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!!

March 14, 2016

Hello all, Ingrid here greeting everyone from a very hot dry Moroto, Uganda.  Our average temperature since early January has been in the mid to high 90’s with little relief.  This has been the hottest February/March we have experienced in our three years here. We traveled from Moroto to Kampala in early March for a week and traded the dry sauna for a steam bath as Kampala was experiencing high heat as well, just with the added touch of humidity.  It is amazing how little motivation there is for a lot of activity when one is producing a lot of sweat just in sitting. 

One scripture that continues to clearly be an active part of our lives here comes from 1 Thessalonians 2:8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives as well.  We are definitely a part of the community and this continues to be demonstrated in so many ways.  Even in communities several hours away, we meet people we know from Moroto.  On our way back to Moroto last week, we ran into a man we have gotten to know from Moroto who warned us the bridge was out on the road back to here and explained how to go a different way to reach the main road after the broken bridge. 

Ingrid & friend making bracelets at girls home

Without his kindness we would have traveled one hour only to have to turn back and drive one hour back to Soroti and then another hour back another way.  This is one example of the small things that encourage me so much these days.  Another encouragement to me is the generator that we have, purchased for us by our Italian mechanic in Kampala at a price that we could afford.  He bought it and waited months until we had the money to reimburse him and pick it up.  Right now we are going on three days without power and it looks to be many more before it is restored.  All the power lines along our road are being replaced and put into new locations so that roadwork can happen.  Without the generator everything in our freezer and frig would be spoiled by now in this heat.  What kindness God shows us.

Lyle with deaf attendees at recent youth gathering

We experienced our first presidential elections here and hunkered down in our home with other ex-pats for the day.  There was a huge police presence in Moroto and because of that there was very little violence.  We cannot speak a lot about what is happening here with regard to outcomes but our requests for prayer are ongoing.  This isn’t over yet.  Sorry to be so cryptic but have been encouraged to be very subtle.  Because of the elections in mid-February, schools didn’t begin their first term until after the election on the 18^th; they should have started the beginning of February.  It is a very different system; you as an adult must be in your own village of origin to vote, even if you work in another part of the country, so many teachers were gone and the schools didn’t really start for a week or so after the elections.

Getting permission from village elder to help a boy in school

We are now up to 18 children, 17 boys and one girl, which was very challenging to get into school.  We had several new boys and the girl as well, which meant purchasing mattresses for boarding, all the supplies they would need to live there such as a metal box which holds all their worldly goods, a cup and plate and spoon, soap for clothes and body, sugar, books, pens, mathematic kits, for secondary students calculators and then we would move with all this to the various schools and register them and move them in when allowed.  This was our first experience enrolling students into secondary schools, and we felt the challenge of a learning curve we don’t understand.  Our first boy in one of these wasn’t even one of ours but we were helping another man who was in the USA.  If this boy hadn’t shown up on the 19^th, the school would have given his spot to another student on a waiting list.  No one is guaranteed passage into a secondary school even with top grades.  This school wasn’t in Moroto and we think this boy was the first to register for the year at this school, cause it was with us they figured out that they hadn’t put on the registration paper all the fees and requirements.  Because of this we had to drive back to Moroto, and finish getting all the things including passport photos, for this young man, and then they made him take off his trousers and put on shorts????  I asked the deputy head teacher to help me understand this, and he said it was for disciplines sake, which seems contrary to me that gym shorts reflect more discipline than trousers.

Getting permission at another village. Pastor Noah is helping

Our one young woman is named Miriam, and I first came to meet her over a year ago in a hospital in a village about 45 minutes from here at the Catholic Italian Hospital there.  She had just had her leg amputated above the knee, and was understandably very upset.  What I didn’t know is that she had very little support as her mother is dead and the father remarried and as so often happens in these cases, the children born to a previous mother are not welcome.  She had some distant relatives of her mother taking care of her, while in the hospital. Here in Uganda, the hospital only supplies medicine, the family must supply all food, bedding, water, bathing supplies, etc.  So if a person doesn’t have a family member willing to stay and help them, they often don’t go to the hospital and death usually is the result of serious illness then.  Miriam wouldn’t engage with me at the hospital and I didn’t think about her until I saw her walking with her crutches down the street in Moroto.  I would always try to greet her and finally she would greet me back instead of ignoring me.  Then I started seeing her at the church we attend and I would go out of my way to greet her, as the culture would have her be invisible because of her handicap.  She finally got up the courage to approach me and ask if she could come see me.  Of course I said yes, and through getting to know her found out her story.  She is staying with a family from another tribe on the same grounds as her father and stepmother, and has been supported by this other Christian family who could not afford to help her with secondary school. 

