On Saturday the 20th we finished a six oofday module using the text, “Helping Without Hurting in Africa”. Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and Anthony Sytsma with Brian Fickert have put together the training manual which clearly lays out sound biblical principles for the best ways to help those who are materially poor, but defining poverty holistically (in terms of lack in spiritual intimacy, stewardship, community and self) and helping students learn ways to help, especially contextualized for Africa. Authors Jonny and Anthony did an excellent job in teaching and leading very productive lectures and group discussions. We went through lessons 1-10 and they will return again later for lessons 11-20.
Each leader had a Participant Manual
From an Amazon description: “Bestseller When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself has changed the way thousands of church and ministry leaders approach poverty. Designed to equip you to begin effectively helping low-income people, When Helping Hurts articulates a biblical framework for poverty alleviation. Learn how to walk with the materially poor in humble relationships instead of just providing them temporary handouts.Now adapted specifically for African contexts, Helping without Hurting in Africa is a 400-page manual to guide the pastor and lay working alike to meaningful ministry. Helping Without Hurting in Africa is designed to inspire churches, pastors, community leaders, missionaries, development workers, NGOs, government institutions, and donors to foster transformation in their communities. This training teaches a holistic approach, explaining how to preach the gospel through word and deed. It aims at changing people’s mind-set and helping them apply biblical principles to care wisely and compassionately for poor people without unintentionally hurting them. Most Christians have a heart for poor people, but this training seeks to help Christians also have a mind for poor people. Helping without Hurting in Africa provides readers with the foundational concepts and tools in Christ-centered poverty alleviation and doubles as a ready-to-use facilitator manual that helps the reader and participants:
*Grow in their relationships with God, others, self, and the rest of creation.
*Gain a new focus on the kingdom of God in their ministries.
*Renew their love and compassion for the materially poor.
*Obtain knowledge about how to help low-income individuals and communities more wisely.
*Empower churches and ministries to bring lasting change, starting with their own resources.”
Sara Sytsma, Anthony’s wife, had a number of very beneficial breakout sessions as well which included dehydrating fruits and veggies, “No fire” beans, soil nutrition for farming and organic pesticides using locally available plants. Her hands-on training for the leaders was very, very helpful and she was given great appreciation at the end during evaluation! Of course, it was a recurring theme to have her back for more in-depth training, especially helping communities identify the plants in their locales which can be used for pests and diseases.
Our attending group Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. were leaders from the Metu Mountains, Moyo, Yumbe and Koboko Districts as well as Sudanese (both South and North) from various refugee resettlement camps. Steve and Debbie Nutzmann, missionaries from Jinja, were also with us. It has been a joy to be with the Nutzmann’s, the teaching team, and the church leaders whom Carol and I have come to love much. Our RAU staff did a stellar job caring for our guests as well as all the church leaders who were sleeping and eating at RAU.
This is from Carol:
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” (Isaac Newton).We are so grateful to stand on the shoulders of many Greats, to be able to see further and to do more and to witness the inspiration of many to do more! This week of “Helping Without Hurting in Africa” has been insightful and inspiring! Jacob and I are so grateful for this team! Thank you, Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and Anthony Sytsma for teaching faithfully and inspiringly. A special thanks to Sara Sytsma for the Agricultural and Entrepreneurial expertise that you shared during this week! Thanks, Debbie and Steve Nutzmann for your supportive role and for what you are doing in “your neck of the woods”!
My prayer is that this training could be done throughout Uganda. The principles taught would serve missionaries, NGOs, Aid Organizations and short term ministry teams well. The church at large throughout our beloved Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of North Sudan would do well to be transformed in their perspectives and mindset also.
Please be in prayer for Ron Zeiner who is traveling our way this week. On the weekend, he will be preaching in Ijujo in the Metu Mountains and from May 29th-June 2nd, teaching an Old Testament Survey module to church leaders in Reaching Africa’s Unreached Hall of Tyrannus. Ron is an Old Testament scholar and long time friend. It is not his first time to RAU. He and his wife Joanna were missionaries in South Africa for around 10 years. Ron currently is the pastor of Bread of Life church in Uvalde Texas. Bread of Life Church is one of RAU’s supporting churches.
Please 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 like our 2 Timothy 2:2 modules, evangelism, church planting/discipleship and running the agricultural demo farm. 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/
On going 2 Timothy 2:2 with two groups of Sudanese led by Joshua Abraham in the nearby refugee resettlement camps
Please continue praying for the vision of a FM Christian radio station, dental and eye clinics, and Bible Institute on the campus of RAU. Please pray with us and consider giving your dollars to help make this vision become reality.
