Thursday, September 14, 2006

Hakuna umeme

The power has been off for most of the last three days. I went and bought some truck batteries to run an inverter but we have not had power long enough to charge them.
The other day a mechanic came to service the generator it stopped working after he left. He was supposed to come back but there has been no sign of him.
I went to an internet cafe in town because they had "power." The power went off seven times in 15 minutes so I gave up and came home.
"Do all things without grumbling or complaining."
I better stop here. Because I have plenty say.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

What's your story?

I'd like to hear from you. If you are a Christian what or who enfluenced you to give your life to Christ? I'd love to hear your stories. If you are not a Christian would you share about someone who greatly enfluenced you?
As a missionary I love stories of inspiration and I have so much to learn from you whether we share the same faith or not.
Thanks!

September 11th

Has it really been five years? As I sat and watched the footage of the terrorist attack this week ...I felt as though it had just happened.

I had flown from a grass airstrip in Kasese Uganda to Entebbe. I took a taxi into the Kampala to pick up my airline tickets. I was flying to Turkey via United Arab Emerits to look at a plane. I also checked on flights from Turkey to the US for my Granddads funeral. I had just paid for my ticket to Turkey when the woman asked me if I heard about the plane crash in America? (That is not the kind of thing you want to hear when you have a ticket in your hand.)
She turned on the TV and we watched as the second plane crashed into the other tower. I couldn't believe my eyes.
I sat there numb watching and wondering what was happening.
The radio announced, "United Arab Emerits has attacked the United States!"
What!?
I was headed early in the morning to United Arab Emerits. Everyone in the office gasped and got very nervous. I am flying to Dubai in the morning and they are at war with the US. There is no way I can go to Dubai if you guys are attacking the US.
It was a very akward moment for everyone.
I cancelled my flight.
I was still thinking about my Granddad as I walked around Kampala. I stepped into a middle eastern shop and they all starred at me. They were Muslims from Iran. It was easy to tell who was American that day...just the looks on our faces.
I got a taxi over to the American club which is run by the US embassy and was met at the gate by the American marines. They let me in because I already had a reservation. We all huddled around the TVs. The razor wire and barracades didn't feel so safe.
I talked with Cheryl on the phone and she was glad that I had heard the news and was not headed to the Middle East.

Where were you on September 11th?

American/Ugandan/Christian Culture?

Yesterday I read the Declaration of Independence and it got me thinking about some questions that I have been asked by some of my close Ugandan friends. They love Americans and they love the church but we are trying to see what part of our church is American in nature.
We have looked at the traditional hermanutic, worship, structure etc

"Autonomy" This is a word that we, in the US, have used to describe our American, Independent, No one is going to tell me what to do, pull yourself up by your own boot strap mentality. It comes from our pioneer spirit. We stand on our own two feet. We ride "em hard and put 'em away wet".
Like many in the church of Christ who headed west on the Oregon trail and built their own log cabins by felling the trees on their newly claimed lands. We are tough. Self reliant. We are the like the ones who "get going" when the going gets tough.
We have our own leadership Independant of anyone else
We have our own land
We have our own buildings
No one has authority over our leadership and we don't answer to anybody.


Are these American values or Christian values?
Are these American values that we have Christianized or Christian values that we have Americanized?

I work in a culture that does not value independence the way Americans do. There is no such thing as a "family unit" in this context...it is the extended family that is valued.
A couple or individual who gets rich on his own is seen as selfish if he is not openly helping his "relatives".
No two people can decide to get married on their own. There must be permission from the families.
Problems are solved by the group not just the individual.

For there to be a "brotherhood of churches" that are independent of each other makes no sense to my Ugandan friends.
They cannot understand how an eldership of a church can operate independently of other elderships. (One Ugandan described this as the "cowboy mentality."
As one said, "elderships in the states are not accountable to anyone except to those that they are leading...that doesn't make any sense. Is that the way it was in the Bible? What about the Jerusalem council? How do churches in the states justify their independence when they read about things like that?"

Another question I have received deals with the number of Churches of christ in our different towns in America that do not work together. How can you have so many churches of Christ in one place with different leaderships? In the Bible we see the church of Antioch or the Laodocia or the church of Corinth, the New Testament mentions the church in such and such a city. Paul however mentions a church that meets in someones house in that same city. Even Revelation mentions the churches by city. ...If the Lord sees you as one church why don't you work together? Why are their so many different independent churches of Christ? (Let alone other groups of believers.)

