MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 03-23-2013

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It has been a very hectic month. The time has come to return to America, which requires brutal levels of preparation and organization. I just thank God we’re only returning for a visit. I thought the first move we made coming to this country was going to kill us off, so this seems relatively easy by comparison. We’ve got a great place to live, we only have to bring ourselves and a minimal level of luggage, and it will all still be here when we get back – we’re not moving everything we own.

We have all this work to do, and naturally, the flu virus that conquered North America made its way to Uganda via Entebbe Airport. I suspect when our dear friends the Tracht’s were on the way here, they were exposed somewhere en route. We’re all overjoyed and happy to see our friends, and then they and we immediately get violently sick and can’t spend any time with each other. Those of you who had it know how it is – high fever, cough, body aches, and flat on your back from it for 7 straight days. Terrible timing. It hit our family like a bomb. I missed church and institute from it. We’re already missing our Ugandan family, and right at the end when we’re needing to be around them, we’re laid up with flu.

After having a week of life siphoned off by influenza, it has been a race to get everything pulled together for the impending furlough. It seems to us that Africa is trying to give us the final send off so we remember it fondly. In the past two weeks alone we got all the typical experiences one after another:

1) extended power outage. Turned out two of the load bearing wires that came into our changeover switch had been cut (gremlins?).

2) extended water outage. The men came to turn off our water because we hadn’t paid our bill. I had not received a bill in over a month. They went to disconnect our meter and damaged it. At the same time, there was a problem at the pumping station. We were without water for 2 days. Naturally, we didn’t know there was a problem until we’d already ran our tank dry. I sent my men to fill 11 jerry cans with water from a nearby well. Then I climbed the water tower each time (it took four trips) with a knotted rope and hauled the cans up and filled the tanks manually (you have water reservoirs on an elevated tower, which gravity feeds to your house and supplies you with water pressure. Also serves as auxiliary water when something happens and the water turns off).

3) stuck in the mud. I decided to take the “short cut” on the way back from church last Sunday. Got stuck so bad even L4 and 4-wheel couldn’t get me out. Fortunately, the Bassett’s were right behind us. Thank God I had my rubber boots in the car, carried for situations like this. Took my church shoes off, changed into my boots, and me and Jeff and his son got us out. The problem with these situations is you’re always wearing your church clothes when it happens. Good times.

4) loud, awful, African pop music (think the bastard offspring of hip-hop and rap with heavy, unnecessary use of auto tune) most of the night and now all day today. Honestly, if anyone ever invents a method of practical time travel, I won’t be going after Hitler first. No sir. The first guy on my list of assassination targets would definitely be the creator of auto tune. I have responded with the only cure that serves in a situation like this: bluegrass, sufficient to drown out the auto tune.

Our time here is very short. I am looking forward to seeing everyone, but I have to say, my feelings are mixed. I am missing my people and friends here something awful. Uganda is my home now. Plus, it feels like I just got here. I can’t believe three years has gone by, just like that. We love Uganda so very much, and love the work God has given us to do, and it’s tearing us up to have to leave it. I understand what Paul meant now, when he said, “For I am in a strait betwixt two…”

That’s all I can think of for now. Back to packing.

God bless you all!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 02-19-2013

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Greetings! The field conference went well. Thank you for praying. It was an encouraging time, pleasantly free from crises. Our director, Eric Baughman came from America, which was a blessing. We got to visit with our friends from elsewhere in the country, and the kids got to pal around with their buddies.

We got back and immediately made preparations to go down to Rwanda the next week. A new missionary couple, Michael and Christine Campbell, are living here in Mbarara and going with the Bassett’s and us out to Nakivale while they finalize preparations to go to Rwanda as BIMI missionaries. Meanwhile, they are getting exposure to the Rwandans living in the camp. The Bassett’s, myself, and they are studying Kinyarwanda together. This was to be a survey trip for them, with the Bassett’s and us along to aid and facilitate their exploration of the country. Naturally, the night before the day before we were to leave, that critical day we needed to get caught up on laundry from the week prior and get re-packed, a huge storm hit and knocked out power to the whole town. It was 72 hours before it came back on.

