Not My Words

These are not my words but I share them because I love them and I believe them and most importantly I want my life to reflect what they say. Enjoy.

Why Disciple-Making International by David Platt

I want to be a part of the accomplishment of the Great Commission.

That’s the short answer I would give if someone asked me, “Why DMI?” God desires for His gospel to be known and His glory to be praised in all nations. And Christ has commanded us to fulfill this God-exalting purpose among every people group on the planet. How? We make disciples. No matter the sacrifice. We go to them, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything He has commanded. And we keep doing this until the gospel has been proclaimed to all nations. Then the end will come.

For any and every follower of Christ, that’s a purpose worth giving our lives to. We were created for something so much greater, so much deeper, and so much more fulfilling than having a nice job (not that jobs are bad), raising a decent family (not that this is bad, either), and attending a good church (as a pastor, I definitely wouldn’t say that’s a bad idea). But there’s more. There’s so much more. God has given every follower of Christ gifts, skills, passions, resources, and most importantly His very presence so that we might be a part of the advancement of a kingdom on earth in anticipation of a King from heaven.

Yet, we are subtly and dangerously tempted to settle for less than this. We have taken the costly command of Christ to go, baptize, and teach all nations, and morphed it into a comfortable call for Christians to come, be baptized, and listen in one location. As a result, if you ask individual Christians today what it means to make disciples, you will likely get jumbled thoughts, ambiguous answers, and probably even some blank stares.

That’s where I was once—and to some extent where I am still. The more I read the Gospels, the more I marvel at the simple genius of how Jesus lived and what Jesus did. With the task of taking the gospel to the world, He walked through the streets and byways of Israel looking for a few men. Don’t misunderstand me—Jesus was anything but casual about His mission. He was initiating a revolution, but His revolution would not revolve around the masses or the multitudes. It would not revolve around garnering a certain position. Instead, it would revolve around a few chosen people. He would intentionally shun titles, labels, plaudits, and popularity in His plan to turn the course of history upside down. All He wanted were a few men who would think as He did, love as He did, see as He did, teach as He did, and serve as He did. All He needed was to revolutionize the hearts of a few, and empowering them by His Spirit, they would impact the world.

Jesus lived, died, and was raised for the glory of God and for the sake of all men. But during His earthly ministry, Scripture indicates that Christ spent more time with this small group of people than with anyone else on the planet. This is astonishing when you really think about it. At the end of the Son of God’s time on earth, He had staked everything on His relationships with twelve men—eleven when you consider Judas’ role. These eleven guys were the small group responsible for carrying on everything Jesus had begun. Before ascending into heaven, He gathered them around Himself and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). After intentionally spending His life on earth with these eleven men, Jesus told them, “Now you go out and do the same with others.” The mega-strategy of Jesus: make disciples.

And this is now the command that God intends to govern every follower of Christ. Every disciple is created, crafted, blessed, and intended by God to be a disciple-maker. No Christian is excluded from this mission (as if we would want to be!). You don’t need to have inordinate skill or unusual abilities to make disciples. You don’t need to be a successful pastor or a charismatic leader to make disciples. You don’t need to be a great communicator or an innovative thinker to make disciples. All you need is Christ, His Word, His Spirit, and His people.

Which brings us back to where we began. Why Disciple-Making International? I am firmly convinced that Jesus’ charge to make disciples is intended to be at the heart of the local church. I want to pastor a local church that is radically abandoned to this commission, and I want to serve other local bodies of believers who are committed to this command as well. I want to be a part of providing free resources that are biblically faithful, theologically sound, practically beneficial, easily accessible, multi-lingual, and cross-cultural. I hope and pray that these resources fuel disciple-making relationships through churches around the world. The whole purpose of DMI is to encourage and to equip Christians in the contexts of local churches to make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples…until every people group has heard the gospel and our all-satisfying, grave-conquering King receives the praise that He is due.

Change

Change isn’t always easy. Even when it is necessary, even when it is for the good, it can be hard.Sometimes change is a really good thing, like a new job or a new home. But even then there are hard parts that you can’t avoid.

24 months ago I had never been to Africa. I had never been to Uganda. To say that I’ve gone through a bit of change in the last two years would be quite the understatement. When I think about it, everything has changed. Two years ago I was living in Chicago with a good, stable job staying in a fabulous apartment with an even more fabulous friend. My church was wonderful, my friends and family nearby and I had nothing to complain about (other than the weather J.But anybody who knows me knows that my heart was not content, so when God brought about the opportunity to visit and then move to Uganda, I took a step of faith – maybe more of a leap.

I arrived in a new country, a new continent to be exact with a new language, extremely different culture, new home, new environment, few friends and a lot to learn. And God was so good because most of the change was not too bad; in fact a lot of it was great. However, I say all of this because it was a more recent change that caused me more stress and hardship than the one when I moved here.

