Co-workers Samuel,Mindra and I got back very late Friday (16th) night from Kochi (Yumbe District) from our evangelism outreach. First, we shared Christ one on one and gave out many tracts in the market. Friday is market day in Kochi, bringing in many from the surrounding areas. The favorite gospel tract in this predominantly Muslim trading center  was, “My Muslim Friend”.

“A providence is shaping our ends; a plan is developing in our lives; a supreme and loving Being is making all things work together for good.”

F.B. Meyer

Before we started, a Kochi local leader, a Muslim, shared with the crowd that he had invited us and encouraged the people to listen.  Ten days earlier on a trip to Yumbe, the Land Cruiser broke down in Kochi. It was at that time I met and was invited by this leader to come and preach in his community. We have slowly by slowly been working on going  to every trading center in Yumbe District to preach. It is hard to pick out among the many places which have few to no believers which one to choose next. The Lord made it easy for us to choose this time! The primary tribe in Yumbe District is the Aringa and they are categorized by the “Joshua Project” as an unreached people group.

When we had finished setting up the sound equipment the Pilgrim Yumbe church choir sang passionately and I preached my heart out (from John 10:1-18) from a top the Land Cruiser. The Lord was gracious and many trusted in Christ for salvation! We took down 24 names for follow up. Thank you to those who prayed!

Then, we drove a short distance to a school soccer (football) field and, again, set up the equipment. There in that large open field we showed the “Jesus” film in Aringa and well over a 1000 watched! Watching them “watch and interact” with the film will forever be imprinted in my mind! Thanks again for praying. Only the Lord knows the lasting fruit of our time in Kochi. The hard work of discipleship remains.

“God has great things in store for His people; they ought to have large expectations.”

C.H. Spurgeon

I was running the projector off the Land Cruiser batteries/inverter. It worked very well; however, when we finished the LC would not start….a group of guys pushed and I popped the clutch and it started and we were off to Reaching Africa’s Unreached.

This coming Tuesday we will go to Obongi to be with Godfrey and the church, sharing some words of encouragement and setting up drip irrigation demo plots.  Several Imams have been invited and will also be taught on drip irrigation. From mid-December up to the end of February little to no rain falls in our West Nile region.

Then on Wednesday we have eight Sheikhs from Yumbe coming here to RAU for drip irrigation training and interaction. By God’s grace I have become friends with these Muslim leaders and through that friendship I am having the opportunity to show Christ’s love both in dialog and physical acts of love.

Continue to pray for South Sudan. Two refugee camps have now been added here in our Moyo community in addition to the ones in Yumbe and Adjumani Districts. More refugees have fled South Sudan than any other country in the world in 2016. We see many refugees streaming by since we are only one mile from the South Sudan border and on one of the main routes out of the country. Since money has been given I have been on the hunt for machines to help upgrade the soybeans and rice we grow here at RAU. With these  grains and our bananas (we have around 7,000 banana plants) and 740 grafted mangoes we will be able to tangibly show the love of Christ to those who have had to flee their homes because of this terrible war.

With Emma, RAU’s expert agricultural officer, we are looking to set up drip irrigation units with refugee leaders. We also hope to work with the Ugandan government, UN, and relief agencies which have arrived in Moyo to train refugee leaders here at RAU in agriculture. Of course, in midst of these physical acts of love, we will always openly and winsomely proclaim the gospel with “words” which are necessary component of “love”. It is faulty thinking and unbiblical to separate our “acts of love” and our “words of love”.

On a personal level, as we approach Christmas, Carol and I are struggling with having the right attitude about it. I cannot express our struggle any better than the way Carol has done in one of her Facebook posts on the 14^th. If we are not friends on Facebook with you please send a friend request.  Through Facebook we are able to quickly put up many pictures and write about ministry events.

Please pray for Carol and me as we seek to find our contentment in Jesus this Christmas season!

“Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”

Matthew 1:23

(Carol writes)“A conversation (a simple schedule planning) birthed an epiphany today.

Jacob and I were discussing our plans for Christmas as he had been invited to preach somewhere on Christmas Day. When I began to think about it, I experienced a deep emptiness and sense of loss in contemplating how to celebrate Christmas. After all, how can it even be a celebration when we are thousands of miles away from our children and grandchildren…and our church family…and all the heartwarming traditions and flourish of activities and social gatherings?

This lack of desire to celebrate Christmas was a face-slapping, wake-up moment for both Jacob and me! Stripped of the prospect of enjoying activities and traditions which normally characterize the holiday season and finding no joy in anticipating a Christmas celebration was jarring. It awakened me to just how much all the traditions (though not bad in themselves) had become my reason for the season.

We had a great conversation on that topic over lunch. It turned out that Jacob was planning to talk about this very thing (finding Jesus at the center of our Christmas celebration) on the radio this evening during his one-hour spot every other Wednesday evening on TBS. Apparently, the real Christmas in Uganda tends to become waylaid by commercialism, sensuality and greed as well. Jacob explained how he wanted to prepare everyone to see it differently this year…including us!

I pray that, in a fresh and joyful way, my heart will “prepare Him room” this Christmas and that “Emmanuel, God with us,” will become a precious truth to me again!”

 

Thank you for all for sacrificial love, prayers, and financial support!

Jacob (Carol) Lee