Strong Foundations

To begin this blog I think I need to start with the training center in Garubunda. We began construction on this training center last year in July of 2017. We were told that this would be a three-month project and it would cost us only about $10,000 US dollars. Fast forward to now. A year and 2 months later and the building is still not finished and we’ve spent about $20,000 on it. Talk about frustrating..amiright? The glass for the windows needs to be installed, the stones need to be laid into the wall and there are so many small detail things here and there that need to be done. One of the main reason that this building has not been finished is because it lacks strong foundations….actually it completely lacks foundations on the HEAVIEST part of the building. Uh-mazing.

As the building began to settle into the soil it began to crack. We first noticed small cracks on the side of the building, so we would fix them. First by building iron rods into the walls of the building to try and make it stronger. Then small patches here and there with cement. The building was looking good minus these few “cosmetic” issues…so we thought. We took some time without going to the building. Teams come and we get busy. The building is about 15 kilometers away and the roads are not the best so we rarely go out there.  Anyway, in May we went there for a center day with our sponsor children and their families. Upon arrival We came to find that there was a MASSIVE crack in the side of the building. WHAT IS HAPPENING??

            We had a few contractors go out to the property and inspect the building. One said that we would have to tear down the building and restart because it was not safe. The foundations for the columns were not built right, the basement lacked hardcore (foundation) and the building was pulling itself a part. Talk about discouraging. Collin and I both wanted to throw in the towel…..not really but this was really disappointing. The next two contractors gave us the good news! We could repair the building without having to tear it down, it would just add another $3,800 that we did not plan for. That money doesn’t even finish the building it just repairs the foundation and the other issues the building has. The good news is that even though the foundation was not built correctly, the building can still stand, it’s just going to need a little TLC to get it up to par.

            Having strong foundations is important, in fact just plain having foundations is important. Our lives can be a reflection of this building and that is what this blog is about. This was a strong beautiful building, like honestly when you see it you’re almost taken aback with how big it is. The windows and doors are strong, painted black and gold. The iron sheets are rich in their maroon brown color, nailed to the tresses with perfection.  The bricks are laid in uniform stacked on top of each other, building the walls of this building one by one. However, over time the beauty has lost its glory. Now when I look at the building I see its cracks. The imperfections that mask the beauty of this building. There are cracks in the walls, cracks on the floor and people broke in and damaged and stole our electrical sockets. This building was majestic, and now it’s just a reminder that you shouldn’t have someone be a contractor unless you’re absolutely sure they know what there are doing.

Strong foundations, how does this relate to you and me? In Acts we learn about the early church. Acts 2:42-47 tells us what the church looked like with the apostles.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (vs. 42). Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people (vs. 46-47a)

Every day they would meet together, remembering Christ and his sacrifice on the cross and it changed them. “Every day the Lord added to their numbers those who were being saved (vs 47b).” They were building on the foundations of the church and they had Christ as the cornerstone. Now why is that significant, what’s a cornerstone anyway? Well, a cornerstone is defined as a stone that forms the base of a corner of a building, joining two walls. Christ is the stone that keeps the whole building together, he keeps it from collapsing. In a real sense he is the one who joins us together as the body, we need him and we are nothing without him.

            In Ephesians we learn all about a cornerstone and what that means to have Christ as the cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-22 we read, “So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the CORNERSTONE. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”  

            In Christ we are NO LONGER foreigners or strangers we become a family and together we grow in Christ. We are building blocks for each other, bearing each other’s burdens, holding each other accountable, building each other up in love. Why is this community, this family so important? In John 17 we see a strong concern for unity in Christ. Verses 22-23 read “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” We are one in Christ and to be strong we need to have him as a foundation our cornerstone. I honestly think that most of us parade around like this building. We are strong and beautiful on the outside maybe have some cosmetics issues here and there but when you take a look inside you see the mess that only Jesus can fix. The truth is that men are flawed and we need Jesus to help make that right. As members of the church, as bricks in a building we belong and we belong as a family.   

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and honored cornerstone,
and the one who believes in him
will never be put to shame.

7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,

The stone that the builders rejected—
this one has become the cornerstone,

8 and

A stone to stumble over,
and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

-       1 Peter 2:4-8 

We are called to be living stones to build a spiritual house for all to come and experience the Glory of God. His powerful love, his abounding grace and his overwhelming mercy. When we try to become our own cornerstones, we make the whole building collapse. It starts as small cracks here and there and slowly becomes like water that freezes between the bricks, slowly ripping each other a part. I pray that we would no longer be stumbling blocks for each other but that we would believe that we are a part of a family a strong, magnificent family built upon the foundation of Christ. Y’all we are Unified together when we are on mission in Christ. We are Unified in Mission and that all starts by having strong foundations, built on Christ, our cornerstone.

Brian

Hey muzungu, give me money.  

Give me money.

Money.  (This makes me think of Jerry McGuire, SHOW ME THE MONEY! LOL)

These are commands that we receive every day in Uganda, and to be honest most days it is exhausting. I want to be able to give, I want to be able just to constantly give out the money I have. But for many different reasons, I can’t. I can’t give to someone and create a dependence on foreigners to sustain their life style. I can’t give and enable the mentality that we are here to give handouts. I just can’t. I know that I have struggled with this more than once. It weighs on me and sometimes I don’t know what to do with it.

I want to share a story with you about a man named Brian. Brian has been coming to my house for about two years now. When he first came to my house he asked me for money. He was in a bus accident where he lost half of his right leg, from the knee down. He had crutches, was worn and exhausted. I told him that I did not have money to give him. I try to be a good steward of the money that is given to us through UIM and I felt that just giving him money would hurt him more than help him. If I gave him money he would just become dependent on me to fund his lifestyle and that’s not what I want. I asked him to go and if I had a job I would call him.