It’s amazing how relational we are. It’s amazing how quickly we adapt to our surroundings and how usually, the most important thing about our surroundings are the people, not the stuff.After living here for one year I was absolutely in love with my community. I loved my little room, my noisy neighbors, the kids that would come by after school and on weekends and I loved walking around the neighborhood knowing many families. However, throughout the year there were signs that I would have to move and I was not happy about it and a part of me wanted to be very stubborn and not go anywhere. But there came a point in December where it was clear I needed to move. It made sense why it had to happen, I was absolutely prepared for it and yet I was not happy about it at all. So reluctantly I went, I found a fabulous new place, much bigger, in a great quiet community closer to Kampala.

But it didn’t matter, I wasn’t near my community and the kids I had fallen in love with. At one point a friend told me not to worry that I’d find other kids to love and spend time with, but the truth was that I didn’t want new kids to love or serve, I wanted my kids. I knew there was thousands of children I could love and spend time with and I knew there orphans, children without homes, kids that didn’t know Jesus all over Uganda but it didn’t matter. I was not ready to move on.

But thankfully it didn’t stay like that forever and a couple months after the move my heart was already in love with a new group of children. God worked in my heart to allow for a bit of healing so I would have the capacity to love these boys that live on the streets. I still miss my kids but I am blessed to be working with the boys. The past few months have been filled with lots of joy and blessing.

A few weeks ago I was reminded that it is our privilege and duty to disciple these children and teach them about Jesus. We do daily sharing time with the kids but with a group of 50 + boys it is often short and few kids pay attention. However, I knew there were many kids that would listen and potentially welcome true discipleship from the leaders if we could get them away from the big group and pour into them. So, two weeks ago a friend of mine who leads the kids, David, started a club. He invites 6 kids to his house on Thursdays and 6 different kids on Fridays. We handpicked the kids and personally invited them to the group. David cooks a lot of food for them and does Bible study with them for 2 hours each time. I don’t go to the meetings but let David run them since he can relate to them at a much deeper level than me. I am confident the kids feel extremely special to be getting such personal attention from David and a home cooked meal from his house. David tells me that the kids are wonderful and some of the most unlikely kids ask the most questions. He said they all participate, they all listen and they all welcome his love and attention.

I am super excited about the group because I know how stinkin’ cool these kids are and I want them to know that as well. I hope they begin to see themselves as we see them and how God sees them. David says they are really learning how to pray and I’m so joyful that we serve a God that hears those prayers.

I hope to get a picture of the two groups soon and post them but as of now, they don’t know I know about their special club and for the moment I’d like to leave it that way. The kids in the Thursday group are: Simon, Peter, Tom, Bwanika, Joel and Isma. The kids in the Friday group are: Peter, Richard, Nathan, Gabriele, Matthew and Derrick. Please pray for them. Pray for David.

Below are a few pictures I have of some of the kids. Enjoy!

Peter and Richard

Isma

Simon

Bwanika (in orange)

Matthew

Gabriele

Not Your Typical School Musical

I am tired but feel like I have to share how I feel. I feel so blessed. It would be easy to say that tonight was good or tonight was fun but when I really think about it, it was so much more than that. Tonight was a blessing and truly the work of God.

Tonight was the school musical at the international school where a few of my friends teach. On the surface it was a typical school musical, kids singing, parents with cameras and lots of jazz hands. But it wasn’t typical. It was wonderful. Children from all around the Kampala area put on the musical, not just kids from the school. Some kids came from the school, some from a local church, others from an orphanage and a few from the national rehabilitation center (government orphanage). Some kids came from wealthy parents, others from missionary parents, some had no parents while others had been abandoned by their parents. But tonight you couldn’t tell, all you could see were a group of kids singing about three heroes from the Bible; Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego and they were awesome.

The other special part of tonight was the audience. Of course there were plenty of parents, relatives and friends in attendance but that was not all. A friend of mine works with an orphanage and as a special treat all the children were able to come tonight. In my experience with kids that live at orphanages is that anytime they get to leave is a treat. So occasions like this; a trip to Kampala (they are from a village) to see a special performance, is a big deal!

Also, I had intended to bring a few of my friends that work with the street kids to the performance. We typically meet on Saturday nights to hang out and I thought attending the musical would be fun. However, what started out as a group of 8 soon turned into a group of 18. The 8 leaders as planned and an additional blessing of 10 of our kids joined in. The kids loved it and while I’m not sure they understood all the words, they were clearly entertained. Anytime we get to take a few of them out of their environment and give them special attention is always a good time. The kids were dressed in their best, far better behaved than the leaders and were a pure joy.

