Archive for category: MISSION: Uganda Blog

I read this article today, and I thought it underscored very well, "Why We Need Missionaries in Africa":

Up to 89 Million More AIDS Victims in Africa by 2025 – UN
Fri Mar 4, 2005 10:15 AM ET

By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A further 89 million people in Africa could be infected by the HIV virus by 2025 in the continent's biggest crisis since slavery, the United Nations said on Friday.

The worst case scenario, which projects a four-fold increase in deaths from the killer disease over 20 years, was one of three contained in a report by the UNAIDS agency.

"With the HIV/AIDS pandemic spreading across the continent, Africa is facing an unprecedented crisis and a challenge never before seen since the advent of slavery," said Peter Piot, executive director of the Geneva-based UNAIDS.

Even with strong control programs — at a cumulative cost of $200 billion — 46 million new infections are forecast in Africa during the period, according to the report, "AIDS in Africa: Three scenarios to 2025."

This best case scenario means 43 million new HIV infections could be averted between now and 2025, it said.

Some 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are already living with HIV/AIDS, 70 percent of the total number worldwide. The virus affects around 5 percent of the adult population and the epidemic has orphaned some 11 million children.

Piot urged countries in the world's poorest continent to take tough measures to tackle the huge problem, suggesting that help from rich countries would be limited.

"Many lives could be saved and entire economies could be profoundly changed through determined collective efforts of all African nations by 2025," Piot told a news conference.

"In the absence of sustained international response, African resourcefulness, indigenous solutions and resilience could enable the continent to turn the corner on HIV and AIDS."

Piot was speaking in Ethiopia, which is cited in the U.N. report as the country with the 16th highest rate of prevalence in the world, with some 5,000 people being infected every week.

A bright spot in the study related to African cities like Addis Ababa, Harare and Lusaka, where awareness and the "unprecedented use of condoms" had dramatically reduced the rate of HIV infection, Piot said.

However, he noted that the infection rates were getting worse in rural areas.

The report was based on projections mapped out over two years in collaboration with institutions including the African Union, African Development Bank, World Bank as well as Royal Dutch Shell which shared its expertise.

"The death toll will continue to rise, no matter what is done," the report's summary said.

"The scenarios suggest that, while the worst of the epidemic's impact is still to come, there is still a great deal that can be done to change the longer-term trajectory of the epidemic," it added.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva)

You've heard it before. Every missionary coming through your church heading to the African continent reiterates the facts – Africa is dying, by the tens of millions. Perhaps you've managed to tune that out. After all, that's over there, and not here, and it's not our problem. Perhaps. But for those of us who are called there, it is very much our problem. More than this, it's our life. You see, the Africans need more than just condoms (minimal usefulness), or advanced and terribly expensive pharmaceuticals (moderate usefulness). What they need is a Savior. What they need is a voice crying in the wilderness and calling men and women everywhere to repent, to lay aside their wickedness before they die by their own hand. Sin, not poverty, not lack of foreign aid, but sin is the source of their problem. We, the missionaries, can change that. We can evangelize. We can plant churches. We can train preachers. Then, through the preaching of the word, we can deliver generations of Africans from a merciless pandemic that has already sent millions to hell. By this report, an entire generation faces the sentence of death. Without preachers, what do you suppose is their eternal fate? It is self-evident.

"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30 Who will stand for Africa? Who will hear the cry of the dying and enter the fray in their defense? Must the answer be, as it is too often, echoing down since Ezekiel's day – NONE? I made up my mind a long time ago that I wanted to be one of God's men, rather than join the ranks of the faceless None. How about you?

This is not tear-jerker, emotional, manipulative propaganda. It is only the cruel truth. AIDS marches on in Africa. It claims all in its path, and without our intervention, it's pale horse will continue it's gallop across Africa, peopling Hell by the millions. We must stand in the gap for them. We must build up the hedge. Otherwise, we face the justice of a God who loves Africans, and will require their blood of us if we fail to act.

