Sunday, our last day, JB let me teach, and praise the Lord there were fifty adults not counting us from Jinja. The message went well and it was good to be with the believers in Pajule. But then it was time to head back as we had a three day Pastors Conference starting the next morning in Jinja.
We said goodbye to Miss Grace and Aryana. Unfortunately Aryana figured out that her best friend Kelli was leaving and cried. But after many hugs we hit the road for Jinja taking the eastern route.
JB drove the first eighty kilometers to Lira. Then gave the duty to me. As we had been driving I watched the left rear tire going flat so in Lira we got fuel and then tried to get the flat fixed. Nobody had air or a repair kit so we changed to the spare. Now this tire had also been repaired in Pajule. No, not by me but a tire man who knows us from Jinja. He said he could fix it so he did. Showed me a neat trick using string and rubber cement. As he was fixing it I could only pray that we wouldn't have to use it. It is 118 kilometers from Lira to Soroti which gave me plenty of time to pray for our safety.
Now you have to wonder what makes a patched tire fail? Is it time or is it mileage or speed? I personally believe it is time. Some say mileage so they change the tire as soon as possible. Tried that but couldn't get the thing fixed in Lira so view #2 was no good. View #3 says the speed will heat up the tire and cause the patch to fail. Well having 400 kilometers to go before dark required that we move at a rapid pace so that view wouldn't help. As I said I prefer to think that the patch will last a set amount of time so the quicker you start and the faster you go the better chance you have of getting there. So that was my choice. Everybody in the car, it is time to conquer the road! I didn't know our car could go so fast but it does and did. We reached Soroti in 1 hour and 8 minutes. By then all conversation had ceased and serious prayers were being offered. God is so good! He got us safely to Soroti where we aired up the flat and decided to keep riding on the string tire. It lasted all the way home! Of course the next morning it was flat as a pancake as was the spare. Turns out that we had picked up three nails in Pajule from their grading the roads there.
We pray that there is lasting fruit in Pajule. But also in our church as we are beginning to plan outreaches to our village churches monthly. But more about that later.
Thank you Jesus for letting us proclaim your Name to the world!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A Kitgum Borehole Story
On Friday we loaded up and headed to Kitgum, 40 kilometers north, to visit Zane and Summer who have been leading a church there for the past year. It was a blessing to say the least. We spent time discussing life on the field in Kitgum and Jinja over lunch then we went to see the farm.
Zane and Summer are starting a farm and a community just out of town. They are building compacted dirt houses using 50 kilo sugar sacks. The house was so cool inside that you almost had to put on a jacket to sit. It was as good as we felt all week, temperature wise. We also checked out the 60 foot deep hand dug cistern. I nearly fell in but that’s another story.
We decided to break into groups to share the Gospel. JB, Apollo and I went our way and as we passed the nearby borehole we saw some women and teenage girls getting water. JB and I decided to speak with them. Asking if I could share a story with them the said yes so with JB translating the three of us started pumping the water for the women as I told them about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar. It was an amazing thing as I shared how Jesus had told the woman to go get her husband and her reply that she had no husband. At this point I looked at one woman and said “Jesus said, ’You are right when you say you have no husband. You have had 5 husbands and the one you have now is not your husband .’” As I continued pumping the borehole I turned and spoke to the others as well. After 15 minutes all nine women wanted to give their lives to Jesus! Praise the Lord!
But what I had missed was that the woman I had pointed at had broken into tears at what Jesus said because she was in the same situation as the Samaritan woman. The women all wanted to know this Jesus who had revealed this about their friend to us. God is good and knows just what people need to hear.
The other teams had success as well as God used Mukisa and Opio to lead some drunken young men to Christ. They even poured out all their booze! Then the men lead Paul and Opio over to their grandmothers to tell her that they had just been born again like her. JB, Apollo and I were talking to her when they came. It was very great time!
