April 2016 – Reaching Africa's Unreached

Lond 17 — Lodonga Sheikhs receiving Arabic Bibles (Blue) and Aringa New Testaments (Red) * We were graciously granted permission to take this and the following photographs.

Thank you for your prayers! Saturday April 16th I had a blessed time proclaiming the gospel in Word and deed in Lodonga, a town in Yumbe District between Yumbe town and Koboko town. Twenty-five Lodonga Imams/Sheikhs were registered in attendance and a number of other Mosque members were also able to come. We met under a large mango tree just outside the Mosque. Unfortunately, at the last minute, something detained Carol and she was not able to come. It is too bad as there were 25+ women who also gathered to listen. This was the first time we had so many women who had the opportunity to be with us.

Lond 1 — Group photo of many of us under a beautiful Mango tree just outside a Mosque.

Our meeting began with introductions, giving out of medicines, reading glasses, Bibles, and Christian-Muslim apologetic materials.

Lond 67 — The Sheikhs were kind and hospitable

Lond 8 — The County Khard making his opening statements. A Khard is the elected leader among the Imams and Sheikhs. He is a very gracious and kind man and I count him as a new friend.

Lond 13 — The County Khard trying out his new reading glasses.

Lond 14 — Each Imam/Sheikh received an anti malarial treatment and de-worming medicine. We gave out all that we had to others who were with us.

Lond 15 — Each Imam and Sheikh receive an Arabic Bible, ESV Global Study Bible, and an Aringa New Testament. Aringa is their native tongue. The Aringa NT was first published in June 2014. They do not have the Old Testament in Aringa.

Lond 4 — An Imam with with his new reading glasses and his own Aringa New Testament.

Lond 9 — An Imam with reading glasses , ESV Global Study Bible, Arabic Bible, Aringa New Testament, and Christian-Muslim apologetic materials I have put together. Any financial help in making booklets, buying of these materials and Bibles would be appreciated! https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/

Lond 5 — Imams patiently waiting while others are receiving their materials.

Lond 12 — Here Sheikhs looking through gospel booklets in English, Arabic, and Aringa. Many of the Sheikhs had made a haj to Mecca. One had made three haj’s!

Lond 62 — The written word is the missionary that never grows tired!

After the Bibles and literature was handed out I was given time to speak of which I took full advantage for close to 90 minutes.Everyone listened respectfully and intently. I know the Lord was at work in their hearts!

Lond 6 — Proclaiming the glorious gospel...Romans 1:16!

Lond 7 — Only the Holy Spirit knows what they are thinking as they hear the gospel message

Lond 44

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Lond 40 — “How will they know unless someone preaches to them?”

Lond 48 — The Word of God is living and active!

Lond 35 — “All that the Father has given me will come to me” John 6:37

Lond 54 — May the eyes of their hearts be open!

Lond 57

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Lond 50 — Preach the gospel to everyone!

Lond 52

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Lond 38

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Lond 39 — The call to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ!

After I spoke three elder Sheikhs spoke. They had each made haj’s to Mecca (one made three pilgrimages to Mecca). They each stated that they were very happy that I had come to them and one called me a fellow Sheikh because of my manner of teaching. It was his way to honor me. They promised to read the things which were given to me and invited me back for further dialog and discussion. The saddest thing I heard was when they said no one had ever taken the time to come and speak to them as I did….I told them I was very sad about that.

Lond 60 — Two of the three elderly Sheikhs who spoke

The Joshua Project categorizes the Aringa as unreached people group with less than 2% of them claiming to be Christian.

The leaders promised to read what was given them and have me back again for more dialogs, something I am eager to do. They all were very kind and hospitable!

Lond 37 — The Aringa are categorized as an unreached tribe…that is changing by the grace of God!

Please pray for the Aringa tribe whom God loves. May the Lord continue to open the door to share the love of Jesus with the Aringa. We all at Reaching Africa’s Unreached earnestly desire your prayers and support!

Jacob (Carol) 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

The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it. (Jacob Lee)

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.

12935218_10206057331328176_700189357_n — With our visitors on Saturday, April 2nd: four Yumbe Sheikhs and friends, along with our co-worker, Charles, and his little one

On my! Time is passing quickly! We blink and realize that it’s time to write again!

