Work & Play

Today (June 29) Billy, John & Erica just got home from our first visit to Torit, Southern Sudan. Our main purpose was to meet Emmanuel, one of the 5 men in Sudan who have been receiving pastoral training. Up until now, we had only known about Emmanuel through our main contact, John Onek (who comes to Arua for training & then goes back to Sudan to train these other 4 men~ John Onek & Emmanuel are pictured right).

In our time with him, we learned that Emmanuel accepted Christ just 6 months ago... So we talked with God, each other & John Onek and really felt like he needs one on one discipleship & basic Biblical teaching before he can be trained as a pastor. At first, this seemed like an overwhelming task to us as Emmanuel lives SO far from us... But God is SO much bigger than us!... Our two missionary friends, Matt & Kyle, who were kind enough to open their home up to us in Torit also volunteered to disciple Emmanuel for the next few months! And then in January, Emmanuel will be moving to ARUA to go to school, so Billy will be able to continue discipling him! God really is amazing!

We also got time to meet with 2 of the other pastors in Sudan, Samuel & Joseph and do some training with them. Please pray with us as we discern God’s plan for WGM pastoral training in Sudan. We are discovering that Sudan is a whole different ballgame, and we have a lot to learn! Southern Sudan is SO different from Uganda. To paint you a picture~ our friends Matt & Kyle are the only 2 missionaries in the town of Torit right now... there are no paved streets, very few permanent buildings (& the ones that are there are burned from the 20 years of war), only 1 bank, 1 gas station, huge trucks with very loud soilders constantly driving by, extremely poor sanitary conditions, trash everywhere, UN aid everywhere, and very much unrest. There is even one tribe that still to this day requires their men to actually kill another person in order to be considered a man. Needless to say, this is a place in great need, especially of Jesus.

On a brighter note... Torit is approximately 250 miles from Arua, which would be about a 15 hour drive!!!! So obviously, they aren’t the easiest roads to drive on… or the safest. The UN has blocked off parts of the road due to LRA (the Lord’s Resistance Army) activity recently. So… we got to travel with AIM AIR, an aviation ministry for missionaries, and we took a 6 seater Cessna 206… a very small plane… to Torit! It was an experience we’ll never forget! As we landed in Torit, the pilot had to dodge a cow, a man on a bike, and a small child playing on the dirt runway (pictured below)!

And… the pilot let all 3 of us fly the plane!!!! Don’t worry~ he’s a certified flight instructor! We are so thankful for these memorable experiences God gives us in the midst of ministry! Some people say their life is "all work & no play." But we have found that when you work with Jesus, he always throws some fun experiences in too!

New Opportunities

These past couple weeks, it seems the Lord may be opening doors for new ministry opportunities for WGM Uganda. Two weeks ago (June 16-20) Billy attended a conference in Nairobi, Kenya on Chronological Bible Storying. This is something our director, John Mayo, has been excited about us looking into, so it’s exciting that Billy got the chance to attend this conference & learn more about it!

And last week, we got to attend a conference on Community Health Evangelism with all of the WGM Uganda missionaries & AGC pastoral overseers in Kampala. We aren’t sure how this will exactly look in Arua, but we definitely believe in holistic ministry… caring for the whole person, both spiritually & physically. Please pray with us as we seek the Lord's guidance on how to implement this new tool into our pastoral trainings and existing ministries.

And just for fun… here is a recent picture of precious little Elsie Jayne Coppedge taken at the conference! She is growing so much & we are all so thankful for her life!

Last week was also our last week together as the original “Arua Team”~ the Coppedges, Jeannie Banter & ourselves, since Jeannie will be leaving Uganda July 2. It was good to spend her last week in Arua with her as she finished up her many ministries (sex education to high school students, leading Bible studies, discipleship, & children’s ministries). Jeannie said her goodbyes to Arua last week. Please pray for her, as she will be moving to Nashville, TN to continue her education & get her Masters at Trevecca University.

A Very Special Team...

This past weekend we said goodbye to the mission team from New Hope (pictured right) that was here for three weeks, which included my brother & sister, Ryan & Ashley (pictured below). This team was filled with incredible people, some of who are good friends of ours from home even~ like John Banter & Maddi & Joanna Ury! It was such an incredible blessing having them here, and I will always cherish the memories we made!

Our last entry was about the team’s first week here… A lot of their second week was spent just living life with us here in Arua~ going shopping in the local market, visiting some of our Ugandan friends’ homes, doing a scavenger hunt in Arua town & using local transportation! They also ministered to the children out at UCU once again with more Bible stories, skits, songs & games.

And on Wednesday, we all went to the high school behind our house and led an assembly (pictured below). John gave a message to a few hundred students on how to live a godly life. (if you look closely, you can see John standing up in the middle of all of the students in the picture to the right!) My brother, Ryan, also gave his testimony, and another member of the team, Amanda, performed a solo with her guitar that was really sweet.

After their 2 weeks in Arua, John & I had the privilege of taking the team on a safari to the game park~ That’s always a fun part of being a missionary here in Uganda! And on a 3 week mission trip, I think this break was really good for the team to be able to rest and reflect on what they’d just experienced, and simply enjoy God’s amazing creation! We even got to see a leopard, which is very rare in this park!

And for their final week here, the team went on to Kampala to carry out more ministry, and we were blessed to have some quality time with my brother & sister alone in Arua. It was SO amazing to have them there with me, ministering to the children I've been building relationships with over the past year, having conversations that are too difficult to have over the phone with a delay… And just to see how much they have matured and grown over the past year and a half that we’ve been apart. I am just SO proud of them!

And finally, last weekend, we all met up in Kampala… And this team was ministering up until a few hours before they got on the plane! They ALL led worship along with John at a fellowship we have for missionaries on Sunday nights, and every single person on the team shared a little of what Jesus had been teaching them on this trip. I was SO proud of them! And John & I even got to take the team to the airport to say our last goodbyes until November, when we come home! This team was truly a blessing, and we are so grateful to Jesus for bringing them to Arua! Every person on this team ministered to both us & many Ugandans in such a special way. It was so incredible to see our family and friends from home (Joanna & Maddi Ury pictured right) and get to know our new friends as well! We thank God for these special young people! And thank you for your prayers for them & their time here! We definitely felt them!

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.