“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2: 6-7

In our last post on May 14th, Carol wrote about the upcoming Hermeneutics (“the art and science of biblical interpretation”) module with Rocky Point Baptist Church (RPBC), Stephen, Texas, and the Forest Hill Presbyterian (PCA) Church from Forest Hill, Maryland, module on the book of Romans in Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU’s) Hall of Tyrannus. The RPBC team was led by Elder Scott Manley and the Forest Hill team by Pastor Jason Van Bemmel. Whenever we have teams, we request they be led by an Elder or Pastor in the church. In each of these modules, there were close to sixty church leaders from many different denominations in attendance from Monday to Friday. The attendees who traveled slept and ate at RAU. Full-day schedules ran from 9 AM to noon, 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM, and 7 PM to 8 PM. The focus of RAU’s module training is strengthening church leaders primarily in the primary (first tier) doctrines of the Christian faith and in a Biblical Worldview that understands the implications of Christ’s Lordship for all of life. Since 2013 we have had around 50 of these modules.

RAU’s Mission and Vision Statements: https://reachingafricasunreached.org/about/

The RPBC team was with us May 24th – June 4th.

The hermeneutics module was May 26th – 30th. Pastor Jeff Dyke put together an outline of the book, 40 Questions on Biblical Interpretation by Robert Plummer. These two resources, along with an Africa Study Bible and some other books, were given to the leaders.

Sunday, May 25th, we worshipped in the Metu Mountains church plant in Arapi/Gbari. Elder, Scott Manley, preached the Word.

On Tuesday, May 27th, while Scott and Blake taught in the Hall of Tyrannus, I (Jacob) took the rest of the team to the Metu Mountains to visit a couple of churches and a borehole RAU put in and where RAU seeks to assist Aya Baptist in planting a church. At each stop, the Word was shared.

On May 28th and 29th, while men on the team taught at RAU, the RPBC’s ladies and Carol had a two day conference with ladies in a nearby church on the the sovereignty of God and suffering.

On May 31st-June 3rd we were all in Yumbe District worshipping on Sunday with Lodenga Church, then spending lunch at the home of our friend, Charles, where he shared about the Aringa tribe and the struggles facing the church. Then we visited several upper-level Sheikhs and leaders in the District Khard’s office next to the biggest mosque in the District. Later, we had the opportunity to minister to the physical needs of two Sheikhs suffering from diabetes and who have been friends since 2014. A couple (Rachel and Ethan) on the team who are in the medical field were a huge help in ensuring good wound care for one of the Sheikhs. While we were waiting, I had some good one-on-one times with the Sheikhs where I shared the gospel in a kind and respectful way once again. Please pray for them, the gospel seed has been planted and watered for a number of years now.

On Monday, June 2nd we met again at Lodenga Church. The RPBC men had a five-hour session with the men on Romans, and the women met separately with the RPBC’s women team members who taught, again, on the sovereignty of God and suffering.

One special aspect of the Rocky Point team was that our daughter, Anna, was one of the team members. What a gift to us as parents! She even stayed with us in our home. We love to see Anna in action, loving and serving, sharing will great skill from the word of God and sharing her laughter and joy.

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Forest Hill Presbyterian (PCA) Church team was with us June 8th-June 18th.

Romans Module June 9th-13th.

On June 11th, I took Caleb, Silas, and co-worker Zakeo to two secondary schools where Caleb and Silas effectively shared the gospel. The next day, the three of them went back to the nearby Logoba Secondary School and planted several of RAU’s seedlings. Seedlings are part of RAU’s demo farm project. During the whole week, Katherine was in the kitchen helping our RAU cooks with the food preparations and washing dishes, etc.. The cooks all were impressed with Katherine’s work ethic! Food preparation is very labor-intensive. RAU provides some transport, lodging, and three meals a day for those attending the module training as well as the rest of the staff. In our Romans module, we had 55 who received certificates. It costs RAU around $40 per church leader to have them with us. We are very grateful to the churches and individuals who financially support RAU so that we can continue in the calling the Lord has given us.

On Friday, June 13th, after the close of the Romans module, we all met at RAU with the widow (Sarah along with her six children) of the Metu Mountain pastor who was helping in a remote church plant there. He died in a very tragic way. Praise God for the support given to RAU on her behalf, as well as Aya Baptist church in the Aya Metu Mountains, which is standing with her. One of the church’s members, also a widow, has agreed to offer the mother pictured here a free space to start her own shop and will also mentor her in business. That is the way the church is supposed to live!

Forest Hill in Yumbe District: Lodenga Church of Uganda

This was our 7th trip to this small church in Lodenga Village since mid-December 2024 and fourth with a team on a Sunday morning and training on Monday afternoon. We have also been active along with local churches in evangelism, open-air preaching, and the Jesus film in this immediate area. It is literally surrounded by ardent Muslims, and the church is under constant pressure. ABWE (Carol and I are Associate ABWE missionaries) highlighted the work of RAU in the Lodenga area: “A Church Stands Strong” – https://abwe.org/blog/a-church-stands-strong/ It is an honor to have RAU highlighted in ABWE’s “Message Magazine.“ We are blessed to be part of the ABWE family!