Maybe it doesn’t seem like such a special night but in my eyes I saw parents, orphans, kids that call the streets their home, friends and other people, all enjoying, supporting and cheering as a group of kids from all different backgrounds told the wonderful story of 3 young men and their rock solid faith in God. Not your everyday school musical at all.

Easter - Kampala Style

I have to say that this Easter was one I don’t think I’ll forget for a long time. It was wonderful. I had the amazing privilege of spending Easter with over 60 kids that live on the streets of Kampala and a few other fabulous friends.

The week leading up to Easter was filled with Easter fun. We made crosses out of tongue depressors (no popsicle sticks in Kampala) on Wednesday and then Friday we decorated eggs.Eggs are a luxury for the kids and they were so excited. However, rather than just decorating and eating them, we added a small twist. We gave each child two eggs, both they decorated and then as we led a procession through the community with a big wooden cross, the kids gave one of their eggs to somebody they saw and told them about Easter. I definitely had my concerns of walking through the community with all the kids but they were great and I saw a lot of people enjoying their eggs.

We spent the entire week talking about the significance of Easter and each day that led up to Christ’s resurrection.

One of my friends made a wonderful recommendation for the party that I think made it super special for the kids. She reminded us that part of the holidays in the US is eating until you couldn’t eat anymore, and so she wanted lots of good food for the kids so everybody would get their fill; and that they did. I’m not kidding when I saw one of our smaller kids with a mountain of food on his plate and a huge grin on his face. Clearly he was excited about the food.

After cooking and eating enough food to serve an army we spent the majority of our time dancing. Honestly, the kids love to dance. We had a few games and a dance competition and then opened it up to everybody. We attempted to watch a film (something the kids would usually love) but it was clear they wanted to dance…so that is what we did. And I’ll say the only sad thing of the day was watching me try to dance. Honestly, anybody who knows me knows I can’t keep a beat and have zero rhythm so imagine me, the only white person on the floor, trying to keep up with kids that can move – I’m sure it was a sore sight but the kids laughed and that made it worth it.

Thank you Jesus.

Enjoy the pictures below:

Ibra enjoying his Easter dinner, soda and all.

A few of the amazing people that helped make the party possible serving food.

Games are always fun

We were even blessed with a few solo acts.

Container Update!!!!

Container Distribution Record as of April 2011

(Approx. 10 boxes of shoes and clothing remain)

Gulu – January 2011

• 1 huge box of backpacks
• 4 boxes black shoes
• 1 box school supplies
• 2 boxes casual shoes
• 6 boxes/bags of clothes

Bududa – February 2011

• 1 big box of shoes (all casual)
• 1 box of girl’s clothes
• 1 box of boy’s clothes
• 1 big bag of school supplies (pens, pencils, rulers, folders)
• 1 big bag of reading books for school
• 2 bags of candy for the party
• 1 bag of misc gifts for younger children

Kisii, Kenya – March 2011

• 1 huge bag of clothes
• several pairs of shoes
• many boxes of pencils
• 40 toothbrushes

1 box of shoes to Kasokoso school

Street children – over 10 pairs of shoes and over 20 t-shirts given out as needed or as prizes for good behavior at programs

Families

• Children - school bags, school supplies, black shoes, casual shoes, clothing
• Parents – clothing, washcloths, soap, toothbrushes, band-aids

Mama Yvette and family – 3 children, 1 mom

Grace and family – 6 children and both parents

Mama Andrew and family – 4 children and mom

Mama Vincent and family – 4 children and mom

The names below are children that received backpacks, clothes, shoes and plenty of other fun stuff:

Tutu Shaddrock Ellsa Lighton Chloe Emma Angel Beal Derrick Wahab Jon Nelson John Timothy Sam Kasozi Kisakye

Emma Amos Marriet Phionah Bayo Winnie Gift Sarah Byron Calvin Sam Lillian Catherine Faith Sharon Miriam

Josie Sam Kizza Peter Peace Hope Abby Stephanie Esther Shalom Akim Christine Sarah Angel Wasswa Jonathan

**Items were given out based on need, not all children received a backpack, shoes and clothes. All except a few received several items of clothing and black school shoes – backpacks and casual shoes were handed out as necessary

Sundays

There is Tom.

And Wasswa.

And Bwanika.

And Kasule and Michael.

And Alvin and Trevor.

They are kids I know and love. They are all between the ages of 10 – 14 and live on the streets in Kampala. There are thousands more in Kampala, all with a name, all precious to God.

Kasule is in school but the others spend their day picking scrap metal to sell so they can buy food or pay for somewhere to sleep. Some of them pay 10 cents to be able to sleep in an enclosed shelter while others just sleep outside.

Michael wants to be a lawyer when he grows up, Alvin, a headmaster (principal), Bwanika, a comedian and Kasule, a pilot.

Tom loves attention from the leaders who run programs for the kids. Kasule is always smiling and kind of my favorite. Trevor is pretty quiet and Bwanika is always up to something (but always has a good excuse).

