How do you sew a volleyball?

I am sitting here wondering how they sew volleyballs together. All the stiches are inside and to get to them you have to turn your volleyball inside out. Which is exactly what I was doing this afternoon. I didn't really want to turn it wrong way out but it wouldn't hold air because it had apparently been impaled on one of the thorn hedges surrounding the house. I found the volleyball while looking into the hedge at what the dog was barking at. I don't think it was the ball he wanted but he was after something.

Normally this wouldn't bother me but the dog had earlier gotten out of the yard when I left the gate open after finding Bev's bike laying in the middle of the driveway. The kids had been riding it (the bike not the dog) and had left it laying out with the front gates wide open. This is typical and would not have concerned me much except that we almost lost two bikes this week.

Last Sunday night somone came into the yard and tried to steal Judy's bike. Not only her bike but also the 70 pound bike rack it was locked to. The thieves carried the rack with the bike 25 yards to the gate and lifted it over the 7 ft high gate out to the street and carried them down to the front gate where it either got too light (the night) or too heavy (the bike and rack). Well JB and Martin found them the next morning still locked together out on the street. But Acol's bike which had also been parked in the rack but had not been locked was gone. I only hope the thieves didn't realize it wasn't locked til after they hoisted it, or would that be heisted it over the fence.

So when I went to get the bike out of the yard with the open gate so it would not be stolen the dog got loose. After chasing him down and carrying him back to the yard I put the bike away. That's when I found the volleyball. I tried to inflate it but it wouldn't hold air. So I went on line to find out how to repair a leaking volleyball. I was assured it is easy to do you just need a leaking ball, a pump and and some ball sealant. Yeah right. Lots of that here in Jinja! Then it occured to me what a strange world Africa is. You can go on line to get info but there is no place to actually buy what is needed when you get the info.

So now I have a gutless, inside out volleyball on my desk. Couldn't find a website to tell me how to sew it back together. I know, I'll just leave the ball out in the yard for the thieves to take. They'll be looking for something lighter this time anyway.

The Lord amazes me

Today I had a unique experience that just made my head spin.

We have a baptism scheduled for March 13th. Two of the men who want to be baptised are Hallelujah and Patel. They came for some instuction this afternoon on the meaning and purpose of baptism. Sounds well and good but they are both from India and I can't understand their accents and they don't get mine either. So I had to have my friend Hemchend come and translate. One problem, all three men speak different Indian languages. So I speak in English Hem speaks his language to Patel while Hallelujah fills in what Hem doesn't get right. Patel has been coming to church about 3 months and gave his life to Jesus three weeks ago while Pastor Mohan and his wife from CCKampala were here. They also are from India but speak a different language as well. He is excited to be baptised and really happy to belong to Christ.

Hallelujah has been saved 14 years and been attending our church since arriving 5 months ago. He is full of enthusiasm and we talk alot but we get maybe two out of twenty of each other's words. He is excited to be baptised since baptism is outlawed in his part of India.

Hem has been saved for 7-8 years but has struggled with some bad teaching in the past and has become a big part of our church family. He loves everyone. He loves the teaching at Calvary and can't get enough.

Anyway it just amazed me how God was using all four of us to minister to and instuct each other. It was almost like a dream. I was greatly awed by how Jesus builds His church with so many people of different backgrounds but all of the same family in Christ heading for the same eternal home. Can't wait to get there. Maybe I'll even understand Hem, Halle and Patel. Actually you can count on it!

Rain and the idiot!

Okay so Kelli's back. First thing she did was make us all agree to the weather being 20 degrees cooler within seven days. Hey I'm no fan of hot weather but what can I do? So we all agreed. After all it been over 90 for a month and over 100 for at least half that. (no I'm not prone to exaggeration!)

This morning as I get up in the dark to go out running. I can see lightning off in the distance. By the time I get my shoes on the rain comes. Just a spinkle but as I walk out the door I hear a wall of water coming. I text my partner Don, "It just started raining." As I come back to the door the rain and wind hit. I text Don again,"It just started raining, heavily!" But Don's wife sends a reply, "He left a couple of minutes ago." Well I know Don's an intelligent guy so I figure he would turn back, but nagging me is the unwritten runners rule"If you start before the rain hits you keep running." Surely Don won't run in this. By now it is raining so hard I can't get out the door. Bev and I start closing every window in the house. Then the dogs start barking at the gate. What if it's Don? I grab my umbrella open the door get hit in the face by a torrent of rain from the roof. I step into a river that used to be the front path, wade through the lake that has replaced the front yard and go to the gate. The wind turns my umbrella inside out. Now I'm trying to unlock the gate holding the umbrella with my teeth and I drop the keys. Finally get the lock undone. Swim back to the house. I text Danielle asking if Don has come back. The response is from Don,"If? Ha! I'm not that manly!" But apparently I'm that much of an idiot. Good news is with my morning shower already taken and the run off for the day I can go back to bed. And Kelli is happy because the promise for cooler weather was kept. And Bev is ecstatic that she gets to sleep in.

I feel very content as if I made everyone happy all by myself. Thank you, Lord! You made the rain, You made Don smart enough to turn back, Kelli cool enough to sleep and my wife happy enough to sleep in that she didn't even get angry when I got back into bed all cold and wet! And you let me be just a big enough idiot to be happy for it all.

The Conference

I have to admit that the Pastor's conferences are a real pleasure and a real pain. Although I get to share I look forward to being able to sit and be fed.

