Looking Back With Thankfulness, Looking Forward With Hope

By Carol Lee

Jacob and I hope your Christmas Season was blessed and joyfully celebrated! In spite of illness, the Lord gave us a gracious window of health in which to enjoy a special time with all of our children and grandchildren. What a blessing! We pray that this New Year will hold many God-orchestrated adventures of grace and growth.

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We arrived in the States a little weary and bedraggled after starting our journey…both of us…with a bout of Plasmodium falciparum malaria (and a UTI to top it off, for me!) And, just when we thought we were healing, Jacob came down with another bout of malaria to lay him low! It was his 8th time. Fortunately we brought medications back with us. What a great opportunity to put into practice

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10:

“But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We are mending a little more slowly than we would like, but we ARE on the mend.

Looking back over the last few years we wanted to remind you of all the Lord has done and has allowed us ALL to participate in through financial partnership, prayer and hands-on involvement.

*19 four-day retreats held at RAU (since its beginning) comprised of foundational teachings as well as, now, agricultural training. The average attendance is 20 church leaders per retreat. Our theme verses are 2 Timothy 2:2 and Acts 19:9b-10. Due to the completion of Lydia’s House, we have been able to include women church leaders in the retreats.

The Lord has opened so many doors of opportunity! And there are more that are opening. This instills great hope in us as we look towards what the Lord will do! However, the open doors come with the need for some planning and development! As we anticipate the move of God among the Aringa and see the growing number of small church plants in the Metu Mountains and Obongi, we are made aware of a huge need to prepare men who can step into the role of shepherd as new churches are planted. We want to be ready for the great white fields of harvest! This is what our goal is moving forward:

We have on-going, yearly needs so that we can continue and finish the work that has been started!

As we look to 2016:

*We need more monthly financial partners to help us as we budget for daily operating costs of ministry. Even a small, monthly donation of $15-30 is extremely helpful. (Daily operating costs , retreat expenses, Land Cruiser upkeep and fuel, copying and distribution of Muslim apologetic booklets and foreign language Bibles etc.).

*We still have several children who need private Christian school sponsorships for the school year at $900/child for the whole year. This includes room and board. There are many more children to sponsor if there are donors. School fees, including in government schools, are the hardest for people to come up with as cash flow is always a problem for most families in our West Nile region. They may have food to eat from their gardens but not enough cash to pay for their child’s school fees. Kids often drop out of school for this reason or they may have to wait until school fees can be collected before returning. In addition, the local government school classroom size ranges from 100-200 students per teacher making it very difficult for children to receive a quality education.

*Funds to continue the construction of two church structures in the Metu Mountains

Please take a look at a link to one of our fundraisers!

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/reaching-africas-unreached

Most of all, we want you all to know the depth of our gratitude for your working alongside of us through the years and, in particular, this past year. What a blessing and an encouragement to be fellow workers with the Lord in the West Nile region of Uganda and beyond to Southwestern South Sudan and the Northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Jacob’s theme verse as we travel to churches this furlough is 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 which speaks of the common goal and unity of those who plant and water. This is includes you – all of you who pray and give to the work of RAU or any other Christ-exalting ministry. What you do on this side fuels everything that happens “over there!”

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

2 Corinthians 9:8-12

Grace and peace to you all through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Love,

Carol (and Jacob) Lee

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReachingAfricasUnreached

For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:

Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa

Tax deductible  charitable donations may  be made via PayPal.  PayPal also has a way to make reoccurring monthly gifts. To do so  please click their link below. PayPal deducts  a small amount from each gift as a processing fee. All gifts given through PayPal are now tax deductible as 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.