They all have their stories. They shared them with me this past weekend. Some want to be re-united with their families and others have no desire. They call the streets their home. The streets shouldn’t be home for anybody, especially children.

I have the amazing privilege of spending Sunday afternoons with them. A friend of mine started a program, Tomorrow’s Heros, for these children. The kids and leaders love it. We all have our teams and team leaders. I’m the proud leader of the Cheetahs. We have team competitions, play games, watch movies, sing, dance, learn about God and hang out. It’s pretty awesome. We provide soap and sponges so they are able to bathe and wash their clothes and of course there’s food at the end. I think they typically come for the food but I come for them.

They are children and it weighs on my heart that they are living on the streets. The truth is I don’t know the solution. It is hard to help a child with no home unless you take them in. They don’t have a foster care system here and I can’t imagine adoption among these kids is common.

I have a few ideas of how to help but really need guidance and direction from God.

Pray for these children. Pray for them by name.

This is where the kids sell scrap metal. They get less than 25 cents for 1 kg.

This is where Trevor sleeps. He has to pay around 10 cents a night to sleep here and he shares it with well over 10 other kids/adults.

This is Kasule showing us where he sleeps. He is an amazing, joyful child. An adult in the community pays for a small room for several boys so he doesn't have to pay to sleep here.

This is my new friend Michael. Below is a picture of where he sleeps outside.

A PIcture is Worth 1000 Words

Here are a few pictures from the past few months.

My darling Andrew. I stopped by to drop off a few clothes for him and his family, he was so excited.

Simon and Amos modeling their new clothes and bags. Again, compliments of the amazing stuff sent on the container.

Since the beginning of January I've been spending my Sundays working with boys that live on the streets. A few of my friends organized a wonderful program called Tomorrow's Heros. In this picture Kasule is showing me where he sleeps.

I think some of the best moments over the past few weeks have been the two trips to the zoo with children I absolutely adore. This past Saturday I took a group of 9 and only 1 had ever been before. They had a blast.

And we did face painting as well at the zoo. Mutabazi and Joshua are super fun.

Further updates are coming soon.

An Hour of Prayer

My shower tonight was super cold, like take-your-breath-away cold. But as soon as I started to feel sorry for myself I remembered the headline on CNN I read minutes before, “The Confirmed Dead and Missing Hits 13,000.” I don’t mean to state the obvious and focus on the terrible news going on in our world and this may seem like a very weird blog post but I feel like this blog doesn’t always have to be about Uganda or what I’m doing here and it probably shouldn’t. All too often my time is spent thinking about myself. Even when I am doing my work here, it is in the context of my time, when I’ll get it done, my schedule, etc. And I am embarrassed at the little time I spend praying and thinking about other people, especially people in other parts of the world.

It is hard to ignore the recent onslaught of horrific news in the past few weeks and while I have spent a bit of time reading the news online, I can’t say I’ve spent time praying for these dear people. I know that God calls us to intercede for people all over the world and tonight as I worried about my cold shower, God reminded me of His dear children in other parts of the world. The pastor of the church I attend in Chicago shared on Romans 12:15 several years ago and this verse comes to mind when I think about God’s people in Japan, Libya, New Zealand. It states, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” This verse is among the many in Romans 12 about how to love others well. And at a time like this I am reminded that we need to get on our knees and mourn and pray for those who are going through terrible times.

When I think about the people in Japan, in the snow looking for their loved ones, my heart feels heavy. In Tunisia last week 2000 people an hour were crossing the boarder in hopes of finding refuge. I can’t even fathom what that looks like. And these are people running for their lives, running to a new country with the stuff on their backs, running to no home, no job, no security or guarantee of food, water, anything. And I was worried about my cold shower. Yuck.

But, rather than dwell on the horrible events and feel overwhelmed and helpless, I am turning to the only One who is capable of providing what these dear people need, my Father.

I believe that it is our privilege to be able to intercede for God’s people all over the world. Tomorrow I am going to commit to spending one hour in prayer for the people of Libya, Japan, New Zealand and the many other places that are experiencing hard times. I ask that you (whoever is reading this) would consider doing the same. I believe in prayer and I know that when God’s people come together in His name things happen. I am going to spend from 5 – 6 pm Uganda time praying for these people and ask that you join in at that time if possible. I think Chicago is either 8 or 9 hours behind Uganda but I’m not really sure. I realize many people have jobs that don’t allow an hour break but if your schedule does permit, I ask that you pray with me.

Thanks for reading and praying.

Gulu and Bududa Are Blessed!

After weeks of sorting shoes, clothes and school supplies I have been able to deliver several boxes of items on two different trips.

