Baptism service in the northern part of Darfur in the Republic of (North) Sudan
Greetings from Stephenville Texas!
Yes, I wrote Stephenville, Texas! We arrived at midnight February 15 at the Dallas airport and were picked up by our daughter Anna and our two beautiful granddaughters, Keira and Clara. After a stop at IHop we made it to Stephenville and were greeted by our youngest grandchild Rylan and a bit later by Kenny. Oh what joy to see them again! Because our trip is only two weeks (travel included) we will miss seeing the rest of our immediate family.
On a sad note, while in flight here, we received word that my brother John, who is a little over a year younger than me, had died. He had been fighting throat cancer. I am glad he is a believer and we had some time on our last visit with him on the Iowa “farm” where I grew up together with him. At that visit, he shared even though he could barely speak how the Lord had been very near to him. We prayed together with the hope and assurance we would see each other in heaven. I have many precious memories with him. The most difficult part for Carol and me living on the Uganda/South Sudan border is being a long way away from our children, their spouses, 9 grandchildren, immediate family and our dear, dear friends. At this time no service has been planned for John. Lord willing, when we are back in the summer, we can be part of memorial remembrance.
So why are we in Texas for this short time? Last summer, by God’s providence, I got in contact with the lead pastor, Scott Frerking, of Hill Country Fellowship Burnet Texas. Back in the late 70’s his family ministered to both Carol and me in the early days of being saved. Such a wonderful, Christ loving family! Scott was 8 or 9 then. Scott invited us to come on a Sunday to Burnet and preach during our last trip to the States. The church graciously and warmly received us. Since then they have brought us on board as one of their missionaries they pray for and support. Hill Country Fellowship is a very mission minded church! They invited us to their 4th Annual missions conference and that is why we are back for a short spell. Please pray that many hearts are moved away from just living the “American Dream” and becoming zealous for reaching the nations that do not have the gospel of grace.
I am happy to report, since Carol’s last newsletter just a few weeks ago, that I received a report from the northern part of Darfur. Darfur is a state in the Republic of (North) Sudan. This is a post I just put up on my Facebook page:
“I just saw one of the most thrilling videos in my whole life….and I am 67. I am sorry to say I cannot post it. It was a video of new believers from the northern Darfur state in the Republic of (North) Sudan being baptized! If you do not know about Darfur please investigate. It is one of the most unreached areas in the world. We have the joy and honor of working with believers from there. Recently, they have received 50 plus boxes containing Arabic Study Bibles and biblically sound Christian books in Arabic. We still have left in one of our containers one tipper lorry load more to head there and other parts of Sudan to Christian leaders….2 Timothy 2:2. Also through the ministry of Study to Be Approved, we have been able to send Kindle Fires loaded with Arabic Christian resources given to us for church leaders in the Republic of (North) Sudan.
I have just received a message that one of those doing the baptisms is facing threats from community leaders. Please please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ there!
Many thanks to all who pray and support Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU)! Please continue to pray and consider supporting RAU financially. ( https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/ )” On another note, our dear long time friend and Aringa coworker, Onduga Charles, wrote that in March they are having the launching of nine Old Testament books that have been just translated and are being put into print. Charles is a lead member on the translation team of 20. The team has asked me to be the “Guest of Honor“. What a privilege and joy! In 2014, Carol and I, along with some friends, were at the launching of the first New Testament in print for the Aringa. A life long memory!! The Aringa are in the category of an unreached people group according to the Joshua Project. Jesus is building his church among the Aringa! Please take a quick look again at our last blog post/newsletter to find other prayer requests. Thank you and God bless you abundantly. Carol and I as well the RAU team greatly appreciate you!
Checks may be written to RAU and sent to our secretary Beth and she will deposit them into RAU’s account : Lifegate-RAU, 395 Lifegate Ln., Seguin, TX. 78155
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
When at least 35% of the world; “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!
Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!
Imagine you are on a roller coaster ride. You have already survived many fast-paced ups and sudden downs, corkscrew twists and unexpected turns. And then…you slow down as you enter a dark, disorienting tunnel….but the pace picks up as a promise that something exciting is up ahead. Suddenly, the light at the end of the tunnel comes upon you like a flash and you are off, again, to a wild ride.
THAT! could be a description of our lives in the disorienting and disrupting times of COVID-19 and Ebola! But now, the speed is picking up and, suddenly, we are experiencing the flash of light at the end of the tunnel signaling that the ride is about to get wild–again!
Jacob and I are so grateful for the many lessons learned (even the most difficult and painful ones), for grace for a different season of life, for a renewed confidence in the sovereign goodness of God, and for the continuing privilege of displaying the beauty of Christ in the Gospel by word and deed. The last two- and-a-half years have been humbling, yet grounding, as we have dug deeper in our knowledge and experience of the Father and His loving plans for us. One of our morning devotional books has been especially helpful in orienting us toward gratitude to a God who is not surprised or de-throned by what we consider to be ups and downs and twists and turns in our story:
“But there are no contingencies with God. Our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised, never caught off guard, never frustrated by unexpected developments. God does as He pleases, and that which pleases Him is always for His glory and our good. Our lives are also cluttered with a lot of “if onlys”: “If only I had done this,” or “If only that had not happened.” But again, God has no “if onlys.” God never makes a mistake; God has no regrets. “This God—his way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30). We can trust God. He is trustworthy. And so we’re told, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (62:8). Such encouragement is needed because so often our faith falters in various situations while we await the outcome. And frequently our situations don’t really have a happy ending. Is God sovereign then also? This is the crucial question. We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don’t understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur. As we seek God’s glory, we may be sure He has purposed our good and won’t be frustrated in fulfilling that purpose.“
Jerry Bridges in “31 Days Toward Trusting God”
As we have shared in past newsletters, we made the most of COVID-19 and Uganda’s Ebola’s uncertainties by preparing the campus and the buildings for an influx of TEAM! Lydia’s House is only a good cleaning and some minor tasks away from our being able to move in and settle. There is very little left to do to make the other homes ready–initially, for teams that are coming in March, April and May, and then, hopefully by the end of the year, for our two, long-prayed-for families–the Pryce’s and Langworthy’s with ABWE.
