Thanksgiving & Worship

This past week has been for us, as it has been for many, a week full of Thanksgiving and worship! On Tuesday, we headed off to the big city, Kampala, to spend Thanksgiving with all of the other missionaries and our friends in Kampala. Since we are the ONLY Americans in Arua right now, we thought it may be good to spend that special holiday (when you’re missing your family most!), with some other American friends! There were 30 of us in one house to thank God for all He has done for us this past year. It was really great to see everyone and get to have some quality time with the others there. (I am pictured with my good friend, Pamela Ironside to the left. She reminds me of a perfect balance of my mom, my sister, & my best friend~ God has truly blessed me with her friendship!)

While we were in Kampala, John was able to do some more ministry with the universitystudents at Kampala Int’l University (KIU). On Saturday, Sam Trenwith, our rock star friend from New Zealand, came down from Arua to help John lead a worship seminar, teaching the worship team at KIU the fundamentals of worship…for example, the true meaning of worship, that it’s not just a song- it’s a lifestyle, and that it isn’t a show or about bringing attention to yourself- but it is about praising God and focusing all of our attention on him. They also taught a lot of basic skills dealing with the sound system and how to properly play instruments. John & Sam are both so gifted in this area, and they really enjoyed teaching these young leaders.

That night, the students were able to put into practice what they had learned all day… John, Sam, and all the students participated in leading worship together at KIU for their Saturday night church service. It really was a precious thing to see, just how these young people look up to John & Sam so much, and to see the impact that they had on them in just one day of teaching. Although it still may not have been perfect…. Or anything like the worship we experience at Southeast J, you could definitely see, and hear, a difference!

The rest of our weekend was spent enjoying Kampala and our friends there. We celebrated our field director, Jon Mayo’s birthday on Sunday with all of the WGM missionaries at a new restaurant that makes us feel like we’re in America! It’s a lot like Chili’s or Friday’s, but after being here for a year, it feels like Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse! Jon is pictured to the right with his wife, Lisa, & son, Ethan~ his older son,
Jordan, was off playing with the other kids!)

AND… we sold 2 puppies last week to a pastor in Kampala! Thank you for your prayers! And you may find this amusing… we flew to Kampala, and the airline let us take our two puppies on the plane with us! There’s no cargo space really, since the plane is so small, so one sat in each of our laps! It was so cute, and so funny! And it was a first for our small airline here in Arua! We have already had calls on 5 of the others, so it looks like we may be left with just one to sell after this week! Praise the Lord!

And... if you are by any chance reading this blog today (Tues, Nov 27) or any time tonight…. Please pray for our colleague, Jeannie Banter. She is teaching 45 teachers tomorrow on sex education, including abstinence! The mayor and many other government representatives will attend the seminar! We are so excited about this privilege she has been given, but she is a little nervous as you can imagine. It is a huge task for a 24 year old woman! So if you could please pray for her, we would greatly appreciate it! We’ll let you know how it goes! Thank you for your prayers and for just caring enough to read this blog! We are so grateful for you!

And last but not least, Dec. 1 will be the last day of preliminary training with the pastors in Nebbi, and then they will have completed the AGC Membership Manual, which qualifies them
to enroll in our official pastor training program. Please pray for them as they take their exam over this material on Dec 8~ they are so nervous! It really is precious to see how important this training is to them. Then in January, we will begin the actual pastor training program with them. (Pictured to the right is us with the Nebbi pastors on Saturday, Nov 24. John, Jeannie, and myself all taught, and they asked really good questions and had great insight as usual. Praise Jesus for these special men! They really are so amazing!)