Tuesday, January 15, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Many greetings and blessings to you all this new year! We are so thankful to all our WONDERFUL Ugandan brothers and sisters who serve with us at GRI. They ran all of the programs over the holidays, enabling us Americans to spend some time with our families back home. We are thrilled to see what God has in store in 2008! Our New Year's resolution is to write more on the blog. Keep checking back!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Great Things are Happening!
These are pictures of the first graduating class of PRICELESS boys. It finally happened at the beginning of last month (I know I'm a bit behind)! They look proud don't they? A few faces that might look familiar in this crowd of students to some of you are Jeffrey, Bosco (our helpful junior GRI volunteers), and Morrison whom many of you have heard stories about. Bonnie and Walter were the teachers and currently have other men training under them to become teachers. Wes and Seth have been working with the teachers and have even gotten the opportunity to disciple them so they are better equipped to lead a group of trailblazers.
Bethany
He Answers Our Prayers
This picture is of some of our proud graduates with their new certificates and bracelets.
Hello to my GRI family. MariAnne and I made it back home safely and I have been spending the past week catching up with my family. As I miss Uganda daily I have been reflecting on how powerfully God moved this year in so many areas. I am definitely a changed woman for what I was blessed take a part in this past year. What an honor it was to walk through this past year and witness God’s glory as we prayed for him to move through each day.
We left the program with our wonderful Jackson overseeing it. I have no doubt that he will take this task very seriously and go above and beyond to make sure PRICELESS continues while the rest of us are back in the States for the holidays. Classes will begin through November and then start again in January. The transition and good-byes were made a little easier with the teacher’s feeling confident that the program will be continuing with GRI. They are all very enthusiastic about the program and excited that over 12,000 students have graduated since February because of their dedication to serving God by loving the students. Currently there are 10 teachers and at the beginning of next year the hope is to expand into 4 more camps. Even the boys program is expanding and coming along wonderfully. I am just so amazed by all that has happened and how things have come full circle over this past year for all the programs.
The past October I came out of obedience to serve God and now I have fallen in love with the people and believe in the vision God has placed on the heart of GRI. The way I was blessed by their friendships and smiles has left such a mark on my heart. So many amazing things that are so much bigger than what we could have done in our own strength happened time and time again. Please continue to lift up the this nation, and the work in prayer. I know that he is honoring each and every one of your requests before him!
We left the program with our wonderful Jackson overseeing it. I have no doubt that he will take this task very seriously and go above and beyond to make sure PRICELESS continues while the rest of us are back in the States for the holidays. Classes will begin through November and then start again in January. The transition and good-byes were made a little easier with the teacher’s feeling confident that the program will be continuing with GRI. They are all very enthusiastic about the program and excited that over 12,000 students have graduated since February because of their dedication to serving God by loving the students. Currently there are 10 teachers and at the beginning of next year the hope is to expand into 4 more camps. Even the boys program is expanding and coming along wonderfully. I am just so amazed by all that has happened and how things have come full circle over this past year for all the programs.
The past October I came out of obedience to serve God and now I have fallen in love with the people and believe in the vision God has placed on the heart of GRI. The way I was blessed by their friendships and smiles has left such a mark on my heart. So many amazing things that are so much bigger than what we could have done in our own strength happened time and time again. Please continue to lift up the this nation, and the work in prayer. I know that he is honoring each and every one of your requests before him!
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Bethany
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING
Elephants, giraffes, antelope, gazelles, hippos, monkeys, water buffaloes and many other exciting animals joined us for our very important GRI meeting two weeks ago. Our Ugandan staff members who have worked with us for a year now showed up to the office on a Sunday morning at 7 am only knowing we were having an important meeting. No one complained or questioned why we were having a meeting on a Sunday. We all loaded into the vehicle as they laughed and tried to guess where we were going. Murchison Falls wildlife park is only about a 2.5 hour drive from Lira where we live. Only two of the staff members had ever seen animals like this. It was such an exciting surprise and a wonderful opportunity to see God's amazing creation. None of us will soon forget that day!Shaunessy
Monday, October 22, 2007
So much to say...