Reading to a friend's child (no glasses - big squint)

So after prayer, with the Holy Spirit’s confirmation, we agreed to help her go to school.  By a miracle, she was accepted into Moroto Secondary School, as her grades were not up to their levels, and together Lyle, Miriam and I have learned the process for enrolling in this particular school.  Please keep her in your prayers, she has been extremely appreciative and shared with me that she now has hope where as before she felt hopeless and couldn’t understand why God had allowed her life to go the way it did.  I have no concrete answer for her, but was able to confidently share with her, that God loves her, hears her prayers and finds her so valuable that He sent His Son Jesus to die in her place so that she could have a complete relationship with God the Father. 

Tapac Primary School (where our friends a moving to)

We also helped another organization get their 12 boys settled into school as the driving force of that organization was out of the country at the beginning of the term.  It has been a challenging few weeks, but everyone is settled now and we have come to know many more people as a result.  Another interesting thing about schools in this country is that teachers can be transferred to other places without warning.  Two of our good friends here, from a different tribe, found out on the 19^th of Feb. that they were being transferred to a school in the bush about an hour from here on extremely rough roads.  We took them out to see the school, they became excited as they are now viewing this as God’s will for a people to hear about Jesus and that God is sending them to do this work as well as teach.  It was a privilege to watch the Holy Spirit move in them as we visited this very isolated place.  How they are to get their belonging out there still remains to be seen.  They will have to leave children back here in Moroto which is difficult for them to do, and difficult for me to think about, as they are one of few couples who actually live as a family.

Ingrid with friend and Shalom 

Ministry wise, we continue to see the Lord moving in the Bible study with the prison guards, taking cultural truths such as women can only be saved by bearing children (1 Tim 2:15) being taking out of context, and all of us together examining many scriptures to see what is truth.  Another one is that women are spiritually weaker, because of Eve’s being deceived by satan, and together as a group wrestling with Adam’s sin since he wasn’t deceived and still ate the fruit and was punished as well.  For the men in this group, I felt I got to see sacred work taking place in minds, and for the women in this group, watching them see men’s eyes opened to their own deception was an amazing honor for Lyle and me.  I also minister to the female prisoners, both on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I would ask for prayer for some of these prisoners as the charges against them are ones that can only be seen by the high court, and the high court never comes to Moroto, I am told it is too expensive.  They have been held for over two years without seeing a judge and no one outside seems to care that they say they are innocent but are losing years of their lives waiting for a court that will not come.  They have been told, and I have been told, that they should just plead guilty and then they would get a sentence and know there is an end.  Please pray for a miracle that the court would come to Moroto!!!  Justice isn’t a reality here, in sooooo many ways.

At a workshop (Thomas is on the left and closest to the front)

We have been blessed to have a young man join us here for ministry for a few months.  His name is Thomas and he is a third year Bible college student from Alberta, Canada.  We cannot tell you what a breath of fresh air he is to us, as he really loves Jesus and wants to serve Him.  He will be here through May and we will be sad to see him go.  We also are getting a young woman from the UK here for two and a half months, to work with us in ministry.  She arrives the first part of April.  Her name is Suzanne, so a prayer for these two precious people is appreciated as well as continuing to pray for us.  We treasure this!!

Getting ready to cook up an ostrich egg with friends

God continues to remind us that it is He that brought us to the Karimojong and it is He that sustains us and surrender to Him and His plan for these precious people is never to leave our minds.  We believe that it is His will for a Moroto Focus Team to join us here in 2017 and we have the privilege of watching Him organize and put together a group of people who love Him and are willing to serve Him as a team.  What a privilege and honor it is to be where we are: both in relationship with our Lord God and with others.  He demonstrates and affirms this in so many ways, not the least of these are the gifts flowing in to our compound.  We have received the gift of two guinea fowl (male and female) via a general in the Uganda military, a pair of turkeys, (male and female), and another female which just flew in and we are waiting for the owner to come claim her, and most recently two tortoises.  Lyle was thinking maybe this was a Karimojong type of the ark.   

January 6, 2016

Lyle here – yes... For those who have not heard from us, we are still alive. Wishing everyone a VERY belated Christmas and praying your New Year is beginning well!

