I realized that all this time I have been updating and sharing thoughts of my time here in Arua I have never fully shared what I do each week so this may help out with praying and just understanding what I am doing.

Monday- Student Ministry meeting to go over the past weeks ministry. Also prep day to learn the story I will be teaching and I generally use the rest of the day to do general street evangelism around town.

Tuesday- Team meeting for the whole team. Then I go to Crain Secondary school to teach the story for the week, and after telling the story we discuss it. Right now we are on the fall of man Gen 3.

Wednesday- Most the day is spent in town meeting with guys I have met and trying to share Christ more with them. Their names are: Francis, Khan, Robert, also a group of Muslim men who cook and sell goat meat about 6 of them. Then I have childrens bible study and we are working our way from creation to Christ we are now on Jesus and the centurion.

Thursday- I go to a vocational school in the morning and teach the stories and then I have Mandela secondary school where we have three guys who come to story group. They are the best and most engaged guys over all. Their names are: Andrew, Godwin, and Grishum.

Friday- This is our day off and I normally still make it a point to go to town and talk with people and see what happens. From time to time I will go to White Castle and go swimming and relax. Its a nice hotel resort with good food and a nice relaxing feel to it.

Saturday- I go to Ushindi Secondary school and teach the stories. This one is way out and takes about an hour to drive to it.

Sunday- Go to Church. I try to go with a national friend and spend time with them so I can have lunch with them and discuss the sermon. Most the sermons are way wrong and off point from the text, so this is a struggle to overcome bad teaching.

This is about how my week looks and after writing it out seems very simple yet walking 45 min to town and back and just the slowness of life here seems to wear on the energy. Our terms for school's end in April so I only have a few more weeks to teach stories and pray I can meet students during the holiday break. Thanks and God bless for all the prayers and thoughts.

Walking around

Another great day in Arua all starts with just walking around town. I started around 9:30 and headed into town while on my way I decided to talk some pictures of the local golf course. While doing this a woman stopped me to inform me that one must have permission to take a picture. I asked her must I ask the trees for permission. She then said oh no it is good we live in a free country, but people and their houses you still must ask. So I asked if I could take her picture and she agreed. I continued on my way to town and stopped here and there and chatted with a few friends. After all this I was figuring I had just one more stop to make and yet I was wrong. As I was walking a homeless man stopped me and asked me for money and when I informed him I did not have any money for him he became upset. It is sad but if you give money to one then you will be known as the guy who gives money and many people will ask. My day continued on and a man yelled to me “Hey Chuck Norris,” and so I stopped and discussed Chuck Norris and Jesus with the man. I then moved on but only a few steps and a group of muslim men stopped me to buy some goat meat. I stopped and tried the meat for a free sample it was pretty good. I kept on moving until I reached my actual destination and sat around with my friend Khan discussing Jesus and soccer. The time had now reached noon and so I headed to home, but on my way the muslim men stopped me again and so I sat with them and ate lunch. They asked me if I was muslim and I said “no I am a born again believer of Jesus Christ.” This caused the men to become upset and irritated with me. I asked them what did they believe and all they would say is” allah is the only god.” They then offered me marunge this is a local drug the men chew it is also called kat (it is similar to cocaine). I am not sure of the true spelling, but I knew it was not a good thing to take. After leaving these men I was heading home, but yet again I was stopped by a young man who asked what I was doing so I said heading home and he asked me to buy something from him. So I bought some Obama gum from the guy. So funny all the Obama stuff that is sold here. I finally made it to the bota guys (they are men who drive motorcycles for taxi), and I was going to be heading home and the men desired to talk some as well. So I shared Jesus with them and asked if they were believers. They responded with we are Christian, but not born again believers. Anyone who is not muslim is Christian, but this does not mean they believe in Jesus as their savior. After some time talking with them I went home and I was worn out ready for a nap. The day was good and encouraging, but the goat meat I think has caused me to be a bit ill again. Such is life in Africa.

Life and Death

Life in Arua is not all easy and fun. Day after day I am told of a death in the local grocers family, or a death of the man you meet in the market, or the death of .... The list goes on and on and on, and I am troubled and heart broken. I feel like my feelings toward death are becoming hardened. I want to have compassion and give comfort, but to the nationals it seems like this is just part of life. It is so sad and causes one to have more urgency in sharing Christ with the people. May we never forget that life is fragile and short. Share Christ at all times.

My comfort

The longer I am in Uganda the deeper the love of the Father has become. I feel as if this trip of coming to evangelize the Lugbara people is turning into something different. I came to share the love of Jesus and to share the hope we have in Him. I am teaching and leading and evangelizing to the people of this area. So why do I have an overwhelming feeling that God is growing my faith and renewing the passion inside me. It is as if we have our idea of what we are going to do. “I am going to save the world and tell everyone of Jesus.” We then arrive settle in and begin to see that God is doing a work in you that is great than the work you are doing. I praise the Father for teaching me the value of His word. I miss the comforts of America, but I see the overwhelming worth of sacrificing my comforts to share the love and Hope we have in Christ. May we never forget to Go make disciples of all nations. This includes America. Go share the Hope and Love of Christ today with someone.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I read this in the morning during my quiet time. I really feel that this passage can help us rest in the love of our Father. To know there is nothing that can take his love away shows his surpassing care for us. O how deep the fathers love for us. At times I feel words cannot express how deep his love truly is for us. Nothing can compare to the ultimate sacrifice shown in the work of Christ. May we give the due honor and glory to the one who paid the price for our sin. Father God I thank you for the love you have shown us and to know nothing can separate us from your love.

Life in Arua

Life in Arua has been an adjustment from life in America. I have been in Africa now for over seven weeks, and I have about 85 days left. The preparation time for the ministry has been long and at times has caused me to be frustrated. I am now happy that we have started the ministry, and now we can pour our time and energy into the people of Arua. Jeff my partner and I have a vocational school that we started today. We were able to share our testimonies with the men who attend there. We also presented the Gospel by comparing it to a cultural example. To be married the man and his family must meet with the girl’s family and agree on a bride price. With this cultural custom in place we used that example to show how God desires a relationship with us. He desired it so much that he sent Christ as the bride price to buy us. The men really connected with the example and one of them asked a question in regard to the bible. His question was why would God ask Hosea to marry Gomer. Why would God ask a holy man to marry a prostitute who always cheated on Him? We shared that God used Hosea’s life to show how Israel was to God. They always cheated on Him and He always was faithful to forgive them and take them back. This is the redemption story that we have through Christ. It was a great way to end our time with the men and I look forward to meeting with them again next week. Please pray for them. My life in Arua is starting to be great if I am able to share my faith with more people.