June/July 2008 Newsletter

We returned to Uganda at the end of May.  My, what blessings were in store for us from God’s mighty hand.  It all started with our first service back seeing 187 people present and a large Ugandan meal cooked by our ladies.  It was a tremendous welcome.  Have you ever eaten rice, cooked bananas and beef stew with your fingers?  It is interesting!

 The first thing that I noticed was how the Lord had blessed those who had watched over our responsibilities while we were away.  Keith Stensaas has done a tremendous job controlling our finances and all loose ends have remained tied.  Tony Applegate baptized every qualifying person in our village church ministries in our absence.  Charles Segawa has performed every duty that was put upon him.  Though he has not been in the ministry long, and he is still in Bible College, he has shown maturity in decision making, zeal in activity, and wisdom in counsel.  I know he has grown tired through it all but he has an excellent spirit.  Pray for him and for us as we rejoin the work in progress.

 The church in Kisojo is doing extremely well and in general, people are excited about the ministry.  There are many new faces.  Many individuals as well as three families have joined the church during our furlough.  About ten young men are interested in the ministry and three are actively preaching and teaching in church and youth ministries.

 We are ready to begin the next phase of ministry which is the training center and teen camp.  Please pray for God’s guidance to be clear and direct as we consult with Camps Abroad representative Matt Collier during the first week of July to get ideas.  If this training and camping ministry is regularly supported through our personal support and others continuing to catch a vision for it, I believe it can have a tremendous impact on our area for the Gospel’s sake.  Please make this a matter of prayer, that God’s will would be accomplished and His hand would be upon it.  May the Lord Jesus Christ and his unchanging Gospel be magnified by all that is done.

April/May 2008 Newsletter

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  The next update will be from Uganda.  The Lord has been gracious in providing for all of our moving expenses through the faithful support and special love offerings from our supporters.  Thank you to each and every church and individual that has taken part. 

Furlough has been exciting and we thank the Lord for His hand of protection and provision on the road.  Recently a church took us to a creation science museum in Glenrose, TX.  We also visited the park close by where we saw dinosaur tracks in stone.

Thank you to Peoples Baptist Church of Mansfield, OH; Gulf Shores Baptist Church of Dunedin, FL; First Baptist Churches of Long Beach, CA, and of Castaic, CA; and Heritage Baptist Church of Palmyra, NY for adding us to their missionary families.  Other new churches have promised to start supporting us and some have promised to raise their current level of support and we are grateful for that.

One Sunday in March, Kisojo saw a good attendance of 130 people.  Charles said the spirit was very good and seven visitors trusted Christ as their personal Savior at the end of the service.  Around Easter, in addition to the morning service, there were some special events. Charles held a special Easter service for the young people on Sunday afternoon.  The next day adults from Kisojo and Budda met and people gave testimonies of how God was working in their lives.  Some special gifts were given to our honored senior citizens.  In addition, in April, twelve new converts were baptized one Sunday during the rainy season that filled our baptistery water tank.  Thank you for praying for the work in Uganda.

  February/March 2008 Newsletter

 January took us to Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.  While visiting a church near Avery Island, Louisiana, we were able to tour the Tabasco factory and taste some Tabasco soda and Jalapeno ice cream.  That was an experience we won’t forget!  In Oklahoma City, Windsor Hills Baptist Church hosted their five day missions conference at the end of January with about thirteen different missionary families in attendance.  We enjoyed the preaching of Dr. Ed Johnson, Pastor David Clear, and Missionary Shelby Mayo.  We were blessed to see missionaries that we went to Bible college with and had not seen in a long time. 

Next, we traveled to Texas for a month of meetings starting in the Fort Worth area.  I was able to go soul winning with a group from First Baptist Church of Haltom City as they canvassed an apartment complex in their area.  Carlos and his mother, Lilian, came to the door of their apartment.  My partner introduced us and invited them to church.  He then allowed me to speak with the English speaking son and Spanish speaking mother.  I showed them God’s simple plan of salvation from the Bible.  The sixteen year old son brought out a Spanish Bible and interpreted for his mother.  At the end they both prayed the sinners prayer and received the Lord as their personal Savior.

In the village of Budda in Uganda, many have also received Christ as Savior.  Recently about fifteen of the new converts desired to follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.  Again, with the help of Missionary Tony Applegate, our rain water baptistery was filled and used as a testimony of God’s saving power through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.  Presently about the same number from Kisojo are awaiting rain so they too can be baptized to the glory of God.   Thank you for praying for the ministry in Uganda.