Week in Review

Saturday, 9/15-
Erica had a Baby Shower for Joanna Coppedge~ Baby Elsie Jayne is due Nov 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Sunday, 9/16-
Billy & John took a trip out to the village of Yumbe~ Billy preached & John played some African music! (notice the streamers they hung from the ceiling of the church~ so cute!)



Monday, 9/17-
Erica's Birthday~ she turned 27 (I think I found my twin!~ my friend Kim below)



Wednesday, 9/19-
Our German Shepherd, Scout, gave birth to 9 PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (they are SO cute!)



Somewhere in the middle...
A big truck ran John off the road & our car got stuck in ditch! (John & the car are both okay!) &...
John & Billy enjoyed some soccer in our front yard with our Ugandan friends!



Saturday, 9/22-
The whole team went to Nebbi for a pastor training together! This is us pictured with the five pastors we are training in Nebbi. (We are missing the 5th member of our team, Jeannie Banter~ please pray that God heals her & brings her back to Arua in His perfect timing!)

Just another week in Africa! Thanks for praying! We love & appreciate you all!

***John also just added a video of him & Sam leading worship in Kampala~ you should check it out! ***

God's Economy

Waiting on the Lord is a phrase full of meaning and complexity at the same time. It raises the question, should I literally do nothing but sit here and wait? Or does it mean I wait for the Lord’s timing and as I am actively walking with Jesus He brings more clarity to how and where we should spend our time.

This is a question our team has wrestled with and I have found waiting on the Lord's timing means actively pursuing God as I daily walk with Jesus. The Lord has definitely gone before us and prepared a way that none of us were fully expecting to experience this first year of ministry.

This past Saturday we held 2 pastor trainings at two different locations, which was a first for our team here in Arua, Uganda. While Billy and Joanna were in Nebbi training pastors, I was in Arua training John Onek (pictured above) from Sudan. We had a great time and he is very well educated. He actually works for the Sudanese government, but his real passion is training pastors and planting new churches.

Both trainings are growing too!! The Nebbi pastors are now teaching 7 more of their fellow pastors the church membership manual, so that we will have a total of 12 pastors when we open the official pastor training in January. Our Sudan training, of the church membership manual, is now up from 1 to 4. So while it is not all about the numbers by any means, God does have a unique economy where HE multiplies the ministry. The Lord is really opening doors and providing the right people without us having to go and "make things happen." It is amazing to see how God is working in this corner of the world and what a privilege we have to participate with God in this work.

Billy and I also just returned from Nebbi this past Wednesday, where we were meeting the local government officials. In Uganda, as in most places, it is a good idea to introduce yourself and the work you are doing in order to develop true friendships and let the local officials know we are here to help and have nothing to hide. There have been some groups who have just shown up and started administering medicines, training pastors and giving out food without going through the proper channels and these types of people are viewed as cults or sects. So we wanted to make sure World Gospel Mission was NOT identified with this group at all. By the end of out visit we had been welcomed to work in the Nebbi Region and I think made it clear we are here to help the people of Uganda. Benson & Cosmos, pastors in training, accompanied Billy and I to these meetings (pictured above).

Not every week is a “red letter” week and often we can feel home sick for our own family and culture as we are faced with the real life challenges of living in Uganda. Then there are those weeks, like this one, that remind us why we are here and bring our focus back to how God sees the world.

Life of a Rock Star?

Life as a missionary isn’t all that similar to life as a rock star! This past week has been filled with less than glamorous duties, like fixing our car, getting our melted power lines fixed (we were the only house in Arua without power!), getting papyrus at the market to make a new fence from where our neighbors cut down a huge chunk of bushes that line our property (just so they could see our house!), and just loving on the people that Jesus brings to our door~ whether it’s taking them to the doctor when they’re sick, helping them budget their money, or just sitting and talking with them.

But last weekend, John and I got a little taste of what life as a rock star would be like! You may remember us mentioning our new friends, Sam & Kim Trenwith (pictured left). They are missionaries here from New Zealand, and Sam truly is a real-life rock star! He has a band in New Zealand called Radiator, and they are very well-known there! And John, loving music the way he does, had this great idea to do some worship leading with Sam in Kampala! And so they did!

It was a busy weekend, to say the least! John and Sam led worship at Kampala International University (KIU- pictured right) on Saturday evening. And it turns out that Kim has a gift in teaching, so she gave the message that night! It was so great! We were there from about 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Then we woke up bright and early Sunday morning to do it all over again! John worked so hard~ he and Sam led worship again at KIU on Sunday morning, AND John preached the sermon that morning as well to about 500 people! (pictued left) I was so proud of him! And as if that wasn’t enough, John & Sam led worship AGAIN on Sunday evening at a small, missionary fellowship service!

Three “gigs” in 24 hours, literally! It was pretty tiring for John, and even for me and all I did was work the Power Point! But Kim & Sam
said it just reminded them of what it would be like at home, in Sam’s life as a rock star! They were used to it! And even though we were all a little worn out, we were tired in a good way. It really was a fun, fulfilling time, and I don’t think we’ll ever forget that weekend! We look forward to more fun times like these and hope to do more ministry at KIU in the near future!

