November 21, 2012

Hello All...

Time continues to fly by. I know I said that last time we blogged, but our time at the Matoke Inn draws closer and closer to being over. We will be leaving for a three day trip to Moroto on Monday the 26th returning on Wednesday the 28th. We move from the managers house to the Inn on the 1st. We will be working with the new managers, bring them up to speed. During that two week period we will visit a Pastor friend in Jinga, then come back to the Inn for a very short time. From there we fly to Nairobi on December 16th to spend some time with a friend, returning to Uganda on the 5th of January. Then we travel to New Hope Uganda, in the Luwero district. This brings us to a couple of prayer requests. If any of you have been following any of the new coming out of Kenya you will be aware that Al-Shabab has been very active in Eastleigh. Eastleigh is an area in Nairobi that is made up mostly of Somali and Ethiopian refugees. Al-Shabab has been targeting this area in protest over Kenya's involvement in Somalia in the war against Al-Shabab. In particular they have been targeting mostly Christians. Please lift this area up in prayer. The second prayer request is for the Luwero area. There has been an Ebola outbreak in the area and I believe there have been five deaths, although there are more confirmed cases. Ugandan health authorities along with CDC and WHO are working hard to contain the virus, but prayer is the most powerful thing we can do.

On another note, God continues to surprise us. To try to shorten a longer story, Ingrid handed out a couple of bibles to some young children who had asked for them. Somehow it got back to the Boda Boda drivers (Boda's are small motorcycles that carry passengers for hire) that Ingrid had bibles, so they asked for some. We handed out a few then asked if they would be interested in a Bible study, to which they replied, yes. We have had two studies so far with a small group of young men who, for the most part, have not done a lot of Bible study. When I asked them what they wanted out of the Bible study they told me that they face many temptations in life and their desire is not to give in to the temptations. They wanted to know what the scriptures said about living a Christ-like life. They basically came and said, we want to be discipled. The hunger in their hearts for the Lord is amazing. Our night guard is another young man who is just eating up God's word. I do not use the words "eating up" lightly. He is truly finding deep nourishment in God's word. The insights the Holy Spirit has given him are incredible. As our time here winds down, only God knows who will step in to facilitate these studies. As of yet, we have no idea, but I know the One, who has started this good work, is faithful to complete it. Please pray for the person our Lord has in mind to fill this gap.

Ingrid here, To all who prayed for my travels thank you.  As I was sitting in a little boat with an outboard motor, a couple of feet off the water in the rain and wind, I had such great peace inside as I knew who was my protection and shelter, and I knew that He would have faithful people interceding for me. My time in Ssese Islands was oh so wonderful.  I was able to meet pastors and their wives in 5 fishing camps. They had come back from a retreat a week before and the missionary I was with wanted to check with them to see how God had been speaking into their lives in that week. The retreat addressed whether people who profess to believe in God as our Father in heaven actually live understanding this. Repentance was talked about, as well as forgiveness. As we spoke to these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ, what I found so amazing about our heavenly living God is that He does live actively in people no matter where they live.

These camps are very very poor, some are not even allowed to grow banana trees for food because of who owns the land.  The suffering from poor choices and hard circumstances is very obvious, but God's light is shining here as well as is His favor in the lives of those who are surrendering to Him daily. I met a pastor who had as a young man walked away from his village swearing he would never come back because of hatred for his father. This particular pastor was so convicted of his hatred and its destruction in his life at the retreat, he went for the first time in over 20 years to his village and forgave his father. He was welcomed back with open arms, and he and his wife had God's peace shining out of their faces as we heard this testimony.  One young wife ran up to us and just kept exclaiming "I'm not an orphan" she had finally received into her heart that she had a heavenly Father who would never leave her and was delighted in her birth and life. The joy in her face was in stark contrast to the darkness in the camp she and her husband live in. I could go on and on, and though the scenery was spectacular, when I think of Ssese Islands, I will think of people as God's beauty there not nature.

