June 3, 2015

Hello everyone ... Lyle here,

It seems lately that our blogs begin with something to the effect of "we can't believe its been over a month since our last blog." So once again I am beginning this blog somehow the same way, as it’s been a month and half since our last blog. Time has been so full and as Ingrid explained in our last blog, there is no such thing as a typical day except that a typical day is never typical.

Devotionals at Pastor's Training

Since Ingrid wrote the last blog we have been very busy. A highlight is that we had meetings with clergy about their ministry needs and how AIM might be able to come alongside and support and help equip national staff.  We attended a Church planting training put on by a ministry that began in the U.S. with a vision of planting one million churches. The training was given to local pastors and was given by church leaders from other parts of Uganda. We very much appreciated the hearts of the presenters and the content of the material. Something that was said in an online missiology class Ingrid and I are taking is that "evangelism without discipleship and church planting breeds heresy." This is exactly what we see here in Moroto District. In our context here, I would take this a step further and add that the churches planted need to be doctrinally sound. So often we see evangelistic blitzes that may or may not be doctrinally sound and that lack mature believers to stay, teach, disciple, and follow-up.  

Youth Leaders' Training

Immediately following the pastors' training we attended the tail end of some youth leader training that took place in the church we are attending. We so much appreciated the heart of the Reverend teaching the class of youth leaders and his friend from Kampala who assisted with the training. What we saw in the training so typified what we have seen over and over again as we live here; people in leadership that simply have no idea of what a Christian is. This group of young men and women were sent from their respective churches from all over southern Karamoja. When the Reverend asked them "when did you become a Christian?” the answers varied. Some said, "I was confirmed." Others said, "I was baptized." Many said, "I go to church." A few talked of Jesus being their Lord and Savior. The Reverend was able to very lovingly challenge the group that most of them were not saved nor Christians.  He explained to them that being a Christian is about receiving what Jesus did on the cross and personally accepting Him as Savior and Lord. He did such a good job of this and four of the youth leaders came forward and gave their life to Christ as Lord!!!  We wanted to shout in worship at hearing the truth of Christ spoken.

Shepherd boy now in school

The next order of business was a trip to Kampala to take care of things that are generally so simple in the States, but in Moroto are impossible. I got two teeth filled, picked up a new pair of glasses, needed repairs to the car were completed (the roads tear the car up terribly), we finally got our Uganda driver's licenses, and we got a new set of tires on the car (a couple generously donated for the tires). Our old set of tires lasted not quite 1 1/2 years. It's about a 10-hour drive to Kampala, not because of the distances, but because of the roads. The first 3 hours of the drive is on a one-lane dirt road. Please don't picture the dirt roads you are used to in the states. The road is maybe 12 feet wide and we share it with huge trucks, overloaded with limestone, driving way too fast, and insisting their portion of the road is in the center. If not trucks from the quarry there are always tractor-trailer combos, some times double trailers, vying for the same space. Actually, if I were driving one of those trucks I would do the same. The roads are significantly crowned so that the water runs off into the deep gully on either side of the road. Even moving over to let the trucks pass almost always means finding the safest spot we can, pulling over and stopping, and then hoping the truck passes safely. It is not uncommon to see 1-3 trucks tipped on their side with their contents from the rock quarry strewn about. Sometimes, when the road is "good" we can get up to maybe 50 mph, but most of the time we hover somewhere around 30-35 mph, swerving from left to right on a jaw breaking washboard/corrugated road. As we rumble along we are anticipating the paved road we will eventually reach. The next 1 1/2 hours is a dream. The road is paved, wide, light traffic, and typical highway speeds are achieved! The last five hours of the trip go from boredom to eye popping adrenaline. Typically, the buses - we are talking Greyhound size buses - along with the taxis, which are 14 passenger vans, don't really believe the traffic laws apply to them. They will pass on blind curves and to the left of solid or double yellow lines, the whole while speeding. If there is oncoming traffic they just flash their headlights and expect you to swerve out of their way to avoid a collision. When there is traffic that causes everyone to stop (happens often) the taxis will make three lanes out of one lane attempting to pass. 

