The Chronicles Of A White Guy In The Bush

Life in The Village

2012-01-30T17:18:00.001+03:00

Living life in the village

     I was thinking today that it would be good to explain what it means to live in the village.

    First of all I am only 50miles away from the nearest town. Which can also mean 50miles away from refrigeration, meat and dairy products. My operative idea of indoor plumbing is a water tank that fits 60gallons and a pitcher. The nearest source of water is a borehole that is about a mile away. So no water tank means a dry life. My version of being on the power grid is a solar panel, a charge controller and a battery meant for a truck. The cool part is my power is always on(as opposed to my friends on the national grid where its more off than on).   That is as long as there are not too many cloudy days.

    The current season is the hot season. I imagine outside right now its around 96degrees. I think that is about average with lots of wind. The fun part of dry season is the bees. Just today I had to wash my clothing inside my hut. If you put any water down you'll have a swarm of bees in about 3 minutes. So that makes life fun, good thing is they dont sting when distubed. I didnt write these things for anyone to say oh wow!, I did write them so people can understand a bit more of how I live.

    As for ministry this is a glimpse of what I do.   On Sundays we have a 10am service and we're currently going through the Gospel of Matthew. I have been challenged in teaching the Sermon on the Mount.   We tried going to the neighboring village two weeks in a row and found few people but a boy named Patrick gave his life to Christ, so it was worth it. The other days of the week is a bit open at the moment. So I spend my time in the village during late afternoons. Village life is kind of different. The morning time is usually a great time for ministry, but people are so busy all the time in the mornings. So you can choose the heat of the day to do ministry or later in the day. What we do sometimes is just go and share with people. January hasnt had so many of those times though. Usually on Tuesdays Zane comes out from Kitgum and does some childrens ministry and evangelism. Well thats about all I can think of right now. Hope you enjoyed reading.

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Will you trust me?

2012-01-27T13:53:00.001+03:00

Over the course of this week I have been busy. Along with picking up the masons on Tuesday I had to drive back on Wednesday to get more cement. I have driven over 250miles this week just going back and forth from the village to Kitgum. On my trip last night I was really low on fuel. I find I have many OCD things. One is checking the gauges in the car. I think i might check them multiple times in the course of five minutes. I didn't think I could make it. I had all these ideas of running out of gas. All the while a still small voice was telling me to stop with my doubting. I felt strongly that it was a time where God asked me if I trusted him. I only looked at the gauge say twenty times in the course of an hour. Finally i prayed Lord I believe, but help my unbelief. I guess in my pride or shame I feel that maybe that my task important is not important enough to warrant divine assistance. I made it to town with no problems. The same went for ths first phase of construction. I was so worried about all the things that could go wrong, but in the end it was highly enjoyable. So this whole week can be summed up with this phrase "Will you trust me?"

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Adventures and Opportunities

2012-01-09T11:49:00.001+03:00

New villages equal opportunity

      A few days ago I took the 8.5 hour trip from Jinja to come back to Kitgum.   My time in Jinja was great spent with a lot close friends. Christmas, Birthday and New Years Eve were swell.

       After arriving in Kitgum district I spent around two day gathering things to head out to the village. On Sunday we had our first Sunday service in the AM.   It took a while to start but it sure was nice to have it in morning hours.   The service happened under the new tree in a place were still developing. I'm thinking I might even build a small pulpit, you know not to stand behind but to set the Bible on.

      For the longest time I have wanted to see the neighboring village of Tultul. So today I headed off in that direction only expecting some sightseeing. Instead once again the Lord provided and English speaker and I got to share the Gospel with around four guys. Please pray for Okeng Patrick, Okumu Charles and Kilama Joseph that they would come to salvation. Once again its funny how God uses my desire for adventure as an opportunity to share His good news.

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Update

2011-12-15T16:37:00.001+03:00

Today I had a desire to go exploring. Being that I live out in the middle of nowhere adventure is not far off. So I got on my motorcyle with an intent to meet key people in different trading centers. As I drove the first place I reached was called Nakwenya. I met an local leader named George we talked for a while. I learned a lot about the plans for that center. After Nakwenya I headed off to a place called Locomo. So I drove a while and felt like I was already passed it. So I asked someone and they sent on what I think was a road at one time. It was a good thing I was driving a motorcyle cause this road would have been impassable. Anyhow long story short I found the place. The little village was full of activity. In moments like that it feels like I am back in Middle school. Will they like me? After getting over myself I listen into the noise and conversations. Mostly people are speaking Na'Karimojong. So I meet the official who knows some English and we begin our talk. I learned that there was no church in the village and the people walk what looks to be an hour to the nearest church. So with a group I figured I should share a story with them. So since I told the story of Jesus and the demon posessed yesterday I told it again today. The people really were interested in hearing the truth. It is awesome how God can use my love for adventure and bring me to a people who need to hear His Word.

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A Time To Settle In

2011-11-18T18:02:00.001+03:00

As some of you may know by now I've moved to a village called Lotodore. Well actually about three kilometers away from it on a farm(ran by the Pastor of Calvary Chapel Kitgum). Well that farm is where I live now and I am pastoring the church here in Lotodore. So this last week I'll call it settling in. Building has been the name of the game. Mainly a cooking shelter, a 2 foot counter of sorts and an earth cooker. Today I finally completed the earth cooker(basically a clay stove for charcoal). Even now its heating tomorrows hot water(no it doesnt take that long but I have a thermos). Other than that I have been getting used to it. Tomorrow I teach on Matthew 3 John the baptist was quite a special guy. He made me think rather I would choose to wear Camel fur and eat Locusts if it was what God had me doing. How far would you go? Think I'll sign off now
Over and out from your friend in the bush.

Village Ho!

2011-10-28T10:43:00.000+03:00

On Sunday the 23rd or October I moved into what will be my house until I get mine built. So what am I living in?

Well its a grass thatched hut made of bricks. The inside of the house it probably about 16 ft from side to side. The place where the houses are is called Moru Kor(Karamojong for Mount Kor). It sits on 40 acres of farmed land(farmed by Zane and his employee Jonah Loto) but its just Jonah, a guynamed Patrick and me living on the property. Every morning I get to wake up to this(See amazing pic to right). The place I live is just a thirty minutes walk to the neighboring village called Lotodore, which sits at the bottom of an amazing mountain. As I write this post the doors and windows of my earth bag house are being made. Okay by now you may be saying whats and earth bag house. its basically using bags full of dirt as building blocks and then plastering its adobe reinvented. Take a look!(just below third picture down). So all of its in process. As for me I have been spending a lot of time studying and listening to podcasts, and going out to the village. A lot of my time has been spent with a man named William, he is a respected man in the community and he speaks Acholi and Karamojong and knows a lot of songs. He has been helping me out with language and more so helping me to learn some acholi songs and Karamojong ones too. I drove into Kitgum town last night to get some more supplies now having a better idea as to what I need to live out in the bush. All in all its a whole new experience for me, being the only westerner(white guy) for miles and miles. So now is the time, that I really dive deep into the people and establish close relationships with these really neat people. Of course none of this is possible without the Spirit of God enabling me. So please pray for me as I adapt to this new culture and living arrangement, that God would open up to me so many relationships among this community. For Him to give me special ability to learn Acholi to speaking level, and Na' Karamojong the same and more so. Blessings!


An example of a Earth Bag house

The first two rows of a new Earth bag house

300 Miles

2011-10-22T12:57:00.002+03:00

Yesterday October 21st I left Jinja, Uganda(in the south) and drove a length of three hundred miles to the town called Kitgum. Three hundred miles. Doesn’t seem like much when in American on great roads that is like 5 hours or less. In Uganda that equals about an eight to nine hour drive. Another interesting thing about Uganda is that it’s divided into districts but also kingdoms. Each kingdom has different features, i liken it to Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkiens epic tale of The Lord of The Rings. As you drive hour by hour you see rolling green hills change into great grassy planes, then to mountainous regions with grass that stands above your head. It exciting as you enter each new region of the country, Uganda is amazingly beautiful. So as I was driving with my car completely full of my life(packed up that is), and after driving for 8 hours I came to a nasty part in the road. Ugandan village roads typically have large channels on both sides of the road. It is supposed to make the roads less treacherous, but when it rains all is slick and people fall into those channels. The road was a mess and after driving an entire day this was not so much fun. I was stuck for an hour, pulled out one car and then had to drive in one of those channels for like 50 yards. The worst part was earlier in a similar situation where my car slammed sideways into a wall of the channel. Needless to say I am grateful to God for such a strong car. And the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. Thus began my new life in Northern Uganda

Packing and Resettllement

2011-10-18T21:40:00.001+03:00

So this week is crunch time. The beginning of my move to Kitgum is beginning. After several months of checking thingsout and helping out around Calvary specifically with the worship team, the time is now. It is funny that but a a year and fewmonths ago I was doing this same thing, moving. However when I moved up to Karamoja there were still things that remainedhere and i expected over time that the room would be gone. However each time I came for a visit I found the house the same, exceptfor some stored items. So overtime I made things a little better, a lil more comfortable. Now on the horizon is a move that is not based on in an out time but on full time. So this last week I have been organizing and tearing apart my house, sorting clothing, and dealing with hoarded stuff that should have gone long ago. and even Picture albums(yes they still make those). So as my house becomes more barren I prepare for what will be and no longer for what was. It is an exciting time and one that can be scary. So keep me in prayer.

The Road Ahead

2011-10-08T21:55:00.002+03:00

As some of you know from my last post, some weeks ago I went up to Kitgum to check out a new ministry area. During my time there over and over I saw reasons why I should be up in Northern Uganda. First thing I saw was that it’s a teaching and discipleship ministry. The very thing I have had my hand to doing for the last decade(with exception to my time in Karamoja) has been these things. Secondly I want to be involved in church planting. The church I am looking to co-pastor is in Lotodore village on the northern side of a somewhat squarish mountain called Orom. Here is the link of where it is http://g.co/maps/jn5ks. The area is full of maybe seven or eight villages, all of which we hope to have fellowships in. The other perk about this spot is that it is right on the border of Karamoja. I spent 8 months living inside of Karamoja and learning Na’Karimojong. While I am not fluent I have spend ample time studying it, and guess what? The village of Lotodore has people who speak Karimojong fluently, along with Acholi and Akuti. So I’ve been working on some acholi/k’jong crossover cheat sheets. It has been mostly fun except the acholi dictionary has no English to Acholi section, which just means lots of looking for stuff. So here lies the road ahead. I’m moving to a village where you bring your own power, you cart in your water from the well down the road, and see gorgeous views all day long. I’m headed down a road that is sometimes lonely but often rewarding. Packing is another thing though. Like I told my parents the other day the concept of what you need changes a lot when you move into a mud hut. So I’m sorting and figuring out what’s necessary. Hopefully I’ll pack up the little things this trip clothing and stuff etc, then in December bring up the little bit of furniture I own. So there you go. Here lies the Road ahead

A little plug for the podcast

2011-10-04T18:31:00.000+03:00

Hey Everyone,
Just thought I'd let you know that back in June I started a podcast called Attention Deficit Devos. It is what I'll call my american ministry arm. I want
to reach out to youth but I know I cannot do it in person. So that's why I started the podcast to reach out to youth and give them a little something to chew on daily or whenever they like. It is currently on Itunes and at its host site www.attentiondeficitdevos.podomatic.com. So check it out, download some or even choose to follow on the site and when I make some more you'll know. Thanks

Ten Years Ago

2011-10-02T17:42:00.001+03:00

10 Years ago

So Thursday was my tenth anniversary. Ten years ago I stepped onto an airplane and said goodbye to me American life. At 21 the beginning of my adult years I flew off to Africa. Thinking back I was so young and full of myself. The year before I had went to Ghana and had a great time. Okay lets be honest the ministry was great but what the food and allergies did you me was not nice. Ghana was hard on my body, but I left for Uganda thinking how different could it be. It was different. I came over with a water proof thinking I was headed into some Amazon forest to do ministry. Instead I found myself in a nice house, with hot water and American meals. Expectations and realities are usually opposite. Now that I’ve reached 10 years I think of how I was back then, and how many fires I have been through to come to this point. Honestly I think life is a series of fires, that is the fires of purification. God uses situation to refine character, relationships and just about everything else. All in all I am thankful for the trials that allowed me to reach 10 years in Uganda. I am reminded of the verse in the Book of James. He says count it all joy when you fall in various trials cause the trying of your faith produces patience and maturity James 1:2-4.

A Vision of The North

2011-09-16T13:50:00.000+03:00

Journey to the Bush

going to happen. In my head I imagined that the junction was 9 kilometers away from the mission base, oops my mistake it was actually 19k. So I began walking with my backpack a waterproof rafting one. I am not sure of the actual weight but I imagine it would be around 50-60 pounds with terribly uncomfortable straps. So I walked, and walked and walked and walked until I reached a town called Orom, knowing there was Coke and vehicles, I pushed forward. All in all I walked around 10k which I think is like 6 miles, it was hard and I was continually asking for the Lord’s strength. After arriving at the town the vehicle caught up with me and I jumped back on it. Meanwhile Zane was coming in the car to pick me us so I wouldn’t be stranded. We met on the way and I made it back safe and sound.

The In-Between

2011-08-28T14:10:00.000+03:00

Okay wow let me start by saying it has been too long since I last posted
and for those sitting on the edge of their seat, sorry for that. So what has happened in the last twenty days, well alot. I have taken to calling this last month "The In-Between Time." It can be hard at times for people to ask me what I do. That for the moment is somewhat fluid. The main thing I have been doing with my time is studying language. While I started out very well soon after I realized the best way to learn a language is to be submerged in it, that I'm not. So while it seemed a quick ascent whatever of the language i stuck up in my head, hope it comes out when I'm in the culture. Another recent thing that I have been doing is helping out Kelli with the youth ministry. She had this crazy idea of doing 7 villages in a week and half and a youth conference at the church. So at this point we've done three conferences and at two of them I taught on The Teachings of Jesus, then just yesterday I taught on enduring trials out of the book of James. The week ahead is where things get fun. On Tuesday we drive up to Palisa, then on to Soroti, then Pajule then Gulu. A trip of major proportions a youth conference tour. However at Pajule I am jumping ship to head up to Kitgum. The greatest question people have is where do I work and where will I work? That is something that is still to be determined. My trip to Kitgum is to check out a ministry of my friends Zane and Summer McCourtney. Here is a link to their blog www.fromglory2glory.blogspot.com. My plan is to go up and see the land, see the ministry and get a feel for what life and ministry would look like there and spend time with Zane and Summer and pray out the future, then see where God l

eads. So starting next Thursday things will get exciting. To be honest my heart longs for the people in the village, taking a random cup of tea or taking a meal. So as I go into this next chapter or the intro to a chapter please keep me in prayer. And also for the youth conference this week please keep them in your prayers and for Kelli that She could get over this terrible cold.

Last week's crazy trip

2011-08-06T22:55:00.000+03:00

So okay last week after coming back from Karamoja, the next day we drove to
the complete other side of the country, to a place called Murchison Falls. The
whole plan for that place usually is drive up do the stuff and drive back. So Kelli,
Kyle and the only other person without a "k"name drove up to North central western Uganda. The plan was drive up at 4am in the morning and arriv

e by noonish. Well while we did that I may have been a lil tired from the previous day. When you get into that mode the biggest way to keep from falling asleep is not let your mind wander. Now if you know me then you're laughing right now, cause when I drive boy does my mind wander(even more so than not). Okay so we arrived up in Masindi, outside of the park and had some breakfast. I always enjoy seeing what a restaurant doesn't have because they replace the item you ordered with something completely different. So i ordered eggs and sausage, instead of sausage I get fried greens, um yes exactly how does that even compare to sausage. Then we make the drive into the park, at the ranger station(an hour later)we are told by the lady we have to get out by 9:50 the following day or we'll be charged again. 9:50am! oh man how are we going to do a game drive in the morning? This was only the first mishap. Secondly we were going to camp and some nice family loaned Kelli a tent. So we go to set it up and to our surprise(and Kelli's embarassment)there are no tent poles. yes you read it right no tent poles. So I notice that there is a loop that goes around the top. I told kyle to grab some vines from the forest and we made it work with vines and a piece of twine. Luckily I had put in a mention for a room with Red Chili and some opened up. Saved from that mishap. So another tradition is doing the boat launch, which is a boat ride up the Nile looking at Hippos and Crocodiles. Oops that was booked(this would be the third mishap)so we looked longingly at the speed boats and thought hmm wonder what they cost. We ask the guy and he says 130 so we think thousand and begin combining money, turns out they were 120dollars, um sorry don't have that much. So no launch boo hoo. Anywho we went on a game drive and saw a lot of animals in the late afternoon and it was swell. On the way home one of my tires completely blew out the side boo hoo. changed the tire in the rain. Then we arrived home. The End

Up and Down in Three Days

2011-08-02T11:49:00.000+03:00

So some of you have seen this week that I have been on the road a lot. It all started when I decided to head to Karamoja for a few days. In the statement some of you may be a bit confused. When I left for furlough to the states, I made a final decision that I would leave the group I was working with in Karamoja. Without going into much detail, it wasn’t a good fit. The reason for my trip to Karamoja was to collect my things and try to button up some loose ends. So I drove up there last Monday and stayed with the gang at OPC Mission. The drive up was a bit of an adventure, cause the road gets really bad during rainy season. So after slippin and sliding I arrived at my friend’s house. The Next day I drove up to Nabilatuk even though I left at 9 I didn’t arrive until much later. The problem was the river was a bit too rapid and high to cross. Finally at 11 or so I arrived in Nabilatuk to meet a group of pastors. My purpose in the meeting was in hope that they would begin to do some specific ministries to the shepherd boys. In the end they said the best thing would be to train up someone who could focus on the boys. However it is good that they are now more aware of a much needed ministry opportunity.(I hope to work further in the area just not right now). So after the meeting I packed up all my stuff into my jeep. As I packed up all the time I had lived there came flashing to my mind. All the people that I had seen constantly for eight months I would see very little of in the future. I will miss them but hope to still go there occasionally and minister. oh ya and on my way back after leaving the dirt roads behind my car had a terrible shimmy. In Mbale I had to take it to the shop and after trying to get a lock lug off the tire for an hour my bearing could be worked on. All in all I was in Mbale for 6 hours waiting for my car to be fixed. Oh what fun!