In February, Jacob and I will take a whirlwind trip to the States for a special Missions Conference in Burnet, Texas hosted by Hill Country Fellowship. We will attend as invited guests along with a number of other missionaries they support. We look forward to that time for refreshment, fellowship and connection with like-minded, Great Commission partners, sandwiched on either side by a short stay with Anna (our daughter) and Kenny, Keira, Clara and Rylan Danley.
March 20-25th, RAU will be hosting the ABWE‘s Good Soil Team, once again, for the “Roots of Faith: Old Testament” course which was cut short last time by a medical emergency (thankfully with a God-glorifying, joyful outcome!!). We are hoping to have the same attendees back again so they can receive the full benefit of the course. Jacob and I are grateful to Randy Southwell and team for keeping us on their radar and making it a priority to try again. (Randy was the one God graciously spared from a heart attack and yet, he is not deterred from “round two“!)
In April, we are privileged to host a team of veteran doctors, nurses (and others) who are members of ABWE’s International Healthcare Ministry (IHM). In past newsletters, we had reported about a tract of land that was purchased with some kind of medical facility in mind. Last summer, the IHM was gracious to meet with Jacob and me and give wise counsel on how to proceed–mainly, slowwwly. By the end of the meeting they had determined to plan a survey trip to help us assess the greatest needs for this area and how those needs might be fleshed out while keeping the Gospel front and center. We look forward to their collective wisdom and insight.
The month of May will be about as packed as it could be–and still be survivable!! In the first week of May, Paul Ortega and a team from the USA, as well as from Pearl Haven Ministries in Mbale, Uganda, will partner to bring medical personnel (Doctors, nurses, lab techs and pharmacists), lab test kits, and pharmaceuticals to do a medical and Gospel outreach–2 days in the Metu Mountains and 2 days at the RAU campus. Some of the team members will also have a children’s outreach while the rest are addressing the health needs of the people who come for care. We were blessed by Paul’s team in the past as they served wholeheartedly as unto the Lord, and the recipients of their ministry have been many grateful people.
May 15th-20th, two of the authors of “Helping Without Hurting in Africa,” Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and Anthony Sytsma, will personally come and teach the course to a gathered group of Moyo/Metu, Yumbe/Obongi/Refugee Settlement church leaders. Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze is a Ugandan and the holder of a Master’s in Management and Organizational Development, Bachelor of Science in Community-Based Development, and a Diploma in Business Management. Anthony Sytsma and his wife, Sara, both work for Resonate Global Mission in Uganda, where Anthony mentors and teaches pastors. Anthony’s wife, Sara, will also be joining us to teach some practical ideas in agricultural, as well as cooking methods, clay ovens, nutrition, reducing fuel costs, etc. She teaches a whole number of agricultural techniques and practical tips for small scale subsistence farmers.
With great joy (and to the joy of many who sat under his teaching years ago), we welcome Ron Zeiner back to RAU on May 26th (the retreat will be May 29-June 2nd) to teach an Old Testament (OT) survey, book by book. Ron is the Pastor at Bread of Life Church in Uvalde, Texas, and has been a longtime friend going back to when Lifegate (our sending church) was first formed. We are thankful to JoAnna, his wife, for turning him loose! In probably one of the hardest tasks a good OT scholar could be assigned, Ron has distilled each OT book to its most vital storyline and implications. Many pastors are able to remember his comparative study on Jonah and Peter and how blessed they were by the study. Jacob and I are blessed to have him back here!
June will bring a welcome respite from the whirr of events as we prepare for our furlough to the USA for 3 months (July through September). Right away in July, we will attend a “New Missionary Orientation” at the ABWE headquarters as Associate missionaries. As Jacob and I soberly assess our lives, we recognize that there must be vision bearers after us who can and will continue the ministry. ABWE has stood with us by identifying missionaries from their group who are willing!! After that, we will, Lord willing, have a fun-packed vacation with our 3 children and their families–all together for the first time since 2018. From there, we will begin our itinerating to supporting churches and our sending church, Lifegate.
Please keep us and all of these teams in your prayers for safe travel and effective ministry!
As much as I do not thrive on the adrenaline rush of a fast paced life, it is wonderful to have a full calendar of activity that reflects most clearly our vision for being here in northwestern Uganda–to serve the local church leaders from Moyo and Yumbe District churches as well as Sudanese church leaders residing in the nearby refugee settlement camps by taking part in the development of pastors and leaders who are growing in the knowledge and love of Christ, growing in character and integrity and growing in love for the flocks to which God has called them to serve. The call to “teach faithful people who will also teach others” is what energizes the ministry of RAU (2 Timothy 2:2).