The first trip was last week as a friend of mine and I went to Gulu. It was a wonderful trip and we were able to bring:

- 4 boxes of black school shoes

- 2 boxes of casual shoes

- 1 big box of backpacks

- 1 box of school supplies (including supplies for the teacher and children's books)

- 6 boxes/bags of clothing.

The ministry in Gulu is amazing and is doing great work. Pastor Experito is our contact in Gulu and has been there for over 15 years. He started a church in Gulu town and has recently partnered with other people to start a church and school in Kochgoma, a village an hour from Gulu. Gulu is going through a lot of changes right now as people are leaving the IDP (internally displaced people) camps where they have been living for over 15 years and returning to their villages. As the people return to the villages they are rebuilding their homes, working on their land to grow food and rebuilding schools for the children. These supplies will be a huge help as many of the people have very little and have to rebuild communities.

Pastor Experito will be using the school backpacks and school shoes as incentive and rewards for the people who pay for their children's school fees. Since the community is so financially poor, many are unable to pay for school fees but we encourage them to pay what they can and to continue giving throughout the entire school term.

Below are a few pictures of the school in Gulu:

This is the school room for nursery students in Gulu.

Then this past weekend I was able to join a few friends on a trip to Bududa, a village near Mount Elgon, about an hour from Mbale. Last year a village a few kilometers from Bududa was completely destroyed and buried in a landslide. Through partnerships with other organizations, a party was thrown for the children at a local school. This particular school and church we visited is very near where the landslides occurred and have many people in their community that were affected by the incident. The party was to show love and bring a bit of encouragement to the community. Many children we met went to school the day of the landslide and were unable to return home as their families and homes were buried. Children became orphans instantly. The church we visited is doing great things in the village and running both a primary and secondary school. From the container we brought:

1 big box of pencils, folders and other misc school supplies

2 boxes of children’s clothing

1 bag of children’s books

1 big bag of misc toys, water bottles, cute bags, etc

Another organization also donated notebooks and pens so each child had the basic needs met for school.

I’ve included a few pictures of the village below:

Looking super cute in her new pink jacket.

New Shoes!

Yeah - more new shoes!!

Pencils and books!

Thank you again to everybody who helped with this effort; it is a true blessing to the people of Uganda.

I’ll continue to post updates.

What a Surprise!

The container arrived on Monday full of shoes, clothes, school supplies, bikes, backpacks, JIF peanut butter (love that!), medical supplies, and so many other great things. I will continue to post pictures on facebook and update the blog but wanted to first let everybody know that it has arrived!

Also, I want to thank everybody who helped with this project. If you think about how many people worked on this project it is pretty amazing. And then you think about how many people are going to benefit from this and that is incredible!!!!

I didn't know exactly what to expect when the container arrived. I only knew that lots of shoes and clothes were coming and I knew that my mom and her friends put in hundreds of hours into packing boxes and collecting the items. But as I go through the boxes, I am in awe of the love and care that went into this. It is clear that it was more than just people donating old shoes and clothes, putting them in boxes and sending them. I unpacked shoes that were stuffed with packets of Kool-Aid, new pairs of socks, toothbrushes, soap and candy!!! I opened boxes to find the clothes neatly folded and in bags with labels. I found water bottles stuffed with candy and backpacks filled with school supplies. Can you imagine???? I found clothes and shoes that are brand new, darling shoes for precious little girls, sports jerseys that boys will love and children's books that are in perfect condition.

Call me weird, that's fine but I am loving this. I love going through and organizing the boxes and I love thinking about all the children and Ugandans that are going to feel loved by these gifts. I will keep you all posted as the project continues. I suppose to some degree it is just starting on this end.

Thanks again to everybody that poured in time, money, love and care into this. Please know that it is truly appreciated. I only wish some of you were here to help on this end and experience the joy of blessing people with these amazing gifts.

Katakwi Visit - January 2011

Katakwi Report – January 2011

Gospel Sharing

In both villages, Alelesi and Appeleun, I shared on Exodus 14 and 16, the story of how God freed the Israelites out of Egypt, led them across the Red Sea and how He provided for them time and time again. However, as we see through Exodus the Israelites continue to doubt God and at times wish they had never left Egypt. I talked about how many people give their life to Christ but when difficult times come they quickly doubt God and resort to complaining and other ways of dealing with the situation. Witchcraft and worship of ancestral spirits and culture are very common in Africa and I encouraged them to look at the Israelites and check their hearts. We don’t want a faith that is an inch deep but a faith that goes deep. We want to put all of our faith and trust in God alone.

We ought to not judge the Israelites but take the time to check our faith and assess if we turn to God during the tough times or if we complain and resort to other means. The people of both Alelesi and Appeleun spent upwards of 40 years living in camps because of the violence and attacks from the Karamonjog people. Despite the current difficult situations I encouraged them to look back on how God has provided for them and turn to Him in their current situations. Many people are returning back to the villages, starting gardens and living without fear, the very thing they wanted for years. God provided a borehole in each community that has allowed them to build homes and has improved their health drastically.

