A Church's Love

It is a joy and privilege to be part of a church which loves its orphans and widows enough to sacrificially give in dire need.  An elderly lady named Grandma Lubowa has been part of Mbira Baptist Church since its inception.  Just over a week ago some wicked men set fire to her tiny mud and stick house.  Fortunately she made it out of the house without harm, but she lost everything but her mattress and the dress she was wearing.   On the next Sunday the church when finding out about the tradgedy took pledges to provide for a new home and the replacement of some neccessary living materials.  What a great depiction of God's love. 

Rest and Recovery/ Rally Car Sunday

Thank you to all who have prayed for Kristy. She is slowly recovering from the malaria. The headaches, shakes and fever are gone, but the extreme tiredness still has a hold. When momma is down the whole family feels it keenly. I thank the Lord for giving me such a beautiful hard working wife. This past Sunday we had a blessed, but unique worship service. I have learned that, along with soccer, the sport of rally car racing is widely loved by Ugandans. The problem was the rally car race circuit used the main road just next to our church. I was trying not to laugh as each time a car came racing by every body on the right side of the church was peering through the wood slats to get a good look. Pastor JJ handled the distraction very well. After the service everyone enjoyed the afternoon entertainement.

New Life!

I am writing a quick note to let everyone know we have not disappeared. Getting an internet connection has been very difficult here in Mbira village. Kristy is down with malaria, the kids are excited about having so many friends to play with, (The orphans and school kids) and our permanent house should be ready to move into by the first of May. We are very thankful to have a small house available here in mbira while waiting. God is giving strength and we are slowly adapting to life without electricity and running water. I will be sending some pictures soon. Please continue to pray as Kristy is suffering terribly. Please don't send large e-mails to us as it is taking a long time just to download the small ones. Lord Bless. By the way we are very thankful to have the Keith Stensaas family back in Uganda. I am excited to see what GOD is going to do in Masaka Independent Baptist Church.

Joy of a Wedding! Thrilled to be Teaching!!

We had the privilege of attending the wedding of a young couple in the preaching point of Lukaya. What a joy to see them giving their future lives to the Lord and each other. Despite the normal delays everything ran rather smoothly. The couple was of Rwandan descent thus the culture dictated different policies for the bride and groom. I went to pick the bride and her entourage from her family home. Upon arriving and waiting there began a heated conversation between some of the bride's family. Unknown to Mr. Sebyoto ,the leader of the Lukaya ministry, Rwandan culture dictates that the bride must see the groom before leaving the house. I was thinking, "What a way to start a marriage with the bride refusing to leave her home." Everything ended with smiles when the groom arrived to see his bride.

My heart warms to hear our 40 students at Grace Christian School in Masaka quoting their Bible verses memorized for Bible class. I get the honor of teaching Bible class for the entire student body every morning Monday through Friday. They all are learning so quickly. Luke Hermann, a young man from the Kansas City area, has been visiting and helping in our ministry. The children enjoyed hearing his testimony and lesson in Bible class Friday.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

We had a good first service at Masaka Independent Baptist Church. Ellora and Elysse were sick with the flu so Kristy had to stay home with them, which brought severe dis-appointment from the church members. A few days later the orphan girls were able to hold Ellora for the first time. To see the smiles on their faces was priceless. Praise the Lord all but 3 of the orphans have made it back from the Holiday break. They are excited about starting school again on January 31st. We are excited too, but there is a lot of work to be done by teachers and administration before school begins in both Masaka and Kyotera.

Closing Ceremony for Grace Christian School

Praise the Lord that the 3rd year of our orphan-school has successfully come to a close. The guardians who came to watch their children perform exuded thanks to the teachers and staff for how much development was exhibited. The orphans with mixed emotions will now take a short Christmas holiday with their guardians and return to Grace Christian School the beginning of 2011. Please pray for all the orphans as temptation will be great upon arriving home for this short break.

We are revamping the blog site to keep our supporters and newcomers updated on the current events in our GRACE project. God is opening the door for an exciting future as we go back to Uganda to begin our next term in January of 2011.

This week the Christian School in Kyotera has broken ground on its new school building. Praise the Lord this will facilitate the education for 84 orphans and 166 village children.