New Hope Team Update

The past 7 days here with the New Hope Team have been extremely busy, to say the least! I know many family & friends of team members have been checking our blog to see how they're all doing & what they've been up to~ And I apologize for not posting a blog sooner! But they're all doing AWESOME! They have really stepped up to the plate and worked so hard and just poured their hearts out to the people of Uganda! You would be SO proud! And I think it's safe to say, that at times we have all been totally exhausted, but it's also been an extremely rewarding week for us all!

So... here's a glimpse of what we've been up to... A LOT of Children's Ministries & Vacation Bible School, Pastoral Training, "Hut to Hut" Evangelism, a showing of the Jesus Film, attending church in the village, and finally... a Sabbath!

First of all, we spent last Wednesday through Friday out at Uganda Christian University, where I've been doing Bible Club with the kids for the past year. They performed skits, taught the kids new games & new songs & just really showed these children the love of Jesus! There were about 100 kids or more that showed up every day, so that was really exciting! (We are all pictured above with the children from UCU)

And then after UCU on Friday morning, we headed straight to the small town of Nebbi, where we've been carrying out pastor training for the past year! It was definitely a village experience and a huge opportunity for ministry for the team. We went straight into pastor training as soon as we arrived in Nebbi & every single person on the team participated in training the pastors! (We are pictured to the right with the pastors & some of their wives) They taught on How to Lead Children's Ministries, How to Prepare a Bible Study, Qualities of a Good Leader, & did a Survey of the New Testament! I must say, I was SO proud of my brother, Ryan & his good friend Ryan, who taught on the New Testament together. They answered really difficult questions & had so much to offer to these pastors! And they really did it with confidence & spiritual authority! It was pretty amazing to witness my little brother leading these men!

In addition to helping with the pastor training, we did "hut to hut" evangelism & more children's ministries (pictured below to the left)~ about 200 kids showed up in Nebbi! And we also showed "The Jesus Film," which is a movie based on the life of Jesus that gives the Gospel message. We set up a huge screen on the outside of the church (pictured below to the right) & we think at least 500 people came to see this film!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing!


And it has been SOOOOO good having my brother & sister, Ryan & Ashley here! We've had some good quality time together & great conversations in the midst of the busyness. And they have done awesome here... adjusting to the culture, being willing to be stretched, participating in ministry, loving on kids & so much more! This picture to the right is of Ryan sharing his testimony with the church out in the village that we attended. And Ashley prayed for the service! It has been priceless seeing them minister to people here! Thank you to all of you who made it possible for them to be here & for the rest of the team as well! You have made an eternal investment in each one of their lives & in the lives of innumerable Ugandans! Thank you for your prayers & support! And please continue to pray for the team & we'll keep you all updated!

Smooth Travels & Sweet Reunions

Imagine yourself stuffed into a small Toyota 14 passenger van, which is actually holding 18 passengers, then driving for 6 hours from Arua, Uganda to Yei, Sudan over less than favorable roads. This is the situation Billy and I found ourselves in last week with both of our vehicles being out of commission for the next few weeks. We traveled to Southern Sudan to conduct a pastor training with the 5 men Jesus has provided throughout Southern Sudan. It was quite an adventure traveling by taxi to Sudan but the Lord's faithfulness was completely evident throughout the trip. Jesus provided a place to stay, new contacts and friends, brought the pastors safely over difficult roads, gave us smooth border crossings, helped us find Billy's phone (which got lost!) and gave us a great time of fellowship and training with our pastors. We are so thankful this training actually happened despite the difficult odds to get to Sudan. Please pray for the future ministry in Sudan.

Just about 24 hours later ... Erica and I traveled down to Kampala to pick up the team from Asbury & Georgetown College (which included Erica's brother and sister, Ryan and Ashley. It was so much fun to see our family again and pack up the van and travel back up to Arua. In good ole African fashion our van had some problems right as we began to leave Kampala ... so we had to get it repaired. Again the Lord's faithfulness shown through and we were able to leave yesterday and arrive very late to Arua last night. So we are a bit tired, but the attitude of the team has been outstanding and they have already been a blessing to us. We are anticipating how God will use this team to help advance His work here in Uganda! Thanks for praying and we'll keep you posted.

Please Pray for John & Billy in Sudan

John & I just got home from a leadership conference in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday, and we thank you for your prayers. It really was a great opportunity for both of us, and we are thankful that we work with an organization who values us and allowed us to go to this conference, even though we aren't technically in a leadership position. There are times here that we do carry out roles of leaders, and we look forward to being able to use what we learned there in our future! And it was great to be able to spend some time with some of the WGM Kenya missionaries, who we respect & admire very much! We had very memorable conversations & learned some valuable lessons from these experienced missionaries as well!

Today, after being home for not even 48 hours, John left for Yei, Sudan with Billy for pastoral training there!!! And with all of our car problems... there was not a vehicle for them to drive this time, so.... they took a "taxi," which is a large van that seats at least 14 people, and they'll be on pretty rough roads! They are so brave! The drive is about 6 hours from here, so they should have reached there about 2 hours ago... but we haven't quite figured out how to make phone calls between Sudan & Uganda, so Joanna & I haven't been able to be sure they've arrived safely. But I'm sure they are fine! I just ask that you would be praying for John & Billy and the 5 Sudanese pastors they will be training and discipling over these next 3 days. Please pray that God would keep them safe in their travels & work out all the details there & be in their conversations. Also, they will be meeting 3 of these pastors for the first time, so please pray for discernment for Billy & John and for them to have meaningful encounters with all of these men.