What do you think?

Sting rays

It was sad to hear about the sting ray attack on the famous Croccidle Hunter, Steve Irwin. It brought back memories of when I was stung in the foot by a sting ray while swimming in the Indian Ocean. I thought at first that I had been bit by a shark. The pain was so intense. I rolled onto my back and tried to float so I wouldn't drown, I pulled a white barb out of the bottom of my foot. It was like an Indian arrow head.
The burning in my foot turned to numbness as my foot, calf and then entire leg was paralized. I couldn't move my leg at all. I was swimming in about ten feet of water. I was much closer to the coral reef than I was to the beach so I decided to swim there. If more of my body went numb I at least wanted to be resting on a rock so I wouldn't drown.
I swam on my back until I reached the reef. I drug my self onto the sharp coral and rested on a patch of sand.
I waved to a fishing boat but the men didn't see me and they couldn't hear me. I'm not sure how long I was stuck out there but finally I knew I had to swim back. (My other foot was sore from stepping on a sea urchin the day before.)
It was a long painful swim but I made it back to the beach, I crawled onto the sand and then limped and hopped back to the hotel dragging my leg.

My condolences go to Terri the wife of Steve Irwin. (She was from Eugene, Oregon before moving to Australia)
Thank you Steve for making me laugh.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Celebration!!!!

Several months ago we bought a piece of land for the town church. We had all given for about two years. No money came from outside of our church. There are two other pieces of property that we were interested in buying as well. We all committed again to giving so Cheryl and I loaned the church the money. If you get a loan here in Uganda you will pay 25%. We were happy to be able to help.
It is has been a crazy ordeal. It is hard to do business when people are not honest. Ronald has been working on this for over five months. Dick has been helping him as well.
Yesterday we purchased the lower piece of property! Last week I had to drive to Kampala and get the cash. Ronald Dick and I droved there and back in one day.
We had a meeting planned for Friday but it just didn't happen.
The Balif selling the upper piece of land informed me that he was going to sell it to another party. I let him know how I felt about it.
We kept getting jerked around.
Well, after much prayer and work we bought the upper piece of land as well!

Now we own all three connecting lands on the Saaka Road!
Today we had our discipleship meeting on our own property!
We strung a tarp up because it was going to rain and David said "We just need to ask God to drive the rain away."
Go ahead David
He began to pray out loud.
It poured nearby but we were only getting drizzled on. The guys teased David and he told them that maybe they should have prayed as well.
As I led the men in prayer thanking God for the land. I asked God to remove any article of witch craft. As soon as I said that the fire Popped loudly. We asked God to burn up anything that should not be there. The fire popped again.
The guys began to laugh.
We asked the Lord to make this a Holy Place. Then I felt the warm sun on my shoulder.
The men said see...God drove the rain away just like David asked.
I was there with twelve men who are learning to share the love of Jesus.
I hadn't thought of it but it was me and my 12 guys. Wow. In the past I have asked the Lord to give me twelve disciples and there I was enjoying life with these twelve men.
We came to celebrate!
We roasted five kilos of steak meat, three chickens, thirty samosas. We also ate ten cup cakes, ten danishes, two bunches of bananas, two boxes of cookies and a crate of sodas.
It was quite a party!
Everyone gave a speech and then we prayed and sang. We were stuffed so it took us a few minutes to be able to get into our songs but then everyone was clapping and smilng and singing.
A few neighbors came to participate. After some more wonderful singing Ronald led us in prayer.
It was amazing.
We were all right before the throne of God.
Days like today make me feel so proud of what the Lord is doing in these mens lives.

Sometimes in the states some of my friends seem to feel sorry for me or can't get over "all that we have sacrificed".
Sure there are relationships that we miss as well as certain foods or stores but days like today make everything worth it.
I actually feel sorry for people who don't get to experience this kind of thing.