Denny shared Monday afternoon on Nehemiah. Are we following the pattern he gave us by having true concern for our community. Are we addressing the problems of poverty, teenage pregnancy, drunkeness to name a few that plague Uganda. Or are we just preaching a message in church but not carrying it into the community?

Steven shared on the life of Paul and following the pattern "even as I follow Christ." Are we looking beyond Paul's example and taking on the attitude and nature of Jesus in ministry. Are we truly concerned with people? Do we have Jesus' compassion?

Craig shared on the life of Samuel. God has prepared us, are we humble enough to serve under others or even under a leader who is less qualified? Do we have a heart to be near God and a heart to hear God like the young Samuel or are we merely lying down like Eli "in his usual place?" Am I serving with passion or just going along the same as always because it is what I've grown accustomed to?

JB shared on David and his denying justice to Uriah and taking his life so he could hide his sin and gain his wife. In the ministry are we helping others to succeed or are we using them to hide our mistakes and make ourselves look good?

Zane shared on the life of Joshua. Are we trusting God to be true to His word and being courageous in our ministry even though we are anything but courageous?

These are some of the challenges laid on us. I'm working on a response as soon as God finishes convicting me. And this is the pleasure part.

The pain comes when dealing with the village pastors. It seems they had a meeting Tuesday night and have decided that they need direct support. Not just provision for business but a salary to help them do the work of the ministry. They are good men who deserve their wages but it is such a danger to my friends. In America I didn't see men get corrupted by money, at least not as easily and quickly as here. Paul was correct when he wrote to Timothy and warned him about men who think godliness is a means to financial gain (1Tim.6:5) and then said in verse 10 that some people eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I know these men need help but how can I keep them from piercing themselves. How can I encourage them to have contentment when every where they look the world and even the church sends a message to them "to get theirs first." How do we support men without becoming a denomination with all the hierarchy that goes with it? Is it even my place to try to watch over and protect these men or is that the Holy Spirit's work?

I look forward to our conferences but dealing with the issues God raises in my heart almost crushes me every time. Thank you Jesus for letting me lean on you. Continue to show us the path by being a lamp for our feet.

My level of Faith

It's Wednesday and the week is only half way through and I'm exausted. We just finished a three day Pastor's Conference here in Jinja. We had 30 men attend as well as three missionaries. The theme of the conference was Living According to the Pattern Philippians 3:17. The guys that taught were excellent and I was really challenged, to examine our ministry. It was tough yet true and challenging (the way God can speak to your heart and make you want to crawl in a hole and die or crawl in His lap and cry). I hope to have some time to process it all.

A good week makes twelve years.

What makes a good week? Lots of things. I'll tell you a few.
Paper work that works. Our NGO renewal was under consideration by the NGO Board and praise the Lord it was approved! First time it was submitted too! We never get any paper work approved on the first shot but it was. God gave Bev the time and diligence to wade through all the requirements and when ready off she went to submit it all. She had a suitcase full of stuff just in case they wanted one more paper, file, signature, stamp, letterhead or no letter head, handwritten or typed. Bev had a back up for it all and it was accepted. In 2005 it took eight months. Unbelievably this year it was done in ten days.

What time we saved on paperwork we lost at the wedding on Saturday. The wedding at CCJinja was to start at 11:30 so we started working at 7:30 to have the church cleaned and decorated in time. We just had enough time to change and get to the church on time. The groom arrived at 12:00, the first guest by 12:15 and the bride at 1:15. And everyone was surprised she was so early. But the important thing was they got married. And I figure we are still 71/2 months ahead by what we saved in the NGO cert process.

We also got our lease extended for another 99 years (that means we won't be homeless until I'm 1555 years old). This has been a fun experience as we went to a District Land Board meeting Friday. That started two hours late. Then went to town hall today to get the papers with the instruction to take the file to the Assessor whose office is right across the street from us. So I went to see Martin the Assessor who told me to see the Lands Officer. I got in to see her in 20 minutes and told her Martin had sent me. She told me "Let Martin come" meaning you go get him and bring him here. So I yanked Martin from a meeting that he wasn't leaving until I mentioned the Lands Officer wanted to see him. At her office she asked why he was dealing with me not her and he said I had gone to the wrong office and he had not been dealing with me. So they agreed the best idea was to send me to the clerks office to get the whole file. So I went. After a 45 minute search she remembered that the nice young man Ryan had been in 10 days earlier and that the file had been taken to the Lands Officer and was on her desk (the file that is not Ryan). I asked if I should go tell her that and the clerk said "Oh no! If you do she'll never speak to you again. You come back tomorrow." I asked her if she would go and she said, "Oh no! She'll never speak to me again. You just wait." Ten minutes later an office boy came and was sent to get the file. He did and brought it to the clerk who gave it to me and said, "take it to the Lands Officer." The Lands Officer then sent me to the clerk who sent me back to Martin who took me back to the clerk to have her fill in the lease offer form. She told me " I told you to come back tomorrow." Then she informed me that she needed six copies to fill out and that I must go make the copies. I left and arrived back home only an hour late for a pre-marital counseling session. I go back to the clerk tomorrow! But hey I'm still at least seven months ahead so maybe I'll take an extra day off this month. Got to spend time while you have time.

I did get to teach at Kirinya Staff Church and Main and Remand prisons which was good since Friday was Bev's and my 12 year anniversay of living in Uganda and here I was doing the exact thing Sunday that I did twelve years ago.

All in all its been a good week. A good twelve years for that matter.

Thank you Jesus for letting me be here with my sense of humor still intact.