Empower

Yesterday was the final day of Empower, and what an amazing seven days it was.
We really heard some great testimonies at the end of the course on what the girls had all gained from their experience.
The first half of the course looked at the effects of trauma, and teaches exercises to help the body and the mind deal with trauma.
The second half of the program explores forgiveness, and letting go of heavy burdens and bitterness.

We were aware the girls where interested from the first day, considering that they all showed up early. In fact, throughout the whole course, not one girl came late or missed a day. They were all very interested and dedicated.
This is an extra special achievement in Uganda, and we were certainly appreciative for all these young women (Many single mothers) who had arranged caretakers for their children, and who made sure to arrive early each day.

Agnes and Rachel were our leaders for the course, and they really did a fantastic job! I was so impressed at their teaching abilities, counseling skills and the strength and leadership they showed.
We had spent a lot of time preparing for Empower before hand running over the whole program together, discussing and running through counseling techniques, as well as putting some systems and organized meetings in place for us leaders to debrief.
Every morning before the program started was met with prayer and recapping on what was to be taught. After everyday, debrief was held for us leaders.
It is very important to be organized for Empower, and that leaders also are supported. It can be quite a moving program, and strenuous at times for leaders, so it was my job to make sure both Agnes and Rachel where doing good, and to take care of them.

They displayed fantastic leadership though, I really see a lot of potential in both of them for this kind of trauma rehabilitation work among young girls. Of course, they both have their own experiences to draw from, with Agnes being a qualified development worker and Rachel being a qualified social worker.

The program exposes a lot of trauma in the participants, and one of the days includes private one on one story telling with the leaders. This means Agnes and Rachel both had a full day sitting with five girls each, as they told Agnes and Rachel their life stories.
This was the most intense day, as many of these girls have carried a lot of trauma with them.
Many girls where breaking down while sharing their stories. This was actually something that was expected, and well discussed preparation had already taken place among the leaders on how to deal with this kind of response. The girls all had a safety plan in how to deal with trauma attacks that might occur when sharing their stories.
Many times this included Rachel and Agnes helping the girls get back in control of their bodies through deep breathing exercises.
These young women have gone through so much and carry so much trauma. There were stories of childhood abuse, attacks and near death experiences, abuses by men, child hood neglect and abandonment and even murders within their families.
What was interesting was that these girls did not take much to open up. Empower has been used a lot in Rwanda due to the genocide that happened there, and has had some amazing results. But I have heard a lot about people really taking time to start to share their own stories.
This may be a difference in the culture, and although this is certainly not a case down to the every individual, I do find Ugandans seem more willing to open up and share their stories.

The girls were all itching to tell their stories, and they had actually told Rachel and Agnes that this was the first time they had ever got to sit with a counselor and talk about their life. So much had been caged up inside them, and now for the first time in their lives they had a chance to let it all out.
This is why it is so important to learn body and mind exercises in the empower course, before sharing your story. This helps them in being able to share their story in a way that does't reduce them to a wreck that can't speak.
At the end of the day, Agnes and Rachel were very tired and drained, and we debriefed and managed to talk about how they handled it. But they did extremely well! They were both very strong and have good management over their own emotions when hearing these stories and engaging the girls in counseling techniques.

Towards the end of the program the girls learn about forgiveness, and the weight that carrying around bitterness can have on the soul.
At the end of the program is a powerful deceleration of forgiveness, and the stories we heard of forgiveness where beautiful.
Many of the young women said they were forgiving people in their lives that they had held grudges against for years.
Some of the girls had expressed in the counseling sessions, that there were particular family members that they would never forgive.
But here they were two days later, saying that they wanted to take that first step. Many of them expressed that they didn't just want to let go of the bitterness in their hearts, but felt a desire to tell this person they were forgiven.
Not only that, but many girls were beginning to see that they were not always the victim, that they had hurt many people in their lives as well. This has compelled a few of them to ask and seek for forgiveness as well.

The joy on all the girls faces was clear when they sang their final worship songs and ate the final feast to celebrate (Actually Farouk and I kept clear during the final singing, they were going crazy with joy jumping around, that we thought best not to join, in case we got dragged into having to do some silly dances haha)

There is another powerful spiritual aspect to the course as well. Throughout the course, each day is opened with a devotion and worship.
The course is also full of little bible verses and biblical principles of loving your enemy and forgiveness from God. And towards the end of the course a full gospel presentation is given. We had one Muslim girl who was captivated by all of this! She expressed that she had never heard such joy in singing during the worship times, and that in her Islamic community this deep abiding joy in God is often not found.
She also expressed that although she was scared, she wanted to know more about this Jesus, and expressed a desire to come to Him and have her sins, pain and bitterness removed.
We rejoice at this! Though I request prayers for this girl (whose name I will keep confidential) as she has some serious challenges ahead of her, mainly being her father (and main caregiver) is a devout Muslim and wants her to marry a Muslim man, when she has expressed she wants to marry a Christian man.
Many other girls who are Christians also came forward to express that although they believed, they had never fully given their burdens over to God. They were still holding onto a lot of their anger, and that it was time for them to give themselves over fully to Christ, pain, trauma and all.

All in all it was a beautiful seven days! I really see us using Empower in the future! Now that Agnes has had the experience of running a course, she really will be a great person to work with young women. I would also love to work with young men and do the course for them. I was lucky to run some of the program during the seven days (mainly some teaching, and drawing analogy's) but due to always needing a translator, and the sensitive nature of some parts of Empower, most of it was facilitated by Agnes and Rachel.

A blessed seven days of healing! God was very much present and we rejoice in this ministry tool. We have to thank all the people who brought this to us, including Andrew and HopeBuilders for arranging our training, Dennis from Rwanda who trained us, and especially Rob Vanderzaag for his hard work in helping bringing empower over to East Africa. We also thank Ron and Anne and Jinja Christian School, for allowing Rachel to come team up with us for the seven days.

(Oh and I forget to mention Farouk, who babysat the whole seven days so his wife Beatrice, and another girl, could go through the course uninterrupted! A man babysitting is not a common thing here! So well done to him)

Quick update.

Just a quick update for those who follow the blog.
We have been a bit busy lately, with my mum spending some time here, plus organizing new programs and also maintaining existing ones.

My mum had a great time here, and left just last week. While here she got to experience spending lots of time with our tailoring girls. We got to do some house visits so she could see first hand how some of these girls live. We were really blessed to have her here! And I am sure she enjoyed her time with her son and daughter in law.