I am back from Uganda! What a trip! In the 24+ hr journey home I tried to package everything that I've experienced and learned into a neat format that I can share with all of you but even now I am not sure that I fully have wrapped my mind around these last two weeks. So many lessons. So many blessings. More than the setting, more than the activities, the people of Uganda made the trip wonderful. They are such a friendly, loving, content people who live with attitudes totally contraindicated by their circumstances. I will try to pass on what they taught me.
(1) They do not hold others at arms length but completely open up their hearts and invest in your life. Everywhere that we went we were greeted with smiles and waves. Here in the states, both outside and inside the church, we shun vulnerability and let only a select few into the deep recesses of who we are. Most relationships do not pass beyond acquaintances. We do the least amount for one another. Our smiles are hollow because while we are glad to fill seats in our church we don't really want to sacrifice and lay down our lives for each other. Jesus said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love." Ugandans have grasped this. We still have far to go. I pray for God's grace to embrace others, to go the extra mile. (2) They are extremely giving. Americans give out of their abundance but Ugandans give out of their poverty. It was so eye opening to realize that people do still live in dirt huts dressed in rags. My definition of poverty was completely inaccurate; for the poor that we live with are rich compared with the average northern Ugandan. My eyes were open to my selfishness. I usually only give when it is convenient, when I can spare it. Westerners are selfish with their money, their time, the gospel. We lose the attitude of gratefulness to God and claim ownership of the resources which we have been given. This is why church budgets are behind, church staffs are burnt out, and the message of hope is not being spread. We are too busy buying into the world's ambitions and pursuing what we think is the definition of success. (3)They are content. They have little. They work hard, they suffer, they are persecuted, disease is rampant, but yet they face everything with a peaceful smile and rarely is a complaint vocalized. How different from our culture where we demand our way and the slightest inconvenience throws our day off track! Perhaps if everything that we place such importance in were stripped away and all that was left was our relationship with Jesus; perhaps then we would remember that true contentment comes only when we are not self-sufficient, when our lives are hidden in Christ. I think that we have a skewed view of what being a disciple means. Many times we view ourselves as reservists who sign up for weekend duty. We can claim partnership with Christ and receive all of His benefits but if the call to go to war is given we are caught off guard and surprised. We never intended to actually have to fight. We are called to suffer! Jesus said that if the world hated Him they will surely hate His disciples. How we shy away from active duty. We are on this planet to bring glory to God. A natural response of this is to share the Gospel. I am learning that the reason there are so many discontented, unhappy believers is that we are neglecting our purpose in life and forfeiting all of the joy and peace and spiritual blessings that can only be experienced when we are in the center of God's will. (4) I have learned to cherish my spiritual equipping. The lack of Bibles and Christian literature, the inaccessibility of seminary and cultural misconceptions combine to create a very weak understanding of God's Word. In many churches only the pastor owns a Bible which means he has no accountability and many fallacies are taught. In one camp this man sitting next to me (he could speak English) was so enamored with the sermon notes I had stuck in my Bible. He wanted to read every one that I had. How I take for granted the preaching and teaching that I have received since I was a small child! I was struck by how adequately the Ugandan church practices prayer. It's an amazing experience to have a whole congregation praying LOUDLY all at once. Jim Cymbala wrote that "the prayer meeting is the thermometer of the spiritual life of the church." (that wasn't word for word but close) We put so much emphasis on salvation that we forget the other amazing gift purchased on the cross-free access into the holy presence of our God. How often do we pass up this priceless commodity! Prayer is powerful. It binds believers together. Our eyes are blind in this area. Wow! This is getting really long and I have only skimmed the surface! I haven't even told you of the 9 hour journey from Kampala to Lira, being bug splattered and knee deep in mud, the ice cold showers, not having toilets, hanging on for dear life in the back of a truck while bouncing over crazy dirt roads and getting stuck in the mud, interacting with those suffering from AIDS and the challenge of sharing hope from God's Word and the message of salvation. There is so much to tell! Thank you once again for all of your prayers and support and encouragement! I could not have made the trip without God working through each of you. I am challenged to continue walking in the lessons that I have learned. It's easy to depend upon events and organizations to foster environments in which we can proclaim Jesus as Lord and neglect the dying around us. Oh that His name may be exalted in our land! Your servant, Sara
