I am always so amazed at how God is so detailed. He is a God of order and detail. I am so glad he is because if left to my own person the details would never get done. He has once again showed us that he is leading others and us in this path to Uganda.
A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I were talking about what to do with our house. We talked about where we could live if we sold sooner rather than later. If we sell that will be a huge burden lifted. We tossed around some ideas, but just weren't sure what we were supposed to do, but we waited. Prayed. And remained patient to God's leading. We really felt like selling would be our best option, but didn't know how it would all work.
Steve went to Timothy Leadership Training in June and he loved it. He left with all kinds of ideas and things he can't wait to get to Uganda to figure out how he can use all the training. But one of his ideas here was to start a community garden and he thought an open field in our church parking lot would be a perfect place to do this. (If anyone is interested in heading this project up, contact Steve) Anyway we were talking about the logistics of this with our pastors wife and Steve asked if she thought that the house next to it would be open to letting us use water from their house if we paid for the water. Anyway, she said the house is empty so we would have to see and we kind of left it at that. The house was the Reformed churches empty parsonage. Steve started thinking and God was working.
We were camping and we were talking to some people about our idea and they told us the people to contact.
Steve contacted this person as soon as he got a chance too. He then started having phone conversions with a deacon at First Reformed. We met with them on Sunday afternoon and we had a great meeting! God had been preparing them without us even knowing. They were praying about what to do with the empty parsonage at their last meeting and then we called them! I love how God works. We had went through the house and then we sat outside and visited. They listened to our vision and stories about Soroti! I know God placed these specific men in our place for a purpose. They have such a passion for expanding Gods kingdom and for youth. Two of Steve and my biggest passions. It is so hard to describe how the meeting was, God was present. They really want to share their empty parsonage with us and they really want to share in our ministry!! We are going to get to share with more people from Byron Center our calling!
Please pray that our house will sell quickly and that God will bring the right people to our home!
God is a God of detail and he knows all things from beginning to end! We are so thankful that we can rest in that and we are so thankful that he is showing us slowly how he has this all planned out!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Remembering
So I have been thinking a lot about Soroti lately. I am missing it and yet loving here. I think, it seems crazy living in two different worlds. I wonder if Jesus felt this way. Longing for heaven, but yet loving where he was at. Although he was missing perfection and he was in all our sin. So different, but yet I know he loved us so much that he had to enjoy this world somewhat.
I wanted to remember about my time in Soroti so I thought I would look back in my journal and write another post. It has been a long time since I've done this and so much happened I want to keep sharing.
May 17, 2010
Today we went to drop off the van (happens a lot, roads are terrible here) and then we walked through town to the hospital to see Richard's father. It was such a blessing to there family to have us come. We prayed with them and Tim gave Richard a new Bible. Someone had stolen the last Bible Tim had given him. In the hospital a family member has to stay with the patient. The patient had a bed(more like a cot) and the caretaker has to sleep under the bed on a concrete floor. The hospital is supposed to supply medicine, but half the time they don't have any so the family has to find the money to get the meds at pharmacy. WE were told the hospital is really a place people come to die. It was so different than hospitals here. As we walked outside, I was amazed at all the sights I saw. People sitting around everywhere. There is no concept of sterilization. The theater room ( where they do surgery) is a small little room with a metal table and we could look right in. There was also a huge hole knocked out of the window in the door. I wonder how they keep flies out of there? I also saw a mom sitting with her little child and the baby had something like and IV (it may have been an IV) and it was not elevated and the liquid looked like dirty water. I wondered if they were helping her or just adding to the problem. It is just so hard to understand and explain. They need to know about Jesus from a young age. They may not have a long life. We need it here too, but there it just seems so urgent!!