Please also continue to pray for the Pryce family and the Langworthy family who are looking to join us long term at RAU.
Thank you,
Jacob and Carol Lee
Above group photo with visitors: Jonny, Jacob, Carol, Sara, Anthony, Debbie & Steve
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!
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 give you a new law: Have love one for another; even as I have had love for you, so are you to have love one for another. By this it will be clear to all men that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”
John 13:34-35
The physical well-being of the communities in the Metu Mountains has long been a source of concern–even since 2010 when Jacob first visited Aya. Each subsequent visit has only confirmed that medical assistance must be on our radar--it is an expression of love–it’s a language that everyone, everywhere understands and needs. Jacob and I not being gifted or called to Medical missions have, through RAU, tried to demonstrate that love in small ways–with medicines where supply is insufficient–and bigger ways–sponsoring children who require major surgery or supporting gifted people through medical training. However, the burden remains to do something substantial and on-going. Until we have provision on that “substantial” plan, we will do what we can in concert with others who have the same burden.
In our last newsletter, Jacob shared with you all about ABWE’s International Healthcare Ministry (IHM) team coming to help us assess and plan for the most needed aspects of healthcare which are not available in this region. After a survey of the several medical institutions in Moyo District, we were able to narrow down the plan to key areas (dental and ophthalmology) and to look at ways to implement the plan without forfeiting our highest goal of caring for the eternal and spiritual needs of the people we are here to serve (through strengthening church leaders, providing literature, sharing the Gospel and making disciples). The word which brought the most encouragement and hope to us during our debriefing was: “WE”!! I cannot count how many times Jacob and I heard that word and it was music to our ears and a comfort to our hearts. Collaboration is a lovely and necessary thing–especially if long-term change and benefit is the goal!
Included with the yellow and blue vision is also the vision FM Christian radio station on the campus of RAU. Please pray with us and consider giving your dollars to help make this vision become reality. Look at our last post to see details about the radio station.
As we work towards the goals and plans discussed during the visit of the IHM of ABWE, we can continue to collaborate in many different ways–which describes well what happened last week.
On Wednesday, April 3rd, we received and hosted 51 visitors at the campus of Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU). Paul Ortega arrived with 8 other Texans from the USA and Dr. Esther and Dr. Edith (from Mbale) and Dr. Ronnie (from Kampala) came with 37 physicians and nurses from Mbale and Kampala. Several years ago, Paul’s ministry (E5 Outreach), Pearl Haven Church in Mbale (Living Water Ministries) and The Fellowship Church (Kampala) had partnered together to bring a medical team for ministry in the Metu Mountains. A second outreach was planned for the end of 2022, but the Ebola scare shut those plans down until this year. This year, there were no roadblocks!
Though we have never hosted such a big group before, the medical team and the Texas team made our role easy because of their gracious acceptance of the facilities and food we had to offer. When I apologized for any lack of convenience or provision, Dr. Edith, one of the TOP surgeons at Cure Hospital in Mbale, was quick to say that, when they have gone to remote places to provide medical clinics, they often go without eating all day and then have to cook their evening meal when they get back. Her humility and graciousness warmed my heart. It was all the more a joy to welcome and serve them.
Both teams joyfully and compassionately served the 1372 adults and children that came through over 3 days: On Thursday the 4th, the Clinic was at RAU campus, Friday, the 5th at Aya Baptist Church and Saturday, the 6th at the Arapi/Gbari community church. On each Clinic day, we had patients moving through 7 different stations: 1) Registration, 2) Triage, 3) Clinical exam, 4) Chiropractic therapy, 5) Counseling and prayer, 6) Lab and, 7) Pharmacy. On Day 2, at Aya and Arapi/Gbari, some of the Texas and Mbale crew provided special activities and ministry for the many children that came around. At the end of each day, the whole group gathered for debriefing and evaluation, sharing what happened, what went well, what didn’t go well and suggestions for improvement. I was so impressed with this process. It was done with humility and graciousness and a whole lot of wisdom.
The teams brought with them donated medications, lab tests and “Mama kits” (which are neatly packaged items that pregnant mothers need for delivery). Some items were borrowed from nearby clinics–such as scales, tables and chairs. Besides the medical team from South Central Uganda, there were a number of nurses/clinicians from Moyo District who came and helped and many interpreters and local pastors who were needed to bridge the communication gap.
