You drive on the right, like America, and the roads are in pristine condition (unlike Uganda's roads, which are more like something from a post-nuclear landscape). You wind through the mountains on your way there, and it reminded me quite a bit of traveling through West Virginia. They call Rwanda the land of a thousand hills, and that it is. I don't think there's a flat place anywhere in the whole country. We drove from the northern border to the southern border in a little over 4 hours, on excellent roads the whole way. This country, about the size of Maryland, has a population of 11,689,696, of which 900,000 live and work in Kigali (the actual state of Maryland has a population of 5,828,289). AIDS here has had a catastrophic effect, much like everywhere else in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1994, as you know, the Hutu Power movement launched a program of state-sponsored genocide in which a million Tutsi tribesman (three quarters of the Tutsi tribe), men, women, children, even babies, were brutally murdered over the course of 100 days. We visited one of the largest mass graves, now a memorial and flower garden in Kigali, where over 250,000 Tutsi are buried. It was heartbreaking.

Nevertheless, the Rwandans have sought to bring unity and order to their society, and have crafted one of the most stable, orderly, clean, and efficient little African republics I have ever seen. Political corruption is nearly unheard of in Rwanda. Rule of law is enforced, and public monies are spent on their intended purpose, to dramatic effect. Cost of living is higher than Uganda, but a missionary could factor that in when raising support.

We said our goodbyes to our good friends the Trachts last week. They are going back to the US for furlough, so we have to make do without our friends for nine months. It was awfully hard on the kids. The Tracht kids are over so much they're practically Huckabees by now. Shortly before their departure, we had them over to spend the night, and the whole gang camped outside. They had a blast. Our prayers are with them as they visit America, check in with their churches, and raise some more support.

Good news, unless a tornado destroys our house at the last minute, we now have a tenant! The last of the repairs were completed and we changed to a different property manager. Our new renter moves in next month. This will GREATLY ease our financial burden, and free up funds for other more useful things, rather than a house we cannot sell and are not using.

Today was high adventure. The actual church service and Sunday School went great. We took some time to visit with some of the church folks afterwards. It had been raining all night and all morning, so the roads were pretty sloppy going out to Nakivale. They were worse coming home. The road crews have been making excellent progress, but the construction has disturbed the road surface temporarily, which results in swampy conditions. The worst choke point is on the pass crossing the mountain. A truck had gotten stuck in the road, leaving a narrow section barely greater than a car's width to get by. Another small car had gotten stuck in the middle of the road on the approach, so I was going to pass him and go on by. That's when my four-wheel drive beast got well and truly stuck. What's worse, I was dangerously near to the edge of a six foot embankment, which would have tumbled the car down the mountainside had we gone over it. Every time I tried to go forward or backwards, the car would start sliding sideways towards the drop-off. I had everybody get out of the car and go stand on the other side of the road. I figure pneumonia is way easier to cure than death-from-rolling-down-the-mountain-in-a-car. 

Needless to say, I parked it 'til I could get a crew to help dig us out. Fortunately, there was a bunch of guys busy earning money digging out stuck taxis, so they agreed to help us for a nominal fee. They very industriously dug down to drier soil under all the tires, and then gathered around to push, from the side near the embankment and from the rear. After a couple times of moving forward, getting stuck again, and dug out, we finally went skidding and sliding around the truck and on to more stable ground.Praise the LORD, we made it home alive! The driver of the truck that was causing the blockage very generously allowed the children to come sit in the cab so they wouldn't have to stand in the rain. Anna was outside taking pictures. Apart from getting wet, cold, and quite muddy, we are none the worse for wear.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Rwanda for four or five days with Jeff Bassett and Matt Stensaas. We are taking a survey trip on behalf of BIMI to commence the paperwork necessary to establish an NGO in the country. This will open the country to BIMI missionaries to Rwanda. It's a two-and-a-half hour drive from Mbarara to the border, so it's not a terribly long drive for us here. We are also going to be getting the lay of the land for any future ministry opportunities. Some of our people in Nakivale are from Rwanda, and may return some day to start churches, and we would be helping them get established. Pray for our safety on the road and away from home. Pray for the safety of our families.