The next time he came he told me that he had a baby that was 2 years old and, in a way, he was exploiting his child to get money. He began asking me for money for school fees. I manage the child sponsorship part of our ministry and I know for a fact that two years olds don’t go to school. So, I told him no again. I struggle with this people. I still have so much compassion for people and I want to be giving but I still did not feel like he was the man I should be giving money to. I sometimes feel that as a Christian I should give when someone asks. But this happens all the time, so how do I weigh where I should and should not give my money? I was reading my Bible and the verse 2 Corinthians 9:7 it says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” This helps me gage how I should give. I wasn’t cheerful about giving to Brian, something in my heart kept telling me no. Brian left and I said I would call if I had a job.

Sometime later Brian came again. By this point I am exhausted. He did not speak the best English and I still, after three years of being in Uganda….hardly know any Runyakole. He came to my house and I had a stern conversation with him. I reiterated that I would not be giving him money, but what I would give him is a Bible. I had a Bible that one of the world racers left so I gave him that. I told him that I do not have money to give you but I will give you this Bible and if you have any questions with it, or needs help, let me know and I would be glad to help..that is what I can offer you. He didn’t seem too pleased with me. This culture loves instant gratification and when you get a Bible when you’re expecting money it doesn’t exactly make you excited about what you have received. I also told him that he needs to be a man and provide for his family. Just because you lost a leg doesn’t mean you have to go around and beg. You are a man with a strong mind and you can do more than you think. He heard what I said and left with his Bible.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was making food for the week, spaghetti and chili (YUM) and Collin walked in the kitchen and said hey there is a guy here named Brian? He has a fake leg and he’s asking about you. I’ll be honest with you all, I was not happy. My first thought was noooooo are you kidding me?….Collin was confused and I just said this guy comes all the time and just asks me for money. I almost didn’t talk to him but then I swallowed my frustration and went to talk to him. You guys….Brian was so different this time. There was a light in his eyes and a huge smile on his face. He came to my house not to ask me for money but to share the good news about all the wonderful things that had been happening in his life.

He had a prosthetic leg that he got through a canon at the church and he said the Bible I gave him gave him that leg. THE WORD BROUGHT THIS MAN A NEW LIFE!!! Not just spiritually but physically as well. He was beaming with joy and he told me how he had started a sweet potatoes business and he walks around selling his crops to pay for more crops! He also has a watermelon crop too. He told Collin and I how this Mama (Me) told him to be a man and it challenged him to step up and provide for his family. God brought him out of the pit of despair he was living in and gave him confidence and a strength he didn’t know was there.

He told me about how his baby had grown and how he had brought him like 2 weeks ago but I wasn’t there. He promised he would bring his child the next time he comes so that I could see him. His life was changed and not because I gave him money but because I gave him the word of the Lord. There is power in scripture and too often we down play how powerful the word of God is. The Bible has the power to speak life into people and I witnessed it with Brian.

Brian brought his sweet potatoes to show us so Collin and I could buy some and you know we did! We were able to purchase some from Brian and also give some to our neighbor behind us. If I would have just given money he would be a different man. It was through prayerful thought and consideration that God provided a way for Brian, one that would keep on giving.

I feel that my calling in life is to be a seed planter. To be honest I feel like that’s one of the worst roles because you never see the fruits of your labor, but God let me see that through Brian. Seeing the man that Brian is now was so encouraging because I got to see the fruits of the seeds that I had a part in planting. I have been trying to write this blog for 2 weeks now and I think God waited til this moment so that I could share Brian’s story with you.

I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven that meets us where we are at and who uses us according to his purpose. I pray that as we continue to walk this journey together that we would walk in obedience with Christ. That we would be in the word daily, that we would pray throughout the day, and be in open communication with God. We are his vessels and he will use us for his divine purpose if we allow him to. I pray for more relationships like the one with Brian. I pray that lives would continue to be transformed and I that we would all be able to see the Glory of God revealed through his children.  

He Stands at the Door and Knocks

      Throughout history we have seen great, anointed men be attacked by Satan both mythically and in reality. When I was in high school I went through this phase of being kind of obsessed with Greek mythology. I found it so attracting and appealing. There was so much creativity behind it all. I remember thinking; “man this must have taken a long time to come up with all this specific information about each god, not to mention all the demigods…” The reason I bring this up is because like in the Bible we see these anointed men, who have a destiny for their lives that’s often much bigger than they are. In Greek mythology we have the story of Achilles. He was an anointed man by the Greek god’s, his destiny was to become the greatest hero of the Trojan War. His mother knew of this prophecy, but she also knew that he would die at war so she bathed him in the river Styx to burn out his humanity. She dipped him in the river by his left heel when he was an infant. Because she was holding his left heel, it left that small spot on his body mortal. His mother acted of her own will, trying to combat the gods will for Achilles and that action had consequences. Consequences so severe that it would lead to Achilles’ death. Paris shot an arrow into his heel and it ended up killing him because of his “Achilles heel” (his weakness). So here we have a great man with a calling who was disobedient and suffered the consequences of his actions.

     In the Bible we have Samson, this great strong powerful man that was under a Nazarite vow. This vow meant that he was “set apart to God from birth”. He also had a call and a destiny for his life. But like most great men, he had an Achilles heel and for Samson, it was women. He was known to be a womanizer and a man full of sin. He is a prime example of how temptation leads to sin, and sin always has a consequence. However, God also uses Samson’s life to show us that God can still use a sinful man to fulfill his will. Samson’s weakness was women and we see that with his marriage to a Philistine woman. He deliberately walked into temptation disregarding his vow all for a woman. We can read about it in Judges and Numbers.

