MISSION: Uganda Blog Update, 06-28-2006

/in /by

Hello, again! It's been a restful time for us this month, and a chance to get caught up on things around the house that needed doing. This past week, and the next, I'm filling the pulpit for our pastor, Ken Spilger, while he and the clan are off on vacation, visiting family up in Washington state. I'm preaching a series of four messages on Baptist Distinctives. Last week, we covered B, A, P, and T, meaning, Biblical Authority, the Autonomy of the Local Church, the Priesthood of the Believer, and the Two Ordinances of the Local Church (Believer's Baptism and the Lord's Supper). As you've probably guessed, we'll be finishing up with I, S, T, and S next week, meaning Individual Soul Liberty, a Saved Church (Purity of the Church), the Two Offices of the Local Church (Pastor and Deacon), and Separation of Church and State. I think most of us are at least aware of these things in principle, but it helps to have them articulated, and spelled out in an organized fashion for review. The history of our denomination is important to consider as well. I was able to bring this out, particularly in the points on the autonomy of the local church, and believer's Baptism. There are very good and compelling scriptural reasons for our historic doctrinal stances, and it is those stances in particular that have caused considerable problems for Baptists in the past, as Baptists found themselves in disagreement, and legal conflict with the Episcopal state church that existed in our country before the Revolution. It's all been very interesting and profitable, and I'm looking forward to finishing the series on Sunday. I tell you what, I'm glad I'm saved, and I'm also glad I'm Baptist!

Pray for me as I preach and lead in the services tonight, and on Sunday. I want to feed the sheep, and be able to maintain the church well in lieu of our Pastor's return. Pray that I'll have wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit as I serve in this capacity.

We have some men in our church that need jobs. Pray that God will supply, and that they'll be able to get jobs they like, with good pay, decent benefits, and reasonable hours that will permit church attendance on Sunday.

That's all for now.

Busy-ness

/in /by

It hardly seems like it has been an entire month at home! We’d been gone so much in the spring – which was as it should be – that certain things around here had fallen terribly behind. I’d heard a rumor somewhere that I had a dresser in my bedroom. I even remembered seeing it once, a long, long time ago! Gaelin had outgrown two different sizes of clothes and all the clothes were stuck like some sort of weird time warp in his bedroom, leaving no room for the clothes that he needed to wear now. It was the same for Ethan and Elizabeth.

So over the course of the last month I’ve been working hard on getting our bedrooms straightened up. I got our room done first and discovered that we DO have a dresser underneath all that stuff! We pulled furniture out and I cleaned the windows.

Then it was time for Gaelin’s room (I’d already cleaned the room the rest of the kids are sleeping in). I went through everything and sorted it all – all the baby clothes, all the burp clothes, everything – and got it all put away or put in a place where it can be given away. It was quite the walk down memory lane, thinking of times when the older boys had worn the clothes that I got out for Gaelin to wear right now. So now Gaelin has a drawer for his clothes, Elizabeth has a drawer for hers, and Ethan’s drawer contains summer clothes. He’s loving that, since it has been quite hot for the last two or three weeks!Â

We’re hoping to have a garage sale in just a few weeks, as soon as I finish sorting everything in the house. I know it will need to be done again next year as we continue to pare down our belongings in order to move to Africa, and then again the following year before we actually move. So I have a goal that is only a few weeks away. But the next few weeks will be busier than these have been so it will be more challenging!

The kids in the Family Workshop

/in /by

It’s been a busy couple weeks since I last wrote. We had the Family Workshop at our church. All the kids were able to participate in this. It was SO much fun for them. The kids were each put into different classes. Each of the boys planted a little plant – that I’m now trying to keep alive. They decorated journals and painted t-shirts with their names and their class logos. They’ve been wearing those t-shirts proudly everywhere we will let them, only taking them off for washing now and then when I make them.