Then there’s the matoke-guys. These are 1-speed steel bicycles, which are never ridden but are used as two-wheeled carts to carry heavy loads, in this case, 6 or 7 stalks of matoke (cooking bananas) 40 to 50 pounds each. As you travel out to Nakivale, there are several large banana farms, growing the staple food here: matoke. It’s sort of like potatoes in the States. They hire these local guys to haul the produce into distribution points, where they are loaded onto trucks and delivered to the towns. The vegetable truck owners buy them from the farmers, and re-sell them at a profit. This is how the rural farmer makes money from his crop. A banana-bike loaded down is as wide as a small car, and as fast as a toddler pushing a walnut up a hill with his nose. So they have to be passed, unless you’re planning on driving at slower than walking speed. This again necessitates trying to keep from being devoured by the mud-filled ditches. What’s really bad is when, inevitably, you need to pass so you don’t have to either run them over or slam on the brakes to keep from running them over, but you meet a vehicle coming the other way. Now you have to simultaneously avoid hitting the knucklehead pushing a bicycle (hitting pedestrians, even though they have no business being in the road, no matter how reckless or idiotic they might be, is automatically the driver’s fault and usually carries a huge fine from their extended family and possibly a jail sentence), getting into a head on collision, and being sucked into the ditch. It’s the vehicular equivalent of juggling chainsaws.

The rain was finally tapering off by the time we reached our destination, so I was able to persuade our translator and fellow Pastor Djuna to make the trip on his boda (motorbike) out to the first stop at Juru. He translates well from English to Swahili, the primary language at that preaching point. There are lots of languages at Nakivale, including Runyankore, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda. I am working on Runyankore, but still need translating, sometimes into all three. We had 150 kids at Juru on the first day, and 54 on Sunday (it was raining, and people here do not like to travel when it’s raining, even in a light rain). It went very well. We handed out some cookies, sang some songs, taught a Bible lesson, colored pictures, and had a review game afterwards which gave them a chance to get candy if they knew the answers. It was great fun. We did the same thing out at Ngarama, where we had 40 the first day and 58 on Sunday. The Bassett’s were out at Sangano and Kabazano (the newest church plant), where they also had lots of kids. Dividing up the points in this way means we can spend more time at each, but not have to spend eight hours doing it.

We gave them the Gospel, some good Bible instruction, and some tasty treats. We are working on teaching them how to sit and listen quietly, a necessary skill when they go to school, and not to mob people trying to give them things (the refugee mentality). Treats have to be earned, and only those who have actually worked to get them may have them (teaching merit-based rewards, rather than everyone expecting to get something simply because they showed up – the tribal mentality). These children are often ignored, and are treated like mongrels. No one has any expectations for them, so they just sort of do whatever they want to. We are attempting to show them some love, positive attention, and teach them useful things in the process.

We do this again next weekend. Once they have their Easter break in April, we can do a standard three-day gig without having to break up the classes. We had to accommodate the school schedule this time, which the government arbitrarily altered.

Pray for the VBS, for the salvation of those who need it, in particular those who don’t typically come to church, or don’t attend a church which preaches the Gospel. Pray for our safety as we travel, and our health. Pray for the translators who help us get the message into multiple languages for the children. Pray the kids will understand and enjoy the Bible clubs.

God bless you!

It was so nice to be able to teach Children’s Sunday School again. I had suspended it during their absence due to having to preach at all three points. We are preparing for VBS the second week of February. We are going to commence regular services at the youngest point, Kabazano. We are taking steps to organize the other two, Ngarama and Juru. Then there’s the possibility of new church plants. I look forward to being able to continue the English classes again also.

Pray for the work. Pray for the roads. The road building to the camp was delayed due to heavy rains this season, but now that we are in the dry season, I am praying that the work will continue. It would be nice to be able to get out there quicker and without beating our vehicle and our bodies to pieces. Pray for the teaching. We need to conclude the teaching of Genesis, and there are many more things besides that need to be taught. The day will come when a Bible College will be needed. Pray this can come to pass, and the resources and manpower will become available. Pray for this coming year. There is much to do, and I can feel my time here this term running out.

March 2013 will be here before you know it, so if any of you would like a visit from us during our impending furlough, please let me know.

God bless you!