(1) They do not hold others at arms length but completely open up their hearts and invest in your life. Everywhere that we went we were greeted with smiles and waves. Here in the states, both outside and inside the church, we shun vulnerability and let only a select few into the deep recesses of who we are. Most relationships do not pass beyond acquaintances. We do the least amount for one another. Our smiles are hollow because while we are glad to fill seats in our church we don't really want to sacrifice and lay down our lives for each other. Jesus said, "They will know you are my disciples by your love." Ugandans have grasped this. We still have far to go. I pray for God's grace to embrace others, to go the extra mile. (2) They are extremely giving. Americans give out of their abundance but Ugandans give out of their poverty. It was so eye opening to realize that people do still live in dirt huts dressed in rags. My definition of poverty was completely inaccurate; for the poor that we live with are rich compared with the average northern Ugandan. My eyes were open to my selfishness. I usually only give when it is convenient, when I can spare it. Westerners are selfish with their money, their time, the gospel. We lose the attitude of gratefulness to God and claim ownership of the resources which we have been given. This is why church budgets are behind, church staffs are burnt out, and the message of hope is not being spread. We are too busy buying into the world's ambitions and pursuing what we think is the definition of success. (3)They are content. They have little. They work hard, they suffer, they are persecuted, disease is rampant, but yet they face everything with a peaceful smile and rarely is a complaint vocalized. How different from our culture where we demand our way and the slightest inconvenience throws our day off track! Perhaps if everything that we place such importance in were stripped away and all that was left was our relationship with Jesus; perhaps then we would remember that true contentment comes only when we are not self-sufficient, when our lives are hidden in Christ. I think that we have a skewed view of what being a disciple means. Many times we view ourselves as reservists who sign up for weekend duty. We can claim partnership with Christ and receive all of His benefits but if the call to go to war is given we are caught off guard and surprised. We never intended to actually have to fight. We are called to suffer! Jesus said that if the world hated Him they will surely hate His disciples. How we shy away from active duty. We are on this planet to bring glory to God. A natural response of this is to share the Gospel. I am learning that the reason there are so many discontented, unhappy believers is that we are neglecting our purpose in life and forfeiting all of the joy and peace and spiritual blessings that can only be experienced when we are in the center of God's will. (4) I have learned to cherish my spiritual equipping. The lack of Bibles and Christian literature, the inaccessibility of seminary and cultural misconceptions combine to create a very weak understanding of God's Word. In many churches only the pastor owns a Bible which means he has no accountability and many fallacies are taught. In one camp this man sitting next to me (he could speak English) was so enamored with the sermon notes I had stuck in my Bible. He wanted to read every one that I had. How I take for granted the preaching and teaching that I have received since I was a small child! I was struck by how adequately the Ugandan church practices prayer. It's an amazing experience to have a whole congregation praying LOUDLY all at once. Jim Cymbala wrote that "the prayer meeting is the thermometer of the spiritual life of the church." (that wasn't word for word but close) We put so much emphasis on salvation that we forget the other amazing gift purchased on the cross-free access into the holy presence of our God. How often do we pass up this priceless commodity! Prayer is powerful. It binds believers together. Our eyes are blind in this area. Wow! This is getting really long and I have only skimmed the surface! I haven't even told you of the 9 hour journey from Kampala to Lira, being bug splattered and knee deep in mud, the ice cold showers, not having toilets, hanging on for dear life in the back of a truck while bouncing over crazy dirt roads and getting stuck in the mud, interacting with those suffering from AIDS and the challenge of sharing hope from God's Word and the message of salvation. There is so much to tell! Thank you once again for all of your prayers and support and encouragement! I could not have made the trip without God working through each of you. I am challenged to continue walking in the lessons that I have learned. It's easy to depend upon events and organizations to foster environments in which we can proclaim Jesus as Lord and neglect the dying around us. Oh that His name may be exalted in our land! Your servant, Sara
Sunday, October 21, 2007
What a Difference a Year Makes!