Written records show that 209 made professions of faith. Names and contacts are recorded so that follow up can be done with them by pastors with the goal that they become a part of local church.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
The 3 days of ministry were long and arduous, made more difficult by the unrelenting heat. We truly felt bad for the hundreds of people who were waiting to be seen and, as they say here, “chasing the shade“. Though the teams were tired from traveling or a long day of work, each day started and ended with prayer and worship (see video).
This medical event gave me great hope that there are many who have a heart of service given freely. Many of the doctors and nurses were heard to say, during the debrief and evaluation, the words, “next time, we need to...”. That, also, is music to our ears!!
On Sunday morning, the medical team from Mbale and Kampala headed back home for their upcoming work week. The Texas team stayed on to spend the extra day with us back in the Metu Mountains for Arapi/Gbari Community Church’s service. Our hearts are turned toward them with compassion as their lives are so difficult and, yet the joyfulness with which they worship amazes us. Please keep praying for them (for all in the mountains and in the West Nile) that God’s goodness would overflow to them, especially through their ability to develop income-producing skills.
With just a week in between events, we are trying to recuperate and ready ourselves for “the next thing” in RAU’s Hall of Tyrannus. It begins on Monday, May 15th and continues until May 20th, as we welcome a teaching team (authors of the book) and around 50 attendees for “Helping Without Hurting In Africa”. Please be praying for this to be life- and perspective-changing for those that attend.
Teacher and Student texts being used
Pray for perseverance for us. We have another upcoming retreat May 29th-June 2nd. Ron Zeiner, long time friend and Old Testament scholar is teaching an Old Testament Survey module.
On Saturday, we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Rebekah Bullen, a young lady who is giving her life to serve 200 children in Karamajong region of Uganda. Her desire to see a generation raised up from infancy/childhood to know the Lord and to hope in His good plans for them is an inspiration. We praise God for her (and her parents) and for all those who have joined together to raise up such a ministry in a difficult place. May the Lord bless those plans and do a great work of grace among those children.
A special thank you to all who financially support RAU. We encourage you as you are able to support the Pryce family and the Langworthy family who are joining us long term at 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!
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 appreciate your prayers and support. Carol’s and my first ministry trip to Uganda was in 2006 and my first ministry trip to the Moyo area was in 2007. Our permanent move to RAU in Fodia/Afoji was in 2013. We are so grateful to those who have stood with us from the beginning and those who have joined us along the way. Thank you! The Lord has been providentially leading and guiding. It is easier to see this when looking back. Most often, we do not not see God’s providence in the present but there are times that God does grant us that privilege. That is the case currently and I want to share these “providential moments” with you so you, too, can rejoice with us and pray together with us.
Michael Marindi, the man in the blue T-shirt: he and I providentially met in an airport December 2006 and the contact he gave led us to Moyo!
“From Genesis to Revelation, the providence of God directs the entire course of redemptive history. Providence is “God’s purposeful sovereignty.” Its extent reaches down to the flight of electrons, up to the movements of galaxies, and into the heart of man. Its nature is wise and just and good. And its goal is the Christ-exalting glorification of God through the gladness of a redeemed people in a new world.”
1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.”
With Michael Gwartney and son, Joel, with “Radio South Sudan”
A fellow missionary who lives in Moyo sent us a message that she had met an interesting team passing through Moyo and had given them a ride across the border into South Sudan. She told us that their mission was to put in gospel radio stations. I have shared with some of you in the past that establishing a gospel radio station at RAU has always been on my missionary “bucket list“. Nearly everyone all day long listens to the radio on their phones. The next day, I was thinking more about it. Carol and I prayed about it in our morning devotions: “Lord, it would be wonderful to have a gospel radio station here at RAU…we could do so much with it, advancing the gospel…would you provide a way to meet these people?” Almost immediately after our prayer, our missionary friend called and said the team wanted to come to RAU and visit. Michael Gwartney, who heads “Radio South Sudan,” and his team came to RAU and we had a wonderful visit. Shortly after their arrival I told Michael about always desiring a radio station here at RAU. Michael, a fellow Texan, said “Jacob, if you get a radio license from Uganda and promise to run and care for it we will put up the radio tower, give you the equipment and teach your team how to use it.” Truthfully, I was taken aback at such a generous offer. He did also say that it is not easy to get a license and it is costly. Then, he looked at our water tower and said that the antenna could be attached to the tower and brought up higher and he looked at the covered lean-to next to the container and told me that it could be made into a perfect studio. We continued talking while touring around the RAU campus. Before he left I told him I would look into getting that license. The next day I contacted Thomas, RAU’s CFO. He immediately wrote a letter to Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) and began assessing costs of getting a license. Thomas has shared what he had heard from the UCC accounting section. The first time costs/taxes/consultations, as well as one-year license (which has to be renewed yearly) is right at $13,000. My estimate to get the studio built and ready is around $5000, making the total on RAU’s side to be $18,000 (give or take). Michael and team, with Radio South Sudan, would set up the station and give the equipment and train the staff. RAU’s goal would be to use the station for gospel preaching, biblical teaching, gospel and Christ-centered music and community development such as agricultural teaching and health training! Does this sound like an act of God’s Providence? If you think this might be a good investment, would you be a part of God’s provision for the $18,000?
