May 6th, Uganda… Take a Minute

5-6-07

With only a few weeks left until the conference, we are in need of much prayer. It’s crunch time and there is so much to do here. Another person has left the team. Gina left Wednesday to spend some time at home. We will miss her, but now are even more focused than ever. We are down to a solid crew who are very hard-working. The Frontier Missions group from Tonga have also been such a vital part of our team. The common room is in its final stages of remodeling and the grounds are looking good. There is even a ping-pong table (a board with a net) in the common room now which “Pila Ping-Pong” is usually dominating.

Jessie’s parents arrived in Uganda this week to spend some time with us. Her Aunt, Kim, who was also staff on our DTS came as well. It was so good to see Kim again and to meet a part of Jessie’s family. They didn’t come empty handed either. They gave us some much needed relief in the form of food and games. They also brought some much needed tools that will benefit the conference preparations greatly. It will also be a big blessing for the base after we leave too. They have been such a blessing to me and the whole team. Jessie’s father, Robin, is a pastor (and a member of the SWAT team) in the city where Jessie is from. His church surprised him by sending him and his wife all the way out here to be a blessing to us. Not only did they buy the plane tickets, but they provided all the money for the tools, food, and even electric/gas powered grass-cutters. It will reduce our slashing time and effort to a great extent.

[I will include a picture of Jessie's parents and Kim in next week's update]

Personally, it hasn’t been the greatest week for me. I have spent a lot of time looking at past journals to see where I have come from. That is the whole purpose of journaling, but I didn’t realize what the effect was. When we look at where we have come, we are left guessing where we are going. I had some choices to make inside myself of who I am and who I am becoming. I feel like I have been called to be a missionary; which is great, but it comes with some consequences. A few examples: time with my family and friends, financial burdens, potential health hazards, and bodily harm; even death. Am I willing to evaluate the risk and follow what I believe that I am supposed to do? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this type of life is the way that all Christians are supposed to live. Not that everyone is supposed to be a missionary in foreign countries, but we are all supposed to be missionaries in our world. The cost of discipleship is not a topic that is covered in many churches, but it is one that should be looked at regardless. Being a Christian shouldn’t be easy; we are called to give out entire lives to Christ. Its not like we are just inviting him in to be a friend, we are inviting him to be in control of our lives, it is the basics of salvation. Making Jesus Lord comes with all the costs that I mentioned before and even more. I know that it should be an easy decision, but to be honest, it’s not that easy. When I have the choice of saying yes and giving all of those things up or living a comfortable life with a comfortable job, not having to worry about my very life, I get caught up thinking, “what if?” But then I try to get eternal perspective, but my mind is too weak to comprehend eternity. It all comes down to faith. Faith that if I do the right thing now and surrender my life to Christ, then there is hope for the brightest future imaginable – Eternal Life.

I had a huge wake-up call and example this week. I was forwarded an email by my uncle about persecution in the modern world. The article was from Resurrection (Easter) Sunday and highlighted the death of 3 Christians in Turkey (Smyrna specifically, the first place where believers were called “Christians”). These men were not only killed, they were tortured gruesomely because they were Christians. I will not go into details here, but knowing them made me picture them in my mind to this day. Not only did I picture them, but I tried to put myself in the position of those being tortured. Am I willing to take my faith to that level? Am I willing to go through what those men went through because of a belief? I can only hope that I would be able to. I can only pray that God would draw me so close to him; that it wouldn’t even have to be a decision. That I would be so Kingdom obsessed, that I would go to the places where the light of Christ is needed the most no matter what could happen. That I would be obedient even in the face of death… or worse… torture. [Email me if you would like a copy of the article]

One Thursday we also had a day of prayer and fasting for YWAM as a whole, but focused on the “Hot-Spots” where there is persecution going on, or where the Good News is being rejected. There is a list of countries that I could provide for you who are interested, please let me know. Some of the big ones are Brazil, Iran (the Middle East in general), and many African countries. We learned that last week in Sudan a DTS outreach team from Egypt was fired upon while driving out of a church compound. 3 people were killed (local Sudanese) and a few of the students were injured. The driver had the wit to keep driving out of danger and to a hospital. A couple of years ago, 9 people were killed in Nigeria in a bus accident. A base in Tanzania keeps promoting base leaders who die soon after they are established. Some YWAM staff in India have been suddenly getting sick and dying within minutes with no cause. There are events like this happening all over the world, but many more in these “hot-spot” areas. Please pray for determination for missionaries everywhere, and that we would not have a spirit of fear in any situation.

[map from Release International click the map to find more info!]

The base also experienced power surges that took out some computers the internet, and my external hard drive with all of my pictures from Ethiopia and many from Uganda as well. I am praying that it only took out the power supply and that all of the information is safe on the drive itself. I thank God that my computer is still safe. But it has made my job a lot more difficult seeing as most of the work I do is over the internet. I guess until the problem is fixed, I will be making many more trips into Jinja town to use the internet. Hopefully by midweek, the internet will be fixed and we will have a better idea of how many office computers we do and do not have. Pray for patience; that all of us will keep a level head and Christ-like attitude when things aren’t working out.

Tara,
Alex, and I visited St. America’s again yesterday. It was to visit the children, but also to tell the headmasters of the orphanage that international transfers aren’t available with the type of account that they have. It was bad news to deliver, but I know that the Lord works everything out to those who love him. I trust him, but will continue to pray that the door will be open to get the home some much needed help. They are so grateful for prayers and the love that we have shown them, but we can only explain that it’s nothing we can do, but Christ through us. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our lives and what time we have with them.

We haven’t really had any team building experiences with our new, larger team yet since things have been so busy. Last night (Saturday), we decided to have a feast with meat! The Tongans have cooking pigs down to an art, so they displayed their workmanship by roasting a pig while others made potato salad, cooked Talapia (a native fish from Lake Victoria), sweet potatoes, cassava (an edible root), and curried meat topped off with ice cream and fruit salad. I am sure that we have never eaten better on base. It was so good and the fellowship was even better. Jessie’s parents brought a few baseball gloves so a few of us played catch, while others sat around the roasting pig and talked. At the end of the night, everyone was satisfied, what a blessing. A few of us non-Tongans also tried some parts from the pig that we had never had before like the tongue, ear, nose, brain, and Tara and I partook of the eye ball as well.

I guess that brings this blog to a close. Please continue to pray for us out here and be sure to let me know if we can pray for any of you about anything. We know from experience the power of prayer. If you want to discuss anything, please let me know, I am more than willing to engage in a conversation, even if it is over text. If I don’t get back to you right away, I will eventually.

As far as the benefit art gallery goes, I have conformation for a venue in Visalia, California. If you have any information or know any venues where I could hold the show and you live in Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Las Vegas, or Santa Barbara/Los Angeles I could definitely benefit from it. If you want any more information on the benefit art show, please contact me.

Thanks for reading and may God richly bless you!

A servant of Christ,

John Paul