This 32 minute message by John Piper on missions is very encouraging. It is one of my all time favorites! You too will be encouraged in your pursuit to be obedient to Jesus mission (John 20:21).
As followers of Christ we are called to be like Moses who choose to trade this world’s pleasures for present suffering and future glory with Christ (Heb. 11:24-26).
I love the way John Trapp (1601-1669) puts it, “He that rides to be crowned, will not think much of a rainy day.”
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
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“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 (RAU) has just received notification from the IRS that it has been granted its 501 c3, tax exempt status as a charitable organization. This means donors can now give to R.A.U. charitable donations by credit card or check and receive a tax deduction. We are grateful to the Lord for the favor He has shown to us in moving upon the IRS to grant Reaching Africa’s Unreached this tax exempt status.
“…R.A.U. is grateful for all financial gifts! We commit to faithfully use these gifts to extend Christ’s work in Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, and Northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and regions to the North.
It is our desire that any gifts given to R.A.U. would not compromise what you are ALREADY giving to your local church or to foreign missions . To get the gospel to the unreached will take sacrificial giving on the part of all God’s people. May we all walk faithfully in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 so that our Lord God is worshiped by men and women from every tongue , tribe, people, and nation!
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.”
(Former Wahabbi Muslim from Saudi Arabia, Co-Author of “Quran Dilemma“, Researcher, editor, writer and translator of numerous ministries including “Answering Islam” and runs an outreach ministry designed of non-Muslim and Christians.)
We thank the Lord for the progress which has been made on the Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus and on our 17 acres the past two years! Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Note: If you right click on a photo it will be enlarged. Many of these pictures were taken from from Pictures and Vision for the R.A.U. Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus web page however there are also many new ones. Enjoy and praise God with us for what He has done and will surely continue to do! The vision and mission of Reaching Africa’s Unreached was planted in my heart way back in 1977 when Leonard Ravenhill challenged me with Romans 15:20. That flame was rekindle with my first trip to north Uganda and southern Sudan in 2007. My testimony can be found here.
August 2011Footings dugBringing foundation stonesBottom of the footings pouredFootings nearly done
The foundation is complete…thank you Jesus!!Front view of the R.A.U. GuesthouseSteel for concrete roof supports are set (Northeast corner of the house).Our bedroom is in this cornerLooking down upon inside walls. They will be brought up to roof height with venting along the top of corridor walls so that hot air can escape through the center roof vent thus creating our “African Bush air conditioning” :-)!We want lots of air flowing into the rooms thus the vent bricks. We will get fine metal screening in Kampala to put over the vent bricks and windows to keep out those nasty malaria biting mosquitoes.Sam in standing in the future north doorway. The breezeway runs through the entire center of the house so that the north-south winds can freely go through the whole house. Nurse Sam likes his Texas Longhorn shirt….you non Longhorn fans be kind now :-).Here Salongo, an expert, helps select the right trees to cut for our roof rafters.The upper part of the rafters will rest on this top beam once it is poured.Tying the steel for the top beam.Our trucked arrived with our water tanks, electrical supplies, and roof materials from Kampala. The truck had three blow outs and got stuck twice and had to be offloaded and reloaded both times. The roads from Gulu to Moyo are very,very bad. The Lord has granted grace and our supplies are now safely here at the site. Thank you for your prayers…please continue!Our God is good and He is good all the time!Taking shape!More rafters upThis 5000 liter tank will gravity feed our rooms. Our hope is that the water will be warmed in the attic for our baths. September ’13 Update: Our baths are cold, maybe during the hot season they will be warmer!October 2012The first iron sheets are up!Southeast viewEast Side of GuesthouseNovember 2012Garage Doors SetThis big window will bring a lot of air into the Hall of Tyrannus….very needful during the hot season!Plaster workLate December 2012
Inside CorridorFront
Front Veranda CeilingStone work around the base of the veranda.
Setting our outside 10,000 liter water tank. Water is pumped into this tank from our well. It gravity feeds our our attic 5,000 liter tank as well as future facilities.Thank you Jesus!Tile work in the Hall of TyrannusBreezewayGuesthouse kitchen counter topThe glass has now been installed in the windows and doorsThe first of four toilets set.All our vents have screens over them to help keep out those nasty malaria biting mosquitoes!Lower Kitchen CabinetsNorth Side of Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus June 20th 2013Starting work in battery/power roomThe battery room is finished!We have 4 operation 230 watt solar panels. We also can power the Guesthouse via generator if need be.We have electricity in the middle of the African bush 🙂 !Our working Kitchen!Our first table in the Hall of Tyrannus. By God’s grace at this table people’s bodies and souls will be nourished.Our first triple bunk bed is in place. All it needs now are its mattresses and mosquito nets. WE want to build 4 more.Touch up painting.Lots of work on the grounds to be done and all by hand for now.
Dedication Service August 10 2013. More photos as well as videos are here.
August 2013Widening our driveway entrance so that our 40′ container will be able to enter when it arrives.The graders last pass on the drivewayThe nicest driveway in Northwestern UgandaOver 1,100 Global Study Bibles and 3,500 christian books for distribution to pastors and others are on their way ..PTL!Faithful Seguin Texas brothers loading the RAU container.
RAU road sign. Its frame and poles are in the container headed to us.Soon this will parked at R.A.U….PTL!Refurbishing the remaining four tukalu’s on the land. They are not far from the Guesthouse. Many of the native pastor’s will feel more comfortable staying in these instead of the Guesthouse. We hope to build 4-5 more. They cost about $500 to build and will sleep 4-5.
We now have new grass roofs on tukalu’s. Our next step is to fix the doors and windows.Our existing outdoor kitchen. We use it each day (except Sunday’s) to cook for a dozen or more workers. This is the way we will also cook for our future discipleship groups and short term mission groups. Propane is very expensive and difficult to get here. Lord willing, soon we can build a updated one closer with a small room for our cook and helper to stay. We need about $4,000 to complete it.We have been clearing and planting a native low growing drought resistant grass around the Guesthouse. In the foreground is one of our many newly planted mango and we have a trellis for passion fruit in the background.
September 2013
Great exhortation right outside Carol’s and my bedroom.Our large garage serves us well.
Carpenters at work.Hall of Tyrannus library
Our calling…Make disciples of all nations (people groups)! A tribal group from North Uganda.
The Mbuti Pygmies of Northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Train up children in the way of the Lord.Demonstrating Christ’s love to the poor and needy.Making Jesus known where He is not known
Please pray for
Reaching Africa’s Unreached!
Any financially help you can give is greatly appreciated. We will seek to be wise in our stewardship of your gifts.
Reaching Africa's Unreached 