“God help me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am.” (David Brainerd)

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Bibles and Books

Getting study Bibles, Bibles, and sound theological books into the hands of West Nile Ugandans, as well as North and South Sudanese church leaders, combined with our module teaching in RAU’s Hall of Tyrannus and local churches, is another way RAU is seeking to walk out 2 Timothy 2:2 in our Sub-Saharan region. The Lord has certainly blessed and provided! Currently, RAU has four 40′ shelved containers to safely keep these resources from the elements and especially from the many rats and termites we have in our area. Our goal is to be a resource center for West Nile Uganda, the nearby refugee resettlement camps, as well as for South Sudanese and North Sudanese who fled to both South Sudan and Uganda. I am happy to report that since our last post, we have received several thousand more books of various titles via Christianbook International outreach, Crossway International, Oasis International, and Evergreen Publishing Zambia. Evergreen is now able to print books in Uganda, PTL! Most recently, we received over a thousand of Conrad Mbewe’s new book on the Christian Family. It is added to his other two we have in stock for leaders. We have also recently received over 2,500 ESV Global Study Bibles from Crossway. Since 2013, they have blessed us now with well over 30,000 ESV Global Study Bibles, which have been primarily for church leaders and community leaders.

In August, we are expecting 23,000+ ESV Pew Bibles, which will be primarily for congregation members, students, and evangelism outreach. In August 2024, we received 20,000+, and they were gone by February 2025. In addition, we are expecting 10,520 more Africa Study Bibles (ASB). These will be added to the 6,100 we received at the end of 2024. Praise God! Of all the resources we have for leaders, I see the ASB as the most important. We are so grateful for the Lord’s grace and the sacrificial love of God’s people!

We are grateful for this added edition on The Christian Family for Reaching Africa’s Unreached (RAU) resource center. It is written by an African pastor Conrad Mbewe who understands well transcultural biblical principles of marriage and family, and at the same time also understands the African mindset, which is often deeply rooted in tradition and community values. His insights explore the intersection of biblical faith and culture, offering practical guidance that resonates with the daily lives of believers. This makes it a great resource for our Ugandan and Sudanese Christian church leaders, empowering them to effectively nurture family units and strengthen their congregations through biblically sound, culturally relevant teachings. I believe that this addition will not only enhance church leaders understanding but also inspire them to foster healthier family dynamics within their communities, ultimately contributing to the spiritual growth and development of the African church.

I am very proud of Carol. She, along with a dedicated Madi Ugandan team, has skillfully translated Good Soil’s: The Story of Hope into Ma’di with the tonal markings. This remarkable achievement not only demonstrates their commitment to preserving linguistic heritage but also aims to make the book accessible to a wider audience. It is currently in the hands of readers to check for reliability and understanding, ensuring that every nuance and meaning is accurately conveyed. This process of review is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the translation. It may very well be the first printed non-biblical Ma’di book with the tonal marks, thus setting a precedent for future publications and inspiring others to undertake similar projects that enrich local literature.

In addition, dear friend Jackie Kirby in Podcast “JPF: Joyful. Patient. Faithful” interviews Carol. The episode is entitled “Carol In Uganda”. It is a very encouraging episode digging into how’s and whys we are in Uganda and the many struggles along the way. It is well worth your time. Thank you, Jackie!

On Wednesday June 25th we leave for Entebbe via MAF. While in Entebbe, we will travel into Kampala to pick up our Permanent (5-year) Resident permits. Since we have lived in Uganda now for nearly 12 years we could apply for these residence visa’s. This is a huge answer to prayer as we were unsure as to the logistics of entering back into the Uganda late September or early October! We were hoping for at least a 10-year permit, but as was explained to us, they start with 5 year residence, then a review and 10 year residence, followed by a review again and then a full-fledged Life-time Residential permit! I jokingly told Carol I will be just mere 84 years old when, Lord willing, we get permanent permanent residency! I pray the Lord gives us many more years to work in God’s vineyard of the West Nile of Uganda, South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan… Philippians 1:21-26. However, as Carol has noted in our previous post we might be in the home Jesus has prepared for us…John 14:3.

Please be in prayer for us in these coming months of activity and travel, as we embark on this exciting journey filled with anticipation and joy. We are looking forward to seeing our children, their spouses, and our ten wonderful grandchildren, each of whom brings a unique light into our lives. Eight of the ten were born while we have lived in Uganda, and over the years, God, in His boundless grace, has nurtured a profoundly close bond with them all that we cherish deeply. We are particularly eager to witness how they have grown and changed, creating new memories together that will last a lifetime. Additionally, we look forward to spending quality time with our beloved home church, Lifegate Seguin, Texas, where we have built lasting friendships with our brothers and sisters in Christ since we became members in 1982. Their unwavering support has been a blessing in our lives. We also have plans to visit supporting churches and friends who have stood by us throughout our journey, allowing us to reconnect and share stories of God’s faithfulness and provision along the way.

In the loving sovereign grip of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Jacob and Carol Lee

Donation Information: https://reachingafricasunreached.org/donations/

Carol and I are grateful to be  Associate Missionaries with ABWE. 

Video Interview: “What does it mean to be an Associate Missionary with ABWE?”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NIk9-mNdWk&t=12s