I hope this update finds you thankful for God’s blessings and presence in your lives.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”
James 1:17
Being away from America and family makes me appreciate all the past Thanksgiving celebrations with friends and family all the more. I am deeply grateful for all of you and the love you have shown to us through your words of encouragement, prayers, and financial support. We would not be here doing what we are doing without the support of God’s people who have a heart for Jesus and His mission (John 20:21).
Thank you for your prayers for protection! One recent evening at about 11PM a man came running down our drive full speed, headed for the front door. One of our guards ready with his AK, had it pointed at the man and ordered him to halt twice. When the man did not, instead of shooting the guard said “Stop in the Name of Jesus” just as the man approached the veranda. The intruder immediately fell to the ground with a loud scream! Praise God for our guards, Stephen and Aldo, who know Jesus and the power of His Name! After questioning the intruder it was determined he was most likely high on opium. Later he was escorted away by a local village counselor we know, who also is a brother. Carol and I are thanking the Lord for His protection and commented to each other that we must not ever become complacent! Thank you for your prayers!
As Carol recently wrote, we have had three teams from America come and go. Each came with their distinct giftings and were tremendous blessings to us and the people of Moyo and Yumbe Districts. The gospel was preached to the lost and people were saved, 31 pastors were strengthened through sound biblical teaching in our first RAU pastors retreat , discipleship took place, and people were shown love through ministry to their physical needs.
Seeing and being a part of this brings such joy to my heart. Often, when sitting on the front veranda, I think back to when I first drove by this piece of property in 2007 on the way to what was then still Sudan. It was on that very trip that the Lord placed this area on my heart and called me here. When the Lord calls all we must do is take a step at a time in obedience and He does the rest. Those of you who have kept up with my reports over the years know of door after door being opened and provision being given. What missionary, Hudson Taylor, once said is true, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Praise be to the Lord God Almighty! Thank you for being a part of what the Lord is doing here!
As you know we are nearly finished with Phase 1 of our vision which has consisted in developing relationships with local pastors/leaders,purchasing land, securing a land title, seeking favor with government officials/law enforcement, receiving NGO status, receiving 501c3 tax exempt status, Carol and I making our move to RAU, having a ministry vehicle suitable for the area, shipment of a container with Bibles/literature/other ministry items, having a Christ-exalting place to host ministry teams and pastors for training (Guesthouse and Hall of Tyrannus), and beginning to reach areas where there are no Christians or very few. We praise God for His wisdom and provision!
Here are specifics on what remains of Phase 1:
- The container currently remains in Kampala and Lord willing it will be released from Ugandan revenue soon to resume its journey north to us. We have a pad ready for it. There are some remaining papers which have to be signed by government officials before it can leave Kampala. Pray the documents will be signed soon! Each day they delay costs us money. The clearing fees will now be over $3000.Help us in this if you can.
- Patrick has had some “serious” discussions with the Kampala auto broker with whom we ordered our ’99 Land Cruiser. Lord willing it should be in Kampala in couple weeks. Please pray! We have received a lot of false information in the past. We really are in need of this vehicle for ministry.
- The four tukalu’s have been completely refurbished with a new African/American latrine and bathing station for guests. The four tukulu’s can sleep up to 17. The old tukalu kitchen has been demolished and our new four holed charcoal kitchen with attached living quarters for our cook Lucy is complete with the exception electrifying it off of the Guesthouse system, the water tower is completely finished, and the Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus just needs a few things. With our past guests and pastors’ retreat we have found out that our electrical system is not adequate. We need to add some more batteries for storage. We also need to be able to run our generator often to pump water while guests are here. We ran out of water often. We have a small room under our tank where we would like to place the generator and run underground wiring to the Guesthouse where the pump connection is located. There are also some more furniture items needed. Need: $5000
- After spending 2 months here at RAU for discipleship, Godfrey has been spending Saturdays up to Tuesdays in Obongi with new believers. Obongi has a population of about 20-25000. After our last two evangelistic trips there have been 16 who have trusted in Christ as Savior and Lord who have joined the few other believers in Obongi town. Godfrey is working one on one with them along with Bosco and Asili who are leading small churches outside Obongi town. We have found a tukalu which we are renting for Godfrey and when we leave for Christmas break he will make his full time move to Obongi to shepherd these new believers in Christ.There is now at least one evangelical church in Obongi town and RAU’s first church plant! PTL! We will continue to visit often to strengthen Godfrey and the new believers. Pray that Christ’s church will grow in this Muslim dominated town as we press on with our evangelism there. There are some short clips of one of our several open air preaching events in Obongi here.
- On Friday the 29th we will make our fourth trip to Yumbe. Remember Yumbe is a town nearing 35,000 people with less than 100 evangelical (called “born again” here) Christians. We were told this by a pastor who has worked for the past 8 years in Yumbe. When we first visited we thought there were around 300. We will have lunch with the three pastors in the town as well as 12 other pastors/leaders of Yumbe District. The District has over 500,000 with very,very few believers in it. One corner of the District has a number of believers in it but most of the rest of the district is 100% unreached and will remain that way unless some goes to them!We will work out strategies with the pastors in reaching Yumbe and I will share about ways RAU can help to strengthen the pastors of the district. Please pray for believers in Yumbe and our outreach there.
- We have been dialoging with several Congolese pastors who have had contact with the unreached Mbuti in the Iturie rain forest of Northeastern DR Congo. They have been checking out security issues in the area (there are number of rebel groups operating in the DR Congo) and the logistics of getting to this unreached group. The first trip will have to wait until I get back after Christmas. I will get back to you with further details and costs. Please continue to pray that the light of gospel can be brought to the Mbuti soon…”the Good News is only good if it gets there on time“!
- We have more teams from America coming after the new year and we will be hosting more pastor’s retreats. We would like to have more housing for the pastors for these retreats. In our last retreat, we had to taxi pastors each evening, which is not an easy thing to do here for various reasons. If you would like to help with this let me know.
- We have been actively clearing land so that we can start planting cash crops at the beginning of the next rainy season. Praise God we have a tractor coming in the container. However to till the land I will need to purchase a harrow. A new one can be purchased in Kampala and transported here for around $5000.
I hope that you do not tire in hearing about what we are seeking to do for Christ’s glory and the needs that lie before us. As we all lay everything before the feet of Jesus confessing that all we have, including our lives, belong to Him, the gospel will go forth to all those who do not have opportunity to hear the good news!
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
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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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