MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-13-2010

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Greetings! I preached in Kabuye Baptist Church this weekend. As always, driving to the villages is an adventure. It was certainly no exception this time. It's about 170 km to Kabuye from Mbarara, and roughly halfway there, we had a blowout. Seriously, the tire exploded and disintegrated. Alright. I felt kind of glad I'd brought my tools, and the nice 20 ton bottle jack that came on our container. I get to work changing the tire AND…. the nuts holding the spare are bigger than the nuts on the tires, and my biggest socket only fits the tires. Sigh. Some guy steps out of the crowd and, seeing a chance to make some money, offers to help. He hunts up a spanner, and we manage to get the tire spare and the blown tire off. He gets the new tire on, I pay him for his work (about 5 bucks), and I start to pull away. What's that weird vibration? Ahhhh…. the rim to which the spare was attached is the wrong kind for my car. The tire is the right size, but the rim doesn't fit, so the tire can't turn. Yippeee…. Alright, for another couple bucks, the guy takes both tires further down the road to a town, and gets the good tire put on the right rim. We put it on, and, after a brief, heated argument about me needing to pay him for buying a tube for my tire (HA! yeah right, tube tire indeed), we finally get underway.

This puts us at our destination hours later than planned. Now, the laws of hospitality require that they feed us supper. It was getting dark when we arrived, but they were determined to do it anyway, so around 9 PM, we ate. It's now 10 when we finish, and Pastor Patrick still wants us to speak to the people, so, I had to whip up a sermon out of thin air (that's that whole "instant in season and out of season" thing). I preached on being controlled by the Holy Spirit, and being Spirit-filled. It was a great time. Now it's 11 PM, and time for bed. We're going to sleep in the church building. No problem. I had my sleeping bag, my bivy sack, and a sleeping pad. They provided a mattress, so I didn't need the pad. No mosquitoes at that altitude (about 7,000 ft), so no need for the bivy. I would need the sleeping bag, because it gets quite cold at night up on the mountain. After a few minutes, I notice that the crowd is not totally dispersing. I need to get undressed for bed. I asked Pastor Claudian (Rwandan fellow, lived in Fort Portal for years) what was going on. Evidently, they were all planning to sleep in the church with us as well. Ah Ha. So, I slept in my clothes. My fan club, a row of village kids, took up position on a bench to watch a mazungu sleep, you know, in case I changed into some kind of hideous beast after midnight or something equally interesting. They found the prospect of a 6'6" tall white man sleeping in a sack to be most amusing.
 
So commenced a long, peaceful night of non-sleep. You see, there were at least 2 screaming babies, and scream they did – all night. Another child had to have whooping-cough or something, so between the lung cancer ward and the screaming meemies  , we got zippo sleep all night. Sleep deprivation – my favorite. So, shortly after daybreak, I decided I'd pretended to sleep long enough, and opened my eyes – yep, there was my fan club, hanging around still to see how a mazungu wakes up. I think they must have been up by like 5 AM or something. Thankfully, I'd brought a thermos of coffee, so I staggered out to the car to get myself properly caffeinated. Since my fan club was determined to not let me out of their sight, I had a bit of a dilemma figuring out how I was going to change clothes for church without causing psychological harm. It finally occurred to me that the only private place there seemed to be was the toilet ('bout like my house), so I went up to the latrine and got into my preachifying clothes.
 
Services were at 10 AM, so we got started promptly at 12PM (this is normal here). We met outside in a kind of pole structure pavilion with a tarp roof, because the church building wasn't large enough to hold everyone. The reason for this is that several other Pastors (I use the term loosely) from the Pentecostal and Anglican congregations in the area were also in attendance, along with delegations from their respective churches. After the introductions and speeches (all public gatherings must begin with introductions and speeches), and comments from some local politicians (no trouble with separation of church and state here), I finally got to preach. I didn't pull any punches. I preached salvation, and I made it very clear that religion is useless, as are "miracles", speaking in tongues, being slain in the spirit, praying to Mary, and being baptized for salvation. It is faith alone in Jesus Christ that saves us from our sins. Nothing else can do it.
 
