Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thankful in Uganda

Word from Nimaro, Lakija, and Angerwot.
(Andrew, Evan, and Christian.)

Today (11/25) we finished the outside wall of the hut for Tabitha -- the widow we are serving. Every morning we have been sharing the Word with her. We show up in the morning, and share scripture and what is on our hearts with her. Then, we get to work.
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The Bible study has been going really great. We have been going through the book of John. We are now on chapter 8, and everyday God moves. God will move through one of us and the Bible study will be led by the Spirit. Then all the group of guys get to ask questions. It is a great way for us to be sharpened. The Spirit puts different things in the boys hearts everyday. There is a guy here named Jpseph and he is so close togiving His life to Christ. His testimony so far is incredible. God has spared His life- and now in the Bible study Joseph will openly discuss how he wants to give His life to Christ. Another man we have beentouched by is Francis. He is asking a lot of good questions.
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One day we were going to do construction on the hut and we were greeted by Mr.Achana. He is a man who lives with his 2 daughters and sick son. Instead of doing the hut, we stayed with him until lunch and got the sunflower seeds out of the sunflowers by hitting them with sticks. We did about 160 kilos (about 4 dollars worth) of sunflower seeds from the sunflowers with him. We retrieved the sunflowers (size of a dinnerplate) from the farm then hit them. We got to gather together and pray for his baby as well. During church Sunday, Richard's mother, Sarah (filling in for the senior pastor), was feeling ill and went to her hut. While another man was preaching, she passed out and the entire church ran over. At first she was not breathing and was unconscious. Susan (Richard's wife) is a nurse and cared for her. We gathered to pray and waited. The next day we walked down to her hut and she was outside. We sat and talked to her. She said that she felt called to this place to preach and that the devil had no authority in her life. She is starting to feel better and it is amazing to see how God has healed her.
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Relationships with the boys has grown tremendously. We have recieved Acholi (the local african dialect- similar to swahili) names. Andrew- Nimaro (love). Evan- Lakija (loves mercy). Christian- Agenorwot (trusting in God). Now we are called by our new names and call our new friends by theirs. Every night before dinner while we wait we gather around and worship. We play the drum to their singing.We are learning their songs very well, and are able to sing a few! Or, we will pull out the guitars and sing ours while they clap. Either way- we worship Jesus Christ together daily.
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The other day we went fishing for tilapia. We all caught a few- and that night ate them fordinner. She just opened the fish and pulled the innards out- but then just fried it. So we got to eat the head and all (none of us really did though- too difficult and we're too impatient.)
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For Thanksgiving, we woke up and milked cows. Gross. And later we picked a goat and slaughtered it. Francis did most of the work. He "daisy-chained" the intestines which is a method we do to our rock climbing ropes. We saw it from start to finish- the slitting of the throat, skinning,dismembering, cleaning the stomach, and cleaning it all up. Then over a bar-b-q we ate our goat. We had just named him Frederick. So we ate Frederick for lunch. For dinner on thanksgiving we ate thedaisy-chained intestines too. We were very thankful, on Thanksgiving, for Frederick.
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We were able to share with another widow named Rose. She is praying for her son to return from being captured from the LRA. Please pray for Rose and Tabitha- that God would fill their hearts -- that he would be the strength of their hearts, and they would find everything they need in Him. Please pray that God would heal people on the farm, for we have met many people we've been praying with that are ill. Please pray for the many guys in our study are asking hard questions and digging deep. We are able to discuss so much, and build relationships.
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It is so good. Holy tolito! Evan had an extreme experience being ambushed by bats in the bathroom. We will discuss that when we have faster and longer internet."
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We're alive and well, and doing better and better everyday.
Its so amazing here.
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Lakija (evan)
Agenerwot (christian)
Nimaro (andrew)

1 comment:

Matt Parker said...

I love and miss you all. It is so good to hear how your are walking and leading. I know that you will live a lasting impression for the gospel on the hearts of many. I am proud of you all.

Matt