MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-14-2012
Howdy! I have finally reached the part of Ephesians that specifically deals with families (wife-husband, husband-wife, children-parents). I began preaching through Ephesians with that specific passage in mind, and have been heading steadily in that direction for the past year. So, the day finally arrives, I’ve prepared the first sermon in the series, dealing with wives (they happen to be first in the passage), and I get to church at Ngarama, ready to go ANNNNDDDDD…. no women. At all. Turns out, there was a problem with the well in town, and all the ladies were off drawing water from a more remote source (’cause getting water is women’s work). NO WOMEN, and I’m all set to preach a sermon specifically for women. So, so Africa. Instead, I had to shoot from the hip and preach a sneak preview sermon to the men. The next week, I’m at Juru, ready to preach to the husbands, and there’s 1 man in church. One. You know, it’s starting to feel positively X-Files. I imagine by the time I get to the children, all the kids will have vanished following strange lights in the night sky.
This is all part of our effort to teach the concept of Biblical families. As those of you ministering in America know, sin wrecks families. Every culture has its weird, extra-Biblical practices. There is a wide variance among people in upbringing, so you always have to teach on this, not to mention learn it yourself. Here, we have to teach the men not to beat their wives, and how and when to spank their children, as opposed to also beating them. I have preached against drunkenness, because the men tend to drink up the food money while their children go hungry. There is also a strong cultural hesitancy for men to express love to their wives, or help them in the home in any way. I’m trying to teach them how to treat women, with Jesus of course being the best example. It’s generational, because they learned it from their fathers, and if it’s not stopped, they’ll pass it to their sons. I’m trying to teach the ladies how to respect their husbands also, instead of the underhanded, manipulative methods they typically use to get their way. If the men love, they’ll get respect. If the wives respect, they’ll get love. In trying to take what they want, instead of giving what the Bible commands, people lose the thing they’re trying to obtain from their relationships. Pray they can get this. We are going to follow up with a Family Conference for married couples, and I’m hoping it will reinforce and build upon what I’ve been preaching.
Meanwhile, EPIC HUCKABEE MOVE 2012 continues. God supplied higher than normal funds this month, and I was able to right the ship, so to speak. There were still two major expensive projects this month, which covers my part of the renovations. Praise the Lord, though, while it is still tight, it’s not as bad as last month. Pray the work can be finished soon. The engineer who is doing the renovations for our new landlady is being typically African in regards to time, meaning he is going at his own pace, in this case, slow. It’s eating up the month, and I had planned on being moved in August. This isn’t going to happen. Now, I’m just praying he’ll be done by the end of the month so we can move in early September. You see, I need to paint. The Africans favor painting their homes in one color on the inside. After awhile all that white makes you start feeling starved for color, so we are going to re-paint the rooms in different colors of our choosing. None of this can happen until the engineer finishes and gets his men and materials out of my way. So, I’m sitting here spinning my wheels, with this big painting project hanging over my head. He does good work, just not always very quickly.
Pray for our vehicles, and the repair of the road we drive out to Nakivale. Pray for our move, that all will progress smoothly. Pray for the VBS we’ll be doing soon, and the Family Conference. Pray for the families, that they can be strong and Biblical. Pray for the training and maturing of leaders.
God bless you, and thank you for praying!