Just a quick note about African culture...it is very normal and expected to hold someone's hand as your talk together...even men.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Armor of God
Day 6
So much to say, no words can explain what we have experienced, the faith of the believers here, you would need to experience yourself to understand. When they pray they pray believing, expecting an answer and God hears the cry of His people. Yesterday I had a young girl from the Redeemer House ask if she could pray for me I had no idea what her prayer was, it was in Luganda but I could truly feel the presence of God as she prayed. We as a team have witnessed the healing power of God through the prayers of these children. When we got back to the apartment the church next door was alive and well with worship and preaching. At about 12:00 AM I thought their church service would be ending at any time but at 5:00AM my thought was, go home so I can get some sleep. The minute that thought went through my head I started praying for salvation for the lost that might be in the service. The moment I started praying I felt like some- one’s hand was choking me. I rebuked Satan in the name of Jesus Christ but it wasn’t until I opened my Bible when that feeling left. Sounds strange but it left me an emotional wreck. Spiritual warfare is alive and well in Uganda. We need to cloth ourselves with the full Armor of God. Please keep us in your prayers.
We went to the slums today to reach out and love on the people who live in “Kuwaka“. Most of the children at Redeemer House came from this slum. We were given a tour of the slum, again unexplainable. We held a VBS with songs and gifts for the children. Kathy and Justin spoke and then the whole team plus the Redeemer House kids and staff helped lead some worship. Then Tom and I preached. We were blessed to see several people give their life to Christ. Thirty to forty people came forward for prayer. After the service we had purchased beans, rice, posho, salt and sugar to giveaway. The children from the Redeemer House fasted so they could purchase soap to give to the people. What a blessing to see how thankful they were to receive something to eat. What a day to celebrate the joy of the Lord.
Please keep praying for us.
Love in Christ, Ron
So much to say, no words can explain what we have experienced, the faith of the believers here, you would need to experience yourself to understand. When they pray they pray believing, expecting an answer and God hears the cry of His people. Yesterday I had a young girl from the Redeemer House ask if she could pray for me I had no idea what her prayer was, it was in Luganda but I could truly feel the presence of God as she prayed. We as a team have witnessed the healing power of God through the prayers of these children. When we got back to the apartment the church next door was alive and well with worship and preaching. At about 12:00 AM I thought their church service would be ending at any time but at 5:00AM my thought was, go home so I can get some sleep. The minute that thought went through my head I started praying for salvation for the lost that might be in the service. The moment I started praying I felt like some- one’s hand was choking me. I rebuked Satan in the name of Jesus Christ but it wasn’t until I opened my Bible when that feeling left. Sounds strange but it left me an emotional wreck. Spiritual warfare is alive and well in Uganda. We need to cloth ourselves with the full Armor of God. Please keep us in your prayers.
We went to the slums today to reach out and love on the people who live in “Kuwaka“. Most of the children at Redeemer House came from this slum. We were given a tour of the slum, again unexplainable. We held a VBS with songs and gifts for the children. Kathy and Justin spoke and then the whole team plus the Redeemer House kids and staff helped lead some worship. Then Tom and I preached. We were blessed to see several people give their life to Christ. Thirty to forty people came forward for prayer. After the service we had purchased beans, rice, posho, salt and sugar to giveaway. The children from the Redeemer House fasted so they could purchase soap to give to the people. What a blessing to see how thankful they were to receive something to eat. What a day to celebrate the joy of the Lord.
Please keep praying for us.
Love in Christ, Ron
Friday, May 7, 2010
Day 5
Well, another amazing day in Africa and I have no idea where to begin. For those expecting to hear from another voice on the team... sorry it's Justin again. We couldn't seem to get nailed down who would be blogging tonight and apparently everyone went to bed without anyone doing it. I will make this short and sweet because I need to get some rest (as many of you know I was pretty sick yesterday).
Today brought so many new and incredible things, starting with the market. We took a van to the edge of the city to a small corner of land criss-crossed by railroad tracks and dotted with mud puddles from the near daily rainstorms. Walking into the market immediately contrasts the stark beauty and utter poverty that is Uganda. Ragged tarps claim 10X10 plots of land which are covered with local crafts of such amazing artisanship they seem to be out of place. Necklaces, drums, clothes, toys, anything you can imagine is for sale. As you walk by each vendor bids you "come and have a look", all claiming to have the best for the lowest price. Each person is trying to make the most on each sale so they start prices high, but expect you to barter, it's the African way. Some people did better than others, all did better than Charlie. Usual bargaining goes something like this. me- "How much for this?" him- "Twenty thousand" (Schillings, about 10 dollars) me- "Oh, hmm" him- "But I make a good price for you." me- "How much?" him- "How much you have?" me- "What's your best price?" him- "Seventeen thousand" me- "Fifteen?" pause him- "Ok". Charlie's bargaining goes something like this. Charlie- "How much?" him- "Twenty thousand" Charlie- "That your best price?" him- "Best price " Charlie- "Ok".