        God created Samson to “begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (Judges 13:5). Samson did fulfill this will for his life eventually but it came at a price. Samson understood that his strength came from the Lord, but he didn’t quite fully grasp his calling. Since the Lord was with Samson he kept sinning, not experiencing the consequences. Samson’s acts were rooted in selfishness and vengeance but they also were the things that gave him the confidence to fight the Philistines. God would turn those acts of selfishness to reveal his Glory through Samson. When Delilah removed his hair from his head that was the last straw. In doing so he broke that last part of his vow and God left him. This is when the Philistines took Samson captive and removed his eyes. A strong man, broken by disobedience.

     “Then Samson prayed to the LORD, ‘O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes’" (Judges 16:28). The Lord returned to Samson in that moment and he was able to tear down the building over them and kill more Philistines than when he was alive. These men both suffered terrible pain and affliction in their deaths as consequences for sin. They accomplished the task that was before them but the end result was losing their lives.

     The reason I talked about Achilles and Samson is to give you two representations of the lives we can choose. A life where we follow God, or a life where we follow the gods we have created. Achilles followed a false god and in the end he was abandoned by them and left to die. Samson chose to call upon the Lord, and even though he sinned and fell away, God came back to him and revealed his Glory through Samson. He was given purpose in his death and God was with him. I believe that much of us are anointed. That God did create us with purpose. For some of us it takes a long time to realize that purpose and act on it. Selfishness keeps our eyes focused on our desires and it blinds us to God’s will. For Samson it wasn’t until he lost his eyes that he could truly see, and for Achilles it was the death of his close friend Patroclus. Now, I know that Achilles was not a real man, but neither are the gods that we create and choose to put before the one true God. This god looks different for each of us but this type of idol worship all has the same end point.

     Samson knowingly acted out of his vow and put himself into situations to be tempted. We also put ourselves in situations that tempt us to sin against God. We think that in our own strength we can withstand the temptations but the truth is we can’t, we need Him. The one thing we can do when we are put in a tempting situation is to actively choose God and not our own desires. Giving God the control of our lives is easier said than done, but ultimately it is with that true surrender that his Glory is revealed through us. Just like Samson, God gives each of us the opportunity to choose him, he is a gentleman and he stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). Two questions we need to ask ourselves are “do we want to accept that anointing and step into the call God has placed on our lives?” Or “do we want to live a life of idol worship, our own personal glory living selfishly eventually being abandoned and left for dead?”

     Satan likes to have us believe that we can keep on sinning and not experience the consequence of our sin. One of his greatest tactics is that he encourages us to sin and when we do, he holds us on the edge of consequence. He keeps us there in this sort of limbo where we don’t receive punishment, so what do we do? We keep on sinning. In Uganda the boda drives asked me if God’s grace for them would run out. I said no it won’t, but that doesn’t mean you can keep on sinning. He has endless amounts of grace but that is not for us to abuse. Samson abused that grace, God allowed him to keep seeking his selfishness but in the end he turned it all around. I guess my encouragement for you in this blog is that no matter the choices we make or the bad things we’ve done, it’s never too late to choose Christ. We are all called to righteousness and we are given a new life in Christ. He will never force himself upon us; he gives us the choice to make the decisions we choose. In the end he is always there to lavish us with his love and to invite us all back home. Let us choose life, and life abundant through Christ.

Not What I Expected

            Hey family and friends! I just wanted to get a quick update to you so you know what’s going on in this side of the world. We have been so incredibly busy these past couple of months and there has been a lot of change! God is really moving and expanding this ministry. Growth is good and we are learning how to manage everything but some days are certainly better than others.

            We have started construction on the training center this week after we paused to gather more funds and it has been quite the adventure thus far. Building projects are expensive, there always seems to be something popping up that you have to deal with and it can be exhausting. I sit here and laugh to myself about it because I just keep thinking of the movie, “Money Pit” with Tom Hanks. We started this project with an estimate of $8,500, which that doesn’t sound too bad right, ha? Now that we have exceeded that budget I am feeling compassion towards Tom Hanks character. Let me share some complications that have come up this week.

            We had windows and doors made for this training center and when we received them, they were nothing like what we had ordered. I had requested black doors with gold accents and he gave us brown doors with silver accents, literally almost the complete opposite of what we asked. He also did a completely different design than what we had requested and when we talked to him about it he said the reason it was not what he had asked for was because he forgot the order, so instead of calling us, he just kinda did his own thing. I have no idea why he didn’t pick up the phone and call us to ask us, it seems like such a simple solution but since he didn’t do that he is now facing the consequences of his actions. He had to come to the site and repaint every door and window, and he has to come to the site and fix the metal to the design we requested. This means we have to pay for electricity out at the site since the windows and doors are already installed and cannot be moved. That’s really a huge bummer for us because we were holding off on wiring the building to save money. So his one mistake inevitably cost all of us a lot of money, since he also lost money for doing a poor job.

            To add on to this “Money Pit” we found out that the foundation for part of the building was not built correctly so half of the building is sinking into the soft soil when it rains. Right now, we are in rainy season and let me tell you, it is raining a lot!!! So to fix this problem we have to install gutters to channel the rain so it stops affecting the foundation, which gutters were another part of the project we were holding off on installing to save money…..I really feel you Tom Hanks, I feel you brother. We have hired a plumber to go out to the site and install the gutters so we are fixing the problems. We purchased iron bars to build into the walls so that basement doesn’t pull on the other part of the building since there is already a small crack. Good news is most of these are fixable, and by golly we are fixing them!