The teachers did such a good job. The kids were learning about the 4 soils from Luke and Ethan’s teacher reviewed them with the kids so much that Ethan started blurting them out in the large group times – times when all the kids met together. Part of the draw was that every time a child answered they were given a Starburst candy. So Ethan wanted those candies. He would shoot his little hand into the air and then not wait to be called on but would blurt out the answers. He could list of all the types of soils and what they meant. We were so proud of him! They all learned all the songs and new the verses with a LOT of help. James and John did their activity papers almost completely – with help from their teachers. But the teachers kept telling me how well they could write for only being just barely 5. Guess our school work is paying off!

Another thing they did was to have 4 of the teen guys dress up like Mexican boys and come in and talk with grossly fake latin accents and just be very silly. Our kids got such a kick out of them. Once when they came running in, Ethan laughed and laughed out loud, leaning over and slapping his knee. Another time Elizabeth got so tickled that she just sat there and laughed hysterically the whole time they were in the room. They almost had to take her out! James and John would just giggle and giggle at everything they said.

It’s been neat to see our kids start to participate more in our family Bible reading. They have been giving real answers to questions James asks them about the Bible passages we just read, not just Sunday School answers. It is so fun to watch our little Christians grow!

Well, I’ll try to be a bit better about posting things here from now on!  I guess time just got away from me!

MISSION: Uganda Blog Update 06-19-2006

/in /by

Hello! It's been awhile since our last email update. I guess I just haven't been super motivated to type one up of late. Anyway, just to bring you all up to speed:

Our meeting in Hannibal, MO went well (Pastor James Barmore, Victory Baptist Church). We had a great service with the folks there. It's a young church plant, in a town that's normally torn between Southern Baptist and Catholic. They're the only Independent Baptist gig around. They had some folks leave lately, and need to grow. Please pray that God will help them to bear fruit, and would add to the church as He would.

Our church finished up it's annual Family Workshop, with Ben Burk of Reformer's Unanimous as the main speaker. God moved, and we all experienced His refreshing. RU is primarily an Independent Baptist ministry to addicts (one of the fastest growing in America), which, unlike the 12-step programs, actually makes a permanent difference. Our kids got to be in the Children's Workshop, which they greatly enjoyed.

It's been super hot lately, so we're mighty glad we were able to get the air-conditioning in our van fixed (again). It's made the money this month a bit tight, so pray God will provide.

If you haven't heard by now, Nate and Sara Wright, missionaries in Soroti, Uganda, have a three year old son named Andrew who has contracted cerebral malaria. They air flighted him to Kampala over the weekend. Part of the treatment called for a blood transfusion, which his body reacted to, causing severe convulsions. They sedated him to control the convulsions, and flew him by air ambulance to Johannesburg, South Africa. As of this morning, he has regained consciousness, is responsive, and his major bodily functions appear to be operating normally. This was a big answer to prayer. Pray that he will continue to recover well, that there will be no brain damage, and that he will not contract AIDS from the blood transfusions he's had to receive.

The next two weeks, I'll be filling the pulpit for our Pastor while he and his family are on vacation. Pray for me as I prepare sermons, preach, and lead in the prayer meetings on Wednesdays. Pray for Pastor Spilger and family as they travel, that all will go well, and that they'll be able to get some rest.

Our next meeting is on July 9, with Pastor John Morris in Lighthouse Baptist Church in Sioux City, IA. Pray that God will bless.

That's all for now.

Where did this kid come from?

/in /by

Gaelin is so much different than the other kids! When I started all of them on solids they LOVED them. He hated them for the first week so I stopped and waited a few more weeks and then tried them again. They eat pounds and pounds of bananas a week (good thing we’re going to a place where they grow so easily, huh?!). He hates them. Every time I feed him a mashed banana he looks insulted and spits it out. He loves this little jumperoo toy that we got him. He jumps and jumps and then stops and claps for himself. It’s so sweet to watch him. He is my lovey dovey and gives the most slobbery kisses. The others kissed me when I kissed them but he initiates it. He has recently started making the funniest faces. He’ll screw his little face up and then laugh at himself. He has also started getting into things – like his brothers toys or the shampoo in the bathroom. Thankfully he hasn’t yet found the toilet! God knew we needed this little guy in our family!