After we left the hospital we took a boda boda back to Tim and Angie's. A boda boda is a form of transportation here. We rode on the back of a bike that has a seat cushion and you have a young boy who drives the bike where you need to go. It is a very cheap form of transportation. It was fun to see the town in this way. When we are in the vehicle it is so hard to take in all the small details. It is faster and you are always packed in tight it seems. From the boda boda we were able to see all the little shops along the main road. We had so many people waving to us and greeting us (gawking at us). I'm sure we looked silly, all our white skin and i'm not sure I was sitting on it right. They also were going slow with us, because it was our first time.
We had lunch and then we headed out to another ministry. We went to visit the blind people that they work with. This was a wonderful experience, like every place we went to. We were so blessed by these wonderful people. They told us their testimonies and they read out of one of the books of the Bible that was all braille. It was so fabulous to watch them soak in God's Word. As we were sitting and having more conversation, one of the ladies was just sitting on the floor reading her Bible with her hands. All that mattered to her was reading God's Word. She was thrilled we were there, but God's word was more important. It takes them forever to read through all these books. They are thick and it takes some of them longer than others to read. They were so appreciative of Tim and Josh. Josh and Tim have helped them in many different ways. They helped them figure out how to raise orange trees and they also brought people to them that taught them how to knit potholders and more. It is so amazing what God has done in their lives. When we were here, they taught me some Iteso. I learned how to say beautiful child. I am not sure if I was saying it right, because anytime I tried to use it all the kids would just laugh at me! I didn't care, I just wanted them to know they are beautiful.
One of my favorite things was holding this little baby. I asked Magdoline(?) if I could hold her. She was so sweet. In Uganda, the babies really don't wear diapers and this baby was not wearing one. I suddenly felt a warm sensation in my lap. I knew what it was and it is amazing, but it didn't really bother me. She was so sweet and she was loving being held. After she relieved herself she proceeded to fall asleep on my shoulder. It was so wonderful to give this baby love.
As we were sitting around visiting, lots of children sat around just outside the door or right inside the door. It amazes me how they just sit and listen and they are well behaved. They are quiet!
We then went for a walk around the village. Francis showed us his saplings. He is trying to grow more trees since his were destroyed. I am not sure how they were destroyed, but I think it was too much rain. They are just so thankful for what they have. It was so humbling.
In the evening we went to Bobby and Rachels for dinner. It was so good to get to know more team members and fun to learn what they do for ministry. Bobby works with the street kids along with more things. Rachel did a kids club during the school break and she also tutors a couple of girls. She loves the tutoring. It was another great exhausting day!
It is so good to remember our time in Uganda. I hope that it is good for you to hear too. We are so anxious to serve with TEAM BEYOND and we are so thankful for this year that we have here. Please continue to pray for us, that we will continue to listen to God's will and not our own. We know this is all for His glory and not ours so we pray we can keep Him as our focus.
A friend told me to just enjoy the journey. Enjoy all the things of this year. This is HIS thing, not ours. He knows how it is all going to work out and we need to enjoy trusting in him and not let stress get to us. Anyway, so we are trying to just enjoy all that this year brings.
I wanted to remember about my time in Soroti so I thought I would look back in my journal and write another post. It has been a long time since I've done this and so much happened I want to keep sharing.
May 17, 2010
Today we went to drop off the van (happens a lot, roads are terrible here) and then we walked through town to the hospital to see Richard's father. It was such a blessing to there family to have us come. We prayed with them and Tim gave Richard a new Bible. Someone had stolen the last Bible Tim had given him. In the hospital a family member has to stay with the patient. The patient had a bed(more like a cot) and the caretaker has to sleep under the bed on a concrete floor. The hospital is supposed to supply medicine, but half the time they don't have any so the family has to find the money to get the meds at pharmacy. WE were told the hospital is really a place people come to die. It was so different than hospitals here. As we walked outside, I was amazed at all the sights I saw. People sitting around everywhere. There is no concept of sterilization. The theater room ( where they do surgery) is a small little room with a metal table and we could look right in. There was also a huge hole knocked out of the window in the door. I wonder how they keep flies out of there? I also saw a mom sitting with her little child and the baby had something like and IV (it may have been an IV) and it was not elevated and the liquid looked like dirty water. I wondered if they were helping her or just adding to the problem. It is just so hard to understand and explain. They need to know about Jesus from a young age. They may not have a long life. We need it here too, but there it just seems so urgent!!