            Now, I’m not telling you all of this so I can complain to you how hard it is to build something or how incredibly frustrating it can be when there is always something that needs to be fixed. If you have ever built anything in your life, you already know that. I know that there is a deeper meaning lying beneath the surface. In life, it is incredibly important to not cut corners and to take every precaution so you can try to prevent these complications from happening. With the foundation we could have built a ground beam and installed hardcore so it would be a strong sturdy foundation. Since we were focused on other things we made a mistake and now we are paying for it. We caught it early but how many times in life do we miss it completely until we are dealing with a huge mess saying to ourselves, “how did we get here?”

            I know that I personally have found myself in situations like that where I am sitting there having a conversation with God asking him to deliver me from this situation. Unfortunately it happens to all of us at one time or another and what I have taken from these experiences is that, like a wise Rafiki once said, “Oh yes, the past can hurt, but you can either run from it, or learn from it.” The mistakes that were made with the training center can be a huge lesson for us, but it’s having the wisdom to see past the situation and learn from it is what we need to practice. I could sit here and let the frustration fester and grow into anger, or I can choose to see the problem, search for a solution, act on it and make a difference in my circumstances and learn from it.

            I’m learning a lot out here and I know that it’s because I am challenging myself to remain in Christ’s joy. I listened to a sermon a couple weeks ago and the wisdom I took away from it is that joy is a choice, and it’s our responsibility to choose it. Once this training center is complete and its been standing for 10 years, no one will remember the stress or frustrations there were during its construction. However, what they will see is a safe building that allows people to be connected, to draw closer to Christ and each other. They will come here and they will learn skills and trades that will give them a hope and a future. I could halt construction and say I’m done, this place is a “Money Pit” and it’s draining me emotionally and financially. Or I can say Abba this place is yours and today I choose to not give Satan a foothold. I declare your joy today over this place and am excited to see your glory revealed through this building. Joy is a choice people. Choose to remain in Christ joy and place your hope in him, he won’t let you down. We’ve all got a “Money Pit” in life, don’t let it be the thing that defines you or robs you of your joy.

Dear America, you're breaking my heart.

Dear America, you’re breaking my heart.

          As many of you know, I have been living in Uganda on and off for the past 3 years. There have been good times and bad times but they all amount to something special. They both confirm the challenges that Christ promised us in his word. I can remember the smiles of children when they praise and rejoice in the Lord through dancing and singing. Their faces beam with joy and radiance truly displaying the characteristics of Christ. I can also remember the amount of hatred and violence when a man robbed a woman’s convenient store, when the mobs chased him down and murdered him by beheading him in the streets. I have seen that evil and I know that evil and it is an ancient evil that has come to seek, kill and destroy us.

           When I first told people I was moving to Uganda to become a missionary and share the love of Christ with people they would always ask me, “Aren’t you scared?”, “Isn’t it really dangerous over there?”. I have seen many things in this country that could cause me to fall into fear, but none of that compares to what I am reading in news articles about what is happening in my home country. Today, for the first time I am scared and I am not scared of Uganda but I am afraid of the evil that is taking over America. The amount of hatred and racism that has been displayed is totally, 100% an act of the enemy. In Uganda I have never been afraid that I would be run over by a car and killed because I was professing my beliefs fighting for peace. I have never woken up with such a heavy pain on my heart like I have these past few days seeing posts on Facebook and reading about the dissension going on in America. Hatred and racism are evil, pure evil there is no love or grace in it, nothing. That kind of evil spreads like a disease and taints everything that it touches or has influence on and it is truly heartbreaking.

          These events and attitudes pain my heart because that kind of evil is toxic and it pollutes the minds of the weak and sways people to violence and murder. America is a power country and we don’t realize how many eyes are watching us and how we act. When Trump was running for president, the Ugandans always knew more about it than I did. They would always ask me my political views and I would say “I don’t really have one I don’t pay attention to it when I am out here.” They would look at me confused and say “Well you should care because what happens to America affects us all; they are a country we look up to.” A country we look up to….

          I love Uganda because it is beautiful and the people here love you no matter what, no matter your skin color, background or religion. They simply love. I used to think that Uganda was such a special place because it was untouched by racism and hate, but that evil and disease has spread to a country that I love. Recently Collin and I were driving in town at night with some of our friends, Beckie and Lawrence, taking them home after a fellowship. We were on a narrow road in town driving up a hill, playing music and just having fun. I looked out my window and noticed a woman grab her children in fear, Collin saw it too and we both didn’t understand what sacred her. Then a man in a white truck came speeding by us and almost hit them. Naturally Collin wanted to challenge this man and ask him why he was driving so dangerously. He parked at a shop in front of us so we pulled up next to him and I rolled down the window so Collin could speak to him.      

          The man was furious. He began shouting and yelling at us because we didn’t move and get out of his way. Collin insisted that you could not pass on a narrow road like that, especially when you are in town and there are people walking on the road at night. The roads are not lit here so that is not safe driving. He would not listen. In his mind we were completely in the wrong. The more we argued with him the more we came to realize that he was not in his right mind. He had an evil in his eye that was coming from his heart. “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile a man.” (Matthew 15:18). At that point Beckie and Lawrence suggested we just go to prevent anything from spinning out of control. So, we decided to just let the man be and as we pulled away he said something under his breath and it was something along the lines of “these stupid whites.” (It was much more serious than that but I do not need to repeat it.)