Baby Cora Grace

It has been many months, a little over three to be a little more exact, since we have written. So much has happened since that time! As most of you know we went back to the U.S. because Moe, one of our four daughters, was very close to giving birth to the newest addition to their family, Cora Grace. They now have two daughters and two sons! Before we went to Montana to spend time with Moe, Jens, and family, we began our trip on the east coast visiting Amy, Pat, and family. As you may recall, the reason we were able to return to the U.S. last time was for the birth of their second child, Joshua. As it would be phrased here in Uganda: “As long as our girls keep “producing” we are able to travel back to the U.S. to be part of it.” I’m guessing this is a trend that is not going to continue at the same pace. Oh well. After a wonderful time with Pat & Amy we traveled to Seattle for a short time. We were able to greet a few friends and spend a little time with Nicole, as well as Brit, Shane, and family. We were also able to go and visit our church family in Redmond, Redmond Assembly of God. It was so wonderful seeing everyone and having a wonderful time of fellowship afterward. Then it was off to Montana for the purpose of the trip – to welcome baby Cora into the world. She was born on November 13, 2015. She weighed out at a healthy 8 pounds 8 ounces. The delivery was again a rough one for Moe, loosing a lot of blood, having an emergency medical procedure, and the need for two transfusions. But in the end all was well, for which we are all grateful and so appreciative of all those who prayed. Alakara jik nooi (thank you so very very much)!

While helping with Cora and the boys, we were able to get away and spend a night in Frenchtown and then Sunday morning with our other church family at Frenchtown Community Church. It also was such a blessed time and the fellowship afterward was such a joy. We were also able to re-connect with those we had met at Jens’ church, Little Brown Church in Bigfork. When we first met them, they were so open and lovingly accepted us. After about a month in Montana we said our goodbyes and returned to the Seattle area where we were able to spend more time with Nicole, as well as Brit, Shane, and family and a few other friends. After our whirlwind seven weeks in the U.S. we headed back to Uganda. It is amazing how seven weeks can be such a long time, but at the same time go by so quickly, not allowing enough time really spend time with people.

The next time we will be in the U.S. will be sometime in July of 2016. This will be our home assignment and will last about six months. It is during this time we really hope to be able to spend some quality time with those we were unable to connect with or only connected with briefly. It is also when we will have the time to share what is happening here in this little piece of Karamoja that our Lord has placed us in. While the workers here are few and the needs are great, we are continuing to see God’s hand in the spiritual affairs of Moroto District. We are trusting the Lord will bring others to join us beginning February of 2017. This will mark the official beginning of the Moroto Focus Team. Not only are we trusting He will bring others through AIM, but also through other mission organizations as well. Next week we are hosting a couple and their adopted Ugandan daughter. He is from the U.S. and she is Dutch.  They feel the Lord is leading them to leave where they are now in the Central part of Uganda and that they are to come to Karamoja. We are excited that God is laying Karamoja on others’ hearts. Also, if you or your church would like us to share with you when we are on furlough next year, please contact us.

So what has been going on since our return to Moroto? It’s not a bad question, so I thought I would ask it J.

Ready for Christmas

Since our return, we have hit the ground running. Immediately upon our arrival in Uganda, we spent a few days stocking up on some supplies in Kampala and then headed north to Karamoja. We choose to make it a two-day trip (its rare we don’t) since the one-day version is, well, torture is the word that comes to mind. It can be done, but with the condition of the roads having a full day for the last part of the drive is a good thing. We checked on the roads before leaving Kampala and learned (learnt for our British and Australian friends) that the road we normally take was completely blocked by large trucks stuck in the mud caused by the heavy rains that had just ended. Usually what happens is that when a truck gets stuck the next one that comes along figures that the mud must only be impassable where the stuck truck is. So they try to pass and then they get stuck. You get the picture. Pretty soon they are lined up like a blockade determined to not let anyone pass. This situation took us to our alternate route, which even when dry, has a section that would put most roll-a-coasters to shame. So we took it and enjoyed the ride, arriving home safe and sound. The first order of business was to replace the rear shocks, which had us looking like a dolphin or a whale breaching the water as we traversed the roll-a-coaster road. This necessitated us contacting a mechanic in Kampala and having him send up a pair of shocks, accompanied by another mechanic to replace them. I had planned on doing it myself, but if the shocks came up alone they may have made a detour somewhere along the way, never reaching Moroto. Since they came with a mechanic he might as well change them!

