A Plentiful Harvest of Boys...

I want to introduce you to three boys.  

The first one is named Nyeba Bob.  His mother is one of two wives that were widowed after their husband died.  His mom has seven kids and the other wife has five.  They all live together on one compound, struggling to make ends meet.  The other wife attends the local Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Uganda in Kakoli...one of the village churches that our mission works with.  Bob, unlike his mom and the rest of his siblings, goes with the other wife and her kids to church.  He is a faithful attender.  He also struggles with basic literacy because of the lack of adequate government education and the lack of funds to go to a private school.  

The second young man is Fulanko Masasi.  He lives with his Auntie, because he was orphaned as a child.  He is 17 years old and only has been through first grade.  He also lacks the basic skills of reading and writing.  But he is an active member of the local Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Uganda in Nampologoma...another one of the village churches our mission works with.

This last boy has stolen our hearts.  His name is Daniel and he lives quite near us, attends our church here in Mbale, and blesses us with his smile, his acrobats, his rabbits and his homemade toys.  He and Timothy are quite good friends.  His parents are divorced and he goes back and forth from house to house.  He tells us that his dad is often drunk.  Daniel is about 13 years old and reads and writes at about a kindergarten/first grade level.  That is changing slowly, though, as Timothy, and sometimes Eric and I, are teaching him phonics and spelling.  He is eager to learn...always wanting to do more lessons and read more Dr. Suess.

These three boys have some things in common.

1.  They are way behind in their academics.  They really need someone to tutor them in basic literacy skills.

2.  They are all interested in the things of the Lord.  They are faithful attenders of church.

3.  They all need a godly man in their life.  A man who will invest in them and be a spiritual father to them.  A man to bring them from boyhood to manhood.  A man to raise up a generation of leaders in the churches...the next crop of pastors, elders and deacons!  A man to raise up the next generation of fathers who will one day have boys and girls of their own!

And these boys are three of many, many boys who share their story...

This harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few!!

I am praying that God will bring us a laborer for this particular harvest!  Maybe I'm praying for you or another man you know?  May God be glorified to answer this prayer!