Carol wrote in our last newsletter about receiving another team from ABWE–members of their International Healthcare Ministries (IHM) and leaders within ABWE–with the goal being able to benefit from the collective wisdom gleaned from their decades of combining Evangelism, Discipleship and Healthcare around the world. The team has come and gone. What a wonderful four days we had with them! The fellowship was sweet, and the wise counsel they gave was priceless! We did a ministry survey of our area with the plan of discussing together how RAU can keep ministering to the people of our area with the Gospel and all that goes with it—loving people who are on their way to an eternity without Jesus unless they repent and believe the Gospel and who are suffering in many ways because of their lack of access to services that we take for granted. We came away with the short term plan of trying to provide some much needed dental care and also, potentially, some eye care (ophthalmology/optometry). The Moyo district officials (whom we met with at RAU) said they would be so very happy to see such care given in Moyo District. Caleb Mitchel, our missionary team member and ABWE’s Regional leader who lives in Jinja, told us about a dental clinic there called, “Hope Smiles“, that is doing a wonderful ministry of going to remote places and providing dental clinics and doing oral hygiene teaching. He met them while getting some dental care in their clinic in Jinja…another act of God’s providence. They were excited about coming to RAU! They would plan to come to RAU 3-4 times a year. On our side we would like to see if they are interested in setting up more of a permanent clinic on our property. In their week-long mission, they would bring four dentists, assistants, chairs and all their equipment! Any dental team would be most welcome to join them when they are with us. In our area, the only dental care is basically extraction! Our hope is that between ABWE (our partner organization who is sending us 2 long term missionaries, the Pryce’s and Langworthy’s) and RAU, we can raise the money to do the 3-4 clinics per year. Caleb is working to raise $5000 for each clinic visit. That would cover all costs for Hope Smiles plus give some extra to facilitate getting people to RAU from places too far to walk. If your heart is touched to help us with these dental clinics please consider giving a financial gift to assist us. Thank you!
Let’s continue the story of providence. After leaving RAU, three members of the ABWE leaders’ team traveled to Tanzania to meet with ABWE missionaries in Tanzania. On the plane ride, Caleb sat next to a lady who lives in Kampala and is program manager for The Fred Hollows Foundation in Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Their main focus is eye care. They train high-level Ugandan nurses in eye care. They also do outreaches and major eye surgeries. She was so excited to hear about RAU and the goal of helping people in Moyo. Hmmm…another example of God’s providence? Caleb and I are looking into bringing them to RAU to chat about short term and long term ministry care and if we could interest them (both Hope Smiles and The Fred Hollows Foundation) in setting up a joint base on RAU land. “If we build” the clinic buildings, “they will come“??!! We are going to at least ask. Pray with us please! Perhaps you are one who’s touched to help us build the clinic buildings.Please pray with and for us as we seek to add dental and eye care to the pastoral and agricultural training at RAU.
Speaking of agriculture….I think this is going to be the best mango season we have had at Reaching Africa’s Unreached! I jokingly tell people that I preach grafted mangoes second only to the gospel–telling visitors and leaders that if they plant grafted mangoes the market will come to them. And true it is. Someone from Kampala came and wanted all the mangoes we have and now others who are closer are coming as well and seeking to out-bid the others.