          Being face to face with that man you could tell that there was something evil there, something evil had its hands on that mans life. Something evil is at work in America and whether you realize it or not, that evil is spreading and corrupting what is good. For about 2 weeks there has been a question playing over and over in my mind. “What is the condition of your heart?” I have asked myself this question many times, in many different seasons in my life, but this time it felt different, I didn’t really have an answer. I wasn’t really sure why, but after witnessing the encounter with that man, and the events taking place in Charlottesville, I have come to realize that the question wasn’t for me. The question is for you America…..what is the condition of your heart? We have spent so much time and effort creating a divide not only with racism but also with homosexuality, feminism and religion. We are all one family; we are all brothers and sisters unified with Christ whether we believe it or not. Somewhere in our journey to discover ourselves we have lost sight of that, we have lost sight of who we are and who God created us to be.

          Collin and I spent the morning reading about Charlottesville and all the events that are going on there wondering how does this make God feel? I said how broken his heart must be over this. How much pain is he experiencing on our behalf? And Collin said well if we feel the pain and grief of these events and we are in Uganda and we are human, then he feels it immeasurably and his heart is truly breaking for his people. I don’t normally touch on racism or hatred going on in America but this time I felt the Holy Spirit beckoning me to say something. More eyes are on you than you think America, and you have the opportunity to show humility, love, grace and peace, or hatred, racism, bigotry and violence, the choice is up to you.  “Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23. My prayer for you America is that you would ask yourself the question, “What is the condition of your heart?”, and when you get the answer I pray that you would be open to the journey that God is going to take you on. Step it up America, eyes are on you.

Love,

A heartbroken Muzungu in Uganda, praying for the day that God’s glory is revealed through you.

Tukwatanise Boda Program!

As the body of Christ we want to shine light and be examples of a united community pursuing growth physically and spiritually daily. Unified, connected, and invested is our goal and dream for the people of Uganda! One new program that we have implemented here in the last few weeks is the Tukwatanise Boda Program. We are excited to see and hear the positive feedback as we go deeper into linking and empowering the local community members of Rukungiri. The Tukwatanise Boda Program is a two-year lease to own motorcycle program. Members of this program attend fellowships twice a week where we dive into scripture and prayer. The program is designed not only to create jobs, but also to create new connections, fellowships, families, and brotherhood.

Boda Bodas are the main means of transportation within towns and villages in Uganda. These motorcycle taxis will transport anything from people, to furniture, to supplies. Boda drivers are pivotal in the growing market, but their job does not lie in high regard amongst the community. The reputation of the group as a whole is less than admirable. The Tukwatanise Program, translated as Unified, aims to change that perception and way of thinking. The two-year program aims to teach each Boda driver about everything from finances and savings to responsibility, faith, and integrity. The most important aspect of the program is the spiritual challenge and encouragement for each member: pouring into each person’s relationship with Jesus Christ.

One way we are combating the negative perception of Boda drivers is through our “Side Job: World Changer” Act. Every week each member of the Tukwatanise sets aside a certain amount of money that goes towards a community development fund. After every 3 months, the program as a whole goes forth into the community and provides services and/or support with the budget saved. We have a matching program that goes towards this budget. Every extra Ugandan Shilling donated to this program by a member of the Tukwatanise Bodas will be matched and doubled. As a whole, we are excited to see the growth and positive change that we can make to encourage and empower the local community! Please join us in prayer as this small group of guys grows into a family and into men of Jesus! Lord willing we will mature as a program and organization and be able to accept more and more willing applicants to join us on this adventure we call life. If you have any questions or want to get involved in this ministry, please email us at unifiedinmission@gmail.com. Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Uganda, Home away from Home

        We arrived in country at 3:15 in the morning, so tired, so exhausted, and just ready to go curl up into our beds and sleep through morning. However, that’s not exactly how our arrival to country panned out. There’s something special about Uganda, and that is that most things don’t always go according to plan. We call it “Africa Time”. In July Uganda changed their visa policy from visa on arrival to applying online before you travel to obtain your visa. They did this to speed things up in the airport and to make the process quicker, but like I said, Uganda is special. They still do visa on arrival so we decided to just get our visas in the airport. Of course we picked the slowest line, but at 3:15am I think any amount of time feels slow when you’re that tired. So in typical Ugandan fashion, things were very delayed. Come to find out the network was down so anyone who had an online visa could not process it and they had to go through our lines. The network is always spotty, so this was the perfect welcome back home! By 5:30 am, just before the sun was about to rise, we were tucked in at our favorite Backpackers Hostel. Uganda here we come!

        Ever since we landed on May 21st we have been incredibly busy. When we were home in the states, we were fundraising for a truck. We decided that we needed a truck to aid us in projects and picking up teams. So our first step in country was going to all the bonds to find a truck. If you’ve ever been to Uganda you know how crazy the capital city is. Kampala is always busy, there’s always a jam somewhere, motorcycles left and right not obeying traffic signs, taxis all over the place and now we even have Uber. Our plan was to stay in Kampala for 3 days and then head down to Rukungiri with a truck. We searched high and low, not really finding anything, and then God seriously delivered us a car out of the blue, exactly what we were looking for. God blessed us with a 2008 Toyota Hilux, diesel, 4 wheel drive, and manual. There a huge cab for teams and there have only been two owners in Uganda. Finding this truck was so encouraging and also such a relief to have found one so quickly. We organized all the paper work and low and behold, the truck was the exact amount that we had fundraised. How great is our God? Like seriously, he’s amazing and constantly meets our needs.