Tailoring classes are still running, and we continue to have a mix of ups and downs. Some girls have been really committed which is great, while others have had to be replaced by other girls. This is such a shame, but some of them were just not committed and we wanted to train girls who showed an effort to learn.
Other times we had to replace someone due to their home life disturbing her attendance at the course. One girl was just not being allowed to attend the tailoring class by her ex partner (who was now back on the scene) he was feeling threatened that she may make money (and therefore be empowered) and so he refused to let her go. When I questioned if we could talk to him, I was told he is a drunked and I would just make it worse for her, as she may end up getting a beating for gossiping.
These are some of the frustrations I find over here, and I am continuing to find myself challenging males here. Often the men get away without any kind of accountability, while the women are left to suffer.
Another new girl we have got in the course, had given birth to a disabled child with cerebral palsy, and the husband abandoned them stating that "we don't give birth to such children in my family line".
Another young woman I know who is in the coop, is desperate to find help to put her children through school, because her ex husband is refusing to pay the school fees unless she moves back into his home and becomes his wife again. The issue is that while they were together he took this woman's younger sister as a second wife (basically cheated on her with her younger sister) and now, unless she moves back into a polygamous relationship with him and her younger sister, he is refusing to pay the school fees. She is refusing to do that, and we don't blame her!
I often find myself getting into a bit of trouble as I openly point the finger at these types of men. Too often they get away without anyone questioning them.
Even the other day I was talking to a group of men here who I am great friends with, who I would say are great guys (all committed fathers and married) and I was sharing with them some of the issues we are facing with these young women.
Even these guys (who are some of the best) started to say that the problem was with the women, that they provoke the men and they shouldn't of chosen such a man.
So even if a woman is pressured into a practically forced marriage, and then beaten and abused, people still say it is her fault because she shouldn't of "provoked him, or chosen him".
The shocked look on these guys faces here, as I told them all off for blaming the woman, and that they should all be pointing the blame on the man, seemed to indicate the kind of cultural inequality systems you can be up against sometimes.
If you had to ask me who I thought the most persecuted and oppressed type of person in the world is today, I would have to say women and young children.

I honestly get a bit tired with it all sometimes. Without my faith to keep me grounded in joy and grace, I think I could come close to running mad sometimes.
I do have to say that I am looking forward to a holiday.

Speaking of working with young guys, I have also been running a weekly program with a group of young teenagers, teaching them about gender equality, how to be a responsible man, and what our role as men is supposed to look like. It is vitally important to educate the young guys, before they grow up with the common mentality often accepted (the amount of times I have heard these young men say that "women and below men" and even "less human" when we raise the issue, makes things become a bit more clear, in regards to what you can be up against) This kind of thinking mainly comes from the uneducated class that live in the more 'village' environment.
I do pray and hope young men will rise up to be the nurturing, caring, empowering and protective type of man that God calls for.
The good thing is, I have seen in more educated men, and especially in the young generation growing up in the church, the qualities of a Godly men.
This is especially more the case in more middle class church type communities! I know some Ugandan young men here who I really admire! and for that I am thankful.

Tomorrow we are beginning the Empower Trauma Rehabilitation program. We are all set to go, and we are excited for what the next seven days will bring.
The group consists of 10 young women, and from some of my stories above, I think you can see why they may benefit from a trauma rehabilitation program.
We really pray that we will see healing, wholeness and peace among some of these young women.

As well as running weekly devotions and bible study classes, I find time away to swim in the Nile every now and then. Although right now I am suffering from a terribly burnt back! I need to remember to put a double dose of sun screen on, this red headed body doesn't fare well with only one coat.

Lastly, we were blessed with some good news! Agnes has been accepted to visit Australia. We will be coming on the 13th of December and staying for two months. I am super excited to come back and enjoy some of the beauty of Australia (bbq's on the back porch, fish n chips, the sound of kookaburras, the ocean)
And Agnes is very excited for her first time overseas. We look forward to seeing you all over in Australia!

God bless, and keep us in your prayers as we run empower this week.

Visit from Mother and vulnerable young women.

I have been blessed to have my mother come and visit Agnes and I for two weeks.
My mum will be staying with us here in our big home, and will be visiting our projects and helping volunteer where she can!
We picked her up last Saturday from Entebee. The whole journey started with us leaving our home at 8.30 in the morning and finally arriving back home 7.00 at night.
This is because the president of Uganda was arriving at the airport (the same time my mum flew in) and had arranged a big welcoming party.
Recently the prime minister of Uganda challenged the president, and was interested in top spot. The president fired him as a result (with no clear reason why ... but I think we can speculate) after all ... this is a democracy.
There was a bit of a scandal around it, so the presidents party arranged a big welcoming celebration as he returned from the US, to try and show that the president is still loved.
The funny thing is they have to pay people to come out, with free food and free petrol.
It was chaos to say the least, lots of boda boda (motor bike) drivers going crazy, some slamming down bottles of beer while weaving in and out of traffic.
Many of these people who come to these events are referred to as 'fly's', mainly due to the fact that they go wherever the party is. One day they may be at an event to support the president, cheering with joy, and the next day protesting against him. Very much a good example of the 'mob mentality'.
Luckily we got home ok after many hours.

My mother has spent some time visiting friends here, but also spending time with some of our tailoring girls, both new and old.
She has been helping Agnes run her class, and is doing a few lessons on the value that God places on them, as well as some parenting techniques.
Many of the girls are single mothers, who grew up as orphans, and they can be ignorant about a lot of things so they all have a lot of questions to ask my Mum (although sometimes she feel out of her depth ... especially when they start asking medical questions hehe)
We will also be visiting friends, and today she is helping do some reading for special needs kids at Jinja Christian School (thanks Ron and Anne).

Here at YSU we have really been struggling with some of the new tailoring girls. Many of them are living in poor conditions, and have a range of domestic problems.
We had noticed quite a few of them were not making it to class, and so we spoke to them all about it as a group, and then one on one.
Some of the girls were just not coming because they felt inadequate (especially in business class) so they needed both a bit of a warning to not waste their opportunity (seeing as many girls are desperate to do this course, we can get a few requests a week and have to turn them away due to a full class), but they also needed a bit of encouragement, that they are capable of learning.
But a few of the other girls have really struggled and have a very hard life at home. At the moment we are looking after four young women, all poor, abandoned, of a Muslim faith, and desperate to learn.

One young woman had moved with her family far away, and so couldn't get transport to come to class. We have taken this girl into our house to live with us, provided she does some work around the house.