After we left the hospital we took a boda boda back to Tim and Angie's. A boda boda is a form of transportation here. We rode on the back of a bike that has a seat cushion and you have a young boy who drives the bike where you need to go. It is a very cheap form of transportation. It was fun to see the town in this way. When we are in the vehicle it is so hard to take in all the small details. It is faster and you are always packed in tight it seems. From the boda boda we were able to see all the little shops along the main road. We had so many people waving to us and greeting us (gawking at us). I'm sure we looked silly, all our white skin and i'm not sure I was sitting on it right. They also were going slow with us, because it was our first time. We had lunch and then we headed out to another ministry. We went to visit the blind people that they work with. This was a wonderful experience, like every place we went to. We were so blessed by these wonderful people. They told us their testimonies and they read out of one of the books of the Bible that was all braille. It was so fabulous to watch them soak in God's Word. As we were sitting and having more conversation, one of the ladies was just sitting on the floor reading her Bible with her hands. All that mattered to her was reading God's Word. She was thrilled we were there, but God's word was more important. It takes them forever to read through all these books. They are thick and it takes some of them longer than others to read. They were so appreciative of Tim and Josh. Josh and Tim have helped them in many different ways. They helped them figure out how to raise orange trees and they also brought people to them that taught them how to knit potholders and more. It is so amazing what God has done in their lives. When we were here, they taught me some Iteso. I learned how to say beautiful child. I am not sure if I was saying it right, because anytime I tried to use it all the kids would just laugh at me! I didn't care, I just wanted them to know they are beautiful.
One of my favorite things was holding this little baby. I asked Magdoline(?) if I could hold her. She was so sweet. In Uganda, the babies really don't wear diapers and this baby was not wearing one. I suddenly felt a warm sensation in my lap. I knew what it was and it is amazing, but it didn't really bother me. She was so sweet and she was loving being held. After she relieved herself she proceeded to fall asleep on my shoulder. It was so wonderful to give this baby love.
As we were sitting around visiting, lots of children sat around just outside the door or right inside the door. It amazes me how they just sit and listen and they are well behaved. They are quiet!
We then went for a walk around the village. Francis showed us his saplings. He is trying to grow more trees since his were destroyed. I am not sure how they were destroyed, but I think it was too much rain. They are just so thankful for what they have. It was so humbling.
In the evening we went to Bobby and Rachels for dinner. It was so good to get to know more team members and fun to learn what they do for ministry. Bobby works with the street kids along with more things. Rachel did a kids club during the school break and she also tutors a couple of girls. She loves the tutoring. It was another great exhausting day!
It is so good to remember our time in Uganda. I hope that it is good for you to hear too. We are so anxious to serve with TEAM BEYOND and we are so thankful for this year that we have here. Please continue to pray for us, that we will continue to listen to God's will and not our own. We know this is all for His glory and not ours so we pray we can keep Him as our focus.
A friend told me to just enjoy the journey. Enjoy all the things of this year. This is HIS thing, not ours. He knows how it is all going to work out and we need to enjoy trusting in him and not let stress get to us. Anyway, so we are trying to just enjoy all that this year brings.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Tests completed!
We just finished our Language Aptitude test and we finished our Psychological evaluation this morning! It feels so good to have these things done! We are now in the waiting process. We have mailed them out to International Teams and they will review them and decide if we will be accepted by them to be missionaries in Uganda! We may have some phone interviews yet, but we are on our way and we are so excited! Please pray for a restful weekend for us as we will finally be home for a weekend! And now with these tests done it feels like we can maybe relax. (and mow the lawn).