We got across the border alright, then made our way to Kigali. As promised, I delivered my kids to the Schoofs to play with their gang. Greg and Angela have the same number and distribution of kids as we, and similar ages. Our guys and theirs had a great time. We got to spend a fair amount of time fellowshipping with these fine missionaries who have been laboring in Kigali for the past nine years. We spent most of the week in Butare, the city where the Campbell’s are considering going to work. They visited shops to look at prices, looked at some potential houses, and endeavored to get the lay of the land.

I scored some Kinyarwanda language materials to help me continue my studies. I also located a source of fine Rwandan coffee (unroasted, in bulk). This particular blend comes from the northwest region of the country, where the rich, volcanic soil yields delicious, chocolate coffee (not actual chocolate – it’s a taster’s term used to describe the flavor). You can buy this coffee at Costco, which I believe just calls it “Rwandan Coffee”. Mario Serracin is a Brazilian coffee farmer who operates Cafe’ Connexion in Huye. He’s the taster who rates the coffee and the farmer who is teaching the Rwandans how to grow great coffee. He is also the distributor who ensures the Rwandan farmers get 70% of the profits from their crops. Jean Pierre is the local farmer who grows and processes the beans from his family farm. Together they are trying to bring Rwanda’s superior coffee to the Western market, providing the Rwandan coffee farmer with a source of income worthy of their quality product. Africa has the resources to enrich itself. They merely lack access to opportunity and education. Mario is helping provide both. http://www.rogersfamilyco.com/

The trip back was not as smooth. The Campbell’s got held up at the border by rampant bureaucracy which ultimately cost them $200. The road from the border to Mbarara is terrible. It makes travel perilous and slow. We approached what appeared to be some branches in the road. As we drew nearer, it became clear that those “branches” were the body of a Ugandan man who had been struck and killed not ten minutes before. This underscores not only Africa’s need for leaders who aren’t thieves that eat all the money instead of fixing the roads, but the great need for the Gospel here. Life is uncertain and short. That man had no way of knowing when he got up that morning that, before day’s end, he’d be meeting his Creator. Did he hear of the Savior before he was killed? Nobody knows.

Pray for our continued ministry in Uganda and for the souls of East Africa.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 01-03-2013

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Happy New Year!  "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him." Isaiah 30:18 God has provided a miracle on our behalf and in answer to the many prayers that have been made about our vehicle situation. As you recall, our vehicle was badly damaged by the pernicious road we travel every week going out to Nakivale. The repair bill was huge, and unattainable for us, so we parked the car and waited for God's provision. Various solutions were offered, primarily involving debt, which I did not want to do. Instead, we opted to wait on God just a little longer to see what would happen. Once the final decision not to go into debt for this was made, we received in rapid-fire succession everything we needed and more within 48 hours. As of now, everything we knew about is fixed on the car, and some things we did not know about until the car was apart and they were discovered. God supplied it all, enough for the whole repair as well as for things we could not prepare for or ask for. Praise the LORD!

It was impossible to get the car fixed in time to get out to the camp the Sunday before Christmas, so we had to delay until the Sunday after, but it made no difference. Everyone was so happy to see us, in particular my family who had not been to church for nearly two months. We gave out some presents we'd been preparing throughout the year. Additionally, we gave a bunch of t-shirts I received from some folks in America who had heard about the camp, found our website, and all on their own gathered shirts sufficient for men, women, and children, and the high dollar cost of shipping and sent them to us here to give to the refugees for Christmas. Every member of the families got to pick shirts of their choosing, and in their size. God supplied all of it. It was a great Christmas celebration, after a long period of dealing with the car. 

Continue to pray as we enter this new year and finalize preparations for furlough. Pray for our annual, mandatory Field Conference in the capitol, that our trip there and back would go smoothly, and nobody will get sick this year (it's a mandatory meeting, so inevitably, sick missionaries bring their most virulent illnesses and share them with the rest of us). Pray our car will be okay, and we will remain safe and well.

