All our adventures as missionaries, past and present.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 02-21-2012

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Greetings! The rains have returned to Mbarara. It rained all weekend, torrential and constant. When we arose on Saturday morning to begin preparing to head to Nakivale and the first day of our VBS, it was pouring outside. It is always a drag to travel in the rain, because the roads turn to muddy gravy, and you have to fight to keep the vehicle from being sucked into the ditch. This is exacerbated by the legion of dubiously qualified truck drivers hauling goods out to Kabingo. The road is narrow, and it is difficult to pass these guys in good conditions. The danger increases of course on these axel grease roads, but pass them we must, since their motors have been beat to death over successive years of substandard maintenance and they always travel at a snail’s pace. Inevitably, we pass the Bell beer truck on Sundays, hauling beer out to “those ends”, because if there’s one thing impoverished refugees struggling to feed their families need, it’s more alcoholism.

Then there’s the matoke-guys. These are 1-speed steel bicycles, which are never ridden but are used as two-wheeled carts to carry heavy loads, in this case, 6 or 7 stalks of matoke (cooking bananas) 40 to 50 pounds each. As you travel out to Nakivale, there are several large banana farms, growing the staple food here: matoke. It’s sort of like potatoes in the States. They hire these local guys to haul the produce into distribution points, where they are loaded onto trucks and delivered to the towns. The vegetable truck owners buy them from the farmers, and re-sell them at a profit. This is how the rural farmer makes money from his crop. A banana-bike loaded down is as wide as a small car, and as fast as a toddler pushing a walnut up a hill with his nose. So they have to be passed, unless you’re planning on driving at slower than walking speed. This again necessitates trying to keep from being devoured by the mud-filled ditches. What’s really bad is when, inevitably, you need to pass so you don’t have to either run them over or slam on the brakes to keep from running them over, but you meet a vehicle coming the other way. Now you have to simultaneously avoid hitting the knucklehead pushing a bicycle (hitting pedestrians, even though they have no business being in the road, no matter how reckless or idiotic they might be, is automatically the driver’s fault and usually carries a huge fine from their extended family and possibly a jail sentence), getting into a head on collision, and being sucked into the ditch. It’s the vehicular equivalent of juggling chainsaws.

The rain was finally tapering off by the time we reached our destination, so I was able to persuade our translator and fellow Pastor Djuna to make the trip on his boda (motorbike) out to the first stop at Juru. He translates well from English to Swahili, the primary language at that preaching point. There are lots of languages at Nakivale, including Runyankore, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda. I am working on Runyankore, but still need translating, sometimes into all three. We had 150 kids at Juru on the first day, and 54 on Sunday (it was raining, and people here do not like to travel when it’s raining, even in a light rain). It went very well. We handed out some cookies, sang some songs, taught a Bible lesson, colored pictures, and had a review game afterwards which gave them a chance to get candy if they knew the answers. It was great fun. We did the same thing out at Ngarama, where we had 40 the first day and 58 on Sunday. The Bassett’s were out at Sangano and Kabazano (the newest church plant), where they also had lots of kids. Dividing up the points in this way means we can spend more time at each, but not have to spend eight hours doing it.

We gave them the Gospel, some good Bible instruction, and some tasty treats. We are working on teaching them how to sit and listen quietly, a necessary skill when they go to school, and not to mob people trying to give them things (the refugee mentality). Treats have to be earned, and only those who have actually worked to get them may have them (teaching merit-based rewards, rather than everyone expecting to get something simply because they showed up – the tribal mentality). These children are often ignored, and are treated like mongrels. No one has any expectations for them, so they just sort of do whatever they want to. We are attempting to show them some love, positive attention, and teach them useful things in the process.

We do this again next weekend. Once they have their Easter break in April, we can do a standard three-day gig without having to break up the classes. We had to accommodate the school schedule this time, which the government arbitrarily altered.

Pray for the VBS, for the salvation of those who need it, in particular those who don’t typically come to church, or don’t attend a church which preaches the Gospel. Pray for our safety as we travel, and our health. Pray for the translators who help us get the message into multiple languages for the children. Pray the kids will understand and enjoy the Bible clubs.

God bless you!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-24-2012

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Hello, all! The Bassett’s returned from furlough last Wednesday. They are busily getting their affairs in order (cleaning and stocking a house unused for 9 months takes a bit of time). They went out on Sunday with us to the camp, and everyone was very excited to see them. Now that they have returned, it will effectively double the man hours of work that can be done out there, so we will be able to accomplish much more.