Out in the manyatta

Once in Kampala the bodas (small motorcycles) are everywhere and also refuse to obey any laws. They are literally like a swarm and vehicles can easily get stuck in the middle. Any sudden movement to the left or right might result in a collision. So a trip to Kampala is never boring and when we are done driving I pry my hands off the steering wheel and Ingrid pries her hands off the handholds. Not only do we pray for our trips before we go somewhere, but we seriously are so grateful how the Lord has protected us on the journey and that we have arrived safely. It really is not an understatement to say that we have had trips where our Lord has literally performed miracles to ensure our arrival without us getting into a head-on collision or striking someone who has darted in front of the car. While driving I have literally slowed down simply because the Lord told me to, only to see that if I had not of, we would have been involved in a collision. I don't want to sound over spiritual with this, please understand that I struggle deeply with my opinion of other drivers and my attitude deteriorates proportionate to the drive. My heart often times is not where it should be. There are those times where I see God's hand, but more often, it is me repenting of my attitude. So trips to Kampala are a mixed bag. We are able to accomplish and take care of things that we cannot in Moroto and we are able to catch up on relationships that we so dearly miss, but the drive takes its toll - which is why we usually break it up into a two-day drive. On our way back to Moroto from Kampala we stopped at our Unit Leader's home and spent the night. We were able to take most of the day that we arrived and some of the following morning just to pray and talk about the Moroto District Team. It was a wonderful time! 

Out in the manyatta

Most of these activities were pretty much back to back, so by the time we arrived back in Moroto, it was the middle of May. Since we have been back in Moroto we have continued on with the Prison Bible study (which we are so grateful for), Ingrid's ladies Bible study, enrolling boys into school (we now have 4 more boys), and trying to work out ways to successfully minister to the police. The police Bible study continues to be difficult to set up. Between the shift work and continuous mobilization of the police force it is extremely difficult. Please continue to pray that our Lord will show us the way He desires this to take place and for me to let go of my notions of what this should look like. In between all of this we were working on our team manual (which is no small task), made some visits out to the manyatta we hope to place a small team in, attended a portion of a seminar presented by a couple from the U.S., and as I said earlier, we were taking an online missiology class (we still have to take the final). This is a requirement for us before we are able to return to Uganda after our 2016 home assignment (we wanted to get it done early). We have also been able to get to know and continue in relationship with some of the ex-pat community working with humanitarian NGO's here in Moroto. 

Out in the manyatta

One of the consistent things that we see over and over again here, but is not uncommon in the states either, is religion without a real relationship with Christ. Please understand, this is something that we generally see, but there are also some here who dearly love the Lord. I think the Lord is encouraging us as we see a few more here and there who love Him. The other difficult thing is that the churches here are so hungry for training that they are open to things that are not even biblically sound. Some of the teaching is a mixed bag. Good teaching on one topic, but not on another.

Out in the manyatta

So on the relational side of all of this...how are Ingrid and I doing? How is this busyness impacting us? I think we have been emotionally and physically exhausted (even now Ingrid is dealing with another bout of malaria as well as some intestinal issues). The prison study however is an encouragement. The core group of attenders is growing tremendously and are willing to let the Holy Spirit speak into their lives. But we are tired just the same. I think part of our tiredness has been how hectic and unexpected our schedule has been. The other part is spiritual, as we continue to see the lack of mature Christians who truly desire to serve the Lord. Instead, we mostly see those who only want religion and don't really seem to care where that will take them. We have also seen some teaching that, simply put, has grieved us and is not biblically sound. Then there are the spiritual battles we face within ourselves each day, even during this last trip to Kampala. One would expect a break from the constant barrage of begging. Ingrid and I were in a shopping center and a young man came up to me. He explained that he recognized our vehicle in the parking lot (he used to live in Moroto) and came in to find us. I asked how he was and he said he was fine and that he was working for a tour company. Then he asked me for employment. I was really taken back since he just told me he was working. I explained we have a couple of people who help us around our home, but we don't employ people the way he was asking and that we had no work for him. He looked at me and said he was not asking for work and that what he meant by employment was that I give him something. I said no and abruptly ended the conversation, quite disturbed inside that someone had intruded on our respite from Moroto. It was a couple of weeks later, I don't even recall the circumstances, that the Lord really convicted me of my response to this young man. What were the chances of him running into us like that? If I would have handled it differently how could I have led him one step closer to Jesus? I really had to repent of my attitude and pray that if presented with something similar, I would respond differently. Having said that, I probably will have another opportunity, so please pray for me!