        We took the truck for servicing, making sure everything was safe and in working order before we finally began the journey to Rukungiri! We arrived in Rukungiri at 11:45 at night after a long 7-hour drive from Kampala. Unfortunately we ran into some hiccups when we got home. No one had lived in our house for the 3 months that we were gone, which meant that the house had not been cleaned in three months. Dust covered everything and cleaning is the last thing you want to do when you travel so long, so late. We struggled with being frustrated at the circumstances before us but chose to seek the joy in the fact that even though everything was covered in dust and on top of that, power was also out, we were home. Satan can come at you in so many different ways. It was easy to fall into the frustration that our home was not prepared for our arrival and our first night was spent inhaling dust, but as Collin said, “hey we signed up for this.” True, we signed up for a life abroad sharing that love of Christ, and we may not have signed up for dust all over everything but we chose a life that Satan hates. What we are attempting to do here terrifies him, and he is going to try to make us miserable every step of the way. Making the little things seem like big things, trying to rob us of our joy, to distract us from the calling that is before us. God is with us and he has gone before us. He is leading us every step of the way and we are so excited to see what he has for us here!

         We have some new and exciting things coming our way in this next year and we are working hard to transform lives here in Rukungiri. We have some dreams of a boda business, a coffee shop and creamery here in town and also a training center on our land in Kebisoni. We long to see the people of Rukungiri introduced to a type of life that is full of surprises, unexpected miracles and transformation from death to life through Christ. We hope that with this training center project we can help children excel in school, learn about Christ and also have a place that is safe if they ever need somewhere to go. We also want to teach the local adults English and hold Bibles studies so we can all grow together being a community established and rooted in Christ. We will have more information coming soon about this training center and how we hope to make this dream become a reality. Thanks so our family and friends who have supported us so far we could not have done it without your prayers, encouragement and financial support. Keep your eyes opened and your hearts ready to receive that joy that is before you!

But first, love Me

“We love because he first loved us.”

- 1 John 4:19 -

          I have not been in the spirit of loving. Recently I have found loving people to be difficult and draining. I am tired, I am exhausted, I am worn. There is a spiritual kind of emptiness that has caught up to me even through the mess and busyness of life and even through all the distractions it offers. I know the reason for this emptiness, I know exactly what the problem is and I have not had the energy to take action to do anything about it. The reason I feel empty is because I have forgotten my first love. I have neglected this love that has been so freely given to me, so easily attainable for me, all because I have pushed and pushed and pushed trying to achieve some type of “excellence” that the world has placed on me. “I love you, Abba…but I just can’t right now,”, is a constant thought that runs through my mind, almost daily in fact and it has become so “normal” for me that I just have learned to accept it and think, “tomorrow, tomorrow I will do something about it”. This was such a slow and creeping feeling that came in day by day, I hadn’t really even realized just how far I was from my first love until I tried to read my Bible and I couldn’t…isn’t that how Satan works though slowly pulling us away from Christ, he is so subtle that we don’t even notice. He has slowly worked his way into my life and taken my joy, and it is all because I was “so busy”, he saw that, and he took advantage of it.

          Ironically the one thing that would fix this missed connection would be to dive into the word, to pour into my community but I have hit this level of exhaustion that I simply just do not want to put in the effort. This all started when I decided to take this year to read the entire Bible. In all my years of being a Christian and I have never once read the entire Bible. So this year seemed like a good……okay hold on…I gotta share this story that just happened, like literally just this second, then I’ll come back to this..

God is seriously so good!! As I was writing this I was approached by a young man named Ngobi Evanz, my first thought was like ughh leave me alone…I am busy writing this blog about how its hard for me to love people cause I’m too busy and you are distracting me….(funny sense of humor God). Evanz already approached me once and then I caught him staring at me for at least 10 minutes while I was writing this so I checked out. Then he came over again to sit down and talk to me and what did we start talking about? Loving people. God meets us where we are at so much, and so often it goes unnoticed and we take it for granted. In talking with Evanz he expressed to me how much he wanted to learn about love. His parents chased him away (kicked) him out when he was in secondary 2, (high school) and he has been living on the streets ever sense. He said that when they chased him away he said its okay because God loves me and he will protect me and Evanz seems to be doing pretty alright. So I’d say God is taking great care of him. So I sat down with him for about 30 minutes and I shared with him 1 John, 1 Corinthians and Song of Songs…..briefly describing the types of loved mentioned in each and what they mean exactly. What an eagerness he has to know love and to understand it. God used the part of me that feels the weakest right now to reveal the very thing that my heart is longing for, being loving when I feel empty. 2nd Corinthians 12:9a But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

So that was a crazy, amazing experience that I had with God. He loves me so much and what I am constantly learning is that even when I feel far from him, and I am not pursuing him daily, he is still pursuing me. Always. Let me get back to what I was saying…I started reading the Bible front to back, Genesis was great! So exciting! Exodus was good too, then I started Leviticus and that’s where my problems began. Something you need to know about me is that I have had extremely vivid demonic dreams ever since I was a little girl, I can seriously remember every demonic dream I have had up to the age of 4, when I had my first one. As I was reading Leviticus specifically the parts about sacrificing animals and what to do with specific parts of the body I started to have nightmares about that happening to people. The worst part of it all was that I was helping cut people and separate their bodies for sacrifices. I woke up and my first thought was I am done reading Leviticus. That was horrible. I talked with my roommate Kiki about it and even though she had much wisdom and insight I wanted nothing to do with it.

            In that I should have realized it was the enemy taking something good and corrupting it and using it against me in a way that would specifically hurt me. He took the Bible and corrupted it in a way that caused fear in me. So I stopped reading Leviticus and haven’t gone back to it sense. I started reading more in the New Testament, something lighter and easier to digest but there is a part of me that just does not want to finish Leviticus cause I don’t want those dreams to come back. I said to Kiki why doesn’t God protect me from that? Why does he let those images fill my mind? I have never forgotten a dream that I have had, not a single one and they are all so vivid and all so very real. In my own selfish way I blamed God instead of naming the lie and words from the mouth of Satan. But because I was so tired I just didn’t even care.