Sitting on a plane(written night before last)

2011-07-22T22:39:00.002+03:00

As I sit on this plane(that we almost missed) crossing over the Africa continent I can’t help but be grateful. To know that God has an amazing plan for all of us. One of the big lessons I have learned during this furlough is that we are all in a story of redemption. I typically try to stay away from being preachy in my blogs. However this is one concept I think all of us need to grow in our understanding about. We’re in a story of redemption. God is constantly redeeming the things in our lives that we think are lost. As part of that story I need only understand that I’m not the main character, but merely a stand in. God is the main character. So to apply this concept when I suffer I should not think the whole world is falling in around me. Instead I should think that there is a greater purpose that God is trying to accomplish in me possibly for the strengthening of others. The Israelites during their time in Egypt stayed in slavery for 400 years. Generations must have wondered where God was. The fact is He was there the whole time hearing their cries and just waiting to put into action the plan he had from the beginning of time. All this to say God’s timing and purposes are something so deep, yet sometimes we think Him trite. Back to the story of redemption idea, I have all to thank to Mike Wilkerson’s book called “Redemption for this mindset.” As I head back to Uganda my mind full of vision and my heart full of joy I cannot wait to see what God has ahead of me. Thanks to all who had time to meet with me during this furlough, you are near and dear to me.

Preparation

2011-07-18T08:54:00.000+03:00

So today marks the final countdown til I head back to Uganda. Thank you to all the had the time to meet with me and for those who didn't I'm sorry that we didn't
connect. In the last few weeks I have been meeting with people and going to home fellowships and that has been a true blessing. This time of the furlough is always hard because you begin to realize that your time is up. If only we could live life like a missionary tries to do furlough(okay we might be all a little exhausted). To think I have been to Washington, Oregon, Virginia, North Carolina, Phoenix, and New Mexico all in 6 weeks pretty much blows my mind. I think the trip was very fruitful in terms of connecting with people and making new friends and even ministry opportunities. Thanks to everyone who made this Furlough the best ever

New Podcast

2011-07-08T10:29:00.001+03:00

Hey Everybody,
Just wanted to let you know that I have started a podcast for American
teens called Attention Deficit Devos. So give it a listen and if you have
kids get them to listen too, thank you

A Time to Rebuild

2011-07-03T08:17:00.000+03:00

As some of you know I am back up in Vancouver(the American one, dinky as it may be). During my time here I have got to spend a lot of quality time with my parents. Part of my journey that happens every time is visiting my mom up in the Dalles, along with my sister and brothers. As I was headed up the Gorge remembering all the bad things from the past and having to relive them, my dad says something to me. He tells me not to focus on the bad memories but make new ones. So I went up to The Dalles and embraced it. Got to hang with my brothers for like the first time, just being normal, went and saw a movie. Spent time up on cherry heights and made new memories. Its about time. God is all about restoring things that were lost

A day out with The Boys

2011-06-21T07:31:00.002+03:00

It is fairly common when someone asks if I like fishing I’ll tell them that I’m more into catching. All that waiting drives me nuts. Today I went out with the O’Hea family to go fishing. I wasn’t sure what to expect, cause people have different views of what fishing is supposed to look like. Anyhow we drove up to Jemez, which is stunningly beautiful and went fishing. Casting and drawing in the line slowly came back to me. Funny enough I was more like a 5 year old out for his first time slapping the water with my bait to remove the algae. We didn’t catch a thing but it was a hoot, I imagine our laughing and my slapping the water didn’t help the fish to want to come out. On the way back we hit some restaurant called los Ojos, and the food was amazing. Why is it always after I am done eating that I realize all the fixins for my burger are on the side? Why people just bring you a complete burger? Anyhow we finished up the day by drinking coffee at a place, I’ll call Bad Donkey, but they used a different word for Donkey. Don’t need any cussing on my blog there is plenty out there in the world. Just wanted to say thanks to Pat O’Hea for an amazing day and God for creating these funny people.

East Meets West

2011-06-21T07:30:00.001+03:00

I always say I’ll update people along the way so here it is. I have been in America for a little over two weeks now. What can I say for my time so far? It has

been amazing. The one less than amazing part was bringing malaria back to America with me. Usually in those cases I would have the medicine stored in my back pocket but this time no. I guess the Lord wanted to show me He is able to care for me even if I am eight thousand miles away from where they know malaria. So how was the malaria. It started with intense temps then a whole day or so of intense knock you down to the ground heaving nausea, then a day of weird balance

and then I was all better. I am so blessed to have my own personal Doctor on this trip Jenny Culver. Emotionally during this malaria I was freaked out, isolated in my sickness wondering how to handle it, I mean really freaked. However God takes care of us, carries us through His body, the church. Thanks to all who prayed me through that event. From a quick recovery of Malaria I jumped on a plane to Virginia to spend some quality time with my friend Jonah. For a total of 2.5 days we drove all around Virginia, climbing mountains and mainly eating. I was on sort of a food tour(still am). Anywho it was a blessing to get to spend time with him and see that part of the country. While I am adventurous for the most part on past furloughs I was here and not moving. Over on that side of America I met a lot of Jonah’s family Uncles and Aunts and cousins and friends. I was blessed by all of them. I am grateful to those who made the trip to Virginia even possible,(cause it was practically cancelled).

2011-06-14T01:40:00.000+03:00

tragedy leads somewhere

2011-06-13T06:09:00.002+03:00

Since I came back from America I have been listening to KLOVE and it seems like every song is talking about dealing with tragedy. I get the feel that there are more people hurting now than ever and my heart breaks. i met my former boss today and the joy was out of his eyes. Pastor Skip talked about Christians alive but dead. The man came up to me and said I am alive but dead. Knowing my friend, shock was on my face. Then he dropped the bomb, he told me his wife had died of cancer. My heart broke for this man, not having any clue as to what to say to someone in that situation. How many sobbing prayers were prayed by this man for his wife for healing. Those who don't know God would probably give this man the advice to be angry at God and blame Him for it all. However I don't blame God because if you want to see what He made for us you must go to the first pages of Genesis. It was absolutely beautiful designed for us to enjoy, but sin corrupted it all. With sin came death and sickness and destruction. We all in some way are touched by tragedy. Here are two quotes I want to share

When you and I hurt deeply, what we really need is not an explanation from God but a revelation of God. We need to see how great God is; we need to recover our lost perspective on life., Things get out of proportion when we are suffering, and it takes a vision of something bigger than ourselves to get life's dimensions adjusted again., -Warren W. Wiersbe

It is not a question of God allowing or not allowing things to happen. It is part of living. Some things we do to ourselves, other things we do to each other. Our Father knows about every bird which falls to the ground, but He does not always prevent it from falling. What are we to learn from this? That our response to what happens is more important than what happens. Here is a mystery: one man’s experience drives him to curse God, while another man’s identical experience drives him to bless God. Your response to what happens is more important than what happens.
If you're experiencing tragedy be the one whose trials lead him to bless God

A lil bit of catch up

2011-06-09T07:46:00.000+03:00

Hey everyone,
As some may have seen or heard through Facebook I am back in the states
for a period of six weeks. So I need to do a bit of catch up. The process of
coming to America involved getting into a plane. The lucky company this
time to carry yours truly was Brussels Airlines. For the most part it was a good
experience. Before we took off on the first 8 hour leg I noticed how the seats
were really light and not so comfortable. It was later that I read in their magazine
how they lessened their carbon foot print by giving the customers cheap seats
that weigh practically nothing. I am all for saving the environment, but come on
make the seats a little better we're not going for a stroll, we're jumping continents.
Okay enough said about that. On my first plane ride I had a chance to share with
a girl name Giofiorna, a Dutch girl with a very Italian name. My first impression
of her was some young girl obsessed with texting, we were in process of taking off
when she finally decided to turn off her phone. I was thinking to myself we're all
going down cause this girls needs to send one more trifle text. As the plane ride went
on she offered me gum(a lesson learned from middle school), Gum can always start
a conversation. So we began talking about creation somehow. And she was like you
really believe that Someone created everything. I said ya. It actually takes a whole
lot more faith to believe that out of a big bang that so much around is detailed and planned
distinct in design, not initiated by some mutation. Funny enough when we have mutations in
cells today they are called disease but supposedly thats how legs and eyes and stuff like
that developed. We had a great talk. At the heart of the evolution debate is not whether
my eye came to be over millions of years, but whether I as a individual am accountable
to a higher power or whether I make my own destiny. Okay I think thats enough for now
there will be more coming.

From a portal to a portal

2011-05-29T11:24:00.000+03:00

As some of you may know I came down from Karamoja on Friday with the Wrights. The original plan was to come down like on the 1st or something but a free ride availed itself. I weighed in my mind the difference of comfort, deciding between a landcruiser vx and a Marble glorified dump truck. Yes I can read your mind, there is no rel comparison, so I moved down country with friends. The interesting thing is how Jinja has become like America to me. In some ways coming there is like going on furlough. I would call it a series of portals. The trip from Karamoja to Jinja town is like jumping from the 50's up till Modern day. I would compare it to leaving some town in a John Wayne movie full of dirty sometimes muddy roads, no electricity, exposed to elements, to then enter a modern city(I use the word modern loosely). Anyhow its a portal. By next weekend I'll step into yet another portal getting on a plane and going to America. It always amazes me how everything changes in two years. I mean people are the same, but like everything else is different. So being let out of the time capsule called Uganda I will experience America once again.
Some time ago I was talking to my friend, and he mentioned about how I was a third culture Adult. Okay so it sounds cools, but has some big implications. Basically its like this. I have spent my entire adulthood in Uganda coming over at 21, which means even though I'm American my culture is more Ugandan than American. Here is the catch. Since I am American, by God's grace someone could treat me as one of them, but needless to say I will always be a foreigner, an outsider to the bulk of any country that is not mine. As for America having spent my adulthood in Uganda, I think and operate differently than most people my age. Okay that's the explanation. I am not looking for pity but revealing to people how a trip to the states could pose certain difficulties for me or any other missionary. Okay this is getting long. Cant wait to see you all!

About this pastor in California

2011-05-25T07:04:00.003+03:00

Okay so everyone was stirred up recently by this pastor in California. While I'm sure his purpose was to get the word out and his intention were good, but he has done great harm. He is standing in direct opposition to Jesus' words mattew 24:36. I am grateful that God is in control of his reputation but as for his followers this kind of stuff only adds to the fire. Where are all the Christians intellectuals?, you're out there so get vocal! In modern media it seems that those who speak the loudest are the yahoos. For those of you out there who doubt Christians to be great thinkers please read The Reason for God by Timothy Keller.

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About this pastor in California

2011-05-25T07:04:00.001+03:00

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About this pastor in California

2011-05-25T07:01:00.001+03:00

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up and around in Kaabong

2011-05-25T06:33:00.001+03:00

okay so last week we went up to Kaabong. For those of you not aware, Kaabong is where the church planting ministry will finally start. So as a team we're trying to find a place to setup camp. In the middle of Kaabong is the majestic Kidepo valley. Its in this valley that we toured several towns. The first one was Karenga. It was beautiful but as you go west you realize that it looks less and less like Karamoja and more like Acholiland. Also Im being trained to reach the pastoralists of Karamoja and Karenga seems to be lacking cattle. Next we drove to Kalapata. The area is more enticing than the town. We ended up driving back into the mountains to a two with too big a name. It was there we found the Ik people. I quickly had to access that memory of their greeting, Ido? maranga zook! Afterwards we hopped many places and came to be fond of the outskirts of a trading center called Lotim or more specifically the hill behind it. All in all the survey trip was alot of driving and meeting some cool people. Next trip is in August

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A day in the life

2011-05-12T19:43:00.000+03:00

Hey everyone, last week I got this idea of spending a day in the life of a shepherd boy. I know that even as much as I want to see their lives, I won't be able to fully. So this morning I went out dressed in Karamojong garb sheet and shorts and my staff. The first thing we did was plow the field. In America we'd just use a tractor but these people use a plowshare. A nice bladed contraption with 4 cows yoked to it. We plowed the field for 2.5 hours. Working the plowshare is a balancing act for the boys aged 14-16, They do it very well though. I tried my hand at it and found it too hard to make a line and with animals moving forward there is no going backwards. Then after plowing his little sister brought out food some posho and greens, it was great. From there we herded the goats and cattle. During our time hanging out they sang some real local songs and I recorded them. After shepherding we went inside the manyatta(homestead) and ate one again. This time we had boiled maize and fried white ants. I like to think I can eat anything but a handfull of white ants almost turned my stomach real fast. Then the day was over. The reason I did all this was to be fully immersed. Most of the day I was unable to communicate or understand what they were saying. I do know some of the language but I'm not there yet but immersion helps to force language acquisition. To learn a language one of the best ways is to remove the option of English. So I'm thankful for the opportunity..

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A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

2011-05-11T08:05:00.003+03:00

This story from my life is another blog on the stones of remembrance
blog. A look back. Hope you're encouraged

It was the end of high school and I was standing at the door that we all
take as seniors where you leave behind your childhood and step forward into
the great beyond of this thing we call life. My whole senior year got turned
around when I came to know Jesus, all of my goals and plans changed in the
blink of an eye. My dream before then was to become a pilot and make
lots of money and use the airforce to achieve my goal. However when I got
saved and realized the goal of life was not to make money, everything changed
into a different direction. So having planned most of my high school to take that
route, to now change meant drastic things. It meant I had played hookie from math and science having only completed two years in the subjects, not to mention never taking my SAT's. So there you have it, in one sentence I shotup any chance of attending a real university. Anyhow I am rambling a bit. Since I found myself in such a peculiar situation It led me to pray. The night of graduation our class had an overnight grad party hosted by the school and most of the night we spent on a cruise on the Willamete River. It was on this cruise as the sun rose the next morning that I found myself praying. I told God that I didnt have anything in terms of education to offer him, nor knowledge, but since I had nothing else I would give freely of myself to him to do as he desired. I told God that day that I was His to be dedicated to the ministry or whatever he may choose. Having made that decision would impact the rest of my life. So did I know immediately what would happen? Nope instead about
a week later I was waiting to go to my friends party and I was reading the Bible. It just
so happened that I was in the book of Genesis and I crossed over the story of Abraham. Immediately God made the letters jump off the page and impress them in my Spirit. He impressed that scripture upon my heart that it would be a verse that described my life. So again did I know where I was going, nope not yet. It wasnt until about 6 months later that a group from Albuquerque came to Washington advertising their mission program and also their Bible training school called the School of Ministry. Once I heard about it I knew in my heart immediately that there was where I was to go. So I applied

A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

2011-05-11T08:05:00.001+03:00

A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

2011-05-11T08:04:00.001+03:00

This story from my life is another blog on the stones of remembrance
blog. A look back. Hope you're encourage

It was the end of high school and I was standing at the door that we all
take as seniors where you leave behind your childhood and step forward into
the great beyond of this thing we call life. My whole senior year got turned
around when I came to know Jesus, all of my goals and plans changed in the
blink of an eye. My dream before then was to become a pilot and make
lots of money and use the airforce to achieve my goal. However when I got
saved and realized the goal of life was not to make money, everything changed
into a different direction. So having planned most of my high school to take that
route, to now change meant drastic things. It meant I had played hookie from math and science having only completed two years in the subjects, not to mention never taking my SAT's. So there you have it, in one sentence I shotup any chance of attending a real university. Anyhow I am rambling a bit. Since I found myself in such a peculiar situation It led me to pray. The night of graduation our class had an overnight grad party hosted by the school and most of the night we spent on a cruise on the Willamete River. It was on this cruise as the sun rose the next morning that I found myself praying. I told God that I didnt have anything in terms of education to offer him, nor knowledge, but since I had nothing else I would give freely of myself to him to do as he desired. I told God that day that I was His to be dedicated to the ministry or whatever he may choose. Having made that decision would impact the rest of my life. So did I know immediately what would happen? Nope instead about
a week later I was waiting to go to my friends party and I was reading the Bible. It just
so happened that I was in the book of Genesis and I crossed over the story of Abraham. Immediately God made the letters jump off the page and impress them in my Spirit. He impressed that scripture upon my heart that it would be a verse that described my life. So again did I know where I was going, nope not yet. It wasnt until about 6 months later that a group from Albuquerque came to Washington advertising their mission program and also their Bible training school called the School of Ministry. Once I heard about it I knew in my heart immediately that there was where I was to go. So I applied

stories from the past

2011-05-09T09:04:00.000+03:00

Hey everybody,
Back in 2008 I started a blog called stones of remembrance but since then I have not posted anything. However my whole purpose for the blog was to encourage others through the stories of yesteryear. so enjoy!

