July 11, 2008
During my quiet time this morning I am praying and looking with wonder out the window of our house in Africa. Wonder? Yes, for a country boy with roots in rural Alabama to have papaya, banana, and royal palm trees growing naturally in my yard, it is marvelously wonderful. Who would have thought?!
I have been studying in Philippians and a cross reference sent me to Ephesians 2:8-10. Verses 8 and 9 are very familiar to all of us saved by grace, but, verse 10 has me chewing on it a bit. God created us uniquely to perform predetermined works in a predetermined location. Sally and I are so very thankful for being sent by you to minister here with our talents and abilities. We are also thankful for your prayer support which sustains us here as well.
We have been here 2 = weeks now and we are beginning to regroup. We hit the ground running. Our housing was not repaired as was promised. (Surprise!) The construction site was a conglomeration of mini-disasters which have by now either been resolved or absorbed reasonably into the project. It was discovered that financial projections at the beginning of the project have provided a few opportunities to be creative at financial management. Solutional opportunities are forthcoming, we trust.
We had the opportunity to interact with an incredible short-term medical team partially comprised of members from our home church. Days were long and peanut butter did abound, but what a blessing to see them minister to the people in a practical and spiritual way. This team came at a time when Zana Presbyterian Church was in the final outreach stage of planting a new sister church in Namelanda. The medical tem ministered daily there and a group form Zana Presbyterian did evening rallies for a week with music, preaching, and film outreach. This culminated in the first official church service last Sunday morning. Sally and I were honored to attend their first church meeting along with the medial team. What a blessing. Many of the singles we are working with were part of the evening rallies and served daily as interpreters, etc. for the medical team. They are tired as well, but blessed.
It is interesting to us that as we start this 12 week commitment, the spiritual warfare has increased significantly. As I mentioned, the housing was not repaired as promised, which was discouraging, but we managed. Then right on the road in front of the work site, one of the trucks for the job ran over a 3 = foot long cobra which measured about 3 = inches wide at his thickest point. He may not have been so wide before the truck episode. This had all the workers looking for the snakes family--another concern. Thursday night we were robbed in our home and relieved of one of our cell phones, our digital camera (sorry, no picturesL), my briefcase with all the plans and references books for the project, my personal bag of tools I use daily, Sallys personal bag with stethoscope and other items, and a significant sum of money.
God greatly encouraged us through the experience as our neighbors found, in two different locations, and returned the discarded briefcase with the plans, reference materials, my tools, and Sallys stethoscope. Yeah God! These were the irreplaceable items for us as they are not found in Uganda, to our knowledge. We were also encouraged that we were unharmed especially when we realized the robbers were in our bedroom while we were sleeping. After talking to one of the missionaries here and consulting Pastor Emma the decision was made to relocate our housing to a facility with better security for us. This decision comes with a cost as this is not what we wanted to do. We felt that one of the reasons we were effective on our previous term here was because we lived in the village with the people. Please pray that our effectiveness and acceptance will not be hampered. Also pray for safety and wisdom as the next few weeks will hold many opportunities to make decisions that will have long-term effect on the clinic and the seminary. We see Gods hand in all this and believe we are at the right place at the right time (Eph 2:10) for our tasks. Please praythe most you can do. See Psalm 121
From the Front,
Gorden and Sally
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