In our agricultural training, we want to keep teaching and promoting grafted mangoes as long term income for our local community–an investment that keeps on giving. This last Thursday, we had four of the top political leaders in the district come and see (box gardens and grafted mangoes) and they said this is what the President of Uganda actually spoke about some years ago when he visited Moyo. RAU currently has 640 grafted mangoes at various stages. We have a new 5.6 acres on which we are planting another 270 grafted mangoes. It has been a lot of work. In a couple of the pictures you can see the holes that are dug in this new land along with the current mango grove in the background. We are seeking to empower our local community through these efforts. Looking back, we see how, in God’s providence, our mission organization has been able to purchase the current 25.6 acres. Buying land in Africa is not an easy task. The RAU location is alongside a dirt road which is going to be tarmacked and will become a major trading route between Uganda and Juba the capital of South Sudan. Being able to purchase this land was surely an act of God’s providence. Please pray with us in this! We are grateful for M.A.R.S. who has supported RAU for nearly 10 years in the agricultural side of the ministry.
Also, in our discussions with ABWE, the survey team saw that the new 5.6 acres which is attached to the campus would be an ideal place for Bible Institute for long term, in-depth training of church leaders. Pray with us that this vision would receive God’s blessing, direction and provision. It was Providential that RAU was able to get the land. We wonder, is it part of God’s providential purpose to establish a Bible Institute to supply pastors in our Sub-Saharan area where the church is growing fastest in the world?
Please be in prayer for these upcoming events in May:
1) May 4-6th we are hosting three medical outreaches sponsored by our gospel friends with Pearl Haven Ministries and led by Paul Ortega, a dear friend from Texas. A few years back, they came for the same type of ministry event; many were cared for and a good number of people trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. Medical care as well evangelistic proclamation will be happening one day at RAU, one day at Aya Baptist Church and one day at Arapi/Gbari Community Church . Check out their Uganda ministry page here: https://pearlhaven.org/uganda-medical-mission?fbclid=IwAR0c5JXwTzto14acZZQWrkIjs-6ncf8FimCP9wmDzO5nu2iC946vQzguLtE The team will lead a worship service at Arapi/Gbari on Sunday the 7th. Nine members of the team will be coming from Texas and around 35 Ugandan health care workers are from Mbale, Uganda. Pearl Haven and Paul Ortega’s ministry have purchased many medicines and are financing the ministry. Praise God for Pearl Haven’s heart for the people of Moyo! Thank you Pearl Haven! We expect to minister the love of Jesus to hundreds. God’s loving providence in action! Please pray for us!
2) On May 15th-20th we are hosting a Module training using the workbook “Helping Without Hurting in Africa. We have the workbooks printed out for the students. Author and Ugandan economist, Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze, and missionary Anthony Sytsma will be leading the teaching sessions. Anthony’s wife, Sara, will do breakout sessions on a fireless cooker (a way to prepare food like beans using little firewood/charcoal), using plants to protect beans/maize from pests in storage, why it is important to care for the soil and how to do so, different ways to manage pests, using green manure cover crops to improve the soil, and nature ways of dehydrating fruits. How is it that such gifted teachers would be with us? It is part of God’s providential plan for them and our students to be together.
3) We have an Old Testament pastoral module May 29th- June 2nd. Long time friend and Old Testament scholar, Ron Zeiner, will be with us. He also will be in local churches the two weekends he is with us. Carol and I have known Ron and his wife Joanna since the early 1980’s. They served a number of years in South Africa as missionaries. What a blessing and gift Ron will be to those who sit under his exposition of the Old Testament–he has painstakingly distilled each book of the Old Testament to its core message in God’s story. Currently, Ron is the pastor of Bread of Life Church in Uvalde, Texas. Bread of Life Church has been a faithful supporter of Reaching Africa’s Unreached. In God’s providential plan, we met the Zeiners in the early 80’s and now he is soon to arrive back to RAU to teach!
4) Please be in special prayer for the Republic of (North) Sudan. Geographically, the Republic of Sudan is quite a bit north of us.The country of South Sudan is between us in Moyo, Uganda and the Republic of Sudan. We have many friends from there who have come to module training’s at RAU over the years. In God’s providence, they have sat in the RAU Hall of Tyrannus and are now back among their tribes which have very very few Christians. These men are what I have called refugees twice removed. First, they fled to South Sudan and then, when the civil war broke out in South Sudan, they had to flee to the refugee settlements near us in Uganda. Many have gone back to tribes which are, in most cases, 99% Muslim. Through these brothers and the contacts we have through them, we have been able to send 100’s of Study Bibles, books, gospel tracts and Kindle Fires loaded with books and Arabic gospel films. Most of the materials have been in Arabic but there have also been some English ESV Global Study Bibles. One brother who is Khartoum has been sending me reports from the ground that the situation is bad. Another brother from Darfur said the situation is continuing to get worse. A.S. Ibrahim has a good article in World magazine on the conflict entitled, “A Civil War in the Making” If you want to keep up with events related to Islam in the world, in the USA , and on our gospel call to reach Muslims, he is, in my opinion, the key Christian voice to hear. His “Concise Guide” books are great . I have had the privilege of sitting in his office several times and visiting one of his classes at Southern Seminary. Pray, pray and pray!