Jacob and I often pray with gratitude for all of you who have stood with us and participated through your prayers and financial gifts, through encouraging communications and care for our souls. As we have said before, RAU is only a pipeline of grace. Ministries and missions were never meant to have their focus on the work of individuals. In his book, “Becoming a Healthy Team,” which we are reading together as a ministry team, Stephen Macchia writes the following:
“Jesus sent the Twelve out to fulfill his mission, share his message, and perform life-changing ministry. This motley group of called-out ones was privileged to partner with the Savior in ministry beyond measure. The likes of the disciples are known today as followers of Christ who are willing to die to self so that the life, love, and mission of Christ may be evidenced in this world…From the time of Pentecost to the earliest growth of the Christian church, the believers were known to share all they had with one another so that the mission, message, and ministry of Christ would be multiplied in their generation. The ripple effects of this movement of the Spirit remain actively alive today—hallelujah!“
Jacob and I are also keenly aware that we have a TEAM on the ground without which we could not accomplish the multi-faceted ministry which is RAU. We thank God for Paul George, long time friend and ministry partner from Texas, who now spends many of his months here with us. His outreach with Odendi Zakeo, into our immediate neighborhoods and into Moyo (hospital and prison) brings the Gospel and love of Christ down to the “capillary” level of care. Onette Zorah is a gifted teacher with a particular love for the children and the goal of establishing a sound Sunday school curriculum. He is a help in many ways. RAU’s daily workers have co-labored with us in keeping the Demo farm functioning and beautiful and, during our many building projects, their particular skills have been a blessing. We are grateful for our American and Ugandan NGO Board members who “grease the wheels” of our progress in so many ways. Though they are not with us on site, Pastor Ojji Tobious (Metu Mountains), Pastor Amani Godfrey (Obongi), Onduga Charles (Yumbe), and Joshua Abraham (Bidi bidi Refugee Settlement) have worked tirelessly under harsh conditions to be a part RAU’s “2 Timothy 2:2” task in their respective areas.
Thanksgiving and Requests
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.“
Philippians 4:4-7
Thanksgivingfor a joyful Christmas celebration with the Gbari/Arapi/Duku/Oyo church plants in the Metu Mountains. Under the watchful care of Pastor Geoffrey, our brothers and sisters in Christ there are faithfully gathering. [Note: Ayaa Baptist Church is rejoicing in the completion of their church building, thanks to faithful and loving donors.] Request: Several years ago, a church building was begun in Gbari/Arapi and brought to beam level. Our hope is to raise the necessary funds to help them complete the building with a roof and finishing work (Approximately $20,000 needed). The church structure would also serve as a training center for the northern parts of the Metu Mountains while Ayaa would serve in the same capacity for the southern section of the Metu Mountains. Please pray and consider coming alongside these brothers and sisters so they may enjoy a structure that shields them from the elements. It will serve them in their weekly services and as a gathering place for trainings and other events. Please also pray that these dear people will not grow weary in the midst of the struggles of their hard lives and that they would be a light that shines in these valley communities.
2. Thanksgiving for Onduga Charles and his faithful zeal for the youth of Yumbe. Recently, Jacob and I were invited to teach at Pilgrim’s Youth conference. What an exuberant and worshipful group of young people!! It was a joy to participate with them in stirring up zeal with knowledge through teaching and the resource of ESV Global Study Bibles and in participating with them in an outreach in Kuru where they jubilated in song and shared the Gospel in earnest. I was especially impressed with a young man named William, who not only took the “task” seriously, but also peppered me with the questions that he was faced with in sharing the faith with others. Jacob enjoyed his one on one in the market with some of the youth as well as using the Land Cruiser for his “stage” as he preached and Charles (in his usual, fiery, animated way) interpreted into Aringa. At times, I hold my breath as the “dance around” the spare tires up there! Request: Please pray that the fire of their zeal for Christ will not die out by distractions of life. Pray that RAU can continue to support Charles in his outreaches and discipleship in Yumbe District.
Yumbe Youth Conference
Aringa youth singing praises in the market before the open air preaching from top the Land Crusier
3. Thanksgiving for Odendi Zakeo and his continued efforts to keep the Demo Farm operational and ready for the next project or growing season. With dry season upon us, we have the opportunity to demonstrate drip irrigation with kits supplied by M.A.R.S. (Missionary Agricultural Resource Services) whose ongoing support has made a way for us to provide training for Christian leaders as well as community members. Request: Please pray that this aspect of RAU’s ministry would be fruitful in inspiring and training many to view farming as a business and not merely a subsistence practice. Our desire is to see economic change by the people’s wise use of their land and farming knowledge.
4. Thanksgiving for the many Bibles and resources that were able to be sent (twice) to Northern Darfur in the Republic of Sudan because of an open door in that country which allows believers to gather to worship Jesus Christ (thanks to our contacts and recent political developments which have provided broader freedoms). Soon another load will be taken into the Nuba Mountains for church leaders. Request: please be prayerful for the hundreds of Christian books in Arabic and Arabic Study Bibles that were transported there–that they would be disseminated wisely and bear fruit that will last and pray that the Gospel would once again take full root in a country which has deep Christian roots (Christianity reached the area of present-day northern Sudan, then called Nubia, by about the end of the first century after Christ.) but was, most recently, a strongly Muslim country.
5. Thanksgiving for 12 students into whose futures RAU has the privilege of investing (from Primary to Secondary to Nursing and Trade School). Especially in this northwestern region of Uganda, where opportunities are hard won, education paves the way for improved chances of a decent job. Request: The funding which was there specifically for education sponsorship at the beginning is no longer available. If this is an area of vision and passion for you, please prayerfully consider sponsoring 1 or more students to completion of, at least, secondary level….$5000 per year is needed.