Lyle and I survived driving to and from Mbarara, with Lyle having a severe cramp in his jaw most of the time.  The term defensive driving has a whole new meaning in Uganda. Again thanks for the prayers.

I was able to spend a day at a special needs school, the same one I visited last November, almost to the day. I was there at the request of a physical therapist to offer suggestions in areas that are usually OT related but that she is covering.  It was a wonderful day, always a very painful one in my heart as I interact with these precious children desiring nothing but love, and I wonder "why Lord"? I know He doesn't make mistakes, and I know that their future does not end in this life, but when little ones or big ones seem to have little hope of a future here, it is hard.  

(Ingrid with Sumaya above and two teachers on the left)

Our days are not only passing quickly but I feel as though we are having to push through a thick liquid most of the time. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but it is definitely warfare, which means something good is coming:)  PLEASE pray for us however the Holy Spirit leads!

As we spend our first Thanksgiving away from all our loved ones who normally gather together, I am attempting to keep in the forefront of my mind, all the innumerable reasons I have to be thankful.  I truly am grateful for where I am, for the lives God is allowing me to "do life" with both here and in America. I know that I know that I know I am where my Creator wants me to be. This quote truly reflects my heart for the present and our unknown future.

“It is no small comfort to me to know that God has called me to my work, putting me where I am and as I am.  I have not sought the position and I dare not leave it.  He knows why He places me here-whether to do, or learn, or suffer.”

         Hudson Taylor---Pioneer missionary to China

This scripture is my Thanksgiving message to all of you...may you find the riches of our Lord in His living and active Word.

Psalms 62:5-8 Find rest, O my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God.  He is my might rod, my refuge.  Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

Lyle again,

Last time we asked for prayer about us purchasing a car. While we have not yet purchased one, the Lord has provided three different vehicles for our use. Three separate missionaries, while on home assignment, offered us their vehicles!!! This will take us all the way through our time at New Hope!!

OK...to finish this blog up, here are two absolutely random pictures. We went to the home of one of the staff members here and she raises chickens, both layers and fryers. Some lay eggs and others are dinner. I don't know which one is in this picture, but I think Ingrid took a spectacular picture! We could not resist this last photo. Yes, that is a Starbuck's bag of ground coffee Ingrid is clutching with longing, glee and excitement all rolled up into one look! Who would of that we would have found that in Kampala, Uganda.

Please feel free to add your own captions to these two pictures...

October 27, 2012

Greetings From Uganda,

I can't believe how time has gone by so quickly. Not only has it been three weeks since our last post, but it is almost November! In many respects it seems like we just got here! A lot has happened in the three weeks since our last post, so this blog will be a little longer then normal. Ingrid has done another village trip with Julie, this time giving a talk to a local church on how the church, as the family of Christ, should be responding and ministering to families with special needs children. Also, I attended a one week work shop on "Transformational Development." Additionally we have some trips coming up. Ingrid is going to the Ssese Islands in just a few days, while both Ingrid and I will be going to Mbarara for a few days the beginning of November, and then we are going to Moroto, in the Karamoja region, the end of November. The two later trips are to explore where the Lord may want us in the future. After that we will be working with the new "Inn Keepers" for a couple of weeks training them and then our time here is done! This next month is lining up to go even quicker then this month has. So let us fill you in on some of these details.

Ingrid here:) The last three weeks have been both challenging and full of the goodness of the Lord, which makes all the challenges worthwhile! Being able to speak to Ugandan brothers and sisters about what the Word of God says to us regarding all the peoples He has created: "What you do to the least of these you do to Me." How we treat other people and what priority they have in our lives and actions is the measure of what priority we give to Jesus and how we love Him.  For me personally, this continues to be a very sobering self-assessment for my daily life. I also shared with them the story in John regarding the man born blind, how Jesus said neither he nor his parents had sinned, but this was for God to be glorified. Meshing this with the many special needs kids and families here in Uganda was easy to do, and how we are to love and support them as Jesus did, not to avoid them.  The beliefs here range from a special needs child being the result of a witchcraft curse so to avoid it jumping on you, you must avoid or shun the family, to this being the result of sin and so the family must be avoided.  God led me to speak about His power and how it was greater than witchcraft or sin, and how we are to love with His love.  It was a very sacred time. After Julie spoke, we had the privilege of praying for those with physical issues and offering our professional advice as well.  We got there around 2 pm and finished up after 6:30 pm.

