Bye, Bye.

Well, its almost time to leave for Kyenjojo and Mityana. I can't believe lecture phase is over. Its seemed so short, yet so long ago that we began. So much has happened in the last three months and more is to come in the next two. I cannot guarantee how often I will be able to get internet and such so this may be my last post for a while but I honestly cannot wait to just be away from the distractions of this world for a couple months of my life. Sometimes it is good to just look back and reflect, not that I'll be having much time for that. Our schedule will be jam packed with crusades, door-to-door, and mercy ministries. I know that God has great things in store for us there though and I believe He is already paving the way for us. I have already been encouraged for the upcoming journey by different people and I know it will be a challenge.  One encouraging passage came from Hebrews 12:7-28. Actually the whole chapter is brilliant, I copied it below (in The Message Version). The upcoming journey is going to be full of hardships but also joy, and the Lord works through both.

Hebrews 12

1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!


4-11In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.


12-13So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!


14-17Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

18-21Unlike your ancestors, you didn't come to Mount Sinai—all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble—to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop. When they heard the words—"If an animal touches the Mountain, it's as good as dead"—they were afraid to move. Even Moses was terrified.


22-24No, that's not your experience at all. You've come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You've come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel's—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace.


25-27So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he's told us this quite plainly—he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.


28-29Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

Here We Go Again.

As I write this, main outreach is a week away and the preparations are in full swing. On Tuesday morning we started waking up a five o’clock for prayer and on Monday the outreach locations were finally officially determined. For my outreach I will be heading to Mityana and Kyenjojo in Western Uganda. They are both bigger towns than the location I was in last time and Kyenjojo is fairly close to the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I am excited to see the other side of Uganda, however I am very disappointed that Kate, will again not be coming with me. She will be going to the small village, that I was located at last time, Namayingo along with another small village, Lugala. Two weeks was hard enough to be apart so I am not sure how we will manage six, but its all God’s will. As we have learned our locations we begin to prepare more skits and dances. We have been working on them every day for the past two weeks. If it wasn’t for tea, I am not sure how I would survive. It amazes me how much this seems exactly like the mini-outreach, but yet completely different at the same time. There are so many people I will miss having on my outreach but yet others I am excited to work with for a change. We also have an increased amount of dances and skits this time around. We are all working hard and look forward to the upcoming weeks. They will certainly be a challenge, but not one we’re not ready for. The battle is already won. I feel much more prepared for this outreach and cannot wait to see God at work once again. The most amazing part, however, is that once we are back from this outreach, it is only a week until I fly off for the homeland. Philipians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Reign Down.

This week we have learned about spiritual warfare and to be honest the teacher was really boring and I can’t really tell you anything great that I learned in class. However, I did learn a lot outside of the classroom this week. On Monday, this week class started and it was incredibly boring and I struggled to pay attention. In small groups that afternoon, my leader was telling us how during the week of learning about spiritual warfare it is war. More people will be sick that week and unexplainably absent. It was already true, there were four people missing from class that morning where the most missing is usually one. This made me realize just how everyday life spiritual warfare can be and how we need to wake up everyday for the battle. However, the teacher still remained boring after that and I’m sad to say I think the devil won that one.
On another note, on Tuesday morning I decided to get up for quiet time, which I was neglecting for at least a month now. So I got up at six o’clock and had coffee and quiet time with two others, Jessica and Alex. We basically sit at a table, read our bibles and if anything interesting comes up we share it with the group. It’s actually a time that I can truly enjoy now. I can also sense it in myself with attitude throughout the day. I feel more alive and ready for the day. It got me thinking just how important that time with God can be in our lives and how if we neglect it our day is just not the same. Sure I was at first very against getting up an extra hour earlier than needed just because our leaders said so, but once I changed my attitude of it being forced upon us and made it into something I wanted to do, it became exactly that, something I wanted to do. I also found a new favorite verse that I found in my quiet time. The Lord knows how much I love rain; Zechariah 10:1 “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone.” 

Climbing Mountains

So this week I’m going to try and be really spiritual and relate my everyday adventures with my walk with God. Yesterday morning we climbed a mountain that is just behind the base. It had been something we had been planning to do for sometime. Anyway, we set out right when the sun began to rise. At first the journey was really easy as we were full of energy and excitement. We would only be a little ways up and we would stop to look at the view because we were still full of amazement for what was ahead. But as our adventure continued and we had to crawl through thickets of thorns and up steep and slippery slopes we soon forgot about all the amazing things around us and complained about the difficult journey. Finally we reached the top exhausted and dirty but pleased with ourselves. Looking around we could see the breath-taking view. Lake Victoria stretched out before us in its entire splendor and a rainbow on one side. 

As I was thinking about our journey, I kept thinking of how it relates to our spiritual journey. At the beginning we are so excited for God and cannot wait for what awaits us. But as the journey continues we often start to focus on the hardships and not the ‘view’. We lose sight of why we really are climbing up this mountain. We need to remember the glorious riches that lay in store for us at the top and the promise that God has given us through the rainbow. He alone is the reason we can make it to the top of the mountain. “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:16

(hopefully you can see the rainbow in the picture because it was beautiful!)

Refreshed.