6. Thanksgiving for Anzoa Gift’s remarkable recovery and health after her two trips to India for heart surgery. Request: please keep praying for her health and the sound functioning of her pacemaker. It’s possible that at some point her heart rhythm may return to normal and she may not need one. Pray for her desire to become a nurse (inspired by the good care she has received) and, especially, that the difficulties and conditions of her life may not overcome this good path in her life.
7. Thanksgiving for the godly, faithful life of our brother in Christ, Pastor Bilali Pasquino of Ijujo church. He is 72 years old and continues to lead his flock well. Jacob and I were deeply touched by his faithful shepherding, remaining fruitful in his old age. Request: Prayerfully consider a gift towards a “permanent home” (bricks and cement and a metal roof) which he longs to finish for his wife so they live the end of their lives in improved conditions. We don’t normally support personal projects like this, but we were inspired to honor and support him in this season of his life. $5,000 is needed to finish it out and $200 has already been received. Recently, as he was walking along the road, he was knocked by a cow and suffered a painful leg injury. Pray for recovery and strength to continue.
Please remember Reaching Africa’s Unreached and prayerfully consider “joining the chorus” with your prayers and financial gifts as we sing the Gospel of grace in Uganda, South Sudan and (North) Sudan, most especially through the leaders RAU seeks to empower in reaching the many tribes and tongues they represent.
Pray for an increase in those who financially support RAU on a monthly basis. While we are very grateful for those who give to various projects we especially are grateful to those who give monthly. As the Lord has grown the ministry of RAU our monthly supporters are the ones who are carrying RAU’s Mission/Vision along. If you are not giving monthly, would you please consider helping us in that way? Please take time to peruse our website and see how we have sought to be faithful stewards of the gifts given. It is our desire that any charitable gifts that are given to R.A.U. would not compromise what you are ALREADY giving to your local church and/or to other cross-cultural foreign missionaries. At this link you can read about RAU’s philosophy on missionary giving and how to give—> https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
When at least 35% of the world; “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!
Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!
JOY to the world,THE LORD IS COME! Let earth receive her KING;
LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM and HEAV’N AND NATURE SING.
JOY to the EARTH, the SAVIOR REIGNS! Let men their SONGS employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, REPEAT THE SOUNDING JOY
No more let sins and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground;
HE COMES TO MAKE HIS BLESSINGS KNOWN FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND.
HE RULES THE WORLD with TRUTH AND GRACE and makes the NATIONS prove
the GLORIES OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and WONDERS OF HIS LOVE.
WOW!
This song is EXPLOSIVE and EXPANSIVE in its JOY and eager desire to make the coming of our Savior known and His love, truth and righteousness experienced in each heart, individually as well as globally. There isn’t one square inch of heaven or earth where the song’s writer, Isaac Watts, doesn’t hope to hear the echo of this good news or see its full expression.
This anthem especially sings the exultant refrain of our human and divine story—the fulfillment of a long-ago Promise to a broken world—and urges us to appreciate the full impact of it:
God sets the stage for His Story—the creation of a pristine world where His image-bearers would multiply and spread God’s Kingdom and glory until the whole earth was full of His glorious reign.
A heavenly Rebel, Satan, in having coveted God’s glory and shaken his fist at God in defiance and cast out of heaven, seeks to take the pinnacle of God’s creation—MAN AND WOMAN—down with him.
Satan appears to have wildly succeeded—BUT FOR THAT POWERFUL PROMISE from God Himself of a CONQUERING SEED
Biblical history is a crescendoing narrative, stanza upon stanza upon stanza upon stanza, that tells a complex story, and inspires in us a yearning to see and sing the joyous refrain of the Long-expected fulfillment—Jesus, God’s Son, in human flesh, born of a virgin, born to destroy the works of the one through whom the destruction and chaos came.
BUT!
The refrain is only an interlude between the stanzas yet to come, for not every heart has made Him room, the whole earth is not yet repeating the sounding joy, and the Savior’s blessings are not yet known “far as the curse is found”! The vast majority of humanity has not even heard this melody and message so that it may sing along in this joyful season of celebration.
SING AND CELEBRATE!
Do not let the somber warning of “BUT!” muzzle your joyous refrain. We cannot effectively enjoin others to receive a message we do not treasure and celebrate well.
REMEMBER!
That our Long Expected Jesus entered into human history and fulfilled all that the Father had planned
Jesus came to live, die, rise and ascend to heaven.
He did this so that in living He would fulfill all righteousness,
In dying He would become a curse for us so that we might become the righteousness of God,
In rising, having been declared the Son of God, He would display victory over sin, death and the Devil and,
In ascending He would return to His Father as the King upon His throne, as an Intercessor for all of us “Sinners-in-Chief” who call upon His name and,
from where He would send His Holy Spirit to empower us to sing this song to every tribe, tongue, people and nation.
This Christmas, all of us at Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU) are delighted to be part of the great choir of those singing this song to the Nations in and around which the Lord has placed us—Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of (North) Sudan.
UGANDA
Metu Mountains
A little over a week ago, Paul George, Pastor Henry, Jacob and I had the privilege of accepting an invitation to the home and village of Metu Mountain Chief Kanyaba Salverio Lukere 11 for the special purpose of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with his family and all who gathered. Jacob had first met him back in 2010. Jacob preached from John 11 (the raising of Lazarus from the dead) with Pastor Tobious interpreting. I was given the opportunity to read the text in Ma’di and then, at the end to share John 3:16 and Jesus Loves Me in Ma’di. Some of the Metu Mountain pastors also joined in and gave messages of encouragement, exhortations and prayers. A very joyful day, for sure, of good news, good food and fellowship and open hearted response to the message!
