Keeping Perspective ...

As the saying goes, "the grass always looks greener on the other side." This saying is meant to help you keep perspective. Our perspective has been challenged after returning safely from a great survey trip to Yei, Southern Sudan. There is no grass in Yei, just dirt and dust and we found ourselves saying, "Arua is not looking so bad now." The people of Yei and Southern Sudan have lived in a war-torn country up until about a year ago when a peace treaty was signed between (tank pictured left) the North and South. And that peace may sustain, but then there is an election in 2011, which will very possibly bring more turmoil. As you look at the faces of the people of Yei, you can physically see the pain, anguish, sorrow & hatred on their faces. This is a place that is ripe for the harvest.

This is why we are so excited that Jesus is opening the door for WGM to enter Southern Sudan to train pastors and get involved with Community Health. We were blessed to meet up with fellow WGM missionary & Samaritan's Purse worker Joy Phillips (and NJ native), Terry & Karen Duncan (WGM Africa Regional Director), Jonathan Mayo (WGM Uganda Field Director) & our good Asbury College friend Brent Duncan (who currently is working for Samaritans Purse). (All pictured left) Jesus really worked out our schedule so that we could all meet together and talk about the future of continuing work in Southern Sudan. Joy Phillips has worked up in Sudan for a few years now and we are privileged to hopefully be able to work together and learn from her experience there.

We were also able to meet with John Onek, (pictured left with the team) who has been going through the pastor training with us and then going back to Sudan and training four other pastors. After meeting together with him, we all felt like we should continue to move ahead and open a pastor training site in Southern Sudan some time in April! We are so excited to see how the hand of God is making a way for us where there seems to be no way. Even if the road to Yei is rough, we know God is with us.

Another Successful Pastor Training!

This past weekend we had yet another successful pastor training in Nebbi! The guys asked great questions as usual and were very attentive and eager to learn! And they are really taking this training seriously... they all even turned in their homework that we had assigned them last month, which we weren't really sure would happen!

And it was so great to have Billy Coppedge back! And the 2 future WGM Arua missionaries, Michael & Brenda Guilliam, were in for a visit to see Arua, and they were also able to help out with the training! I was thankful for all of the extra help with this training, as I was able to stay home & get some paperwork done, as well as have some quality time with Joanna & Elsie Jayne! Thank you for praying for the training, and for us!

And after the training, the boys (John, Billy & Mark) were kind enough to pick up some charcoal for some of our friends here in Arua. (It's a lot less expensive out in the villages than it is here in town). I just thought this picture was fun of them after they had taken about 200 pounds down from being tied to the top of our car!

Please Pray for our Trip to Yei, Sudan this weekend!

This Saturday, Feb. 16, we will leave for our trip to Yei, a town in Southern Sudan to meet all of the pastors that have been trained under John Onek, who has been coming to us every month in Arua for training. (For more details, see our previous blog entry). This will be our first trip to Sudan, so we are really excited to see what opportunities God may have for us there! Yei is only about 93 miles from Arua, but it takes 5 hours, because the roads are so bad! So please pray for us as we travel this weekend & see what God may have in store for the future of AGC in Sudan! We return on Tuesday, Feb. 19, so we'll update the blog about our trip when we get back! Thanks for praying!

Coppedges are Back in Arua!

Sorry we are a little late in writing this entry... But we are so happy to tell you that Billy & Joanna Coppedge arrived in Arua on Friday, Feb. 1, with their new precious baby, Elsie Jayne! We are SO excited to have them back here in Arua with us! And I (Erica), personally, am LOVING having Elsie here!!! We are pictured to the right with the Coppedges, Simon, & our new WGM volunteer, Mark Landerholm.

Please pray for our Arua team this weekend & this coming week... We have our 2nd official pastor training in Nebbi tomorrow & Saturday (Feb. 8 & 9). Then we are leaving for a trip to Sudan next Friday, Feb. 15. It will be John & I, Billy, Jon Mayo (our field director), Terry & Karen Duncan (our regional director) and our new volunteer, Mark. The purpose of our trip is to visit the pastors that are being trained there. Up until now these men have been trained by John Onek, who has been traveling to Arua each month to be trained by us. It will be so good for us to finally meet these other pastors, encourage them, see where they actually are, and visit their congregations. We are in the process of making this another official WGM AGC training site for pastors, so this is a VERY exciting time for us! Before we came to Uganda, we said we would go to Arua in hopes of reaching Sudan & Congo, and God is making our vision a reality! Jesus has opened doors we could never have dreamed of!