            My attitude is much different now, I have begun to get back into the word with fresh eyes and an eager heart to learn about my Father and grow more intimate with him. I know that I have my days of focusing too much on the things I want and desire but I am still seeking him. It is nearly impossible to love people without loving God first, he is and should always be our first love. In loving God and inviting that relationship to guide and direct out lives he gives us an overflow of love that we can pour out to our brothers and sisters. God reminded me of that with Evanz, I was taking a moment to search my heart and be with my father and he brought someone to me to not only show his love for Evanz, but his love for me. He is so good and his love is constantly pursing us and it is seriously so beautiful. 2nd Corinthians 12:9b “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

“I am my beloveds and his desire is for me.”

-       Song of Songs 7:10 –

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I was praying for lions and He gave me a leopard

          So I'm just going to dive right into it. We have a visitor here, Deziree, from California and we were trying to figure out what the plan was for today and I mentioned Queen Elizabeth Park, because you can’t come all the way to Uganda and not see African animals in their natural habitat. There is a part of the park where you can drive through for free but you're not always guaranteed to see animals, most often it's hit or miss. First thing this morning we had to get our oil changed since it's about a 5 hour drive and I have already driven 5,000 kilometers since September 23rd....how crazy is that!!! 5000. Well anyway. We were scheduled to leave at 8:30am but like most things in Uganda we experience delays, which is why we're always on African time. 

          Micheal took the car at about 7:30am and then came back with the car at 8:47am and I was like let's go!! So we all got in the car ready to go, hoping to see some glorious animals. The whole time we were driving I was praying we would see some elephants. Last year we took a team on this same safari and saw nothing so I was just like Abba, please let us see something. As we began our journey, an hour and fifteen minutes into it....we have a delay. There is this huge truck with a tractor in the back blocking the road. I mean, first reaction is like yo!! Move get out of the way! But he kept inching....forward....backward…..forward….backward....then the tractor got out. Why did the tractor get out? So the truck could move easier....at least we thought. The truck driver started doing his forward backward thing again and now he is completely blocking the road just chill'n at this point it's been about 30 minutes cars are lined up, bodas are lined up...everyone is like what the crud is going on?!?!? 

          Micheal starts talking to one of the guys and low and behold the reverse has failed. The poor guy was now stuck blocking the road with no way out.....we have delays I repeat, we have delays....African time for the win! To hold on to optimism I just declared that we were going to see climbing lions today and I said a prayer. Meanwhile Kiki keeps suggesting guys push the truck and there were about 20, maybe 30 guys there, men I should say, and they were just staring at her....so confused. Everyone is growing very impatient....bodas are passing underneath the truck...all kinds of crazy not safe things....then Kiki mentions "push the truck out", so Seth and Micheal get out of the car talk with all the men and in about 1 minute they all gathered together, took a position on the truck and pushed the truck out. Amazing. Boom we are back in action people, back on the road!!!

          When we entered the park all we were really seeing were baboons which, to be honest are pretty common so I was like come Jesus!! Show me a lion!!! We were driving in the park for about an hour and then we saw water buffalo, antelope, monkeys, more baboons J, African kob, some other animals I don't know and a bunch of birds, no lions or elephants. Bumma. But God is good and I was like guys they are coming. So this is where it gets good. We're driving in a part of the park where there's usually no animals and then....we see a BLACK LEOPARD!!! These are extremely rare to see and this was the first time I have ever seen one! It was so beautiful and majestic! Granted it ran across the road pretty quickly but it was so sick! Then as we were driving we saw this herd of animals so we stopped and then behind them a little farther out were elephants! We even got to see a baby elephant!!! God's provision is just so amazing! 

          We continued to drive for a couple more hours, didn't end up seeing lions but I did learn something about Jesus and how much he loves and cares for each desire that we have. So I wanted to share that with you.

          At the end of the safari, talking about the leopard we were all excited and I said how great is it that we got stuck behind that truck?! That was God answering a prayer that I had by allowing us to drive along that road at the exact time that leopard was crossing. I was praying for lions, which I've seen, but he gave me a leopard, we literally drove into an answered prayer, it wasn’t how I imagined it would be but it was an answer nonetheless. He still met the needs and desires of my heart just not in the way I expected. We had to wait and wait for that truck almost 45 minutes to an hour and even though we were growing frustrated, confused, and impatient God was moving. The answer to the problem before us seemed so simple yet we still struggled. It took the people coming together, much like our lives, our communities coming together to help each other out of a seemingly impossible situation. Isn’t that why we have community, isn’t that why Jesus had 12 disciples, to help, love, support and encourage each other towards Christ? In learning to be patient and remaining joyful, God helped us overcome one obstacle and gave us something precious. He met our expectations with greater fulfillment and we were given the gift of his provisions leaving us full of joy and gratitude for Him.

          How often in life do we pray and pray, thinking that we know what is best and we pray for what we can see, limiting our expectation to our own understanding? Our expectations fail in comparison to the plans he has for our lives but we continue to doubt his voice and doubt his guidance. I prayed for a lion and gave me a rare leopard, and if I didn’t have my eyes focused on the path before me (figuratively focused on him), I would have missed it. He wants to provide for us in such a way that we are just amazed by him, his love for us, and just who he is. God is in everything and he is everywhere, the more I open up my eyes and see that displayed before me the more I begin to understand the reality of who he is. God has stepped up his game and provided for me so much in this season all because I was obedient to him and gave up some of the things that I wanted. So far, it has been one of the best decisions I have made. I don’t want to doubt him anymore; I don’t want to question his motives. He has blessed me with a sense of knowing and understanding that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world and do you want to know the best part is? As I continue to pray with him, to walk with him, to seek him daily, and to read his word, the more I do not need validation from this world because I am made complete in him and I am so excited for the things he has planned for me!