New Steps in Nebbi!

We had our first pastor training together as a married couple this past Saturday, and it was such a blessing! John taught on prayer, and I taught on temptation. We both really felt like Jesus gave us His words to say and His message to teach. Our lessons were TWO HOURS each! Jesus gave us both a lot to say!

I've always been willing to train pastors, as I was fully aware before we ever got here to Uganda that training pastors is our primary focus with WGM here. And I must admit, I was kind of nervous when I first volunteered to participate in my first one~ never having taught men. I’ve always done children’s ministry or worked with youth or young women, so teaching men was quite intimidating to me! But as soon as I started preparing, God gave me a real peace that He was going to help me, and a confidence that the day was in His hands!

We thought you would like to see what an actual pastor training looks like, so here are a few photos. The training takes place in a small brick church, with mud used for mortar, concrete

floors, and children peering through the windows. As we’ve mentioned in previous blog entries, there are five key pastors that attend our trainings in Nebbi (Cosmas, Benson, John, John Kennedy, & Andrew)- there are more that would like to be trained, but we really wanted to start with a small, core group, so that we can invest in their lives individually.

Thank you all for your prayers for this day! We definitely needed them in preparing, and we definitely sensed them in our teaching! Jesus really helped us both, and we are so grateful!

Precious Faces, Forever in My Heart

As some of you may know, I (Erica) have been going out to a university (Uganda Christian University) for the past few months and doing children’s ministry with the children of the theology students. It has definitely been a group effort, with so many people helping out- John, Coppedges, Banters, mission teams & visitors. Many people have invested in the lives of these children. And after spending almost every Tuesday and Thursday with these precious children for the past four months or so, they have really won a special place in my heart.

And I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it, but this Sunday will be the last day I will ever see some of these children. The university is just finishing up the semester this week, which means that a lot of the students are graduating! They will be moving back to their home villages to go and use their education, and they will be taking their precious children that are so close to my heart with them.

I have grown to love these children so deeply, and I just wanted to share their sweet faces and stories with you. There are about 15-20 kids who consistently come. The rest are in school, so I spend most of the time with the little ones who aren’t old enough for school yet, or with the older sisters whose parents or guardians require them to stay at home to take care of their younger siblings instead of allowing them to go to school.

Mauzu (pictured below) is one of the latter, and she is particularly special to me. She is the oldest one of the group, so she helps me a ton~ she helps me lead the music, plays the drums, listens extremely well, and is usually the one to answer most of the questions, as most of the other children are so much younger! Some days I feel like Jesus may have me out there just for her. We have a special bond, and I can honestly say that I truly love her. She is living in a bad situation right now, with her aunt, who mistreats her. It breaks my heart. She always asks me if she can come stay with me… meaning, can she come “live” with me. Oh, how I wish she could! But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see her again after Sunday. She is going home to the village to her parents next week, and I hope and pray that the situation there will be better. Please pray for Mauzu.

Amos (pictured to the left) is one of the fortunate ones who gets to attend school, but he always comes and participates in our lesson or activities when he has a break in school, or even when he is sick. He has a hunger to learn about the Lord. He listens more carefully than any child I’ve ever met and has an extraordinary memory! I wish I could see the future and see how God will use this precious boy!

Juliette (pictured to the right) touches my heart every time I look at her. She is ALWAYS smiling~ I don’t think I’ve ever looked at her once and seen her not smiling! And she ALWAYS has her baby brother tied to her back. And she never lets the responsibility of caring for her brother get in the way of having fun~ She loves to sing, and we always dance together! She has so much joy in her eyes and in her heart! I just love her!

Fred, Monday, & Benedict (pictured to the left) are three of my favorite boys! The faithfully show up every time we come, and they always bring so much joy to the day! They are always laughing and goofing around, and they just make my heart happy to see children with almost nothing materially, but with hearts full of the joy of the Lord!

John & I will be attending the students’/ parents’ commissioning service (a sort of “send-off” for the new pastors) this Sunday, so I will get to see the families and the children one last time. That day will for sure bring some sadness with it, but I know it will be a very sweet day at the same time! Please pray for these precious children, that they would know Jesus and feel His love in their families and sense His Presence in their lives.

Prayer Requests for the Coming Week:

• Saturday, Aug 18- John & Erica will be training the pastors in Nebbi! We will be teaching on "Prayer" and "Temptation." This is Erica's 1st time to train pastors! Please pray for effectiveness and clarity of teaching!
• Wednesday, Aug 22- We leave for Kampala for a field meeting and mentor meeting with Jon & Lisa Mayo (our field director)
• Saturday, Aug 25- John is leading worship at KIU (Kampala Int'l Univ) with our new friends from New Zealand (Sam & Kim- Sam will help lead worship & Kim will preach!)
• Sunday, Aug 26- John & Sam are leading worship at KIU again & John is preaching!