We really feel for this girl, as she is very shy and has no confidence. You can tell she has often been the rejected one. When she came with her bags to our house to stay, her mother had sent her along with some money to help her (food, toiletries etc). She was sent here with her uncle, who we have dealt with before (a bit of a dodgy guy who was our landlord at our previous house). On arriving at our place the uncle took the money from her and left. So the money that her mother had given to help her, was stolen off her from her own uncle. And yet she was so quiet and had nothing to say about it. Many of these girls are used and taken advantage of like this.

We tried to lift her up, and tell her she would be fine here, that Agnes is around if she needs to talk to anyone. We had arranged a few chores for her that would cover her rent, food and some small pocket money, but had not yet gone through the list with her, only to find her early the next morning cleaning the house.
She had mopped everywhere, cleaned all the rooms, swept the whole compound, and even weeded all our garden beds! This was all done without being asked.
We have a feeling she is grateful of being taken in.

Another girl has had to walk from very far away with two children, and so we have allowed her to stay here two nights a week. I think she wants to stay longer though, because she ended up staying a third night haha.
These two girls actually stayed up till about two in the morning the other night, practicing on their sewing machines. But it was nice to hear their laughter coming from down stairs (even though as soon as you walk into the room, they put their heads down and go all quiet)

We also are paying the rent for two other girls in the tailoring class who are now living together. We get them to do all our washing at YSU once a week, and we also include food for the month as a part of their payment.
One of these girls had been abandoned by the father of her two children, as he had ran off with another woman and left her all alone. We found her when she was about to be kicked out of her home (one tiny room about the size of someones kitchen back in Australia), had no money, no way to get a job, and no family in the area to help her. A lot of the time woman like this have no other opportunity but prostitution. So she was so grateful to be able to get some small work with us, so she could be sustained while she finishes the tailoring course.
The other girl who is now living with her and sharing in the work and food budget, had been kicked out of her home by her mother (who wanted her to work and make money ... which is almost impossible for a young woman here, again unless you sell yourself). She told us that as a result she was staying with a friend very far away, but her friends husband would bring his mates home, and they would try and get sexual favors from her. If she refused their advances she would be kicked out of staying at the home.
To top it off, she has a young two year old daughter to look after as well.

So many of these girls are in desperate conditions, and so many of them are used and abused by men, and even their own families.
The amount of single young mothers here who are taken advantage of is really staggering.
It can be really tough trying to work out a system to take in and care for so many girls, but it is also a privilege. We feel very touched by their stories.
We also feel its important to get them to work. This actually helps bring some dignity to them, instead of handing out free money. Most of these girls want to work for the help they receive, because it makes them feel like they are valuable and can contribute as well. And we also want to be careful about creating a welfare mentality.

But it is very important to provide short term relief for these girls, as we try to train them up with job skills for longer term sustainability.

It is interesting how God can lead you in different ways. I always thought the YSU house would be full of young men, as I have a passion for mentoring young guys. We certainly still do stuff with a lot of guys, but it seems more and more that we are becoming a safe haven for vulnerable young women. Right now our house is full of these broken, beaten, rejected and abandoned young women. And if this is where God wants to lead us right now, I am more then happy and feel privileged to be able to show Christ's light to some of the most lowly in the society here.

I still do spend a lot of time with young men. Because ultimately investing in the young men will help the young women. Martin Luther King Jr once said:

"On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring"

We could take in more needy here then we could possibly handle, but in the end, investing in the young men, who seem to be so much of a cause of this problem, is essential. Right now in this context, the women are the beaten and robbed, and the young men are the Jericho road that needs repaving.

It really is a two way approach, but for now we are more then willing to act like Christ towards these beautiful young women, who God loves so much.

I'd like to leave you with a short poem that my church 'One Hope Community' posted on their facebook page recently. It beautifully sums up our feelings and longings 'for tomorrow'. For the deep seeded hope of redemption, for the ache of heaven, where God will "wipe every tear from their eyes" where there will be "no more death, mourning, crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away". And this hope is our inspiration for the passion and drive that keeps us moving towards this beautiful eternal kingdom we all deeply long for.

You can copy the link below and paste it into your web browse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVRZ5R2UDY&list=UUTouaQl9t8VEmMai1gDxTpg

Jungle walks, first time birthdays and reaching out.

Things are running normal here as usual (as normal as life can run here, normal being a life that is never dull) Projects are running, girls are learning tailoring, boys are being mentored, and preparation for programs and ways to reach out to more youth are underway. Of course there are always challenges, there are always anxieties, there are always heartaches and there are always deep concerns for the people of Uganda. Throw some thunder storms in (literal ones), fellowship with beautiful people, and touches of God in the profound and the everyday, and you have the ingredients for what could class as a standard week here.

Last week I went for a bit of an adventure with Farouk. We went for a walk through Mabira forest.
The forest rests in between Jinja and Kampala, and is a lasting remnant of what Uganda may have looked like before colonization and industrialization. Beautiful thick forests winding up hills and down into valleys, while streams and water falls make their way down into Lake Victoria.
Luckily I was able to sneak into the park under the 'foreign resident' price, instead of the more expensive tourist price. Although you have to show proof of your residence, which I was not aware of, I managed to get by with showing my wedding ring and a picture of Agnes and I on our wedding day on my phone (being married to a Ugandan had the same pull as showing a resident visa)

We had a lovely time walking through the thick forest with our guide. This was something that refreshed my soul. Having the anxieties of ministry pile up on you demands for an escape into refreshment and joy.
Ultimately this joy for me, rests in God. But I can taste it through His glory in creation (as well as many other ways).
This is vitally important for the human soul, why do famous passages found in the Psalms talk about God restoring us in "green pastures" and "by still waters".
Charles Spurgeon summed the benefits to the soul in creation well:

To sit long in one posture, pouring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog … Nature outside his window is calling him to health and beckoning him to joy. He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of the birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy.

As we were walking along the jungle tracks, we stumbled across numerous campsites, freshly abandoned. These campsites were always found in a clearing next to a very large tree. Our guide begun to explain to us how local people come into the forest to worship these specific trees, often doing spiritual ceremonies for days on end, in a trance like state, as they give sacrifices to the tree. Often their spirituality is mixed with a deep grinding fear on the soul of the ancestors and spirits who will come after them, if they don't appease them with nature worship.
I couldn't help but relate this to a C.S Lewis quote I stumbled upon a few days ago:

By emptying Nature of divinity - or, let us say, of divinities - you may fill her with Deity, for she is now the bearer of messages. There is a sense in which Nature-worship silences her - as if a child were so impressed with the postman's uniform that he omitted to take in the letters.