After we purchased more things than we can possibly take home, we headed to Redeemer House Orphanage around lunch. I am not sure who wrote what yesterday, but those kids and workers are some of the most incredible people on the planet. Selfless, loving, giving, genuine. There is definitely fruit of the Spirit coming from them. As said, I was sick yesterday, sick enough to need I.V.'s and a day in the clinic. (Thank you to all those who prayed for us) The doctor told me I would be down for three of four days and when I went to bed last night I thought that might be a conservative estimate. I have never been so sick. Waking up this morning I still felt puny, but thought I would come down stairs and try to eat. Five minutes later I was back in bed, exhausted. Everything hurt. I layed there for awhile and decided I at least needed to get logistics worked out for the day so back down I went. This time I took one of the letters that various peole wrote for the team to read daily and when Kevin read it we all nearly fell out of our chairs. The scripture referenced was amazingly timely Hosea 6:1-3 (New International Version)
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
Only God. I felt as if God were speaking directly to my heart. I ate breakfast, got ready and joined the others, three of whom had been sick as well, but feeling good today. As we were in the van my mom began telling us how Noah, the Uncle of the house, and some of the kids stayed up instead of going to bed and prayed for us to get better from 8:30 pm until 12:30 am! A few of the younger ones even snuck out and joined. I was blown away. When we got to the house, Noah told me that at 11:00 that night God told him that we would all be there for lunch, so he told the kids. They were not the least bit surprised to see us all, they had prayed specifically and God had answered, specifically. The faith of a child! I can honestly say that by the time lunch was served I was 100%. I also know that if I had woken up feeling good I would have accredited it to a good nights sleep, medication and God. But that's not how God works. He wants all the glory, all the credit, and I humbly give it to Him now. Praise you Father, thank you. God wants to show himself to be the awesome and powerful God that He is, sometimes it just takes the faith of a child to recognize it. Give God the glory in everything today.
Today brought so many new and incredible things, starting with the market. We took a van to the edge of the city to a small corner of land criss-crossed by railroad tracks and dotted with mud puddles from the near daily rainstorms. Walking into the market immediately contrasts the stark beauty and utter poverty that is Uganda. Ragged tarps claim 10X10 plots of land which are covered with local crafts of such amazing artisanship they seem to be out of place. Necklaces, drums, clothes, toys, anything you can imagine is for sale. As you walk by each vendor bids you "come and have a look", all claiming to have the best for the lowest price. Each person is trying to make the most on each sale so they start prices high, but expect you to barter, it's the African way. Some people did better than others, all did better than Charlie. Usual bargaining goes something like this. me- "How much for this?" him- "Twenty thousand" (Schillings, about 10 dollars) me- "Oh, hmm" him- "But I make a good price for you." me- "How much?" him- "How much you have?" me- "What's your best price?" him- "Seventeen thousand" me- "Fifteen?" pause him- "Ok". Charlie's bargaining goes something like this. Charlie- "How much?" him- "Twenty thousand" Charlie- "That your best price?" him- "Best price " Charlie- "Ok".
After we purchased more things than we can possibly take home, we headed to Redeemer House Orphanage around lunch. I am not sure who wrote what yesterday, but those kids and workers are some of the most incredible people on the planet. Selfless, loving, giving, genuine. There is definitely fruit of the Spirit coming from them. As said, I was sick yesterday, sick enough to need I.V.'s and a day in the clinic. (Thank you to all those who prayed for us) The doctor told me I would be down for three of four days and when I went to bed last night I thought that might be a conservative estimate. I have never been so sick. Waking up this morning I still felt puny, but thought I would come down stairs and try to eat. Five minutes later I was back in bed, exhausted. Everything hurt. I layed there for awhile and decided I at least needed to get logistics worked out for the day so back down I went. This time I took one of the letters that various peole wrote for the team to read daily and when Kevin read it we all nearly fell out of our chairs. The scripture referenced was amazingly timely Hosea 6:1-3 (New International Version)
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
Only God. I felt as if God were speaking directly to my heart. I ate breakfast, got ready and joined the others, three of whom had been sick as well, but feeling good today. As we were in the van my mom began telling us how Noah, the Uncle of the house, and some of the kids stayed up instead of going to bed and prayed for us to get better from 8:30 pm until 12:30 am! A few of the younger ones even snuck out and joined. I was blown away. When we got to the house, Noah told me that at 11:00 that night God told him that we would all be there for lunch, so he told the kids. They were not the least bit surprised to see us all, they had prayed specifically and God had answered, specifically. The faith of a child! I can honestly say that by the time lunch was served I was 100%. I also know that if I had woken up feeling good I would have accredited it to a good nights sleep, medication and God. But that's not how God works. He wants all the glory, all the credit, and I humbly give it to Him now. Praise you Father, thank you. God wants to show himself to be the awesome and powerful God that He is, sometimes it just takes the faith of a child to recognize it. Give God the glory in everything today.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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