Our Christmas Tree

Next was Christmas, which was a wonderful time! We had another missionary couple (German) stay with us a few days. They live in a remote location in the north of Uganda, just on the edge of the Uganda Kenya border. In addition to them we had eleven other Ugandan friends join us. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Having said that, this was no typical Christmas day. We began the day with a Christmas morning service at 7:00 am. Then we came home and I slaughtered the Christmas turkey that took two days to find. This might not be a big deal to those of you who grew up on farms and hunting, but I WAS a city boy. No longer. I am learning. Ingrid was already not feeling well. In fact, she had been sick since before our return to Uganda. She is now somehow feeling better, but fatigues easily. After I finished dressing the bird. Why do you dress when in reality you strip the poor thing of everything? I digress. Ingrid then stuffed the turkey with the pork sausage we had ground and spiced the day before. After everything

 Women prisoners and their children

was well on its way, she left. This is where it really gets exciting. Ingrid is involved with a ministry to the prisoners once a week. She joined a team from our church who was already there twice a week. So, she along with Rev. Raymond led Christmas services for the prisoners. At the end of the services five women and about 30 men gave their lives to the Lord. What is important about these numbers is two things. First of all this number represents about 15% of the prison population. Secondly, all these people had never raised their hands before to choose to follow Christ. Like I said earlier, we are continuing to see God’s hand in the spiritual affairs of Moroto District. Ingrid will now begin the task of meeting with these five new sisters in Christ once a week to disciple them and share God’s word. So while Ingrid’s time at the prison was spiritually exciting, she returned home exhausted, after diner had ended, but not regretting having missed a thing.

Youth Camp

Immediately following Christmas was the annual youth camp. While Church of Uganda planned the camp, youth from all denominations were invited, along with their respective leaders. The camp encompassed youth from throughout Karamoja and totaled around 300 campers. Reverend Raymond did a wonderful job of planning and bringing in speakers from outside of Karamoja as well as a couple of other speakers from Karamoja who sincerely love the Lord. The theme of the camp was “His Agenda, my purpose,” taken from Genesis 1:26-27. Each day there was a discussion group as well as a workshop. Both were broken down by different ages; I worked with those who were 21 and over. Ingrid came for two of the discussion groups, when the men and the women were separated, to lead the discussion on such topics as sexual purity, biblical womanhood versus what Karimojong culture says a woman should look like, and what it means to influence others for Christ or not. Mind you, Ingrid was still not feeling well at this time. In fact, she had just begun some antibiotics to help rid her of what was going on, but even so, she still came a couple more times, joined the leadership in praying individually for people for about one hour and stuck around a little after, just to be part of the group.

Praying for others

During the camp I led the discussion groups for the men as well as the running the workshops for the combined groups of 21 and over. For the discussion groups our topics were the same as the group that Ingrid was part of, but oriented towards men. For the workshops there were are variety of topics. All had to do with who we are in Christ and what that means as we live out our lives. In other words, my purpose in life should be God’s agenda for me. We worked our way through our identity in Christ, my culture versus Biblical culture, and managing our sexuality. We moved to what it would then look like to take Christ to the Karimojong people – how we can fulfill the Great Commission in this context – a generation that is struggling physically, economically, and spiritually. We worked on identifying what God has given us, instead of focusing on what we feel we don’t have. Finally everything was brought together to understand that all of this begins with personal holiness born out of a genuine relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As the workshop attendees were given the task of outlining what mission would look like, from both a personal level and then a corporate level, that is the churches role, the responses of the workgroup were amazing. They looked at themselves and what responsibilities they had. They understood the difference between genuine relationship and religion. They discussed spiritual disciplines. They understood the need to suffer for Christ. Finally, they worked out potential ways to engage unbelievers. The last night was on suffering and God’s will. Really this is an inadequate summary.

Please be praying for this group of young people. Just like so many camps in the U.S. they will leave all pumped up, but then they will be faced with the reality of going back to a church that preaches religion or where some or many of the clergy may not even be saved. They will be facing discouragement and may end up with more questions about their faith as a result, with no one spiritually qualified to answer their questions.  But we know our Lord is everywhere and the Holy Spirit is our teacher, what a comfort.

It really strikes me how much the same the youth of Karamoja are to the youth in U.S. I think I got more out of working with them then they did out of the conference. People are people everywhere in the world. The common truth is, we all need Jesus.

Finally, we have a short-term missionary who will be joining us for the next 5½ months. He will be doing predominately youth work with the Church of Uganda.  This is part of an internship for his Bible College. Please be praying that we will support and lead him well so that he grows closer to the Lord and leaves with a clearer understanding of what cross-cultural mission looks like.

Thank you for enduring to the end of this post. Our last few months have been full of so many wonderful times and we are reminded that our hope is in Christ and our lives should be about Him. When we worship Him and live for Him, He chooses to use us for His purposes and in the process grows us more and more into mature sons and daughters. May all the glory go to our Father in Heaven.

Love you all and thank you so much for all the support you give us; spiritually, emotionally, in prayer, and in finances.

Lyle and Ingrid