There is a deep notion in which ending the praise and the joy on creation, causes you to miss out on the messages, and the finger prints, of the creator. I wonder if this deep bondage to fear of the spirits would be broken, if instead of the worship of nature, it was replaced with an experience of a sovereign and loving God. 
Well, truthfully, I should say that I don't wonder ... I know. 
I have experienced this transformation. I have seen it among my fellow brothers in the faith here in Africa. Christianity has not taken away from the African's spiritual identity here in Uganda, if anything, it has completed and fulfilled it, in its fullest sense.
The replacing of divinities in nature with the finger prints and messages of Deity doesn't just add a thankfulness and gratitude to the experience of Nature. It rolls off into worship for a grand mind that created such a complex and beautiful structure in biodiversity.
Again C.S Lewis puts this well when explaining finding God in pleasure (in which can be applied to the joys found in nature):

I have tried since to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different . . . Gratitude exclaims, very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscation's are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun. . . . If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labor.

The arduous discipline is worth the labor indeed.
Let me end with my ramblings and post some photos the forest.

Today (the 17th) was also a very special day as Mesach (Farouk and Beatrice's son) turned one. Farouk decided that beginning the tradition of birthdays was a must for his family (as it is not something commonly done in Uganda).
So a big meal of chicken was cooked up and served to some close friends who joined Mesach on his big day.
A cake was also provided (with rock hard icing) and a happy birthday was sung. Although when I started the quite normal, and what I thought was well known, hip hip hooray, everybody just looked at me blankly like I had lost my mind. I guess Ugandans don't include that part in the song.

Last Sunday was also a very book of acts like Sunday. Filing into church as normal, and singing praise while trying to wince my way through the experience of the very loud and distorted speakers, my heart was far away and distant. I had begun the day with wearies and burdens, and the selfishness, or self pity, of my troubles was distracting my mind.
Praise God that he smashed all of that away with a touching service. Nothing in the sermon or the worship itself was the catalyst for this experience. But instead it was two interruptions that caused the service to stop, and the church to be flexible in putting aside it's schedule, so they could flow with what God had put in front of us.
The first interruption was a man, who bursting with joy, needed to come up the front and speak on the microphone. He then proceeded to explain he was a Muslim, but had found truth in Christ. He continued to explain his desire to turn to God and be washed with a grace soaked gospel.
The man was prayed for as he gave testimony up the front. Already this testimony jolted my heart back into attention on Gods goodness. Not long after, as we were singing songs, a very old, sick and crippled woman was brought into the church by her caring sister. The woman was layed on the floor of the church stage on a mat. Singing was silenced and the pastor came forward to inquire about the woman.
She was a local woman who had been sick for the last few months. No doctor could find out what was wrong with her, and some suspected she was poisoned.
As it became apparent that she may well be close to death, the whole church stopped what it was doing, and came around this woman to show her love.
Agnes and I went up the front with the pastor, and many others, to lay hands on her and pray. We all spent a good amount of time, praying for her and supporting her.
Collections were taken up for her to help in any treatment, and a commitment to visit her house and continue prayer and support was made.
It is experiences like this that can sharpen a drifting mind back onto God, and onto fellowship with the body.
How beautiful it is when the church is able to be flexible with time schedules and routine, and allow for suffering people to be cared for, and joyful people to give testimony.
Agnes and I left the church service with many things on our mind, not all of them though leaving us with a feeling of joy. Some things, like the suffering of the poor, and why a woman like her wasn't healed, landed on our mind. And of course we struggle with these questions, but they are able to be dealt with, within the context of a hope filled gospel, and the promise of the ending of evil and suffering in the age to come.

Lastly, as I have mentioned in a previous post, we have been looking for ways to reach our neighbors.
We have found ourselves here, both in the context of YSU and our personal lives, in the position of being involved in the lives of a few different Muslim families.
As many may be aware, right now in the world a global genocide against Christians is raging. Most of the killings and persecutions are happening in Muslim countries, where an Islamic world view is leading to hatred for the 'infidel'. That may not be politically correct to state, and there are other factors of political power involved, but it is true none the less.
As Christians we are challenged in how to respond to this. I know my church in Australia 'One Hope' had a day of fasting and prayer last Tuesday for the persecuted Christians in Iraq. I joined them in this day of fasting and prayer last Tuesday, and I was struck with a sense of "what is my part to play" especially in my response to Muslims.
How do Christians respond to Muslims, when we see so many of our brothers and sisters in the faith being killed by extremists.
We reach out with love and truth. We reach out with the Gospel of Grace.
This has challenged me in how I interact with my poor neighbors, especially since we have had a number of misunderstandings which has caused them to act very cold towards us.
Sometimes this does not mean, barging in with a Gospel presentation, but building relationships. As I once heard a quote say: Often the Gospel moves at the speed of friendships.
Agnes and I did reach out with little steps. We managed to buy them some basic needs and food items, and sit down in our neighbors house as we talked about any misunderstandings that had happened in the past. We explained to them that we knew they were Muslims, but we felt compelled to show them love driven by our Christian faith (so as the glory would not land on 'us' being good people, but on 'Jesus' being a good God).
Our neighbors were over joyed that we would reach out to them, and insisted that we talk with them and visit them whenever we want. We also asked them for anything they may want prayer for (often this is not a stumbling block for Muslims here, and quite often they are open to Christians asking if they could pray for them)
Was it a full explanation of the Christian faith. Not at all.
Should Agnes and I feel like we have now done our job and there is no more to do. Not even close.
Should we only be compelled to do good things for Muslims because we expect them to convert to Christianity. Certainly not.
We reach out in love towards our 'neighbors' because we believe they are created in the image of God, regardless if they are open to our message or not. And so we do not place expectations on them when we show practical help.
But we are called to show where our joy and grace comes from. And to be faithful in pointing towards our King.
It was a step forward in faith, and I believe God opens doors the more we take steps.
How can you reach out to your Muslim neighbors in love and truth?

Let me end this blog post by giving you some pictures of our tailoring girls, and where they are working from.

Update

A quick update for those wanting to know how things are going here.

All things are running well.
The tailoring girls are up and running their coop. They are busy learning how to use their over lock machine at the moment.
We are currently setting up a continued training plan for them. As they run their small business, YSU wants to still be involved, helping mentor them in particular areas when it comes to running their business.
It looks like we are locked in for a contract with a few tenders to make school uniforms.

