In Tune with God

Right now I am thinking about what it takes to keep in tune with God.  

This afternoon I went downstairs to get on-line.  I was chatting with my daughter when the Sunday guard came up to me and ask about the BMU (Baptist Mission); what’s it all about?  I told him it was made up of missionaries who had come to Uganda to share Jesus Christ with others.  He was interested.   But I said that I was talking to my daughter and I would talk to him in a few minutes.

He stood there a few minutes and I suddenly thought, “He wants to talk now, I can talk to my daughter later.”  So I closed up my computer and invited Gideon to sit down and talk.  I ask him what he knew about Jesus.  He was a Catholic but had learned a lot about Jesus from sermons he had heard and from school (yes, you can talk about the Bible, Jesus, etc here).  In fact, he knew what it meant to be a born-again believer, he just didn’t know how to become one.  So, I led him through the steps and he prayed to accept Christ into his life.

As we continued to talk, Gideon told me he was here at our compound just for today.  He was substituting-- trying to get some ‘over-time’ so that he could pay school fees for his two sisters.  I asked him if he had gone to school.  He had finished S4 (10th grade) but that is when both his parents died.  He is male and the oldest (age 22) so it is his responsibility to take care of the family.  So, he moved to Kampala and found a job as a night guard.  The sisters are in an orphanage in the village because it is easier to go to school there.  He can pay for school “little by little”.

The point of my story, as awesome as it is, is that I almost missed the opportunity.   I don’t get to chat with my daughter very much.  I was busy.  And I almost missed it.  Maybe it was the Lord that nudged me and said, ‘he’s waiting’.  This time I heard, and thankfully I obeyed and  I now have a new brother in Christ.  

But I wonder how many times I do miss the opportunity because I am busy or because I am not listening.  Lord, help me to be intentional every day and “in tune” with you.  Help me hear and obey.

Pure Joy International Ladies Retreat

 At the beginning of March 49 missionary ladies and I  went to the beautiful Speke Hotel for the Pure Joy International Ladies Retreat.  From the moment we arrived I could see that this was something different.  This team of ladies from the States greeted us by name (we had sent them our pictures when we registered), carried our bags to our rooms, and started getting to know us. The next couple of days were amazing.  They showered us with gifts, goodies, cards from prayer supporters, and time to get to know each other.

The participants were from all over Uganda.  Some had been here many years some were relatively new.  Some worked in Bible colleges,  some in orphanages, some did church planting,  some were in schools, some worked with women and/ or children and some with other ministries.  We now have contacts with so many different ministries in all parts of the country (and Kenya).

The worship time led by Patty,  along with Penny and Becky was awesome.  We heard some amazing stories from Sharon from her time as a missionary in Ecuador. Janet talked to us about our marriages and families as she shared about her family.  So practical!!  The founder and  leader, Vickie, gave us valuable nuggets of truth as we talked about husbands, children, marriage, communication, ourselves--our ministries and who we are. We talked, laughed, shared, relaxed, laughed, and felt “narded”. (John 12:3)

Patty, Becky, Penny - our awesome Worship Team

Vickie sharing a "nugget"

 Pure Joy International has 2 to 3 retreats each year that they take to different parts of the world, depending where the Lord shows them.  9 ladies came -- all paying their own way and all brought together by the Father to make each retreat unique.  And behind the scenes were prayer partners and sponsors who shared their resources and talents with the rest of us.  What a blessing they are.  Check out their blog -- Pure Joy International blog.  They are always looking for people to be a part of the team.

                    Thank you,  Penny, Vickie, Becky, Sharon, Colleen, Janet, Kathy, Patty, and Kathy (Boots)not shown

                                            We were all so encouraged and lifted up beyond what we ever dreamed!

Weekend with Friends: Love Your Neighbor

Sunday afternoon:  Love Your Neighbor 

project 

Knowing that Monday was going to be Valentine’s day--a big day here, our Kampala team  decided on a project called  Love Your Neighbor.  We chose three ladies to honor by giving a food basket full of the typical African food items:  posho, rice, beans, sugar, cooking oil, margarine, bread, soap, etc 

Molly and Lucy are leaders of the house church that Lynn used to lead.  He and Gene Wright have been training  leaders and they are two of them.  Molly's(left) husband has been without work for the past year and a half  and Lucy’s (right) husband just died a couple of weeks ago.