Overall, the service went well, I thought. Now, we cannot leave, because the laws of hospitality require they feed us lunch, so we have to wait for it to be cooked. It was worth the wait: goat stew, roasted matoke and millet. You dip everything in the broth, and it's awesome. We head out to the car, and now begins the leavetaking process. First, one of the ladies wanted to give us a stalk of matoke (green cooking bananas). Not a problem. I love the stuff. Next, the Pastor wanted a picture with me. Good idea. I'm filthy, unshaved, unwashed, and sleep deprived, so of course I think we should preserve this photographically  . This opens quite the can of worms, since now everybody in the clan wants a picture with me. Thank God the photographer didn't have a digital camera, or I'd still be there.
 
Claudian makes some closing remarks (all public gatherings must end with a proper goodbye and greetings to everyone gathered), and we finally made our getaway. I'm driving on four questionable tires, with no spare, and praying they remain whole, 'cause we're out of range of any kind of cellphone to call for help if we have another flat. We made it home, just as it was getting dark. It was an exciting, tiring, and most profitable weekend.
 
Pray for us. We are continuing language study (as always). I still have discipleship duties, and now that Dan Olachea has returned to the field with my Hebrew stuff, I'm going to begin studying that as well. Pray for our health. Pray for the coming school year with the kids. Pray for the growing baby.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-06-2010

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Agandi! We are doing well here in Uganda. Our container arrived a few weeks ago, and we've been busily unpacking. It's a blessing to sleep in our own beds, and to be surrounded by our own belongings. We got rid of lots of things, and tried to limit our move to only what we really needed, but it still seems like we have truckloads of stuff. Mostly we just need to get some furniture built to help organize it better (bookshelves, cabinets, and what not). Poor Ethan had to wait a few weeks to get the birthday presents we had for him on the container. The transit time greatly exceeded our estimations, but he handled it graciously. I took a bus trip to the capitol (bit like riding coach on an airplane; painful to the very tall) to get the contents verified. Nothing was broken, which was nice, but the customs guys disturbed the packing unnecessarily I thought. In spite of this, our things arrived undamaged in Mbarara. Several other missionaries and Ugandans came and helped unload, and we got it done quickly and without issue. We have made a lot of progress already, and will keep plugging away 'til we get it done.

Meanwhile, we have a renter for our house in America! Our church has gone above and beyond the call of duty getting the house into shape to be marketable, and our property manager has worked tirelessly locating a tenant. So, we no longer have the financial pressure from a house we are no longer using, which is a great blessing and an answer to prayer. Pray it can be sold eventually so we no longer have THAT to deal with.

This weekend, I'm going with one of the national pastors to a village way down by the Congo border (SW corner of Uganda) to preach in a thanksgiving service they are having (the Biblical kind of thanksgiving, not the holiday called Thanksgiving). I'll be staying overnight Saturday, preaching Sunday morning, and then driving back once we persuade them to let us leave. 🙂 It should be a lot of fun, but ministry usually is.

We are still learning Runyankore. We are learning simple verbs now, and reviewing the two hundred or so nouns we have studied. Soon we will be able to construct simple sentences. I am pleased with the progress, but learning a language takes time and labor. It's just one of those things we'll have to work at, Monday through Friday, week in and week out until we get it. Pray for our memory and learning, and our comprehension.

Pray about the work permits. I have about half of the money I need for them saved, and will need to get those done in the next month or so. I am not looking forward to another trip to the capitol, but it will be nice to have them finished. The Somali terrorist attack in Kampala has ramped up security considerably. It's a bit like airport security, only it's at every store and shop you want to enter practically. It scuttled our Internet, which is why we've had difficulty maintaining contact. All told, 67 people died including the suicide bombers. This also included members of an American church group. Folks were sitting there watching the final match of the World Cup when the bomb went off. Evidently, Somalia is grieved because Uganda and Burundi committed troops to a peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu. Pray that the East African Federation will respond well, and slap down further terrorist endeavors before they materialize.