First entry:

A life is reborn

Because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death to guide
our feet in the path of peace Luke 1:78-79

It was the summer of 1996 that the Lord began to seek me out. the end of my junior came and I never having sung in any choir got accepted into the premier choir. It came as a shock to me and I wanted to find some way of practicing my singing. During the summer I went to work at a Boy Scout in Dufur, Oregon for 9 weeks that summer. During my time there I joined the chapel service, never really having been brought up in any religion. We sang songs like “Lord You Are..,” “They will know we are Christians by our love” and “In our church Lord be glorified”. I had to say my mind was piqued at such words and the things we were singing at the time. I began to spend a lot of time with the chaplain and his wife. But soon those small seeds being planted were being pecked by birds. I got to talking with a Mormon and he told me about wearing a cross being the same as wearing a the gun that you shot someone with. I had some point to argue and even began hanging out with Mormons. Well the summer ended at whatever spiritual journey I was on was suddenly halted. Summer ended and school started

and I got this idea in my head that I would become a Mormon. I told father and his immediate response was no your not you'll be baptized as a Lutheran. I wanted to see if I could make it as a Mormon, so I tried decaf coffee for a week and somehow that was too much for me. So it was because of coffee that I decided not to become a Mormon. Though that pursuit ended I was still as the blind man(whom Jesus had a two part healing) I was only seeing men as trees. I was now desiring to fill that God-shaped hole in my heart. In the first couple weeks of school I met a freshman named Logan, little would I know how much of an impact this young man would have on my life. It was Logan who invited me to church for the first time. However that first night we went we skipped church(strangely enough). Even though my first time was not what I expected I kept going to that church. It is called First Church of God, Vancouver, Wa. I went with my friend whenever I could. For that whole year we were joined at the hip. In fact instead of Jesus becoming my Lord I was imitating my best friend who was sad to say a churched child at the time(but walking with the Lord strong now). Instead of praising Jesus I was praising God for bringing someone like Logan. Well that whole year I got involved in the church serving all over and doing many things. about a year later Logan and I were involved in the Singing Christmas Tree. In fact I had a solo performance in which I was singing Sleigh Bells. One night on the way home from a service Logan asked me a question that would change my life forever. He asked me if I had even been saved. I stumbled in my words as I tried to explain that I had changed but I didn't know when. I went to all my friends looking for sympathy complaining about the question he asked me. But as I searched and searched I realized that I wasn't saved but just going through the motions of church. So on December 12th 1997 during a performance of the Singing Christmas tree I placed my trust in Jesus receiving him while the pastor gave the altar call, while I was in the tree.

Some peculiar things

2011-05-02T00:05:00.000+03:00

Well today May 1, 2011 I learned that I would have to take public transport home. I was of course thrilled cause there is a bit of adventure involved in Ugandan transport. like for instance coming in and out of Karamoja isn’t always easy. It used to be that I would take the rock trucks, but they became a bit unpredictable so last time(or at least one of the times) I went down to Mbale I rode with another passenger on a motorcycle. While it was not the most comfortable I found that it did the job. So anyway I went down today on a bike. Most people in the world outside of say Africa, India and Italy have not spent too much time on a motorcycle or the back of one for the case of this instance. So I travelled around 80miles on the back of a motorcycle, then switched to a matatu(mini vanish type vehicle) and then finally to a larger bus. As we were driving I was thinking of something my friend told me. She said that a lot of things that I just find common are rather out of the ordinary to the average person not living in Africa. So I began thinking about some things that are not common. The first thing that struck me was how when a vehicle passes on the road the two vehicles can come within even 5 feet of each other before

swaying back into their own lanes. Oh yes the solid and dotted line, they are merely just decoration cause when you want to pass people just do it. Another thing was while we were waiting to leave(in the last bus), we were holding the seat for some guy on the other side of town. People in the bus will gladly make known to each other their discontent with the decisions of the bus driver. Instead of say America where in the spirit of passive aggressiveness they would sms their disgruntlement. Okay well I am still thinking of things that may be out of the usual, until then…….

a quick trip up

2011-04-29T19:29:00.001+03:00

Today we went back into Karamoja and the rains have begun. I think its for real this time. So much so that my tent didn't stand a chance. Don't get me, wrong the tent i have is great but it was never intended to be used for 6 months straight. It sounds funny when I say that i live in a tent in Africa. Anyhow I came back today to find my tents center pole collapsed, so once again it was time for repair and the magic fix for everything is binding wire. Give me some bamboo, some papyrus mats, and I'll make just about anything. So the tent is fixed for now. I think this time now all the poles have been messed up. Another thing we did today was bring up one roof upside down on the back of a truck. It was quite a challege to lift the roof over a fence even with ten guys. Once we reached home the next challenge arose cause the road was not big enough for the roof to pass without tilting. We got what seemed like most of the idlers in town to carry the roof. So one roof down and one to go.

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some shepherd boys and some welding

2011-04-07T21:57:00.000+03:00

What does it means to be vocationally apt? Cause I think I might be. Last week I learned that we as a team would go down and weld our roofs at the OPC(Nakale)compound. Now most people when they set out to do something have some previous experience, but not us. So last Saturday I started learning a new vocation, welding. So I learned very quickly that welding it not very easy. imagine for a moment that you are given a pen that spews molton lava and someone then tells you to start drawing circles or going back and forth. I won't even mention that each second your molten pencil is becoming shorter and shorter. There in a nut shell is welding(from a weeks experience perspective). Drawing with a molten pencil, its all about artistry and 7000Fahrenheit temperatures. Woo hoo. So far we have finished one roof to about 90percent, with lots of welds all over, made up of rebar and metal poles. So Lord use me to learn another trade, it's okay. I've always been amazed at how God brings new vocational things before me and its like he already prepared me with the accessible knowledge to do it. I guess that's what we call grace right?
Aside from the welding which has been afternoons and one whole day i went out again to the Shepherd boys yesterday. As James my translator, Esther and I went out to minister to them we had to wait a long time. Seems to be a common thing anywhere but America. While we were waiting we saw how life unfolds at the borehole(well). You look out towards the neighboring hills and you see vast amounts of territory uninhabited except by the shepherds and their animals. This place is their domain, their life. It was the time that they water their animals so all their cows were coming in. It was quite a cool thing to watch. The sounds they make to call the animals or correct them. In this culture they don't count their cattle instead they name each one, and for some there could be hundreds all having names. Amazing. This culture is all around me and I am amazed by it. Finally we go to spend time with the shepherd boys. I told the story of Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego and the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar. My goal right now is to find stories of young men standing up for what is right. The story is full of action and the boys loved it. As I was preparing the story to tell I noticed something I had always missed in reading the story; not only were their clothing not burnt even the smell of smoke was not on them. Anyone who has even been around a campfire has notices smelling like smoke afterwards, yet these three boys didn't even smell of smoke. Once again amazing. please continue to pray for the ministry here that I can be effective and know what to say and what to teach.

Shepherd boys and a man name Cagem

2011-04-01T22:58:00.001+03:00

Hello again, and thank you all for praying for my mom. As some of you know I have been developing a ministry to Shepherd boys. These are those in Karamojong culture whose lives revolve around their goats and cows. Since they are always out they never go to church. My goal is to bring them God's word and to have the local church to continue the work when I move north. These past two weeks have been great. I've been telling two stories so far: David and Goliath, and just recently the story of Daniel and his friends refusing to worship the statue. It wasn't until this week that I told the second one. The theme I'm going for is stories of how boys can make a difference,also stories that make the Bible come alive to their imaginations. My translator is an asst pastor for our towns Anglican church. His name is Cagem(sha-gem) James. It has been really neat to talk culture with him. Anyhow thats a little update on my work with the shepherd boys.

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A lull and a bang

2011-03-29T19:54:00.000+03:00

Hey all, thanks for tuning in to catch up on my life. It’s funny how sometimes life just lulls out but then at the end of the lull comes a flurry of busyness. Right now it

feels as though my life is somehow crashing around me. just yesterday I learned that my mom had a stroke. I guess at first it didn’t surprise me I know the way she lives and that it takes a toll. So I called her and learned that she had like 5 seizures where parts of her lost feeling. It was only this morning that it hit me, my mom is in the hospital and here I am on the other side of the world. It is something I am used to now, knowing that in previous years my dad has had some surgeries there were rather serious. However that was my dad, who has a lot of safety nets. My mom on the other hand hasn’t had real insurance for decades. So I wait on baited breath to see whether I need to come that way. My family has always been sensitive seeing how its about 2000bucks to fly over and that kind of money is not really available. So what am I doing? Activating an army of prayer warriors to stand with me, cause after all its only God who can fix my mom’s health. Even the surgeons. So I’m here on the other side of the ocean petitioning my Father in Heaven to fix something that is out of my control.

A lot of rain and a broken tent

2011-03-19T18:37:00.001+03:00

Today started out well with doing some work around the property but
Then we went to nakale. It was not the going that was bad but the return trip. You see on the way there it rained pretty hard, and i thought it would end before i rode my bike up. So i left excited for the trip back with a raincoat and some hope. Well it was squashed i got soaked even better my throttle started sticking. All of this continued until the throttle died. Im not sure how it worked but i went about 14k like this. The bike decided its own speed and by God's grace i made it home. But wait the story gets better. I arrived home completely soaked to find that my tent collapsed in the downpour and the team was repairing it. So my tent is fixed somehow and its still raining. Oh joy!

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The Death of a Loved One

2011-03-02T16:36:00.003+03:00

What do you do when faced with the death of a loved one? Since I have been in Africa I have heard of many funerals and lost people I knew. Even in America my grandfather passed away March of 2010. I remember when it happened how there were moments where I needed to weep, to let it out. Just yesterday one of our dear daughters Nazziwa Harriet passed away. I remember the day she came to the property, 2 years old with a broke leg and arm. All she could do was Jeer as people. You could tell her whole 2 years of existence were full of bitterness and pain, her coming here was the beginning of a new life. For seven years I have watched her grow and experience life and now she is gone. I think it is a mix of her being so close and also her being so young. It came as a shock. The hardest part was her mother crying in tears saying “I just want to hear her call me mamma one more time.” At that moment my heart broke for this little girl and her mother. We live life every day never thinking of the day we’ll die. And when that day comes it’s a surprise and every one will say he/she could have accomplished so much. It is times like these that we remove ourselves from auto mode and see where we are in this life. It is times like these we remember that life is finite, it has an end, and all of us have a task. I thank God for Naziwa and the time that she spent on this earth and the impact God allowed her to have on all of us. So what do we do? We mourn but our mourning is not as the world mourns, we mourn her loss or more her being removed from our world, but we rejoice that she’s in a place where she’ll never hurt again in the arms of a loving savior.

The process of change

2011-02-07T13:28:00.001+03:00

Just of late I have seen a lot of
change around me. The season has changed from rainy to air full of static
electricity. People change and people even go. What inspired this post was learning that my friends in Kampala are moving on. It's not like we see each other that much but just knowing they are there is a comfort. It seems that soon as you get used to something it goes away(All except God). In Jinja a huge thing is about tou happen, JB is moving to Pajule. While it has been in the works for some time its only now coming to fruition. So Kampala without my friend and Jinja without JB and fam. Truly life is about changing and adapting to loss. From childhood losing your first dog or worse yet your first relative, even,throughout life's losses it's all about adaptation. The key though is even in loss we don't shutdown or stop loving others, in fact we love more and sacrifice more knowing that time no amount of time is promised. In the last year I've also seen a lot of change. My grandfather died in March, I moved to
Karamoja in July, Jonah left in October, The Fulks boys in September and many other things. Landscapes change, people move on, life is full of ups and downs. I'm grateful to serve God who is more faithful than the rising and setting of the sun, and the waves of the sea.

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The Dust of February

2011-02-02T11:59:00.000+03:00

Well I reckon it has been a good three weeks since I last sat down to blog. I have to say it has been a good three weeks. At the beginning of this year I made some goals. the one that encompassed

them all is I want to make a difference. So in making a difference it all began with me getting to know the community that surrounded me(as if I have arrived). So after the last time I wrote we started a new schedule that gave much more emphasis on language and personal time and also a percentage on building our houses. The whole idea of building houses stresses me out a lot just cause not having skilled labor overseeing us puts a lot on our shoulders. However in the week that we finally go to laying the stone I felt a bit like an artisan, planning out each stone and how much cement to put. The weather has made all of it to be a little bit of a hassle. Not sure what the temp has been but I am thining its close to 100. The best part is the wind, its blos the dust everywhere so cleaning the tent is a bit pointless. Aside from the laying of stone and weather I have not spent so much time with my neighbors but a lot more time with Shepherd boys. So far I have just been stuck purposely in the Sermon on the mount. Mainly teaching about being salt and light and then loving your enemies. Just recently I went to two places and attempted to teach an entire lesson in Na’Karamojong. It was a challenge but a huge breakthrough, and with my limited vocabulary it must have been like a 6 year old child giving a bible study. So baby steps. The new schedule allows me time each day to go and visit these communities (not that every day I am out there). I am getting to a place where I feel like I am back in full time ministry again, which for me is exactly where I want to be. One of my friends recently came to visit to and it was good to have her there so I and the team could really see things in a different way. I feel like I am finally coming into my own in Karamoja, ya it’s hard some days, but I actually enjoy living in a tent, the day that I can stay in a stone hut will be even better.

A week of implementation

2011-01-16T06:54:00.000+03:00

Hey everybody this one is going to be quick but I just wanted to share a little
bit. About two weeks ago I was in Nairobi at a missions conference. While
I was there I realized that though we are living amongst these people in our
humble little town, we weren't really getting to know them. So I was like that
should be changed. You see we are in the south to learn and not necessarily
to do ministry, being busy with building and language learning. The whole business
of being in the south had to do with being around those we know who aren't afraid
to tell us when we're doing things that go against culture. Well anyways this last
week I started going to houses in our neighborhood and just taking tea with people
and with a translator hearing their story and sharing mine. So far I have spent time
with two of our neighbors. One of my new ministries is to the Shepherd boys, they are
needy for God's Word and I need to learn how to story, its a perfect combination. So who
are they? Well they are the boys 7-17 who keep care of the livestock all day(seeing as Karamoja
is a cattle culture). This last week when we met together there were something like 20 boys and
I taught the creation story. I am really excited to see what happens from here.

Recap of the last three weeks

2011-01-08T16:00:00.000+03:00

To all my readers Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I have been meaning to write for some time now but sometimes blogging requires a different different mindset. So what's been happening? Well I'll tell you. On the 17th I came back from Karamoja and was blessed to spend another Christmas in Jinja. The plan at first was to climb a mountain and just be with nature, but in the end I realized I wanted to spend it around lots of people. So Christmas eve was at the Long families house. What does that look like? It means a Christmas movie and a whole spread of cookies and opening some gifts. I was really blessed to be part of it. Then it was on Christmas day where I got to spend time with the Pierces, out whole church( for service) and lastly a selection of Missionaries and friends at the Bissets for Christmas. Usually Christmas is a strange egg for me, working in a church sometimes you get tired of being on the flip side. So even though I help set up for the Christmas service this year I sat for the whole things and just enjoyed it for once. Okay so after Christmas, In fact the day after Christmas I hopped into a special hire to Mbale, from Mbale I hopped on a Rock truck and surprisingly I think it took over 5 hours to get to Amudat( Uganda/Kenya border town). So whats it like riding in a rock truck, first its bumpy, second the drivers may or may not drink. On this specific day mine chose to drink and by the time we reached he was repeating himself too much and driving fast. So by 5:30 or so I arrived and met up with Jean and Tom and the Carneys for dinner. Not knowing what would happen next I learned we were crossing over into Kenya after dinner. So we did, we took a bunch of weird road and winded in and out of Kenya, by the time we were too confused we settled down for the night at a guest house. In the morning we learned that we were still in Uganda :( 4 hours wasted. So we started driving and driving and finally by eight at night we arrived in Ruiru for our conference. The conference was a good one but looked a whole lot different than others I had been too. It was great to get to learn about all the Pioneers missionaries working in East Africa and beyond and to pray for each one after their presentations. There were some guest speakers and they had some good things to say. Once the conference was over it was off to Nairobi to partake in the sites. Well not sites really, just a place called Java House, imagine Starbucks merged with your favorite restaurant. I may or may not have eaten their like 6 times or more. Another thing I did in Nairobi was shop for stuff like a few shirts and a new phone, also I hung out with my new friends in the East Africa region, specifically Cary, Naomi, and Abigail. Then on the 3 or fourth we headed back up to Jinja. So that is the craziness of the last three weeks.
So what about the real stuff, the feelings behind everything? In my heart it has been great to be around so many people I care about. Coming to Jinja is now like going to America, but better. Tomorrow we leave back for Karamoja and I know I'm going to face a lot of challenges. I have a lot I want to accomplish and a lot of lives I want to be part of and impact for Christ. I am grateful for the youth ministry that God has given me among the Missionary Kids in Jinja and even in Nakaale, but I am even more excited to teach the Shepherds of Karamoja and the Pian people about God.

