The Lord has once again shown us His favor. About one year after our application, Reaching Africa’s Unreachedhas received its 501c3 status from the IRS. A special “thank you” goes to a good friend and Lifegate member who made our application. He put many hard hours of work into it!!
This means that people in the USA can now give directly to RAU and receive a charitable tax deduction for their gift. This frees us up to receive charitable contributions from corporations and others who desire to give directly to RAU as a charitable organization. It also makes it easy for donors to give via a debit or credit card. Our donation page describes how this can be done. May the Lord use RAU’s 501c3 status for His glory and the spread of the gospel to people who currently do not have access to it!
Our calling…
Carol and I are continuing to press on with our learning of Ma’di. Ma’di is a tonal language with many sounds we have never heard before and are difficult to reproduce. Carol is catching on much quicker than I am and is fast becoming another tutor for me. What helps me most is when I am actually doing something physical and interactive while trying to speak and understand the language. In our last lesson we went outside so that I could practice with our faithful workers. They enjoy and appreciate my efforts, laughing much along the way. Please continue in your prayers for us in learning Ma’di.
Ma’di Language Lesson
Our health remains good. No malaria, thank you Lord! We are actually eating much more healthily than ever before and have lost a lot of our “America jiggle”. Please continue to pray for good health!
Sam and I are enjoying Posho (ground corn flour) and beans. These, along with pumpkin,tomatoes,onions, cabbage,rice,and carrots are our main food items. We have meat once a week on Sunday.
For the tile on the veranda around the Guesthouse, $1500 of the needed $3,000 has been given…PTL! The tile on the veranda will provide another barrier to prevent snakes from getting into the house. It is very,very difficult for snakes to move on tile. I only want a cobra curled up next to my bare foot once in my lifetime! I have all openings into the Guesthouse sealed up tight and we are continually working on getting the grounds cleared with hoes, machetes and axes. I will be very happy to see that tractor in November; it will make quicker work of the clearing and other work. It is packed in the container which is on its way here.
A strip of land is now clear between the Guesthouse and our four refurbished tukalu’s. About $400 will completely finish the tukalu’s.
We now have well over 200 fruit trees planted. With the tractor we will clear the brush away and also plant some cash crops to bring in income for ministry efforts. After talking with an Ugandan agriculture expert I am thinking that soybeans will be the cash crop of choice. We could get two crops in a year and there is a good demand for soybeans. We will first have to clear about 15 acres of African bush!
There is much brush to clear!
In the two months since we’ve made our move to RAU land, there has been a wonderful transformation. When visitors come they are amazed at how well developed the land is. Making the RAU Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus useful for hosting pastors, church leaders, church planters, and evangelists has been challenging but rewarding. We see it coming together very nicely! However, there are a number of items on the list we still need to finish in order to host groups (see below). We will have to stop work on them this week unless more funds come so pray that hearts will continue to be touched to give and please prayerfully consider investing in the areas listed below. I will be happy when this start up phase of our work is complete. It is amazing how God has supplied for RAU and is continuing to do so through faithful, generous partnership with people like you! May we always be good stewards of the grace He has given!
Front View of RAU’s Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus
We have received information on some unreached/unengaged tribal groups/villages within driving distance of RAU. When the ’99 Land Cruiser gets here (expected arrival is late September) we will visit the areas with the specific goal of planting church in the midst the unreached/unengaged tribal group or village.Please pray for efforts in this! Right now our thought is to have several local missionary candidates stay at RAU for in depth, one-on-one training who then, with our assistance, would live in the midst of the unreached group with the ultimate goal of seeing a thriving church planted.
There are many places within reach of RAU where the gospel has not penetrated.
We now have a PO Box where letters and small packages can safely be sent. The address is: Jacob Lee, PO Box 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa. Missionaries love care packages! However Carol’s and my wish lists are different…surprise, surprise! We would be happy to inform anyone of you what is on the top of our lists.
Below are the start-up projects we are hoping to finish so that we may move ahead in the desired aim of training. Please pray for their completion and consider giving to help finish them. Thank you!
1. Finishing up the refurbishing of our four existing tukaloos on the land. The four have now been roofed with new grass. The the doors and windows are finished. To plaster them and do some repairs on their foundations will require an additional $400. 2. $1000 to dig a new double stall pit latrine for the tukaloo quarters with an outdoor bathing facility. The existing pit latrine is about to cave in and there is no place to bath.
3. $4,000 for an outdoor kitchen and attached living quarters (one small room and bathroom) for Lucy, our cook/helper. The current one is about to fall down and is some distance from the Guesthouse. As stated in an earlier newsletters we need an outdoor kitchen to be able to cook for large groups with wood and charcoal. To get propane gas for our indoor stove is hard to obtain and expensive. It also opens up the room Lucy is now staying in for guests.
4. The pouring of a slab to set the container on when it arrives in November: $300+-
5. Upfront furnishings to host groups (beds,mattress,mosquito nets etc): $600+- and $1000 for remaining shelving/furniture in Guesthouse.
6. Tile on our wrap-around veranda to create an extra barrier between the Guesthouse and snakes! It would also make it easier to clean. We would have to bring the tile up from Kampala. The estimation to do this is $3000+-. $1500 has been given so we just need an additional $1500. [Update Sept. 15: The other $1500 has been given. PTL! ] 7. The building of 4-5 more tukaloos to house pastors/evangelists/church planters for discipleship. Each tukalu can take care of 4-5 people and they are inexpensive to build. To build one tukaloo is around $500.
Your Partners in getting the Gospel to the Unreached,
Jacob (for the both of us)
Let us pray and work together to reach the lost with the glorious gospel planting Christ exalting churches which in turn will also seek to reach the lost and plant Christ exalting churches!
Charitable Donations may be made via PayPal. PayPal also has the option for an ongoing monthly gifts. You may click on their link below. PayPal deducts a small amount from each gift as a processing fee. All charitable gifts given through PayPal are now tax deductibleas Reaching Africa’s Unreached has 501 c3 tax exempt status as a charitable organization. If you wish to write a check you may write it out to R.A.U. and mail it to Lifegate Missions, 395 Lifegate Ln., Seguin Texas 78155.
*“Saving souls can be likened to a man drowning in a deep well and a volunteer can do nothing unless there are people who will hold the rope for him to be lowered till he reaches the drowning man, and then pull them up to safety… I will go to India as a volunteer to seek sinners drowning in the well of Sin. But I can’t do it alone. I need rope holders.”
William Carey~ Father of Modern Missions
——–
“This is the mission of God. Missionary martyrs going, financial martyrs sending; and all of us praying and working together, for the gospel and the glory of God to be known and enjoyed by all peoples.”David Sitton
Reaching Africa's Unreached 