“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. “
Philippians 4:4
Carol and I have much to rejoice in as we come close to completing our first year as missionaries in Uganda, just a couple kilometers off the South Sudan border. There have been many challenges and difficulties mixed with many successes and triumphs. We can rejoice at all times because we know, from God’s promises as well as His presence, that He is always with us and in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalms 16:11)! We rejoice, also, because we know we have a battalion of prayer warriors and supporters who are standing with us in spreading the fame of King Jesus here in the West Nile region of Uganda. Thank you!
I am rejoicing that we now have a new Aringa web page at RAU’s blog featuring the excellent gospel tract Quest For Joy written by John Piper ( Desiring God ). The Aringa translation and editing work was done by Yumbe friends, Onduga Charles, Angoli Alex and Angupale Andrew. Thank you Charles, Alex, and Andrew! The excellent layout work on the AringaQuest For Joy tract (English version here) was done by graphic designer Dan Thompson. Doug Salser with Literature Ministries International helped spearhead this web edition as well as a print edition. Many thanks to Dan and Doug! They were also the ones who did the same work with the Ma’di Quest For Joy. Twenty thousand of the Aringa Quest For Joy tracts have been published and purchased by Reaching Africa’s Unreached and are to be distributed in Yumbe District. Preston and Laurel from Florida will be bring around 8,000 to us when they visit for a ministry trip in the last weeks of July. We are praying that the rest can come with other visitors.
The distribution of these tracts corresponds with the first ever translation and publication of the Aringa New Testament through Here’s Life Ministries. On the 24th we are rejoicing that we get to be part of the dedication service for this first ever translation of the New Testament in Aringa. God is getting His Word to the Aringa people!
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. “!
Proclaiming Jesus in Yumbe West Nile
We will be spending most of July in Yumbe itself involved with discipleship, evangelism, along with distributing de-worming medicine. July 15-18 we will host, here at RAU, our third group of church leaders from Yumbe District. This coming week, we host a group of pastors/church leaders from Moyo. As I have mentioned before, these retreats are the backbone of RAU’s ministry. We are very desirous of teaching faithful men who in turn will teach others (2 Tim. 2:2). The key to the unreached and unengaged people’s being reached with the glorious gospel is multiplication not addition! Your prayers and support are a very vital part of this ministry! Thank you!
Along with RAU’s discipleship and evangelism, the Lord has brought, and continues to bring, children with special needs our way. Eight year old Anzo, who is our neighbor, had successful corrective surgery on both eyes for her congenital cataracts this past week. Earlier in the year, RAU was able to assist, because of God’s people, two babies from Yumbe with cleft pallet surgeries. On Friday a 2 month old baby with hydrocephalus was brought to our attention through a local friend,Michael. The baby is very,very weak , and she is pitifully thin. The baby is too weak to even cry!
2 month old baby with hydrocephalus
She is currently in the Moyo hospital getting paperwork/recommendation for transfer to Mbale for a shunt. There is no such facility available here to care for the special needs of these precious children and so it requires traveling long distances. Hopefully, the surgery can be done free, just like with the other children or, at least, inexpensively. The definite need is for transport and care while in the hospital. (When someone takes their child to a hospital that is outside of their home area, they must pack pots and pans and everything they will need to feed and clean and care for themselves.) There is also a 6-8 year old boy with bilateral club foot and a 3-4 year old girl with severe knock knees whom we would like to also help. They both live near by. As with the other children, this is where we feel we can be a part of God’s transforming love. This ministry has been set before us and we know we are here for this purpose as well preaching and teaching. Pray for these children and us. Help us us if you can. Thank you! At this link there are instructions on how you can give: https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/
For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
Our “wish lists” may be found at Amazon (Click on the “Wish List” link and type in our names)
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 W. 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 deductibleas 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.
“There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Jacob and I have been reflecting a lot on this season of life with sober joy. The rough patches do their good work of humbling us, helping us sort through priorities and causing us to keep our eyes on the prize. The joys of seeing fruitfulness encourage us to continue with hope. In one way or another, to one degree or another, everything we hoped and prayed and planned for is being accomplished. In God’s good purposes, however, the way has hills and valleys, ups and downs, so that our hearts are never fully satisfied except in Christ. We rejoice soberly until every good work begun by Christ is brought to completion on that Day!
What a solid blessing that we, at RAU, are not walking the way alone! It is almost like a broken record in my head: we could not do anything here if we did not have believing, praying and giving partners back home and around the world. One of my recent analogies has been that you are the bow that the Lord uses to launch the arrow that is RAU so that it hits its mark! Philippians 2: 1-2, especially, describes what we have been experiencing in relation to you all who are partnering with us—encouragement in Christ, fellowship in the Spirit, and comfort in love. It is a joyful, wonderful thing to be of the same mind, united in spirit, and having one purpose. Thank you for uplifting us with prayers and support and encouraging words!
We happily report the completion of two more Pastors’ Retreats—one for pastors from Yumbe and the other for pastors from Obongi and Maracha. Two very rigorous weeks, but what satisfaction! Even if back-to-back retreats place their demands on us, they certainly come with a greater measure of encouragement. There is nothing better than hearing the pastors express thankfulness and enthusiasm in being better equipped to serve their people.
Early in the morning will I rise up to greet thee!Farmer talkYumbe groupObongi/Maracha RetreatHanging out before the next session!Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!Waiting for the taxi.One more song for the road!
Every retreat solidifies our goals for the ones who come: that they would be strengthened in life and in teachings that help them love and lean on Jesus; that they would be encouraged with love and be refreshed in Christ through fellowship and the Word. All of the men are leading in very difficult situations and with little support and few resources. We hope that the days they are with us are truly a “retreat” from the rigors of their world, but also resourceful for them upon returning to the rigors of their world.
Resource Bag contents
This is why one of our greatest joys is being able to gift them with the “resource bag”. Can you imagine your Christian walk without books, DVD’s, online teachers, access to Bible Schools or online degrees? We are saturated with resources in the West. In “their world“, they are blessed if they have a New Testament or even a complete Bible. For them, receiving a bag filled with a ESV Global Study Bible, books and other items is much like the excitement of Christmas morning as we experience it in America. Thank you for making that possible! We are certain that these resources are going to be well used and that the fruit of joyful obedience to Christ will grow in their lives.
Equipped and ready to go!
We are looking forward to many more of these retreats! Our goal is to have two retreats per month with other ministry and preparation time in the weeks between. This is what we have planned in the coming months.
At the end of this month, June, we will be hosting some brothers in Moyo from the Church of Uganda. Sam will also be accompanying Mindra and Anzo to Kampala so that Anzo may receive her long awaited eye surgery. We can’t wait to “see” a marked improvement in her ability to see! There is also a local pastor who will be going along to have an eye problem assessed.
Big sister, Anzo. She will have eye surgery next week.
The month of July is being reserved for outreach in Yumbe District which will include evangelism, teaching and medical care. During their last retreat here, several pastors from Yumbe testified to their lives having been spared from death or danger at the hands of Muslims who oppose any Christian presence or influence in Yumbe. We want to support them in a way that is equal to their struggles as Christians. Part of that month will involve a retreat for Yumbe leaders here at RAU. Most of our time will be spent in Yumbe, itself. We are expecting a young couple, Preston and Laurel Sink, from the States to join us for part of that time.
In August we will have two more back-to-back retreats here at RAU for two groups of Baptist Pastors from the Moyo region.
The youth group from First Presbyterian Church of Uganda/Kampala will join us for the week of September 8 through 12th for ministry in this area. The following week we’ll be hosting a group of pastors from the DR of Congo, as well as Koboko and Maracha, two nearby districts in Uganda. Each of these districts have counties within them without one single church.
Note: Please pray for us on the back-to-back ministry weeks, especially that it does not rain too heavily. It is difficult to get all the sheets and towels washed and ready for the next group if we do not have sufficient sunshine! Pray for safe travel for the teachers as well as pastors and leaders who are traveling to be here during rainy season.
Rain or shine, the week after the last retreat in September, we will head to Kampala to catch a flight back to Texas; we plan to be in the States for a little over a month. We are expecting the birth of our 4th (!!!) grandchild at the beginning of October and anticipating the happy reunion with family and friends.
Looking over the proposed site for Hall of Tyrannus-Obongi Branch
This week, Jacob, Sam and a couple of men who work with us traveled to Obongi to finalize the purchase of a small plot of land where the Obongi branch, Hall of Tyrannus will be. It will also serve as a location where Godfrey can meet with those whom he is shepherding. Jacob has shared much about Godfrey who pastors a growing gathering of believers. Just yesterday, Godfrey shared with us that, as a result of some tracts that he passed out, two people made professions of faith. We believe they will thrive under the enthusiastic, patient and loving care of Godfrey. And by the way, he did an amazing job of organizing and orchestrating the group of leaders from his area. The more we spend time with him, the more clearly his shepherd’s heart shows through. Also, please pray for his health as he seems to struggle in that area. Pray for this piece of land (for which a gracious couple in Texas provided funds) and the building that will be raised there. We know that this physical investment will play a part in producing eternal dividends in the spiritual care of many!
Continue to pray for all of these activities—
*retreats—teachers and attendees, for safe travel, health and well-being, enriched growth and learning, that resources will be a solid, visible help to pastors and leaders.
*outreach in Yumbe—opportunities to proclaim the Kindness and Mercy of God in word and deed, safety in the midst of opposition, believers who are strengthened and emboldened to stand firm in their faith.
*medical outreach—location of and continued support for children or adults that can be assisted with surgeries. Pray for Anzo as she undergoes surgery on June 18th.
For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
Our “wish lists” may be found at Amazon (Click on the “Wish List” link and type in our names)
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!
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 deductibleas 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.
We have just finished another retreat for pastors from Yumbe District. Please pray for them. What a blessing for us to hear their stories of faith!
Just like our last time with a different group from Yumbe, we were so moved by their exuberant worship and prayers and their desire to link arms with other believers in the area to reach out in Christian love and unity to those who have not had the privilege of knowing and loving Jesus. Bob Gad and I shared the teaching sessions (we had 9 long sessions between the two of us.) Our emphasis was on the fundamentals of the faith and on becoming ones who have a heart for discipleship. Pastor Bob, from Kampala, did an excellent job of, not only teaching, but inspiring and spurring on the pastors to go back and equip their churches to be ones who are ready to serve in humility and to share what they have learned with others. It has been a week of pressing 2 Timothy 2:2 into their hearts and thinking (teaching the faithful who will in turn teach others.) It was a delight to be able to send them home with the many resources which your donations have allowed us to purchase and ship here. In the link below you will hear the testimony of one pastor who beautifully expresses what many of them feel after the retreat is over.
Bob Gad
Above are the resources pastors at RAU retreats have been receiving. We are praying we can get another shipment of Global Study Bibles and Christian books as supplies are dwindling. The 1100 Global Study Bibles and books which came in the container are great,great blessing!
We are breathing a happy sigh of satisfaction this afternoon before we start up, again, tomorrow washing sheets and towels in preparation for the next retreat this coming Tuesday. Normally, we don’t like to have them back to back because it is such an intense time, and we need some time to prepare for the next one, but circumstances made it difficult to do it differently.
This coming week we will have the privilege of hosting pastors and church leaders from another area, 17 from Obongi and 1 from Maracha. We are happily busy doing exactly what the Lord put it in our hearts to do! The Lord has open the door to us in West Nile Region of Uganda.
The week before this, Sam and I were busy running around in Kampala, doing what was needed to bring the Land Cruiser back here to Afoji. We also were able to see Anzo (Mindra’s daughter) receive an eye examination and and set up a date for eye surgery at Mengo Hospital for June 17th. It was a time crunch to get everything accomplished, but it was a joy to finally be driving back to RAU in our Land Cruiser! Since I had never driven in Uganda before, it was a welcome relief to have Bob Gad along to do most of the driving. I tried my hand at it on the last leg of the journey from the ferry at Laropi to our home at RAU (Afoji). I am slowly getting use to driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side while driving and shifting with my left hand :-). Now that we have the Land Cruiser we are planning with Yumbe pastors a month of outreach (July) in Yumbe District for discipleship, evangelism, and medical care.
For those who have asked, small packages and letters may safely be sent to:
Jacob & Carol Lee, PO. 55, Moyo Uganda, East Africa
Our “wish lists” may be found at Amazon (Click on the “Wish List” link and type in our names)
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!
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 deductibleas 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.
We have completed one more milestone at Reaching Africa’s Unreached. When the Lord opened the way in 2011 for RAU to purchase the 17 acres we now have, it was wild African bush. It was full of brush, thorns, huge termite and ant mounds, snakes, and tall thick grass. By God’s grace and a lot of hard work it is now all cleared and the whole acreage is ready for crops. The soil is fertile and we are praying the Lord will bless it with many wonderful harvests which will help supply funds for the ministry. Please continue in your prayers for us. Thank you!
There were many hard days of work to for us to get to the place where we could plant anything.
Sectioning off the land
Digging holes for seeds
Planting
We have many grafted mangoes planted and are planning on planting many more.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. “
Join me as I take you on a walk around Reaching Africa’s Unreached’s Guesthouse and Compound
Words cannot express my gratefulness for you! Together, we are pressing on to make Jesus known in areas where He is not known. The Word is being preached and taught. The mercy and love of Jesus is being demonstrated to those who cannot receive help because of their circumstances. Please continue in your prayers. Thank you for your sacrificial giving! I give thanks to the Lord for all you who have prayed and given to bring us to this point. May Reaching Africa’s Unreached always be used to spread the fame of King Jesus!
Reaching Africa's Unreached 