The Marketplace: Concy & Stella

I'm so encouraged that through our updates you have the opportunity to "meet" those the Lord has connected us with here in Uganda. Along with Tim's weekly discipleship group,

I have also had the blessing of leading a small discipleship group with two incredible women. I've grown to know these two beautiful souls and a deep friendship has grown. We began our discipleship study last year and I can't begin to tell you how encouraged I am by their dedication, openness and the love they have for others. 

Concy is such a sweet-spirited woman, who loves praising the Lord. I was encouraged the other day when I decided to pass by her shop. As I approached it, I found her sitting with her Bible opened on her lap. She only has a grade 3 education and went to tailoring school for 3 weeks. Yet, she is able to understand, read and speak English extremely well.  She is also a wonderful tailor!

What can I say about Stella? Her name literally means "star" and she exemplifies just that. I've never met a person whose smile lights up a room quite like hers. Stella opened her own tailoring shop in 2014, instead of joining a family business she was not proud of. She has chosen to live for the Lord and what a beautiful testimony of God's grace she has. Stella is soft-spoken and one of the most tenderhearted women I know. 

Uganda is a place the Lord etched into my heart years ago. And although the landscapes are breathtaking and the wildlife incredible... it's people that have been placed deep within. Uganda is a country that has suffered deeply and known the devastation only war could bring.  Families torn apart by an army built on child soldiering and spiritual confusion. Brokenness and despair left as a consolation prize, flooding the lands of the north. 

 And yet, there is a deep beauty that has been unearthed. 

Out of brokenness and suffering, great beauty can be found. 

The Lord spoke to my heart upon returning from Uganda in 2008. It wasn't anything large-scale, in fact, it was quite small. I left Uganda with the image of a pearl seared into my mind. A few weeks after reaching home, I left again on a trip - this time to Great Britain & Europe. During one of our "adventure" walks, my best friend and I came across a statue of Winston Churchill. Even at that point, I had yet to discover a connection would be made.  For whatever reason, in my search to understand what the Lord was trying to speak to me, I came across an interesting discovery... Uganda was actually known as the Pearl of Africa." And more specifically, Winston Churchill is often referred to as the one who made that claim in his 1908 book called My African Journey,

"The Kingdom of Uganda is a fairy tale. The scenery is different, the climate is different and most of all, the people are different from anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole range of Africa... For magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life - bird, insect, reptile, beast - for vast scale - Uganda is truly the Pearl f Africa."

A pearl is a precious gem created from the place of pain. An irritant (parasite, sand, etc) enters the oysters shell and the oyster begins coating it with a milky substance as means to protect itself. It doesn't push the irritant out, or avoid it. 

But a pearl is literally created as a result of the pain caused.

 "Some jewels may be made from rocks and crystals, other jewels might be mined out of the   earth, but not so pearls. Unlike other gems, pearls are drawn from something that's alive.      Pearls are produced by a life that has overcome affliction, that has overcome suffering.                                Little wonder they are so valuable!" - Joni Eareckson Tada

And more so... Jesus' life is the perfect example of this suffering to beauty promise. 

"Jesus is the Pearl of Great Price. He is unlike any other. Our Savior is a precious gem set      apart from the rest. He lived in such a way that he overcame suffering and affliction.... Jesus overcame the working of death. He is superior because his love poured forth from a life wounded by pain. He has become our example. And he has bound us together with                        other believers who value his precious friendship." - Joni Eareckson Tada

      There is a great treasure here in Uganda and I've been blessed to find two such pearls.

I encourage you to look at the brokenness of those around you and perhaps even in your own life. You'll be amazed at the treasure you'll discover if you allow the Lord to take the pain and shape it into a precious pearl. Wear it for others to see the beauty and grace of the Lord upon your life. Dig deep and find it someone else's life. 

And know that without a doubt, 

You. Are. Loved. 

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Source:
1. Winston Churchill. https://kabiza.com/kabiza-wilderness-safaris/why-is-uganda-called-the-pearl-of-africa/
2.  Joni Eareckson Tada. Pearls of Great Price: 366 Daily Devotional Readings

August Update

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PASTORAL DISCIPLESHIP

I think one of my favorite things about being a missionary is that we can be on the other side of the world and still have so many great people a part of our lives supporting and encouraging us. We’d like to take that one step further and give you the chance to help us in a hands-on way. I’m sure you’re thinking one of two things right now: I’d love to go to Uganda someday, or no way I’m sitting on a plane that long! But I have a different way for you to get involved. We’re working to create lessons and Bible studies that will be used to train rural pastor and would love for your help to review what we have prepared and offer your input.

This wouldn’t take a huge commitment, it would be up to you how much you feel like contributing. We would email you weekly with our lesson guides and you would email us back with any errors, thoughts, verse to add, or any points that aren’t clear to understand. If your interested in having us send the lessons to you weekly, shoot us an email and we’ll start sending the lessons to you. Even if you would just like to see what some of the lessons are like feel free to sign up.

 As Ecclesiastes says “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Please prayerfully consider being a part of discipleship here in Uganda in this exciting way!

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OFF WE GO!

Almost five months after ordering our vehicle, we finally have it! It was imported from Japan, like almost every vehicle in Uganda and is a Toyota Surf (equivalent of a Toyota Four Runner). It took three days of running around and finishing up paperwork in Kampala but it's now at our home in Gulu and working wonderfully.

Having a vehicle is really exciting for two reasons: first, we can actually get around town as a family without having to hitch a ride or borrow a car from friends. And second, we’re now able to drive outside of town to do more ministry in the villages where we want to focus our ministry. This vehicle is a huge blessing and we thank the Lord for his provision. 

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OUR JOURNEY

As many of you know, Tim and I met in the very place we are serving today. Our story would look very different if both of us hadn't followed the Lord's calling to Gulu, Uganda back in 2010. We are reminded of this everyday as we serve Him here in Northern Uganda.  Looking back over the past 5 years of marriage, it's incredible to see the Lords provision, guidance and preparation woven into every step we've taken. Serving the youth and families of Bethel Community Church for 3 years was never in our initial "plans" and yet its incredible how the Lord works.

Before I met Tim, I felt the Lord speak to me that I'd serve alongside my husband in full-time ministry. And more specifically, I sensed he'd be a youth pastor. Now, upon meeting Tim (who never planned to be a pastor), I resolved that being a missionary was close enough. Once married and plans made for missions, I laid that little thought aside. Little did I know, that God was preparing us to serve as youth pastors church BEFORE moving to the mission field.  Our journey reminds me that the Lord goes before us, even when that journey looks different than you thought. He is making a way for us, just as He is making a way for you!

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PRAYER POINTS

• Our Acholi review has been going well - it's essential for us to learn the language so we can disciple those in the village without need for a translator.
• Tomorrow, Tim & Pastor Thomas will be going to the villages of Paicho & Omel to make plans for Pastoral Discipleship.