March 20, 2017

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

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

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

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

Hailey, Nita, and Taryn (left to right)

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

Danielle (trainer on how to learn language)

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

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

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

Moses and Veronika

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

Kids being kids as we were walking around Moroto

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

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

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

Mark

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

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

The new chickens and an old turkey

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

Love,

Ingrid and Lyle

January 23, 2017

Lyle here…..

Having Fun at Redmond Assembly in our K'Jong outfits with
Pastor Robroy and his wife, Jackie.

I can’t believe six months have gone by! Six months is supposed to be a long time. I remember, as a child, six months seemed like an eternity, now it just blows by, like a fleeting mist on the mountaintop driven by the wind. I think, as we get older we enter into some kind of a bizarre time warp. The older we are, the quicker time passes. Or am I the only one who feels that way? Our time in the USA was wonderful even though it passed all to quickly. Yet, while in the USA being away from our friends in Moroto seemed much too long. Talk about conflicting emotions! Our time in the USA began with a family get together and then throughout the six months we were able to spend time with all of our children and grandchildren. We were able to share at both of our sending churches as well as a few new ones. We traveled from Washington State to Montana to Tennessee to Ohio to Georgia and to Hawaii (although not in that order), visiting family, friends, churches, and AIM USA headquarters. We left the USA feeling loved and cared for in so many ways, by those we knew and by those we came to know. We could see our Lord’s hand in our lives from where we stayed to where we traveled. We are guessing it will be three years before we return to the USA. It seems like such a long time, but who knows, maybe the “older you get, the quicker time passes” time warp will make it not seem so long. We are already missing all of you in the USA, yet we are so grateful to be back. Even today at church they welcomed us back, making it clear that in their eyes we were Karimojong.

Sue and Miriam

When we first arrived back in Uganda we stayed in Kampala for a few days and shopped for some supplies. We also got to meet Miriam at Corsu Hospital prior to her surgery. As most of you know, Miriam is a young lady Ingrid met at a hospital in Karamoja just after she had her leg amputated from above the knee due to benign tumor growth that had infiltrated the bone. We have been able to be part of her life since then, but while in the USA we learned that her prosthesis was beginning to bother her and that the tumors had returned. Thru one of our daughters, we were able to provide for her financial needs, with Rev. Raymond from Church of Uganda in Moroto, acting as a go between, to travel to south of Kampala to Corsu Hospital to be diagnosed and then in January, have the returning tumors removed. Corsu, Praise the Lord, donated the surgery. The only expenses were/are the transportation costs and food/lodging costs while she is at Corsu recovering from the operation. As it also turned out another AIM missionary, Sue, who is a physical therapist, visits Corsu regularly as a consultant and was able to visit with Miriam after the surgery and get more information as to what is exactly taking place. Our concern is that the type of tumors she has, although usually benign, often times do recur and how this impacts her spiritually, emotionally, and in the long run with regard to her future. So please continue to keep her in your prayers as we need to figure out if she will even continue in school at this time.

Pastor Jens at Little Brown Church - Bigfork, MT

Since we have been back in Moroto we have met with many of the boys we support. Four of the boys, Yeno Mark, Moru Rafael, Lotuk Emanuel, and Ariang Augustine are able to transition from primary school to secondary school because they did well on their final exams.  Three of them were 1^st grade (A students) and the fourth was a very strong 2^nd grade (B student). Many of you have been praying for Yeno Mark, which is very much appreciated! He was the one who scored 2^nd grade, which is absolutely amazing. He moved up from 4^th grade to 2^nd grade in the course of three terms! He went from having no hope of moving onto secondary school to having much hope. This is important because moving from primary to secondary is like moving from grammar school to junior high, except with much greater consequences. If one does not do well enough in P-7 (the final grade level in primary school), they will not be able to move on to secondary school. They may try repeating the grade level, but if they do not score high enough on the exams then they are looking at manual labor or trade schools. Because of this, students here experience a pressure to perform that, I don’t believe, students in the USA feel. Please pray that the Lord and His wisdom will be what leads us in the selection of where the boys go to secondary school. Secondary school can be ten times more expensive in school fees alone. So as more of the boys move on it becomes more challenging for us.  We believe that each of our 16 children here have been placed in our lives for God’s purpose, we pray that we will love them with His love and will for their lives.

Moses & Veronica - Many of you prayed for them when
they were falsely accused and in prison for over two years.
The high court came and found that there were no charges
to be found against them. This is a photo of their church
wedding after their release.

While we were away in the US, the crops in all of Uganda failed due to lack of rain.  So harvests were poor and there is little left to sell on the open market.  What is there is costing much more, and for the impoverished here in Karamoja, that means going days without food.  It is challenging for us personally as we have the means to eat everyday, while we live in a land where food is scarce and so many cannot afford to eat.