Pray for the girls, and for the success of what they are doing, as well as more opportunities for work.

The other week I got to visit an old friend of mine, Nixon. Nixon and his wife Chasity run a youth ministry in a place called Lugazi. I have always connected with Nixon, he is a great guy, and we share a similar vision for youth.

Nixon also loves all forms of media, and uses it to do youth ministry, and so I was helping him with a film making project he is running in the school holidays.
I was running a video camera operating class for one week. It was great fun to teach the guys, all of which were awesome people to work with! Sometimes I think its too easy doing youth work here, young people are so eager to listen and so respectful.
It was a great time to catch up with Nixon, as well as engage in partnership with a similar organisation doing its part among young people in Uganda.

I have also continued to run bible study, and devotions with two different groups of youth. I deeply love both of these groups. Getting together with them regularly is great, and I always feel refreshed after seeing the passion, hunger and love these young guys have for God. Many of them are very bright, and often are asking very deep questions. It's great to be able to create a platform where they can ask some tough questions that they are wrestling with.

Sometimes (especially when we come on mission trips) I think we can look at the faith of people in Uganda and we assume that they all just have a child like faith, and don't struggle with any large questions. That they just accept everything in the word without wrestling with anything. But when you probe deeper, a lot of these guys still do have deep theological and philosophical questions. Some of the things they ask, seem way beyond their age. They want to discuss questions that realm into Christian apologetic's, topics and concepts that many adults in Australia may not even engage in. And I am continually taken aback by their deep thinking, and questioning.

Recently, I have also been taking the time out to get away into quiet places. Whether this is a secluded swimming hole on the Nile river, or an early morning walk through the bush and up a mountain. By doing these things recently, I have rediscovered how much I need these little getaways.
Sometimes you can get so caught up in what you are doing, that you can loose time for God. I once read a quote that said "We are obsessed with doing the kings work, but we don't know how to spend time with the king". I can totally relate to that quote, and I often need to keep myself in check. The fountain and spring of all the work I do, needs to come from a relationship with God. Not just a 'sense of duty'.
By getting away to these places, I can read and memorize scripture, pray and reflect. Getting yourself into a quiet place helps you to listen to Gods small still voice. And after all it seems biblical .. the concept of wilderness experiences and coming into God's presence is all throughout the bible.
Reflecting on the beauty of creation, and how that rolls into worship for the creator, certainly helps sooth the soul in a broken world gone mad. I would encourage anyone reading this to do the same.
Don't just mindlessly 'do' .. take some time out, head out bush (or maybe the local park) and reflect on what is at the very depth of your soul .. who is God to you?
When you head back into your work, you will come into it with a more refreshed attitude, and a stronger commitment then before.

Lastly, Agnes got hit by lightning the other day.
She is very lucky to be ok.
We were walking back from church on Sunday, as the rain clouds started to roll in. There was a slight drizzle, and as I had my bike I quickly rode back home to pick up an umbrella for Aggie and her sisters.
After handing the umbrella over, I decided to walk back with them. I was a little bit in front of them, just under my house porch, when a huge flash of light, followed instantly from a very loud crack of thunder, completely surrounded us.
The thunder was so loud, it was like an explosion, my ears were ringing a bit from it, and I almost hit the ground.
I knew from the flash of light and the instant thunder, that the lightning must of struck very close.
I turned around to see the umbrella on the ground, and as I was on the porch, I had to move about a meter forward to see Agnes around the corner. It is funny how the mind can work so fast, in the one second of seeing the umbrella, and taking a step forward to see Agnes, I clearly remember my mind bracing itself to see the worst.
Thank God all I found was three very scared girls standing shocked.
It seems a surge of electricity had hit the top of the umbrella, gone right through, shocking Agnes' arm, and then causing the umbrella to jump out of her hand.
From reading up on the internet, it seems this is a common experience for people, and it seems a few people have been hit by lightning while holding an umbrella and walked away with nothing but a sore arm.
I am guessing the main bolt didn't hit her, otherwise she might just be a burnt out black hole in the ground. But perhaps the main bolt hit very close, and seeing as moisture was in the air, an electric charge may have resulted, and been attracted to the umbrella, which would of acted like a conductor perhaps.
I really can't be sure, all I know, she was lucky.
Considering quite a few people die in Uganda from lightning strikes every year, Agnes was also shaken and feeling blessed.
Her sisters and her spent the afternoon cooking in the kitchen, while loudly singing worship songs! thankfully she just walked away with a bit of a headache, and a sore hand after it. I checked her pulse and everything was normal, so we are thankful all is good.
It could of ended badly!
We believe that God is sovereign, and He can save or take life according to His will (not always a popular theological doctrine, but I believe it none the less).
So we are thankful.

Thanks for all those still praying and supporting us, your love means a lot to us, and we really appreciate it.
God bless.

A fortnightly update.

The last few weeks have not been too dramatic. Just the usual of carrying on work and building relationships.

Agnes' sisters have come to stay for the holidays. Mercy and Linda are around 17 and 15 years old (Agnes is not sure, because they were born in the village, and a lot of times this means people don't know their own birth date, even the year .. Agnes has just made up one for them)
Agnes is the main carer for her sisters, who are actually her half sisters, sharing the same mother.
The father to Mercy and Linda is not really on the scene, and gives no support. So it has been Agnes who has played the parental role over the years, helping put them through school, feed them and shelter them.

We actually thought they were coming on the 8th, but around about the 3rd of this month, Agnes got a call from the school saying her sisters where the last ones left, everyone else had left for the holidays, and they were wondering what was happening. Amusingly, Agnes had forgot to pick her own sisters up (the girls go to boarding school, and on the holidays are sent back to their homes)
Agnes sent a boda boda to pick them up, and they arrived for the first time at our house. They had never seen where we live before.
As Agnes was not around I got to show them the house. The look on their faces was priceless, as I showed them their very own bedroom with bunk beds.
When I showed them the living room, and told them they can help themselves to any food, cold water, and that we had a TV subscribed to many channels, they burst out in giggles and excitement.
All their lives they have never stayed in such a place and they come from a very poor village.
So I must say they seem to be enjoying all the meals (especially getting regular meat) ... although they cost a bit to feed. Now I know what it must of been like for my parents, trying to keep up with feeding us hungry children.
They are great value though, and although very quiet they are very helpful and do all the cleaning for us!
It has been funny for them, seeing the way Agnes and I interact and live together. One of the first mornings I cooked them breakfast (pancakes) and another time Agnes asked her sisters to get her the sugar, seeing as I was closer to the cupboard, I got the sugar for her and brought it over.
These two incidents were shocking for the sisters. They were so used to their culture in the village, in which a man would never cook for the younger women in the house, let alone go out of his way to pass the sugar for someone ... that is the wife and children's job.
So I guess they will get a learning experience of another 'culture' and a different way of doing things.