In the New Year, I am working on trying to get the Juru building finished. They are nearly up to the eaves now. Construction was badly slowed by the heavy rains this season brought out there. The adobe bricks they make are dependent on sunshine and reasonably dry conditions, and we have been getting neither for several months. Once they, finally, get that done, and a latrine constructed, I will buy the sand needed, and start carrying bags of cement out there. Djuna is looking into getting a carpenter for the doors and windows. Meanwhile, I am trying to encourage them to finish the latrine at Ngarama. They had the same problem out there with the bricks, but now that we are entering the dry season at last, i expect they will progress more rapidly. Pray they make good progress.

Near the end of the month, possibly the first of February depending on when the Bassett’s come back from furlough, we will be doing another VBS. This time I want to include Kabazano (the fourth and youngest preaching point). This will take our marathon VBS up a notch. We will shorten our stay at the other three by 30 minutes, which will give us enough time to go the fourth point, and still be able to get back to Mbarara before dark. Pray for us. It’s a lot of work, and requires a lot of planning and preparation.

Pray for us as we seek to organize Juru and Ngarama this year, and possibly commence some new preaching points. Pray for souls to be saved and for growth. Pray for truth to be known, and the voice of the cults to be diminished.

God bless you!

Last week, Anna went with me to the class at Sangano. She's been teaching on the Women of Genesis, and doing a great job (I do my best to teach both the men and the women, but they really like having a lady to teach them). There was a fairly boisterous storm while there, and this was the result:

I hopped out of the car and reacted like you would expect an American male to react, "C'mon guys! There's 20 of us! We can move this thing!" I mean seriously, how often do you get the chance to pick up a tree? My fellow travelers, also stuck like us, were less than enthusiastic. Here's where culture intrudes on progress. I, being the American, immediately view the obstacle as a challenge to be overcome. The Ugandans view it as a job to be done for which they are not likely to be paid, so none of them wanted to get involved. Also, the tree was bleeding this nasty sticky white sap that they didn't want to get on their Sunday clothes (Ugandans are very keen on keeping their nice clothes looking 'smart'). They finally fetched a guy with an axe to chop off some of the canopy so a car could get through. I'm thinking about carrying a shovel and an axe with me when I go out there, for situations like this.

Busy weekend ahead!

God Bless You!

I failed to get out to Nakivale on Wednesday because the seasonal runoff from the mountain had washed out the road. I parked the car in line with all the others, and hiked down the road to survey the damage. It was pretty bad. The Chinese road crew that's working on paving this road was on hand with a bulldozer, and dumped a bucket load in the breach. This worked briefly, but since it was only soil and not marm, it quickly turned to mud. They had extricated the two trucks blocking the road, and then another banana truck got stuck again. I'd been sitting there for two hours when this happened. It became readily apparent we weren't getting through that day, so I had to make my way back to Mbarara.

A couple weeks ago, we were driving out there on a Sunday and got stuck behind a UN truck hauling grain or other food items out to the camp. The road crew had been spreading lime on the road (binds with the soil, makes it harder, more resistant to rain). This creates dense clouds of white dust. It's sort of like driving in snow with whiteout conditions (you guys from Alaska know what I mean). I was blind, and kamikaze pedestrians kept materializing out of the cloud. So, I decided to pass the guy before somebody got killed. Well, there was a nice rock that the bulldozers had been good enough to excavate and leave directly in my path. It was too late to stop, so I ran over it. This dented our muffler and, as we found out later after we limped back to Mbarara, the brake line was cut. I had nearly made it home when the brake went to the floor. Not cool. I'm very glad I didn't try to forge ahead anyway.

Stuff like that has been happening a lot lately. Pray for the state of our vehicle. It's a good car, but the road conditions are very hard on it. The maintenance on it has been quite expensive of late, and is putting a lot of pressure on the finances. We need the car to do this ministry, so I have to keep pouring money into it to keep it in good repair.

Thanksgiving went very well. We had all the other missionaries over to our house again. As has become the tradition, we buy two live turkeys, and slaughter and prep them both (I paid a guy to do it. I'm by no means squeamish, but they are much more skilled and do a vastly better job.). One gets cooked and served for Thanksgiving, the other goes in the freezer for our private consumption later. Even on the other side of the world, we still have a great Thanksgiving (it helps to have so many good cooks around).

