The End is Near

As this trip to Arua, Uganda comes to an end there are many things I will miss and things I wont. I know the Lord has his reasons for everything and I have grown in my faith a great deal. I sit here wondering could I have done more, or have I been faithful to the call on my life. I know we can always question our ministry and wonder if we are being faithful to the Lord. At this point in my ministry I havent had any conversions, and I havent had anyone seem really interested in the Gospel. So in the worldly view I am unsuccessful, but in the Lords view I am faithful. I rest in that truth and feel I have planted many seeds into peoples lives here in Arua. Like I said there are some things I will miss like the students, the muslim men, the children, and the team I serve with. Things I wont miss cold showers, power outages, poor internet, bad food, and cultural clashes. I look forward to chicken nuggets, ice in my drinks, wearing shorts in public, and most of all seeing my family and friends.

Prayer Needed

I need your help and anyone you know whos a believer. I met a young man named Hasan he is a muslim and I have started talking with him and I need prayer warriors for me and for his salvation. I have never in my life felt a stronger call or feeling or whatever ya wanna call it to invest time and energy into a person. I have shared Christ with him several times and we have a good friendship. The time is short and the Lord can do miracles and I pray for this man to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Please be my warriors as I know I am heading into a battle I cannot win in my own strength. I need the Lords army and his power. I love and care for this man deeply and I desire to rejoice over one lost sheep brought back into the fold. Thanks

Fun in Africa

A few weeks back when it was late and the night sky was showing off Gods beautiful creation. My fellow hands on partners and myself decided to have some good old fashion fun. While looking up into the sky we began to spin as fast as we could and then run. We never seemed to run straight or even stay on our feet. With ministry and serious tasks at hand we seem to forget to have fun just simple fun. As we star gazed and spun round and round the guard on duty started laughing very hard. He found our silliness to be very funny and odd at the same time. The small excitement was a dear moment in our team. The time is moving and the days are getting short. Love life and the simple pleasures of it. Praise the Lord for His wondrous creation.

The cost

When we think about our faith in Christ and what it means to follow Him. I feel we do not fully understand the cost to follow Christ. Are we willing to die for Him? As he died for us. Will we go to the ends of the earth to share His name? I ask these question because just this past week a good friend of mine who was serving in Mozambique died sharing his faith. He loved life and inspired all who knew him. He was 21 years old and was on fire for the Lord. He drove two hours out to the beaches of Mozambique to share Christ with the beach bums as he called them. Nothing would stop him from preaching the Word. Are we willing to pay the ultimate price to share Christ like my friend Jeremiah?
"To live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Preach the Word

The deeper I go in relationships here the more I realize this world is lost. Not just Uganda, or the continent of Africa, but the whole world. Being a christian has become so cultural and we have lost the true meaning behind the word. I just read a great quote the other day that said "sitting in an oven doesnt make you a biscuit and sitting in church doesnt make you a christian," and I cannot express this truth enough. Its great if you have attended church, but if you believe you will be saved and enter heaven on this basis sorry to say it but you wont get in. I have been told by so many people well Ive been baptized, yet again sorry no dice on entering by this qualification. The reality of the world is we want the easy way out. I am reminded of the rich young ruler who kept all the laws and rules and asked how do I enter the kingdom of heaven and Christ told him SELL EVERYTHING and FOLLOW ME. This man walked away sad because he wanted to keep his things. So what can we do to enter heaven? Go to church, be baptized, donate money, all great things, but first we must confess that we are sinners in need of a savior and FOLLOW HIM. Are you serving the King of Kings? Are you sacrificing your life for the kingdom of the Lord most High? He sacrificed His life for you. I say all this due to the urgency of life and remember tomorrow may not be here. Share Christ with all and everyone you can. Sacrifice your comfort and GO PREACH THE WORD.

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.