As we ponder God’s will with those we know who are hungry as well as our many other deepening relationships here, we are soberly looking at how the Lord is directing us…. Have you ever read a couple of scriptures that seem to have no correlation to the other, yet the Holy Spirit uses them as if they were meant to be together? As Ingrid and I have been having our quiet times the Lord has been using Psalms 91:1-2 and 1Corinthians 13:1-3 to bring us more into conformity with His character.

Psalms 91:1-2 – “¹Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ²This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge my place of safety; he is my God and I trust him.” NLT

1Corinthians 13:1-3 – “¹If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love other, I would be nothing. ³If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” NLT

As we talked about Psalms 91 together we pondered several things. What does it mean to live in the shelter of the Most High? When we live somewhere, we remain there. It is not some transitory place. When we live somewhere our roots go deep. We are known and others know us. I remember hearing of a conversation when we were in Frenchtown during our furlough. As it was related one person was asking another how long they had lived in Frenchtown and the answer was something like 30 years. The response from the other person was, “Oh, you’re new here.” Is this true of us? Do we live in the shelter of the Most High to the degree that it defines who we are? And what is the result of living in the shelter of the Most High? We find rest in His shadow. If we are continually trying to live in different places, then rest escapes us. If one day our shelter is here, then the next day it is somewhere else, we have no rest. Ingrid and I can really relate to this as our lives over the past years have involved many moves and living in many different places. From a physical perspective it was difficult to find rest. Yet in Psalms 91 we are talking about our spiritual lives, where our soul lives. If all I do is visit once in a while, I am never living in His shelter and am never experiencing His rest. The psalmist goes on to “declare” that He (God) alone is his refuge and place of safety. This is not a private  belief, but a proclamation; something that others should be able to see if it is really true or not. If I proclaim something, then I am putting it out there for anyone who hears to evaluate whether my life measures up to my declaration or not. So where do I find my refuge and my safety? Is it food, vacations, the computer, money, my job, my routine? The list could go on for a long time, but the psalmist declares rest and safety is in God alone. This is the point were many of us will quickly insert the statement, “But those are not necessarily bad things.” I think this is where a bright line must be drawn. Meaning we cannot cross the line. If we are to be like Christ, then we must follow the example He set. Jesus did nothing of His own will, but only followed the will of His Father. He did not speak His own words, but only spoke the words He heard His Father speak. Too often we decide, on our own or what our culture says we need to find rest and peace. So this is where the rubber meets the road and where I can so easily struggle here in Karamoja. As we are greeted by the onslaught of peoples’ needs and demands and the reality of the hardness of life here, we are tempted to find our refuge and safety by isolating ourselves or looking for familiar things to comfort us (our refuge). We look too often to our own devices, rather then simply seeking the will of our Lord and then walking in obedience no matter how tough. Yet according to the psalmist, it is only when we live in Him and when He alone is our refuge that we find the rest we desire, but this requires me to trust in Him alone and not in my own understanding.

So now we move to 1Corinthians; the love chapter. Paul states how we can do so many things, but if we don’t have love, they mean nothing. Ingrid and I took the liberty of substituting a few words in these three verses. If we can speak Ngakarimojong, but don’t love the Karimojong, or if we have discipleship programs, or work in the churches, or speak boldly about wrong doctrines, but have not love, then we are nothing. It makes no difference what we “do,” if we don’t love others with Christ’s love, then it means nothing. And yet when I experience the difficulties of life I often look to other things for comfort, or rest, or safety. As we seek the Lord as to what loving the Karimojong should look like, we desperately need His wisdom even to know what to ask.  Are we to try to feed them? If so how do we do this without creating more dependence on people instead of God?

So please pray for us. I’m not trying to lecture anyone as I write these things out, but am sharing the struggles we feel, hoping that we can encourage each other to walk more and more in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ as we hold each other up in prayer.

Our gratuitous "wildlife" photo. Time with two
of our grandchildren. We hope our future team
is up to all the craziness we might bring!!

We are very excited that we will be joined in February by three single female team members, followed by a family of seven and another single female, hopefully in May. There is also the potential of three additional single females who are exploring joining us sometime during the year. Please pray for all of those who are committed to coming as well as those who are exploring the possibility of coming. Our prayer for all of us is that we will be exactly where the Lord desires us to be. Please be praying that the Lord stirs in the hearts of single young men to commit their lives in missionary service. Our understanding is that there is a huge gap between men and women willing to live uncomfortable lives and serve in missions. I have no explanation as to why this is, but would challenge young men to really seek the Lord in this area.

We just want to thank all of you once again for all of the love and support you show us. We love living life with you all, our brothers and sisters in Christ; joined together in one cause, declaring Jesus as Lord and Savior as we live in obedience to Him, so that He alone will be glorified.

