Mosquitoes, Malaria, and Our Magnificent God

Today my heart is heavy, as the enemy's attacks sometimes seem relentless. By God's strength, we have covered so much ground, reaching lost and blind souls with the glorious message of Christ. But with faithfulness comes struggle, suffering, and sacrifice. We are by no means under any dramatic persecution, but it's been a compilation of lots of little things that start eroding our spirit. 

Babies on motorcycles

Street children begging :(

Street view of town

A view of the Rock and the fire station

We've had power outages, along with a social media tax - that just make communication difficult...days without water that make cleanliness somewhat challenging...spiritual and physical struggles, with hard hearts that reject the Gospel, pulled muscles, and a lot of pain, to include our sweet Rhoda contracting malaria, which is never fun. We have also had jealous, corrupt people (some of whom we previously worked with), who have tried to frustrate, block, and disorganize our efforts.  But praise God for his faithfulness and favor! He has protected us from the snares of such people and has even carried us through the physical woes. What an amazing God we serve!

Rhoda and friends

General session

Our friend, Joseph, preaching

Some of the ladies at our seminar

                             

Evangelism at Kachomo

This week in Kachomo has been delightful. It is a deeper village area who are so hungry for truth. We spent three days in the field evangelizing, and two days of a seminar for men and women, teaching them how to rightfully read and discern Scripture, and how to live a life glorifying to God. The leadership was so grateful and kind. 

Color-blind Sisterhood

We also traveled to Busema which is on the Kenyan border. We stepped into Kenya, just to say we've been there...some of us more than once. Today was election day in Uganda, so we happened upon quite a few excited people, some driving around announcing their candidate (four grown men on one motorcycle!), yelling like school children. Others, celebrating their candidate's victory in the street. The election process is very different from ours for such positions...the LOCs (Local Officials) are voted upon within their villages and regions. They stand in front of the village and the citizens line up behind the candidate of their choice. Whoever has the most in line wins that position and title.

Standing in Kenya

We met some pastors today who sadly, could not even articulate the Gospel. They have large congregations and training centers, but they do not rightfully know how to lead a person to Salvation, as the Bible tells us.  We shared how we do ministry and some were befuddled, while others seemed to get it and embrace it.  We pray God will open their eyes to His truth and they will learn how to preach, teach, share and practice it.

Back at home our church and the Sunday School shelter are nearly complete. The church is painted outside and in. New irons are set on the windows to prevent break-ins. The foundation was dug, the concrete poured, bricks are being laid, and iron pole supports are set for the shelter outside the church door. Because of the generosity of Church of the Open Door and the VBS kids there, this hope has become a reality. We anticipate the completion of this shelter before our return home. 

The shelter site

Breaking ground

Sydney - Supergirl!

 

Sand truck

Digging the foundation

Eli helping dig the foundation

The foundation laid

I am so proud of my team. Julie and Rhoda both embraced Uganda and her people, and the people have embraced them as well. Jim, Eli and Sydney have strongly preached and taught in this country they love so much. This whole team has been welcomed everywhere we go, with joy. Continue to pray that we might serve mightily and strong as we are on a countdown for home. We do not want to waste time. Pray that our ministry within the town of Tororo brings a light to the darkness and hope to the weary. 

To God be the glory...His Name be praised!

"You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day..." ~ Psalm 91:5