The Tailoring cooperation is running well. The girls have now set up their shop, and are in the process of creating some school uniforms for samples to take to schools. We aim to get some school tenders that will be able to provide them with work.
The girls really have shown a lot of initiative and hard work, they are certainly committed and have impressed us a number of times.
The other week some machines had broken down, so they put their money together and payed for someone to fix them, and teach them how to maintain the machines. This is something we would of helped them with, but the fact they took the initiative and payed for it from their own pocket money (which is a lot for them) shows they are really taking ownership over it.

The tailoring class is also running well, the girls seem to enjoy spending time at the YSU base.
Just like the previous girls, many of them come early or stay late. Sometimes they come hang out here on days they are not learning. I often wonder if their home life is not good and they are using this as a bit of a safe place to be.
A few of the girls were really sick with malaria the other day, and their children were also sick. Farouk went to visit one of them, and both her children were shivering and shaking on the floor of the little hut they stay in. One of them was vomiting constantly. All the mother had for medicine was salt and sugar mixed with water. Of course in cases like this, handing out money is important, the death of a child would be the result if not. Of course Farouk always takes them to the hospital and pays directly, just to make sure things are spent accordingly.
One morning we actually awoke to find one of the tailoring girls weeding our garden. She had completely tidied up the front garden and made it look very neat. When asked why she was doing it, or if someone had asked her to do it, she simply said she wanted to do it for us.
This same girl recently came to us saying she was starving at her home and had no food. We figured that since she did such a good job on one side of the garden, we would pay her to do the rest. Of course we gave her some small food to get her family by for now, but at least we could give her some paid work, so she can feel like she has earned the money and not begged for it. Many young women here want to work, it empowers them, they would much prefer work then needing to beg.
It is a simple way to be able to help her with relief to the situation she is in, while we focus on the development side of things, and long term help for her through the tailoring class.

We are planning to get an empower course running next month with our old tailoring girls. We really think they would benefit. We were looking at translating the material into Luganda, but we realized that may be less helpful then keeping it in English.
Many educated people here who can read English fluently, struggle to read their own language. This is because Luganda was never taught in written form. When people were educated, they were educated in English .. leaving a culture that may be fluent in their mother tongue, but can not read or write in it (while being able to write in English)
Another problem is that many times, most people don't speak a pure Luganda, seeing as Uganda is home to over 100 dialects. It can often all get mashed together into its own form, depending from what area of Uganda you come from. One persons Luganda may sound very different to someone else from a different part of Uganda.
The result will be keeping the English manuel. Agnes usually teaches by reading from an English text book, and then translating it on the spot into the 'common persons' language (this is actually much easier and faster for her, then trying to read from a Luganda text book)
This is the way we see us doing the Empower course.

Recently I had the privilege of traveling with Farouk to Beatrices home village for his very first time. This may sound a bit strange if you are not aware of the culture. But many people who have families together, and see themselves as married (as well as call themselves married), have actually never had a wedding, or even met the woman's family.
This is due to the culture of introductions and dowry's. Usually the man has to comes up with a bride price, and presents gifts to the woman's family.
This may of worked well long ago, when community's were strong and there was lots of support. But now its ridiculous because most people live in poverty and can not afford such an introduction and a wedding. Greed has also changed the culture where now families of the women (usually the uncles and the aunts) place absurd, unrealistic, expectations on the man to pay.
As a man is seen as shameful if he meets the family without offering any gifts, or not being able to offer money for an introduction, many people live together and even start families without ever having a wedding, or meeting the in laws.
It is actually a very oppressive part of the culture that leaves many young, poor couples frustrated that they can not do what they believe is the right thing before God, too get married before living together and starting a family. All because of the ridiculous expectations put on them.
It frustrates me so much, because many of the families are 'so called' Christians, but they seem to have no care that the standards they are putting on weddings results in many poor young frustrated couples living together and never being able to afford a wedding in their lifetime. Instead of blessing a God honoring marriage, they prefer to let greed over take them and try to drain the man of as much money as they can (and as a result, drain money from their own daughter, who relies on her husbands money to survive ... not the families)

As a result Farouk has never met Beatrice's family, or ever had a wedding (Most people feel like they are not allowed to get married in a church until they get the families blessing ... which usually means a high price is paid)
Farouk has been saving up a bit of money, as well as receiving some contributions, so he can finally have a wedding and bring some small gifts to meet Beatrice's family.
He has been so excited about this over the last year, with the birth of Meshach, he has really felt it on his heart to put an official ceremony to his marriage.  As scary as it is for him, due to him not having a huge amount of money, he has taken the step and courage to go meet her family regardless.
This may not seem significant, but you have to realize the shame that is placed on a man here who cannot live up to the dowry expectations is very big. This causes many men to avoid ever seeing their in laws.
I was very proud of Farouk and encouraged him. He also asked me to come along, cause usually the man brings two or three friends with him on the first visitation.
The parents of Beatrice had also said they were not putting any expectations on Farouk, but just really wanted to see him.
Farouk was very nervous about it all (understandably) but he had decided to go ahead and do it, despite the fact that he doesn't have much money.