I also talked about how God provided for the Israelites out of love. He did not provide for them out of obligation or because the Israelites deserved it, he did it because he loved them. We also looked at Luke 12 about how God provides for the ravens and how much more God loves us than birds.

A message we continue to share when we go to these villages is that we come out of love and we feel the most important thing we can bring is the Word of God. We continue to encourage them to come together as a community and worship, pray and read the Word together.

Below are a few details on our visit to each village.

Alelesi

The people of Alelesi seem to be doing well. When we first visited this community about 200 people had returned to the villages and now that number is up to almost 600. It is a great sign that people are leaving the camps, rebuilding their homes and starting to plant crops again.

We heard from many people how the bibles and borehole have really impacted the community. We heard stories from the community how many people have started going to church and both the local Catholic and Pentecostal churches are starting to construct more permanent buildings.

We also heard how the overall health of the community has improved drastically b/c of the borehole. They said that there are very few cases of diarrhea and skin rashes. They also said that they are able to accomplish a lot more during their days since they spend less time fetching water. We heard from one woman that her health has drastically improved with the new borehole b/c she is living with AIDS and previously the long distance to fetch water would make her extremely tired and she would have stop several times on the long trip. She is so grateful that with the clean water and easy access she is in much better health. We also heard from many people that abuse in the homes has decreased since the time it takes to fetch water has decreased. The several hours that it would take before would cause fights in the homes between husbands and wives and there would also be fights at the boreholes due to the amount of people waiting to get water.

We gave the community the bicycle that was donated and they were very excited. They are going to elect a committee to oversee the maintenance and operations of the bike. Since the bike will be available for the entire community to rent at a very small cost, the committee will oversee the scheduling and collection of money. We told the community that the purpose of the bike was 1) for emergency situations when somebody got sick and needed to go to the clinic and 2) for people to rent, as they need to go to town for the markets to either sell their crops or buy supplies. They were very receptive to this and the committee will put together rules and regulations for the use of the bicycle.

The borehole committee has collected over 300,000 shillings from monthly collections from the community and is lending out the money to the community, as they need it. Many people have been able to take their sick children to the clinic with this money and some have started small businesses.

Lastly, our relationship with community leaders continues to be positive and we are learning more and more about the community.

Appeleun

The village of Appeleun is doing well and people continue to be relocating to the village from the camps. We saw several new homesteads as we drove through the village and many new gardens growing cassava and greens.

It is clear that the community continues to put forth effort in their new church. As we saw from last time they have constructed a shelter with a grass roof where they meet for church and we learned from some church leaders that they will be making bricks in the near future to construct a more permanent structure. We were able to meet the layperson pastor they have selected as well as a few church leaders and elders. They have also a woman from the community that leads Sunday school for the children and the church has a choir as well. As we arrived we saw many people bring their bibles, which is so encouraging to see.

We gave the church the bicycle that was donated and they were very excited. They were going to elect a committee to oversee the maintenance and operations of the bike. Since the bike will be available for the entire community to rent at a very small cost the committee will oversee the scheduling and collection of money. We told the community that the purpose of the bike was 1) for emergency situations when somebody got sick and needed to go to the clinic and 2) for people to rent, as they need to go to town for the markets to either sell their crops or buy supplies. They were very receptive to this and the committee will put together rules and regulations for the use of the bicycle. We made it very clear that the bicycle was a resource and tool for the church.

The borehole committee has collected over 90,000 shillings from monthly collections from the community and is lending out the money to the community, as they need it. Many people have been able to take their sick children to the clinic with this money.

Lastly, our relationship with community leaders continues to be positive and we are learning more and more about the community.

Prayer Requests

Alelesi - Unification of the community, especially between church leaders in the Pentecostal and Catholic churches

Borehole and Bicycle committees for wisdom and leadership in the community. These committess are responsible for community money and we need to pray that they handle it in a responsible manner.

Good weather conditions for optimal harvesting of crops – appropriate amount of rain is key. With too much rain the crops rot while they are in the ground and with not enough rain the crops fail to grow. Both situations can lead to famine.

Appeleun – wisdom and discernment for the church leaders, continued development of disciples within the church and outreach to the community to bring people to Christ.

Safety from attacks and violence. While we were there 6 cows were stolen and this tends to lead in increase violence when the Karamonjog raid the villages for their cattle.

Increased hope and trust in God, deeper faith and relationships with Christ – that the people would not resort to witchcraft or other cultural traditions that go against God and the Bible

Well Hello 2011

I originally sat down to write this blog about my recent trip to Katakwi. However, as I was reading a book by David Platt tonight on my taxi ride home, I came across a section that has really got me thinking. The truth is that the entire book has me thinking and is awesome (and I’d type it all on this blog but that may not be legal so I’ll just encourage you to purchase it), as are his sermons so I thought it appropriate to share this and the update on Katakwi will have to come later.