It started to rain so we said goodbye to the McCourtneys had headed back to Pajule. We really are seeing the fields white for harvest. And JB and Grace are right in the heart of it.
Zane and Summer are starting a farm and a community just out of town. They are building compacted dirt houses using 50 kilo sugar sacks. The house was so cool inside that you almost had to put on a jacket to sit. It was as good as we felt all week, temperature wise. We also checked out the 60 foot deep hand dug cistern. I nearly fell in but that’s another story.
We decided to break into groups to share the Gospel. JB, Apollo and I went our way and as we passed the nearby borehole we saw some women and teenage girls getting water. JB and I decided to speak with them. Asking if I could share a story with them the said yes so with JB translating the three of us started pumping the water for the women as I told them about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar. It was an amazing thing as I shared how Jesus had told the woman to go get her husband and her reply that she had no husband. At this point I looked at one woman and said “Jesus said, ’You are right when you say you have no husband. You have had 5 husbands and the one you have now is not your husband .’” As I continued pumping the borehole I turned and spoke to the others as well. After 15 minutes all nine women wanted to give their lives to Jesus! Praise the Lord!
But what I had missed was that the woman I had pointed at had broken into tears at what Jesus said because she was in the same situation as the Samaritan woman. The women all wanted to know this Jesus who had revealed this about their friend to us. God is good and knows just what people need to hear.
The other teams had success as well as God used Mukisa and Opio to lead some drunken young men to Christ. They even poured out all their booze! Then the men lead Paul and Opio over to their grandmothers to tell her that they had just been born again like her. JB, Apollo and I were talking to her when they came. It was very great time!
It started to rain so we said goodbye to the McCourtneys had headed back to Pajule. We really are seeing the fields white for harvest. And JB and Grace are right in the heart of it.
Pajule in a Nutshell
Our time in Pajule was split between door to door evangelism and teaching in schools and just visiting old friends. And trying to stay cool! Pajule is a lot warmer with a little less humidity than Jinja. In Pajule, unlike Jinja, sweat evaporates but the heat is draining you all day long. With no power or fans, there is no escape.
By afternoon on Wednesday, Kelli and Anne Rose had wilted and were in need of a shower. We had spent the morning and early afternoon going door to door in three groups. We were blessed to spend time sharing our faith in Jesus Christ with JB’s neighbors. The response was good and after a few hours in the heat the ladies were ready to cool off. JB doesn’t have a Mzungu shower (he has the African bathing basin where you have a jug of water and you pour it out and bathe in handfuls) so the ladies went to the guest house. Good thing too! Since the guest house had no water for the next two days.
We then spoke to the students of Pajule College. Anne Rose and I shared with the kids and then Kelli taught. God is so good that He made our separate, independent ideas and Scriptures come together as one. The kids were well mannered and happy to hear about Jesus and His sacrifice for them. It was AWESOME!
The next day was more door to door witnessing and then we walked to a trade school just 300 meters from JB’s house. Having been warned that it was a tough school we had a short time of prayer for the gospel to be well received and off we went with our spiritual guns loaded. I felt like a gunslinger in a western as we walked down the dusty road six men abreast with the womenfolk behind. The teachers came out of the office one by one and I fully expected them to line up opposite us and say. “Make your move, strangers.” Then, nothing happened!
They sat us under a tree and we waited. And waited. We had been told that these kids were the worst behaved youth in the district and would not be interested in hearing about Jesus. The joinery students were under these trees, the tailoring students were under those trees and the masonry kids were elsewhere building walls. JB & I decided to go see what the joinery students were doing. They stayed away from us in droves. Undaunted we kept asking questions and admiring their work until they started to crowd around us. We told them we came to share the gospel and would they come join us and they did! Mukisa gave his testimony, Opio shared from Genesis and I taught from Ecclesiastes. The Holy Spirit was convicting hearts and by the end many kids prayed for Jesus to enter into their lives and change them. The teachers said that this was the first time they could remember the Gospel being shared there. They were so excited that they asked JB to come every Thursday.
