Proverbs 16:9

In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Sometimes we really just don't know what the Lord has planned for us. But we are His faithful servants as we, (well we would like to think patiently wait) but we are not always so patient, because we are just humans. We were sent half around the world to work in this ministry and it seems we have done so many other things besides what we thought we were called to do. I think this sounds familiar, In fact I know I have heard other missionaries say the same thing or very similar. I know most people say they receive far more than they ever gave. Things like insight, life lessons and love. We have seen some things that we had only seen in National Geographics prior to coming here.

Robyn and Sara went with Dr. Sam to the hospital the other night to see an 11 year boy dying of TB, they later returned with some ice cream just to see his large eyes light up, although they knew he would probably throw it up later. He asked Robyn for some "pocket money" and she obliged with 300 schillings. He gave her a big smile! The people here just have money drilled into them, even at this point of his short life, how sad is that. He is not going anywhere that he can spend it. How could a disease take over a young boy like this. I only saw the pictures, because I was unable to go, but when I say his big eyes light up, it is because his body is fading away and his eyes look very large with his hollow face and frail little body. Oh Jesus if Robyn and Sara just gave some comfort to this boy and his mother then we thank you! We take so much for granted at home, even the comfort of a hospital, I don't think I could ever explain enough how poor the condition of the hospital is.

We recently visited some IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps in northern Uganda in Pajule near Kitgum. Thousands of people in huts who have been displaced because of the LRA who took over their villages and wiped out a lot of their families. Some of these children were visibly sick. We found one little boy around ten years old with a half wrapped arm in a sling and as I looked closer I inquired about it. We were told he fell the past week and we asked to take a closer look and it was so crooked that I did not need an x-ray to see it had been broken. The mother said she could not afford to take him to the clinic. We took him on a 30 minute trip by car and to St Joseph's Hospital and they said they would take him and x-ray, repair the broken arm and for him to spend the night and also give him medicine for his ring worm on his head all for about 19,000 schillings, that is about $12.00 US dollars. Besides medical care we really noticed that they could use another church. We decided to have an impromptu prayer service on Saturday evening and we did a little preaching, we had Pastor JB (our escort who is originally from that area) with us and he helped with the interpreting because they speak Achole. We had about 26 kids accept Jesus that night. Praise the Lord! We found someone in the group who will work with them after we leave because there was no church to send them to for further nurturing, a real problem, you get them saved and you have nowhere to send them! There is a real need for us to help up there if God opens the door.

Me a preacher? I didn't think so, but the Lord has given me an opportunity to share the Word a few times and it has been a real blessing to me. When the Holy Spirit takes over and uses you to spread the Gospel then you know you have been blessed. When you can be a part of someone accepting Jesus as their savior it is truly amazing grace. I thank God for that experience!

We have truly met some interesting people here and have had a lot of wonderful experiences. We have had a few disappointments as well and we figure those were also meant to be. One may be very well why we were sent here. Possibly to discover some things that were not right with the lord, and He needed our help to disclose it. It is up to Him for what He does. Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways. We again need to be patient to find out what is next.

We are scheduled to come home at the end of this month for a four month break and wait for God to give us our next assignment. We will be home for the holidays and it will be exciting to see our five grandchildren and to see our newest grandson scheduled to arrive in January. We will also be attending the golf tournament on November 3rd in Southern California.
In our heart we can plan our course but the Lord determines our steps!