper into the Love that only can come from the Living God.

Love,

Ingrid and Lyle