Imagine the impact it will have on the church and the community when these 300 “worst cases” truly follow Jesus . We are excited as Jesus opens His peoples hearts to Him.
By afternoon on Wednesday, Kelli and Anne Rose had wilted and were in need of a shower. We had spent the morning and early afternoon going door to door in three groups. We were blessed to spend time sharing our faith in Jesus Christ with JB’s neighbors. The response was good and after a few hours in the heat the ladies were ready to cool off. JB doesn’t have a Mzungu shower (he has the African bathing basin where you have a jug of water and you pour it out and bathe in handfuls) so the ladies went to the guest house. Good thing too! Since the guest house had no water for the next two days.
We then spoke to the students of Pajule College. Anne Rose and I shared with the kids and then Kelli taught. God is so good that He made our separate, independent ideas and Scriptures come together as one. The kids were well mannered and happy to hear about Jesus and His sacrifice for them. It was AWESOME!
The next day was more door to door witnessing and then we walked to a trade school just 300 meters from JB’s house. Having been warned that it was a tough school we had a short time of prayer for the gospel to be well received and off we went with our spiritual guns loaded. I felt like a gunslinger in a western as we walked down the dusty road six men abreast with the womenfolk behind. The teachers came out of the office one by one and I fully expected them to line up opposite us and say. “Make your move, strangers.” Then, nothing happened!
They sat us under a tree and we waited. And waited. We had been told that these kids were the worst behaved youth in the district and would not be interested in hearing about Jesus. The joinery students were under these trees, the tailoring students were under those trees and the masonry kids were elsewhere building walls. JB & I decided to go see what the joinery students were doing. They stayed away from us in droves. Undaunted we kept asking questions and admiring their work until they started to crowd around us. We told them we came to share the gospel and would they come join us and they did! Mukisa gave his testimony, Opio shared from Genesis and I taught from Ecclesiastes. The Holy Spirit was convicting hearts and by the end many kids prayed for Jesus to enter into their lives and change them. The teachers said that this was the first time they could remember the Gospel being shared there. They were so excited that they asked JB to come every Thursday.
Imagine the impact it will have on the church and the community when these 300 “worst cases” truly follow Jesus . We are excited as Jesus opens His peoples hearts to Him.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Road to Pajule Pt.3
We had opted to go by way of Gulu to check on Pastor Samuel Olara and the church in Kabaedo’pong (pronounced kabaedo’pong). They were building permanent temporary walls. Permanent since they were using baked bricks, temporary since the mortar was mud with no cement. To build permanent structures you need site plans drawings and all that kind of stuff. But temporary buildings, which can remain indefinitely, don’t need them.
It was looking very good. We had lunch with Samuel and Concy, then hit the road for Pajule. Two hours later we arrived at JB’s.
It was a joyful arrival as we were excited to leave the car and even more excited to see the family. JB looked his normal happy self but a few pounds lighter. Grace is even more hospitable and gracious then she was in Jinja. Aryana, the world’s youngest teenager at the age of three, threw herself into Kelli’s arms and then proceeded to speak nonstop for about 116 hours. And Zaphenath-Paneah just sat and watched. His name means ‘the man who knows things,’ and he acts it too. Always observing and seeming to say “I knew that.”
Sleeping arrangements were soon worked out with Kelli, Anne Rose and Jacob staying with the Toolits and Apollo, Paul and I staying in the nearby guest house. Grace prepared food and we all retired fairly early to be ready to minister the next day. We were looking forward to visiting Pajule College and going door to door visiting and sharing the gospel.
It was looking very good. We had lunch with Samuel and Concy, then hit the road for Pajule. Two hours later we arrived at JB’s.
It was a joyful arrival as we were excited to leave the car and even more excited to see the family. JB looked his normal happy self but a few pounds lighter. Grace is even more hospitable and gracious then she was in Jinja. Aryana, the world’s youngest teenager at the age of three, threw herself into Kelli’s arms and then proceeded to speak nonstop for about 116 hours. And Zaphenath-Paneah just sat and watched. His name means ‘the man who knows things,’ and he acts it too. Always observing and seeming to say “I knew that.”
