Doctrine Class and Two Book Recommendations

::This past week Eric began teaching a Christian Doctrine class.  They are using Louis Berkhof's Summary of Christian Doctrine book.  Eric is really enjoying this class and it seems like the students are as well.  Please continue to pray for these students as they learn.

:: Recently, I have enjoyed two books that are worth a mention here.

The first was sent to us in the mail and unfortunately, my littles, in their eagerness to receive a package, threw out the wrapping before I figured out who sent it to us.  If that's you and you are reading this THANK YOU!!!

This book, Living Life Backwards by David Gibson, is a great explanation of the book of Ecclesiastes.  The first few chapters are quite depressing as they are a good kick in the pants. But just when you are ready to throw the book down, Gibson lifts you back up and pushes you forward as you learn what it means to live your life in light of the end of your life.  It is well worth reading.  Also, I think this would be a great book for a youth group study as well.

The second book is The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley.  This is a fabulous defense (you can tell he is a lawyer...haha!) of cultivating 8 habits into your life. First, Four Daily Habits... kneeling prayer 3 times a day, Scripture before phone, eating a meal together, and turning the phone off for an hour a day... then Four Weekly Habits...intentional conversation for one hour, sabbath rest, fasting, and curating media to a set amount of hours.  Lest you think this is another book on technology to make you feel guilty for hanging out on your phone again, please be assured it is not.  Whether you chose to use his ideas of habits or not, this book will change how you view your habits.  His arguments/logic/lines of reasoning are insightful and inspiring (not a guilt trip!) no matter what you end up putting into practice in the end.  I love how he brings in our love for God and love for neighbors and puts everything into an eternal perspective. So even if you have no desire to change how you do your media/technology/time, I still say read this book!!

Knox Theological College

This week Eric began teaching at Knox Theological College again.  As you may know, Knox Theological College is now operating under Livingstone International University.  This allows us to be able to give diplomas and work under an accredited university.  This also means that, for the first time, we now have two levels running, which means multiple classes being taught simultaneously.  Exciting times of growth!  For this course block, Eric is teaching a course on missions and Charles is teaching a course on preaching.  Please pray that God will continue to bless all the studying and learning to his glory and the building of his kingdom.

December Photo Project: Day 15

Yesterday the Jacksons hosted a good ol' fashioned American BBQ for the students of KTC.  Before lunch, they played football (soccer)... married students against single students.  The marrieds won.  The singles insisted that it was because they don't have wives who make them good food to keep them strong.  haha!

Khamoto Village Church

This past week we worshiped at Khamoto Village Church.  Their pastor, Alex, was being ordained.  It was a lovely time.

The church (They are trying to build a new building out of bricks in the back.  The current church is a mud and stick building and won't last for very much longer)

Left to Right: Pastor Messalamu, Pastor Timothy, Pastor Alex, Pastor Charles Jackson, Pastor Herbert and Pastor Eric.

Pastor Alex and his family:

Pastor Charles Jackson also baptized 5 babies in the service!

Eric preached.

Still smiling after 3.5 hours!

Here are some snippets of the singing...first a local praise song, then a hymn and finally a short clip of the choir.  When the choir was singing, there was a mama (in a silver colored gomesi) next to us that was softly singing along and her harmony sounded so beautiful to me.

Bullet Post

The weeks have continued to pass by quickly.  Here are a few of the highlights:

:: We celebrated the first wedding in our new church building.  It was such a fun day!  Denise, Katelyn and Rebecca were all bridesmaids, Talitha was a flower girl and Benaiah was a "peg boy"...aka ring bearer.

When we got to the church with the girls, the crowd was so large and so loud!  I was sure that Talitha would get scared and not want to walk down the aisle...especially when she had to go first!  But she was so brave and danced her way in.  Afterward, Eric asked her, "Weren't you scared?" She said, "No, everyone was looking at me and how beautiful I was!" Eric said, "I think everyone was looking at the bride."  She said confidently, "No, they were looking at me" This does nothing for her humility. haha!

Here's a small sample of the excitement of the crowd!

They did the very non-Ugandan thing and kissed at the wedding.  As you can see by the look on the attendants face behind, it was a bit shocking to most people... haha!

Aw!  What cuties!

Such a fun day!

:: For Fourth of July, the British missionaries in our community hosted a BBQ.  Now affectionately referred to Brexit1776

Katelyn made a super cute cake for the occassion.

It even looked like a flag when it was cut.

::  We've also celebrated three birthdays:

First Rebecca turned 13 (we now have five teenagers in the family!!)

Then Matthew turned 14:

Then Denise turned 15:

::Then, this past weekend, we had an end of year picnic with the students and their families at KTC.  It included a volley ball tournament between the KTC students and some of the youth of New Life Presbyterian Church.  Our church youth won.  

Here is a picture of all the students and their families:

This is a picture of all the students that attend or are currently pastoring PCU churches:

And while the former group was lining up, these brothers, not to be outdone, insisted that I take a picture of the "presbycostles" as they affectionately refer to themselves as.