Pastor Tobious continues to oversee and care for the itinerant pastors in the Metu Mountains. They are keen to extend the reach of the Gospel to surrounding villages and have an eagerness to be equipped in the word of God and in their calling as pastors. Please keep praying for them—that they would not grow weary in well-doing, especially in the difficult conditions in which they live. We will spend Christmas with the church plant in Arapi/Gbari Metu Mountains.
We praise the Lord for the good health and safety of Anzoa Gift who was able to return from India after her heart repair and pacemaker placement. Such acts of love are made possible by the generous hearts of RAU partners and they pave the way for the Gospel to be received with joy. We look forward to the day we can visit Anzoa Gift’s Metu Mountain village of Abeso not only to celebrate her life but also to see and celebrate the borehole which was provided through RAU for clean, accessible water. We are praying a church can also be planted in Abeso.
Moyo
We are grateful for our RAU team members who are faithfully singing the song of the Lamb to people of Moyo District in various places and settings. Zorah has had a burden to equip the youth in the church which we attend, training them to teach the young children through the New City & Westminster Catechism along with Bible memory verses. 2 Timothy 2:2 in action!!
Co-worker, Paul George has been doing what he loves—hospital visitation for prayer and sharing the Gospel. He and Odendi Zakeo (our Ag Production Officer) have teamed up in Gospel friendship to go every Sunday when they share and pray and provide necessities such as soap. They are also involved in Prison ministry and hope to do that more and more. Paul and Zakeo are making the most of every opportunity to proclaim and display the love of Christ Jesus in our surrounding communities.
Jacob has had an increasing number of opportunities to preach and to share the gospel and give out gospel tracts with community members. A few weeks ago, 3 men came to the gate wanting to know more about becoming Christians—2 of them believed on the Lord and prayed with Jacob and Pastor Henry. These 2 men are now attending regularly at Pastor Henry’s church.
The resources (ESV Global Study Bibles and theological books) have been a blessing to many and those continue to be sent out regularly to various leaders in Moyo as well in surrounding districts, South Sudan and the Republic of (North) Sudan. RAU is grateful to the many who gave generously to purchase and ship them here!
Yumbe
Early this year, before our journey to the USA, we met Abdul Rahim Zubair, a young Muslim 20-year old who had been tragically shot in the hip and paralyzed from the waist down, with little hope for recovery or for the Physical Therapy necessary for improved quality of life. He lives with his Mom (who has been doing all the heavy lifting in caring for him) in Yumbe. When he came to see us, there was little to be done except buy a wheelchair for him to allow him some mobility as well as respite for his mother. We are looking forward to a continuing relationship with this family struck by tragedy and to sharing Gospel hope with them. Pray with us and pray for Abdul!!
Our dear friend and Gospel partner, Onduga Charles, is on FIRE to make Jesus Christ known and beloved and received as Savior among the Aringa of Yumbe. His zeal to raise up a generation of well-equipped, passionate youth stirs us to come along side him. In January, he will organize the annual youth conference where youths from the various sub counties of Yumbe district. We look forward to participating in that. He hopes to identify 10 or 11 young men who can be trained pastorally for new church plants in surrounding towns and villages in Yumbe District. RAU looks forward walking with Charles in this. Charles reports that many of the Imams/Sheikhs are eager to recommence the Christian-Muslim dialogs with Jacob like the ones done in the past.
Omar, a former Sheikh and now a brother in Christ, has been giving his energy to meeting with Muslims in Yumbe to share his story and the Gospel with many. From his reports and videos we are encouraged to see his growth in the Lord and the impact of his faith in his hometown.
Please pray for a Yumbe Sheikh A—— who has become extremely ill. He has a great desire to meet with Jacob and it is our prayer that at this meeting he will open his heart to Christ and trust in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray with us for that miracle–for healing of body and soul!
SOUTH SUDAN/REPUBLIC OF SUDAN (NORTH)
In the fires of war and turmoil, God is forging men and women of faith from South Sudan and the Republic of (North) Sudan. They have been chased from their homes and have taken refuge in Settlements within Uganda.
RAU is privileged to partner with them, especially through the faithfulness of Joshua Abraham, a pastor from the Sudan (Darfur) who is a Muslim-Background-Believer (MBB). Over the last 4 years, Joshua has attended many trainings in the Hall of Tyrannus and coordinated to bring other pastors from the camps with him. This last year, implementing 2 Timothy 2:2, Joshua gathered 26 leaders from Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement and took them through 14 Biblical resources provided by RAU relating to pastoral care, counseling, family life, economics and Bible literacy. This past December 17, we joined these leaders and their families and friends to celebrate their graduation from this course. It was a jubilation like we’ve never seen!
Recently, RAU had the privilege of hosting for a few hours a group of men from Darfur, Sudan. They came with the purpose of greeting and thanking Jacob/RAU personally for the many Bibles, Kindle Fires and theological resources in Arabic and English which had been sent in the past and to load up their vehicle with many more books to take back to Darfur Sudan where people are eager to receive them. Pastor Adam told the story (which you may hear in the video below) of police in Sudan who confiscated the Bibles and books while also incarcerating many believers. During that time, the police began to read some of the books and, to the amazement of Pastor Adam, returned the resources stating, “We didn’t know Christians had such wonderful books. You must get more and give some to us!”
Looking Ahead
As COVID-19 and Ebola lose their impact and presence in Uganda, opportunities are, once again, opening up and filling up the RAU calendar. Gaps are filling up! There are new stanzas yet to be written and sung in God’s song!