The Process of a Process

2010-12-17T17:51:00.000+03:00

Well the time has come for me to write another blog. I do really enjoy blogging its just
when I am in Karamoja, its not so easy blogging from a cell phone. Okay ya it would be easier to

type from my laptop(if the battery lasted more than 30 minutes), but a cell phone battery lasts much longer. So what happens, I don't write for a while. Okay enough explaining. I'm calling this post The process of a process as to appeal to the nature of the Christian life. We are all in a process the great Sanctification that occurs in every believer. The last months have been about construction. There is something about Construction that is all consuming. First of all we work 7-5 days so many times if you don't plan things well you do not have time for anything. Also take in mind that doesnt mean your working every minute cause there are always lags in building and waiting for more cement to be made, but the fact is you're there. The process of building a house is in reality really long. In the last week we started to build the walls of our house with the help of Tomas and John two local very talented Karamojong men(without the help of we'd be nowhere). So we built the first layer and even the second in some places. It is really cool learning how to build, but its hard to see something and see how far it is from completion. I see the same with our language. In the beginning we were so focused, it was almost annoying but as construction came language quickly was removed. I had hope to be so much farther in what I know by now. It reminds me of the day of running the mile in middle school. There were those who loved running and ran it very well, then there was the rest asking how many more times around the track they had to go. I know I'm running but both building and language seem insurmountable, but God is greater. Who can do these things? With man its impossible but with God it's possible!

At the same time God is doing something really cool. In two areas. One area is prayer. We had a visitor named Fred and out of all the advice he gave me it was that I needed to pray. He quoted Luther by saying that sometimes Luther on a busy day had only three hours to pray. Any of us reading should instantly be cut to the heart, granted we do not live in the slow paced world of Luther's time but there should be some modern day equivalent. So I started reading The Believers Prayer Life by Andrew Murray. In the beginning pages he cuts to the chase by dealing with the Sin of prayerlessness. And I was cut to the heart and I realized something that my friend has been trying to tell me all along. I know I feel many times that I don't have the faith like others, like there is something I'm missing, like the song draw me close, the write says help me know you are here. We know God is there but many times we don't feel like it. If I want more of God and to experience him more its not going to come by just hoping it, but by spending time with Him in Prayer. The men(and women) who seemingly moved mountains were prayer warriors. I want to develop my prayer life and make that a focus and I'm sure nothing bad can come of this decision.

The second really cool thing is I began going out to a place called Ariamowoi to teach some 8-13years boys or as they're called Shepherds(Ekeyokon). The cool thing is all over Karamoja are boys around this age who are just hanging out with their cattle or goats, an audience ready for God's Word. So in total I went three times and taught on various things mainly from the Gospels. The boys say they are mainly Catholic but they were excited for anyone to come and share the Word with them. So many of you may be asking how I am doing it, well there is this kid who speaks great English in Nabilatuk and he has been my translator, very cool indeed It feels good to teach again and explain God's Word to youth. When I first moved to Karamoja I thought maybe I was done with youth but that time is not yet. As long as I'm able to minister effectively I'll do it. Since I have left Jinja I have had several opportunities to do some youth ministry with MK's(missionary kids). I am blessed to see the opportunities God has given me. earlier I wrote about running on a track in middle school, well the track is gone and its more like hiking; You can either focus on how much longer you have to hike or you can take in the spectacular beauty that surrounds you. These opportunities are the beauty that surrounds. So its all about the ride, not how long it is.

A Chapter of late November

2010-11-27T14:24:00.001+03:00

Hello out there. As many of you know the last two weeks even three has been full of one construction program after another. It all began with digging that was more than a month ago, then

we poured the footing in what turned out to be a 12 hours pour. We finished pouring the footing at

around 9pm. Even when I worked construction we never had such a long day. Then move up to two weeks earlier than today and I had the chance to lay stone to bring the foundation up to above ground level. Laying stone is no easy feat because you have to make everything fit together when every stone is unique and make sure it has enough cement around it. Then finally on Thanksgiving Day we poured the foundation of our houses. This is a huge mile stone, yet only the beginning. So how do I feel, well I feel accomplished, when it was almost done I was totally thanking God cause it’s tough work. So many times during the laying of the stones I just prayed that God would fill up my lack. I’ve thought of how many years it has been since I did hard labor like this and I think it’s about 8 years.

Aside from all the work all this time I’ve wanted more time to process things. I think there are so many things that God tries to teach us every day and we’re so caught up in self that we miss out. I keep remembering that verse about striving to become that which God called us to be. In Philippians 3:12 Paul says that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. I want that with all my heart to become even more than I am to move forward in my faith. My time so far in Karamoja has been trying, leaving behind the luxuries of Jinja (running water, electricity, in house bathrooms), to now living really simply, not to mention eating simply. Since I’ve got here people have came up to me and said they were hungry. Now as I’ve been here longer I have asked them what they were hungry for. Amazingly enough they don’t want food they want etaba (snuff) and beer, I keep responding that it’s not hunger but addiction (may be a harsh word?). Now that I know it is not food they are missing out on my conscience is not so heavy when I say no. Another interesting fact I’ve noticed is the short sighted work of the WFP (World Food Program). Whenever they give out food (even during the harvest) it means people leave their jobs, spend all their money on alcohol. Because of this the people have no initiative to work (even though given the chance they can be hard workers) as they will always (at the time being) be supported by big brother. It’s a total dependency culture, no reward for hard work. Anywhoo that about sums It up for now, thanks for reading.

A lil' one for November

2010-11-06T15:11:00.003+03:00

November Blog

Hey everyone it has been about two weeks since I blogged so I figure I should update everyone on what’s going on. As some of you know I spent about three weeks in Jinja. These weeks were fun but

at the same time I learned a lot. I had to opportunity last time I was in town to sing at The Keep, and it went really well. However I found myself questioning my call in life. My faith has always had a lot to do with singing and leading worship and now that I have moved in some ways I am really far away from that concept. So I was a little confused and asking God why I am not doing music for a living. It is funny the temptations that come along. When I went to Jinja this last time I got a chance to sing a couple times and it was a blessing, but interestingly I was nervous. It was like I had never sung in public before and I think partially it was because of the songs I did, mostly secular. From a musician’s standpoint there is a big difference between worship music and secular music. The difference is worship is not about the leader but about his ability to lead others, while performing is all about the artist and the music. So I realized that I am comfortable with worship but not so comfortable with performing. So God summed up my quandary by showing me the flipside. I realize that I’m right where I need to be.

As for the work in Karamoja it is going on and as of the 14^th of this month I will have lived in Karamoja four months. A week before I came down to Jinja, Kelli came up to check things out. Kelli, Jean and I got to see one of the coolest cultural things I got to do was see a traditional dance during Uhuru day (Ugandan independence). All the men around my age would jump and sing over and over. I wanted to join but because of my coordination (or lack thereof), I was very hesitant. After the jumping they all broke up and begin chasing girls around town, apparently it’s a time of many engagements.

Changing lanes this week was the beginning of all our busy-ness. We were putting on a roof for the first half of the week then Bob Wright (constructor extraordinaire) came and dug our well (Bore Hole). All we needed to start constructing was a constant source of water and we got it. Its perfect timing because it’s hot season, and right now as I type its 90degrees inside, this’ll be fun. So the heat is on by sunshine and for construction. We are set to begin laying out the foundation this next week hopefully even pouring it by the next week. So we’re one more step closer to our goal of living in huts that we build ourselves.

Last night I had the privilege of teaching the mission kids at the Orthodox mission in Nakaale. It is a real blessing to have such an outpost only 30k away. So I think that’s about all for now. Keep praying for me and the mission in Nabilatuk that we as a team can learn N’akaramojong well enough to teach others in it and have an impact.

and yet another

2010-10-16T16:20:00.000+03:00

Wow, it has been way to long since I last posted a blog. Needless to say many things have happened in that time. Well actually in my world at times it just seems like each day can look alike. We continue to press forward in language and I find myself maing sentences just a child learning for his first time. I guess when you really try to be a missionary its like reverting to childhood. It makes me think of Jesus as he was born into Galilea. How strange it must have been to be fully man and fully God. On one hand having all the knowledge in the world and then again in the flesh being contained in the body of a child, with limitations in speech and action. I think the word is incarnating. In my case going into a culture you don't know with a language that you also don't know and learning to walk like a child. During these last three weeks the organization we're pairing with received alot of stuff to benefit the community with. The only problem is we didnt bring it or do we give it out. However the people have always go free stuff from westerners so everywhere we go people ask for clothing and each time we have to point to the Organization responsible and many times the people do not believe us. I love to give and I feel its a gifting but at the same time it has to have a right time also. I am still learning exactly what that will mean to these people and how I can give without opening a further door for people who want extort me in the guise of friendship. Anyhow language is going well and aside from that life is getting into a rhythm. Don't get me wrong life never gets easy up in this neck of the woods. There is always some for of atrophy. You build something and it slowly gets eaten by termites, you know like that. Okay all ya'll probably cant exactly agree with that statement. So right now we're down in Jinja and it has so far been really good. It is just missing one thing, Jonah Nester, man I miss that guy. So at the moment the plan is to be here sometime close to the end of the month of October stay for the pastors conference and then shoot on up again.

Surprise opportunities

2010-09-22T15:45:00.000+03:00

Well, the time has come for another blog update. In the past three weeks a lot has happened. About two weeks ago we were spending some time at OPC(Orthodox Presbyterian Church)mission located in Nakale. During our time there we worked on language but also I got the chance to do youth group with a group of the missionary kids on the property. Let’s just say I saw a need and did some ministry and during an earlier visit they had asked me to do some. So while we were at OPC, we learned that Mukisa (a guy from an organization we work with) was having some troubles clearing the container that was shipped filled with items to be given out in the community we are living in. So within a day we decided to go down to Jinja. Woo hoo! I was so excited, since the last time I had been in Jinja was a month earlier at the wedding of Otim and Susan. It is funny now because in a way going to Jinja is like going on furlough I get to see a lot of the people I miss but I know now that it’s not home.

I had planned to come into town the coming week to see my friend Jonah off, so this was a great new development - one last hurrah for Jonah and I. As a little background - Jonah and I have been close friends for about 5 years but even closer for the last two years since we went to Karamoja and Kabale together. However, his time in Uganda for now is up. He just graduated from high school and the time has come for him to spread his wings and jump out into the real world. Aside from that, being back in Jinja was a time where the KKAB team(Tom, Jean, and I) could get some work done, some language learned and hang out with some cool people. One person being Kelli, who is my adopted sister, we hung out a lot and hopefully our time together was equally encouraging. Some other people I was able to spend time with was the Long family at their restaurant called The Keep (by the way, if you’re in Jinja you must go try it out). I think that the reason we gotta be there ten days was so I could really have one last week of fun with Jonah to push him along on his journey (I say push in the African context of walking with someone halfway to their destination).

Along with the cool Jonah and Kelli time, I got a chance to sing at the live music night at The Keep (also something you cannot miss). I chose three songs and I was in between the other singers. One song in particular I chose, was one that I wrote called “How do you say Goodbye,” Originally written for a friend of mine, Holly Krebs, it has become the theme song for everyone who is just passing through(even at length) my life in Uganda. It was so cool singing it for the first time before many, but it was a little emotional, as I looked and see the people I said goodbye to in July and thought about Jonah and Holly, I left the stage silently in tears.

While we were in Jinja we did a bit of language at Masese 3 (a slum where the K’jongs live outside of Jinja). We went three days in a row and it was a lot of fun, along with doing other important matters of business in the afternoon. As for my time at Calvary Chapel, I was asked to lead worship for that coming Wednesday and Sunday. It was cool, getting the opportunity to sing once again in the position I held for over two years. More importantly, it was so cool to lead God’s church in worship once more, of which I am grateful for the opportunity.

On to Jonahs going away party, I was asked to sing some songs and give a speech. I am very comfortable with teaching God’s Word but giving speeches is not necessarily my forte. SO that morning as I thought of how to prepare I had a song start to develop in my head about seasons, the passing of the leaves of old and the new life that comes in the spring, in terms of this new chapter in Jonah’s life. So I wrote it and recorded it within an hour and then sang it for the party. This was another first, to write and record and sing publicly for the first time a new song was sweet, but draining. Along with the song I led the worship for the party and funny enough I didn’t choose upbeat songs but Phil Wickham music, mellow and introspective. Hey it was how I felt that day. We were sending Jonah away to America. Some MK’s come back but many find life in America comfortable, or for reason of finances never make it back, so you never know if someone is coming back. So the party was a bit sad. Singing when you’re about to cry is really hard and I don’t suggest trying to do it, cause it leaves you spent. As I left the stage again, I was spent and in tears.

So here I am back in Nabilatuk and it feels like home. Living in a tent is pretty cool: fresh air, my bed is amazing, and it is home. In this chapter I want to call it “Bring on the shovels.” For the last two mornings we have spent 3 hours digging the foundation. Funny enough I happen to like digging. Other experiences in Uganda have not been the same. In Jinja every time you try to do work you find people telling you that you’re doing it wrong or that you should give them the work, it is annoying, Here I can just dig to my hearts content and not feel like it’s a race or that I’m competing with someone. So digging is fun. As we dig the foundation of our houses I realize that this will be the first house I will have built and owned. At first the figure of 3,000 bucks seemed really daunting, but the whole time I felt God telling me to just trust. In my flesh I wanted to scheme and figure out garage sales and other ways of finding supporters, but God has so far provided 80 percent. God is good. What a sigh of relief. Thanks to all who made this possible. Okay I think that is enough for now. Enjoy.

The First Month

2010-08-19T21:49:00.000+03:00

As of this day I have stayed over a month now in Karamoja. As for living in a tent I think it has been a little over two weeks. In the case someone was to interview me, maybe they would ask me how it was thus far in living in a tent. My Answer is as follows. First of all let me say camping in tents is a little bit unnerving because every time you see rain you think, “Will my tent make it through this one?” Rain is a threat to all tented peoples, this including me. Another thing is there is so much sand here, every time you step in or out you have to worry about how much sand you’re carrying in. Eventually you just give up and accept that life is full of sand and there is nothing you can do about it. We are staying in good tents but already there are casualties in the structure of the tent poles. Rain + improper drainage + a rain flap oddly settled = broken poles. Okay so some may then ask where I am taking showers from, this is where it gets tricky. I built a shower stall out of Papyrus mats, wire and rope, it is nice for the village but it is not a shower, but rather an attempt at one. So each of us has those solar water heater bags that gets hoisted up and becomes a shower. Today the big work was to make a shade for the tents. You may ask why we would do something like that, well tents are very hot in the African sun and eventually tent material gets old, especially when it is used for long periods of time. So there you have it.

As for language helpers, we had found several college students and agreed on a set price. Things went on and after only a week they needed a meeting cause they weren’t getting paid enough. So what did we do? Drum roll please. We told them that we are paying only that amount and if there is more profit elsewhere they are free to go. Huh. Some of them were stunned realizing their plan didn’t work, so at the moment we are without language helpers(just the hired ones). So we will look for others and move on. I am learning more language each day and I’m pretty excited about that. However I don’t find the focus on language as strong as I expected, I can still manage to study on the side to increase my exposure to the language.

So what have I learned so far in Karamoja? I’ve learned that even the way I have dealt with things in the south is no longer so applicable here. The amount of things I think I know and understand become radically less every day. As I try to start afresh here, learning and growing with the people and their culture. It is so much against what I would want, or how I would do things, but this is part of shedding the stuff and parts of my personality that is abrasive, and learning a better way, to be like Jesus. I realize each day how far I have to go to become like Jesus. By His grace it is possible.