This has been a season of building, planting and sowing spiritual seed (“to everything there is a season…”)

Renovations on the tukalus are coming along nicely and nearing completion. Once they are done, we hope to start putting retreats back on the calendar. There are many church leaders who are eager to bring groups of fellow leaders in for teaching, encouragement and capacity building. As you see in the photos, metal roofs on the tukalus have been added and raised higher, and larger, sturdier windows and doors have been added for safety and ventilation. We are blessed to have an expert builder, Saalongo, who does a wonderful job of converting Jacob’s ideas into reality! I think you will notice that Jacob has developed the trademark “RAU style” in terms of the uniformity of decor.

12924409_10206081422850449_4339403023855947399_n — Setting “homemade” poles to string wire so that there is solar power in each tukalu.

12957315_10206099188214572_302268586_n — Looking from the tukalus to Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus

As we mentioned in previous letters, we have planted our crops (Soybean, Upland Rice, and Beans, as well as Watermelon) and are now working on vegetables. Seeds (onions, cabbage, carrots, peppers and tomatoes) have been planted in nursery beds and, when ready, will be transplanted in spaces which have been made ready for the seedlings. The soybeans and rice have started germinating, but we are badly in need of more rain. We have gotten a little, but if we want all of the seeds to germinate well we need it to rain more!! Yet more banana suckers and mango seedlings are being planted. In a few years we will be able to disseminate the fruit into the marketplace. Planting crops will be a thing of the past and we will have ourselves a large fruit orchard. The crops and fruits are means to garner funds which can,in turn, be put into the ministry.

12923160_10206081489412113_725151592004747592_n — Here the guys are digging holes for the banana suckers. In between each grafted mango there will be two matoke banana plants

12472560_10206081490492140_5116769079884028291_n — Soaking the suckers to clear away parasites and insects which have made their home in the nodes. We do not want to be planting these “*nasties*” in our field.

Just yesterday, Jacob, Emma and a couple of our men went to Lefori and picked up a FREE rice threshing machine which operates by man-power (pedaling). [We now have another aspect of our miracle weight-loss program in place for anyone who wants an exotic weight-loss getaway package!] Jacob has the gears of his brain whirling to come up with a way to attach it to the tractor PTO in order to mechanize the process. [So hurry, while opportunities last, for your exotic exercise and diet getaway deal!]

12969312_10206099190574631_494503812_n — Manual threshing machine

12980580_10206099191494654_387739396_n — I think there is a better way and it is called “PTO”

Through experience we have seen the need and upcoming demand for grafted mango seedlings, not only for ourselves, but the community at large. They are hard to find in this area. Emma has envisioned this as a great opportunity for RAU to become a supplier of grafted mango seedlings as he has the know-how to graft the seedlings himself. In order to facilitate this process we would need to build a screen house which could house the seedlings. We would like to put the idea out there and request your financial help to make this project happen. Not long ago, Emma put on a short, one day in-service on grafting mango seedling for some friends from South Sudan. He has had many requests for seedlings from folks in the community who have heard him on the radio.

Ag 3 — Emma teaching how to graft mangoes

Our partnership with TBS (Transnile Broadcasting Service), a powerful, privately-owned local radio station, has been a blessing. Not only does Jacob have the opportunity to preach every other Wednesday evening for an hour, but the weekly Friday night call-in Agricultural radio program has taken off like gangbusters! It is a widely and wildly popular show. Through Emma, people in the community and even the radio managers themselves we have found out how much the program is loved and appreciated. Calls are coming in from as far away as Gulu, Yumbe and Arua! TBS has been gracious in doing cost-sharing with us for the two-hour radio program. It has been gratifying to see the fruit of encouragement and capacity building so quickly.

Spiritually speaking, Jacob is continuing to sow seed, especially into the hearts and lives of Muslims in our area of Moyo and Obongi, but especially, in Yumbe District (Aringa Tribe), Koboko District (Kakwa Tribe) and, now, Arua. He has now met five times with groups of Imams/Sheikhs from Yumbe town (four times in Yumbe and once at RAU), once with a group from Kuru, and this coming Saturday (the 16th) with a new group from Lodonga. Both Kuru and Lodonga are within Yumbe District. The topic in each meeting has been and will continue to be “Who Is Jesus?”.

With Yumbe Imams and Sheikhs. A growing friendship has developed.

The materials Jacob has compiled and written or printed off the internet (specifically targeted to sharing the Good News among Muslim Sheikhs and Imams) have been reproduced in large numbers and are being given out freely in many places. They are warmly being received and read and, in some cases, kept in Mosque libraries. Just a few days ago, a young man from Arua, who had heard about what Jacob has been doing among the Muslim leaders of Yumbe District and about the materials which he has made available, stopped by to obtain some of these materials to aid him in the work he is doing among Muslims in Arua.