I have felt very impressed to visit the Islands Lyle mentioned. This is, as I understand it, primarily occupied with fishermen in different camps on different islands.  There is a Christian presence on the Islands with pastors in most of the camps. Please pray for me that I will be able to encourage and bring comfort to these people from our Lord. I am going with a nurse from Scotland, who works with this people group primarily in community health education. The travel by boat is apparently the most stretching part. The Islands are in Lake Victoria and it sounds like, as in the Sea of Galilee, sudden storms come up without notice. Unlike the Sea of Galilee, this lake is occupied with crocs and hippos, so swimming for safety isn't a good idea.

We had not had a time off work for over ten days because of the conference that was taking place.  It was a special time with people staying here from the Congo, both nationals and missionaries, some from Rwanda as well as from Uganda.  The ones from Rwanda and Congo spoke primarily French.  The missionaries spoke fluent English and their own languages. They came from France, Australia, and Switzerland. As we all sat around one or two tables and shared meals, they were very precious times of fellowship.  One man from northern Uganda is passionate about Muslims knowing who Jesus is.  He knows the Koran very well and can site chapter and verse. He confirmed what I had read in Voice of the Martyrs, that Jesus is mentioned more times in the Koran than Mohammed. We marveled at their blindness and then stopped to ask God to show us where we also are blind to His truth.

As Lyle mentioned in the intro, God has given us opportunity to go and visit a couple of places to seek His will as to whether He wants us in these cities. As we pray about where the Lord wants us, I have been struck by a comment I read in a recent book about a young man, 19 years old, who was killed in Kenya as a missionary. His mother wrote these words, "We all have to die and the question we have to ask ourselves is not when or how, but why? Will I die for money? Will I die for fame? Will I die for gardening or indeed for any selfish thing?  For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake will save it. Lk. 9:24."

As I seek the Lord, even in Uganda, oh may my motives and heart be purely on serving my Lord and Savior, because He has bought my life with the greatest of price, and my life is not my own but His. I desire to spend myself only on what He leads for me, not even for what may be considered "good" if it isn't in the center of His will for me who He created and who belongs to Him.  Please pray for me that this would be the truth of my life.  In the end nothing else will matter and even now I know in my head that is the only way to not have an empty place trying to be filled with things other than the will of God, but when looking at what He may be asking of us, to trust Him that the cost will not be more than I can bear. And He is worthy of all cost in this world.

Lyle back again...a little more about our trips to Mbarara and Moroto. The trip to Mbarara will be the beginning of November, immediately following Ingrid's return from the Ssese Islands. Please pray for Ingrid, as this will be a lot of traveling with no time to rest. Mbarara is located about 180 miles southwest of Kampala. It is the commercial center of Mbarara District and the largest urban center in Western Uganda. Additionally, it is the home of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, which among other things is a medical school as well as having a physiotherapy program. This is where Ingrid comes in. We do not know what our visit will entail in the long run, but we do know that one of the team leads is interested in speaking with Ingrid. While there we will also visit the eye surgeon we spoke about in one of our other blogs. The next trip, the one to Moroto, will be the end of November. Moroto is in the Karamoja District, which is in the North East corner of Uganda. Karamoja District is bordered by Kenya on the east and South Sudan on the North. Moroto is located on the east side of Karamoja District and about in the middle of the district from north to south. This region is much more arid and is home of the Karamojong, one of Uganda's most marginalized groups. Rumors about the people and prejudice abound. We have been asked to pray about going there as AIM team leaders for a curriculum based team to help assess what the needs are and what resources are currently in place. An informative video about the Karamojong, although five or so years old, is "Land of Thorns."