Settling In

2010-08-09T00:10:00.001+03:00

It has been almost two weeks since the last time I wrote. So at the moment I am back in Nabilatuk and finally settling down. So let me recap a little of what has happened over the last two weeks. After about 10 days in Kaabong we headed south to Kotido. In Kotido we stayed with a the Williams family at their house and spent some quality time there. The next morning we shot down to Moroto for a 11am meeting with the Bishop of the Catholic church. I would have to admit it was my first time to do such a thing in all my time here in Africa, along with the Catholic bishop we met with the Church of Uganda one too. The first Bishop was really cool and very hospitable, while the second one was hospitable but at the same time a bit lengthy. All in all during our time in Moroto there were too many meetings about 6 in all lasting from 30 minutes up to 2.5 hours. oh how I love meetings, um not really.. So after two days of putzing around Moroto I prepared myself for the bus trip down. Little did I know that the bus would leave at 2:30 in the morning. At first it sounded a bit adventurous to go so early in the morning, after getting up so early I realized it was not adventurous at all instead it was insane. The bus ride was safe but 12 hours of traveling and waiting is excruciating Upon reaching Jinja It was all different, it didn’t feel like home anymore but much like going on furlough. Like America, America to me is a place of memories but definitely not home anymore, and now I add Jinja to the list. It was like strolling down memory lane. It was nice to get off that stupid bus and be greeted by Kelli O’Hea. Of course soon as I got home I realized that I had work to do for my work permit. Argghh. Anyhow thank God for people like Kelli and Kathy Bisset(there are more just no mentioned here). Over the weekend I went to the wedding of Otim and Susan, which was really cool, a big blessing to be part of. On Monday the 2^nd of August I shot back up to Nabilatuk and it was like coming home, immediately we started setting up our tents and in an instant I had a home and something to call my home(temporarily of course). So I mentioned about all the meetings earlier, I think this chapter could be called “A lot of talkin and a little doin.” I have been in so many situations where I was stuck in some seat listening in on a meeting that was all theory and investigation. In essence I am a do it kind of person. I want to be on the action side of something, too much talking drives me nuts. However I realize this is all in my training in making me to be more than I have been so far. The chapter of too much talking is about to end as we’re breaking ground on the foundations of our huts this coming week. Another thing language is starting, so all this is very exciting. I like to think of myself as a mule, the mule is just focused on where he needs to go and what he needs to carry, he cares about doing, thrown in with some stubbornness of course too. So he we go and I’ll be a mule for Jesus.

The First Week

2010-07-23T16:06:00.000+03:00

At the moment I am about to finish the first week in Karamoja. So what can I say? It’s amazing. Moving from Jinja was a bit hard. When you stay in a place for nine years you come to know a lot about everything. The Ugandan and foreign staff in Jinja are my family and it is always hard saying goodbye to family. Ever since I heard God’s call on my life I knew that I had to keep a light touch on things never knowing how long I would be in any given place. It is

Always hard leaving behind friends but knowing the call makes it all a bit easier. As for the moving we’re still in the living nowhere season. In the last week we have moved through two or three towns and stayed in several missions, but we are not yet in our tents so everything is spread out. In the first weekend of my stay here we did some serious walking some days even up to seven miles as we looked at what certain villages used for their drinking water. Our mission was to find the most needy villages about four of them to bless with Bore holes(water wells). It was neat being immersed in the culture and seeing these people how they met and discussed and how organized they were and concerned with the needs of their people. One place we went I met a guy named Loke( pronounced Loh kay). He moved with us the entire 7 miles and as we walked we drew somewhat more friendly, we even traded Anankas(traditional sheet clothing of the Karimojongs). I learned later that it was a big deal. It will be great to come back to the village and see my new friend. On July 20^th we drove up to Moroto and stayed the night and then the next day drove up to Kaabong. For those new ones to my blog and ministry Kaabong is the place we are moving next year at this time and the epicenter for our new ministry. All of the training in the south will be for our effectiveness here in Kaabong. As we drove up here I learned about how unsafe some parts of the roads were as we passed borders between different tribes. You see everyone has cattle and it is the very thing that people see as their wealth when you don’t have cattle you are not a man. So each tribe raids the other for cattle and it has been going on for a long time. People have tried to help the situation but as the military has taken the guns away they have made them vulnerable to tribes of the same nature living in Kenya who have taken a lot of their cows because now they cannot protect themselves.

Yesterday the 22^nd we went to a Manyatta( a village enclosed by thorns hedges) named Apanyang. Entering in with each new door you have to get on your hands and knees to enter. Everywhere you go people ask for food and complain of hunger. It is truly sad and you feel somewhat paralyzed. If you help one then you have to help all and all are hungry. In our time in Apanyang I spoke with a boy named David and he gave me a lot of help with the language. Back to the hunger issue by giving food and money to people here you contribute to the negative effects of giving. It’s the difference between giving a fish and teaching someone to fish. Even if someone raised ten thousand dollars it still would only feed a town for a week and then what. So for the feeding I leave that for the World Food Program. Meanwhile I will pray that God provides a way for this people the Karimojong to provide for themselves. My duty is to Story from God’s Word to put it out there, cause His word doesn’t return void, it changes lives. So I can do nothing but God can do everything.

A trip to Karamoja

2010-06-03T08:10:00.000+03:00

About a week and a half ago I set off to see the place where I'd be living for the next year. I don't know

what it is about roadtrips, except I live for them. So after Sunday service I hopped in my vehicle and began

the trek to Karamoja. For those who do not know(possible 99percent of people) Karamoja is the Northeastern

region of Uganda right on the border of Kenya. The people of the area have the worst rap in the country. Those who claim to be civilized and educated treat them as untouchables. I have been twice to the region called Karamoja and seen a really neat people, who's culture is not watered down but intact. The people there are semi-nomadic pastoralists, like Texas with less clothing. So anyhow the trip consists of driving 45 minutes east and then heading north for 1 hour then head East again for like three. The fun part is my care loves overheating. It was not a problem even until I went to Kabale in January. So on this trip funny enough I only made it 20 minutes outside of town and it was already having problems. A normal person would have said let me go back and go another day after getting the car fixed. but I am not normal, more like driven. If I set out for somewhere very few things will stop me. So around half way there I had to stop and let the car cool down. The paved road was only for the first two hours and then the next three was dirt roads and deep ruts and at times the car vibrated so much that the back end went sideways. The best part of the road was the driveway to the Orthodox Presbyterian Mission located in Nakale, Nakapiripirit district. Now most people say to maintain speed when going through muddy areas, but they also say it should be a slow speed. However I dont like to drive slow so lets say I am going 30 through a 1/4 mile of sludge. Needless to say my car bounced more in those 5 minutes than I think it ever has. The beautiful thing about Nakale is that it sits at the foot of a giant mountain called Mt. Kadam which is just under 10,000ft high. The bad thing is being at the foot of a mountain means a lot of rain, good for the crops, but everything always moist there. I stayed at the mission in Nakale with two missionary families and a lot of volunteers. I was surprised to see all the kids. Anyhow everyone at the base was just awesome and very hospitable. After a day and a night there I drove up to Nabilatuk, the town I am moving to. On the way to the town I had to cross two rivers which was actually pretty cool(The day before I went with a guy named Emmy to test out the depth). The more I drove the more I left the mountains behind and the sandier the soil became. I make it sound like it was far but it was only 30 kilometers/18 Miles. The town was good, Mukisa and Rachel showed me around(employees of the Kachep NGO). I got to the see the area where we will live and the main office it was good to see the place. Okay so long story short I spent another day and a half in Nakale and got to go to a village. On the next day I drove back to Jinja stopping about 6 times on the way home to give my car a break from overheating. On the way hom there was a traffic jam in the village. Apparently the night before two lorries got stuck on the side of a very wet and muddy road. I showed up and ended up waiting about 1.5 hours waiting for th vehicles to work themselves out. Anyhow that was my trip, all in all it was great my car got a lot of shaking though.

2010-04-15T10:49:00.000+03:00

Ryan's Spring Newsletter

Greetings from Uganda! First of all I want to thank all of you for your faithfulness as we are well into the new year. I am grateful to know that I have such a team supporting me in prayer and in financial support.

A New Transition

Ever since I came to Uganda, I have had a love for discipling Ugandan students in God’s Word. But at the same time, my heart has always been for those considered to be the outcasts of society. I guess it could be because I can identify with them due to the fact that during my childhood, I was fairly an outcast myself.

During my time in Uganda, I have observed that the tribe that is the most despised and rejected, is one called the Karamajong. This tribe comes from the North Eastern region of Uganda with a region named after them, called Karamoja. I guess you could say that the name suits them, as it means, “people who chose to stay back”.

In the beginning of 2008, I began praying about the possibility to begin a new work in that area. I then heard about two friends of mine who planned to return to Uganda and start a ministry among the Karamijongs. Being that this was with the very group that has always been on my heart, I informed them, as well as the team here in Jinja, that I was interested in possibly joining them.

So, needless to say, my time in Jinja is soon coming to a close, while a new chapter with a new ministry is just about to begin. The new ministry, however, will still be under the care of Calvary Chapel Jinja. Right now, the plan is for me to be moving up to the Karamoja region and joining a church-planting ministry. Our goal is to first learn the language and then begin a method of sharing the Gospel called “storying”. Storying is way to depict the events in the Bible in an effective manner for an oral society. In an area where very few people read, as is the case with the Karamojong, it has proven to be a very effective tool to sharing the Gospel. We look forward to utilizing this tool, specifically with the group called the Dodothi, the people who we will primarily be working. We will begin by going to the village of Nabilatuk and build African style huts and study the language called, Ng’karamojong for the first year; although I have already begun to learn the language from someone who now lives in Jinja but grew up in Karamoja. Then the next year we will move to an area called Kaabong and begin to really share the Gospel through Storying with the Dodoth people.

Updates on the Ministries

Primary School Ministry

The ministry in the primary schools has been working out really well this school term. Usually the schools are hit and miss, because weather, impromptu assemblies, or any number of other things can affect the entire school day, there are many uncontrollable variables. However, this term Kelli and I have been able to go and teach nearly every week. I've been teaching through the Ten Commandments: one a week. Primary school students are by far the best to work with because they are still interested in what you have to say. They are also very animated and this adds to the enjoyment of the lesson on their side as well as mine. I really enjoy teaching in two schools each week and it is a blessing to be part of such a season in their lives.

Youth ministry

In the last few months, many things have happened in the youth group. Last fall we began studying through the book of Galatians, and at the end of March we completed the series. When school began in February it was our chance to reach out to the incoming senior one student’s referred to as “Nyongos”. We brought sodas and our musical instruments and the word of God, and it was really fun.

In late January, we had a youth conference and it went well. As always, with conferences there are a number of factors you have to take into consideration such as: managing time, making sure the teachers show up and then making sure everyone is fed. We took a group of 26 kids to Entebbe and learned about being set apart from the world according to the passage in Romans 12:1-2.

In the beginning of April we began a new series in the youth group called the “Race to Revelation”, which is basically the Bible from 30,000 ft.(the Thru the Bible in a year series at Calvary Abq)for students. During each youth group service, the goal is to do a survey of an entire book. I am excited at the potential for our kids to become more familiar with the whole message of the Bible.

Along with a change in the series, there has also been a change in leadership. On March 21st I officially stepped down from being the youth pastor and Richard, who has been my assistant, has become the new youth pastor. We have been planning for this for some time, and I was still around to give him some assistance because I plan to leave in June to Karamoja, I wanted Richard to have some time to step into the new position while I’m still around.

Worship Ministry

There are two big challenges to being a worship leader: keeping your team working as one and making sure the songs connect with the people. Since last year, many changes have happened in the ministry. For one, Otim has begun leading on Wednesdays which has been a huge blessing to me. It is nice to just be one of the people in the church and not always being the one up in front. Along with that change, in an attempt to get more people involved in the worship, I've started giving lessons on the bass, guitar, and keyboard, and even in operating the soundboard.

My hope is to raise up a whole new group of students who can play on the worship teams whether for main service or for youth group.

The worship ministry is about to come in to a season of uncertainty with my leaving. We are currently looking for ways to get more people involved but also to find someone who can be the lead singer. Although Otim is helping to lead right now, he is in a very busy season of life as well.

Pray that God would help us to find people with musical giftings in our church, and pray for the students who are learning that they would apply themselves.

A Closing Remark

All of you who have supported me over the years are such an encouragement. I have never really worried about support in the 8.5 years I have been on the mission field and that has been more of a blessing than you will ever know. Thank you for that. And of course, I thank God for enabling you. Now as the chapter changes, I want to invite all of you to take a new journey with me. This journey is very exciting as I get to embark onto a new frontier of the mission field and reaching out to a nomadic people. I cannot fully imagine all the challenges I will face but I ask you to take this journey with me.

To support contact:

Trudy@ Global Adventures 4001 Osuna Rd NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 phone: (505) 338-3680

trudy.waddleton@calvaryabq.org or visit the mission's website www.globaladventures.org

A new ministry Opportunity

2010-03-20T11:41:00.001+03:00

Well it’s about time I let you in on a big thing I have been praying about. For the longest time I have had a certain people group in Uganda on my heart. These people are called the Karamajong. They are all around the country of Uganda but their homeland is Karamoja and because of war, it has been a closed unruly section of the country for so long. However in the last couple of years the government has spent a lot of money militarily to bring peace and rule to the area. It is in this area that by next year I desire to go and begin working. The town that I would be moving to would be the town of Kaabong deep in the heart of Karamoja. The new ministry opportunity would be working amongst the tribes of Karamoja, who are mostly an Oral in culture. The mission would be to story among the tribes there. For me to do this our first year would be spent in preparation learning and becoming fluent in the language of nga’karamajong. The second step would be to move to Kaabong and begin to move out on foot and story among the tribes in the surrounding area. Storying is basically relaying the scripture to people through stories to a culture that is not literate an then discussing what it means to their lives, much like the disciples would have done in the first century. I would be joining a Couple from America named Tom and Jean Reed and a few other Ugandans. Check out the region at www.Karamoja.com

An Update

2010-03-17T22:54:00.000+03:00

Life is going on well
here and it is definitely a time of transition. In the last months we have finally got into the schools. It wasn't
that there was a block but because of plans and a delayed start for the school year we have only been in the schools for three weeks now.
Primary School Ministry
Seeing as I only have this one term to minister in the schools I have really planned this one out. So far I feel like
in this short period of time(at the current we only have four weeks left of the term) that my main focus needs to be on the primary schools. I am taking the kids in both Spire Primary and Loco Primary through the ten commandments. So far I am on my fourth week of teaching. I really enjoy working with the younger kids just cause you can see their learning(they dont think they know it all yet).
High schools
About two weeks ago we went ahead with our freshmen welcoming party. We brought assorted cokes and our musical instruments and put on a party for the new freshmen(nyongos) The whole thing went off without a hitch. We were able to do it in three schools and really meet some neat kids. I have decided since the school year is almost half over that Richard will assume teaching in the high schools. One of the reasons for that decision was one specific school I had resolved not to try to teach in this term and Richard took the initiative to go there and feel it out. So he went and I believe they are going to allow him to teach.
Worship ministry
Each day I realize how soon the months will pass and I will leave this place I have called home. When I leave I realize that there will be holes to fill. So I am trying my best to train up more people in the church to play instruments, run the sound board and even record the teachings. Things have been going well. I am so excited that last week Richard the soon to be youth pastor led worship for Saturday service last week. It was his first time. I have such hope for that young man.
Youth ministry
Youth ministry has been going well here. Richard, Kelli and I have still been alternating our teachings all in preparation for the big day. So what is the big day. Well it just so happens that it is this Saturday when I am stepping down from being the youth pastor and having Richard Enyimu step up into the position. It is a wonderful day for me to see that God has allowed me to raise someone up to take my place after 8.5 years. At the same time it is sad to step down seeing as I began the youth ministry here and it was the original reason I came out. I have really learned about the words John the baptist said about I decrease so he can increase. I am in my fading out chapter here in Jinja and I know the road ahead will be tough but by God's grace I can pass through it
As for Me
As for me as I wrote above things will be tough. In the last month I have lost my grandfather and also one of my first supporters. Life changes and we grow because of the changes. All this happens at a time where the ministry I have lived and breathed for 8.5 years is now being passed on. Okay I am being a little melodramatic but its the end of a chapter, time for reflection. I believe once again I am in a chapter of challenge and growth so with the missionary mindset I'll take it head on.

Fun at the primary school

2010-03-10T23:04:00.000+03:00

One of my favorite days of the week is Wednesday. The reason being that I get the opportunity to teach in a primary school called Spire. The best part of this new school year has been that every week they have given me a class of students It used to be that I got the stragglers and Kelli got a whole class but now we both get a different class of like 50 kids. Part of the joy of going is Kelli and I get to talk and walk in the hot sun. I ended up with a sunburn and It was only a 15 minute walk. I am taking the kids through the 10 commandments from a discipleship book I have. What make it fun is I print out the scripture big and have the kids read it then on the flipside is Luganda and I attempt to read it, it is great fun and the kids get a big kick out of it. I am just excited for this big open door with kids lives and being able to have some part in shaping the future of a nation.