Sleeping arrangements were soon worked out with Kelli, Anne Rose and Jacob staying with the Toolits and Apollo, Paul and I staying in the nearby guest house. Grace prepared food and we all retired fairly early to be ready to minister the next day. We were looking forward to visiting Pajule College and going door to door visiting and sharing the gospel.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Road to Pajule Pt.2
About 20 minutes out of Jinja is Mabira Forest. The thick vegetation, which comes right up to the roadway, makes it a haven for armed robbers. Not to make it sound too dangerous but you do not want to have car trouble there. Naturally, just as we enter the forest the car starts making a new noise.
Being a hardheaded driver (read that male driver) who conquers the road and never turns back I said a silent prayer and kept going. Speed seemed to lessen the noise so we went faster. Much better! I could almost imagine the noise being gone 15 min. later as we flew out of the forest. But as we slowed for the town of Lugazi the noise was definitely there! I asked God to soften my head enough to stop and He did.
You should know that the day before I had used my new tire plug repair kit to fix a slow leak. Having never used a tire plugger before I managed to get it plugged and hoped it held. Bev was doubtful of my new abilities and begged me to go to the tire shop. (Tire shop in Jinja is three old men with a bottle of rubber cement, an old inner tube, two pry bars and a bicycle pump.) I refused. Being old myself with old tools but a new tire plugger and an electric pump I figured I was almost 59% better qualified than the tire shop.
As I silently prayed Paul walked alongside listening for the noise. After listening to the first three wheels he said it was definitely the fourth. The very one I worked on! Images of Achan being found guilty by Joshua as tribe by tribe then clan by clan and family by family came forward flashed through my head. Rats! My wife was right! Thankfully Bev is not the kind to say I told you so! But upon closer inspection the tire wasn’t flat it was simply that the village idiot (me) hadn’t tightened the lug nuts properly. So Paul cinched them down and off we went.
Having been found as a qualified tire plugger was good but the reproach of not being strong enough to cinch the nuts put me in a somber mood. But that was ok. Bev even sent an SMS saying well done.
I thought it said well done. Since it was still dark and the message was long and I didn’t have my glasses I asked Paul to read it and he mumbled something about Bev said “Well done!”
Shortly after that I received another message but being under the same conditions as before I chose to read it later when we would get fuel.
When I finally read it, it said “Oops that message was supposed to go to Kelli!” At first I didn’t understand, then I remembered the first message I couldn’t read that Paul had said it said “Well done!” What it actually said was, “Don’t tell Jesse I said ’I told you so!’ but I begged him to have a real tire guy fix that tire!”
Rodney Dangerfield said it best. “I get no respect.”
Being a hardheaded driver (read that male driver) who conquers the road and never turns back I said a silent prayer and kept going. Speed seemed to lessen the noise so we went faster. Much better! I could almost imagine the noise being gone 15 min. later as we flew out of the forest. But as we slowed for the town of Lugazi the noise was definitely there! I asked God to soften my head enough to stop and He did.
You should know that the day before I had used my new tire plug repair kit to fix a slow leak. Having never used a tire plugger before I managed to get it plugged and hoped it held. Bev was doubtful of my new abilities and begged me to go to the tire shop. (Tire shop in Jinja is three old men with a bottle of rubber cement, an old inner tube, two pry bars and a bicycle pump.) I refused. Being old myself with old tools but a new tire plugger and an electric pump I figured I was almost 59% better qualified than the tire shop.
As I silently prayed Paul walked alongside listening for the noise. After listening to the first three wheels he said it was definitely the fourth. The very one I worked on! Images of Achan being found guilty by Joshua as tribe by tribe then clan by clan and family by family came forward flashed through my head. Rats! My wife was right! Thankfully Bev is not the kind to say I told you so! But upon closer inspection the tire wasn’t flat it was simply that the village idiot (me) hadn’t tightened the lug nuts properly. So Paul cinched them down and off we went.