Love,

Lyle and Ingrid

July 28, 2016

View From Deck

Hello, I (Ingrid) am writing this, overlooking lovely evergreen trees from the balcony of the home we are at. I had forgotten just how tall these trees are, reaching way up in the sky (80-100 feet).   We have been in the USA for 3 weeks, have slept in 4 different beds in 4 different locations, and now have a full week plus a few days here in Woodinville, Washington which will be our home base while we are in the US for furlough. 

The cries of our hearts reflect Psalm 136:

Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever. Oh give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. Oh give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. 

We had put out our need for lodging while on furlough and the need for a vehicle to use while here, and the Lord has shown us such generosity in so many reaching out to us to help provide for us while here.  We wish to thank everyone who looked to help us, who offered help and for all the love and generous care we have already been shown even before putting a foot on US soil.  We have places to stay and the generous use of a car for our entire time here.  We do give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy and loving-kindness truly does endure!!!  We are also giving God thanks and all of you who joined us in praying for our future team.  We will be having people joining us after we get back to Uganda.  We know of five teammates coming and in the months ahead, more could be added.  We are sooooo stoked for this to come to fruition.  While here we have already been able to meet with one of our new teammates in person.  She "just happened" to live about 10 minutes away from where we are staying; we will be having a FaceTime call with another family who will be joining us; and finally, on our way to Montana we will be spending a night in Idaho to meet another teammate.  This is such a wonderful blessing to be able to spend even this little bit of time with those who God has called to Karamoja.  From what we understand being able to do this is very atypical.  We are so thankful and do not take these opportunities for granted. 

We didn’t get around to blogging in June, as the busyness and interruptions of our daily lives in Moroto continued and continued. Busyness was the norm. Most was unexpected and some was planned and welcomed. Ones we welcomed were:

Going away party for Thomas

• We had a farewell party for Thomas, who was heading back to Canada to finish his last year of Bible College.  He was able to invite the people he felt closest to, and so we hosted a gathering of about 20+ people to love on him, pray for him and see him off.  Farewells are one of the most consistent bittersweet occasions we experience as missionaries.

• We were honored to welcome for a brief visit the head of AIM for our region, Joel and Jill Skinner and the head of USA AIM, Wade Ewing.  They flew in to the airport outside of Moroto, where we met them and were able to give them a brief tour of manyattas and the town of Moroto.  I then joined Wade in
  the AIM airplane and was able to give a brief aerial tour of the District.  It was encouraging for Lyle and me to be able to have these people take the time to come and see firsthand what our lives look like as far as the road conditions, the isolation from the rest of the country and the precious people the Lord has sent us to.  They were with us maybe 3-4 hours only, but we
  really thank the Lord for this time.

• We are part of a couples group that meets every other Friday and we are finding this a wonderful place to deepen relationships and to hear culturally how people are viewing life and marriage and parenthood.

• We picked up at the airport an 83 year-old man, Bill, from Texas who has a home in the bush outside of Moroto town.  He had been on holiday in Kampala and we were happy to give him a ride back to his place in Rupa 20 minute drive outside of Moroto town).  This is where 5 of our boys live.

Girls from Alakara Girls Home praying for Suzanne

• Shortly after this, our unit leaders and the head of personnel for our region (six countries) visited us for three days.  They arrived the day we had a farewell gathering for Suzanne, our last Short termer.  She was going to head out of the bush with them when our meetings were over.  Suzanne’s farewell, like Thomas’, was for her to invite those she had come to have relationship with in her 2 months in Moroto.  We hosted a group of 25+ for this occasion.  The girls’ home where Suzanne spent much time, had created a song for her and made jewelry as gifts for her.  It was a very touching time lasting many hours. It was a treasure to see how the Lord had moved and worked in Suzanne as well as through her, during these few months.

Now we get to the part that we embrace though difficult because we trust in the Sovereignty of our Lord.

Bill from April of 2016

• As you know from above, our unit leaders came to spend some time with us. This happens periodically so that we can just spend some time together and conduct necessary business. This was a most unusual visit as it was characterized by constant interruptions. The most significant of these was medically evacuating Bill by airplane, who we had just recently picked up. We are still not sure what went on with him medically. It spanned from Typhoid Fever to Septicemia, depending on whom you talked to.  It began when we got a call that Bill was not well and assistance was needed to get him to a local clinic to get checked out. Next we got another call that Bill was not improving and so we coordinated getting a medical officer (there are no doctors in Moroto) out to see him. The determination was that he needed to be in the hospital. We transported him Moroto Referral Hospital. His condition improved to the point of him being able to walk, but then for some reason deteriorated to the point of unconsciousness.  It became clear that if he remained in Moroto he would most likely die and that a higher level of care was needed. We then began working on setting up a medical air evacuation. I received one quote of $4,500 cash up front. Wow!! Who carries that kind of money around? This is where we really see God’s hand in all of this. Our unit leaders are in charge of all of Northern Uganda and AIM Air is part of their unit! Krys was able to talk to AIM Air and set the whole thing up at a much lower cost and deferred payment. What a blessing!  Bill was transferred to Kampala, stabilized, and subsequently was able to fly back to the USA with a mission team who “just happened” to be returning at the same time. We really got to see God’s provision first hand as He intervened in this most difficult situation and pulled all the loose ends together.  Bill is convalescing in Texas at this point.