A week of sodas

2010-02-28T11:11:00.000+03:00

Hello again everyone and once again here I am probably two weeks since my last blog. So I've had this idea for a couple of years now. I thought that it would be really cool to do an outreach just for the incoming freshmen or senior 1 students in the high school. In the last week we have organized three events where we brought the Word of God, Soda and a lot of fun. We have been able so far to speak to 60-70 Freshmen and encourage them. On top of that we had a youth party at church yesterday had so many kids. It is awesome to see the beginning of us making more of an impact on our community.

Youth Conference

2010-02-10T15:44:00.000+03:00

Okay I declare first of all that I am terrible blogger. Secondly I am about to relate to you information that is about two weeks old. So here I go.

Just weeks ago we had a youth conference called Don’t conform but be transformed. Once again we took a group of students to Entebbe for a youth conference. Conference time is always fun around January. It was a bit different this time cause a lot of the students who went were under 16, which made it a lot of fun. During the conference we heard from several speakers about adapting to the changes and the challenges of a modern world. While the west has had internet in their houses people here mostly go to internet cafes to do their surfing. With the introduction of the internet and the influence of MTV the children are a bit more naïve and a bit more vulnerable. During the conference when the kids were holed up inside the conference hall they were out fellowshipping. One such time I saw Richard leading worship on a guitar with a group of students The neat part is that he plays the keyboard for our church, so he has learned another instrument and that’s exciting. It was all a little bit disorganized, but God worked as He always does.

The Latest

2010-01-09T09:18:00.000+03:00

Hello everyone,
First let me apologize for not keeping this thing updated, my memory is not so good. Anyhow Just figured I would give everyone a quick update. At the moment the youth ministry is preparing for a youth conference in the last week of January. Funny enough it was scheduled for the 3rd week but the guy didn't make the booking. What have I been doing lately? To be honest not too much I got back from vacation and this week was sort of an extension of that vacation in that little work actually got done. However each morning this week I had one fo my students coming to learn the Bass. His name is Haruna and he is one of the eldest kids at the Orphanage called Our Own Home. I think he is like 14. Anywho he is coming every day and learning the bass and I am teaching it to him. It is a stretch for me since I play guitar, so I am giving him the barebones of the bass guitar. It has been neat to see him be stretched as he learns a new instrument, cause he is actually pretty sharp on it. As for me I turned 30 on the 29th of December this last year and hey I'm thirty now. Not sure how that is supposed to feel, but I feel good.

Trip to the Southwest(backtracking)

2009-12-29T04:30:00.000+03:00

Hey all,
During my trip to Kabale in the last half of December I wrote some journal entries of the days. So here they are.

Day 1
Hey there, got up @ 4:30am today and left Jinja about an hour later. We drove for a good amount of time until we reached Ntungamo. So Jonah was hungry so we stopped for some food. Some little hole in the wall that for some reason had no beans. I had meat and matooke in the peal(can't say it wasn't interesting) We got back on the road and the red racer was getting a little hot. So we stopped broke out the blanket in the back and undid the radiator cap, a small little explosion then we had to put bottled water in their since we had no other water. Try explaining that to the boy who was watching us wondering why we were so wasteful. this happened three times until we got to a place called Muhanga, with a hole in one pipe and steam coming out everywhere we got some mechanics to fix it. So back on the road everything is okay right? um no a little bit later it overheats again, but Jonah and I invent clever ways to keep the engine cooled. ie. coasting, turning the heat on full blast, well thats about it. We limped into Kabale after eight hours of driving. Finally at 3:45(don't take time to calculate I am not precise) we arrived at Lake Bunyonyi and then began to find a place to stay. Lake Bunyonyi sits at 6,400ft elevation and sports a depth of nearly 3,000ft. Most people would make reservations but when I travel halfway across the country I want an adventure. So we went to 3 or four of them and two of them had rooms, but one wouldnt even let us pass the gate without paying 1,000shillings. Seeing that the whole idea was ridiculous, so I tried to reason my way out of things and found out there are not even rooms in the hotel, it was all a scam. So we went further and found this really nice place and went all out. After we got there I got to go swimming for the first time in a lake in Uganda. Why the first time? because all the other lakes are infected with bilharzia, but not Lake Bunyonyi. It was cold but oh so nice. Dinner was Pork Muchomo and chips and soda followed by some coffee right on the lake. Absolutely beautiful. End of day #1 December 28th, 2009

An adventure in answered prayer

2009-11-18T16:20:00.001+03:00

An adventure in answered prayer
My story begins almost two weeks ago. We went to another site to do youth group and had an awesome time. However as Monday came I began noticing something was missing. In fact it was my
wallet. So I scrambled looking everywhere and I kept praying over and over in different ways. So that Monday passes and nothing, then Tuesday, then another Saturday came. By the time a week had passed I had heard news of some local boy who visits me occasionally. Apparently he came to my house after I had went out and the whole thing was very suspicious. So this last Saturday I was looking around time waiting for the boy to show, then Sunday I waited and nothing. The news of the boy seemed to be my only chance at solving the crisis. So yesterday my employee comes to me and tells me a long story of this boys mother coming to see him. Another piece of the puzzle is shown. At this point I have a bit of evidence that the boy has my wallet. So today I went to the village and got the LC1. It was a bit crazy cause he had two men with him and then he told the village kids to find the boy and bring him. about 30 minutes later the boy is caught. We go to a little office for the LC1 and have a village court hearing and the boy says he knows where the wallet is. They asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted my wallet back and I want to see the current life path of the boy changed. I also told the boy and the local council that by stealing this money intended for the church he hasn’t stolen from me but from God. They spoke about involving the police but I had no idea what they would do to the boy. So the LC1, the boy, his mom and aunt come in my car and we drive back to Jinja. When we get here the boy begin checking in some garden waste pile for my wallet. After searching for some 15 minutes he finds it. When I finally got it back, I agreed to let the boy go on one condition that he brings the bike that he bought with the money to me. The LC1 said in the case he doesn’t then he will go to the Police. It’s a long story but the truth is God answers prayer. The last wallet I had stolen was when I was 16 and that wallet was not found until months later. So if there is something you think is a lost cause I encourage you to keep praying and trust God.

An adventure in answered prayer

2009-11-18T16:20:00.000+03:00

Fall Newsletter

2009-11-11T10:20:00.000+03:00

Fall Newsletter

Hello and greetings from Uganda! A few weeks ago, I realized that I am way overdue in writing a newsletter, and I am sure many of you are wondering what has been going on with me over the past few months.
As of September 29, 2009, I have officially been in Uganda for eight years. I’m absolutely amazed at God’s plan. If you had asked me seven years ago about how long I was going to be here, I would not have said eight years for sure. I want to thank you all for how faithful you have been over the years. It is a blessing to know that I have faithful people who pray for and support the ministry I do here and I don’t have to worry about what the next month may bring.
As many of you know, this summer I spent six weeks in America for my furlough. In the past the whole thought of furlough was not an enjoyable one, but this time it was quite different than in previous years. I returned to Uganda encouraged from my time in America and I thank God and all of you for taking the time to minister to and encourage me, you really have no idea how much God used you in doing so. So thank you to everyone who made this Summer a real blessing.
Youth group (Ignite)
Ministry to youth is quite honestly a very difficult ministry at times, especially when ministering to students who come from an entirely different culture. On almost a daily basis, I find myself wondering what kind of impact I’m really having in the lives of these kids. I have been doing this for so many years, that I am grateful to have a team working with me that can bring in fresh ideas. For several months, we have been dividing the kids in order to teach them at their level, and it seems to still be working out fairly well. With the older kids, we have just recently finished the book of 2 Corinthians and in September began going through the book of Galatians. I am excited to see not only what lessons the kids will learn as we go through this book, but also the things God has to teach me as well. We have begun to have a teaching rotation with the youth ministry team of Richard, Kelli, and myself so that each week the kids get a different teacher with new stories and insights. This past year, we as a leadership team have really challenged ourselves as to how we can improve this ministry and make it more effective. It seems like the fire that was once there in these kids has in some way dimmed and so we are always praying about how to stoke that flame and bring it back again. We realize that youth ministry is not about entertaining the kids, but we still desire to keep it fresh and keep them excited about growing in their walks with God.

Worship Ministry
I have been blessed as I have continued to get to lead the church in worship. During my time in the States, a man named Otim took over for me and did a really good job. He is currently one of our backup singers and has added a sort of three-part harmony to all the worship songs which adds an air of professionalism to the worship. I am so blessed to have someone so talented on the team. Another talented addition we have had to the team is a young man named Peter is absolutely amazing at playing lead guitar. It has been really cool to see things come together for the worship team. We are also attempting to train up tomorrow’s team, so we continue to seek to encourage others to hone in on their gifts and learn how to use them for His glory and even right now, I have been teaching a kid from our church how to play Bass guitar through an instructional video I brought back from the States. This really is a cool season of the worship here, and I am excited to see what all God is going to continue to do.

Radio Ministry / रेडियो मंत्राऱय /Obuwereza Radio
The past three months have brought several exciting changes in the radio ministry. Before I went on furlough I had worked with Don Pierce, a fellow missionary, to train him up to do the radio program. He took the program and ran with it, so much so that when I came back we decided that he should continue doing what he had done while I was gone. One of the segments we have is a teaching I am doing through the book of James. We have just started in chapter five and I absolutely love the opportunity to teach on the radio, although I have to admit that it is quite a challenge to fit a teaching into a 15 minute time slot. In order to reach the widest audience, there has to be translation, so when it’s time to teach I find my go-to translator, Mary Babirye, and we record the program for the day. Another new addition to the ministry is that we have begun to air a Hindi Hindi Gospel Program. There is a very large Indian population here in Jinja and we have been blessed with a man in our church who is from India and knows firsthand just how lost most the Indians here are. Because of this, he has provided us with recordings of solid Bible teachings in the Hindi language that we are now airing on Sunday mornings. The programs are taken from a ministry called Trans World Radio which ministers offers teachings in two hundred languages and dialects from their Website. We are blessed to offer these teachings to the Hindi speaking population. The latest addition to this ministry is the airing of The Connection with Skip Heitzig. This program airs every Sunday evening at 7 pm. It is so awesome seeing (and hearing) God’s Truth go out to the masses in a world full of false teachings. I ask for prayers for this ministry that seeds would be planted and people would come to know Christ through hearing these teachings.
Danida.
Every Tuesday, I go to a part of town called Danida, which is kind of like a suburb of Jinja, of course without the glamour or wealth we may typically associate with a suburb. I have been teaching through the book of John and as I am studying for these teachings, personally I am learning so much from the lives of the Jesus and His disciples. It is always cool to have read something over and over your whole life and then it’s like you’re looking at it through new eyes. I realized in order for the people of the community to take more ownership in the ministry, that I should delegate some of what I had been doing, so instead of taking on every aspect of the ministry upon myself, I put some of it into the hands of the people who come. I used to bring my guitar for worship, but never really felt like it was the best method for the setting we were in, but now a young lady named Carol not only agreed to lead worship, but also to oversee the children’s ministry. These were two areas that desperately needed some help, so I’m excited to see someone stepping up to the plate with these ministries. The group that I teach have not been very into the worship, and so having someone who can bring some energy to the bunch has been a huge help. With these two key areas being covered, we hope to see this become more and more a community ministry. As a byproduct of this ministry, new opportunities have opened up in a neighboring area called Masese III. This overall area of town is called Masese and because of its size, it is divided into three sections and it covers an entire hill. Masese III is home to the poorest of the poor in Jinja, so it really is a slum with the houses being shacks made of mud and sticks and this is the area that many of the street children live. One of our lay leaders, Happy, has been going and ministering to the area alongside a missionary couple, Jeremy and Tamara.

School Outreaches
Currently, we are in the final countdown of the last term of the school year. For the students, this is a tough time as the last half of the term is almost entirely devoted to exams and testing and their entire school year is based around these tests, so the kids are really stressed. In April of this year, Kelli O’Hea finished the School of Ministry here and she jumped headlong into the school ministry. We are now, as a team, reaching out to five schools and by next year we hope there will be six, with Kelli, Richard, and myself teaching at the schools around town. Back in June, I began going to a new school called Loco Primary. The school gets its name because way back in the day, the school met in an old rail car. I am really excited for this new opportunity as it gets us that much more into the community and sharing His truth with a new group of students.

Indian Friendship Evangelism
For the last year every Wednesday I have been doing something a little out of the ordinary. My whole life I had heard of Friendship evangelism but never had I set out a specific time for doing it. However back in February I started just that, taking time out of each week to take lunch with a group of Indian students. The purpose has been only to show the love of Christ through action, and to give them tracts, Bible studies, and testimonies every week about Hindus who have come to Christ. So far I have had only few opportunities to talk about important things. However last week a boy stayed while the others left and for the first time I got to share the Gospel with him. I am blessed for the opportunity to share even with one student that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Please pray for this young man that he would come to know the truth.

In closing I want to thank every one of you who has played some part in the ministry here, whether through prayer or support. You all are special to me and together we are reaching the youth of this nation one child at a time.

Boys Bible Study

2009-10-19T11:12:00.000+03:00

Just wanted to write and say that yesterday I had
a great time with Joel, John and Morris. We looked
at the the discipline of prayer in the Christians life.
It's amazing how from one prayer you could learn so much.

A pleasant surprise

2009-10-06T17:50:00.000+03:00

Today was really cool because I went to my usual Bible study
and found only one kids there. He then invited me to teach
in the main Scripture union group. I was very excited for
the opportunity as the last few weeks I have been a bit
discouraged with the ministry. In the past years it had even
got to around 15 kids, so getting four was making me question
whether I should continue. It is not about numbers but they
can sure encourage you to know you're accomplishing something.
I am thankful for this new opportunity

playing a little catchup( last Saturday)

2009-10-01T08:49:00.000+03:00

Last Saturday after youth group the worship team and slides ministry people got together. The whole point of
getting together was so we could have fun together and not always be working. So I fired up about four bags of
popcorn, some peanuts and we played us a game of spoons. First of all let me say that spoons is the coolest game
ever to be invented combining violence with cards great Idea! So all 7 of us began to play spoons. Richard, Francis, Otim, Peter, Kelli and I. It took awhile to learn but when we did it got crazy and spoons went flying everywhere. Sounds not normal for the male species came out of nowhere during this game. Also Francis got a little too much sugar and was dancing in a very funny manor. It was really fun.

Under the haze of a mosquito net

2009-09-18T23:25:00.000+03:00

So here I sit under my mosquito net typing up this blog. The last week has been a sensation of ups and downs. When you get back to the field some part of you wants to hear that you were missed, yet another part wants to hear that things didn't go so well. When I came back I found that my world the place I live and move isn't quite so needy for me(that's a good thing), and that many things need to change. Change, a funny word that can inspire or scare someone out of their mind. I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle. Challenges. I am surrounded by challenges, challenges to change how I handle situations, even down to how I pick music for worship. As they say blessed are the flexible, I'm bending but not breaking. I just hope the me that emerges from this is more like Jesus and less like me

my time in washington

2009-09-07T07:50:00.000+03:00

Well it has been two weeks of fun and sun and rain in Washington. I'm blessed to have been able to connect
with some many people. However many of you didn't get to seem me and I am sorry for that. If I had stayed
longer I would have caught you. So what did I do? well I went swimming up at Cresap Bay, went to Mt. St.
Helens. I went bowling. And probably the biggest highlight of my trip was going to Ian Nelson's wedding. For me
to see Ian go from young chap to grow up and get married has been a huge blessing. I got to see my mom and all
my brothers and my sister. All in all it was prety cool. Not to mention my church up here in Washington has been
a huge blessing. I even got to lead worship for them, guess I am getting warmed up to play again next Sunday in
the church in Jinja. Each time I come to CC Vancouver its more and more like family and I love that. So Washington
I bid thee goodbye

The Close of my month in Albuquerque

2009-08-24T08:56:00.001+03:00

                   Well today or rather tomorrow will mark the end of my month in Albuquerque. So you may be asking
      how was it? To tell you the truth it was amazing. I am so amazed at how many more people I have been able
       connect with this time. Last time I had this really great friend who was like my entire social life, him and one
other person. However I have been blessed to scatter about and do things I never have done. I took the Railrunner,
in the first week(never did that before). I went fourwheeling in the mountains. I have went and climbed mountains
in Edgewood and the Sandias, and climbed the Petroglyphs(2/3's of those at night). I have met with nearly every
person that has meant something to me in the last 8 years of my life in the ministry. Not to mention all things I've
learned about God on this trip. I am constantly aware of his presence and the nature of his grace and forgiveness. As
I look around every corner for condemnation I find something surprising, His grace. I'm stuck in it and I don't want out
I love it, I need it, and live for it. So to my friends and spiritual family in Albuquerque thank you for making this trip awesome
   I will miss you. Oh ya and you can maybe catch me on the 7-9th of Sept

Time for som catch-up

2009-08-13T19:46:00.001+03:00

Okay so I figured I should write what I been doing this week since there may actually be people
who read this blog. Well the Lord has really blessed me this week in terms of people giving. So
for example there has been a pair of shoes I have longed for for like forever. I know maybe as a guy
I shouldn't say I have longed after a pair of shoes. Well this is my blog so get over it. Lets say rather
that I have coveted these shoes forever and yesterday I finally bought them. Yes no more coveting. This
week has been the most active yet. In a period of three days I have seen eating with three sets of supporters
and hung out with various students from the church. From four wheeling to bike riding, to eating way too much
it is really been an active week. It has been really nice to see God widening my social circle and letting me be
part of other people's lives.