January: Yumbe Youth Conference and possible leadership conference in Bidi Bidi Settlement
February: Jacob and I travel to Burnet, Texas for Hill Country Fellowship’s yearly Missions Conference (side benefit: we get to see Kenny and Anna and the kids!).
April: RAU hosts authors of “Helping Without Hurting in Africa” as they teach the course by that name to church leaders from Metu Mountains, Moyo, Obongi, Yumbe and the Refugee settlements
May: RAU hosts Paul Ortega’s team and Mbale Pearl Haven Ministries for a Medical Outreach at RAU and Metu Mountains Gbari/Arapi and Ayaa.
Evangelism and discipleship in Moyo, Metu Mountains, Obongi, Yumbe, and refugee settlement camps. Hosting visitors who come to see RAU’s agriculture demo farm in action. Currently we are pruning the 640 grafted mangoes.
Jacob weekly preaching on Tuesday morning on a local radio station beginning in the new year.
July: return to USA for ABWE orientation as Associate Missionaries/itineration/family visits
Continue to pray for the Pryce and Langworthy families as they raise support to join the RAU team.
Pray for an increase in those who financially support RAU on a monthly basis. While we are very grateful for those who give to various projects and end of the year gifts we especially are grateful to those who give monthly. As the Lord has grown the ministry of RAU our monthly supporters are the ones who are carrying RAU’s Mission/Vision along. If you are not giving monthly, would you please consider helping us in that way? Please take time to peruse our website and see how we have sought to be faithful stewards of the gifts given. It is our desire that any charitable gifts that are given to RAU would not compromise what you are ALREADY giving to your local church and/or to other cross-cultural foreign missionaries. At this link you can read about RAU’s philosophy on missionary giving and how to give—> https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/
We joyfully and expectantly await every good thing which the Lord has planned for us in this coming year.
As the end of 2022 approaches, please remember Reaching Africa’s Unreached and prayerfully consider “joining the chorus” with your prayers and financial gifts as we sing the Gospel of grace in Uganda, South Sudan and (North) Sudan, most especially through the leaders RAU seeks to empower in reaching the many tribes and tongues they represent. Please enjoy this video which gives a brief history and vision of RAU:
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
When at least 35% of the world; “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!
Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!
Carol and I hope you all had a blessed time with family and friends this Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of those American holidays we miss because of such fond memories of past times with family and friends. We are grateful for all your prayers for our journey back to our home at Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU). Thank you! This last trip was one of our easiest. We, along with 13 tubs full of resources, one suitcase and four carry ons, made it from Austin to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Kigali Rwanda and to Entebbe Uganda with little disruption or unwanted events. We spent a few days in Entebbe and then flew to Arua, which is the largest city in our West Nile area, where we took care of some business. The next day, we journeyed for four hours on mostly dirt roads to RAU. We are settled and back on Ugandan time which is 9 hours ahead of Central Standard Time. One of our greatest joys has been to sleep in our own bed. During our travels Stateside, we slept in 13 different beds. One week we were in four different beds! It has been good to be reunited with Paul George, Zorah and Josiane and some of our Ugandan and Sudanese friends and to “get back in the saddle again“. The rest of our co-workers and friends we will soon see too, good Lord willing.
I am happy to tell you that according to the Uganda Ministry of Health, it seems the spread of Ebola in the country has slowed. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray that it quickly dies out and no further suffering occurs. Because of a possible quarantine of those returning to America from Uganda, we needed to pushed the Old Testament Survey retreat we would have been having right now with Ron Zeiner as well as a December Medical outreach in the Metu Mountains and here at RAU with Paul Ortega’s Pearl Haven team into 2023. Here at RAU, we are carefully following all of Uganda’s SOP’s. We have been reminded once again, as in COVID days, that our Lord has no “Plan B“ and he is ALWAYS operating on his “Plan A“. It is our responsibility to fit our plans into his and not expect him to fit his plans into ours. Our Lord is the sovereign of the Universe and our trust is in him!
Our efforts have been focused on getting into hands of church leaders, ESV Global Study Bibles, theologically sounds books (in Arabic and English), and the 30 Kindle Fires we brought back with us from Delmar Hager’s ministry “Study To Be Approved” — all loaded with Arabic Christian resources for church leaders working in the Republic of (North) Sudan. Please continue to pray for our distribution of these resources. I know the Holy Spirit will use them to strengthen his people and build His church! RAU’s vision and mission is to strengthen local church leaders in addition to those from unreached tribes with whom we are connected. Thank you for your prayers and support in this!
“The printed page is a missionary that can go anywhere and do so at minimum cost. It enters closed lands and reaches all strata of society. It does not grow weary. It needs no furlough. It lives longer than any missionary. It never gets ill. It penetrates through the mind to the heart and conscience. It has and is producing results everywhere. It has often lain dormant yet retained its life and bloomed years later.”
Missionary Samuel Marinus Zwemer ( 1867– 1952)
Joshua Abraham (picture above in the flowery shirt), a dear friend and co-worker, was recently with us. He is from Darfur, Sudan and lives with his family in the nearby Bidi Bidi refugee settlement. Over the years, Joshua has been a faithful co-worker fleshing out 2 Timothy 2:2 (teaching faithful people who will teach others) from South Sudan and the Republic of (North) Sudan who reside in our nearby refugee camps. He helps us determine which leaders to bring to the RAU “Hall of Tyrannus” for our module trainings. Our West Nile area of Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees on the African continent. Many of these refugees are from tribes which have very few Christians. Your prayers and support are helping us reach these unengaged and unreached language groups through these believers!
