MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 10-09-2009

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Greetings! Our missions conference in our home church last week was a great success. We had some great preaching from Bro. Robert Meyer (SE Asia Director), and got to re-iterate our call to Uganda before our church. Most important, a momentous decision has been reached: we're going to Uganda the first of the year, 2010! We have enough support coming in now that our Pastor and director are willing to allow us to go to Uganda. We have many preparations to make in order to get gone, and the details are a bit sketchy because it's only been a few days since the decision was made, but I will keep you all in the loop as we move forward. At the moment, it looks like we're going to begin our ministry in Mbarara, which is about 45 minutes north of the Rwandan border in the far Southwestern corner of Uganda. We have heard from Bryan Stensaas, the senior missionary there, and we are needed sooner, not later on the field, just as quick as we can get there. As he puts it, the "sky's the limit" in opportunities to minister the Gospel. They have a radio ministry, several village churches, orphanges, refugee camps they visit, and a Bible translation work already in progress. Mbarara is located at a geographic crossroads, and will put is in reach of not only the good people of Uganda, but also Rwanda and the DR of the Congo (Zaire). We are excited about the prospect of working under this great man of God, and gaining the experience necessary to make us the kind of missionaries we need to be in order to serve the LORD well in Uganda.

Here are some specific prayer requests:

We are in need of some further funds to get ourselves to Africa. These figures are subject to change, but my initial estimate of the expenses we are going to incur are as follows:

Cost for a 20' shipping container: $2000
Cost to ship that container to Mbarara: $8500
Cost of plane tickets (for which we have already received some funds): $900 apiece for a one way flight to Entebbe
Outfit costs (we have to replace all of our American appliances, and buy some specilized equipment, like a water purifier, and a whole house battery backup system for example): $10000
Cost for a vehicle on the field: $12,000

It's a lot to raise, so God is going to have to do it. As such, I'm hoping to mobilize as much prayer as possible towards attaining that goal. Pray hard folks! Pray also that I'll be able to get all the logistics of getting a famly of seven moved from America to Uganda worked out in the next three months. There's a mountain of tasks to get done by then and I want to be sure I get it all worked out in a timely and accurate manner.

Pray also for our meeting on Sunday in Victory Baptist Church in Columbia, MO. I have to go there by myself so Anna can be here for a wedding shower at church that she and some of the other ladies have been planning for some time. The week afterwards, we have a meeting down in Athens, TN, and will be taking the opportunity of proximity to Chattanooga to go ahead and get our Departure Checklist with BIMI worked out. These are exciting times!

Thanks again for all your prayers!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 09-29-2009

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Hello again! We were in a missions conference last week in Landmark Baptist Church in Evansville, IN (Pastor Barry Kirves). It went great. I got to preach and present the work in Uganda, and the LORD blessed. Our kids made some friends, which is good, but then we had to say goodbye at the end of the week, which was a bit sad for them, but that's the life I'm afraid. Our deputation is progressing well. I just heard from a church in Nevada, MO which we visited the first year of deputation, and they are going to support us. I've heard from others recently also, but that one was a surprise. It's great to know that, even though it was years ago, we were remembered and are being supported. I'm praying that more churches we've visited will do likewise, so we can finish the last of our deputation and get to Uganda next year.

In the meantime, I'm scheduling busily for the first quarter of next year, in the hopes that this will be the last of the meetings we will need to attend. We will be primarily in New Mexico next year, and possibly elsewhere in the Southwest if I can swing it. Pray that my scheduling will continue to progress well, and that we'll see the last 10 percent of our support materialize soon.

Our home church, Grace Baptist Church, in St. Louis, MO begins it's missions conference tomorrow, and we will be in attendance. Pray that the conference will go well  and that our church will be able to raise it's Grace Giving this year so that we can maybe take on a few more missionaries.

God bless all of you!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-31-2009

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Greetings! National Hoops (http://nationalhoops.com) was a great success. Mike Washer and his associates did a fantastic job. They came in, canvassed the area, recruited several teams, and got set up in a nearby parking lot for the Saturday tournament. We had 19 teams, more than we've ever had in previous years. This was the first time in 3 years Anna and I were in town for the tournament. They completed Round Robin competition in the morning, and came over to the church in the afternoon. Mike Washer preached, and most of the 80 or so people responded to the invitation. All told, 36 were saved. Anna got to lead three to the LORD, and I got to lead four. It's a tremendous ministry, and a most effective evangelistic tool.

In a few weeks, we have a missions conference in Landmark Baptist Church, Evansville, Indiana, so be praying. I'm still trying to schedule meetings where possible, so if any of you have any red hot leads, let me know.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 08-19-2009

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Greetings! We drove to Scottsbluff, NE over the weekend for a meeting there in one of our first supporting churches. In case you've never made the drive, Nebraska is a REALLY wide state. It took us 13 hours to get there, including stops. Fortunately, the speed limit goes up to 75 once you cross the Nebraska state line, so we were able to make good time. We had a good meeting. It was great to get to visit with Pastor Clement and the church again, as well as to meet some new people who've joined since we were there.

I'm still lining out meetings for the Fall. If you know of churches in your area of like faith that might be in need of a missionary to Uganda, let me know. Also, if we visited your church a while back, and you would like us to return for a visit, again, let us know. We are very near to being done with deputation, and lack only about $850 a month. Pray we'll be able to get that raised by the end of the year, and that we'll be able to raise the needed outfit and passage money to get ourselves and our gear to Africa early next year.

This weekend, the National Hoops ministry is at our church. We will be holding a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, followed by an evangelistic service. We have seen many saved from this ministry in past years. This will be the first year where Anna and I are in town and able to be involved. Both she and I will be counselors. I'm looking forward to the great harvest of souls in which we will be participating this weekend. Pray for the National Hoops ministry, and for the precious people of St. Louis.

As always, it's good to communicate with you all, our faithful friends and prayer partners.

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 07-07-2009

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Greetings! We've had some meetings since last I communicated. They went well, and we've picked up one supporting church, up in Michigan. I've been able to use the intervening time to be involved in the ministries of our home church. I've preached multiple times, and seen some souls saved on outreach. One of the primary ministries we've been involved in is the children's ministry in a nearby apartment complex. It's the sort of place that's had problems with crime, drugs, and juvenile delinquency. We were invited in by the management in an effort to deal with these problems through the power of the Gospel. They are renting us a two-bedroom apartment for a $1 a month to use as a meeting place, and we've been holding Bible Clubs on Wednesdays since last fall. This past week, we held our first Vacation Bible School there. It was a tremendous success, with 15 kids saved. The great thing is, we had lots of parents come in and out to see what we were up to, so we got to minister to them too. The overall attitude was very positive, and we are beginning to see some real inroads to the community. I led a team of kids, and Anna handled all the craft times (which went great!). It was a good precursor to the kinds of children's ministry we will need to do in Africa as a part of our ministry in Uganda. It's been great to be involved in our church, and we've been enjoying it tremendously.

I'm lining up meetings for the Fall. If anybody knows of churches which might like us to come visit, give a holler. Also, if you've had us in for a meeting in the past, and would like us to come back, drop me a line. We are at 85% now, and truly would like to wrap this thing up this year so we can be in Uganda in 2010. Please pray to that end.