Restoring the years that the locust ate

2009-08-10T16:15:00.001+03:00

Hey everyone,
It has been quite a long time since I took to typing here on the blog. Yesterday was quite an amazing day. The actual
story started about 10 years ago in Albuquerque. A certain family in the church saw that I was new and without really anyone
to spend time with. A young man named I had befriended had invited me over to his house for my first experience with green
chile. A simple moment but one I have never forgotten as his family extended their home to me. So During my time in SOM
we spend a lot of time together, it was great. Well life had taken place and time along with that. 4 years ago when I came back
his dad had told me that his life had shipwrecked and he had turned away from the Lord. At first I didn't want to believe it. So
we met for coffee and my heart was broken, paralyzed at what I heard from his mouth. " I don't need God anymore", "God is not
something I need right now." I remember the pain as if it were yesterday. This blog session is called restoring what the locusts ate.
Yesterday I spent the day with this guy and God has done an amazing thing. It took my friend going to Jail to turn his life back to God
and now he has trusted once again and anew in Jesus as his Savior. A friend who was lost has been found, the feeling of paralysis has been exchanged
with amazing joy. Cause my friend was lost and now he is found. He has turned my mourning in dancing.

Marking my first week in the states

2009-08-01T00:42:00.001+03:00

Well today marks me being in the USA for a week now. So whats happening? not much. I been here and there trying to catch
up on all the stuff I couldn't buy over in Africa. A lot of driving around. For those who kept up on facebook or twitter I was stranded
in Santa Fe with my friend Matt. We had a good time there but there was no return train, so that kind of sucked. Anyhow It has been
an amazing week full of hope. I guess I just have this excitement. The worship here has been amazing every time I am drawn into
the throne room to worship at His feet. I am excited for what lies ahead and I will leave it at that. Anyone who reads this blog
if you need to call me for any reason call 505 453 1342

The week of last's(for six weeks that is)

2009-07-22T08:12:00.000+03:00

Hey there,
Just figured I would tell all of you the things I've done so far this week. It is the week
of lasts. For example last Sunday was my last time of leading worship for 6 weeks, tonight
will be my last Wednesday night service for guess, you're right six weeks. So I'm busy
writing and recording sermons and doing lots of stuff to get ready. cant wait to see everyone

Ryan's Mission Reception

2009-07-21T09:01:00.001+03:00

Attention all. Not sure how many read my blog but I will be having a reception
at Calvary Abq
for all the details and rsvp please go this site(facebook people only)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=101786992478&ref=ts

July Update

2009-07-16T00:01:00.001+03:00

       All I can say is that Furlough is in the air. For the last month I have been
preparing for this trip. One of the many things I have had to do in the last 3 months has been train up someone to
take over the radio production while I am gone. For that position I found Don Pierce who works with us in the children's
ministry. He will be handling the making of adverts for the ministries and dividing up the midweek teaching for the
radio. Another area that I am preparing is the worship team. There is a guy named Otim who will be leading the worship
for the Wednesdays and Sundays while I'm gone. He is part of a rap group that we've had for some past outreaches. I am
much more at ease knowing he is at the helm while I am gone. The youth group will continue as it has but with Richard switching
back and forth with Kelli as they rap up 2 Corinthians and start. So that right there has been a bit of a preparation

Pray that I would know all the things that need to be prepared and get them done.

This is what I did in late June and early July

High school/primary outreach:

   After the third week of June and the teams had all gone,
the ministries in the schools picked back up. I have been going
to St Peters and St. James for some 4 weeks now. I felt really bad
about St Peters cause it was like each Tuesday had another diversion
from that ministry. Another amazing thing is that St. James has had me
teach each week since the beginning of the term,(last term I got to
speak like three times). Also at the same time of the high schools I
started going to teach at the Primary schools. Specifically I've gone
to Spire Rd. Primary and Loco Primary. While both schools are cool, Loco
primary is especially cool because the kids I cannot get into the
church are a captive audience at their school. It is sad that I hadn't
thought of it sooner, but now it's a real blessing. While I am gone
some Ugandans will be helping out Kelli to continue on.

Pray for Richard as he leads my studies that God would give him wisdom and a love for these kids

Youth group

   This last month has been a bit of an eye opener for us as a
youth group. I think I've personally learned that just getting the
kids in and teaching them is not necessarily the ministry that will change their lives. It
is about connecting individually with the kids. I am little sad that
this revelation comes right at the time that I have to visit States, but hey six weeks can be
a great brainstorming time. We had a mwenna mwenna about two weeks ago
which is a cheaper way to reach out to the kids through popcorn and
soda.

Pray that God would show the youth team how to minister and disciple these kids

Worship ministry

In the last month not too much has happened in the
worship. There is a young man who has just finished secondary school
and has a heart to get involved in the music ministry at our church. I have
great hopes that he may become our next worship leader or play some part
in the team. It was just yesterday that I realized the impact of
leading worship for a church. Somehow in my mind I have disconnected
worship from teaching. When I teach I sometimes count how many people there
are, but when I lead worship I never count. God allows me to minister
to our whole church on Sunday and that's a huge responsibility. I love it I
get to use the thing I love most to minister to others and worship God.

Pray that Otim that God would give him strength to lead the worship for the church and that the team
would work well together

Danida

   The Study in Danida continues to grow. I have to admit it
has been quite a challenge teaching adults not to mention teaching the
Gospel of John. The reason for the growth of the ministry of course it
not me but the team that came out this summer. I love that every
year they have to go to Danida. As a bonus this year they went back to
a place called Masese 3. The bonus is that because of their work
this summer a man named Happy has began a Bible study in that area.
Masese 3 just happens to be the poorest area of town and the place where
most of the street children live. I would say its the place everyone
knows about but no one cares about. So praise God for this new
opportunity

Pray for the Bible study in Masese3 and in Danida and for Happy as he teaches in my absence

So what about me
In the last month God has used Kelli a lot to challenge
me in areas where I've not really seen wrong. While it is painful
it is necessary and I am glad to have another person showing me how to
be refined. Furlough is just around the bend and I am excited
to see everyone. I am also excited for a break. So I'll see ya next sunday.

Pray that I'd be refreshed and renewed
Pray that I would use my time well in the states
Pray that I could really build some relationships during my stay

In Christ,

Ryan

making preparations

2009-07-08T16:23:00.000+03:00

As of today I have a total of 2.5 weeks left before furlough. I have been working for the last two years to make sure I had backups. Those who would cover my ministries in teaching and in leading music in the church. At the same time my music ministy is only a year and a half old and I have people who can do it for a time but nothing concrete. During the last few weeks the big thing on my mind has been the mission video. I am blessed to have Don(of our missionaries)working on my video taking the footage and getting what I cannot get(pics and vid of myself). So I am gearing up. We got a team tday from Nevada and many things will be busy while they are here so time is gonna fly by.

Just another day

2009-07-04T22:27:00.000+03:00

What does the 4th mean when you live in another country? To me it was just another day doing
what I love doing. no sparks no flashiness.

BWO team update

2009-06-19T23:06:00.001+03:00

Hey there,
I just wanted to write and thank God for the coming of this years Believers World Outreach team. Each year I am
blessed by their love and sensitivity to the Lord. This year we had three days so they were jam packed with
exciting events. The first day our goal was to do five schools. The program was basically go to a site and do
one skit and one drama and them a testimony and wrap it up with a Gospel presentation. We did this in one village
and 4 schools. At the ned of the day though we just sat back and wondered what exactly we were accomplishing. I realized
that the goal of reaching 2000 possible students was a bit more focused on quantity and quality. My thought was just the idea of
mass communication of the Gospel. With all this thought I changed the program the next day. My thought was if we do not have
an hour to do a program then we really shouldn't go there. Day 2 We went to a primary school called Masese Co-educational.
We stayed there for some hour and then moved on to the poorest section of Jinja Town called Masese 3. every house in this place was made of mud and sticks. We headed down the heal to minister there thinking maybe we could do several sights. In the end we did one and though it was only one it was so meaningful, one young man gave his life to Jesus there. Then we went to the other side of the hill where I have a BIble study. After an afternoon of childrens outreach we had a small little group organize themselves, the team leader Susan Sealy talked to these ladies about Hope. After the teaching she gave an opportunity for them to get saved and three of them did. On the third day we went out to the free clinic that the other team was operating. We did a primary school, a high school and then we ministered to the people waiting to go into the clinic. All in all it was a great time and I will miss them. Not to mention the Mafia that we played while they were here

my new guitar

2009-06-11T18:38:00.000+03:00

Recently I was blessed with a new guitar. It is amazing what happens
when you let people know of your needs. So here is a pic of the guitar
and thanks for all who contributed

May Conference

2009-05-13T21:34:00.000+03:00

33 kids, a bus, a van, and about 100 pounds of tasty rice and 6 sessions of Bible packed sermons and you have the youth conference that just finished in Entebbe. On the 11th of May we loaded up 33 kids and youth leaders onto a bus that held 29. Okay wait I didn’t add wrong. We actually started to load the driver was like the kids are way too many. Our ETA was supposed to be 7am. Well as we packed the kids in the revelation of not having enough space, we had about an hour of debates with the drivers as to how to solve the problem. Kelli(missionary from CC Albuquerque) was the main negotiator. We brought a matatu(African taxi holds 14 people pronounced mah-tah-two) and then found out it was way expensive. So finally an hour and 40 minutes later we were off. The drive to Entebbe took a total of 3.5 hours when it usually take two and a half hours. The theme of the conference was called “Making Friends”. okay I know before you judge it sounds cheesy but in truth the teachings went really well making up for the theme. The kids were blessed as we looked at friendships in the Bible, like Daniel, and Shadrach, Mehshak and Abednego. The last day we were blessed to have the Pottersfield ministry come and do their thing. I doubt if any of our kids had ever seen someone make a pot, even the boys were fixed upon this man as we taught us all about the potter and the clay. Three days later and way too much food we arrived safely home. I think the kids were really blessed by the conference and I know I was.

May Update

2009-05-05T13:51:00.001+03:00

Greetings from Uganda since the last time I wrote Uganda has gone from a land of sunshine to a land of rain. While I am really not a fan of rain, the people of Uganda need it desperately for their crops so we're grateful. As most of you know I work in the schools doing Bible studies on campus for the secondary schools. The work in the schools has been doing well except it is not without its problems. One School, St. James High School used to have designated day and a promised spot for our ministry but in the last term I got to teach 3 times in 2.5 months.
Please pray for that I can have more opportunities to teach in the second term of the school year
Another ministry within that same school is a lunch time Friendship evangelism group with some Indian students. While I do live in Uganda, many of the supermarkets are owned and ran by Indians. They mostly put their kids in St. James. This is a great opportunity that I have had for the last 2.5 months. I eat with the boys and then afterwards give them Bible literature or tracts specifically geared to reach out to Hindus. I would ask for prayer that God would give me wisdom to make use of my time.
Worship ministry
In some few months I look forward to seeing you all in New Mexico and Washington, however until then I have some mountains to cross. I currently am the only worship leader for the church. In the last year I have trained up a team that I trust, however they are in need of a strong leader. There one man named Otim who covered for me on a previous occasion. For him to be ready he needs opportunity so my plan is to put him over Wednesday nights. I would ask for prayer that God would make a way for his boss to allow him necessary time off to do the work. Also that God would raise up the team he wants to lead while I am gone
As a worship leader I realize that there is a great need for me to keep it fresh, A great need for me to not lose sight of who I am worshipping. I have always led worship but only for the last year have I led an entire church. Please pray that God would continually refresh my worship of him as I lead others.
Danida ministry
The ministry at Danida Estate continues on. In the last week I was able through God’s provision to provide Bibles for most of the attendees of the Study. It was a blessing to give them their very own copy of the Bible in English, Luganda and Acholi. As for the study the book of John has been a challenge to me. It’s been some time since I taught a Gospel and for the very reason that it can be real work to find and organize the truth so can people can understand it. God has a purpose in me teaching the Gospel of John, So I’m waiting, studying and learning. Last week there was some boy that I invited that finally came, so that was exciting. My hope is to take this group of mainly women and mix it up with youth and men so the ministry can reach out to the community in a greater way. One of the reasons for their being many women is that it was originally a women’s ministry, so my job is to develop it. Please pray for me as the Lord develops this study, as He conforms me and teaches me and teaches others, I pray that there is a real impact.
As for me I am in season of challenges, a season of realizing that I’m not as perfect as I once thought. I think all of us have those times where, something gets changed in out daily life and we see all the mistakes we’re making. So I am working on dealing with all those one step at a time. I want to be like Jesus and to be honest I am nowhere near there yet. I have been reading through Psalms and proverbs in the last couple of months. There was a recent verse I read in Psalm 32:8-9 that really was a blessing to me. It basically says that God will instruct and teach us in the way we should go. However with the promise comes the warning. David writes “Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
How many times have I been like a mule, God directs my heart in one way and I want to go the other way. Basically we don’t have a bridle in our mouths or a bit, we have to make the choice to follow where he leads us, cause he won’t force us. Anyhow as always we are all learning and growing so pray for me to continue and to be open to the Lord’s leading In my life.

update 3/19

2009-03-19T22:10:00.000+03:00

Hey there,
Well I just got in from Kenya at 952pm my time and it was about a 14hour drive. Anyhow I find myself so excited, but excited for what? I am excited to get back in the saddle and fire up some things that I have been letting slide. I guess I can say that Feb and March have a been a time of reflection, about not just doing the same old cause its the same old. So I am back and my desire in the youth group is to try and interact with each of the kids and instead of attempting to make a witty comment in reply I just want to be there for them In essence I wanna be their pastor and not their friend and make a lasting impact on them.
SO what did I do in February till now?
All I can say is about the time I wrote my last update life got really crazy. In January I added another Bible study to my schedule, but this was before the school year was in full motion. Now having added that new ministry there is yet another thing I am doing for a season. I never thought of myself as a school teacher but I am currently assisting a non-christian mother with homeschooling her child in Christian education. SO each week for two days a week and one hour at a go I am taking this little 8 years through the entire Bible.
Secondly the schools kicked off and it has been really fun. I ended up handing one school over to Richard so I could mix things up a little. In fact though I am still going to st peters and St James I know go to St. James twice a week. On Wednesday I go just to eat some food with the Indians, most of them are hindu or swaminaryan(a branch of Hindu), and when we finish I hand out some papers, which usually have some testimony of a Hindu who got saved or is some kind of trac specifically reaching out to Hindus. So it is friendship evangelism at its true sense.
The radio program is going well and just recently I began teaching on the radio. At this point in time I have only taught one teaching on the book of James but my plans is to go through the entire book of James on our Friday session of The Calvary Moment.
Well I guess that is all for now, just to give ya a heads up I am looking to on furlough around the first week of July through the middle of August(definitely after passport, if it happens).

In Christ,
Ryan

Knee deep in wires and cooking pans

2009-02-03T23:40:00.001+03:00

The other day I thought to myself, self you should really put up some more lights in the church. So I did.
Small catch I had to make the light fixtures myself based off an earlier plan. So I made them. here is a picture
of them. the ingredients for this light is two hanging light buld holders, a circular junction box and a cooking pan sold in Uganda for $2.50. I made six of them, all done now, I feel like a mighty conqueror

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Le Fancy fancy

2009-01-31T20:37:00.000+03:00

Today we had our back to school Fancy fancy. the fancy fancy is our outreach to the community and to give out kids a blessing. Today we had around 70 kids and it went really
well. The fact that we had new kids was cool and that those kids I invited earlier came. the first thing we did was have games. The first game was picking out goldfish crackers from oil, that went well and then the next game the kids had to eat a sardine, an olive(not bad for us but Ugandans hate them) or a cookie. One kid ran off after eating a sardine it wasn't a happy ending. Kelli taught the youth group and it went really well.

