I pray you all had a good Thanksgiving and are continuing with a spirit of thanksgiving in your hearts expressed through your lips and actions. Carol and I are grateful for the innumerable blessings we have received over the years. Most of all, we are grateful for God’s grace and mercy demonstrated to us through Jesus Christ! I am also thankful for my many African friends and my sweet wife being here with me. Through these lovely people and by God’s grace the sting of missing family/loved ones is lessened on days like Thanksgiving.
Last time I wrote you about an upcoming meeting with pastors in Yumbe. Yesterday (the 29th), Pastor Abraham, Nurse Sam , Alfred and I left in the morning and returned in the evening to RAU. We met with the only three evangelical pastors of this city of 35,000. There were also several pastors from the district with us, as well as a few church workers. Yumbe district has around 500,000 people and very,very few Christians.
Each person shared their hearts, praises,difficulties and hopes for their people to be reached with the glorious gospel. Pressures against Christians in this district are constant and strong. I was humbled by the brothers and sisters great faith in Jesus in the midst of difficulties. What an honor to work shoulder to shoulder together with them for the glory of Jesus! You who partner with us are also linked to them!
I was told this was the first gathering for pastors from different denominations (Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican, Calvary Chapel, Independent and Lifegate. [Lifegate is my home church which has sent us out. Lifegate is a member of Sovereign Grace Ministries ]) We gathered together with the expressed purpose of working together to see Yumbe town and District full of praise and worship of Jesus. Upon arriving home I had the following message from one of the attending pastors in my email: “Praise Jesus, dear father in the Lord! I hope you reached well. I praise God for finally remembering Yumbe people through RAU. I am praying with you for His will be done. Thank you. ______ from ______ Church. God bless you greatly.” I had opportunity to share with them the vision and mission of Reaching Africa’s Unreached and how we can work together with them to reach Yumbe with message of redemption found only in Christ Jesus. I also told them about many people praying for them and the spread of gospel in Yumbe. They all were greatly encouraged!

Pastor Abraham’s older brother, Ponziano, wrote me an encouraging word along with a brief history of Yumbe. This is what he wrote, “That place Yumbe has been a stronghold of Islam in northern Uganda since from the time of Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1886 to 1889. It also became the backbone of Idi Amin’s regime because Amin, being a Moslem himself, trusted in the loyalty of people from Yumbe because of their religion and made many of them commanders in his army and gave them high ranking government positions, including the vice presidency. It came to be that young people from Yumbe despised higher education which they felt was not necessary to advance in the military and in the government of Amin. When the tides changed, the people of Yumbe had double the tragedy from the aftermaths of Amin’s atrocities: they not only suffered revenge from the rest of Uganda as did all of West Nile, but they also were the least educated of all the West Nile tribes and therefore most ill-prepared to re-integrate back into the fabric of civic participation at the national level. Evidence of this may still be apparent on the ground. Yumbe is therefore a virgin land for the gospel because neither the Catholic Church nor the Protestant Church who partitioned colonial Uganda between themselves ever established shop in Yumbe. So you guys are where Apostle Paul boasted of being – going where no one else has been to preach the gospel before, so that he would not be working on the foundations laid by someone else. So take pride in this privilege the Lord has accorded to you, taking care to lay a strong foundation with the workmanship of the Holy Spirit who has opened this door to you because of His great mercy and love for the people of Yumbe. And may God be with you and confirm His work with bountiful harvest of souls!”

I awoke early this morning with an extra energy in my step, I am physically tired but refreshed in my heart to see what the Lord is doing in Yumbe! I am grateful for you my friends…your prayers and support…thank you! Romans 15:20 was indelibly printed upon my heart in 1977 by Leonard Ravenhill when he quoted it to me in his office. It brings great joy to my heart to hear Ponziano quote it in relation to Yumbe!
In February we will have a special retreat here at RAU for pastors/church leaders dedicated to Yumbe leaders and those called to minister in this Muslim district. Kevin Turner, who was just with us, will be bringing a team at that time to help us in the retreat as well as our outreach to Yumbe and Moyo Districts.
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There will be many future trips to Yumbe for discipleship and evangelism in the years ahead. I rejoice in that!
Jesus says, “Yumbe is mine”! We all say “Amen”. Can I get an “Amen” from you?!!
Godfrey has spent the whole week in Obongi discipling the new believers there. Please continue to pray for him and the new RAU church plant in Obongi town. Thank you for your prayers for our outreach to both Yumbe and Obongi. Please continue in your prayers and giving which enable us to do what we are doing.

There is no new news on the container. Thomas, our faithful brother who has been working with us, has been sitting in offices days and keeps being told to come back the next day. We are in the process of asking the political leaders in Moyo, with whom God has given us favor, to be giving additional pressure for it to be released to us. Please keep praying for its release. We need it to arrive before we return to the USA for Christmas. Please also pray for its release and the $3000+ for clearing fees.

There is a tremendous amount of water which comes off the Guesthouse roof which is lost. Water is a very precious resource to us, especially throughout the dry season. The dry season runs from December to March. I have received a bid to harvest this roof water. To dig an 80,000 liter in-ground tank, purchase strong gutters and a pipe system to bring the water to tank, with labor, is $9,000. This would be a secondary source to our well and could gravity feed the tukalu guest living quarters and be used for irrigation. It also could be pumped into our above ground tank for the Guesthouse if it is needed. When we have had groups here we have often run out of water and then are dependent on a generator. Fuel is much more expensive here than in the America and it is often difficult to get. I believe this water harvest system to be a wise investment and would be a helpful tool for many years to come.

We leave Entebbe for Texas on December 17 to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. We sold our vehicles when we made our move to Africa. If anyone from the Seguin area has a vehicle we may use to get around in while Texas please let me know. Thank you!
Your prayers and support are as equally important as us physically being here. Only together can we advance the faith of Jesus where He is not known!
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.
Jacob(for the both of us)
Web Site: www.ReachingAfricasUnreached.com
Blog: www.ReachingAfricasUnreached.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReachingAfricasUnreached
Small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
Our “wish lists” may be found at Amazon
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it. May the Lord grant each of us His followers the wherewithal to be obedient disciples! Jacob Lee
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