• At the same time that all of this is happening with Bill we received a phone call from one of Bill’s boys that one of the boys we sponsor, Joseph, is sick, falling down, and unconscious at times.   Lyle went to the school and picked him up and took him to the hospital. Just as a side note, taking someone to the hospital is not as straightforward as it might seem. Once someone is admitted it also involves making sure there is someone to remain at the hospital to care for them and it also involves making sure meals are provided for the patient as well as the caretaker. So making the long story short it was eventually determined that Joseph had gone out and drank too much of the “local brew.” From what we can determine this was highly unusual behavior for him. They kept him over night and gave him IV fluids as he was vomiting. This also necessitated some follow-up counseling with him.  Lyle contacted Pastor Noah, and the two of them were able to follow up.

• While these other two issues were unfolding simultaneously another one of our boys, Ariang, came to the house to seek our assistance. Evidently Moroto Referral Hospital had gone to all of the schools and tested the students for Hepatitis B.  He was informed that his test was positive and that he needed to report to the hospital.  He had been reporting day after day to sit all day waiting to be seen and was continually being told he needed to come back the following day.  So he had been missing school for almost a week. He is a serious student and working hard to make 1^st grade (the highest ranking one can have – very few achieve this), which would ensure his acceptance into his choice of secondary school. He is right on the cusp and missing school could mean not making 1^st grade.  Lyle was able to ask questions a youth wouldn’t be allowed to ask and sorted things out.  Evidently there is a huge backlog for blood testing and then to complicate matters, the only machine in Moroto was broken.  Instead of telling the people waiting, they were just told to come back the next day.  He was able to put off going back until the following week. We left for the USA shortly after this, and have no idea of the result.  Please pray for Ariang’s health. Subsequent to this we have read a news report that the drugs needed for treatment aren’t available in Moroto.

Boys from MIPP homes (Bill's ministry) supervising jump start

• And finally, just to ensure everything was over the top, the one month old used alternator on our car broke. We discovered this when we went to start the car and it wouldn’t start. We called our unit leader who was able to come and give us a jump-start. We charged our dead batteries (we run a dual battery system) on his vehicle to enable Lyle to take the car to the auto electrician who was able to find another used alternator.  This process took most of one day.  The astounding thing is, the batteries did not go flat until after we had gotten Bill to the airstrip for his evacuation flight. If this would have happened anytime sooner, it would have made it all the more difficult to get Bill taken care of.  You might ask yourself why we just don't buy a properly refurbished alternator.  The simple answer is, they don't exist in Uganda.  We can have a new one imported, but it would cost about $1,000.

These are just a few examples of how our last couple of months went before we left for our furlough. It just seemed to be one thing after another! Yet, by our Lord’s grace everything was taken care of and we left on time not forgetting a thing (at least that we can remember J).   And so we find ourselves back in Washington State, desiring to spend time with our family, friends as well as our sending church from here, RAG, and the one from Montana, FCC, as they are the ones who commissioned us to go to the field in Karamoja, Uganda in 2013.  We will be deepening our relationships in these two churches as well as with other supporters, and to provide a glimpse of what their prayers and finances are doing on the field.  We have found that while not called furloughs in the Bible, the first one is documented at the end of Acts 14:

“They (Paul and Barnabas coming to the end of their first mission journey) gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them….and they stayed there a long time with the disciples.”

Moses & Napeyok

Please pray for our time in the States to be well used by our Lord. And pray also for our 16 boys and one girl back in Moroto as well as our home and the ones caretaking for us, that things will go smoother now than whilst we were there.  Thanks so much for your prayers for us and for the karimojong. We have just found out that two of the prisoners we had asked prayer for, a husband and wife, who have been held for over two years without a charge, have been declared not guilty by the high court and released.  They are now going to be reunited with their two young daughters. 

Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever. Oh give thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. Oh give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.  

Beautiful Karamoja Sunset

We will come to understand in the days to come how His goodness works in their false imprisonment.  I already know that He used them inside the prison to point people to Jesus.

We are in the USA for 6 months and would love to connect with any of you who would desire to.  Our email address is lilathrop@aimint.org, so send us a line and we will do our best to get together. 

Love,

                                                                                          Ingrid & Lyle