God bless and keep you!

 

Christmas at Nakivale 01

Christmas at Nakivale 02

Christmas at Nakivale 03

Christmas at Nakivale 04

Christmas at Nakivale 05

Christmas at Nakivale 06

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-17-2012

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Greetings! Last week, Independent Baptist Church in Mbarara had its bi-annual Mobile Institute. This is a week-long, intensive, training time we make available for all the men who are called to preach in this area. They come from all over, and are housed and fed for the week at the orphanage building Bryan Stensaas is building there (it is nearly finished). This time, we had a beginner class (Gospel of John) and an advanced class (Christian Leadership). I had the great privilege of teaching on two of the chapters in John, with the whole book divided amongst the various pastors already trained and the missionaries. It was a tremendous week. We are training men who have the potential to spread out throughout Uganda and start churches. A ministry such as ours is absolutely based on the quality of the Biblical training and education we give our people. This is why Project Libris, our library project, is underway for furlough. I am gathering books to bring back and start a library out in Nakivale, primarily for the benefit of the pastors and ministry students there. Some of our guys from Nakivale were present at the Institute, and sang a beautiful Kinyarwanda hymn in the Wednesday service. It was a joy to see these men in attendance (66 this time), away from their families, preparing for the challenging work of leading New Testament churches.

Continue to pray for us. We are still stuck at home due to our broken vehicle (month-and-a-half now). As I’ve said before, our operations in town are unaffected (we normally walk most places), but our village ministry is utterly crippled. Until this is resolved, our work at Navkivale is at a standstill. The way things are going, we will be unable to get out to the camp for the Christmas service this week, the VBS next month, and our annual, mandatory Field Conference coming up at the end of January. I don’t normally ask for help, but this is a serious need. If folks would be willing to help us with a small financial gift to help pay for this fix, I would be very grateful. No amount is too small. We still need $2800. Whatever God leads you to do, make sure you mark it ‘Vehicle Repair’ and I will add it to the collective ’til we have enough for the fix. I am praying we will be able to get this done in the next week so we can go out to the camp for Christmas. We have gifts we were planning to give our people, and no practical way to get out to them. 

 God bless you all, and Merry Christmas!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 12-10-2012

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Greetings! The year is nearly finished. I hope in this last few weeks before the End that God blesses you and you find joy with your family and friends while you still can. 😀 You know, if the world ends, it won’t be due to the failure of the Mayans’ to buy more inserts for their Day Planners. It will be due to the great wickedness of man and the eternal plan of Almighty God. As for me and mine, we have work to do while it is yet day. However bad things may get in the short term due to stupid Electorates and even more stupid opposition Parties, our mission is unchanged – preach the Gospel to every creature. And that we shall.

I have been riding with Jeff Bassett and crew out to the refugee camp every week and leaving the family home (we are legion, and there aren’t enough seats). Djuna gives me a lift to my two preaching points on his motorbike, then out to Sangano for Jeff’s service, and I ride back with him. The car is still parked, following the Road’s successful assassination attempt. Some money has come in for the repair (Thank you, and praise the LORD!!), but not enough to do the whole repair. Please keep praying. As it currently stands, there will be no Christmas party for the children, nor for the churches like we usually do around Christmas – we lack the transport to get everything out there. If this transport drought continues, there won’t be a VBS in January either, which is when the children are off school. Our ministry is extremely handicapped right now.

Pray for our impending furlough. Our plane tickets are bought, which makes it real. I have sent many emails to churches, requesting meetings. Many have responded, many have not. Pray Pastors will find time to respond so I can finalize our furlough schedule for next year. Pray that new churches will be willing and able to grant us meetings so we can raise new support, which we need very much. Pray for all the traveling that is coming. Pray for our works, for our fellow laborers, for our employees, for our dogs, for our property, and for our fellow missionaries, who all have to get by in our absence. Pray there will be no excitement here while we are on loan from the Field visiting you.

We are looking forward greatly to seeing you all again, and to all the mighty things God has planned for the months ahead!