This week has been refreshing to say the least. Sunday started off with a church service at a ‘missionary’ church. So it consisted mostly of mzungos. It was exactly what I needed after such a fukwe outreach. It renewed me. It’s amazing how much you can actually miss the ‘boring’ church service of the West. We sang English songs that I knew, didn’t dance around with chairs on top of our heads, and it only lasted an hour and a half or so. It was amazing! Other crazy things that happened this week; I tried some fried white ants. One of the guys here just came up one night with a bucket of what looked like ants with wings, and threw them in a pan to fry and we ate them. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed them but I ate bugs! :P On another note, also we played with a wild chameleon on Thursday! I’ve never expected that to happen coming here. Other than that, it has been great to get back to the base and settle in to our ‘home’ here. It is amazing how it feels like home now, being away from it from so long. We rejoice in the little things now that we used to complain about, like the cold shower and unpredictable electricity. Its the little things in life that let you just breathe. Even the most simple weeks can bring around a renewal that we didn't even know we needed. Isaiah 57:10, “You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ 
You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.”

Fukwe.

First of all, let me tell you about this word; fukwe. It is basically a word made up by one of our leaders that can mean anything you want it to. It is usually along the lines of crazy, wild, intense, stupid etc. This word has been used more times than you could even imagine in the last two weeks. It is really the best word I can used to sum up what has happened.
Let me start from the beginning. Upon arriving I was dreading the upcoming time we were about to have. We arrived in a beautiful village right on Lake Victoria. The village was made mostly of mud huts, with fish, fishing gear, and boats all over the place. The first night we slept with nine girls on four mattresses in a tiny room that only had left over room to stand three people when we were all lying down. The night was hot and filled with rats and cockroaches. Needless to say the next morning we were exhausted. I thought the two weeks were going to take forever. However, God slowly revealed Himself the longer we were there. We moved our sleeping locations and we’re able to rest easier.
Once we started the ministry, God’s presence was ever upon us. Crusades were bringing many people to Christ and there was a whisper about us all through the town. On Friday, April 6 we had the most fukwe day of my life. The day started out normal as ever. Then after breakfast, a lady came over to the church and told us she had been coming to the crusades and needed prayer. So we brought her inside and next thing I knew we were casting demons out of her. This lasted for approximately an hour. Then we ventured to her house to pray for her family. When we arrived, we began praying and cast out some more demons. Her husband showed us a small plastic bottle buried in the ground, something from witchcraft. So we burned it. All throughout this time, the song that kept playing over and over in my head was, “Let it rain, let it rain. Open the floodgates of heaven.” After leaving we were stopped numerous times and asked to pray for various people. We finally arrived back at the church in time for a late lunch. At lunch, I was told that I would be preaching at the crusade that afternoon. Instead of preparing however, I went swimming in Lake Victoria. I arrived at the crusade exhausted and with nothing ready to preach on. I prayed for God’s peace and the words to speak. As soon as it came time for me to speak, the heavens opened and rain came down. Lord, let it rain. I can honestly say I have never in my life been that comfortable speaking in front of people. It was rather amazing, considering I had no idea what I was going to say when I walked up there! When I had finished, amazingly the rain stopped. A fukwe day to say the least. At a later crusade, the woman we had been praying for was there. Which was incredible, because it is over an hour walk for her. She was so happy to see us and was completely healed! I have never seen somebody go through one eighty to that extreme. Her story is just one of many that we experienced throughout the two weeks. Besides ministering, we also were able to eat lots of fish, swim, go for boat rides, roast a goat over a fire, and just enjoy God’s creation in the fullest! This outreach has been a challenge both physically and spiritually and I feel drained from it but I wouldn’t have it any other way! God certainly let his grace rain down on us, and my song, “Let it Rain” soon became the theme song of the outreach.

Psalms 18:12-13, “Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.”

Prepared.

As some of you may know on Monday, April 2 we are leaving for our mini outreach. It seems the last couple weeks have been packed full of preparation for it. Our days are filled with skit practices and dances as well as the usual schedule of classes. Each night we fall into bed exhausted, only to wake up at five o’clock the next morning. I will be going to an island in Lake Victoria, which one of my leaders is from. I’m excited to enjoy lots of fish and see the beautiful countryside. However, the village is very rural. No electricity or running water. It will defiantly be a challenge both physically and spiritually. And to add to all of that, Kate will not be coming with me, but instead she is in a separate group, going to a village outside Jinja. I will miss her in the next two weeks but I am also hoping the separation will help us to grow in ways we couldn’t together and also grow closer to members of our team.
To be completely honest, I had been not looking forward to this outreach for the last weeks. I was excited to get off base and see more of Uganda, but the whole proclaiming the gospel didn’t seem like something that I could ever be good at. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to do much but sit back and watch. However, today I had to preach for the class. The sermon wasn’t that exciting, just some encouragement before we left from Ephesians 1:17-19. You know me with speaking in front of people; lets just say it was short and sweet. The weird thing was, after I had finished and sat back down. I realized that I can do anything with God’s help and I became excited to see how He could use me in ways that I couldn’t even imagine. Then I thought about the verse I had just preached about and it hit me in all the right ways. The message I just preached was for none other than myself. Its amazing how God can speak in ways that I never would of imagined He would. Who would ever think that they are preaching for themselves? God works in mysterious ways. Now all I have to do is pack. So I ask you for your prayer in the next two weeks and other than that, bring on the Outreach!

Ephesians 1:17-19 (The Message Version) “But I do more than thank, I ask – ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him, personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life He has for His followers, oh the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust Him – endless energy, boundless strength!”