We really do need your help. We need your prayers. I am not saying this passively. I am asking for all of you to be praying for us. I think we are in a position where we really do need to be the "watchman." There are things that need to be addressed; we cannot remain silent, yet we need to speak with love, gentleness, grace, and most importantly truth. Please pray that our hearts are humble and that we only speak as the Lord leads us. Please pray that we find our strength, courage, and rest in Him and Him alone. It is very easy to just want to disconnect; to "veg" out or not address an issue. That is not where the Lord would have us. Something we know is that our Lord has brought us here, to Karamoja. We also see that others, although few, are coming (even though others are leaving). We see that what the Lord has placed on our hearts and has placed on others hearts is the same. We know God's heart is that Karamoja would turn to Him as Lord and we believe that we, as well as others, have been brought here to be part of that plan; His plan. As I am writing this I am reminded of Luke 17: 7-10. I was reading it this morning in my quiet time. "When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, 'Come in and eat with me?' No, he says, 'Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.' And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do, of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, "We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty'" (NLT). You see, we get the wonderful privilege of serving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; The great I Am; the Alpha and the Omega. We can do nothing to earn that. There is nothing in our past nor will there ever be anything in our future that we can point to that merits such a privilege, yet our Lord choses us to be part of His eternal plan. The other thing is that Jesus spoke these words to the disciples in response to them asking how to increase their faith! Somehow we desire our faith to be increased effortlessly, but the hard truth being taught here is that our faith increases through obedience. When thinking of obedience, I am reminded of James 4:5-6, “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us?’ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (ESV). As I read this I was reminded of the accounts in the Gospels of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. The temple was to be a place of prayer and worship, but it had been turned into a marketplace. I was also reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 where Paul explains how we are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit lives in us. The context of Corinthians is that the church was syncretistic. In other words, they were Christian in name, but had blended the world around them into their beliefs, especially sexual immorality. They were in essence living a comfortable Christianity, only obeying what was easy and ignoring what might cost them or require change, just like so many today. So the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ, who lives in us, desires that His temple, our hearts and minds, are pure and undefiled, places of worship for Him. I can picture the Holy Spirit cleansing me just as Jesus cleansed the temple. All of this has the common thread of obedience woven through it. This is not just a simple act of obedience, but obedience rooted in and driven by our love, gratitude, and adoration for our Lord and Savior in response to His great love for us. And as we live a life of obedience our faith grows!! What a wonderful picture.

This was a very long-winded request to please pray for us. Our desire is to live out these scriptures, and again, anyone living in obedience to Christ is in a battle. We need each other! I hope you find these scriptures as challenging to you as we have to us.

We do have one more prayer request. This is an add on before I post this blog. Part of what we get is regular security reports. The one I just received reported that there had been a road ambush/robbery on June 2nd. This occurred on a road we frequently travel. No one was killed, but shots were fired and one person was wounded by an arrow. This appears to be an extremely isolated incident for this area, but it strikes me that as we are beginning to see the Holy Spirit move there will be a push from the other side; spiritually speaking. So again, please be praying for Karamoja. 

We miss you all and appreciate you all so very much. Thank you for serving with us and for all of your support in so many ways.

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid  

April 14, 2015

The last two months have melded together in so many ways for me (Ingrid) and I have had on my list of to-dos, to share with you who serve with us here in Moroto through prayer, fellowship and financial support. I want to give to you a peek of what ‘normal’ life is for us here.  We have had many ask, “so what is a normal day for you?”

Neighbor's home from inside our bedroom window

Our answer has been a consistent, “Well, normal is not knowing what the day will hold even if we have a schedule and plans.”  That remains true even today, Monday, which we have designated as a “day off”.  My list for the day includes writing the blog, language study, continue working on the Team Manual for our Moroto District Focus Team, working on our Missiology Course through an on-line class, and taking time to spend with our Lord in deep and concentrated prayer for Moroto District.  It is past noon and what has happened so far is a wonderful quiet time with the Lord, working with the staff on various things, and then the unexpected…helping build a shelter for the neighbor’s dog Japan who unexpectedly got pregnant, (she got out with the sheep), and delivered 7 puppies last Thursday in the veranda area of their little dob house.  Since that time, she has almost bitten several people with no one seeming to understand that she was only trying to protect her puppies. 

