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.