The day almost everything went wrong

2009-01-28T23:38:00.000+03:00

It was a quiet Sunday and I and my team were preparing to lead worship for the church. We began and things were going well, until my acoustic electric guitar died. It just kind of popped until it stopped and then it didn't work so we had to turn it off. Then for some reason the Microphones decided to stop working. I am trying to teach a new song and I have no volume to either me or my guitar. So second service rolls around and I have my other guitar plugged in and ready to go. Then a string breaks. Microphones go off and on a couple of time. I got two words to say for all of this Spiritual warfare. Just glad I made it through that Sunday.

Another Youth conf

2009-01-21T22:40:00.000+03:00

Just last Friday here at Calvary Jinja we branched out into another youth conference. So what
was the theme it was "A Generation that seeks God's Face." We took 100 students through
six different O.T. Bible figures and showed how they were different from their generation. We then
encouraged the youth to be different, to not resemble this fallen world and to be unique in their
generation as youth who love and seek God. I think the conference went well, but I can see how maybe
we are overloading them with teaching and then not giving them a chance to apply it or digest it. Well there
will be another conference in April or May so until then we have time to tweak it all.

My bout with sickness

2009-01-21T22:32:00.000+03:00

My bout with sickness
One word describes my second week and a half of the month of January. The word is pain. Have you ever experienced a time where your body threw a fit. Well mine did recently. Within one week I had a killer ear infection, a broken pinky toe, and an infected spider bite. So how bad was it? Well does taking two vicadin in one night qualify? As my life continues on longer I learn that I am developing quite a tolerance for pain. So how am I now, well I am healthy. Oh ya did I say that the spider bite was big enough to have its own zipcode, so big that it caused me to have a temperature and have chills, ya. Oh was that fun. All in all I thank God for it because it helped me to regain focus and seek him

My trip to Karamoja

2009-01-02T13:49:00.000+03:00

Most people like to avoid areas of questionable security in Uganda. I on the other hand
with my friend Jonah ventured off into some of the most untouched land in Uganda. The area is called Karamoja, and few go there. We went there recently for a vacation in a little known game park called Kidepo Valley National Park. The park itself was nothing real special being much like all the other parks in Uganda. However the landscape was amazing full of giant mountains of solid rock that dotted the valley. All in all we drove a total of 882 miles for you international people thats around 1400 kilometers. During those miles we visited over There were parts of the road where I thought maybe my vehicle would shake to pieces but I learned how strong my care really is. It was a great trip, and an amazing drive going through like 10 districts, Uganda's equivalent to states(but more like 4 hours from one side to the other

my problem manger scenes pt 1

2008-12-22T21:48:00.000+03:00

Ask yourself how many manger scenes you have seen in your life? I have seen many
of them. However I would not consider myself a specialist. One common theme I have seen
is blue eyes Jesus and blue eyed Mary. I mean I don't claim to know everything but my guess
is Jesus and Mary were not as pale and blue eyed as we make them out to be. Now maybe my
basis on that is because God gave me brown eyes. Also I guess my other basis is that most arabs(not
all) have brown eyes. I would dare to say most Jews had brown eyes before the destruction of the
temple and dispersion throughout all of Europe and other places. So what color you do think Jesus'
eyes were.

A walk in the clouds

2008-12-13T14:17:00.000+03:00

A walk in the clouds
On Monday I went for a drive on my motorcycle through the dusty roads
of Uganda. My mission to climb a mountain(okay well maybe just a big hill). So
I drove for like a very long time and found one. I imagined myself as if I was
climbing Mt sinai. I love mountains

a grand turkey day

2008-11-28T08:48:00.000+03:00

Well yesterday was Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun with nearly 30 some people
who came including some army and navy guys. There was so much food like 4 turkeys
and I ate way too much. Guess it proves that thanksgiving in the a foreign country
can still prove to be a good holiday. So what am I thankful for. I'm thankful for a family who loves me and friends who deeply care and a savior who died for me

The feel of the road

2008-11-26T08:49:00.000+03:00

The other day I had a dream about travelling. So within
hours I was on the road pursuing the call. There is something
freeing about driving. I just got up and felt like I had to go
so I went to Kampala the capital of Uganda. What did I do there
well not very much but I answered the call of the road

A Night in India

2008-10-29T10:08:00.000+03:00

Tonight was my first time to experience Diwali Indian new years. How
do I describe it. I arrived at the hindu temple and suddenly I was no longer
in Uganda but India. Surrounded by all these beautiful brown people it
was hard to take it all in at first. Then the fireworks began. Imagine being
in the middle of one of those middle east rock throwing maltov cocktail riots
but instead of people hating people are laughing and smiling. Tonight I burnt
a hole in my favorite shirt because of a bottle rocket. Not only my shirt but
my hand and some of my friends. Everywhere I looked someone was dodging
someone else's firework, it was chaos but at the same it was great fun and
exhilarating. Most of all it was great to be able to spend time with some of the
Indians that I have befriended and the students at the school I go to.
Diwali, is called the festival of lights, not only is it their celebration of
the new year, but the victory of life over death, light over darkness, good over
evil

God loves the Indians too

2008-10-22T20:40:00.000+03:00

Last week on Thursday I went to hang out with the
Indian Students. When I say Indians I am speaking
of those students coming from India. Anyhow I went
there not expecting much than to bring some cokes
and have some fun. These are kids who have been
raised in the Hindu religion. Anyhow I just expected
to hang out with them and let them reach a point where
they inquire about my faith. Amazingly this happened
after I leanred a little bit of their language. They
came out and said tell us about Jesus. It was so amazing
tomorrow I am going again and I am excited

Socked in the head

2008-09-21T08:14:00.000+03:00

Yesterday at group we had what we call Fancy fancy.
During the special youth party there were some
performing dance routines while other s sang songs.
During one such routine of breakdancing I jumped
up on the stage to add my own small routine. In
mid movement another student on the stage followed
through his move by placing his foot down with great
motion. The bad thing was my eye socket was in the way
so I got kicked with roundhouse speed and force, which
caused my eye brow to swell up like a giant rubber ball.
here is the pic. And yes it is the most uncomfortable
bandage ever

Ryans latest newsletter

2008-09-19T12:00:00.000+03:00

Ryan's September Newsletter

Hello everyone and greetings from Uganda. It is finally time for the my next newsletter. The last 4 months have been a busy season and I wanted to write you all and tell you about it. I also want to thank everyone who has contributed whether through prayer or financially. I want you to know that together we are impacting a nation one life at a time
What has been going on with the youth? Well somewhere around may we took a big step as a youth ministry and changed the day we meet. For some 6 years we had met on the same night at the same time, but now we meet on Saturday. Anytime there is change, there will always be some hiccups along the way. I remember the first saturday after we had changed, their were only like 5 or 6 kids there when we started. Some showed up an hour late. It was difficult at first but now the kids have adapted to the change and things are going on well. As the the leader of the ministry I have really tried to make it more suited for the kids. The usual program contains special presentations from the kids, then worship, then teaching then we break and the kids hang around for another hour. When we changed to Saturday I really wanted to give the kids a time they can really enjoy, a full two hours. Just recently we had a Muslim boy attend our youth group for the first time. I was excited to see him cause it had been years since I even saw him in Jinja. The next day he came after sunday service and asked if I would pray for him to get saved. I could really tell that God had been working on his heart a while cause, his heart was ready. Razul then decided to change his name to show everyone that he was a Christian so he is now called Joshua.

Get Active!
Just at the end of August we had another conference just for the youth. The theme was Get active, the point was to show the kids that they also need to take their place in the church finding someplace to serve. We had a group of my friends here from Corvallis, OR, who were the main teachers for the event. Each of the special teachers encouraged the children to get active and get involved. At the conference we were joined by Calvary Chapel Entebbe and by another church called Riverside community church. All in all the conference went great and the kids had a great time. As of result of the conference three of our youth have started going out on Saturday morning and evangelizing and invited students, it's exciting to see them get active.
For some time now I have been writing about Richard my intern. Richard is growing day by day in his understanding of what it means to be a minister. He is such a blessing to the worship ministry and the youth ministry making sure that everything happens according to plan. Richard is not just my intern but for the whole church so he is busy throughout the week in prisons and other Bible studies

Calvary Praise Team
I am still currently the worship pastor for the church here in Jinja and find myself really blessed. As a worship leader it is difficult to keep things fresh. You know when you sing a song over and over it can become a bore instead of a blessing. One of the things I have learned from leading the worship for the church is that I am a worshiper first, before a musician. If I come on that stage as a musician I can become a prima-donna, trying to press my own way but if I walk in his spirit and just worship things go well(even if there are problems). Our church sound system recently got a big boost because someone bought us a audio snake and we were really blessed to be able to move the sound system to the back of the church. However in installing the system we realized it wasn't the exact one we needed so a bunch of cords needed to be changed. In fact we are still experiencing problems with it, but sometimes you just gotta take what you have and be content. Regardless of any problems it still continues to be a ministry I really love doing.

Calvary Bible Union

Every time I get to go to a school I have to remind myself that its an amazing opportunity. In America I would never be allowed into the school. I am so thankful that the schools here allow me in. The term ended about a month ago, but during the second term things were fruitful. It was great cause even Richard got a chance to teach a couple times. I really want to build into Richard the need to be a dynamic teacher. I really think teaching kids has an edge of simplicity but also a knowledge of pop culture, when someone can combine all these elements and really teach the Word then you can really connect with the kids.

Team Time at Calvary

Over the last three months we have been blessed to have three different teams. The first team was from CC Albuquerque and was Led by a man named James Burgess. They were from all different walks of life. During their stay here they mainly did prisons and they helped out with a couple of my ministries. They would have helped out with more but right in the middle another team came. A big team we get every year is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, from a church called Believer's Church. Every year they advertise in Calvary's across the country and other churches to send a team out to my friend who has an orphanage and to give us some workers to go and evangelize Jinja. We had a lot of fun this year going to several places. Every day was organized so that we would hit a primary school, a high school and then an area of town. We hit a total of 6 schools, along with a place called Danida, Masese landing site, and a place called Mailumbili. The amazing thing about visiting Mailumbili is that few ministries go there because it's the place where the poorest of the poor live. We went there without a translator because they were not able to come because of sickness. So we went trusting that God would allow us us to find someone. Out of nowhere a lady came and asked if I would fix her roof. Suddenly I noticed her accent and her ability to speak the language of the people we were focusing on, and of course her English. She was just a little woman but because of her we were able to minister there. I told her that she could help us translate and I would help her out with the roof problem. Out of all the places we went the most picturesque was at a boat launch in Masese. It felt like we were Jesus' disciples looking for followers among the fishing boats. I wouldn't say many came to the Lord through the outreach but those who were believers were strengthened in their boldness and those listening had seeds planted in their hearts. The final team to come was my good friend Ian and his friends from Corvallis Oregon. Honestly I was blessed to have another friend come and visit cause they are few and far between. During their stay we did three youth conferences and hung out a lot at my friends orphanage holding babies and playing with toddlers. Probably their greatest help was to the worship ministry. Ian and Lee both played instruments and added a lot to the team during their stay. Also Lee gave Aaron Lockwood a lot of instruction on the bass, and Aaron has really improved. Oh and I cannot forget to mention Erin who was the third member on the team. During her stay she taught and played with the staff kids and spent a lot of time at Amani Baby Cottage ministering to the children. All the teams were a real blessing to us.

On a personal note
By the time you read this newsletter my seventh anniversary of coming to Uganda will have passed. I am honored and blessed to have all of you praying for me and assisting me financially to stay here on the field. It is hard to imagine that I have been here seven years. God has taught me a lot of lessons in these last months. One lesson is that God doesn't have to fit in the box of what I want him to be. He is. I think there are times we have the wrong expectations of God and when he doesn't meet us how we want then we begin to doubt. Funny how I have the wrong expectations and then God gets the blame. All I can say is that God does greater and better things than we can ever expect, that's why He is God and I am not.

Thank you all for everything you do.

Calvary Chapel Corvallis Team day 2

2008-08-15T20:35:00.001+03:00

Two days ago we received a team from Corvallis Oregon. In fact a team with none only than my friend of over 10 years Ian Nelson. Today we went to Iguluibi village for a youth conference. All of the team spoke and encouraged the youth. After the teachings we went and played football with the kids and had a great time.

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The latest from Ryan

2008-07-16T16:58:00.001+03:00

How is life treating you? Over on this side of the world things are going well. We are in a pseudo rainy season at the moment so some days are beautiful and other days are great. As you know June marked the biggest time of teams. When I wrote last time we had just seen off our last team for the month of June. As for July it is quiet except for all the construction going on around the compound

Ignite youth ministries
      As of like three months ago we changed the time of our youth meeting to Saturdays. The whole idea was to maximize on the time that the students have and open the church up to them during those times. I am continuing the study of 1 Corinthians and at the moment we are entering chapter 11. It has been a fun study so far. As for the kids showing up it is somewhat hit or miss. Usually by the end we have like 20 some kids but they may show up on time or after the singing. This last week it was neat as one of our students named Andy went looking for kids to come to youth group. The ones he found were young but hey you gotta start somewhere. Every couple of weeks I allow my intern Richard to teach and then afterwards we go over the material that he teaches. Also my worship band has another band that they do without me that is being trained up to be the backup for youth group and the main service. Oh ya we are also planning a conference the first or second week of August.

Calvary Bible Union
           The ministries in the schools continue on as the second term of school seems to race by along with our study in the book of first John. I am always encouraged to see so many in St James and Kiira High school. The awesome thing is they are not coming for me but for Jesus. in this last year I have really tried to befriend some of the Muslim students at St. James. Last week one of the boys named Kaka came to listen to my intern teach at St. James. It was a big step for him. about two weeks ago another student I have been befriending came in during the worship which for him was a big step. The kids in the Bible study are excited to see what is happening. I invited Kaka to attend this week when the teaching is going on, so pray for him. The school term is set to end at the beginning of August so I have some little time with these kids are least for this term. pray that I can be effective.

Worship ministry
           The worship ministry at the church continues to be a blessing to me and my team as we struggle to lead others in worship. As a worship leader the one thing that breaks my heart is when I see my team working so hard and yet people are not singing. My heart is really for everyone to catch the flame of worship. So pray for revival in our church. Also pray for the dynamics within the team as sometimes I can be a prima donna when it comes to wanting perfection, hey God's in the process of breaking me Yes!

Radio Ministry
           I am currently the one doing all the programming for the radio program. Easy enough I take the Wednesday Bible study and chop it up into four parts and then
make intros and outros for all the programs.   It is challenging to take 45 minutes of
teaching and try and make it work for 15 minute programs, but I think I got it down
about now. Also for the last month I have been the one preaching the live message
on sunday mornings. I would say this is the most challenging of all, cause it is my voice and my teaching that is being put all over the eastern side of the country. I personally.   love working with the radion and am grateful for everything I have learned since coming here.
I didn't know any of this stuff when I came, so its awesome to see what on the job training will do.

As for me....
           As for me I am doing great. However as of recent some of my future plans got changed. at the moment I don't feel challenged so I plan on adding some more ministries
or doing more with the existing ones to make use of my time. According to some I do a lot but I wanna do more. I have learned so much in just the last month and I am thankful to God for it.    THANK YOU!

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The Chronicles Of A White Guy In The Bush

Life in The Village

Will you trust me?

Adventures and Opportunities

Update

A Time To Settle In

Village Ho!

300 Miles

Packing and Resettllement

The Road Ahead

A little plug for the podcast

Ten Years Ago

A Vision of The North

The In-Between

Last week's crazy trip

Up and Down in Three Days

Sitting on a plane(written night before last)

Preparation

New Podcast

A Time to Rebuild

A day out with The Boys

East Meets West

tragedy leads somewhere

A lil bit of catch up

From a portal to a portal

About this pastor in California

About this pastor in California

About this pastor in California

up and around in Kaabong

A day in the life

A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

A look back pt 2: A journey of a thousand miles.....

stories from the past

A life is reborn

Because of the tender mercy of our Godby which the rising sun will come to us from heavento shine on those living in darknessand in the shadow of death to guideour feet in the path of peace Luke 1:78-79

Some peculiar things

a quick trip up

some shepherd boys and some welding

Shepherd boys and a man name Cagem

A lull and a bang

A lot of rain and a broken tent

The Death of a Loved One

The process of change

The Dust of February

A week of implementation

Recap of the last three weeks

The Process of a Process

A Chapter of late November

A lil' one for November

and yet another

Surprise opportunities

The First Month

Settling In

The First Week

A trip to Karamoja

A new ministry Opportunity

An Update

Fun at the primary school

A week of sodas

Youth Conference

The Latest

Trip to the Southwest(backtracking)

An adventure in answered prayer

An adventure in answered prayer

Fall Newsletter

Boys Bible Study

A pleasant surprise

playing a little catchup( last Saturday)

Under the haze of a mosquito net

my time in washington

The Close of my month in Albuquerque

Time for som catch-up

Restoring the years that the locust ate

Marking my first week in the states

The week of last's(for six weeks that is)

Ryan's Mission Reception

July Update

making preparations

Just another day

Because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death to guide
our feet in the path of peace Luke 1:78-79