MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 05-25-2011

Greetings! It's been a great month here in Uganda. This month, our guard Mordecai got married to his bride, Joseline. Both he and his wife are new Christians, and it's great to watch them as they grow in the LORD. They are both faithful at church (Independent Baptist Church of Mbarara), and are making good choices in their new life in Christ. Here, a man is formally introduced to the family of the bride first. He typically takes his parents with him, and they have to bring a gift to the parents of the bride. At a later time, he and a trusted relative, his father or an uncle, go there again and negotiate the bride price. Once they have agreed, then preparations begin for the wedding. A traditional African wedding entails a marriage feast for both families, and may not always involve a church ceremony. Once they have thrown the party for both families, the couple is considered wed. Naturally, we have a church ceremony AND a party (they are called receptions in America), in an effort to encourage Biblical marriages. There needs to be a full transfer of authority from father to son-in-law, and there has to be obedience to both the laws of the land, as well as the laws of God. Gaelin was in the ceremony as a flower boy, and Anna made the wedding cake. Most of the cake I have had here has about the taste and texture of sawdust, so needless to say, Anna's cake was a huge hit. We also kicked in some transport money to get the food and cooking fuel brought from Mordi's village to town where the feast would occur, in this case at church. We try to do everything we can to keep the cost of weddings down in order to ease the financial pressure on couples, and to encourage people to wed and not live in fornication. It was a great ceremony (my first African wedding), and we enjoyed it tremendously. May and June are the big wedding months around here, just like in the States. You'll be driving around on Saturdays and see the weddings going on all over, with great pomp and circumstance.

Last week Anna's parents (also our Pastor and his wife) Ken and Beth Spilger came to visit us from America. It is always a huge blessing to have visitors from America, but doubly so when it's family. They came primarily I think to see the new grandbaby, and possibly also to see the rest of us . There was some concern that there could be some violence in the capitol on the day of their arrival. Besigye, the loser in the last Presidential election, has been fomenting rebellion. As if that isn't bad enough, his plane from Kenya was due to land at Entebbe just hours after Ken and Beth's. Museveni's inauguration was set for the next day, and he was arriving to stir up trouble. The military and the police were certainly expecting trouble, as there were cops and soldiers all along the route from Entebbe to Kampala. Needless to say, we picked up our folks, loaded the car, and got out of Dodge as quick as we could, with no problems as it turned out. Thanks for praying.

We had lots of activities planned, as much as could be packed into 10 days without killing them and us off. Pastor preached out at Nakivale at both the Juru and Ngarama preaching points, and then on Wednesday, we went back out there where he taught a 2 hour class on marriage and family. It's a much needed area of study here. War and distance has disrupted families so badly in their home countries, and there is much confusion here about what a family should be. The Sexual Revolution happened here at around the same time as in the West, and with similar consequences. Sin has wrought such terrible devastation on families and individuals. We are laboring to give solid Bible teaching, so everyone can experience the blessing of God and the peace that passes understanding as they live out their new lives as believers.

They got to sit in on our English class (always fun), and observe our daily Runkankore studies. We also took time for them to ask a lot of questions of our language helper, and get a fuller picture of culture and life in Uganda.

Finally, after an all too brief visit (isn't that always the way?), it came time to get them back to the airport to return home. That's when the real fun began. Our vehicle, an ancient of days Mitsubishi Pajero, picked this trip in which to die the death. We made it to Kampala, barely (almost couldn't get it started again after stopping for a bathroom break in Masaka). We got our errands in the capitol run. We were going to take them to the International Theatre to buy souvenirs, but the engine finally died and could not be started again. I called up our faithful friend and mechanic Ssuemko to help us, and that's when we discovered that the engine was quite dead, yet again. Ssuemko saved the day and helped us get them to the airport in time, and then drove us back to Mbarara for the cost of his petrol there and back (petrol is quite expensive here).

This brand of vehicle is cheaply made, which has been well verified by the vast amount of money we've spent on it in the past year just keeping it running. Ssuemko and I discussed it, and I agree with him that we have spent too much on this car and it's time to sell it and buy a better one (a Toyota Land Cruiser). We cannot do our ministry in Nakivale without a strong, rugged, reliable vehicle (the roads out there are awful, as my Pastor and Pastor's wife got to witness firsthand). Even though the main road to Kampala is nearly entirely paved now, the roads everywhere else are still like country roads in the 1950's, riddled with potholes and gullies, or turned to soupy mud in the rain. This is a prime example of how God must provide for the work to which He has called his people, in this case, us. We don't have the money, and the clock is running out before the Bassets, the missionaries we work with at Nakivale, leave for furlough at the end of June. God has clearly led us to work out there, and therefore He has to provide if we are going to keep working out there.

In the short term, we're not suffering, since we can walk to nearly everything or ride our bikes here in Mbarara. I completed the last of our unnecessarily complicated paperwork in the capitol on this last trip there. I have nothing to do that requires me to go anywhere far away. For anything that requires more than walking I can hire a piki (motorcycle taxi). The only problem, then, is how to get out to Nakivale. I have been riding out there with the Bassets to preach and teach English, but once they're gone, we are going to need a car to get out there. I cannot conceive of a more clear opportunity for God to provide for our needs and answer prayer in a big way. What a chance to teach our kids about answered prayer! I reckon God just decided we'd had enough of junky unreliable cars, and decided to move us in this very decisive way into a better one so we can keep serving him in the manner He desires, and save a bundle of money on car repairs in the future at the same time. Be praying. We are going to repair our existing car, which will cost about $1250, and then sell it for about $3500. We will need about $7500 altogether to buy a good Toyota Land Cruiser. Ssuemko is going to handle the sale, and is going to find the replacement as well, at which point he can check it out thoroughly before we buy. All that remains is for God to provide the car and the funds to purchase it. Pray God provides the right car, one where everything works and which won't need any repairs, apart from general maintenance. Pray we have the money we need in time to buy the car He provides before the Bassetts leave so we can keep going out to Nakivale afterwards. Also pray about the Vacation Bible School we are planning while the Bassetts are away. We've never done anything like it out there (neither have they), so it will no doubt be an adventure. There are hundreds of children around, and it will be a rewarding challenge ministering to them. Pray for the ministry, for souls to be saved, for more people to be Biblically wed, and for the growth of the believers.

God bless you!