Platt asks this question, “Do we believe the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following him?” He then goes through Matthew 10 and lists the risks that Jesus said we would encounter if we did follow him. Matthew 10:8 says, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Jesus is telling his disciples about the kind of people they would be among: the sick, the dying and the diseased. Jesus goes on to say in verse 16, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.” Clearly danger was added to the list of what the disciples could expect. Lastly, Matthew 10: 22-23, “All men will hate you because of me... when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” Jesus said when, not if.

So there you have it: the sick, the dying, the diseased, danger and persecution. I am onboard with going to the sick, the diseased and the dying. I am not sure about how I feel about danger. And I’m definitely not in love with the idea of being persecuted. With that said, I want a faith in which I would do whatever it takes. I want a faith that is so confident of the reward found in Jesus that I knew it was worth the risk at any cost.

It’s funny because on hard days when I think about going home, I think about how much easier things would be. I think about the support of my family and friends, ease of living (hot water, washing machines, street signs) and as of lately the food. But as it turns out, whether it is here or Chicago, the message of Matthew 10 does not say go to the comfortable places with healthy, safe, loving people. Jesus says to bring the gospel to the nations and he tells us what to expect when we do so. Shoot.

As it stands in Uganda, we are free to preach the Word of Christ without worry of danger and persecution but what about the unreached people who live in countries where being a Christian gets you killed? I kind of want to say that I’ll trust others to go there but if I’m honest, and Platt does a great job reminding us of this in the book, we don’t that freedom. The Bible tells us to go and to be prepared for how hard it will be. But the Bible also tells us of the great reward for doing so. As you keep reading Matthew 10 verse 39 says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” So I pray for a faith that leads wherever God commands, be it Mongolia, Indonesia, Somalia or Chicago (although I hope there’s coffee wherever I go).

I’ll end with one more quote from Platt’s book, “This is the unavoidable conclusion of Matthew 10. To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus.”

But to that I say, I don’t want to stay away from Jesus.

Here's the Deal...

Disclaimer – this is raw, not well written and super honest. It doesn’t paint the prettiest picture of my life but it’s the truth.

Ok, here’s the deal: I do not like blogging. I want to like it, I want to be good at it but honestly, it feels like homework and the actual practice of sitting down and writing a blog stresses me out. I want to blog more often and keep people informed about my life in Uganda (although that feels like I am being a bit self-important), however, it always comes down to what to write. I feel like blogging is somehow like Facebook, there is this tendency to only post the positive things and not always the entire truth. I’m not saying that we should be posting our innermost struggles on Facebook but it feels artificial sometimes. It is my tendency to blog about the good things that are going on and even in the tough times how God is providing and comforting me, and all that is true. But that is not the entire picture and while I’m not sure this is the right forum to discuss the other stuff that isn’t so fun, I feel a responsibility to give a fuller picture on this blog. And since this is my blog, I guess I can write whatever I wish.

I knew moving to Uganda by myself, being the only white person in the village would be difficult. I expected to struggle with loneliness and frustration and cultural differences but I guess I had an inflated view of myself and in my ability to handle the issues. I say this because so far, they have been far more difficult than I ever imagined. I also knew that I wanted to come to a place where all I truly wanted was Jesus. And while I knew that place would be a place of hardship, I never imagined it would take coming to a place of crappy, lonely, crazy tough situations where I don’t know which way is up and I feel like I am having a crisis of faith several times a day to truly only want Jesus. I guess it makes sense when you think about it. When else would you only want Jesus? If things are good, if they are great, if they are even just ok, I don’t think we’re at a place of only wanting Jesus. We may want him, but not only him because I imagine in those situations we have other good things as well. I guess the key to only wanting Jesus results in desperation. And that my friends, is where I am (FYI – word grammar program just told me that is a fragment and not a sentence but writing is not my spiritual gift so I am going to leave it. Sorry to those who are bothered by poor grammar). I’m not trying to get you to feel sorry for me or say “woe is me,” I am merely trying to be honest because I have read far too many blogs written by people in similar situations as me and they seem to have lives of great joy and fruit (in the spiritual sense) and it makes me feel crazy. It makes me wonder if I am doing this all wrong to be experiencing this level of struggle or possibly they are also dealing with it but choosing not to write about it, which is entirely their right.