Napeok with baby daughter and stepson

Today a young K’jong lady came to help the wife, Napeok, with laundry and almost got bitten.  Napeok’s solution was to tie Japan up to a lean-to where Japan proceeded to go crazy.  I heard the noise outside our bedroom window where I was having quiet time, and went over to help as the Kjong lady hot-footed it to the gate, fearing getting bitten.  As I got to the lean-to the chain holding Japan broke, and I was able to contain her.  Lyle hearing the ruckus came over and with Napeok’s permission and gratitude (as she understood the why of Japan’s behavior), gave Lyle permission to build a shelter away from the people area. Our precious guard Simon

Built of old brick blocks and "iron sheets"

joined him unasked, and together out of spare bricks and iron sheets, they put together a very nice shelter under a tree for shade.  Japan was very happy to be with her pups far from humans. The Kjong lady returned and was willing to start laundry free from fear and Napeok’s gratitude was overflowing.  Out of all this, as I held onto Japan, I found out that Napeok’s little girl will turn two on the 25^th of April.  I asked if I could bake a cake for her birthday, which was profusely accepted. So from about 10:00 to 12:30, the schedule was put on the back burner.  Simon’s beans burned a bit as well, but neighbor relations have been strengthened.  Please pray for Napeok, she is 19 years of age, the 5^th wife of a Muslim man.  She was raised Catholic and the gap in how these two relate is vast, not withstanding the age difference.

Esther with Ingrid

Our house staff helper, Esther, was so full of gratitude that we had left everything to help our neighbor as well.  It is so second nature for us to do this, that we find the response to our behavior surprising and then have to remember that in this culture, everyone is about helping only themselves even in families.  The character trait of serving others without expecting something from them is not a visible trait in Karamoja.  Esther, is a precious Kjong lady who is growing in her faith in our Lord Jesus.  She shared with me that her parents, who she described as “good Christians”, gave her to a Muslim man for a bride price.  This man was from another tribe, and Esther went to his place to live.  She has had 6 children with him.  He died unexpectedly beginning of last year and as is usual in Uganda, his relatives claimed everything they had owned including the children, and chased her off.  She came back to Moroto to try to find work and survive.  She wept deep profusely grief filled tears as she told me what happened to her.  Within the last six months, the grandmother who was raising her youngest three children, two girls and a boy, contacted her and asked her to come take them, as she was no longer able to care for them.  So Esther has the three with her here in Moroto.  She got them right before she started working for us, which was the beginning of January.  We didn’t know her story until after she started working for us.  She was sharing a room with another family and they had to leave a couple of months ago, so with her income from us, she was able to rent a room all on her own in one of the local slums.  She was so excited to share that with us, and that it had an iron door on it for protection, a luxury for anyone in the slum.  A few days later, she came to me distraught, as she found out of the three units in her building; the other two were rented by a witchdoctor pharmacy.  She had heard from many other “Christians” that she needed to move so their evil didn’t touch her.  She and I sat down and I asked her who had more power, God or satan?  She responded that she knew God did.  I asked her if God lived in her, she affirmed He did.  I asked her if she needed to fear a lesser power, she said no she didn’t, and I could see that she really, maybe for the first time, understood and received this marvelous truth.  I asked her if she understood that God had created all the witchdoctors and that Jesus had died for their sins as well, she thought about it and said yes she did understand that.  I asked her, “Esther, what if God placed you there to be a light of love to these witchdoctors, that they might find a different power to serve and worship.”  I shared with her that she needed to seek the Lord to see if He wanted her to move, because what mattered was what God thought not what people thought.  She said she would pray.  A couple of weeks went by without her mentioning anything, so I asked her if she heard from the Lord.  She said she had, and that they were to stay, (you need to understand how VERY countercultural this decision is) and her children agreed with this and were trusting the Lord to take care of them.  PLEASE pray for this precious family, that their relationship with our Lord Jesus would grow stronger and deeper.  Esther had no Bible and we were able to provide one for her in English as most Kjong do not know how to read their own language.  Pray that God’s Word would become so very alive in her soul.  She shared with me that her and the children were sleeping on the concrete floor, as the mattress they had used was borrowed and the people came and took it.  Well that is hard for me to hear as we have a guest room with three mattresses, which are only used occasionally; actually they have been used on 5 occasions already in the five months we have been here. But I wrestle with the luxury of this in the face of those without anything. So I mentioned this to Lyle and we both began to pray about how to help Esther with this need without it being a handout that devalues her and leaves her feeling powerless to contribute to the solution of her problems.  All of a sudden this brilliant idea came to me, if she found out how much a mattress cost, could she still live ok, if we bought it up front, but deducted it from her wages in installments.  We brought the idea up to her and she was overjoyed and very agreeable to this.  So Esther and her children now are sleeping on a very fine mattress and she is paying for it herself over 5 months.  It felt so good to me to have her be involved in how this could be resolved; I just praise the Lord for all He is teaching me through my daily interactions with these precious people.