This kind of rolls us along to the "Transformational Development" seminar I attended. Transformational Development is simply looking at restoration, not just spiritually, but also holistically. It is  all about relationships. Relationship with God, Self, Others and Creation. So instead of just bringing the gospel (which is of ultimate importance), but it is also about restoring health in the other areas of relationship. For example, someone who is poor and views themselves as poor, may never strive to do anything to improve their circumstances. Or, they may never see the need to push beyond receiving aid and supply their own needs. After all, they are poor. A holistic approach not only brings the gospel, but it also helps them to see themselves as God's children and bring them into a biblical world view, restoring relationship in the four relationship areas. This is an extremely simplified description, but it is very beneficial in doing ministry. It really stressed the importance of not coming into a situation and taking over, which continues to marginalize those we came to work with, but rather to involve the community in the solution; their ideas, resources, etc.

On the lighter side, one of the missionary couples here have gone to the States and have kindly let us use their car while they are gone. We drove into Kampala for the first time on our own (remember Ugandans drive on the left side of the road) just the other day and unfortunately drove around the same route twice trying to find the place we wanted to go! It seemed like "Mission Impossible" trying to find the, may I say, huge shopping mall we were looking for. We finally pulled out the GPS on our phone and got there within minutes.  We looked at each other and went "why didn't we do this to being with???"

Last thought, please pray for us. We have many decisions we are praying about. If and when to purchase a vehicle. Where God will be placing us once done with New Hope Uganda, and safe travels as I drive to Mbarara. Yes you did read that correctly. I will be driving from (what is to me) the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, in a country where I have no idea where I am going, to a place I have never been. I say that tongue and cheek, but the stretch of road we will be traveling is considered one of the most dangerous in Uganda.

Finally, please pray that we will remain centered in the will of our Father. I was just reminded twice this last week of the narrative in John of the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. One account of the story talked of how Jesus had just come from Samaria where many believed in Him and contrasted that to Bethesda, where only one man was healed. In the world's eyes, Jesus' ministry in Samaria was a success because of the number of people who came to believe. In contrast, His ministry at Bethesda was a failure because only one was healed. Yet, in God's eyes both were as they should be. Success in God's eyes is obedience and Jesus was obedient. The second reminder was in a bible study this morning. One of the men pointed out how the man was putting his faith in the pool he was unable to get to and asked the question what are we putting our faith in, externals or Jesus. The real test of success will be our dependence and obedience to our Lord.  As we face this test in a new way, we pray that our hearts will remain tender toward the Lord and our desire will continue to be in the center of His Will.

Thanks for taking the time to read the extra long blog!!

Lyle and Ingrid

October 5, 2012

Ingrid here:

Being involved in the lives of the Ugandan people here is a cherished privilege. They are so precious, and kind and humble in a way that is an example to me. I want to share about a couple of relationships God has placed in my life.

We have had the responsibility of having to interview and hire two new workers (female) for the Inn. It was a learning curve in how to let it be known that we had job openings and then how to go about hiring. I asked the staff if they had any recommendations, because they would be the ones working together, and one of the applicants was referred that way, the other was through an AIM staffer.

One of the women we ended up hiring to clean rooms, do laundry and cook, had no experience with anything electrical, but loves Jesus and had the reputation of being a hard worker and very intelligent though with little schooling. When I sat her down and explained the parameters of the job and that she would be training for several months, she couldn’t believe she would get paid for training. Before coming here she worked cleaning yards and a couple of houses and probably made 30,000 shillings a week. The exchange rate is 2500 shillings to one dollar so about 12 dollars a week if I am doing my math correctly. As I said, she loves Jesus very much and her faith is seen in her life and actions.