I just returned from my second trip to Uganda. My first trip was just last summer when we made our initial visit to four camps. The progress that has been made in these past fifteen months has been amazing! During the first trip it seemed like all of the kids there had large stomachs due to the worms in their systems which was causing malnutrition. Now a little more than a year later, there was a significant decrease in the number of children with this condition. They seemed healthy and happy. The albendazole tablets work! Obanga Tek! (God is Good!)
In going from camp to camp I was amazed at how the Global Refuge Team had become incorporated into the communities. Our team from the U.S. is known on a first-name basis and warmly welcomed. We have Ugandans who are working with us and can be spotted by their GRI shirts and big smiles. They are becoming the leaders for their people.
Several programs have been developed and are running successfully in the camps. I was able to watch a girls graduating class of Priceless, our abstinence program that has graduated several hundred girls so far and is now in place for boys. Bethany and Marianne have done an amazing job of building that program and training the Ugandans to be the teachers. Seth is now working with the Priceless boys and that program is also growing. Shaunessy and Becky developed the HIV/Aids clinics and have had over 500 people in attendance. At first it was mainly women who attended, but now the men are coming around also. And Wes is doing an outstanding job as the country coordinator in making these programs come together.
Our team of six was an amazing group of people and it was a real pleasure working with them. Jolene, Jason, Sara, Jacque, Maria and I were all able to jump in and become a part of the ministry, working hand-in-hand with the permanent staff. Jolene has committed to work with GRI long-term and will begin in January.
One of the pleasures I had was to work with the albendazole/worm tablet distribution. The Vacation Bible School at my church, Arvada Covenant Church, adopted GRI as their summer project and raised over $5,700 for medicine for the Ugandan children. They also wrote letters to the Ugandan kids. The Ugandan kids were very happy to know that the children in America cared for them, loved looking at pictures of the ACC kids and several have even written letters back to the Arvada kids.
While most of the trip was positive and up-beat, we also visited young men and women who had been captured by the LRA rebels and were forced to serve as their soldiers. Sitting face-to-face with those people and reading the pain in their eyes as they told their stories was very difficult. What they had to endure was very hard to comprehend.
On a final note, it looks like we are going to be able to establish a medical clinic which will provide western-style medical care. We met with the District Chairman/Governor, Colonel Macodwego. The meeting went very well and the clinic will be a partnership between GRI and the district, and will be run by Dr. Tom, our own Ugandan doctor.
God is doing great and marvelous things in Uganda! Obanga Tek!
Tom
In going from camp to camp I was amazed at how the Global Refuge Team had become incorporated into the communities. Our team from the U.S. is known on a first-name basis and warmly welcomed. We have Ugandans who are working with us and can be spotted by their GRI shirts and big smiles. They are becoming the leaders for their people.
Several programs have been developed and are running successfully in the camps. I was able to watch a girls graduating class of Priceless, our abstinence program that has graduated several hundred girls so far and is now in place for boys. Bethany and Marianne have done an amazing job of building that program and training the Ugandans to be the teachers. Seth is now working with the Priceless boys and that program is also growing. Shaunessy and Becky developed the HIV/Aids clinics and have had over 500 people in attendance. At first it was mainly women who attended, but now the men are coming around also. And Wes is doing an outstanding job as the country coordinator in making these programs come together.
Our team of six was an amazing group of people and it was a real pleasure working with them. Jolene, Jason, Sara, Jacque, Maria and I were all able to jump in and become a part of the ministry, working hand-in-hand with the permanent staff. Jolene has committed to work with GRI long-term and will begin in January.
One of the pleasures I had was to work with the albendazole/worm tablet distribution. The Vacation Bible School at my church, Arvada Covenant Church, adopted GRI as their summer project and raised over $5,700 for medicine for the Ugandan children. They also wrote letters to the Ugandan kids. The Ugandan kids were very happy to know that the children in America cared for them, loved looking at pictures of the ACC kids and several have even written letters back to the Arvada kids.