Simon with Lyle

Simon our weekday guard is a joy to us.  He is the exception among Kjong men.  He is a hard worker and has been very honest with us in all our dealings with him.  God answered our prayers with him, as we had been warned seriously about the dangers of getting the wrong guard.  He also has a very tender heart toward the street boys we are helping.  We have met his wife and three children, two boys and a girl.  When we interviewed him, Lyle gave the normal speech about no drinking on the job (that is a normal thing here, drunk guards). All the other interviewees had assured us they didn’t drink, but Simon said, “well I do occasionally drink, but won’t on the job.”  Lyle told him, what he did on his own time was fine, just no drinking while working.  They agreed and he has been very faithful to keep that commitment.  Simon and I were walking together to go to a neighbor’s place, and he said to me out of the blue, “Ehh, my wife, she has become born again.  For me I am a Catholic.  But I will let her have her own religion.”  I silently was seeking the Lord for how to respond and this is what came out. “Simon, do you both not believe in Jesus and what He did for you on the cross?”  Simon answered, “Yes.”  I asked, “Do you not believe in the same God and the need to repent of your sins, and follow Jesus to go to heaven?”  He answered, “Yes.”  I then asked, “Then how is it a different religion?”  He thought about that and after a few moments of complete silence, he said, “Well maybe I will join her.”  He has also asked for a Bible, and we have shared with him, the following books that he has read: Crazy love, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Kisses for Katie (which is about the Kjong in Jinja).  So far he has not been interested in having a Bible study with Lyle, but it was a joy for us to see the Lord working in his heart in an unexpected way.  We had been given a second puppy by a little shepherd boy, from the Tepeth tribe. According to this little boy, the puppy was alone in the bush and refused to come into town, and he wanted us to take her so she wouldn’t die.  Our weekend guard Luke was the one who brought her to us with this story.  Well the little boy came to Simon after we agreed to take her, he had been beaten by his employer for giving us this puppy.  The employer, an older Kjong lady, came to us very angry about the puppy claiming it was hers.  We met with her and Simon as interpreter, and in the end she admitted she had 6 dogs already and didn’t need another one. But out of all this, Simon learned that the shepherd boy’s mother was dead and that the father took what little he earned.  Simon came to us and said that he wanted to help this little boy go to school and had a plan for how to do it.  He contacted the father who lives in the foothills of Mt. Moroto, and he and Lyle met with this man.  The father agreed to have the boy go to school next term, and they notified the employer to start looking for another shepherd boy.  Our first reaction was to applaud Simon and then take over, but the Holy Spirit helped us to see the absolute miracle of this heart in Simon and how he needed to be able to follow through and serve the Lord by helping this boy.  So we have encouraged Simon to do what he can and we will support him in this effort.  Again, this is very countercultural, to help someone from another tribe.  Most Kjong won’t help anyone with school outside their immediate family clan.  So PLEASE, pray for what God is doing in Simon’s heart.  I continue to be amazed at our infinite God, who used a little puppy to save a little boy when the boy thought he was saving the puppy.  By the way, Luke and Simon named the puppy Namoni, which is the female version of bush, since she lived in the bush.  We also bought dewormers for the 6 dogs and one cat of the employer as a sign of gratitude. 

One of the most tangible things that has changed for me within, is that here in Moroto, for many I am no longer Ingrid.  I am “the Lyles, Mrs. Lyles, or Mama Lyles.” I grin as I write this, cause never in a million years would I have considered that becoming one with this man, Lyle, would mean I would lose both my first and last names.  In church a couple of weeks ago, during the worship part of the service, the Bishop ask Mama Lyles to pray for families and children.  I only heard the Lyles part, so I looked at Lyle as he stayed seated, and he whispered to me, it is you he asked.  Ohhhh, I thought, I need to listen better.  Also our home is known as the Lyles home.  We have both been given Ngakarimojong names; my name is Nakut, which means wind.  I was given it by a dear lady whose name is Nakut Rose.  She wanted me to have her name, but she also gave it to me during the windy, dusty season, so it was very appropriate.  Lyle’s name is Lopeok, (which means one who brings visitors, or visitor) the male version of our lady neighbor.  In fact, Napeok calls Lyle her namesake, which makes me smile.

