I continue to be humbled and amazed daily by the work of our Lord, Jesus Christ. God is moving in so many mighty ways, here in Uganda, and I'm not even sure I have enough words to describe the vast amount of greatness that I'm witnessing in His moving.
Shortly after my last update we began our weekly trips to Kembo Island, on Lake Victoria, to teach a revised version of the Following Jesus course that is offered at my home church, Experience Community Church, in Tennessee, to pastors. This class teaches the basics of what it looks like to be a Jesus follower and how we are to help new believers in the process. At first I was a little nervous about teaching this, even though I knew with certainty that it was what God was calling me to do. The thought of teaching pastors the simplicity of the Gospel and how to walk with Jesus was intimidating. What if they're annoyed that I'm teaching them too simply? What if they come once and never come back because they think they already know this stuff? So many thoughts the enemy tried to put in my head. But GOD....God spoke. God gave me words. God took control. We are about to enter week 3 of this course, and it has already changed so many hearts and minds on this one Island alone! Each week we get in a boat Monday morning for a 2-2.5 hr trip to this island. Once we arrive, we have a day of teaching and worship on one topic, spend the night, and have teaching and worship Tuesday morning on another topic. After lunch we take our journey back to Jinja. So far our lessons have been on prayer/worship, the Bible, baptism/communion, and Trinity/Holy Spirit. The pastors have voiced such appreciation and have had so many good questions and conversations related to these topics. Many questions have truly humbled me because as an American, I've been so blessed to have great leaders and teachers, access to multiple Bibles, including study Bibles, and have such a vast amount of resources at hand. You see, in Africa, and many other countries around the world, there's a lot of mixed theology taught, but the pastors don't always question that because they don't have the amount of resources we have, including bibles to check that information against. There's a lot of prosperity gospel, a lot of by faith teaching, a lot of false teaching happening here. Many have told me more than once that no one comes to these islands for teaching because it's uncomfortable and far. They're so appreciative to hear truth and be taught how to better shepherd their flock and so receptive to the word being taught. Some of the pastors who are attending this class don't even have a Bible and many have Bibles which are missing chapters and even whole books of the Bible. If we don't have the whole truth, how are we teaching the whole truth? I'm so thankful that we have the ability to provide all of these pastors with Bibles so that they may better teach and lead. Many community members have also been attending and participating in our small groups. I've seen so much growth, so much change, so much hope on this island in even the short time I've been going. God is moving mountains, my friends, and it's so beautiful to witness. This past Monday we discussed baptism and communion. Both are such precious parts of our walk with Christ and neither are widely practiced here in Uganda. After our class on Monday, I got the privilege to baptize 5 people in Lake Victoria, including one sweet 15 year old girl who had been a Muslim her whole life, until just 2 weeks prior, and one young lady who had demon possession and God set her free, earlier that day. God is so good! Thank you Jesus! We were also able to provide communion elements for the pastors and church members who were present. We discussed the depths of communion, what it means, how we should approach it, and why we do it. We read in Luke, Ch 22, about the institution of the Lord's supper, and we took communion as a family. Thank you Jesus for these moments! It was so very beautiful! I am so thankful for my 2 brothers who have been going with me and translating for me, and for my brother Titus, who's from the island and helps translate and teach sound doctrine with us. I'm so very thankful for their heart and passion to teach truth and walk in the uncomfortable with me for the glory of God! I'm so thankful for the pastors and members who are willing to come and hear and participate in God's teaching. I'm so thankful for the hospitality of those on the islands who are sacrificing for me and my team to make us feel comfortable and safe. God, I'm so thankful for you and this beautiful opportunity you've entrusted me to carry out for your kingdom and for the vast amount of goodness and growth that you continue to humble me with.