Kenya Update

We just wanted to give you an update on how things are progressing in Kenya. Unfortunately, things are not improving there. It seems that they are actually getting worse rather than better. We are truly concerned for the nation of Kenya and for our missionary colleagues who are living there. Reports are not positive. Please continue to pray for a peaceful and meaningful resolution to the unresolved issues that have led to these conflicts.

The fuel crisis in Uganda has become even more of a concern over the past few days. We do have access to fuel for our vehicles and for our generator to run for a few hours a day, but we have to be conservative with how much we use. You never know... it is very possible that we could run out here in Arua again or that they may gouge the prices again (a couple weeks ago, it reached $22/ gallon!)

Our electricity situation is still consistent, but has worsened. We now have power almost every night from 6pm to 11pm, but they can only keep this up for 6 more days. After that, if we don't get more crude oil (which runs the generator for the town), we won't have any power at all. As of right now, there is no plan for crude oil to arrive in Arua.

And our water situation could also possibly worsen very soon here. They need the power on in order to pump the water... so if we don't get more crude oil soon, we could be facing a severe water shortage next week. Also, we just found out yesterday, that Kenya has closed their borders again and that the Ugandan army is stationed at our border to keep Kenyans out. Based on the length and severity of the situation in Kenya, our electricity and water situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.

PLEASE PRAY for this situation in Kenya... not only so that we can have water & electricity, but so that the people of Kenya can rest from all of this and experience peace once again. Please pray that the violence would stop, that God would use all of the many political leaders who have come to intervene to bring peace, and finally, please pray for the Kenyans and for the MANY missionaries serving God in that country. We appreciate you & your prayers.

A Very "African"... Very Amazing Sunday!

Yesterday (Jan. 28) was John’s 29^th birthday! And he got about the best present he could have asked for... His mom was here in Arua to celebrate it with us!!! Betty Rinehimer, John’s mom (pictured right), arrived in Uganda last week, and it has really been fun having her here! We feel so blessed to have just had my best friend Katie here, and then not even 2 weeks later, John’s mom here!

We have been trying to give her an idea of what life in Africa is like… we took her shopping in the city for crafts, we brought her to Arua by car instead of plane (so she got to experience 8 hours of Ugandan driving!), we’ve taken her shopping in the market here in Arua for food, and on Sunday, we took her to her first African church service!

We visited a church in Padel, Uganda, where one of the pastors we are training, Pastor Cosmas, is overseeing. I led Sunday School for the congregation (adults & children together), and John preached the “3 Chair” sermon, which describes the 3 places a person can be in their relationship with God.

It was definitely an African experience… we left for church at 8:00am and got home at 6:00pm… a 10 hour day! It made for a long day, and we were all definitely tired at the end of it, but it was an amazing day and definitely worth it! We first had a brief meeting with the pastor & translator, then Sunday School, then singing, then preaching, then lunch, then the best part of the day… 2 people came forward to give their life to Christ!!!!!!!! It was about an hour after the sermon, after we had eaten lunch, when an 18 year old boy named Dennis came into the hut where we were with Pastor Cosmas and told us that he had “backslidden,” or grown apart from the Lord, because he didn’t think he could live the Christian life until he got married… and that today, He wanted to accept Christ and give his life to the Lord! It was amazing! (Pictured above from left to right: our translator Geoffrey, Dennis, John, Erica, & Pastor Cosmas).

And then just a few minutes later, an older man, probably in his 80’s, named Luigi, also went to Pastor Cosmas and said he wanted to become a Christian as well! (Luigi is pictured to the right in the striped shirt to the right of John). We were able to talk with them about their decisions and pray with them, as they asked Jesus into their hearts. It was such a precious time and amazing day. It is so sweet to me that John & I get to be a team for Jesus, and work for His Kingdom together. What an amazing privilege and honor.

And finally, the 2^nd best part of the day… the gifts! Ugandans are huge on hospitality~ and visitors are a very big deal to them! So… as a gift for visiting their church, they gave John & I each a chicken!!!!!! It was so funny!... Yet so sweet, because it is such a sacrifice for them. And for his mom, they gave her 2 Ugandan wood carvings of a leopard & giraffe! We are pictured above with our chickens & carvings!

Coppedge & Volunteer Update:

We have a new “Volunteer-in-Action” (VIA) with us here in Arua as of Saturday, Jan. 26. His name is Mark Landerholm, and he will be here for 2 months, helping out with the pastor training. And also, Billy & Joanna return with their 3 month old baby, Elsie Jayne, tonight (Jan. 29)!!! They will stay in the city for a few days & come to Arua on Friday, Feb. 1. We are SO excited to see them, to meet Elsie Jayne, and to just have them back in Arua! Praise the Lord for bringing them back!