We continue to be amazed at how little of what we do is goes by unnoticed by literally most of Moroto.  A few days ago, we were informed that one of our streetboys, Peter, has left the home he has been in for almost a full year now.  He gave no explanation, and he has not been willing to come and speak with us about the reason.  Lyle was in one of the stores, one that is our idea of a real store.  A man named Omar, from Yemen, owns it.  We like Omar; he has always been very pleasant to us.  Well Lyle was informed by the boy that works for Omar, that Peter had left school and home.  We didn’t even know these ones knew we had anything to do with Peter.  Lyle asked the boy to let Peter know we were back in town, (Peter left while we were in Kampala).  Things like this continue to stretch us in what community looks like in this culture.  We are praying that we will continue to learn and be pliable in all the areas the Lord wants to grow us.  This afternoon our

Sutured head of Denis

youngest boy in school from the street showed up with a 4-inch sutured deep gash on the top of his head, compliments of some man on the street. He had been in the hospital for 3 days while we were gone because of this injury. This one’s name is Denis, and we enrolled him in school in February.  He has dropped out because there is no soap to wash his uniform and his books and pencils got stolen.  I spent about two hours with Denis on the veranda with Simon interpreting.  I fed him and stroked his little skinny arm and had no words of comfort for him.  Lyle came home and with Simon’s help and encouragement, we will go with Denis to school tomorrow and see if it is too late for him to get back in to finish the term.  I gave him soap to wash his uniform tonight.  Denis said he wanted to stay with us or go to boarding school because it was too challenging trying to do school and live in the streets.  PLEASE keep this valuable young boy in your prayers; it is so hard to send them back to the street.

Another example of our thinking being challenged to change happened a few months ago.  A man who goes to the church we attend passed us as we walked down the road.  He pulled over and asked if we were attending the wedding in Soroti that weekend.  I answered, “Phillip, we don’t even know the couple.” To which Phillip replied, “The bride comes from our church. She is your daughter nonetheless.” Talk about mind blowing!!!  She is Karimojong, and I have been accepted as one as well, so she is my daughter, even if I don’t know her.

When we were in Kampala, we had the pleasure of meeting a young couple from Canada who had come over here on a short-term mission with 3 little children.  It continues to amaze me and strengthen my faith to see young couples trusting the Lord with their families in this very challenging way.  The husband was disciplining the middle child who responded to him most appropriately, “Yes dad.”  I was very impressed, and said as much, and the father said, “yes he is good with saying the right thing, but following through in action, well not so much.”  I laughed and said “isn’t that just like us with Father God.  We are good at saying the right things, but our actions, not so much.”  Oh I desire that my actions match the theology that comes off my lips, that my Lord would be pleased with me.  That 2 Corinthians 2:15 would be completely true of my life: Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.  Oh that is the cry of my heart, that a Christ-like fragrance would be who I am, day in and day out wherever I am, whomever I am with.

For those of you who have joined us in praying for the Vision Strategy Plan, it has been completed, as have the requisitions that allow people to see if the Lord would have them physically join AIM and us here in Karamoja, in living the Gospel among this precious people group, for His glory.  Both the VSP and requisitions are in the hands of the AIM sending regions all over the world.  Oh may we ask you to pray for the team the Lord would have join us here.  They will need to be people who desire to live completely for the Lord and willing to endure hardship to bring Christ to these people.  We are asking for a tough thing here, 85% of the people in our district here of Moroto, live out in the bush in very harsh conditions, and to bring Christ to them, they will be called to live in very much similar conditions but with pit latrines, our closest version would be a squatting outhouse , and concrete instead of dirt for floors inside their huts and some sort of energy but even with all that, it will seem tough and very isolated.  The prayer team that was here in January had a word for us regarding the VSP and our team: “Faith is seeing and believing the things yet not seen.  Faith is walking a pathway for which there is no road map and has not been walked before. Write the Vision Strategy Plan with words and plans that are by faith and with wisdom from God and that are for God and not for men.” 

A reminder of God's beauty even in a fallen world

Well, there is no road map for what God desires for us to do here in Karamoja, and with the Matheniko clan here in Moroto district it doesn’t seem to have been walked before in living incarnational among the people.  Please, please remember us with fervent prayer for this tribe to become a transformed people by the power that can come only from the Holy Spirit.

February 2, 2015

Hello all – Lyle here,

Thank you so much, each and every one of you, for being so faithful in your support of what the Lord is doing in Karamoja. We cannot fully convey how much we appreciate all of you! 

Children at 1st manyatta we hope to place a team

So much has changed since our last blog. One of the biggest changes is that AIM has reclassified the Karimojong as an unreached people group (UPG)!  This is huge. As many of you know from before, new AIM members coming to Karamoja would fall under the new framework of AIM; meaning that all ministry would be limited to the training of church leaders. Our unit leaders were able to give a presentation to the Central Region leadership regarding their findings of why the Karimojong should be a UPG. After prayer and consideration the Central Region leadership changed the classification of Karamoja from a reached people group to a UPG. This was so clearly the Lord's hand as this was an uphill road. There was a strong predisposition of the decision makers that the Karimojong were reached (although they were very open to hear the evidence), so we can really see how the Holy Spriit moved in everyone for this to happen.