Joshua is a brother who has always made the most of every opportunity in getting the gospel out and in the training of leaders, and has initiated a program of pastoral training in the camp with two groups (all who are excellent readers of English) totaling 26. He has led each group through a set of fourteen books of which each member of the group was able to receive a copy from RAU. Five more books were supplemental. They have taken two weeks to go through each book. It was greatly encouraging to hear the stories he told of how each person has been helped along by the teaching received through these books. In December, we are planning a graduation celebration for the completion of this course of study in Bidi Bidi Zone One and we hope to record for you the stories they have to tell! Praise God!
Our other major current focus is to complete the on-campus construction in preparing for the Pryce and Langworthy families to join us as long term as missionaries. As we have written about before, they are with ABWE, the mission organization we are closely partnering with. Carol and I, as well as Zorah,Josiane and Iffeni, are moving out of the mission duplex so that the Pryce’s and Langworthy’s can make it their new home. Zorah’s family will be moving into expanded quarters in the original house which already accommodates Paul George and bunk rooms for visiting teams. Carol and I are moving into a tukulu that has been expanded into a bunkhouse and one container. I have had to put my construction experiences and thinking juices into these projects. We anticipate being in our new locations by the end of December. Any donations for this construction work would be greatly appreciated. Lord willing, the Pryce’s and Langworthy’s will be with us sometime at the end of 2023. They are currently heavily into the fundraising process. Please pray with us that hearts will be touched. Carol and I are rejoicing! We have been praying for many years for long term missionaries who would join us in walking out 2 Timothy 2:2 in our Sub Saharan region of the world.
2) Pray for the end of Ebola. Pray for on going training beginning again Lord willing in early 2023 in RAU’s Hall of Tyrannus as well as discipleship and evangelism in the Metu Mountains, Moyo District and in nearby Obongi town and Yumbe District, which are mostly Muslim.
3) Pray for an increase in those who financially support RAU on a monthly basis. While we are very grateful for those who give to various projects we especially are grateful to those who give monthly. As the Lord has grown the ministry of RAU our monthly supporters are the ones who are carrying RAU’s Mission/Vision along. If you are not giving monthly, would you please consider helping us in that way? Please take time to peruse our website and see how we have sought to be faithful stewards of the gifts given. It is our desire that any charitable gifts that are given to R.A.U. would not compromise what you are ALREADY giving to your local church and/or to other cross-cultural foreign missionaries. At this link you can read about RAU’s philosophy on missionary giving and how to give—> https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/
Carol and I appreciate your loving support and gracious prayers. May our Lord’s blessings be with you!
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
When at least 35% of the world; “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!
Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!
I hope you all are well! Time has gotten away from Carol and me. Our last update was July 20th. Would you be so kind as to take a few minutes of your busy day to catch up with us by reading this update and placing us in your prayers?
As you can see from the map above and the one below we have been doing a lot of traveling in our homeland the United States of America. We left Reaching Africa’s Unreached the last week of July and spent a few days in Entebbe. We were due to arrive in Austin Texas July 31st but, because of a mechanical flight delay, we were put up by Delta in a very nice hotel in Amsterdam. We were received August 1st by our home church (Lifegate-Seguin) hosts, Gerard and Mary Lopez. They have been so gracious and kind. The day after arriving at our home base of Seguin the traveling began.
Texas visits by vehicle
One of our goals whenever we come back is to spend as much quality time as we can with family. Our Lord has graciously granted us such time! We have been able to spend time with our daughter Anna, husband Kenny Danely and their three beautiful children Keira, Clara, and Rylan in Stephenville, Texas. Rylan is our newest of our nine grandchildren. This was our first time seeing him in the “flesh“. A little later, we had a great time with our son, Josiah and wife, Unyae, in Chattanooga Tennessee. And lastly, we had a precious time with our son Joshua, wife Rebecca and grandchildren Eliza, Ben, Vera, Nora, Olivia, and Lillian. Lifelong memories were made on each visit. Carol and I are grateful for the time which was given to us to see them all again. It does not get any easier to say our goodbyes…tears flow, but they are a tender reminder that bonds have been forged. We are thankful for an understanding and supportive family. Pray for the grandchildren that they, too, will grow in their understanding of the “why” of our living so far away from them. We also had a short visit in Iowa to see my dad as well as family from both Carol’s and my side. One of the days was at the “farm” in Northeastern Iowa where I grew up.
There is a quote which states, “A missionary is someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with their families for an eternity.”
It is the illumination we pray our children/spouses and grandkids will experience!
Our beloved children, spouses and grandchildren
Another of our goals is to renew ties with our supporters and to make new connections with donors who might link arms with us in their prayers and financial partnership. Prayer is the jet fuel of missions and the local church is the primary means of reaching the nations with the glorious gospel. If the 3 billion or more people of the world who have little to no access to the gospel are going to be reached, it will be through praying, Jesus-loving, gospel-preaching, local churches who are obedient to Jesus’ GREAT commission! The vision of Reaching Africa’s Unreached remains the same: walking out 2 Timothy 2:2 in Sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa particularly. Please take a few minutes and look over RAU’s Mission and Vision page and pray for us: https://reachingafricasunreached.org/about/ Thank you!
In this season of travel, Carol and I were in nine churches, sharing in various ways. We have shown the short video which Carol made, been interviewed in front of congregations, and have been given the opportunity to preach in seven of the nine churches. Because of time constraints, we are only able to visit some churches every other Stateside journey. My message in each church has been from Luke 24:44-53 entitled “The God Who Opens!” There is a video of the message at Hill Country Fellowship. The message begins at minute 35:35.
