Wedding: Pastor Thomas & Betty

Two weekends ago, we had the privilege of standing alongside Pastor Thomas and Betty as they made a marriage covenant before God and the church. As with any wedding, the preparations and rehearsals, last minute errands and decorating all came to an end. The wedding began about 3 hours late, and continued well after dark. 

As Best Man and Matron of Honour, we were responsible to provide pre-marital counseling, demonstrate how to place the ring on each others finger, help cut the cake, wipe the sweat off the bride and grooms face, and basically never leave their side. Tim also assumed responsibility of driving the bridal party/ family to and from the church/reception as the other car cancelled the morning of due to a burial in the village. Tim, in a full long-sleeved suit and dripping with sweat didn't mind that part! I, on the other hand, prepared tea and snacks for 17 ladies in our house the morning of as they had weaves put in, make up put on and helped the bride prepare for her big day.

There were more responsibilities as the day went on, and most were learned on the spot: 
1. The wedding march included a long, slow "walk" across the compound and down the aisle with coordinated footwork. All said, it was about a 30 minute "walk" to get to the front of the church.
2. Cake cutting involved more than the bride and groom. 
3. After cake is cut, the bride and groom hand out pieces of cake to every person attending.
4. Smaller cakes are given out to the head of each family as gifts. I followed holding Betty's dress. 
5. Part of the reception includes the bride and groom changing into their changing
 clothes: matching traditional style clothing.
6. After changing, the bride searches the crowd for her husband who has hidden himself. 
7. As Matron of Honour, I held up the back of the brides dress following behind the bride
wherever she went. My responsibility was to never leave her side.

When Tim had encouraged Pastor Thomas to marry his "wife" a few months back, we didn't know we'd be as involved in the process. However, as a part of pre-marital counseling, we explained the 5 Love Languages and had each of them discover which ones they were. It was also interesting to learn the Acholi views on marriage. The next morning at church after Pastor Thomas had thanked family, church and us for our support, he looked over at Betty and said, "Now, I'd like for my sweetheart to share something." Betty blushed. A simple, yet very endearing remark made my heart smile. The overseeing pastor addressed Pastor Thomas and his new bride Betty as "official" pastors now that they had made that covenant before God. Betty was now encouraged to step into ministry as Pastor Thomas's wife and helpmate. It was such a blessing to join in the celebration as these two made a commitment before God to love each each other for the rest of their lives. 

We look forward to sharing life together as our responsibility to them didn't end on the wedding day. We are marriage support to them going forward. In fact, the night of the wedding they ended up staying at our home due to the number of out of town guests staying at their home. Through out the past few months, we've become one big happy family!

The Marketplace: Suffering & Sovereignty

"I will no more suffer,

I will not beg for bread.

You're the miracle,

You have the superpower."

- Ugandan Worship Song

Suffering.
To endure pain or hardship; to sustain loss or damage. 
It's circumstances that overwhelm, attempts to drag you down and leave you helpless in a deep pit. I could go on.... 

To suffer. It's a word that is all too common on this side of the world. After seemingly endless years of war, poverty and devastation... the people of Uganda have suffered, just as the rest of us have in one way or another. It's not something we enjoy. It's not something we like to endure or walk patiently through. 

And it's definitely not something we typically welcome into our lives with open arms. 

In our marketplace discipleship, we have been working through the book of Job through a study called Suffering & Sovereignty. We've been wrestling with this question, "if we know we will suffer, then how do we learn to suffer well?"

This week we are focusing on chapters 26-30. Through Job's suffering so far we've seen a lot of partial "wisdom" and false theology provided by Job's friends. We also seen a whole lot of complaining and arguing in attempts to discover the reason as to why Job is suffering. In our study, we've been challenged to change our perspective from "woe is me" to "God is with me".  To know without a doubt, that God is sovereign and God is good. And in our suffering we have the choice to either pull away from God or push into God. 

 "From the Book of Job readers can learn how to challenge the false concepts related to suffering and how to maintain a loving and meaningful relationship, in the midst of suffering, with the sovereign God." - Larry J. Waters

I am no expert in suffering, but through our study we've come up with a few things to help us as we learn to suffer well. 

1. Acknowledge you are suffering
2. Acknowledge your feelings & surrender your them to God
3. Allow God & others to speak into your life
4. Trust in the sovereignty of God & know HE IS GOOD all the time

I can't imagine ever wanting to suffer, yet James 1:2-5 makes it very clear that we should learn to suffer well by considering our trials as pure joy.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Pure joy? Really? 