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
CRCG
Last week, we went with our church group to the Christian Reformed Conference Grounds. We do this about every year and we always have a great time. This year was no different we had a great time relaxing on the beach, in the trailer and just around all our sights visiting and enjoying christian fellowship.
We had an extremely busy week the week before so I knew I was going to the CRCG for Physical refreshment, Spiritual renewal and time with my kids.
One night I was laying in my too small bed and I prayed to the Lord to give me some encouragement. Sometimes, I think to myself "How can we move to Uganda?" "what do we have to offer?" I was opening my Bible and I saw in my front cover notes to a sermon Pastor Tom gave in February of 2008. The title was Brave Enough to Follow. It was about Peter being called as Christ's disciple and how he followed even though he was a average man. The two phrases that I wrote down in the introduction section we these, Instruments in the Redeemeer's hands and Ordinary Christians minister to each other.
In my notes it talks about Peter being plain and simple, he was a fisherman. Some of the other notes I have are as follows
-He is Simon, but he will be Peter
-Call comes from Jesus
-Costly Call- They had to leave things behind
-Call to Change- transformation-name change, Jesus has control of all, Peter means "Rock" occupation change- from Fisherman to fisher of men.
After this I wrote, How will God use me? Wow, I didn't know that he would call us to Uganda. When I heard this sermon it was right after Jim had died. I had no idea at this point how life would change.
I was so excited after I read this scripture again and read these sermon notes. I needed to here that we need to be brave enough to follow. At the end of the sermon notes is says, Not what I come to God with, but what he wants to do with me! God gets the glory! Boast in the Lord!"
This is still my prayer, that God gets the glory. We will continue to follow and will use us as he chooses. We don't have to figure it all out. God knows what he wants to do with us and He will get the glory if we are just Brave enough to follow!
I am so thankful that God gave me and my kids that week of spiritual and physical renewal. I was especially thankful for this little message that God reminded me of. He is in control and I am so thankful and I pray he gets all the glory and we can only boast in Him!! We are just a vessel that God uses to reach His people. I look forward to seeing how God continues to work!
We had an extremely busy week the week before so I knew I was going to the CRCG for Physical refreshment, Spiritual renewal and time with my kids.
One night I was laying in my too small bed and I prayed to the Lord to give me some encouragement. Sometimes, I think to myself "How can we move to Uganda?" "what do we have to offer?" I was opening my Bible and I saw in my front cover notes to a sermon Pastor Tom gave in February of 2008. The title was Brave Enough to Follow. It was about Peter being called as Christ's disciple and how he followed even though he was a average man. The two phrases that I wrote down in the introduction section we these, Instruments in the Redeemeer's hands and Ordinary Christians minister to each other.
In my notes it talks about Peter being plain and simple, he was a fisherman. Some of the other notes I have are as follows
-He is Simon, but he will be Peter
-Call comes from Jesus
-Costly Call- They had to leave things behind
-Call to Change- transformation-name change, Jesus has control of all, Peter means "Rock" occupation change- from Fisherman to fisher of men.
After this I wrote, How will God use me? Wow, I didn't know that he would call us to Uganda. When I heard this sermon it was right after Jim had died. I had no idea at this point how life would change.
I was so excited after I read this scripture again and read these sermon notes. I needed to here that we need to be brave enough to follow. At the end of the sermon notes is says, Not what I come to God with, but what he wants to do with me! God gets the glory! Boast in the Lord!"
This is still my prayer, that God gets the glory. We will continue to follow and will use us as he chooses. We don't have to figure it all out. God knows what he wants to do with us and He will get the glory if we are just Brave enough to follow!
I am so thankful that God gave me and my kids that week of spiritual and physical renewal. I was especially thankful for this little message that God reminded me of. He is in control and I am so thankful and I pray he gets all the glory and we can only boast in Him!! We are just a vessel that God uses to reach His people. I look forward to seeing how God continues to work!
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