Having been found as a qualified tire plugger was good but the reproach of not being strong enough to cinch the nuts put me in a somber mood. But that was ok. Bev even sent an SMS saying well done.
I thought it said well done. Since it was still dark and the message was long and I didn’t have my glasses I asked Paul to read it and he mumbled something about Bev said “Well done!”
Shortly after that I received another message but being under the same conditions as before I chose to read it later when we would get fuel.
When I finally read it, it said “Oops that message was supposed to go to Kelli!” At first I didn’t understand, then I remembered the first message I couldn’t read that Paul had said it said “Well done!” What it actually said was, “Don’t tell Jesse I said ’I told you so!’ but I begged him to have a real tire guy fix that tire!”
Rodney Dangerfield said it best. “I get no respect.”
THE ROAD TO PAJULE Part 1
Last week I went to visit the new ministry that God is starting through JB in Pajule, Pader District. This is JB and Grace’s home town so they are very happy to be back home.
I had planned to go by myself but JB asked that I bring a team for evangelism, so six of us went. First to sign up was Mukisa Paul, he is an elder of Calvary Chapel Jinja and has been a friend of mine since 1998. He and JB have worked together a lot and he was eager to go. The added advantage is that Paul is a mechanic and drives. Now we had two drivers to share the road and the load in case of breakdown.
Then Pastor Apollo from Iguluibi agreed to go. He works with us to help oversee the village ministries and keep their pastors on the right path. He is warm, funny and wise and will speak up when he sees someone doing wrong. He doesn’t drive but he doesn’t eat much so we brought him along.
Next Kelli O’Hea volunteered to go. An extraordinary youth teacher and organizer she had a great desire to see JB and Grace’s kids who she had been whipping into shape over the past two plus years. Her involvement was good so that she could help JB get a youth ministry started.
Opio Jacob, a student from last year’s SOM and a pastoral intern in Jinja was invited to go since we needed someone to tell us where JB lived. He had helped in moving the Toolits back home so to keep us going in the right direction, he was added to the team. Plus he can be quite funny.
Finally Anne Rose joined us. She is a Ugandan who has spent the better part of her life in London. She has zeal to serve and has been asking for an opportunity to serve in the church so we figured this would be good timing to see what she can do.
The day before we left we met to discuss our purpose and plans. Scheduled for 2:00pm Anne Rose called at 5 minutes to 2:00 to say she was on her way. When she arrived Kelli and I were the only ones there (only because it was on our compound) and she asked how late the others would be. “African late?” Which means anytime after the scheduled time. “No, Mzungu late.” I responded. This means twenty minutes late. Sure enough Paul and Opio arrived at 2:18, right on time. Apollo however was village late. He showed up that night!
At the meeting we arranged to leave by 5:00am the next morning everyone would come to the church except Anne Rose who we would pick on the way. Worked out just like planned when Paul showed up 18 minutes late. However by this time we had left to pick up Anne Rose then met Paul halfway there and since we were late I didn’t get to kiss Bev goodbye.
That is how the trip started.
I had planned to go by myself but JB asked that I bring a team for evangelism, so six of us went. First to sign up was Mukisa Paul, he is an elder of Calvary Chapel Jinja and has been a friend of mine since 1998. He and JB have worked together a lot and he was eager to go. The added advantage is that Paul is a mechanic and drives. Now we had two drivers to share the road and the load in case of breakdown.
Then Pastor Apollo from Iguluibi agreed to go. He works with us to help oversee the village ministries and keep their pastors on the right path. He is warm, funny and wise and will speak up when he sees someone doing wrong. He doesn’t drive but he doesn’t eat much so we brought him along.