She came to me the other day and asked if she could speak with me, and when she sat down, she thanked me for hiring her and training her as she never would have learned otherwise. Her home has no electricity or gas, Matoke uses a gas stove here and an electric washer and dryer. God gave me the flash of insight that not only is this opportunity changing her life and future but her children's future and their children’s on down generationally. It is overwhelming to me to see how such a little opportunity can have such a huge impact for many people. She has such joy in her eyes and radiating out of her which is very different than prior to her hiring. Before, at the interview we had with her, she was so scared, her cheeks were even shaking as she attempted to answer our questions, but she had the courage to come and interview and trust the Lord, and He answered her trust with a priceless opportunity. Please pray for her and her family.  She would like prayer for her husband and brother as well, as they are not believers and aren’t interested in hearing what God is doing in her life.

Lyle and I shop for the Inn almost daily at the local grocery store and I have been able to practice my Luganda with the staff there. They have come to light up when we come through the gate and encourage us to speak our few words to them. As a result, I have developed a relationship with some of them. One young girl came up to me last week and asked me for help because she is getting beaten where she is living. I told her I would ask around for a room for her. I told our staff here about her and they had many questions and wanted to be able to talk to her. I was able to talk to her semi privately in the middle of a grocery aisle and asked her if she would come and meet the women I work with to see how we could help her.  She was very willing to do so and hugged me and said, “You love me!!!” I told her I did and we arranged to meet outside the store on Monday for me to bring her to Matoke to meet with the staff women, to see how we can help her. Please pray for her and for us for wisdom!

On a personal note, the learning curve has settled down and routine has settled in. As a result, I am struggling just now, feeling like I'm in a battle emotionally and spiritually inside, no reason on the outside that I can point a finger at, so I am just trying to keep my heart and thoughts on Jesus, and off myself! My memory verse this two week period is Isaiah 55:8-9.  I am practicing thanking God for the many blessings He has provided for me: for mosquito netting, as I struggle to climb out of it and develop my technique for storing it during the dayJ Having to cancel appointments in town because of political protests, electricity going off and on every day, cold showers, etc.  I need to remember to thank Him for what electricity I do have and running water, as our Ugandan staff work with our quality of life each day and return to their homes without either.  I have prayed and ask for prayer that my lightweight level of how to live will decrease as my Lord increases in me. Comfort is sinking sand!  My flesh really doesn’t want to let go; I know that transformation takes place in my mind, as Romans 12:1-2 tells me. I do want to remember this truth! Today in my quiet time God led me back to Psalm 91:1-3 as well. He is my refuge my place of safety, oh I want more than life itself to live out His character in my life no matter what. I know only He can accomplish this in me, and I must keep remembering this as I feel pain and fatigue and no desire to be where I know He wants me! I must plug on; this too shall pass.

Lyle here:

As we settle into the routine here, which is accepting there really is no routine, only a general way of doing things that can change depending on the day J. I have had the opportunity to meet with one of our night watchmen one to two times a week for Bible study. This has really been a rewarding time! We had given him a bible a while back and He has been just consuming it! He reads and asks questions. We have also been going through the gospel of John. We began in John 1:1 and just finished the story of the woman at the well last night. It has been a wonderful time meeting with him.

We were also able to travel to New Hope Uganda (NHU) for a day, since we last posted a blog, and meet with the Institutes director. He gave us some insights as to where we will be living and how the days will be structured. More importantly then that, we were able to spend some time with our friend Uncle Dan and his family, as well as Anna and James.  We had a wonderful time with all of them. Here are some pictures:

Ingrid and I with Anna and James

The entire Uncle Dan clan. Left to right...Uncle Dan's sister, Ingrid with Gideon, Lyle, Uncle Dan, Lydia, and in the front, Allen and Ian.

Uncle Dan and his wife, Lydia

In addition to going to NHU we went to a Chris Tomlin concert. Yes, Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, and the speaker, Louie Giglio; all part of the Passion Tour. It was a lot of fun. Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels had a real heart of worship as they sang. Who would have thought that we would travel all the way to Kampala, Uganda to go to a U.S. led Christian concert. 

One final note. We all know God's creation is absolutely infinite and His creativity is inexhaustible. I have previously included some different shots of monkeys and birds and flowers. Here is one really interesting spider looking like it is trying to figure out how to get Ingrid.