What Does Easter Mean to You?

As I (Erica) was trying to think of what to write for this Easter blog... and think about what Easter really means to me, personally, I came across Romans 6 in my reading for today in my "One Year Bible." And I don't think that it's a coincidence... but rather a "God-incidence" as my mom always says, or a "God wink."

You see, Romans 6 literally changed my life when I read it one day in 2004. It is my "life verse," as some may call it. Because when I read this passage that day, I finally saw the truth and the reality that we are all slaves to either God or Satan. There is no middle ground, no in-between. You serve one or the other. Romans 6:16 says, "Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous and holy living." And that day, I realized that the life I had been living was definitely not controlled by God, so it had to be the latter. I hadn't been fully obeying God... so who was I obeying? And that was possibly the most frightening, eye-opening, freeing realization of my life so far.

You may be thinking... what does this have to do with Easter? How is this a "God-wink" to Erica??? Well, because as I was trying to write this blog, I realized that Easter isn't as personal to me as I'd like it to be. I couldn't think of anything to write. And God had planned for me to read this passage today....

Romans 6:1-5 (NLT)

1 "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was."

THIS is what Easter means to me... I am FREE! I am truly alive! I was once so lost, and so much under the control of sin & Satan that he had made me think I was just under the control of myself. But now I see the TRUTH! None of us ever really think of ourselves as being a slave to anything. But ask yourself this Easter season, "Who has control of my life?

Jesus died so that we can be free from sin... am I truly free or is there something in my life that has a stronger hold on me than Jesus?" There is NOTHING I want more in my life than for God to continue to be in control over it! Easter is the perfect time to remember the death of sin in our lives and to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in our lives! We cannot thank God enough for the gift of His Son, Jesus, so that we can have REAL LIFE in Him! I hope & pray that this truth becomes a reality for you this Easter, and that you experience the Presence of God and the power of the resurrection in your life as you discover what Easter means personally to you.

Good News

First of all, we would like to update you on the situation in Kenya. We received very good news last week! As most of you may have heard by now, President Kibaki and Opposition Leader Mr. Raila Odinga signed a deal that will see them share power through the creation of a Prime Minister position in Kenya. People are happy that they have agreed to work together, but people are wondering too if it will really work once they begin the new position. Please continue to pray that God will do His work in peoples' hearts and in this land that needs so much healing.

For us, these past few weeks have been full of activity, ministry and sharing the Good News with many. As Christians, whether in Africa, America or New Zealand we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are thankful for how God continues to open doors for us to minister all over Northern Uganda and beyond.

One of the surprising places the Lord has opened for us to minister is at Uganda Christian University. Erica has been able to teach the children of the students there on a weekly basis and because of this relationship they asked me to come and preach in their chapel service last week. It was a real privilege to be able to speak to this group of university students who want to grow in their walk with God and trust Him for their future plans.

A few days later we were off to Gulu, Northern Uganda for a follow up survey trip to continue to explore the opportunity of ministry there. Billy, Mark and I drove in from Arua and were able to meet Jonathan (our field director) and Rick and Janie Burkhalter (our pastors to the missionaries) from Kampala. It was a short trip but we were able to see many different ministries in Gulu and were able to spend time with our Ugandan friend, Pastor Chris. We were able to attend his Wednesday night church service and preach the Word to a small fellowship. Rick and Janie came back to Arua with us to encourage us and also help with the pastor training in Nebbi a few days later. We are so thankful for their ministry to us. As missionaries, having someone come all of the way to Africa just to encourage, counsel, and love on us is an amazing gift! We have really enjoyed having them with us this past week! (Rick & Janie Burkhalter, John, Mark, Jon Mayo, & Billy pictured above)

Also for the past two weeks, Billy, Joanna and baby Elsie Jayne have been staying with us since their house is having some work done on it. They found out a few weeks ago that termites were eating not only their roof away, but the beams that support the roof too. In Uganda, the construction is a bit different from back home to say the least. The workers had to not only replace the wood beams of the roof, but had to destroy the concrete ceiling all over their house to get to the wood that needed to be replaced. It has been a real messy process, but the workers are about finished and it looks and is a lot safer house to live in now! The Coppedge family moved back into their home today, but we truly enjoyed having them in our home these past two weeks!

Another part of living here in Arua, Uganda is the fact that we have had very little water at our house since January, due to the crisis in Kenya hindering the water company's supply of fuel, which is necessary to pump the water to the town. Apart from praying for water to come to the house every day, a regular part of our routine has been going to get water from the water company. So every few days when our water is getting low, we head over and fill our 15 jugs, that hold 20 liters each and then bring those back to dump into our 5,000 liter water tank. Thankfully, water has come the last three nights~ we are so thankful!

God continues to bless the pastor training in Nebbi and it was wonderful having Pastor Rick along with Billy, Mark & myself to continue giving these pastors practical Biblical training. These pastors always ask great questions and we can really see in them the hunger to know God more and to communicate that passion to their congregations. Thank you for your continued prayers for the work that God is doing and that we get to help out with. (Pastors Cosmas, Billy, David, John, Benson pictured left)