In closing, let me share some of my personal thoughts on our hope for the future for which we have been earnestly seeking the Lord’s mercy, grace, and guidance. In previous posts, we have shared that we (Carol and I) see our calling to the Sub-Saharan region as being “road builders”, laying down foundations, helping pave the way for future generations of long term missionaries who have the passion of working side by side with our African brothers and sisters, carrying forward RAU’s vision in walking out 2 Timothy 2:2 (teaching faithful ones who will teach others). Though I would like to think we have many years, even decades ( I am ready to be buried here), still ahead of us, we have tried to be realistic and biblical in recognizing that our days are numbered and we must, therefore, prepare for the time when we are not able to serve or are not around to serve! Just as Moses raised up “his Joshua” and Paul “his Timothy“, if lasting and sustainable impact is to be felt, we MUST prepare. It would be a travesty to come to the end and have no one to whom we can pass the baton, no one who will continue the race and fulfill all that God, through RAU’s efforts, has planned for the West Nile region and beyond. In light of that, we have prayed earnestly for ones to whom we can pass the baton. In all our searching, the Lord has providentially seen fit to bring ABWE into view and into our lives in such a way that RAU and ABWE recognize that we are all about the same mission and having the same doctrine. We each love what the other is doing! ABWE has 100 years of experience as a mission organization and cares for around 1000 missionaries. Of most importance to Carol and me is the primacy of the local church in missions. This is also the heart of ABWE. In the context of being a foreign NGO in Uganda, we have often wondered what would happen to RAU if Carol and I were not around since we are the vision-bearing and fund-raising “arm” of the organization–that is, until we met missionaries and leaders within ABWE and experienced their encouraging desire to partner with us and find the right ones to whom we could hand over leadership and vision. We have seen with our eyes the kind, providential, loving hand of God and our hope has been fueled! As we return to the USA for furlough and fundraising/visiting/encouragement in July, one of our first engagements is to attend ABWE’s New Missionary Orientation so that we can become Associate missionaries with this missionary sending agency. Before the orientation Carol and I will have an oral doctrinal examination by ABWE’s Africa director in the presence of our local sending church leaders at Lifegate in Seguin, Texas. It is done with all their incoming missionaries. I see this as a very positive thing! As Associates, we remain “RAU” and two separate entities but this category allows us to work more closely together and to be invested together in the future of RAU. Our trust is in the Lord, but also in the means of his providential guidance and we are so grateful. There are still many unknown paths and processes to discover and work through, but at least we KNOW this!–God has providentially seen to it that our “Joshua’s and Timothy’s” are actively working to get here! Praise the Lord!! We covet your prayers in all this! Thank you!
As I was writing the paragraph above, the article below came to my email inbox. Just another gracious glimpse of God’s providence!
“…for every calling we embrace, there will eventually be a corresponding calling to release…John (the Baptist) was more in love with the God of his calling than his calling from God. What gave him joy was seeing the bride increasingly drawn to the bridegroom. And when his role in helping make that happen began to diminish, it didn’t diminish his joy. He quietly and happily began to step aside. John the Baptist taught me to love the increase of Jesus’s glory more than my role in that increase. And he taught me that the way a leader relinquishes his role for Jesus’s sake might just speak loudest of his love for Jesus…”
A special thank you to all who financially support RAU. We encourage you as you are able to support the Pryce family and the Langworthy family who are joining us long term at RAU.
We welcome and would greatly appreciate any others who would pray and consider financially linking your arms with ours in spreading the fame of King Jesus in our West Nile of Uganda, South Sudan, and the Republic of (North) Sudan.
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!
“If we had not winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.“
Anne Bradstreet
“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”
Martin Luther
Jacob and I are grateful for SEASONS, not only in the earthly sense, but also in the spiritual. Just as the dormancy of Winter gives way to the resurrection of fresh, green growth, spiritual winters create space and time for hidden growth and rest. This has been our experience.
After a long, hot, dusty, ashy Dry Season (our equivalent of winter just above the equator), the Rainy Season has come in earnest. It only takes one good rain to awaken to life new growth on plants and trees that have self-protectively hunkered down beneath the ground or have shed unsustainable foliage. The earth seems to sing its relief from drought through the songs of the birds and bugs and breaks out its Spring wardrobe of refreshing coolness.