I have worked very hard for the past six months, making meetings and attending meetings, and thus far have little to show for it. Our support has been unchanged since December, which is about $600 a month. I wonder to myself "Am I doing something wrong? Have I failed to express the need in Uganda well? Is there something wrong with me, that none will get behind us?" I just don't know. As it stands, I wonder how long it has to take for us to raise the support we need to go to the field in Uganda, Africa, and stay there, and succeed in our labors. I wonder how many will die before we get there, and what that will mean for us at the Judgement Seat of Christ.

Yeah, I know. It's impolitic for missionaries to beg, or show any emotion other than giddy joy, but I don't know what else to do other than to say what must be said – I need your help. If none give it, then how can I go? I have a wife, and soon, five children. Gas prices are on the rise, and our tiny, rickety van may strike us with massive repair bills at any time. We need enough monthly support in order to afford health insurance, so my wife can start visiting a doctor in lieu of the birth of our fifth child in September. She has had no pre-natal care, because we don't have the money. There are other bills that still have to be paid, and all this, while on the road, travelling to churches, and trying to find some who will help us, so we can stand in the gap together for Uganda. I'm going to take a big risk here, and just level with you. I've struggled with discouragement the past few days (since our latest minuscule support check arrived), and how to put this into words without sounding bitter, or begging. I am driven by a great burden, an endless need to get to my field, but with the consequent frustration of not being able to get there, and with no support apparently to do so. Will you help us?

Pray for me, your intrepid missionary to Uganda. If you can't support us financially, then please pray that God will raise up churches who will, and soon, because frankly, we can't live on $600 on month, not and do the necessary and important work of deputation. Pray that I will be able to persevere, and not be discouraged. Pray that it won't have to take more than a couple years to get to the field, because I don't want to still be on deputation five years from now. Pray for my beloved Uganda, and the dear missionaries who are already there, laying their lives on the line to help them, in the short-term, and for eternity.

Anyway, thanks for letting me say all that. I'm not angry. I'm not bitter. I'm still confident that God will provide. I just felt like if I didn't tell folks what was on my heart, I would bust. I love y'all, and I'm so very grateful for all the support, and prayers, and kindnesses that have been shown me and my family thus far. God will get it done, and I await His provision with joyful expectation.

Greetings, once again. We finished up our missions conference at Heritage Baptist Church in Florissant, MO last week. Most of the church is deaf, so Paul Strosneider translated for us hearing folks. It underscored yet again how imperative it is that we learn sign language at some point. I know of no ministry to the deaf in Uganda, and it would be criminal to deny the gospel to the deaf because of a failure to communicate. Alan Snare was with us in the conference, and he is a missionary to the deaf, and is deaf himself. He preached a message to the deaf on Wednesday, and two of them were saved! Once again, I was convicted of the need to learn at least enough sign to communicate. I have been to more than one church with deaf members, and I have always hated being unable to "speak" to them. So, Anna and I are considering obtaining some of the instructional materials that Paul Strosneider recommends. You can be in prayer for him. Although he has a successful ministry here in St. Louis, he is feeling burdened for the deaf in Africa. I, of course, have tried to encourage him to come to Uganda, to establish a school for the deaf, as well as for the hearing. We can bring American sign language to the Ugandan people, and to all of Africa, really, because they have no sign language of their own. Pray about that. Meanwhile, we will do what we can to learn some sign language, so we will be ready to minister to the deaf, as well as the hearing, not only in Uganda, but on deputation here in America. Pray for Heritage Baptist. They still need a pastor.