Pray we get more support, particularly from churches who said they wanted to, or would, and have not. Pray for our health. Pray for the health and growth of our new child. Pray for the souls of Uganda, and for the churches and pastors here.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 07-08-2010

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Preaching in NakivaleGreetings! It has been a productive few weeks. I went with the Bassetts down to the refugee camps on Sunday. I got to preach in two of the three preaching points. God blessed, there was conviction, and at least one was saved, possibly more. It was a great day. The need is great in these camps. Here you will find over 54,000 refugees, some from Rwanda, some from Congo, some from Sudan and elsewhere. They are  here because their countries are at war, or have engaged in genocide.  You establish preaching points, these develop into churches, you train leaders, then move on to establish more. It’s a true church-planting ministry, and I can feel God leading me to continue to go.

On Tuesday, I had another of my weekly discipleship classes with Andrew. He has such a burden for his neighbors and family. He invited some of his neighbors, two women, and asked me to come early so I could preach the word of God to them also. We spent about an hour sharing the Gospel with them (me in in English, and Osbert translating into Runyankore), and when it came time to choose, they wanted to be saved, and did so. So my discipleship class has grown to three. Andrew is already making plans on how we can reach their husbands also. They’re both boda drivers, so they’re gone a lot. He will be seeking permission to have us come over, and then LORD willing they will get saved also. Pray for Andrew, and Kate, and Delores, and for the people of Andrew’s village, that they will continue to get saved.
Meanwhile, our container is in Kampala now. I will be going to the capital soon to supervise its final clearance through customs. It is necessary, because I have the keys to the locks, and told the clearing agent that under no circumstances were they to attempt to open the container unless I was present. Once they’ve confirmed that we’re not smuggling narcotics, guns, or yellow cake uranium, we’ll be good to go, and a week or so later, we’ll have our stuff! Pray the process will advance smoothly, and that we’ll get our container soon.
Our language study is progressing. The Tracht family has joined us, so that’s two families now working on learning the Runyankore dialect. Our desire is to be able to communicate well so we can preach and teach the Bible and disciple the saved well. I am only using a translator because my knowledge of Runyankore has not advanced enough to do without one, but believe me, I am working hard to reach the day where I no longer need one. Pray for our study and our memory so we can learn Runyankore, and any other languages needed, to do the work of ministry more effectively.
Pray for our health, the health of the baby, and our finances here. Pray for the ministry, for the churches, leaders, and for souls to be saved.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 06-29-2010

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Howdy! I can't believe it's almost July already, and yet here we are. Our container is in Mombasa. I heard from our clearing agent, and once the details of clearing it at the Ugandan border are settled, it should start heading our way in the next couple days. Our house in America has been painted, fixed up, spruced up, and the plumbing fixed, which is an answer to prayer. I think all that remains is someone to lay the carpet (God provided new carpet for the house), and there may be someone in the church that can do that for less than what a standard carpet layer is charging.

Our language study continues. Basically, you study every day, and review, review, review. Then you practice in common speech wherever you can work it in. There is no quick or easy way to learn a language. It's just work and time. I'm going to the refugee camp with Jeff Bassett this Sunday, and we have been going with Matt Stensaas to aid in the prison ministry outside town. I'm discipling a Ugandan man named Andrew. That's going well. He's really excited about his new relationship with Jesus Christ, and it's great to be able to work with him, showing him the ropes of Christianity as it were.