The goodness of the rain also comes with the commission to make the most of its goodness through the hard work of plowing and planting while the rain does its work of watering. The fields of Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU) have been plowed and harrowed and planting has started–maize and beans–two staples in this region. The canopy of the mango trees has crowded out the intercropping of other plants which used to grow between the rows, so maize and beans will be sown mostly in the open fields of the properties that have not yet given birth to buildings and other projects.
The mango orchard is now producing in a great enough quantity to attract buyers for juicing plants. That has been Jacob’s plan and hope all along–that the sale of mangoes could contribute to the sustainability of the ministry. Zakeo, Ag Production Officer, took a gentleman, who had come all the way from Kampala, on tour of the orchard last week and who verbalized an interest in harvesting the whole mango crop for juicing. What an answer to prayer that would be!
The Box Gardens are coming to life with the rains and the dissipation of the withering heat of Dry/Hot Season. Vegetable production would have come to a complete halt if not for drip irrigation kits, courtesy of M.A.R.S. (Missionary Agricultural Resource Services), which allowed us to produce vegetables even during Dry season.
RAU provides a Demonstration Farm for various agricultural endeavors as a way to inspire and teach church leaders and community members about improved methods and “Farming as a Business“. Agricultural training will continue to be a part of our Leaders’ Retreats in hopes that leaders will be instructed, but mostly inspired (since most people have land and have already been farming to one degree or another). Jacob loves to make the point that a 5,000 shilling ($1.34) investment in a grafted mango seedling, if well nurtured and protected, can become a 500,000 shilling ($134) or more income-producing tree for years to come–and within 3-5 years. Every leader is encouraged to get several seedlings for each child they produce so that, in due season, they will have a steady income which helps to cover the cost of their children’s education. RAU’s Demo Farm gives an inspiring visual of what can be done, even on a small scale.
“…I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.“
Jesus, in John 10:10
Spiritually speaking, the “fields” of RAU’s ministry have been plowed and harrowed in the planning of upcoming ministry events–the fertile soil ready for the sowing of God’s word.
“Spring” inaugurated a fresh season of ministry for RAU. We welcomed back Randy Southwell, with ABWE’sGood Soil Ministry, and his team members (Bobby Hile, Denny Nuwagaba, and Caleb Mitchell) to complete the Roots of Faith: Old Testament course which had previously been cut short by a medical emergency. The 6-day course was a “smash hit” and greatly appreciated by the 59 leaders who attended (49 of which were housed here on the RAU campus). Jacob and I were grateful, as always, for the friendship and fellowship we experienced as we got to know the team over several meals and in the venue of ministry. “Roots of Faith: OT“ is just one of the courses we hope to take the same group through in this coming year.
In the midst of the training, a momentous opportunity presented itself to us. Jacob was invited as the Guest of Honor to speak at the launching of 9 more Old Testament Books in the Aringa Language (5 had been previously translated). In 2014, Jacob and I were blessed to attend the inauguration of the complete Aringa New Testament in Yumbe so to see the Old Testament pushing ahead is a joy. This rigorous task was accomplished through a partnership of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), Here is Life (HIL) and Seed Company. For those of us who have not known life without a Bible in our language of birth and culture, this should impact us deeply. Just think how much of the fullness of meaning and knowledge we would miss if we only read the Bible in a second language and not our language of fluency! This point was well made during the Aringa celebration by a group of actors who dramatized the impact of “heart language” in a skit–with great humor! It was an immense honor for Jacob to participate, especially sharing in tandem with Onduga Charles, who translated Jacob’s message into Aringa.
Another blessing that the West tends to take for granted is the wealth of possession and opportunity not shared by a large portion of the world. We love to take our visiting teams to the Metu Mountains to show them the challenges and impactful context in which the leaders in this northwestern corner of Uganda live–remoteness, lack of resources and education (for many), sickness, physical hardship and living conditions and little to no opportunity to attend a Bible College or Seminary. For this reason, it is the joy and priority of RAU to walk alongside the leaders whom we serve, to encourage them spiritually and support them as much as we can in other ways as well.
Looking back over the last 10 years in which we have lived and worked here, a lot of planting and watering has been done and, by God’s grace, we are beginning to see the harvest of leaders being equipped with resources and a deep desire to be students of the word of God, ones who need not be ashamed, who are “correctly teaching the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and living by the truth as well as applying that truth to their contexts with wisdom.