Moving on in the spirit of honesty and vulnerability, I guess I’ll include a few updates of what is going on over here with my life. I just returned from a short visit to the US to see friends and family, and I can positively say that if it weren’t for these amazing people, I would have lost my mind a long time ago. They are wonderful and I am missing them in big ways right now. But now that I am back I have a few things on my plate. First of all I am on a mission to move out of my current apartment. I have spent the last 14 months living in Nkumba, very close to the school and church. However, it is time to move on and that makes me super sad and scared. I know it is necessary to leave but it doesn’t make it easy. I have spent a year getting to know the kids and people in this community and moving on to another place does not seem like fun. With that, I am also walking away from the ministry here in Nkumba. For reasons that I will not mention, I will no longer be working with the school or church. Again, it is necessary but I do not like it. With that said, I did find a new apartment on Saturday and it is exactly what I need but it still feels scary. Moving is never easy and even if you move 15 minutes away, it can feel like hundreds of miles because of all the new faces and new places. And I’m scared of being lonely (in all honesty). My current neighbors are awesome. However, it is a huge blessing to have found a place so quickly, so I will thank God for his provision.

Through all of this I have experienced wonderful gifts of God and met several of His precious, loving children but I have also seen the other side. It makes me incredibly sad to see the brokenness of people, the pride of people and the sin that surrounds all of us, but when things get this tough I think we get to the exact place where God wants us: where we desire only Him. The next step after desiring Him is to depend on Him and trust 100% in Him. My dear friend has this statement on her Facebook, “I want to be in situations where only Jesus can get me out of because I followed Him there.” I love that, it true but from my experience those situations are not the easy places and I am not sure I have the courage to follow Him to those places – one of those things that is easier said than done. They are the places where I doubt God, where I don’t feel like I can trust anybody and where I find myself in a place with absolutely zero idea of what to do.

With all of that said, do I have good days here? Absolutely. Do I have days where I can really sense God’s presence? Yes. Do I have hard days where I am comforted by knowing that God is in control? Certainly. Do I have days when I feel like this is where I am supposed to be and this is where God wants me? Yes. However, I also have days when I question if I made a huge mistake in coming here. I have days and moments when I question if God loves me and is going to coming to my aide (ok, this is me being so vulnerable right now). I have days when I don’t know what to do or how to serve the people that surround me. But in all of that and through all the frustration and tears I try to turn to God and His Word because, after all, that is all I have, whether I feel it or not.

So, there is it. An honest view from a girl who truly desires to love God with all her strength, mind, heart and soul and a girl who wants to be who God created her to be but is just having a hard time getting there.

So Thankful

‎"If the only prayer you say in your entire life is "thank you," 
that will suffice." Meister Eckhardt

Precious Father, thank you for the love of my dear family and friends. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comprehend how or why they love me like they do but I will be forever grateful. It is through them that I learn how to love others better. I know they are a gift from you.

Thank you for the challenges I’ve faces this past year that have brought me closer to you. It is often that I turn to you during difficult times and I have seen you show up in amazing, loving ways.

Lord, thank you for all the new experiences and places you have led me in Uganda. You have led me to Nkumba, Entebbe, Katakwi, Kisii (in Kenya) and countless other villages where I have met your precious children.

Thank you for the people in my life that are difficult for it is through them I learn to truly love and turn to you. Your word says to love your enemies, to pray for them and to ask you to bless them and without those people I would not experience your blessing in doing so. I feel like it is during difficult times and through difficult people that we are stretched and grow in our relationship with you.

Lord, thank you for By the Hand Club for Kids. The staff and children of By the Hands are absolutely wonderful. I feel so blessed to have spent so much time and energy with such an awesome, Christ-centered organization. The kids and staff have brought me closer in my relationship with you and for that I am thankful.

Thank you for River City Community Church. This is my church home. I absolutely adore this place and wish I could bring it with me to Uganda. The teaching and people are stellar and a rare gift. I pray that you would lead me to such a place in Uganda.

Thank you for the love of the Ugandan people. Over the past year I have met countless Ugandans that have opened their arms and hearts to me and through them I have seen you.

Lord thank you for Facebook and cell phones.

Thank you for the community in Arizona that has embraced me as their own, as one they have known for years.

Jesus, thank you for Gift, Sarah, Amuge, Sobla, Peter, Kizza, Josie, Yvette, Sharif, Lillian, Marriet, Phionah, Shilom, Hope, Sam, Andrew, Josephine, Winnie, Fatuma, Akim, Peanut and all the other hundreds of children that I absolutely adore in Uganda.

Lastly Lord, thank you for being a God that loves His people. I have been overwhelmed lately with all the suffering going on in the world. In the past week 3 Chicago police officers have been killed. It hurts to watch as their families grieve. I met with one of the girls I used to work with in Cabrini Green and my heart aches for her and misses her dearly. She is going through a difficult time and my heart is heavy for her. I am thankful for knowing that you are all they need. Even if I could be in multiple places at the same time I know I have nothing to offer compared to your healing love. You provide more comfort and peace and love than I ever could. Thank you.