MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 07-18-2005

Greetings, all! We're still in South Dakota at the moment, in Rapid City. On Saturday, we drove to Hovine, SD for a meeting. It was 106 degrees. Hot, hot, hot. Thank God for air-conditioning. Our meeting in Glory Bound Baptist Church (Pastor James Ruckman) went very well. Hovine is a small town in the middle of what some folks might consider to be "nowhere", but it is the epicenter of a thriving local, NT Baptist Church. Pastor Ruckman is doing a great job here, and his people are just the greatest bunch of folks. Before he came here to plant a church, the only "church" in town was the Catholic "church". Needless to say, they were not happy when they heard a Baptist was coming to town to challenge their unscriptural supremacy, and fought it tooth and nail. Didn't work. Way back when I scheduled this meeting with Bro. Ruckman, he guaranteed us support if we could come to his church. That's something that rarely happens, and is a definite blessing and encouragement to us, seeing as how we've been hovering at 10% for six months. It was a real pleasure to be here. We stayed in Gettysburg, SD, which has a sign as you enter town that reads, "Gettysburg, Where the Battle Wasn't". We took a picture, which I'll get up on the site as soon as we get home and I get a chance.

On the way back today, we drove through the Badlands National Park. It's this beautiful collection of intricate geologic formations, with lots of box canyons, gullies, and what not. We stopped to take lots of pictures, and while we were at one these spots, I took the boys rock-climbing. Ethan and Elizabeth were too little to do anything ('cept cry because they kept sliding in the loose soil), so Anna kept an eye on them while I took James and John with me. They loved it! They're naturals it seems, and are quite adept little climbers, to the extent that their small bodies will allow. So, I escorted them, to keep them away from the dangerous ledges, and to lift them places they couldn't reach. They were on top of the world, literally, and loved every minute of it, my bold, adventurous little men. I'll get all these pictures posted as soon as I get to a place where I can so y'all can see.

Tomorrow, we're going to Deadwood (where Wild Bill Hickock was shot), to "see the cowboys", so the guys are really excited about that. On Wednesday, we'll be driving to Dillon, MT for a meeting in Stone Creek Bible Baptist Church (Pastor Rick Hammond), so pray for us as we drive. Pray for the meeting, that we'll be used of God to call others to the harvest field, and that we'll be an encouragement to the Pastor and the church. Pray that they'll be moved of God to partner with us financially to get us to the field. Please continue praying, as always, that the rest of the $2500 we still need for the new van will come in in time to pay them on July 31, and that the churches where we've been will be moved and enabled by God to take us on for support.