In Kaabong where the "Ik" people live in the mountains

Here is traditional style of house

So what does this mean for us and for ministry in Karamoja in general? First of all, for us, it means that any future team members who come to work along with us are not limited to ministry in the area of training church leaders only. We could, for example, bring someone in to teach at the “primary teachers college.” This would then be a platform for discipleship among the students at the college, most of who (we are told) are Karimojong. The schools these new teachers would eventually teach at, as well as the surrounding community, would then be their mission fields. We can now place teams in manyattas the church has not reached (which is the majority).  Before we were limited and could not have done this. We could bring in community health workers, etc. These are simply examples, but with the Karimojong being a UGP, we can now think much more broadly. There are so many things that we “can” do, but our heart is simply to do as the Lord directs. He has been so faithful thus far and we know that He has a plan for Karamoja and our part is simply to be obedient to His direction in our lives.

Sunset in Kidepo National Park

For both of us, but maybe to a greater degree for me, this reclassification is a great relief. I think I was seeing so much that could be, but at the same time could not be addressed in the most “direct” manner.  So in other words, I was struggling with how God was going to do all the things “I” thought needed to be done. Does that seem contradictory to what I just said about trusting God and just moving in the direction He takes us? Yes it does, but I think it also points to His faithfulness as we struggle though what we know to be true in our minds, but still have difficulty fully understanding in our hearts. It is at times like these, when our faith is being tested, that God uses situations to build our faith.  For me, this was the case.  I knew in my head God has this.  I don’t need to fuss about it, yet I struggled. Through this, I see His faithfulness manifested. We have such a patient God.

So now we need to do a little rewriting on our proposal to place a team in a manyatta and gear the overall vision to a UPG, as well as broaden the scope of ministry potentials.  We will keep you all posted when this process is completed.

Napua (K'Jong for "Dusty")
The newest member of the Lathrop tribe

So now lets move on to life in general since we last blogged. From a ministry perspective we have really seen some wonderful things. The Bible study with the prison guards is going well. Ingrid has joined in with us.  Her ladies Bible study with the women from the Church of Uganda is also going on well.  At the prison we have worked through topics such as stress and relationships from a biblical perspective, and we are now beginning a study in James. As you may remember we had asked for prayer regarding beginning something similar with the police. It just seemed there was more resistance to this somehow. Again, this was a faith builder.  Without going into a lot of detail, some of the roadblocks ended up being the very things that facilitated the program getting off the ground! We really saw our Lord literally turn this situation around. Our first study time together will be February 13^th.  We are excited to see how the Lord continues to work.  Please continue to pray with us that the Lord really moves in the lives of the men and women working in the prisons and the police force; that they experience true transformation, transformation that only comes from a real and vital relationship with our Lord and Savior and how this impacts how they do their jobs. 

Pastors' conference at our home

Another joy was hosting a two-day Pastor’s conference in our home. We had around 30 pastors and church leaders from most all of the protestant denominations represented in Moroto.  Like I said, we were only hosting it, but both Ingrid and I were invited to speak and  spend a little time addressing them at the beginning of each day of the two day conference.  Please pray for the pastors in Moroto. That they are a unified front, that they recognize and teach solid biblical doctrine, and that they invite people into relationship with our Lord and Savior, not just convert them to a religion. 

Prayer Team (our unit leaders on the left - John & Krys)

Almost immediately following the conference we hosted an AIM short term prayer team.  Some of you may be familiar with this already, but if not, let me explain.  Over a year ago a request was put out have a team of people come and pray specifically for northeast Uganda. Five answered the call. There was a couple from New Zealand, a couple from Australia, and a single from Australia.  Our unit leaders were in charge of the team. The team was to travel from Tororo (south of Karamoja) north all the way to Kaabong (northern Karamoja almost to South Sudan). They spent time learning about many different ministries, not just AIM ministries, while taking the time to pray for and with the various ministries, churches, and leaders.  Ingrid and I drove down to Soroti when their time there ended and accompanied the team for the rest of their time, hosting them while they were in Moroto. We were able to show them some of the Moroto district area. We were able to introduce with them some of the precious people we have come to know, share with them our heart for the area, as well as the vision the Lord has given us.  Please thank the Lord for this prayer team and hold them up in prayer as they return to their home countries and share what they experienced and share their heart for lifting up in prayer northeast Uganda.