12969343_10206099190174621_767223319_n — A sample of what some Imams and Sheikhs have been receiving from RAU. On the bottom left are “Trailblazers” in Arabic and Swahili in partnership with “Cattle For Christ” ministries and a generous donor.

Just recently, Jacob verified with the Joshua Project (experts on identifying unreached people groups around the world) that the Aringa tribe,which is primarily within Yumbe District, is listed as having less than a 2% “Christian” population, which includes both Catholics and Protestants. This places the Aringa in the category of “unreached.” Please pray for the seed that has been sown among the Aringa; pray for the “rain” of the Spirit on the hearts of Muslims who are reading the word of God and the other materials which they have received. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Please also consider giving towards the cost of printing more of the materials to give away and the purchasing of more Arabic Bibles as well apologetic books/booklets. Printing is an especially expensive endeavor here.

March 45 — Allah’s Korbani Plan of Salvation

March 42

A week ago, we entertained some very special guests at RAU…4 Sheikhs (a respected leader, well trained in Arabic and the Qur’an/ Hadiths) from Yumbe district! Two are County Khards. Khards are elected leaders among their fellow Imams and Sheikhs. Jacob’s friendship with Yumbe Imams and Sheikhs has grown over our last four dialogs in Yumbe town. In the various meetings there have been 20-30 Imams. These four Sheikhs came for lunch, but also had a tour of the premises, receiving some agricultural information along the way. After lunch, Jacob spent time getting to know each one more personally, learning about their families and history. When Jacob asked me to play the keyboard for them, they each, in turn, requested an opportunity to play it as well. That was a lot of fun! We sent them off with some of our local mangoes as well as some watermelon and hot pepper seeds for their gardens. We enjoyed an up close and personal time with them and they also expressed gratitude for the invitation and opportunity.

12935317_10206057302327451_729968812_n — Sheikhs at RAU

12957119_10206057303407478_1004736904_n — Lessons on grafted mangoes

12910187_10206057296687310_189208060_n — RAU walkabout.

12920896_10206057311967692_664416703_n — Food and Fellowship

12910286_10206057315887790_735405613_n — Each Sheikh enjoyed a turn at the keyboard. One even sang us a song in Arabic.

12957151_10206057316527806_843025367_n — Each Sheikh has received a parallel English/Arabic Bible along with other reading material, reading glasses, and medicines. Discussions involved continual dialogs on “Who Is Jesus?” as well as agricultural trainings in Yumbe and/or at RAU.

12910281_10206057332328201_2043892245_n — Thankfully, the Sheikhs felt comfortable enough to come and visit. We had a good time of fellowship. Each time we are together we know the Holy Spirit is continuing to work in their hearts.The Lord has opened a wonderful door to share the love of Jesus in both word and deed. Please continue in your prayers!

Jacob and I are very grateful for you who partner with us through your prayers, words of encouragement, and financial gifts. We pray that you never grow weary this gift of well doing.

Here are continuing prayer requests and opportunities for giving. If you have any questions feel free to write and ask. Thank you!

*Establishment of Bible School for the strengthening of pastors in the area and the raising up of new ones.

Study Bibles given to all who attendant leadership training

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*God’s work in the hearts of the Imams and Sheikhs who have heard the gospel, are reading the Bible and the Christian literature given to them. Pray also that the gifts of love, reading glasses, medicines, and other physical items, are used of the Lord to help bring them to salvation in Jesus. Continuing funds are needed for the printing and buying of literature and Arabic Bibles. [We have friends visiting us in the first part June and could bring some literature along with them. If you are interested in sending some with them, write and I will get back to you with information. We also have some suitcases of literature we had to leave behind on our last US visit as we had exceeded the limit of baggage if you want to be instrumental in shipping those to our friends who are coming at the beginning of June].

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*Finishing of tukalu renovation and resumption of leadership retreats here at RAU

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*Good growing seasons for the RAU crops and fruit trees.

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*God’s blessing in our agricultural training on the ground and through the radio air waves .

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*Continual protection and health for all the RAU team ( (Jacob and I were last sick when we came to states with malaria). Health-wise, especially pray for Pastor Godfrey who leads our church plant in Obongi. Conditions there make it easy to be sick. He is coming to RAU today for some rest and recovery from something which has made him very sick this last week.