Along with beginning the teaching on the islands, since the last update, we've started bible study on Thursdays with the street kids. About 20-25 boys on average have been attending Sunday morning services at church and about 15 of those are consistent week to week, the rest vary in who comes. When I first established rules and boundaries with the kids, many were discouraged that I gave them so many rules to follow, that they had to work to earn stuff and upset that I wasn't just here to give it away like most have done in the past. However, God has really touched about 10 boys and God is working in these 10 so greatly already. God has allowed them to see his love. He's allowed them to feel his presence. God has brought me 10 boys who are consistently showing me they want to grow, want to change, want to know Him, want to start a new life away from the life on the streets. God has allowed us to have such amazing bible studies, filled with praise and worship, led by 3 of the boys each week. He's allowed us to have great discussion after the scripture reading, and kept them attentive and interested. These 10 boys are going to be the change, and then be the vessels to bring more boys to Christ from the streets. Thank you God for these boys who love you so well. It's been so neat seeing these 10 specifically open up to me. I could tell the first couple of weeks they were hesitant and remaining reserved, yet trying to understand why I was here loving them in a way that many don't. This week I've seen relaxation around me, I've seen true joy and playful fun when we're together. I've seen and felt relationships growing and trust happening more and more each day. I'm so blessed and honored to be a part of this journey. Thank you Jesus! These 10 boys were the first to earn meal vouchers this week because of following rules and truly showing me they're in this 100%. They have each come to the church during the week asking what jobs they can do to even have the possibility of a chance of earning something, but being ok when the answer has been not today. These 10 greet me on the streets with smiles and high fives and call me by name. They joke with me and converse with me. Last week we were talking about how there will always be people who shun them and look down on them just because they are or have been street kids, but that the love of God must be present in them and shine from them even in those hard times, because they can change this town. One of the boys, Denis, told me "we will start with changing our road first!" YES! One road at a time, these boys are about to change the outlook on their community. Praise GOD! When I got to the church this week for Bible study, I heard music coming from the church and could see people dancing and praising as I walked by. When I walked in the door, I was brought to tears seeing 9 of the boys already there praising and worshiping our Lord! (let me just say, in Uganda no one is ever on time anywhere! For them to be 15 minutes early and already praising and worshiping on their own was huge!) It was such a beautiful picture of celebration, true joy, and freedom! After Bible study was over, one of the boys asked if I could bring them Bibles to read. I made the agreement with them that they could come to the church and read the Bibles I brought anytime during the week, but they couldn't leave the church with them for right now. (Many times Bibles are stolen and sold, so I wanted to eliminate that possibility or temptation). I brought 2 English Bibles, and 2 Luganda Bibles and all of the boys sat and read, or had the Bible read to them, for over an hour. One of them was even reading my study bible out loud. Oh God, you are so so good. I'm so thankful for the many mountains you're moving and the passion that these boys are gaining toward you!
This week we also dealt with a season of death and mourning, and the boys brought me into their circle a little more. In Uganda, street kids have a stigma around them. No matter how much they've changed, no matter what they're doing or not doing, most of their community, especially the super corrupt police/military/government have a negative attitude toward them. Many get arrested for simply being "idle" and not moving or working. Even if they're doing nothing wrong, if they're spotted by police, they have a chance of getting arrested or being beaten. So many hide day and night for fear of being spotted. While there are many street kids who do many things they should not do, no one deserves the punishment that these boys receive here, simply because they live on the streets. On Thursday, one of the boys I had met, Amiri, was beaten to the point of death, by the police. He's a kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was punished to the point of death because of it. My heart breaks for this boy and for his friends who loved him and his family who hadn't yet had the chance to see the change in him. My heart breaks that such corruption and hate is such a common thing around here that many don't bat an eye at. As an American, now living in this culture, my eyes are being opened daily to the corruption that these sweet boys deal with daily. But God is still good, and He is still working in these boys, even in the sadness of losing a friend. My hope and prayer is that Amiri had a heart truly surrendered to God and that he's now able to be walking streets of gold versus streets of pain and suffering.
God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good! Even in the learning curves, even in the mourning, even in the confusion, even in the weakness, God is so so good. I'm so blessed and humbled to be a part of this. I know I say that often, but it's so very true. Thank you Lord for these opportunities, both the easy and hard, and the happy and sad. Thank you for these relationships. Thank you for these opportunities. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this mission for your Kingdom glory!
Prayer requests:
- Comfort and peace for the boys who lost their friend this week. Let them feel the presence of the Lord in their mourning and let his joy reign in them
-Continued prayers for safety with travel to the islands (we take a wooden boat, and the waves and weather can be pretty rough sometimes)
-Continued wisdom and discernment with teaching Following Jesus to the pastors on this island and continued questions, growth, and change happening
-Continued evidence and desire to change and grow from the boys who are being consistent in this program and that they begin living more like Jesus, allowing others to ask what's different and be the change in their community.
-Safety and protection during inauguration of the Ugandan president next Wednesday, as political events usually bring unrest and riots
-Continued wisdom and surrender to allow God to do all he wants to do here for his glory alone!
I love you my friends. Thank you for the many prayers and support for this mission and for Uganda.
God bless you,
Tara
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