Last Sunday's Martyr

Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu

Nfuufu Village and More from the Thomasons

Feb 25, 2008

Hello from Nfuufu village,

The name of our community (Nfuufu) means dust which is quite appropriate as most all the roads are dirt and we had rain only one day last week. I don’t know what the word for mud would be but that would replace Nfuufu for a couple of days.

The construction project has consumed most of my time. In a week there have been major changes in basic building design. The Church/College/Seminary folks were unaware that the electrical and plumbing would be surface-mounted and they actually expressed a desire to have mostly interior walls with plaster so changes were negotiated with the design team. Two, two-story buildings also were reconsidered and below-grade concrete walls have now been modified to brick above-grade walls. We have been pushing dirt for three days and we have repositioned the buildings slightly to accommodate the changes. There is not a transit or builder’s level on the site so we are addressing that today. I have designed metal scaffolding for the project and located a welder to fabricate it if the project can financially support it. The first building foundation on the site is somewhat a mystery. When I arrived a week ago and measured, I found that one corner is mostly square with the front and rear walls, 4 1/2 inches short and long respectively. Two corners are 6 and 4 inches low respectively, yet the diagonals measure very close to the same. I pondered this for awhile and when asked how this was accomplished, I replied, “It is a sortallelozoid.” Other than that, last week was rather mundane at the construction site. (Ha!)

Gorden in his office

Mom has settled in, so thanks for praying. She and Sally went to meet Catharine Coon on Saturday. Catharine is a missionary from Mom’s home church in California and she heads up Children of Hope which is a ministry for the children here in the Kampala area. Mom met Dorothy, the young lady she has been supporting since the beginning of the program. It was a very emotional time. They also met Sophia who is a young lady that mom’s Bible Study group supports. Many hugs and smiles were exchanged and the girls treasured the gifts that were given. Mom was the first representative from her home church (Centerville Pres.) to visit Catharine on the field so that meant a lot to Catharine. (She enjoyed the gift bag too!)

Now for the exciting news about how God can use a 79 year-old grandmother who struggles with memory problems! There is a young boy, Vincent, who is 15. He is an orphan and is now being helped by Pastor Emma’s family. He is going to school for the first time in his life. He comes to our house each evening for an hour of tutoring (coaching as they call it here) with mom. She is helping him with his comprehension, vocabulary, and reading. It is such a blessing to see a 79 year-old missionary in action.

Sally is beginning to spend time in the clinic. The staff is giving her a crash course in tropical medicine. They have been wonderful in showing her the ropes. Malaria seems to be the most prevalent problem. One of the nurses is out with her new baby who was born on Sunday and another is pregnant and due in May so it seems a good time for Sally to be here.

One of the most humorous things to happen last week centers on Sally’s first trip to Owino market (the big open market downtown) with Allen (Pastor Emma’s wife.) As you know, because of previous melanoma issues, Sally wears protective clothing including a large wide-brimmed hat, similar to the Queen of England, apparently. The Queen was here for a visit and Commonwealth meetings last year. At every turn in the market you could hear, “The Queen! The Queen!” This was quite humorous until Sally considered the age of the Queen. Enough of that subject.

Just so you know that life is not all work we packed in a few great things over the weekend. We took Pastor Emma, his wife and two boys and Vincent out to dinner. I think it was the first time Vincent had been to a nice restaurant and he really loved the food. It was outdoors and very nice. We had some folks over for dinner on Sunday after church and then we went to a great dance/music program Sunday night at the Ndera Cultural Center. They danced and sang for three hours with energy beyond belief. It was fascinating watching the different dances from different tribes. Everything has a meaning and explains some about their particular people group.

We are all still in a huge learning curve: where to go, how to do, how not to offend, but encourage. Please pray that the mazoongoos (white skins) will become more culturally appropriate in the setting this week. Specifics would include:

1. Mom to connect well with Vincent as she tutors him and for his comprehension of the English words
2. Job site changes, new methods and equipment purchases for the construction site
3. Sally to quickly learn the common tropical diseases and treatments and also the protocol of the clinic
4. Health and relationships with Ugandans for the three of us
5. For our children at home

It is confirmed to us daily that we are supposed to be here at this time. Thank you so much for supporting us with prayers and finances. Because of your faithfulness the multitudes of Revelation 7:9 will sovereignly continue to approach that uncountable number who will be gathered before His throne.

Gorden, for the three of us

Wed morning additional prayer items:

1. Pray for Gorden on the worksite Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as he teaches the guys a new method for laying brick. If they are receptive it will really speed up their process and they can all go home earlier each day. Right now they leave at 6:20 a.m. and don’t get home until after 7 in the evening.

2. The power goes off here all the time with no rhyme or reason (typical 2/3 world) but we are asking God to make it go off in the day and be on at night so we can run a fan and Gorden’s CPAP machine. This would greatly facilitate our sleep which is essential for the long days of work. Thankfully none of this concerns mom as she sleeps through it all!

The Missional Church

Thoughts on being missional by PCA pastor Tim Keller. Bob Flayhart promoted this article to the Oak Mountain officers.

The Missional Church, June 2001

Preach to an Urban World, Part 1 and Part 2

Amazing Grace

Gregorian

Today's Martyr - Mehdi Dibaj

Here is the link to his story: http://www.farsinet.com/dibaj/