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Be Present with Me - God

          How often do we just go through the motions of life, not even realizing that a day has come and gone, only to find ourselves staring at the same face in the mirror we’ve stared at countless times and now we’re unable to recognize it? God has been teaching me so many things about myself while being in Uganda, so many good things and so many difficult things. Things that are hard to digest and swallow. Things that keep me up in the middle of the night wondering what on earth am I doing here? Things that make me question his goodness and sovereignty. As I have gone back and forth in conversation with God about these doubts in my heart I have found that the root is desire. There are things that I desire that are limited by my being out here. I sit here and I am frustrated and hurt by the things God has asked me to sacrifice, desires I have to put on hold because of the calling he has placed on my life. I love this place, I love these people but outside of them I have desires of my own, personal intimate desires that I have shared with God and God alone and recently, it feels like he has been holding out on me.

          Just this last week I listened to a sermon by Judah Smith titled, “Look, lift up your eyes” and it talked about Gods will and something he said really stuck with me. He said three things about the will of the Lord and his plan for our lives:

          1. “God’s plan is not far off, it’s right in front of you.” We like this idea of God’s will being far off, because that is how we view God, some far off in the distance kind of God but the truth is he is here, his kingdom is at hand. This far off idea is appealing because sometimes what’s in front of us isn’t that appealing, and its not what we want, but guess what, just cause you don’t like it doesn’t mean that its not Gods will for you. Often we place ourselves in a position of believing that we know better than God. And because he is patient, he lets us believe this until we come around and realize he is the only way, the truth and the life. Learning to submit to the will of the Lord is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The hardest. In fact I am still learning what that truly means. Sacrificing my desires for the kingdom is painful, but the fruit of the labor is sweet. The truth is, God’s plan for your life fills you up, you are filled and you are strengthened, it’s just the process of getting there that is draining. Once you get there, it’s worth it.

          2. “Results may vary.” Now in many sermons I have heard this explained as some of us plant seeds, some of us water them, and some of us see the fruits of that labor. We love instant gratification, and we love seeing the results of our toil, but what if that is not a part of God’s plan for our lives? Ouch. You mean I have to sacrifice things that I want, for you God and then I don’t get to reap the benefits? What kind of a deal is that? Now, this is not the case for everyone but it is for some and it is a hard pill to swallow. For me to digest this when it is given to me, I have to remind myself daily that God is a promise keeper and he is good. The results of my life are up to him and he truly does know and understand the desires of my heart, and the next bit is up to me to have faith in him and to trust him to fulfill them. A relationship with God is give and take; we learn to love each other through sacrifices we make for each other. He made this biggest sacrifice of all, displaying his love for us by sending his son to die on a cross for our sins….meanwhile he just asks me to sacrifice things that I want (temporarily) so that he can show me a new life, with new desires that align with desires he has for me. Whew, that’s amazing!  He hears my prayers and he will answer them even if the result doesn’t include me. As Judah said in his sermon, “prayers never die” and for me that is extremely encouraging.

          3. “The nature of God’s will invites us into places and spaces we have written off or otherwise avoided.” When we become more intimate with Christ, he exposes us. Every lie we have every told, ever act that we have ever done that has brought shame into our lives and every dark place of our heart that Satan has corrupted with his lies and deceit. To be exposed like that is raw and uncomfortable. Our true selves are out on display for the world to see and if we aren’t ready for that kind of vulnerability we run. We push away our brothers and sisters who want to walk along side us in that journey and we hide. The problem with that fear is that it does not include God and it is not a part of his will for our lives. For perfect love casts out fear. Adam and Eve are the prime example of this shame because as soon as they heard the voice of the Father they ran and hid in their shame. As we are called to be followers of Christ and we accept that love into our lives we boast about that good things he has done for us! Our fear is replaced by hope and life! The grace and truth of living and walking with Christ, in the will of the Lord allows us to be fully known and fully loved for who we are despite everything we have done. That’s why stepping into the will of the Lord is so terrifying and why we tend to over look it. Christ knows everything about us, and I mean everything and he loves us. I know that I do not always fully understand the will of the Lord but what I do know is that he will not abandon me and in those moments when my heart is broken and my spirit is downcast within me, he meets me there and I am able to exhale and relax in the comfort of the arms of the father.

         Currently I am in a season of exposing and healing. In the last couple of weeks I have felt myself shut down and become closed off. I often and not present here, I am in some far off place. My heart is truly experiencing a heaviness that is a huge weight to bear. Being in Uganda I have to hide that emotion because I am a missionary and I love Jesus but there are times when I feel as though I have nothing left to give and I hardly recognize the woman staring back at me in the mirror. I begin to doubt and question God but then I remember Mark 14:36 “Yet not what I will but what you will.” I have experienced the joy and peace of walking in the Lord’s will and I desire to be in that place again. I also know that for me to be in that place it is going to require sacrifice. I think that the biggest problem is that I don’t fully trust Gods intentions for my life because I am afraid to let it all go, to fully let him have control of the desires of my heart. Again that kind of vulnerability and rawness is terrifying, but the results of that labor is sweet. I may never truly see the fruits of the sacrifices I make for Christ but shouldn’t it be enough to know that what we are doing here in Uganda is serving a purpose and if not for ourselves, for future generations to come? I am praying for these people here because I love them and I want to see the kingdom manifested on earth as it is in heaven. Though my heart is weak, Christ is strong and it is in that weakness where he can do his best work because I know how much I need him. Honestly, all that is required of me is to be present with him and to fully believe he loves me.