Free Bible Software

Many Sunday's ago RJ Fischer mentioned free bible software. I think I sent a link in email but did not document it here on our blog.

Here is the link to the E4 software: www.freebiblesoftware.com/

Gorden and Sally Tomason -- Update #6

I was reflecting this morning that having previous cross-cultural experience allows you to overlook some of the normal inconveniences here, like luxury toilet tissue, “the T.P. with a tooth.” Or our latest roast g-nut paste (peanut butter) with sim sim which if you read the ingredients has oil 44%, protein 37%, moisture 19% and P.S. ?? 33.12%. My calculator is obviously broken also as I cannot seem to get this to add up to 100% but never-the-less, I am all but certain P.S. must be good for you but there is no mention of sim sim!

You also learn the secrets here if you practice due diligence. For instance, we get four T.V. channels here rather poorly, and if you continue to turn the channel selector you find them all more than once, some you can see less clearly but the sound may be better, etc. The real secret, however, is that CNN can be found sometime early in the morning on some days. To exactly pinpoint this phenomenon is a bit harder for the muzungu mind but as I said with due diligence you can be assured of success.

There is a published schedule in one of the newspapers for the planned power outages that seemingly has not changed for a long time. This was a great discovery until Pastor Emma said that they had not followed the published schedule for quite a while. I will save some of my schillings. When you buy a new appliance or power tool here you must first pay, then you proceed to a fellow who gives you a replacement plug for the new item. As you exit the store you must then take the tool and the plug to the place where you would check your packages and then the fellow there will very rapidly, and with great expertise, replace the plug on the new tool (which has a Euro 220 plug) with a replacement U.K. 220 plug. This leaves you now to only find the correct outlet to plug into which sometimes happens.

The work site is going well even if we did have a “come to Jesus” meeting with the supervisors at the end of last week. The rainy season has come with a vengeance which is hampering our ability to cut dirt for additional foundations. Please pray that God would hold the rain for several days until we can make progress on the foundations. If He could hold the sun for Joshua, He can hold the rain for us. We have concluded the brickwork on the Boy’s dorm #1 and finished the foundations and floor slabs for Boy’s dorm #2 and for the two-story administration building. We are two days along with the brickwork on the Boy’s dorm #2 and we hope to be pouring the concrete columns on the administration building before the end of the week. The ring beam for Boy’s dorm #1 will begin on Monday. The trusses for the roof on Girl’s dorm #1 are in process of being installed. As you can see we still have four works in progress, but we are desperately trying to begin two more.

Sally continues to make slow but steady progress at the clinic and with the domestic engineering projects. She took Jean to the school to read to the children one day which they really enjoyed. We have just learned that Vincent, the young man Jean tutors, has just been chosen “Head Boy” at the school. He was voted by the students and would be similar to Student Body President in the States. It is a great honor for him and a wonderful reward for his character and hard work ethic. We have learned more about Vincent and his family. He is 15 and both parents died from AIDS. He has two brothers who are still living with extended family back in the village. He works for Pastor Emma to earn money and regularly takes the funds and returns to the village to financially support his brothers. Mom is making a significant contribution to his education and we are proud of them both.

I took off half of Friday last week and went to Owino Market with Sally and Allen just to experience the open market here. Open markets are normal for 90% of the fields of service we have been exposed to but this one was a surprise. The sheer size of the market is all but overwhelming and trying to follow each other in such a throng is like a serious game of hide-and-seek. One pleasant surprise is the floor of the market is mostly concrete with rain gutters down the center and consequently, the odor is much improved. You can purchase any food locally available here at the market and also most things like clothing, tools and equipment for all manner of building (carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.) Even door, windows, burglar bars, etc are available if you know the area in which to look for it. Farm feed and agricultural accoutrement are available as well.

Two weeks ago on Saturday found us driving to Jinga, the Source of the Nile. We saw by boat the actual outlet of the river from Lake Victoria. Our boat guide said all the surrounding countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwawanda) all have incoming tributaries going into Lake Victoria, but there is only one outlet from the second largest lake in the world, the Nile River. We saw the concrete marker where the Nile’s length measurement takes place and the guide said water leaving today would average 3 km/hr, move 4000 miles and reach the ocean in 90 days. Many Nile perch weigh in excess of 100 pounds giving a different perspective of perch jerkin’ for us bassers. We were overwhelmed with the amount of wildlife around the Nile River. Most memorable were the monitor lizards, an abundance of birds, and a four foot cobra snake in a tree. We also went to Bunjigalli Falls and the view was breathtaking.

Easter here was very special. We had a very bad wind/rain storm during the night which was so strong it knocked our neighbor’s house down. Thankfully all 20 of the people (many children) that slept in this very small shack were not injured. It was truly miraculous when we surveyed the damage by daylight. It rained all day to let us know the rainy season is definitely here. In fact the rain on the church tin roof was so loud that we had a rain delay during the service. The roof leaks in several places so everyone moved their chairs to accommodate. Then when the rain did not let up we all scooted our chairs very close to the Pastor so we could hear the sermon. After church we went to the home of some missionaries here and had lunch with about 35 of the Bible College students who were not able to go home to their villages for the holiday. We ended the afternoon with some great singing (some in Swahili too). It was an Easter we will never forget.

The day after Easter I was off work so we went to the Botanical Gardens. They are huge and very beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the monkeys. We saw three different species that make their home there. We had a nice picnic and a three-hour walk (with lots of stops!) Mom was worn out!

Yesterday Sally and Mom went with a young man in the church, Tony, to do ministry in an outlying village. He has gone the last three Saturdays and is trying to reach out to the children in this predominantly Muslim neighborhood. Most of the children don’t go to school so when they get a crayon and a piece of paper they are thrilled. Sally told the story of Noah and the Ark and then retold it while the children acted out the story. They had never done any drama and needed quite a bit of coaching. After coloring they taught them a song and shared cookies. Many loved sitting on Ja Ja Jean’s lap. The mothers standing around seemed very appreciative as did the children. How much we take for granted in the States!

After church today we had 7 of the singles over for lunch and a planning meeting to help them get their ministry off the ground. It was a great time of fellowship and we look forward to seeing what God does with this wonderful group of young people. They are the first group of young people who grew up in the church and have now hit this stage of life. So they are charting new territory in the life of the church and for themselves. We will meet again here on Saturday evening for our next planning session.

Praise Items:

1. The power has been on much more consistently which has enabled much better sleep.

2. God has opened doors for ministry options with the children and with the singles.

3. A translator on the worksite which has greatly helped the “selective understanding” communication problems.

Please pray for:

1. Communication and relationships

2. The rain to hold off so the ground will dry enough to dig the foundations on the next two buildings. Rainless days so that the work can continue.

3. Wisdom as we seek to mentor and help the young people establish their singles group in the church

4. Wisdom for Sally in the clinic as she helps with administrative/organizational tasks that will help as they lose their second midwife in the last six weeks due to maternity leave. This leaves one nurse and one midwife on daytime hours to staff (nursing/pharmacy/money collector) the clinic which stays open 24/7.

Gorden, for the Muzungus

P. S. Please don’t see any of these reports as negative correspondence. I hope the updates help each of us to see the world differently. Different is not wrong, it’s just different. As North Americans we tend to think the “American way is the right way, the best way, and the Christian way. If this were true, then I wonder why God called His people first from Mesopotamia and why He sent His Son to Israel, one of the lowest habitable ditches on the face of our planet, to minister and be the Savior of mankind. Think about it!

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/