MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-25-2010

Hello again! August 15 came and went, and we got no rain in Mbarara. You see, the Catholic 'church' here has a belief that when the rainy season begins on August 15, it is because Mary is crying. We all prayed it would be dryer than C-SPAN, and so far, Mary hasn't even teared up. Can't even get Miss Immaculate Conception to cry on schedule. What's up with that, Catholic 'church'? Now that we're past the deadline, however, rain would be a good thing, since no rain means people around here don't eat. Please pray for rain, from the only wise God, not made up religious figures that have no power over the weather.

I took the vehicle in to get some fuel on the way to getting the milk (our Thursday routine), and since one of the tires was a bit low, I had the guy at the Shell station air it up. Well, the guy managed to make a slow leak into a fast leak, and they had to take the tire off the rim and patch it from the inside. This barely worked, and our vehicle is back home now, sitting on a flat, in addition to the flat we already had from me going to Kabuye. I have to get new tires. Jeff Bassett has loaned me some of his spares to use in the meantime, so I can at least drive where I need to go now, but the fact remains, we have to have new tires. I have money in the bank I'm saving for work permits so we can get that done next month, so pray that not only will we have enough in September to do work permits, but also to replace our tires. It is quite dangerous to drive around on bad tires around here, so I really need to get that done. We're going to need to get back and forth to the capitol for Anna's pre-natal visits, so we're going to need a reliable vehicle. I also need to get legal permission to remain in the country. Please pray that God will provide. 

Another need that requires consistent prayer is our support. During our five long years of deputation, there were multiple churches that either expressed a more than casual desire to support us, or specifically said that they were going to support us, and have not. Pray that God will move these churches to begin supporting us, now that we have, I hope, proved our commitment to going to the field, our stick-to-it-iveness, and our general determination to do what God has called us to do. We will be taking a 9 month furlough in 2013 (unless plans change), and I will be trying to raise some more support then, but if I didn't need to because 5 or 10 churches out of the 200 we visited opted to support us, it would be a blessing. Please pray.

Anna is finally past the morning sickness, so that's been a great blessing. I was having to do double duty there for awhile, so the irony is that I currently know how to cook more African dishes than my wife. She is quite grateful to not have to run for the toilet every time she gets within 10 feet of the kitchen, and to actually be able to enjoy cooking and eating again. Thank you for your prayers. I am praying that God will provide $10,000 to buy a 4WD van that seats 8, to accommodate the new passenger that biology will be introducing next February. There's a really great Toyota van in town I've had my eye on, and would dearly love to have. The Pajero is awesome for trips to the village, and for use as a work vehicle, but it's not really a family vehicle. So, this is another need you can pray about. 

I led our guard Mordecai to the LORD. I will be discipling him also. His family has invited us out to their village for a visit, so I'm going to pick a day and drive us out there to see them, and, I'm praying, to preach the Gospel to them and see how many I can win to the LORD from his clan. Everybody around here has family members. Once you win one, it opens up a larger network of people who need to hear the Gospel. You can then follow the human contacts back up the family tree, and win many more, and so on and so on. 

In other news, my Hebrew language stuff arrived with Dan Olachea, who returned from furlough. It's awesome to finally have the tools I need to begin improving my knowledge of Hebrew, and someday, to do a Runyankore translation of the Old Testament. Our study of Runyankore is progressing. We are constructing simple sentences with modifiers now, and learning how to use verbs in different scenarios. It is slow going, but steady. I am excited about the prospects of being able to communicate with the Banyankore people in their own language. This also grants me easier access to the other 4 related Bantu dialects in this region. 

Time is flying here in Uganda. We are staying busy, and it's a little scary how fast time is going. I only hope I can meet all my goals for this term in time. There's lots to do, and a big 'ol country full of people what need to be saved, and I'm trying to do my part to reach them with the Gospel. Keep praying.