In other news, my wife Anna is pregnant. It was a bit of a surprise, since we didn't think we'd be having any more, but we're excited and pleased about it. I'm hoping for a girl personally, because Elizabeth could really use a sister, but will be happy with whatever God gives us. This does change things somewhat. We will definitely need some more support now, so pray that God will bring it in from some of the churches we have visited in the past. We will need another car. The Pajero I have is well-suited for getting back into villages, and navigating the many rutted dirt roads and paths around here, and just as a rough and tumble work vehicle. However, for taking my family places, especially longer trips like to Kampala, I'm going to need a minibus, which seats 8. I know a guy in town who has one he will sell me for around $10,000 (perhaps a bit less following the standard Ugandan haggling). It's 4 wheel drive, and diesel (cheaper than petrol). Pray God will make those funds available. Such a vehicle would be a great blessing to my growing family. I will need to take care of our work permits sometime in the next 4 months, so pray we will have what we need to accomplish this. We still need a tenant for our house in America, or better yet, a buyer, so keep praying about that. Such things seem unlikely in today's economy, but I am confident God can take care of it without any difficulty.

Life is good here in Uganda, and I am so enjoying the great privilege of serving the LORD right where He wants me. Thanks again, as always, for your prayers and encouragement.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 06-21-2010

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Greetings from Uganda! The World Cup is in full swing down in South Africa, and it's sucking up all available bandwidth on the internet, so I have to take advantage of this window of opportunity to send an email (plus, the power has a bad habit of going off whenever I need to do something important like this as well). Our Runyankore language study is progressing well. We are in the phase of study where you mostly gather the names for things, so no real grammar yet, but we're learning, and it's very cool. In addition to helping us be better preachers and teachers of God's Word, and better soulwinners and disciplers, learning Runyankore will make it possible to communicate in the four other related Bantu dialects around here, including the dialect spoken up in Fort Portal. We may go and start a church there someday, so this language is going to be a great help to us in that endeavor.
 
Meanwhile, I've won my first soul, our carpenter Andrew. I am beginning his discipleship on Saturday. I consider it to be my blessed duty to disciple all the people I win to the LORD, considering that new converts are spiritual infants. Soulwinning is not an end, but only a beginning. If we are to perfect the saints, we must actually do the work of teaching them what they need to know from the Bible, getting them plugged into church, and helping them grow.
 
I am preaching in one of the prisons nearby, and am considering going down to the refugee camps with Jeff Bassett soon. There's plenty to keep us busy, as if learning a new language doesn't keep you busy enough.
 
Some prayer requests:
  1. We need some more support. We came to the field undersupported. Not all the churches which indicated a desire to support us have done so, and we could really use it.  Pray that God will prosper the churches where we've been, and remind them of His desire for them to support the Huckabees.
  2. Pray we will get a tenant for our house in America by the end of the month. We thought we had one, but then it fell through. We need all the money that is coming in, and cannot keep supporting a house in America. Our church has gone above and beyond the call of duty fixing it up. Someone gave us new carpet, and lots of folks have donated time and materials working on it. Our stackpipe started leaking after we left (no plumbing problems at all until after we left the country). It has to be replaced. There is some sort of blockage in the pipe under the floor in the basement which will require a plumber to fix. All these things are needed so the house can be rented, or better yet, sold (we are still in need of an eccentric milionaire to buy the house at above the current dismal market value ). Pray this can be fixed, and that the money and labor will be available to do so.
  3. Pray about our work permits. I have gotten a two-month extension on our visas, and we can do that one more time afterwards, for a total of four months, but we have to get our paperwork finished by then if we are going to remain in Uganda. It's costly (I have lots of bodies here needing work permits), and I have to go to Kampala to do it, which is enormously expensive in fuel and time. Bureaucracy here is every bit as tangled as it is in America, so there's no such thing as one, easy trip to immigration and you get everything done in an afternoon. It will probably take me staying in Kampala for three or four days to get it all done, and, knowing bureaucracy, I'll probably wind up having to go back. We had the money for this actually, but then our yard was flooded and I had to repair a septic tank. Pray God will provide.
As always, pray for our continued health and safety. Pray for the souls of Uganda, and for the churches and leadership here.
 
Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!