Pastor Noah sharing in manyatta

Pastor Noah and Reverend Joseph accompanied us into some manyattas and into the slum areas of Moroto where prayers for individuals and believers happened. They were also able to meet with Church of Uganda's Southern District head, Bishop Abura and pray and encourage him. It was a wonderful time and we could see their heart for prayer as well as the encouragement they gave those they prayed with. All of the team seemed touched by their time in Moroto and they expressed  both sobering shock and postive experiences. They found it daunting and exhausting and wonderful all at the same time. We then continued on with them until they flew out of Kaabong.

On the other side of this coin there have been a great deal of challenges. We have really had the opportunity to live out James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trails of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Greeting villagers outside of Rose's manyatta

Our connection to the power grid is an example.  As we had asked for prayer on this, most of you probably know, it turned out that the connection of our home to the electric lines was done illegally. It is very difficult to briefly explain all that has transpired with this situation, but the bottom line is we called into question some things that were done by the Moroto electric office by sending some inquiring emails to the Kampala office.  So, the day after we left Moroto for an almost two week Christmas break in Kampala we received word that our power had been disconnected. If we would have known this was going to happen we could have taken everything out of our refrigerator/freezer, but we didn’t. So, when we returned home after having been in Kampala, we were greeted by a terrible stench from the rotting contents of our refrigerator/freezer. When Ingrid opened the freezer door to get the meat out, it changed from terrible to horrific. We are talking a stench of biblical proportions. Like judgment day has come and it’s in our freezer kind of biblical proportions. Next comes the refrigerator. Yes, the stench had migrated.  This was no simple migration. I think the stench was carried from the freezer to the refrigerator one molecule at a time by the maggots. There were that many maggots! We literally had to disassemble parts of the freezer and refrigerator to get all the maggots out. Even then, there must have been some eggs laid in hidden areas by the flies as part of their contingency plan in case the first wave of the maggot invasion failed. For several more days we continued to find the occasional maggot. Ingrid was like a well-trained Special Forces soldier. As wave after wave of the rotten meat was extracted she carried it out and disposed of it, like clearing landmines. While the meat was being cleared I was off doing some vital and immensely important logistical work far away from the stench. Some might say this was just an avoidance technique, some would be correct. She then took on the maggots. It took several hours, but eventually most all the maggots were cleaned up (except the hidden ones). It has been over a month now and the smell is still a little discernable at times, but nowhere close to what it had been. The most frustrating thing with this situation is that it was entirely avoidable. The Moroto office could have done things differently, but chose to do things illegally instead and then choose not to do the right thing when they could have. Even now, we still have money that we paid, but may never recoup or get applied to future utility costs.

Additionally, each day has seemed to bring unexpected challenges and interruptions. For every step forward there were issues trying to push us back or distract us. God has been so faithful and these issues have only driven us to a greater dependence on Him. I would say this was not always easy, but I also know we could not have continued on in our own power.  During this time Ingrid has had malaria, severe dehydration, and she got an really bad infection in her ankle (before traveling with the prayer team) that gave her a fever and really knocked her out in general. It required some double dose antibiotics to treat it effectively. We also feel that the resistance we have been getting is simply a physical expression of the spiritual war that is taking place in heaven. Ephesians 6:12 says it all, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Please pray for us, that we live verse 13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having all, to stand firm.”

As you can see, since our last blog, a little before Christmas, life has been challenging, yet extremely rewarding. To me it feels like we are beginning to really settle in and see some fruit in the form of ministry. One of our unit leaders told us that they had been told early on that it takes about a year before one begins to see effective ministry. I don’t think I had heard that before. If I had, then I had forgotten it. I wish I had known or remembered, then maybe I wouldn’t have felt like I was just “spinning my wheels” so often, which really takes me back to the lesson our Lord is teaching me that I mentioned in the beginning of this blog; that I simply need to trust Him and not rely on my own expectations and understanding. Proverbs 3:5, “Trust tin the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

As I began, so I will end. Thank you so much, each and every one of you, for being so faithful in your support of what the Lord is doing in Karamoja. We cannot fully convey how much we appreciate all of you!  Please continue to pray for us and for the Karimajong people, only God can draw them and keep us on the right path.  Prayer is His way through and we are so grateful we are not alone on this journey, but have all of you with us here.

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid