Greetings and love to all of our praying and supporting family and friends!

It is unbelievable and wonderful and somewhat surreal sitting here in our new Uganda home with beautiful views out of the windows on either side of the desk that Nkatta, the carpenter, hand-crafted for Jacob!  (It is basically a multilevel shelf that fits into one of the corners of our bedroom.)  It has taken us since Tuesday, with the help of carpenters, electricians, and plumbers, to get this house to feel more like home, but it is starting to feel that way.

After a two week stay in Kampala in the gracious care of our dear friends, Patrick and Vickie Bukenya, we were finally able to get the bulk of our preparatory shopping done (some things have to be made from scratch, so it’s not merely a matter of going down to the store, picking something out and then taking it home…I believe Jacob gave you a good description of his comings and goings in Kampala in a previous letter.)  We left for Moyo/Aforgi located in northwestern Uganda on the South Sudan border this past Monday.  Patrick was kind enough to drive us in his vehicle, which was a great help since we had so much stuff. We also had to hire a small truck to haul the much of what was built and bought in Kampala. It takes a lot to start from scratch. I tell you, these high maintenance missionaries!!

Our trip to Moyo took 12 1/2 hours, though mileage-wise, on US roads, it would only take 4 1/2 hours.  It is a colorful ride in many ways!

We left at eight in the morning, but it took us a while just to get out of Kampala with the numerous traffic jam!  The roads from Kampala to Gulu were decent, with minor bumps in the road due to construction and resurfacing. Apart from the challenges of driving in Uganda, it was truly a beautiful journey.  I was tired but hesitated to sleep for fear that I would miss any of the scenery…lush forests with every kind of tree imaginable, rolling hills (I did not realized Uganda was so hilly), and even some baboons near Karuma Falls who definitely thought they were “king of the road!”  To say the least, the landscape was “eye candy!”

Starting at Gulu, a fairly large city, the roads changed as we continued north. They had a reddish hue…no paving, just red dirt…and rocks…and potholes…and people, and bikes and animals!  It reminded me so much of India!  I don’t imagine that any vehicle can take even a few trips on those roads before a serious overhaul is necessary. There were times that the bumps and jolts were so severe that I was sure the truck would leave parts behind. Little did I know that the worst was yet to come.  Our stop at the Nile River and waiting for the ferry was a peaceful interlude before we started our ascent to Moyo,which is situated at the top of a cluster of mountains the size of the Appalachians. Oh my! I believe paving these roads would be a nightmare for any contractor. It was more of an “off roading” experience!  Unfortunately, we started our climb up the mountain in the dark (the ferry was late in loading on the opposite side and getting to ours) so I really didn’t get a view of the scenery.

After an hour or so more driving we finally arrived at our new home where Abraham and his wife Margaret were waiting with a meal. I was fighting to hold back tears as we drove in—to see the culmination of so many years of hard work, prayer and partnering in vision and sacrificial giving was very moving!

This week has been a whirlwind of activity as the carpenters, electricians and the plumber have worked tirelessly to get things up and running.  Just now the electricians were able to switch us over to solar powered batteries; the lights are on, this computer is running—we have power!  In the battery room there is a switch which can allow for us to use either solar or generator power. These guys are geniuses!  It is now late and the carpenters,electricians, and Jacob are still at it, trying to finish up before they leave very early tomorrow morning by bus back to Kampala.

This week we have had several important meetings, the first of which was an RAU board meeting laying out the agenda for the next few months. Already, in August, we have an American team making a visit: Jacob’s good friend, Kevin Turner of SWI and some folks he is bringing along. October will be a month of hosting local church leaders for short retreats including teaching, prayer, encouragement, discussion and resources.  Ron Zeiner will be coming the last week of October to provide some excellent teaching!  In the first week of November, a 3-man team from Tennessee will also be coming through.  In the second weekend of August we are planning to host a dedication service to which we will invite local church leaders and also key community leaders to hear about our vision, to celebrate with us, and to dedicate this new facility to the glory of God! September and the first three weeks of October we look to host a number of retreat/teaching times for pastors, evangelists, and church planters. In the middle of November the guys are planning an exploratory trip in the Iterie forest in the northeastern D.R. Congo to the unreached Mubuti Pygmies in the area.

Also, several key meetings have taken place with the Chief of Police at the Moyo District Police Department. Discussions have centered around security concerns which the higher administrative offices have had in having an American presence in the area. It has been an tug of war, emotionally and spiritually speaking—faith versus fear, and wisdom/prudence versus presumption—to have to think about the possibility of danger and to know how far to carry out security plans.  At the moment, we have, at the strong pressure from our Ugandan RAU board members, and by necessity per the local police department, hired two armed soldiers to be on guard during the night. The police department will also step up their patrolling of this area.

We wanted to hit the ground running, and to begin to accomplish, in the words of our daughter, Anna,  “the meat and potatoes” of why we came here.  It has been difficult to get a running start though.  If you can imagine a mud pit at the start of the race, and the athlete having to trudge his way through it before he can actually start running—that’s us! For us the “mud pit” is a cultural learning curve, different pace of life, difficulty in accomplishing what, in the States, would be a simple thing—having to build, from the bush up, some place to stay and from which to work.  It is an intense struggle just to get up and running!  The people that we are acquainted with here are eager for us to succeed because they know this area will greatly benefit by RAU’s presence and services.

As we go forward from here we would like to place before you matters for prayer and also the financial needs we have.  We hope you will not grow weary in hearing about them!

Pray:

*for safety!  There is no current, major threat, just the normal risks involved in being in this part of the world.

*for comfort in being separated from those we love and all that feels normal.

*for continued vision and passion to press into what the Lord has called us to do.

*for our relationships with local churches, the border guards stationed near us, and the local people—our new neighbors!

*for continued good health.  We have been cautious about our drinking water and food, but the mosquitoes are hard to avoid.

Our two weeks here in Kampala have been very busy as we get things to set up the RAU Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus to live in and to host pastors,evangelists and church planters as well as teams from America. The logistics of getting things in this large city is very challenging, to say the least. Most of the time Sam and I travel on Bodas (motorcycle taxis). Patrick has also driven his vehicle for us when we have had to get larger items. These men, as well as Abraham, are such blessings to me, to RAU, and for the advancement of the gospel. It is an honor to work with them!  At the end of the long days coming back to our hosts’ home (The Bukenya’s) all sweaty and covered with African red dirt I have had to remind myself that all this going here and there to finish the Guesthouse is not the reason we are here. Our lives, the Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus, RAU’s 17 acres, and future facilities are just vessels for the advancement of Christ’s Name where He is not known so people who have no opportunity to hear the gospel would believe and become worshipers of the living God.

We have water in our outside RAU water tank which was filled from our well. This tank has gravity filled our 5,000 liter tank in the Guesthouse attic so we will have running water in the house! I am hoping the water will be warm enough in the attic tank to give us warm showers, if not our showers will be very brief! We are working on getting the remaining fixtures working. We are bringing from Kampala a generator and two 230 watt solar panels with all the equipment needed  to electrify the house. We have a central battery room which will feed the rest of the house. The only electricity we will have is from the solar panels and the generator.

For cooking needs we have purchased a two burner gas unit which will run off the LPG tanks we bought. We also have a small refrigerator which will help store a few items as long as we can keep power. Too many things to list have also been bought. We have brought some things in our suitcases but we are pretty much starting from scratch. It reminds me of when Carol and I first were married and were setting up our home. When the container arrives there are things in it as well which will be a great help, such as a wash machine. Carol has already gotten a taste of washing clothes by hand (see attached photo). Once the container leaves Seguin Texas it will take about 60 days to reach us. Great friends from Lifegate and a few other friends will pack it. Pray for it’s safe arrival!

I have been “pinching pennies” the best I can to get as many things as we can with the funds we brought with us. My haggling skills are getting better but are still lacking.. Fortunately, I have had Sam with me. He literally grew up on the streets of Kampala so there is not much that gets past him! Thank you to all who have given and prayed to bring us this far. In the attachments there are pictures taken of the Guesthouse from the same spot. The only difference is one was taken in 2011 and the other just a week ago. The water storage tank used for construction  is the only thing which is in both pictures. Praise God for His grace and mercy! Thank you as well!

Please continue to pray and give whatever you can to help us spread the fame of King Jesus. In many ways we we feel everything we are doing is like planting an acorn. An acorn which will grow into a large strong oak tree which will proclaim the gospel and disciple generation after generations until Jesus comes back again. We are here for the long term and together with your support and prayers we look to strengthen the church, help send out church planters to the many unreached people groups in Africa (some have this count at 3,000 unreached people groups in Africa), and as the Lord provides, give medical care and provide education from a Christian worlview for so many without it in the Moyo area. We commit to faithfully use the funds which are given for God’s glory. Thank You!!

We are still lacking the remaining funds to purchase the 1999 Land Cruiser we would use for ministry.  Yesterday I picked up Carol’s, Sam’s and my South Sudanese visas. Then Sam and I spent most of the afternoon literally in the shadow of the Mu mar Gaddafi mosque (it is right in the middle of Ramadan season) filling out papers for my Ugandan driver’s license. The mosque is said to be the largest one in East Africa. The calls to prayer were very loud and were an impetus for me to pray for the Muslims around me.
The Lord sent us a “well connected” man who helped us walk through the many bureaucratic hurdles that are set out for a foreigner to get a drivers license. What could have taken many days or even weeks we were able to get accomplished in two or so hours. He knew all the right people to get the needed stamps and signatures. I gladly paid him for all his help! Today I went through a few more lines and was told my Ugandan license will be ready to be picked up in one week. May the Lord provide the right vehicle for the Lord’s work in the rugged terrain in which we will be working.

We are looking, the Lord willing, to travel north to Moyo Monday. We are hiring a truck to haul all our things and we will go in Patrick’s vehicle. We will be very loaded and roads are not good, especially the from Gulu to Moyo which are all dirt. We will have to take a  ferry across the Nile River between Adjumini and Moyo.

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

“Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men or women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for power equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle but you shall be the miracle” Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)

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I Remember

(Updated April 20, 2024)

When one gets older ( I was born in 1955) there is not only more to think back upon, but it also seems, at least in my case, that one spends more time looking back and remembering God’s grace and mercy! I remember my childhood days, being raised on an Iowa farm by a loving, God-fearing family and relatives and learning the importance of a good work ethic. I remember  graduating from High School from M-F-L  in 1974. I remember at age 20 that dusty road outside St. Olaf, Iowa, after midnight, having to stop my ’69 Dodge Charger. I stepped out of the car and, under deep conviction, wept over my sin, placing my full trust in Jesus: His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. By God’s grace  I said, “I am yours Lord…I will do anything and go anywhere you want”. I remember  several weeks later as I was in one of our farm’s corn fields, sensing God’s call to missions and saying “Yes“.

I remember leaving NE Iowa for Seguin Texas–a big step for a farm boy who had never been far from home and almost turning around in Kansas City. I remember being taken in by several loving families in Seguin Texas who loved Jesus deeply. I remember being under the fiery preaching/teaching of Leonard Ravenhill (L.R.). His love for Jesus was exemplified in his devotion to prayer and passion for missions. He  made an indelible mark upon me! I remember being in L.R.’s office when he pointed to a large world map behind him and after quoting Romans 15:20 said,  “Jacob, there are people who have never heard of Jesus! What are you going to do about it?“ I remember at that time receiving the conviction to go to those who have little to no opportunity to hear about Jesus life, death, resurrection, and ascension for people from ALL people, tribes, and languages. I remember going through the New Tribes Mission (Now called Ethnos) training program where I was taught by many missionaries who loved Jesus and His mission deeply, returning back to Seguin Texas and, shortly thereafter, going on a three-week mission trip throughout India. On that trip I saw first hand the work of the gospel to the unreached. After returning to Seguin, I remember when my heart was drawn to Carol Mayer, daughter and granddaughter of missionaries to India. I remember 6 months later, on July 10, 1981 when I was married to Carol, the love of my life. I remember, six months after our marriage, selling everything and moving to Aurangabad, India,  to proclaim the gospel (Romans 1:16-17) and the birth of our firstborn, Joshua, in a small mission hospital in Kodaikanal, India. I remember having to leave India 6 months after our arrival with our new born baby because we could not renew our visa’s. I remember learning  in India by experience the difference between “presumption” and “faith“, as well as the importance of being sent out by and being under the cover of a strong, gospel-centered, local church.

I remember , after returning to Seguin in 1982, becoming a part of Lifegate Church, a church  family which has taught my family and me what it means to be a disciple of Christ.   I remember becoming a teaching elder at Lifegate Church in 1984 and going back to India in 1985 to proclaim Jesus to the Koya tribe in the remote regions of the eastern Ghats.   I remember the births of Josiah and Anna, our second and third-born. I remember the precious times of our children growing up and how fast that went by. I remember them graduating from college and, afterwards, receiving beautiful new daughters in-law and  son-in-law. I remember our growing number of precious grandchildren.

I remember both Carol and I continuing our education–my Bible classes at Hill Country Bible School San Marcos Texas, getting my Bachelors degree at Texas Lutheran, and my Master’s degree at Covenant College . I remember Carol becoming a Registered Nurse. I remember my many years of teaching at Lifegate Christian School and my times as a Principal. I remember my teaching years at Nixon-Smiley CISD High  School. I remember the great joy of being in the classroom with so many wonderful students.

I remember traveling to Kanjansi Uganda with a group from Lifegate Church on a short term ministry trip August 2006, learning about Joseph Kony and his “Lord’s Resistance Army” in the North of Uganda. I remember returning to Uganda in March 2007 (after Joseph Kony  was pushed out of Uganda) to ministering in and around Moyo, North Uganda and into South Sudan (Sudan then) and the seeds of Reaching Africa’s Unreached being planted in my heart then. I remember the many other short term trips to Uganda and South Sudan as well as to northeastern D.R. of Congo from 2007-2013.  I remember my D.A.R.T. training with SWI. I remember my two trips to Pakistan in ’09 and coming to the realization that there are no closed doors to the gospel, just more risky ones.

I remember the establishment of Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU) in 2010 and later its receiving Ugandan NGO status. I remember January 2011 RAU’s purchase of 17  acres in Uganda north of Moyo, just a mile from the South Sudan border.  

I remember breaking ground in August 2011 for the RAU Guesthouse/Hall of Tyrannus . I remember God’s help through his people to build other structures on the RAU land.  I remember later, the purchase of 8.6 acres to bring the RAU campus and demo farm to 25.6 acres.  I remember  Carol and I being sent out as full time missionaries by our local church Lifegate ,the selling  our belongs, land, and home in Texas, and making our permanent move to the RAU in July 2013.

I remember the many groups of church leaders/leaders in training from West Nile of Uganda, D.R. Congo, South Sudan, and the Republic of (North) Sudan from 2013 to the present who have come to RAU’s Hall of Tyrannus for multi-day  module training’s. I remember 2 Timothy 2:2 and Acts 19:9-10 becoming the core verses for RAU. 

I remember the 30,000 ESV Global Study Bibles, 2,000 other study bibles, 25,000 ESV pew bibles,1,000’s of theological books in English and Arabic, the 600,000 Dual language tracts, coming in containers and with teams. I remember the great pleasure and joy being able to place these resources into the hands of church leaders. I remember seeing them transported to church leaders in D.R. Congo, South Sudan, the Sudan (Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile State, Darfur and Khartoum city) and Chad. I remember the conflicts in neighboring South Sudan and the Republic of (North) Sudan which brought 100,000’s into our area and, providentially, brought refugees from unreached tribes to RAU for training and resources who are now themselves walking out 2 Timothy 2:2. I remember the opportunity to train church leaders, community members and refugees  in vegetable and grafted mango production, keying in on “farming as a business“. I remember having dialogs with Aringa (an unreached nearby people group) Sheikhs and Imams on the topic, “Who  Is Jesus?” I remember one prominent Sheikh saying “Jacob, I want to be a Christian!” I remember the planting of churches in the nearby remote Metu Mountains.  I remember  by God’s grace putting in 25 bore holes (water wells) where there was great need for clean water.

I remember  the growing relationship beginning in August 2020 with the like minded mission organization called ABWE. I remember Carol and I becoming Associate missionaries with ABWE  in July 2023 partnering together so that RAU’s vision and mission can carry on long after Carol and I are gone. 

This remembering helps me see and understand more fully God’s grace and mercy. When I take note of how many times God admonished His people to remember, I know that it is because I am prone to forget. This remembering assures me that when the Lord starts a work he finishes it (Philippians 1:6) and that the grace He has poured out in the past and present can be counted on in the future.

 

Lastly, I remember my loving family & extended family, my many many friends from childhood to now. God is good and He is good all the time!

I remember the our home Church Lifegate, the many local churches, and organizations who have stood with us in prayer and with financial gifts, walking alongside us as we have poured out our lives for Jesus our Lord and Savior in our Sub-Saharan Africa. I know there will be many other memories to be remembered !

 

Carol and I are grateful for everyone’s prayers and support! Thank You!

 

 

 

 

The Lord bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you!

 

Thank you!