While most of the trip was positive and up-beat, we also visited young men and women who had been captured by the LRA rebels and were forced to serve as their soldiers. Sitting face-to-face with those people and reading the pain in their eyes as they told their stories was very difficult. What they had to endure was very hard to comprehend.
On a final note, it looks like we are going to be able to establish a medical clinic which will provide western-style medical care. We met with the District Chairman/Governor, Colonel Macodwego. The meeting went very well and the clinic will be a partnership between GRI and the district, and will be run by Dr. Tom, our own Ugandan doctor.
God is doing great and marvelous things in Uganda! Obanga Tek!
Tom
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Blessed
It’s slowly sinking in… my home is almost no longer my home. It hurts to think about leaving and sometimes it’s easier to bury myself in the busyness of preparing to leave the program rather than preparing myself mentally and emotionally to leave Uganda and return the United States.
When I do think about it, the resounding theme is Blessed. The simplicity, the smiles, the laughter, the sunrises, the heat, the suffering, the strength, the relationships, the struggles, the spiritual warfare, the fertile soil, the joy, the heartbreak, the successes, the failures, the abundant life. I realize this land is not a cursed land as these people tend to believe. How joyful it is to live in such close communion with the earth, God’s beautiful creation, as these people do… to live in straw huts built from the dirt with their own hands; to work and sweat each day in their fields for their food, as our bodies were created to do; to walk miles from place to place as our feet were created to do; to live in community and cook for each other and care for each other’s kids-to love one another as we are commanded to do; to revere the elderly and respect the parents and take responsibility of younger siblings; to have nothing, fully reliant on God, and therefore have everything. In the midst of suffering and disease and war, God is still lavishing his blessings on these people. It’s amazing to speak to those few who recognize the blessings and who give God thanks.
As I reflect on this past year, I also think of how God has blessed me beyond measure. Our Ugandan Pastor recently came and ate dinner with us and before he left he prayed for us. As his wife was so sick that she was hooked up to an IV, as he was leaving early the next morning for a mission trip, as two new missionaries had come that he still needed to meet with that night, and as he was visibly exhausted, he praised God with passion saying “My God, we are happy to be serving you!”
That prayer spoke volumes to me. As I return to the United States tired, probably confused, and with no clear direction for what’s next, I pray that my words and conversation with family and friends reflect that He has made me glad and that it’s not a sacrifice, but a joy to serve Him.
MariAnne
When I do think about it, the resounding theme is Blessed. The simplicity, the smiles, the laughter, the sunrises, the heat, the suffering, the strength, the relationships, the struggles, the spiritual warfare, the fertile soil, the joy, the heartbreak, the successes, the failures, the abundant life. I realize this land is not a cursed land as these people tend to believe. How joyful it is to live in such close communion with the earth, God’s beautiful creation, as these people do… to live in straw huts built from the dirt with their own hands; to work and sweat each day in their fields for their food, as our bodies were created to do; to walk miles from place to place as our feet were created to do; to live in community and cook for each other and care for each other’s kids-to love one another as we are commanded to do; to revere the elderly and respect the parents and take responsibility of younger siblings; to have nothing, fully reliant on God, and therefore have everything. In the midst of suffering and disease and war, God is still lavishing his blessings on these people. It’s amazing to speak to those few who recognize the blessings and who give God thanks.
As I reflect on this past year, I also think of how God has blessed me beyond measure. Our Ugandan Pastor recently came and ate dinner with us and before he left he prayed for us. As his wife was so sick that she was hooked up to an IV, as he was leaving early the next morning for a mission trip, as two new missionaries had come that he still needed to meet with that night, and as he was visibly exhausted, he praised God with passion saying “My God, we are happy to be serving you!”
That prayer spoke volumes to me. As I return to the United States tired, probably confused, and with no clear direction for what’s next, I pray that my words and conversation with family and friends reflect that He has made me glad and that it’s not a sacrifice, but a joy to serve Him.
MariAnne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