The kids, of course, were curious about "what that guy is doing", waving his hands around and not talking, so I tried to explain to them that his "ears are broken", so he has to talk with his hands. At one point, Ethan told everyone that "his ears are broken, but my ears are fixed." Heh, heh. Funny kid. We had a few days to recover and gather ourselves again, and then we went out to First Regular Baptist Church of Kansas City. We decided that we'd drive up in the daytime on Saturday, and get a hotel room that night, rather than try to drive to Kansas City early Sunday morning. The guys like staying in hotel rooms. I don't know if it's just the novelty of staying in a strange place, or, more likely, that they get to watch cable television while lying in bed (in this case, Storm Stories on the The Weather Channel), but they always get real excited about hotels (or as they call them, "heetohs"). We went to Denny's for dinner, and they got to pick from the Kid's Menu, which is always a real treat (plus kids eat free on Saturdays!).

Next day, we had a great meeting in Webster Frowner's church. Turns out, he's real good friends with William Gillespie, a missionary sent out of our church to the black folks in St. Louis. He, like Bro. Frowner, has a vision of starting Bible-based, Baptist churches for the black community. It's hard for white folks to reach the black community, because there's a sharp cultural divide. It's not that we don't want them in our church, or that anybody does anything other than try to make them feel welcome. It's not that we don't try to evangelize. We have 5-Day Clubs and door-to-door soul winning, and have seen black people get saved. The problem, however, is that they'll come to our church once, maybe twice, and then we'll never see them again. I asked Bro. Frowner why that is, and he made the very astute observation that reaching the black community is very much like reaching the Jewish community. They are both tight-knit, and tied to tradition. They come to our churches, and see that we don't have lots of emotional, sensational preaching and singing, and then leave to go to a black church where they do. The doctrine, of course, in many black churches tends to be way off base, much like it is in Jewish synagogues. Thus, Bill Gillespie decided to start churches comprised mostly of black people, but that would have sound doctrine, preaching, and traditional hymns, where black folks who get saved but would be uncomfortable going to a "white" church, can attend and get the discipleship that they would not going to a Traditionalist Church. If black people won't come to our church because we're mostly white, then the obvious solution is to form solid black churches where they will. The goal is to reach them with the Gospel, and to properly disciple them to fulfill the Great Commission. Guys like Webster Frowner and Bill Gillespie fill a real need in cities like St. Louis and Kansas City. They can reach folks that I can't as effectively because of my color and cultural background. It's not much different from the church planting we intend to do in Uganda, where we will be starting churches led by Ugandans, who, in the same way, can reach their fellow countrymen more effectively than a white American. We love the Gillespies, and have enjoyed working with them over the years. It was neat to meet someone on deputation that knows them, and is involved in the same kind of ministry. Pray for the Gillespies. They're still trying to raise support. Unfortunately, I think there's a certain degree of preferential treatment given to "Foreign" Missions, as opposed to "Home" Missions, so USA missionaries have trouble raising support, and tend to get cut first if support levels from a church drop. So, if you haven't had the Gillespies in your church yet for a meeting – do so! 😉 He can be reached at 314/388-2301. Pray for Bro. Frowner. He's 62, and needs a faithful man to commit the ministry to there, someone who would be willing to pastor the church. He currently has none, though God has blessed him with men who serve faithfully in the church as Sunday School teachers and deacons.

Pray for us, as we will be heading back to the Kansas City area tomorrow for a missions conference in Harrisonville (Grace Baptist Church, Pastor Charles Kaighen). We'll be driving back next Monday. We have a meeting in Ava, MO (Bethany Baptist Church, Pastor Robert Sorenson) the week after that, and then will be home for a church planting conference that Grace Baptist Church (our Grace Baptist, that is) will be hosting. Pray for my son, John. He started vomiting last night. No fever or any other symptoms other than nausea, but he's having trouble keeping food down. Pray that whatever bug he has will blow over by tomorrow, and that it won't spread to the other kids.

God bless and keep you all,

James Huckabee and family
Missionaries to Uganda

P.S. from Anna – Sunday Morning as James was showing the slides, Jamie, our oldest son, was sitting next to me in church quoting along with it! They always get excited about seeing our slides but I didn't realize they'd been listening that closely! He got through almost half of the slides before he got distracted by something and stopped. Out of the mouth of babes… . Thank you all for your prayers!