MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 11-30-2016

Greetings, once again! I trust everybody had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. We are loving the novelty of being able to simply go to a store and buy ready made turkeys, clean and pristine and ready to cook. In Uganda the process is a bit more involved and begins with live turkeys.

Our time in America has been both restful and productive. It is a great pleasure visiting with family and friends, our supporting churches, and seeing new churches in our travels. We took advantage of our geographical locations this Fall to revisit some of our favorite historical locales and museums, like the Smithsonian.

God has blessed us greatly. He has raised about half of the money I was planning on for various projects in Uganda. Thank you to everyone who has sacrificially given to help the people of Nakivale.

Starvation in the camp has been a problem lately. Not only has the camp administration been cutting rations, but this past dry season was very bad and food is scarce. We sent money to buy food last month, but I am sure this won’t be the last time. The churches are struggling while we are away. I don’t like to be gone from my people, but desperately need to raise money for our ministries.

We have thus far gained three new supporters. As I have communicated in the past, I am trying to raise fresh support. Most of you are familiar I am sure with the quote from William Carey “There is a gold mine in India, but it seems almost as deep as the center of the earth. Who will venture to explore it?” “I will venture to go down,” said Carey, “but remember that you must hold the ropes.” It has has been a theme in numerous missions conferences we have visited over the years. In our last term, 15 churches let go of the ropes and watched us fall into the mine. I need 13 more churches to pick up those ropes. Please pray about this.

In addition to praying, there are some things that also need to be done. 1) If you are a supporting church, and you are able, please consider raising our support. Every time this happens, it reduces the number of churches I need to visit trying to increase our support, as well as reducing the high costs incurred for a family of 8 to travel raising support. Thank you to those of you who already have! 2) Recommend us to churches that have both the budget for new missionaries and are willing to allow me the privilege of presenting our ministry in their church.

Several people have already responded with solid leads that generated several meetings this Fall, which either have or will very soon yield the support I was talking about. Thank you very much! I still need meetings in January, March, and April, and possibly May and June if I still don’t have the support we need by then. Our work is too important, and was badly underfunded last term. I am desperate to get back to my people, but I can’t return to Uganda without the support we need.

God bless you all!

Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!