The construction on the church building at Juru continues. The walls have been raised nearly to the roof. It's looking really good. I expect within the month we'll need to start looking at buying cement to do the floor and the walls. Pray we'll have the money we need for this. I like to have churches give to these projects, because then I can truly say to the people there, "God provided the money to do this work. I did not do it." I'm trying to teach them to depend on God, not look to foreign interests to provide all their needs (this is the African way, after all). Once the building is done, and they have been organized under a constitution, there will be no further assistance. They are going to have to grow up, and take care of their own needs. It's a process though. Culture is very hard to overcome, because it takes a lifetime to develop.

I will be going through the church constitutions soon. This mostly involves discussing the rationale and Biblical basis for the policies contained therein, and giving detailed teaching on the doctrine to which we rightly adhere as Baptists. I have been spending a lot of preaching on dealing with false doctrine lately, so this will make for good followup.

We are already making plans for the Children's Christmas parties we are going to do out at the three churches on Christmas Eve Day, and the VBS we will be conducting in January. Thank you all so much for the toy cars you sent! There are going to be an awful lot of ecstatic little boys because of your loving generosity. We have enough to be able to give them all two cars each, and have plenty left over to give as prizes for VBS. It's always such a joy to be able to minister to children. Children tend to get treated as an afterthought around here, so we feel a particular burden to see they are cared for.

On Christmas Day, we'll be having church, and giving gifts to the adults. We are busily assembling the gifts, and I am looking forward to having services on Christmas Day. Then on Monday, we will celebrate Christmas at home as a family. That's the cool thing about living here. Christmas lasts way longer than just one day.

God bless you!

The Genesis class I'm teaching is doing well. Last week, we studied Genesis 10, The Table of Nations. Even though much of our knowledge about the distant past is sketchy (we lost a LOT of ancient knowledge during the Dark Ages), the Bible provides unparalleled insight into how the nations formed and dispersed following the Flood. It was fascinating to them. It also provided a valuable opportunity to dispel a racist myth that has been viciously imposed upon African nations by their unwanted European colonizers – the curse of Ham. These people actually feel that their bloodline is cursed because of the curse directed at the Canaanites by Noah. The Europeans have used this to justify their wicked exploitation of the African continent. It's all a lot of white supremacist, racist garbage of course, but it is a very persistent belief.

I taught them the truth – the descendants of Ham are inferior to no one. Some of their tribes may have been enslaved by Shemites and Japhethites, and they were, but Noah was only prophesying what would happen, not declaring what should happen. In truth, the Bible only said that Ham's children would serve their cousins, and they would all serve each other, and this is certainly so. We know that the earliest exploration of the world was done by Hamites. Everywhere the Europeans went, much later, they found the children of Ham had arrived first. The earliest and some of the greatest civilizations were created by Hamites (Egypt, Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, the Hittites, and possibly the Mongols, Chinese, and Amerindians). They developed the earliest forms of agriculture, masonry, and metallurgy, and taught that knowledge to all the others. The modern world would have never existed in its current form without the foundation laid by the children of Ham. Even now, for all their difficulties, they have such potential. What difficulties they do have are the product of sin, common to all of Noah's children, and not due to any mythical curse. Once their hearts belong to God, and the evils that human nature produces have been overcome, they can accomplish nearly anything. They don't have to feel inferior to white, Western cultures.

We preach. We teach. We admonish. We plant churches and train leaders, and through this, we can change the world. That' s what we're up to here in Uganda, and what missionaries are attempting to accomplish all over Africa, and around the world.

God bless you!

We had a great service. The morale of the church is greatly improved. I know it wasn't terribly comfortable meeting in the old place, which had mud walls and a tarp roof ('til some lowlife stole it). It was wet in there when it rained, and hot in the sun. This new building is dry and cool. There's always a nice breeze.

As you can see, they are constructing the walls now. Once they are complete, they pour the floor and plaster the walls. Final phase, we get some windows made and some doors and attach them, then paint. It will make it much easier to teach and preach, and give the children a good place to meet for VBS. It's a great blessing.

God bless and keep you