It was so nice to be able to teach Children’s Sunday School again. I had suspended it during their absence due to having to preach at all three points. We are preparing for VBS the second week of February. We are going to commence regular services at the youngest point, Kabazano. We are taking steps to organize the other two, Ngarama and Juru. Then there’s the possibility of new church plants. I look forward to being able to continue the English classes again also.

Pray for the work. Pray for the roads. The road building to the camp was delayed due to heavy rains this season, but now that we are in the dry season, I am praying that the work will continue. It would be nice to be able to get out there quicker and without beating our vehicle and our bodies to pieces. Pray for the teaching. We need to conclude the teaching of Genesis, and there are many more things besides that need to be taught. The day will come when a Bible College will be needed. Pray this can come to pass, and the resources and manpower will become available. Pray for this coming year. There is much to do, and I can feel my time here this term running out.

March 2013 will be here before you know it, so if any of you would like a visit from us during our impending furlough, please let me know.

God bless you!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-09-2012

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Happy New Year! Everything went well out at Nakivale for the Christmas service and Children’s Christmas parties. We handed out the toy cars to the boys (huge excitement) and the stuffed bears to the girls and the infants (also huge excitement). Anna taught a Bible lesson, and we had KoolAid and cookies. It was tremendous fun. Then on Sunday, we had our Christmas service, on Christmas this year. I preached a Christmas message to the three churches. I rented a lorry to help get people from the other point to Sangano (transportation is an issue). With my family size, I just don’t have room for passengers, especially when hauling items out to Sangano for a meal. Then, we ate a meal together. Beans, matoke, roasted beef, and mandazi (fried round cakes – tasty). Mmmmmmm. There was enough for all and then some. No one left hungry, which was the goal. It was a great day for everyone.

In the New Year, I am working on trying to get the Juru building finished. They are nearly up to the eaves now. Construction was badly slowed by the heavy rains this season brought out there. The adobe bricks they make are dependent on sunshine and reasonably dry conditions, and we have been getting neither for several months. Once they, finally, get that done, and a latrine constructed, I will buy the sand needed, and start carrying bags of cement out there. Djuna is looking into getting a carpenter for the doors and windows. Meanwhile, I am trying to encourage them to finish the latrine at Ngarama. They had the same problem out there with the bricks, but now that we are entering the dry season at last, i expect they will progress more rapidly. Pray they make good progress.

Near the end of the month, possibly the first of February depending on when the Bassett’s come back from furlough, we will be doing another VBS. This time I want to include Kabazano (the fourth and youngest preaching point). This will take our marathon VBS up a notch. We will shorten our stay at the other three by 30 minutes, which will give us enough time to go the fourth point, and still be able to get back to Mbarara before dark. Pray for us. It’s a lot of work, and requires a lot of planning and preparation.

Pray for us as we seek to organize Juru and Ngarama this year, and possibly commence some new preaching points. Pray for souls to be saved and for growth. Pray for truth to be known, and the voice of the cults to be diminished.

God bless you!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-23-2012

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Merry Almost Christmas! We are busily preparing for the Christmas parties out at the refugee camp tomorrow. We are having a short party at each of the three places for the church kids, and then giving out presents. The cars we've received are ready. The little stuffed bears for the girls are ready. It's going to be awesome! On Sunday, we will be sharing a meal together and having a joint service of the three churches, and giving gifts to the adults, including a bunch of purses Anna made for the ladies. It's going to be a great time. Being in the ministry means giving Christ's love to others, and Christmas is the supreme example of this. We love it.

Last week, Anna went with me to the class at Sangano. She's been teaching on the Women of Genesis, and doing a great job (I do my best to teach both the men and the women, but they really like having a lady to teach them). There was a fairly boisterous storm while there, and this was the result: Tree In the Road

I hopped out of the car and reacted like you would expect an American male to react, "C'mon guys! There's 20 of us! We can move this thing!" I mean seriously, how often do you get the chance to pick up a tree? My fellow travelers, also stuck like us, were less than enthusiastic. Here's where culture intrudes on progress. I, being the American, immediately view the obstacle as a challenge to be overcome. The Ugandans view it as a job to be done for which they are not likely to be paid, so none of them wanted to get involved. Also, the tree was bleeding this nasty sticky white sap that they didn't want to get on their Sunday clothes (Ugandans are very keen on keeping their nice clothes looking 'smart'). They finally fetched a guy with an axe to chop off some of the canopy so a car could get through. I'm thinking about carrying a shovel and an axe with me when I go out there, for situations like this.

