Handfuls of Blessings

Ladies Teacher Training December 2012  What a full and rewarding three days we have had!  We had 47 ladies travel in from 9 different churches to attend an intensive training of how to be effective children's teachers.  Tom and Cris Geer (children's missionaries that train adults and help with Vacation Bible Schools and camps worldwide) arrived for the purpose of reaching African children and teaching adults how to reach them.  Tom traveled on to Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and Cris has stayed with us. Verse Puzzle: Something they had never done before! Cris did a wonderful job at giving the ladies plenty of ideas they can implement for building Sunday Schools and for getting the children excited about coming to church. On the last night, nine of the ladies came for baptism.  Pictures are worth a thousands words, so I will stop the words and let the pictures do the talking - except to say 'THANK YOU, CRIS GEER!" "Dum, Dum, Da, Da, Da, Da..." ...

One thing about missions conferences - they humble you.  These pastors and leaders express their thanks over and over again for how God has worked on their behalf. Brother James Sebyoto is a Bible college graduate who started Word of Life Baptist Church in Lukaya.  This year he has turned it over to another man to start Light Independent Baptist Church in the very poor fishing village of Kalangala.  Our church has been praying with him about the need for a motorcycle for him to travel back and forth between these villages. Brother Robert is the one who is now leading Word of Life Baptist Church.  He gave testimony of how the church has not lost members in the leadership transition but has instead grown.  Hallelujah! This was the first time for Brother Moses to speak before a group of Christians besides at his own church, and he was so excited that it was hard for him to stop talking.  Lutoboka Baptist Church was also started by the same missi...

Another great evening!  It is so wonderful serving the Lord and watching Him work.  Tonight the testimonies were from Julius (a different one than last night) and Matthew. Brother Julius is a result of our prison ministry.  Because of our faithful men and women that minister to the prisoners every Sunday afternoon, Julius trusted Christ as his Savior and had a desire to start a church in his village after his release.  He has an enthusiastic joy for Christ that is contagious. Brother Matthew is a result of our radio station - Word of Life Radio.  Brother Matthew had a very rough upbringing and eventually ran away when his dad threatened to kill him.  Being just a teen, he naturally found the wrong crowds and spent time in jail.  He moved to the Ssese Islands and became a fish thief.  At a Pentecostal church, he heard the Gospel and trusted Christ.  A Southern Baptist American missionary built a church building on the islands, but so...

Tonight was the beginning of our missions conference, and what a great start it was.  Keith is preaching each night, and the pastors or leaders from our other eight churches are giving testimonies. Brother Henry was first to speak.  He pastors Mbirizi Baptist Church and assists with Katovu Baptist Church.  Mbirizi church is praying for land on which to build their own building. Bro. Henry was talking about how their children's program has grown, and they are really needing a room for a children's Sunday School.  A Muslim man was talking with him and said, "You will never be very many.  Your religion takes just one wife.  We take sometimes four so that we can produce many children."  Bro. Henry replied, "That's ok. You produce the children, and we will bring them to Christ." If you have read any prayer letters or updates from us, you already know Brother Paul.  He is the lame man in our church that must crawl everywhere, yet he is ministe...

Yesterday when I checked this blog, I was shocked that it had been over a month since I last posted!  It seemed as if we had JUST had our Independence service.  Time does more than just fly -- it disappears! I just returned from soul winning where my team saw four people trust Christ.  Four weeks ago, we witnessed to two men at the watering-hole (like a well); one man got saved but the other wanted to wait. We have gone back to visit Isaac every week since, and when he saw us coming tonight he got a big smile on his face. He said, "Last week after you left talking with me, I thought really hard about what you said. I decided I needed to pray. But I went to look for you, and you had gone. I did not sleep well. Today you have come. I am ready to pray." Then we went to visit a teenage girl who had trusted Christ last week. Her mom was sitting on their porch, and when she saw us, she said, "You are my visitors, aren't you?  You have come to talk to me."  She, to...

 How privileged we are to be able to be here in Uganda as they celebrate 50 years of independence.  We have been praying, planning, and preparing for this day for nearly three months.  This morning we had a special service at Masaka Independent Baptist Church with a specific outreach to the lost.  By 12:30 the auditorium was packed! We were praying for 200 people.  We ended up with 173 adults and at least 50 children.  We gave away 6 Ugandan flags as part of the prizes.  For the first hour, we had a time of Uganda trivia with prizes. We gave away 2 quilts, 2 solar-powered-fixed-frequency radios, 6 Ugandan flags, and 5 Ugandan lapel pins.  When we went shopping in Kampala two weeks ago, we looked everywhere for Ugandan decorations and gifts.  We found the flags and lapel pins being sold by a hawker on the street and the balloons in the store (although only one store in the whole city had the black). That was all the Ugandan items w...

