Village Ministry

The seasons are changing. I'm not talking about the rain that we should  be seeing this time of year, or the blazing sun that is burning up the crops that were planted a month or so ago as we anticipated rainy reason. Nope. I'm talking about this season in ministry. The seasons are changing by the hand of God.

We have been busy for a year now building huts for the people that The Lord has raised up to join our team. Living together has made such an impact on the relationships we have with those people we are investing in. So, after building huts for Catherine's and Bismark's families, a guest hut for the steady flow of visitors we've had (thank you Jesus), and an "eating hut" for lunches, morning devotions, and Friday night Bible studies, there is no need for more construction.

Tyler said something like this a few months ago, "We are like David now. He saw that his house was beautiful, but The Lord dwelt in a tent before building the temple. It is now time to go out and spend concentrated time building the Lord's Church." So after a time of being refreshed by some sweet visitors,  that is what we've been up to around here.

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains. Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

1 Chronicles 17:1-2

Let me rewind a bit to give you a full picture of this redemption story...

For almost 30 years, Uganda lived in fear of "the rebels," or the LRA. It was an evil ragtag group of men and children with guns that walked from village to village throughout the country looking for a chance to do the most unimaginable evil things to anyone they could find. The Ugandan government heavily protected the south, and lightly protected major cities in the north. Anyone outside of a city in the north was in serious danger. Bismark's father was killed, but by THE GRACE OF GOD, his pregnant mother, older brother, and himself we all spared. They fled to a refugee camp where they lived on top of thousands of other people hiding for their lives. The three brothers and all of the rest of the kids in the camp were escorted to school and back every day by an armed guard. While they hid in the camp, the rebels severely ransacked that whole land called Palabek until about 2009.

A major problem with living in a camp for all of those years is there is seemingly no way out. Bismark's mom was stuck. She had no husband, no job, no home to go back to. Bismark helped her as much as he was able to, and Tyler stepped in when he saw the need. Together, they fixed up "Mama Bismark's" hut, and built her a strong wooden door rather than a flimsy tin one. Bismark's brothers also moved back to the village with her. The land in Palabek is beautifully fertile, and this family owns 200 acres! Tyler helped them to prepare a few acres of the land, and gave his brother, Martin, cassava seeds to plant as a cash crop.

Land has been untouched for generations.

Booming Cassava Plants!

Martin, Bismark's brother, is the guy on the right wearing the brown sweatshirt.
(Even thought was about 120 degrees in the sun that day.)

We went out there a few weeks ago as a family. A few guys were driving the bulls when we got there to plow up some more land. Micah, our nine year old, jumped right in on that job! 

Tyler and our friend Julius brought axes and hoes to begin clearing out more of "the bush" as they expand the farm to plant "G-nuts" (like peanuts) and beans. Tyler said that when they harvest the cassava in October, they expect to bring in seven times the amount of money that was initially invested in this land! Apparently, the lack of rain hasn't bothered their hearty cassava plants like it did to our frail field greens. They plan to just continue to expand the farm a little bit at a time. Awesome, huh?

Clearing the Bush

Jonah doing Man Work.

Samuel and Matidi playing with a
much desired empty container.

Caroline preparing tea on the outdoor fire.

All the Littles and me.

The hut behind Concy is the kitchen.
Notice the door is about as tall as my five year old.
I could only stand to be in there just a few minutes
 because of the amount of smoke inside.

That's not all... While Tyler and Julius were clearing out the land, and sweating like they didn't know was even humanly possible, Bismark was gone. They questioned where he was, but just continued. When they got back, Bismark was just arriving back to the hut too. He walked for two hours or so inviting people in the surrounding villages to come for a Bible study that afternoon! This is not his nature. Bismark is a quiet, shy guy who doesn't say a peep unless you initiate the conversation. The Lord told him to go, and he was obedient. The thing is, there are not many people out there. You have to walk about 10 minutes in order to reach the next hut. The attitude of our team is this, "We know this effort will never amount to a large church. There are not enough people living out there to even have a building. But Jesus died for them. He thinks they are worth this sacrifice, so we do too."

Tyler and some of the guys that have been working the field "taking tea."
(Tea time takes place just about every day around 10am.)
 Bismark is on the middle right with the white shirt.

A few hours later, people started arriving. 20 people came! There were 3 people there the week before. Tyler was planning to teach, but when he saw the group of Acholis, he made the decision to have Julius teach without translation. We sat in the dirt and washed our hands the traditional way with a basin and a water pitcher. We PRAYED A BLESSING over our food, and ate beans and posho and rabbit with our hands while speaking the little bit of Acholi we know to greet our new friends. Imagine eating a bowl of beans with your fingers... and with six little kids trying to do the same...we were a bit messy. We didn't expect so many people, but it was like Jesus feeding the 5000. We had too much! The Lord blows me away.

Washing dishes: Use the pot of water on the ground, and sun-dry up on the top.
I didn't get a picture of the chickens up on top with dishes or the goat that  ran away with the soap...

Catherine cooking inside the kitchen.
Bismark's mom was with someone in the hospital
that day, so I don't have any pictures of her.

After we were finished eating, Julius taught John 3. Halfway through the Bible study, it began to rain. Everyone picked up the mats they were seated on, and piled into Mama Bismark's 8-foot-in-diameter empty hut. With 30 people all squished in, Bismark's brother, Martin, accepted The Lord along with another man. Right now as I type this, they are all out there in Palabek doing the same thing. I'm praying for much increase in the crops... But more for the increase of souls welcomed to the Kingdom by taking Jesus' gift of salvation he offered to all of us on the cross.

We go as a group to Palabek every Tuesday. We bring all of our own food, soap, jerry cans of water, tea, sugar, everything. On Mondays, The Lord is leading us to do the same thing in a village called Michwini. Our friend Walter's family owns land there. It is about a 20 minute drive to get there. The family is just now returning to their land to plant crops also. Walter is a pretty successful shop keeper, and a very wise businessman... At the ripe age of 20-something. He is dead serious about the things of God. Although alcohol is a top seller around here, he refuses to sell it in his shop. He arrives to church before anyone else to set up the chairs under the mango tree and hang up our cloth Calvary Chapel Kitgum banner out by the road every Sunday. He has asked for no help other than to bring the gospel to his village. This is remarkable since we oftentimes have people waiting outside our door begging for anything we will hand out... And here we are wanting to help him in any way we can!

Walter's untouched land in Michwini.

Thursdays we are continuing meeting in Lakwor with Momma Esther and her family. Julius was getting discouraged because there were only 3 people coming. He purposed to remain faithful as he confessed his discouragement to The Lord. The next week... 16 people including a demon possessed girl and her family came desperate for Biblical counsel!

Friday we have a home study with our surrounding neighbors, and Sunday mornings we continue to meet in the town center in Kitgum, ten minutes from our home.

Potty training continues - even in Palabek.

Needless to say, we're busy. As the mommy, I don't travel to all of that. I stay home and cook over fire, and potty train and homeschool four different grades, and bounce a baby who has slept through the night THREE times in his 11 1/2 months of life outside the womb, who loves to "cock-a-doodle-doo" at the roosters before the sun comes up. I wouldn't trade this messy, exhausting, sweaty, glorious life for all the riches and fame in the world. It is good to be in the center of God's will. It is good to free up my husband to run ragged and spend and be spent for the gospel. It is good to live this life of surrender because Jesus is worth every ounce of anything we are able to give.

*Update: Before posting this, Tyler and the crew came back from Palabek. 50 people showed up today. I asked Bismark if there are even that many people in the surrounding area. He said, "No. They came (walked) from far." Glory to God.