So with a car full of gifts (soap, sugar, salt etc) we set off for a 3 hour drive last Friday.
It was a very interesting affair, as every thing is so formal and set to a specific way, and culture of doing it. We sat in a small room by ourselves for a while, then we ate snacks. After that we met all the family as they came in and introduced themselves. This was then followed by a meal. Then it came down to business, where all the men of the family sit down with Farouk and his posse, and discuss business.
Farouk actually isn't meant to speak during all of this, but has a friend speak on his behalf.
Unfortunately it didn't go too well. It seems that Beatrice's parents are very easy going, and really just wanted to meet Farouk. But, as happens here so many times, the uncles got involved. These uncles placed some ridiculous expectations on Farouk, and were basically trying to go after as much money as they could.
I won't go into details to respect Beatrice's family, but Farouk and Beatrice were a bit upset at the outcome. We went away that day with things unresolved, a high expectation on Farouk, and a bit of confusion at what we had actually come there for.
These things really upset me, and let me just say I get so frustrated when people start quoting bible verses to back up their greed. I am sure a few of the uncles could tell I wasn't impressed by my facial expressions (especially when they tried to convince us that they don't see their daughters as property to make money). At one point, Farouk even spoke out and explained his situation. That how do they expect him to take care of their daughter and their grandchild, if he is drained of money (I say their daughter, and their grandchild, because in the culture here a niece is seen as everyone's daughter, as a grandchild is seen as everyone's grandchild)

It seems there may be a way around it. Farouk and Beatrice are going to refuse to pay what they are expecting, and instead consult privately with the parents (when the uncles are not around) to ask them for a blessing so they can go ahead and have a small wedding.
Farouk and Beatrice really don't want to spend so much money on an introduction and a wedding, but just to do something small and intimate.
Please pray for them, as they go through this hard time. The good thing is Beatrice's parents seem very understanding and simply want the best for their daughter.

We have encouraged them to go ahead with a small wedding, as it is something God has placed on their hearts and that they would really love to do.
Even though the day was a bit of a struggle, it was great that Farouk had the courage to go ahead and face the whole family, you don't realize how scary it can be for someone here. It was also good that the ice was broken, and he has now officially taken one step closer to having an official wedding.

Changing the subject to one of my interesting, but gross story's. The other day I sat down to eat my breakfast. I opened up the new pack of weetabix I had got from the supermarket the other day, and I made myself some weetabix with milk.
I remember eating my breakfast and telling Agnes that the food tasted a bit funny, but I didn't think anything of it after that.
That night, after dinner, I was getting some water from the fridge, and I noticed a bunch of little squirming things on top of the fridge. We had a closer look and found about 50 little maggots crawling around.
We were a bit shocked wondering where they came from .... well we found out.
I keep the weetabix packet on top of the fridge, so we checked it and opened it up to have a good look inside, only to find a host of insects and maggots burrowed all throughout the weetabix.
It seems we had bought a very old packet from the super market that had grown maggots in it.
I basically had a belly full of maggots for breakfast.
We had just finished dinner, and as usual I had stuffed myself full ... so it was a bad time to find out I had eaten maggots, as I started to feel a bit nausea's.
From now on I will not buy anything from that specific supermarket ... all due by dates will be checked, and I might start avoiding weetabix.

Lastly, Agnes and I had a lovely dinner with Ron, Anne, Dan and Kara. It was beautiful to be able to share a big meal with them in our downstairs main room, and a great night of fellowship together!

God bless

Letting go of anger, Empower training and reaching out to neighbors.

It has been a very busy and eventful week! With the running around of visas, running YSU activities and going through the empower program.

Agnes and I had a very disappointing day last week when we went for my visa.
We were planning on going for a dependent visa for me, considering I am legally married to Agnes who is a Ugandan citizen. This is the visa that I was recommended to go for by people at immigration.

The immigration man at Jinja is very helpful and friendly, and he wanted to meet us in Kampala to help us at the ministry of internal affairs, to make sure things would go smoothly for us. He told us he would be in Kampala early Friday morning, and told us to meet him there.
So at six in the morning Agnes and I were off for a three hour bus ride to Kampala to try and go for my visa.
The disappointment and worry started when we got to the ministry of internal affairs at the arranged time, and called the immigration officer from Jinja, only to have him tell us that he was still in Jinja and would not be coming to Kampala that day.

He told us to try and go for the visa, and that he had called his friend to help us. So we took a deep breath and went into the office. His friend was really of no use, and basically just pointed us to immigration officers who were in charge of going through the applications.
As soon as we approached these two women, I knew it was not going to be good. It was clear they had made a judgement on us before we even opened our mouths.
We were told very harshly to come into the office and show my passport.
What followed suit was basically this one immigration officer asserting her power and making Agnes and I to feel very low.
As soon as we sat down and explained we were going for the dependent visa, she sternly looked at us and said "why?". We explained that to get a residence visa in Australia takes a long time, and as Agnes and I are legally married we wanted to live together in the same country, and were applying for the dependents visa here in Uganda.
She instantly asked why Agnes had never been to Australia. We tried to explain to her that we were in the process of applying for a tourist visa, but a residence visa takes some time.
At this, she jumped on her chance to bully us. She started telling Agnes "why should I let your husband into our country, if his country has not allowed you".
She would give no opportunity for us to talk, and just kept repeating that question. In my mind I was thinking "Because Uganda is not Australia, it is its own nation with its own immigration laws, why worry about Australia".
This was all irrelevant as well. I personally know of a Ugandan man here who is married to a Canadian woman. Even though they have been married for some time, and even have a child together, he has still up to this day been refused entry into Canada. Yet they got the dependent visa from this very woman we were speaking with, in this very office.
So she was just making up rules that were not even true, because she had decided from the start that she didn't like us.
She barely looked through our file, which we had made sure contained every legal document that was required for the dependents visa, plus more.
She flicked to our marriage certificate and then told us that it is not a valid marriage certificate, because it was not done in Australia.
I tried to explain to her that it was a civil marriage, performed here in Uganda, that is recognized under international law as a binding legal marriage.
Again she wouldn't listen to me and just kept saying its not relevant. This again was hurting because I know of a few people who have got this dependents visa, and have had the same civil marriage here in Uganda, that provides the same marriage certificate. Again she was clearly just trying to make things up because she didn't like us.
The worst part was that she started accusing me of having another wife in Australia, and was telling Agnes that I was having many women in Australia that I am hiding from her.
I also tried to explain to her that to get a legal, civil, marriage in Uganda, I had to supply a document from the Australian government saying I am not married. Of course she shut me down and would not listen to me, the law didn't matter to her, she just wanted to make up what she felt like.
The office we were in had about six other people in there, all listening to our conversation (which our immigration lady was clearly aware of, and playing into) all of the people were laughing as this woman mocked and accused us, saying hurtful things to Agnes like "we are just trying to protect you from this man, my daughter".
In the end I just picked up my passport and file and walked out, there was no point. Agnes was almost in tears, we had traveled three hours (plus three hours back home) just to be mocked and rejected for no legal reason.
We had all the legal documents required. It can be so difficult when you live in such a corrupt country, and it doesn't matter if you try and do everything by the law, if a government official decides they don't like you, you are treated like dirt"

We traveled back home to Jinja, and met up with our friendly immigration officer there. He was very apologetic that he was not able to be there to help us, as he had been called out to an emergency immigration issue early that morning. He also acknowledged there was no reason for this woman to treat us in such a way, and that our file was perfectly fine. He made it clear they are difficult people.
So now I may have to wait another year or so before I can try and go for the dependent visa again, perhaps having proof that Agnes has been to Australia may help. It is difficult because I really do not know if I can get a long term visa, even if I have everything that the law requires.
The man said he would try and help us, and see what he could do. Otherwise, he said he had no problem extending my tourist visa when ever I need it.
When I come into the country I can get a three month visa, and then I am legally able to extend it for another three months, two times.
I may just have to work around this, going in and out of the country when needed. It is a bit risky doing it this way, as it raises a lot of questions. But I have no other option, even though I am legally married to a Ugandan.