In addition to providing on and off-site training, RAU’s vision to put rich theological books into leaders’ and pastors’ hands is an on-going priority and investment. I cannot count how many times Jacob has repeated this phrase to leaders attending the retreats: “Leaders are readers and readers are leaders.” On Wednesday, the 29th, the long-awaited shipment of resources from Christian Book arrived on campus by lorry. Some of the books were ones which Jacob ordered and then hitched a ride on the Christian Book container. Others came through Christian Book for a considerable discount. Many were added for free! RAU still has thousands of ESV TruTone Global Study Bibles which are being intentionally placed into leaders’ hands with the hope that they will teach other faithful people to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). Thanks, again, to all who have partnered with us to make our ESV Global Study Bible project a reality as well as the project to get theological books here!
Along with the shipment of resources from Christian Book, we finally received all of the remaining Dual-Language tracts (pictured above: Aringa/English; Arabic/English &Madi/English) from LMI (a total of 600,000 now are at RAU). Doug Salser and the LMI team have done a beautiful job on the printing! We have already handed out many in the Moyo and Yumbe area. Thank you Doug and LMI!
In April, we will receive another team from ABWE–members of their International Healthcare Ministries (IHM) and leaders within ABWE–to benefit from the collective wisdom gleaned from their decades of service in the Healthcare sector around the world. RAU’s desire is to minister to the whole person and to be vessels of mercy to people in remote regions–to care about people’s eternal needs without neglecting their earthly ones. Our hope is that after doing a survey of the region, talking with Medical Personnel in the area and having brainstorming sessions, the team will help RAU come up with a plan for medical outreach and the development of specialized services such as Dentistry and Ophthalmology which are limited for this remote region–and, perhaps, other ministries that are yet unimagined.
Please be prayerful on behalf of the ministry of Reaching Africa’s Unreached of which you are partners in various ways: for wisdom, energy and supply for each teaching retreat; for the word planted in good soil to produce much fruit in the lives of leaders who lead their congregations; for all the upcoming teams who are coming to participate in the ministry of RAU–1) the Medical Survey Team from ABWE (April); 2) Paul Ortega and his Medical Outreach team from the USA and Mbale, Uganda (May); 3) The “Helping Without Hurting in Africa” authors (Jonny Kabiswa Kyazze and Anthony Sytsma, May); 4) Ron Zeiner for Old Testament Survey (May); 5) Pray for the ongoing Agricultural efforts which RAU hopes will have a sustainable impact on the lives of people; 6) The possibility of and financial supply for working with a Dental group (Hope Smiles) in Jinja who want to come and do clinics in the Moyo area; 7) For the wise distribution of theological resources to key leaders. 8) Please be in prayer for Zorah who is planning to spend extended days at Aya Baptist to teach gathered Sunday school leaders and to equip them with curriculum. He and his wife, Josiane, are already working with Pastor Henry’s church in the Children’s ministry. 9) Pray for Pastor Tobious in the Metu Mountains, Onduga Charles in Yumbe and Pastor Godfrey in Obongi and Joshua Abraham in the refugee settlement camps as they labor in the Lord and persevere in hard places and hard situations. 10) Pray for Paul George as he prepares to return to RAU after an extended time away.
Join us in prayer for the Pryce’s and Langworthy’s who have committed themselves and their families to link arms with Jacob and me and the team here. It remains one of our greatest longings and prayers to have others to “come over and help us” and who can continue what has been started. They are in the fundraising season of missionary life and we ask that you pray for their success and participate in it if you can.
We cannot end this newsletter without mentioning our dear brother, Kevin Kolb, who recently died and now has the most longed-for experience of resurrection life in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has shed mortality for immortality. Kevin has many accomplishments to commend him, but the one most precious to us and appreciated by RAU and by Jacob and me, in particular, is the role he played as a Board member for RAU’s 501c3. Kevin’s skill set served us well on many occasions. His love for the Lord and for the mission of the Church, and his loving support of us was and always will be a blessing.
“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:7-9
What a privilege to be co-laborers with God in His field! We could not be more aware or grateful that we are not in this endeavor alone. “For it is God who is working in [us] both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) And, your prayerful, enthusiastic, loving financial partnership is an indispensable component of this work–the “fertilizer“–if we want to keep in line with the Spring Garden theme–that nourishes the growth of the ministry.
With hope for on-going fruitfulness and rejuvenation of the mission and harvest in the West Nile region of Uganda, and with gratefulness for your friendship in the Gospel,
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!