She has been counting down the days with stickers on the calendar for the past month.  She has been so excited for her birthday to arrive. And now?  My "baby" is 5 years old!  She has inherited her parents' height, so the ladies at church were having a hard time believing that she was ONLY five.  Savannah is such a joy to our family and keeps us laughing.  She loves to steal "my honey" from me and lavish him with hugs and kisses in an attempt to make me jealous.  She is determined not to let her status as a girl hinder her from competing with her brothers, but then at other times she tries to play the baby-of-the-family card to get what she wants.  She is very devoted to her sister and strives to do things that will please her.  No matter what I'm doing, she wants to help, so I often keep small jobs tucked away in the back of my mind for her times of needing to feel helpful.  We are very blessed to have this bundle of joy in our ...

When we first came to Masaka several years ago, we were the only white people.  Now, there are so many that we don't even know them all.  There are two families that periodically attend our church - an English couple and a Greek/American family.  Two weeks ago the Greek family was moving to a new house, so Keith and the boys went to help.  As they were working, they asked Keith if he would be interested in a mirror.  It had been given to them while on deputation, but they had never found a place for it.  Imagine my surprise when Keith brought home an Ethan Allen mirror.  It wouldn't fit any of our dressers, but it sure does look awesome in our living room.  It is so heavy that Keith and I could barely lift it up on this shelf that he made for it. Did we need this expensive mirror?  No.  Do we like it?  Definitely!  Does our God take pleasure in delighting His children?  For sure. 

How quickly the years pass!  Stanley was the only one of our six that was born early, and we believe it was because God decided to bless him with the sharing of a birthday with his Grandpa Stensaas.  Despite us living in the same country, it is still rare that they actually celebrate together.  However, Mom & Dad were on their way home from being up north, so we were privileged to have them join us for presents and homemade ice cream.  Stanley is my picky man, so coming up with a cake design for him was difficult.  Actually, his choice was a satellite.  I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to make a glob of rice crispies resemble anything that is orbiting earth.  Then I remembered that he got his violin this year, so that seemed to be the perfect idea.  Happy Birthday, Stanley!  May you give God more of yourself this year in service to Him, and may you see His blessings upon your life.

It almost seems strange starting school in September.  It has been easier for us to use the Ugandan school schedule all of these years.  However, because the time has come for our children to start graduating, this year we switched to the American system. Shane - our senior Shane will be returning to the States in May to graduate from our home church.  Wow - it doesn't seem possible.  I can still remembering the struggle of teaching him kindergarten!  Some of you can relate - first year homeschooling...first child...great expectations...nothing goes as planned.  But we both have survived 12 years, and now he is a senior!  I am proud of him that he has bravely endured my rough teaching, many days of interrupted school time, and years of classroom on the road or in hotels.  Thank you, Shane, for your patience with me. Stanley - our sophomore Give Stanley a book - nearly any book - and he is happy.  Thus said, he hasn't had to work h...

The month of August is our busy birthday month with 3 out of the 8 of us having birthdays. Keith is now soaring to greater heights at age 41.  Since we were hit by lightening the week of his birthday, we thought a lightening bolt was appropriate for his cake. Skyler is now 8!  Wow!  Where has time gone?  I'm not sure what inspired the choice of a snowman.  My policy is that I don't make the same thing twice, so my kids are getting creative...or desperate to come up with new cake ideas.  This snowman turned out so cute that I had a hard time cutting the little guy.  And then there is me!  Hmmm!  Shae-Lynn made me a lovely heart-shaped cake.  Then Keith's family decided to re-celebrate on our family vacation.  Notice the little tombstone cake on the ground?  I guess they have had enough of me. Thank you to all who sent birthday greetings.  We appreciate your thoughtfulness.  Poor Savannah has the las...

It has finally arrived - the T ri-Annual B ible I nstitute for our village pastors and leaders.  We have been praying and preparing for this event for months.  We are excited as to how God will use these men to reach many souls for Christ.  Our first Tri-Annual Bible Institute class However, since this week is just beginning and I don't have much to share regarding it, walk with me back a week to days full of unexpected turns and twists.  On Tuesday we had a big rain storm with marble-sized hail stones.  Keith and I happened to be driving to the church and had to pull over under a tree as we feared our windshield breaking.  As we were waiting for the storm to lessen, we tried listening to our radio station, but there was dead silence.  Our fear was that the station had been hit and everything had been fried.  We were glad that we were wrong.  However, the inverter had been zapped, which is what everything goes through for electricity....