Busy weekend ahead!

God Bless You!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-01-2011

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Hello, from the rain forest! While many of you are dealing with winter weather, the rainy season is in full swing here in Uganda. It rains, hard, nearly every day. Our yard is a swamp. Thankfully, we have some good grass on most of the yard, but it still makes it rather messy. I'm saving money to pave the muddy bits that remain, so we don't have to slog through the mess all the time. I bought a swing set for the kids for Christmas, and it promptly sank into the saturated soil (never fear, I'm getting some concrete pads made to prevent this, but it, as always, takes time).

I failed to get out to Nakivale on Wednesday because the seasonal runoff from the mountain had washed out the road. I parked the car in line with all the others, and hiked down the road to survey the damage. It was pretty bad. The Chinese road crew that's working on paving this road was on hand with a bulldozer, and dumped a bucket load in the breach. This worked briefly, but since it was only soil and not marm, it quickly turned to mud. They had extricated the two trucks blocking the road, and then another banana truck got stuck again. I'd been sitting there for two hours when this happened. It became readily apparent we weren't getting through that day, so I had to make my way back to Mbarara.

A couple weeks ago, we were driving out there on a Sunday and got stuck behind a UN truck hauling grain or other food items out to the camp. The road crew had been spreading lime on the road (binds with the soil, makes it harder, more resistant to rain). This creates dense clouds of white dust. It's sort of like driving in snow with whiteout conditions (you guys from Alaska know what I mean). I was blind, and kamikaze pedestrians kept materializing out of the cloud. So, I decided to pass the guy before somebody got killed. Well, there was a nice rock that the bulldozers had been good enough to excavate and leave directly in my path. It was too late to stop, so I ran over it. This dented our muffler and, as we found out later after we limped back to Mbarara, the brake line was cut. I had nearly made it home when the brake went to the floor. Not cool. I'm very glad I didn't try to forge ahead anyway.

Stuff like that has been happening a lot lately. Pray for the state of our vehicle. It's a good car, but the road conditions are very hard on it. The maintenance on it has been quite expensive of late, and is putting a lot of pressure on the finances. We need the car to do this ministry, so I have to keep pouring money into it to keep it in good repair.

Thanksgiving went very well. We had all the other missionaries over to our house again. As has become the tradition, we buy two live turkeys, and slaughter and prep them both (I paid a guy to do it. I'm by no means squeamish, but they are much more skilled and do a vastly better job.). One gets cooked and served for Thanksgiving, the other goes in the freezer for our private consumption later. Even on the other side of the world, we still have a great Thanksgiving (it helps to have so many good cooks around).

The construction on the church building at Juru continues. The walls have been raised nearly to the roof. It's looking really good. I expect within the month we'll need to start looking at buying cement to do the floor and the walls. Pray we'll have the money we need for this. I like to have churches give to these projects, because then I can truly say to the people there, "God provided the money to do this work. I did not do it." I'm trying to teach them to depend on God, not look to foreign interests to provide all their needs (this is the African way, after all). Once the building is done, and they have been organized under a constitution, there will be no further assistance. They are going to have to grow up, and take care of their own needs. It's a process though. Culture is very hard to overcome, because it takes a lifetime to develop.

I will be going through the church constitutions soon. This mostly involves discussing the rationale and Biblical basis for the policies contained therein, and giving detailed teaching on the doctrine to which we rightly adhere as Baptists. I have been spending a lot of preaching on dealing with false doctrine lately, so this will make for good followup.

We are already making plans for the Children's Christmas parties we are going to do out at the three churches on Christmas Eve Day, and the VBS we will be conducting in January. Thank you all so much for the toy cars you sent! There are going to be an awful lot of ecstatic little boys because of your loving generosity. We have enough to be able to give them all two cars each, and have plenty left over to give as prizes for VBS. It's always such a joy to be able to minister to children. Children tend to get treated as an afterthought around here, so we feel a particular burden to see they are cared for.

On Christmas Day, we'll be having church, and giving gifts to the adults. We are busily assembling the gifts, and I am looking forward to having services on Christmas Day. Then on Monday, we will celebrate Christmas at home as a family. That's the cool thing about living here. Christmas lasts way longer than just one day.

God bless you!