Update

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your many encouraging words and prayers in response to my last update. I apologize for being slow in following up with a report. The two church members who took extra wives both stood up and confessed their sin before the congregation. We are saddened by the sin but praise our God for the amazing grace of forgiveness which He lavishes upon us in Christ and which, accordingly, we extended to these men. Please pray that these men would walk in faithful purposed new obedience as they have promised. Pray as well that God would use their confession in the lives of others who are facing the same temptation. We take joy in knowing that our Lord can and does bring good out of even the worst of circumstances.

That is a lesson which we are taught again in again in the word. I am reminded of this often as we share different stories through our village chronological Bible story teaching. This past week, some villages  learned about the promise that came to Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 21). Even after they were expelled from Abraham’s family when Ishmael laughed at Isaac, God saved Ishmael from death and promised to make of him a great nation (vv. 18-19). God’s plan, of course, would include the gospel one day going to the descendants of Ishmael along with all the nations. Other villages learned about the last plague in Egypt, and the Israelites being saved from death through the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12).

Still other villages have been learning about Samson. We remind our Karimojong friends that Samson was not always a model of godly conduct, especially not for Christian men and would-be husbands. Quite the opposite. Samson was raised up to judge a nation in desperate need of a righteous leader – “…there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Yet, Israel’s judge proved no better. He sought a Philistine wife, telling his father that “…she is right in my eyes” (Judges 14:3). His womanizing led to his complete demise, so it seemed. But God was at work in all of it to accomplish His great purpose and plan. Perhaps, it was not until Samson’s suffering and humiliation at the hands of the Philistines that his heart was finally broken before the Lord.  Weak, blind and at the brink of death, Samson called to the Lord. And, as in the case of our sin-bearing savior, God used the death of this servant to bring about a great victory over the enemies of His people (Judges 16:30). And, amazingly, Samson went down in redemptive history as a model of faith (Hebrews 11:32). God’s grace is truly great! Please pray that His word will bear much fruit in Karamoja.

The rains have largely subsided and things have dried up. We are thankful for the break from the wet muddy roads and the ability to travel more easily. At the same time, we pray for just enough rain to water our beans currently growing in the fields. Our God is able to supply all our needs.

Thanks again for your prayers.

In Christ,

Dave