We travel back to Uganda on November 3 with a new threat to our beloved Uganda-Ebola. Please pray for Uganda that the Ebola virus (Sudan strain) will be contained and kept from bringing widespread suffering and death. One of the lessons we learned and walked through with our COVID experience in Uganda is that God has NO plan “B”. He is always operating in his plan “A” and it is our responsibility to faithfully follow the Lord with great trust in His sovereignty. Our goal does not change and that goal is to bring glory and honor to God our Father in all we do. Our greatest desire is to see people redeemed and forgiven through Jesus Christ and worshiping in and by the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us that we will be faithful ambassadors of Christ.
Please continue to pray for the Pryce and Langworthy families who are with our partnering mission organization ABWE, seeking to join us as long term missionaries. They are currently in their fundraising phase and as the Lord provides they will join us. We pray that hearts will be stirred to also supply their needs as that supply is crucial to the ongoing mission of RAU. God is at work all over the world and Jesus IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH. He certainly is doing it in the geographical areas RAU is working in, e.g. the West Nile of Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan.
Foreign missions has always been part of Carol’s and my heart since our marriage in 1981. At this link is my testimony of how the Lord brought us together to the Uganda/South Sudan border–> “I Remember”. Our first ministry in Uganda was in August of 2006 and the first of many short term ministry trips where we now live on the Uganda/South border was in March of 2007. After much prayer we were sent out by our church Lifegate as full time missionaries with RAU in July of 2013. We have always known our place in Christ’s mission was to be roadbuilders, metaphorically speaking. Our time on this earth is shorter with each day. Our heartbeat is to pass the baton on to others with the same mission and vision. Our desire is that RAU’s mission and vision continues until Christ Jesus returns.
It is our grateful conviction that the Lord, in his providence, crossed our paths with the mission sending organization, ABWE and this has been confirmed by RAU’s American Board as well as the leaders of our sending church, Lifegate. ABWE has the same mission philosophy as RAU. Check out this short video of theirs and see if you agree–> “The Mission of ABWE” . Currently, we are actively seeking to deepen our partnership with ABWE so that when Carol and I are no longer present, RAU’s heartbeat of 2 Timothy 2:2 will be faithfully carried on. The Pryce and Langworthy families joining us long term is part of that plan. My hope is that Carol and I will be able to stay at RAU for years to come, enabling us to be part of God’s plan for the strengthening of the Body of Christ in Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan. There are many details to be worked through. Would you please pray with us for RAU and ABWE in this endeavor? We will keep you updated as things progress.
Praise Report
Anzoa Gift, the young girl who went to India for heart surgery (the 2nd time) is now home and doing very well, putting on weight and has received a good review at the Kampala Heart Hospital. Thank you to those who financially supported her travel and care and to those who prayed for her health, healing and safety!
2) Pray for the Pryce and Langworthy families that the Lord would touch people’s hearts to financially support them as they seek to come alongside us in long term ministry. Pray the Lord would grant wisdom and guidance in our growing relationship with ABWE so that the mission and vision of RAU is passed onto future generations until Jesus’ glorious return.
3) Pray for the wise distribution of the 20,861 ESV Global Study and 16,000 theological books to leaders. They arrived to RAU last January and February. Already many 100’s have been placed into the hands of leaders in Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan. Pray for the safe arrival of the remaining 600,000 dual language tracts and other books, such as the 1,008 of “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity” that are currently on their way in ChristianBook International Outreach’s container. We received another 30 Kindle Fires from Delmar Hager with Study To Be Approved loaded with Arabic Christian materials which we will endeavor to send to pastors in the Republic of Sudan. Please pray with us for their journey from here in Texas to the Republic of Sudan.
4) Pray for an increase in those who financially support RAU on a monthly basis. While we are very grateful for those who give to various projects we especially are grateful to those who give monthly. As the Lord has grown the ministry of RAU our monthly supporters are the ones who are carrying us along. If you are not giving monthly, would you please consider helping that way? Please take time to peruse our website and see how we have sought to be faithful stewards of the gifts given. It is our desire that any charitable gifts that are given to R.A.U. would not compromise what you are ALREADY giving to your local church and/or to other cross-cultural foreign missionaries. At this link you can read about our philosophy on missionary giving and how to give—> https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/
Carol and I appreciate your loving support and gracious prayers. May our Lord’s blessings be with you!
The greatest evil is having the gospel and not doing everything within our power to get it to those who do not have it!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
When at least 35% of the world; “the unoccupied fields”, have no access to the gospel, we (believers) must all do all we can to reach them. We who are saved owe the gospel to every lost person, most especially the 2.4 billion who will not hear unless someone breaks into their “unoccupied field” with no thought of their own life!
Sowing seeds of love and kindness should not be separated from preaching the gospel of sovereign grace but completely intertwined with it!
I am sure that none of us will say when in heaven that we prayed too much, we sacrificed too much, proclaimed the gospel too much, and were too passionate to get the gospel to those who have little to no access to this gospel of grace. Let us together press on to make it our ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named!
Our goal in our gospel witness is to take our eyes off the “risk” and place them on the cause for the risk. When God compels us like this he often will not tell us the risks…after all there are no risks for the all-knowing, all-powerful God. So let us be AMBITIOUS (Romans 15:20) to see that ALL are reached with the gospel of grace (Romans 1:16) in ALL places…there are no closed doors to the gospel, just some which are more difficult to go through!
Reaching Africa's Unreached 