Next Kelli O’Hea volunteered to go. An extraordinary youth teacher and organizer she had a great desire to see JB and Grace’s kids who she had been whipping into shape over the past two plus years. Her involvement was good so that she could help JB get a youth ministry started.
Opio Jacob, a student from last year’s SOM and a pastoral intern in Jinja was invited to go since we needed someone to tell us where JB lived. He had helped in moving the Toolits back home so to keep us going in the right direction, he was added to the team. Plus he can be quite funny.
Finally Anne Rose joined us. She is a Ugandan who has spent the better part of her life in London. She has zeal to serve and has been asking for an opportunity to serve in the church so we figured this would be good timing to see what she can do.
The day before we left we met to discuss our purpose and plans. Scheduled for 2:00pm Anne Rose called at 5 minutes to 2:00 to say she was on her way. When she arrived Kelli and I were the only ones there (only because it was on our compound) and she asked how late the others would be. “African late?” Which means anytime after the scheduled time. “No, Mzungu late.” I responded. This means twenty minutes late. Sure enough Paul and Opio arrived at 2:18, right on time. Apollo however was village late. He showed up that night!
At the meeting we arranged to leave by 5:00am the next morning everyone would come to the church except Anne Rose who we would pick on the way. Worked out just like planned when Paul showed up 18 minutes late. However by this time we had left to pick up Anne Rose then met Paul halfway there and since we were late I didn’t get to kiss Bev goodbye.
That is how the trip started.
Monday, April 4, 2011
When does Faith need medicine?
This past Saturday Moro Steven and I took Jonathan, the new nurse, to Ogongora to reopen the clinic. It was another whirlwind trip. Five hours there, unload, eat lunch, drive home. I've got to admit that we are getting lots of practice.
So we have the clinic reopening which is good for the community but I wonder where to draw the line. One of the things that strikes me about living here is how dependent we are on Jesus. When most people here fall sick their only hope is to pray. They don't have the option of modern medicine. Jesus is the answer. The only answer. I have seen Jesus heal so many here that I could almost see fit to not open the C.C.Medical Centre in order to let people live by faith not by medicine. I know that I'd never do that but a friend asked me last week when does intervening in the life of a sick child turn from helping to playing God. If that child needs a kidney transplant but that is not available here, is my friend doing more harm than good? No way! I told her to always opt for life, hope and love. That is what Jesus always gives. Life and hope and love. Three things you can't go wrong giving people. If life, hope and love come through Jesus by way of the clinic that is good enough for me. As long as people know that all healing at the clinic is by God's wisdom and plan, I'll just keep sharing the truth about our awesome Savior. And all the ways He saves.
Now it is off to Pajule for a week of evangelism. I'm Sorry I have to leave my lovely bride at home. But she doesn't like stay out for the week in the village, plus somebody needs to stick around to run the place. Lord keep her safe and our evangelism team as well.
So we have the clinic reopening which is good for the community but I wonder where to draw the line. One of the things that strikes me about living here is how dependent we are on Jesus. When most people here fall sick their only hope is to pray. They don't have the option of modern medicine. Jesus is the answer. The only answer. I have seen Jesus heal so many here that I could almost see fit to not open the C.C.Medical Centre in order to let people live by faith not by medicine. I know that I'd never do that but a friend asked me last week when does intervening in the life of a sick child turn from helping to playing God. If that child needs a kidney transplant but that is not available here, is my friend doing more harm than good? No way! I told her to always opt for life, hope and love. That is what Jesus always gives. Life and hope and love. Three things you can't go wrong giving people. If life, hope and love come through Jesus by way of the clinic that is good enough for me. As long as people know that all healing at the clinic is by God's wisdom and plan, I'll just keep sharing the truth about our awesome Savior. And all the ways He saves.
Now it is off to Pajule for a week of evangelism. I'm Sorry I have to leave my lovely bride at home. But she doesn't like stay out for the week in the village, plus somebody needs to stick around to run the place. Lord keep her safe and our evangelism team as well.
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