I was surrounded by men that I have been privilaged to share Christ with for many years and listen to them ask the Lord to give them thousand of new converts. They want to fill the new land with people praising the Lord!
It is hard for me to explain how I feel ...I can hardly see the computer through the tears in my eyes. These are good tears.
I was going to say the men are growing but that doesn't say it right. We are growing in the Lord.
I am thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be His servant and to do what He asks me to do.

What a great day of celebration!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A typical day

I got out of bed and started the bath. There is not enough pressure for a real shower. Maybe I got spoiled in the states with hot showers whenever I wanted. The hot water dribbles into the tub so I've got time to go and do something else. The power has been off ever day so there isn't much hot water any way.
There is someone banging at the gate. I threw on some jeans, t-shirt and sandals and rushed out to stop the knocking. It is a guy who works on diesel generators and he had come to see if I wanted him to service our big one.
I had to stand out there with him because there have been too many other mechanics steal parts from my car, tractor, truck and generator.
He thanked me for a bible I gave him over a year ago. He said his wife took it from him and she reads it all the time.
That's nice.
Jotham who works in our yard came so I could go inside and enjoy my cold bath. Cheryl had a plate of biscuits and gravy ready for me. (When she handed me the plate I thought Big Steve would love this!) Cheryl sure can cook.
On that note I decided to ride my bike. Each Tuesday we have our discipleship and leadership meeting. I rode the bike down to the gardens restaurant. One of my friends, Ali Baba discovered he has diabetes. Yesterday Ronald and I took him a glucose meter and showed him how to use it. Last night I read about diabetes so I was motivated to ride my bike.
I was supposed to meet one of the guys before the meeting. He had written a letter to apologize and ask for my forgiveness.
This is a growth moment for this young man. Wow. It is amazing to watch the Spirit of God work in the lives of people.
We had a nice talk.
We sat outside under a green tent cover and forgave and encouraged one another.
Dick arrived and shared about the national meeting. The rest of the men arrived and we had a great meeting that lasted for about three hours. It is so encouraging to see the maturity and growth of these men. I am proud of them. It was really a great meeting.
After the meeting I rode my bike over to the new land that we are still in the process of buying.
I thought it would be good to spend some good time in prayer.
As I was kneeling in the grass at the bottom of the hill talking to the Lord I saw a face in the banana plantation. I was being watched. I was praying about the land and the village around it. I asked the Lord to help us reach the children and youth as well as the adults.
I turned around so I would not be distracted and saw three other children on the other side. I asked the Lord to touch those very children. They started gigling and ran across the grass. They stopped and stared at me. I smiled and waved to them.
The three children met me in the middle of the grass.
We shared our names and they asked if I was praying. I told them that I was praying for them and the other children in Kagote. They smiled so big.
I learned that they live in the house right next to the property that we are buying. I asked about their father and they told me that he is dead. I asked about their mother...she too is dead.
Their cousin asked if the church wants to help orphans. She told me that the other children are living in that house with their grandmother.
A young women walked by and we greeted each other. She lives behind the church property. I shared with her our dream for an amphitheater and the tent that we are going to bring. I shared how we want to be a community church that involves everyone around. She was very excited with what we are planning to do. She knew me but I did not know her very well. I invited her to church. She said she will be there Sunday.

I asked the children many questions about what they would like to do at church. They gave me some nice feedback.
I sent greetings to their grandmother and shared that I would like to come and visit with their grandmother sometime.
It was amazing how fast the Lord answered my prayer!

I rode my bike home and then tried to start the generator so Cheryl could mash the potatoes. The generator died and wouldn't start. I pump it, primed it still nothing. I am so glad I had the man serivice it today. (It probably has air in the line)

Well what should I do?
I found a jerry can... so kinley and I drove to town in the old pick up to get gas.
When we got back I drug another generator out of the container and across the gravel and up to the side of the house. I made sure the other one is off, the isolater switch is off, I strung an extention cord into the kitchen to plug it in above the stove where the wires are stronger. We filled the tank with gas and after a few pulls the old generator started.
I wasn't fast enough for Cheryl and she had mashed the potatoes by hand but at least i tried.
Cheryl and I talked about all of the things from the meeting today. We had a lot to talk about.

We had a nice dinner with the children. They had their baths, devo and now they are in bed.
I just got a call from a young friend asking about premarital counseling. We are going to meet tomorrow at 10:00AM.
That is the second request like that today.