Of course the frustration and anger can get a hold of you. I found myself very angry at this woman who treated us like this. Agnes usually reacts by withdrawing and being hurt, while I tend to react with anger and a willingness to fight. Either way, we both knew we had to forgive this woman, or we would carry her around in our heart all day.
As hurtful as she was, Agnes and I prayed for her and asked that God would bless her. By holding onto her in our minds and heart, we would only be holding onto anger that would make the day worse.
Forgiving someone is much harder then it sounds. You can say you forgive them, but a while later you find yourself thinking about clever words you could of said to get them back. Again needing to forgive takes place, and it is a continuous battle.
I am so amazed at the stories of forgiveness I have heard in Rwanda, where people have forgave the very men that killed their families.
I was struggling to forgive a nasty government officer, yet some people have forgiven in an incredible way.

Forgiveness, just as general advice for the well being of a person, doesn't quite cut it for me though if there is no ultimate driving force behind it that is beyond ourselves. Of course it is true, forgiving clearly heals ones soul, but the source of the forgiveness needs to come from a deeper place for me.
This is where my faith comes in. I believe I am forgiven by God, and it gives me the power to love and let go of those who hurt me. It is a deep spring of hope, grace and love that nourishes me. Without it, I think I would carry around lots of bitterness in my heart. I believe being forgiven by God first, is the most empowering thing to be able to forgive others second.

We were also so blessed this week to attend the "Empower" trauma rehabilitation program. This was developed for people suffering with trauma, and is especially used in African countries that have suffered from war.
It has been particularly used well in Rwanda, where genocide survivors and perpetrators have found reconciliation.
Agnes, Farouk and myself all participated in the course, as well as a bunch of other close friends in the HopeBuilders community.
Dennis from Rwanda, with the help of Gash, ran through the program for all of us, and it was clear that the program is a beautiful ministry tool for helping people with traumatic experiences.
The program focuses on the mind, body and spirit and has a number of different activities involved. The program looks at stress reducing techniques, how to get control over your body, how to release and share traumatic experiences, and explores the topic of forgiveness and healing.
This is a powerful program that is seeing lives changed. Many people who have gone through the program find themselves coming to faith in Jesus.
I know many people in the course found they had things in their life that they had never dealt with, and were causing them problems up to this day.
Farouk was especially moved by it, stating that he was able to forgive many people who had hurt him, and that he felt a great weight lifted off his heart this morning.
In the removing of unforgiveness, he explained that he now feels like he has room for a whole new love for the people around him.

We are currently talking about translating the program to Luganda, as we would love to use this program for our tailoring girls who don't speak much English. The program can be appropriate for any kind of trauma, and seeing as many of our girls are single mothers, and have suffered abuse, the program would be very appropriate for them.

We have also been attending Jinja Christian School on Friday nights, where Ron and Anne are running a short course on hearing Gods voice. It has also been awesome to catch up with an old friend from Highschool. Daniel Dean and his wife Kara are currently traveling around the world, spending time volunteering at different ministries in different countries. They are both awesome people and it has been good to catch up, and for Agnes and I to get to know them more.

Lastly, Agnes and I have both really felt the conviction to try and reach out to our neighbors here. Currently the house we live in has a back quarters part to it, where a family has been living for a long time. The family are Muslim, and also very poor. We actually have a bit of a tense relationship with them. For some reason, rather through misunderstanding, or something we don't know, they really seem to dislike us.
There has been a few occasions where they have been gossiping about us and saying bad things. And every time we try and greet them, we get very cold responses.
We have asked them a few times about their children throwing rubbish all over our garden, and if this can be stopped. When we have done so, we have tried to do it in the most loving way we can. The kids usually use the rubbish as toys, and so I went to town one day and bought them a bunch of soft animal toys to play with instead,
Little occasions like this have seem to have been taken wrong, and it feels like it has built up some kind of dislike and coldness towards us.

Agnes and I really felt like we should be reaching out to this family more. Often we don't talk to them much, or even think about them really (unless we are complaining about their behavior) We are always focusing a lot on people in the community, but here we have our neighbors, who are very poor, a Muslim family, and have a strong dislike towards us.
What more of a situation would you need to be able to show grace and love to someone, and represent Jesus well. Are we not called to "love our neighbors as we love ourselves" and to go out and share the good news of the Gospel. Well here is a clear opportunity to do that, and it is right under our noise.
Sometimes we can be so busy and focused on our ministries we are working away at, that we can overlook and ignore the immediate needs of our neighbors, right there beside us.
And I am sure this can be the case in Australia as well. Those of us in the church, are we so focused on our church activities that we are forgetting to reach out to those that God has placed right near us?
So we are going to think about ways we can bless this family this month.

This is also a good reminder on what we can do to try and bring some light into this world. Often it can seem so crazy out there in the world. With the Gaza strip being bombed, Christians being exiled in Iraq or crucified in Syria, countless of refugees in the middle east, starving people in south Sudan, a changing culture towards Christians volunteering and helping in state schools in Australia, extremist Islamic groups all over Africa killing and kidnapping, as a follower of Jesus, it makes you think what your role in all of this is.
Yes, we should be concerned about the big issues, and where we can help and raise awareness and support, we must do so. But we should not forget to try and bring light and love to the situations we find ourselves in with our day to day lives. It may seem irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but the consistency of bringing hope to those around us, will be valued and will make a dent in the end.

Again I would love to thank everyone who has been supporting Agnes and I financially. Often our money is tight by the end of the month, and we can worry about what we are going to do with all the requests and needs, as well as the things we need to provide for ourselves. But your financial support has really helped us and we thank you so much.
Thank you for everyone who has kept us in their prayers. We also ask that you continue to do so, as this visa situation really has been a hard experience on us, leaving us feeling a bit dejected at times.

God bless