 Agnes is sick and also needed the food.  We did not tell the ladies that we were coming, so it was a big surprise.  They were blessed by the gift, but we were even more blessed by them.

Of course. there are always lots of kids, and again, they were all drawn to Mike.

 What a great day!  It is such a privilege to be living at this time in this place!

A Weekend with Friends: Church in Kawempe

Sunday morning:  Pastor Deo’s own church in Kawempe

We chose to take Mike to Pastor Deo’s church.  It is somewhat different from some of the other churches in that you have to hike a ways to get to it.  There are no roads that will take you all the way.  So, loaded up with necessities that today included a sound system, we followed Pastor Deo.

This church does not have a building in which to meet, although they have found some property to purchase and are saving towards doing that soon.  Instead, one of the ladies consented to let the church meet on her property.  Each Sunday they put up a tarp to keep out the sun (it does not keep out the rain) and set up the chairs.

We were blessed to hear first, the children’s Sunday School choir and then the Adult choir sing songs for us with the drums as accompaniment.

Mike also sang a beautiful song then preached another wonderful sermon. 

A Weekend with Friends: House Church in Kimombasa

Saturday afternoon:  House Church in Kimombasa

This afternoon we traveled across town to a brand new house church led by Pastor Deo.  This area was so much easier to enter because the terrain was relatively flat. 

 It wasn’t too long after we got there that ladies and a few men started to congregate.  We all took time to greet everyone as they came.

Mike got to do what he does so extremely well - give the Gospel message simply and clearly.  

About 15 people responded; some for the first time and some to rededicate their lives.  It was amazing!

Afterwards, Pastor Deo gave out Bible Way materials to start them on their journey of growing in the Christian life.  

A Weekend with Friends: Soweto

 Saturday morning

This past weekend was spent with friends, Mike and Audrey, from the Northwest.  They came to see us and what we are doing here in Kampala.  The weekend was so full that I am going to divide it up into segments.  The first morning we walked through the Soweto slum where I work.  It was good to go with them because I am there so much, I don’t ‘see’ what it really looks like.  It was good to see it anew from their eyes. 

Audrey and Mike wanted to share bracelets with the children.  I started to tell them to wait, but I didn’t catch them fast enough.  

At first, there were only a few young children and they were so excited about having something from the ‘mzungus’.

But soon older children came and they crowded around and pushed the younger ones away.  I think everyone received one.

The children loved Mike and hung onto his arms.  I wanted to call him the Pied Piper because he soon had 15-20 kids following everywhere we went.

At my Bible study site we had so many children, we started singing songs in English -- which they didn’t understand.  But one of my ladies, Joscelin, knew the same song in their language so she led them.  

Audrey greeted them and gave an encouraging word from the Bible.

   Pictures seen on the way.

A window in a house on the way

 The sewer system is getting backed up with trash.

                                                                                                Bags of charcoal that is used to cook with.

Chickens sold in the market.

Nsanyu Babies Home

Monday morning I accompanied a team from the US to Nsanyu Babies Home.    It was started in 1926 for orphan babies up to three years old.  I was impressed with the organization and cleanliness of the place.

The first hour we were there we worked -- making beds, mopping floors,  folding and sorting a huge pile of clothes.  I didn’t mind because there was so much to do.

But finally, we got to go to the  area where the babies were. 

 Lynn and I went to a room with about 20 little ones--from just a few months old to young toddlers.  The hard part is that we were not allowed to take pictures or to hold them.  How can you work with babies and not hold them?  The reasoning was that when they are held, they want to be held all the time. Too many for 2 teachers to hold all the time. 

 We played and sang and talked to all of them.  We also got to help feed and brush their teeth.  The babies went swimming in little individual pools and just like most babies, they loved splashing.  I didn’t swim but I certainly got wet.

After we fed the children. it was time to leave.  They were so tired some of them were falling asleep as they ate.