A Great Week!

Erica and I are doing well here in Uganda. Thank you so much for your prayers!!! We are making progress in learning Swahili and getting a chance to do some ministry with the nationals as well. It has been really amazing to see who Jesus brings into our lives.

This week, for example, we have had a substitute Swahili teacher and it turns out he is not a Christian. His name is Joshua. Part of his teaching dealt with learning to ask and answer questions (in Swahili) about the kind work we do. We told him that we are missionaries and that our job is to train pastors. This caught his attention, because people always tell him that his name is the same as a great man in the Bible. He has always wanted to know the story of Joshua and what his name means, but never been able to find anyone to tell it to him. He told us that he has asked other missionaries what his name means. But he said the other missionaries never really answered his questions, but instead, they always "preached at him," so he said he never really listened to them.

We told Josh we would not preach at him, but if he had questions about God and the Bible he could ask us. So... all this week Josh has been asking us questions about the Bible, Joshua, and Jesus and we have been able to help answer his questions. It has been so amazing to see Josh seek the truth so fervently and to see God speak to His heart as well. For example, he was so interested in Joshua at first and didn't really care to hear any other part of the Bible. But when we told him that the Greek of "Joshua" is Jesus, the Holy Spirit gave us the perfect opportunity to introduce Jesus to him. It has been such an amazing privilege and honor to see the Holy Spirit moving in his life. He is thinking seriously thinking through verses like John 3:16 and about a God who loves us so much that He would give us His only Son. As we described the Lord's love for us, his exact words were, "I want to be loved." It is so precious to see God at work in Josh's life and see the Holy Spirit prompting his heart and mind to read the Bible and think about who God is.

We have given Josh his own Swahili Bible. On the front it says, "Habari Njema," meaning "Good News." At first, he was a little confused as to why it said this instead of "Holy Bible." But now that he has heard, all he can keep saying is, "Thank you for this Good News," "My friends have told me Good News." It is so precious to witness him discovering Jesus!

He has gone home every night and read either his Bible or other information we have given him, and he has even talked to two of his Muslim friends about this "Good News." His friends were less than warming to the Gospel, but he is staying courageous and holding onto Matthew 5. We are planning to continue to build this friendship and meet with him weekly. Please pray Josh comes to accept Jesus into his heart as Lord of his life. We pray he will come to know Jesus very soon as he gets his questions answered and God's grace takes root in his heart, so please pray intentionally for him. We love you guys and hope to hear from you soon.