::And I'll leave you with just one more picture, simply because he was a cutie...a dangerous one...but cute nonetheless!

Ministry Update

We are excited to be back into the ministry here.  And we have been thrilled to see how life and ministry carried on without us while we were gone...in fact, it grew and matured while we were gone.  What joy!  God's kingdom never depends on us and our work.  It truly is he who builds his church and it is his grace that brings us to be a part of it.

Our first Sunday back, Dr. Charles Jackson baptized 22 people! And several others made profession of faith!  

This little girl...her name is Alice.  On our last Sunday in Mbale before furlough, she came to church severely malnourished.  She was worse than many horrific pictures that you see on the internet.  Our hearts broke as we knew that we would not be able to be a part of her healing and we began to pray for her.  Our teammates took her under their wing and nourished her body, tutored her, got her into school and fed her spiritually.  Then our first Sunday back...who is this healthy looking girl being baptized?  It's hard to believe it's Alice!  But here she is!  God is good!

This is our friend Claire.  Having worked more closely with her, it is a blessing to see her making her faith public as well.

Here is a picture of our first time back for Sunday Night Circle time.  When we left, we were averaging just under 100.  While we were gone, Paul and Robina Magala were sweet to continue for us and they had around the same amount.  Our first Sunday back, however, the group size suddenly jumped to 180!!  We were very surprised!  (The second Sunday was 175)  It felt a bit big and chaotic the first Sunday, but the second Sunday we were more well prepared and it went better.  We are thankful that the Magalas are still willing to help us with this ministry that we love so much!

We had brought back with us 125 little flashlights for our young friends from WalMart.  Thankfully, one of our Uganda friends knew a place in town where we could buy something similar to top up for our extra numbers! haha!

Eric and I had two new ideas that we really wanted to start on our compound when we got back.  The first is a breakfast club.  This idea came about after listening (on some of our many long car drives!) to an audio book on the life of George Meuller.  He had started a breakfast club for the orphans of his city.  In Uganda, breakfast is a hard meal to come by.  It's the first to be dropped during times of hunger and many children won't ever get more than a cup of tea in the morning.  Then they are expected to go learn at school on an empty stomach.  We thought, wouldn't it be neat if once a week we opened our compound for breakfast and a short Bible study to elementary aged children.  We've done it twice now and it has quickly become my favorite ministry.  (Partly because I'm a morning person? maybe.  ha!)  The mornings are so refreshing here, the kids come fresh and calm (ha! If you've ever been around a large group of Ugandan kids, you know that by lunch time they are anything but calm!).  We somehow, by God's grace, landed on a great system of organizing everything and each of our kids has a little job to do.  The kids say a memory verse to get into the gate, they pick their food and tea, then they sit and eat and Eric does a devotional.  Then, they are released one row at a time to wash their cup and go to school.  We serve them a mandazi (a fried piece of dough...much like a donut), an egg, a banana and a cup of tea.

The second program we really wanted to do was a youth night for the high school aged kids.  We wanted it to be a more intense time of Bible study and especially prayer with them.  We also serve them supper and play a few games.  We have limited this program to kids that are involved in our church and who attend school...there are about 35 of them.  They are a great group of kids.  They have been so respectful and have really enjoyed our times together.

Eric has begun teaching at KTC this week.  He is teaching a course called Survey of the Bible.  I'm sure he would appreciate your many prayers!

KTC Graduation

Last Saturday, Knox Theological Seminary celebrated another graduation.  The students have worked so hard!  What a joy to be able to recognize it!  There were four types of awards given.  One was for course work completed through Miami International Seminary (MINTS).  The school also issued a certificate for those that had completed 10 hours of course work, an advanced certificate for those that had completed 20 hours of course work, and finally a full diploma for those that had completed the full curriculum consisting of 30 hours of course work.  

This little guy came to join us during the festivities.  We were all fascinated by his "leaf" on his tail...especially my little ones who patiently sat in the heat for four hours!

So many of the students that attend KTC have amazing stories or how they have struggled through school.  One student in particular stood out this year, however.  His name is Simon.  He comes from a small village called Kaiti, 16 kilometers away from KTC, where he lives with his wife and 11 children.  In the beginning he hardly knew English and his reading and writing weren't that strong either, so he struggled through the course work, but he never gave up.  Over the course of 9 years, on and off (his actual course work took him 6 years), he biked to school in order to "study to show himself approved" (2 Timothy 2:15)!!  His congregation loves him.  They were so excited to see him graduate with a full diploma.  They drove up in a cattle truck to show their support of him.

When his name was finally called (thankfully, alphabetically, he came last! haha!) there was quite a celebration!  We are so thankful for Simon and his work in Kaiti!  And rejoice with him that he is finished with school! 

We praise God for all the work he is doing at KTC!  God continues to bless the local churches and build his kingdom with well-trained men because of the work happening at Knox Theological College and for that, we are very, very thankful!