Wow. That's definitely not the thought I typically have when trials appear as towering mountains. We can get caught in the thought that if we serve and live a life pleasing to Christ, we will only receive his blessings. While he does bless us in more ways than we often recognize, in reality suffering just part of life. We suffer because of our own sin, struggle and because we have simply chosen to follow the Lord. And yet, the response we should aim for when deep in the pit of suffering, is joy. Pure joy. But how do we get there? 

It's a process. Challenging ourselves to a new way of thinking about suffering is hard. It's a cultivating of faith and trust in the One who sees all, knows all and walks with you through it all. Lean hard into God. His arms are open, waiting and ready for you. 

"He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me.
The more intense the pain, the close His embrace."
- Joni Eareckson Tada

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Larry J. Water, Reflections on Suffering From the Book of Job

Joni Eareckson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain,  

and God's Sovereignty

September Update

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VILLAGE TRAINING

Training up pastors and church leaders in rural Uganda has always been our main calling, and now that we have a vehicle we're beginning to see it take place. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, Pastor Thomas and I (Tim) head to either the village of Cwero or Omel.  It's a makes for a long day beginning at 8 am with packing up food for those attending and returning home between 6 or 7 pm. It has been exciting to see God developing these leaders as the weeks progress. Our first two units of study have been Discipleship and Studying the Bible.  In the next month we'll do a overview of the redemption story told throughout the whole Bible and Spiritual Disciplines.  

Each class has a little over a dozen students coming from a total of 9 churches.  Its been really interesting to hear the questions they have ranging from sermon preparation to birth control.  The questions that are asked are incredibly useful to us as we try to teach discipleship in a way that is relevant to their lives and ministries. Keep these training times in your prayers as we seek to equip church leaders with tools that will bless their churches.

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MARKETPLACE DISCIPLESHIP

To suffer. It's a word all too common on this side of the world. After seemingly endless years of war, poverty and devastation... the people of Uganda have suffered, just as the rest of us have in one way or another. It's not something we enjoy. It's not something we like to endure or walk patiently through. And it's definitely not something we typically welcome into our lives with open arms. In our marketplace discipleship, we have been working through the book of Job through a study called Suffering & Sovereignty. We've been wrestling with this question, "if we know we will suffer, then how do we learn to suffer well?"

This week we are focusing on chapters 26-30. Through Job's suffering, we've seen a lot of partial "wisdom" and false theology provided by Job's friends. We also see a whole lot of complaining and arguing in attempts to discover the reason as to why Job is suffering. In our study, we've been challenged to change our perspective from "woe is me" to "God is with me".  To know without a doubt, that God is sovereign and God is good. And in our suffering we have the choice to either pull away from God or push into God. I'm always encouraged by the ladies and their willingness to share and openness to grow as we walk this journey of learning the truth of the Word together.

Read more thoughts on Suffering & Sovereignty. 

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ADVENTURES ON THE HOME FRONT

I was trying to come up with a catchy title for this area of ministry and thought it might be a nice opportunity to share with all of you part of my work here in Uganda. While, I am thankful for the opportunity to help Tim prepare lessons, learn Acholi and disciple a few ladies… home is where I find myself most days. Our overall goal is to disciple pastors with little or no Biblical training, however, my role isn’t as focused on that at the moment. Adapting to life in a new culture has had its challenges and learning to raise a little one in that culture, definitely makes for some interesting times.Trust me when I say there is plenty to keep me busy! Two words… potty training.

That said, I’ve been encouraged to make our home an embassy for both my family and others. A place of peace and hospitality for those who enter it. It’s a big task! The biggest area I’ve been challenged in, is simply the art of cooking. Living here has forced me to be creative and I’ve actually begun to enjoy cooking for the first time in my life. Life is just a little harder, dirtier and hotter than what I’ve been accustomed to. Yet, it’s also caused me to lean a little harder into the Lord, relying on him for strength and energy. One person the Lord has brought into our lives to teach me a thing or two, is Christine (Auntie Christine to Silas). It’s been a blessing to have her watch Silas for a few hours each week so I can disciple a few ladies in the market. She cares for Silas in a loving way and they are often found singing when I return home. She has become a part of our family here. Looking back over the past year, I’ve finally begun to feel at home in the world and keep my focus on the little life the Lord has called me to minister to, Silas James.
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PRAYER & PRAISE POINTS

• Pastor Thomas & Betty were married on October 7th. Everything came together and the day was a beautiful expression of two lives devoted to the Lord and His purposes. We were blessed to share in their special day. 
• Please pray for the ongoing Pastoral Training in the villages of  Omel and Cwero.