Greetings from Rainy Karamoja

Greetings from Nakaale! We seem to have left the dry season behind. Evenings can be quite chilly and the roads quite muddy as the rains are here. We had a heavy one earlier this afternoon. In fact, even as I write this at about 9pm we can hear the sound of a stuck vehicle from the main road working hard to get out of the mud. To their discouragement, no doubt, I hear the rain starting up again. They will likely have to give up the fight and take the night on the road while hoping for some morning sunshine to dry things up and enable them to continue their journey. It is a common occurrence in Karamoja. I’m thankful that I have not yet slept out on the road in all my years here. Just today, Bob Wright was putting some heavy duty mud tires on some of our Mission vehicles for when we do have to travel.

Rains can interrupt travels as well as gospel ministry. Often village Bible studies are rained out. Other times, folks are pretty busy working in their gardens during the week. Of course, we can’t fault them for that. Each year we pray that God would reward the labors of their hands with a good harvest. Our own farming project is also underway. Christopher Verdick has been out on the tractor plowing our fields. We hope that this will create much employment for Karimojong friends needing work. We also hope that it affords us many opportunities to share with them the good news of Christ. Seasons change. Rains come and go. Christ’s word endures forever. He is building his kingdom. Whether to patients visiting our medical clinic, folks out in the villages, our own Mission workers or those gathering for worship on the Lord’s day, we are grateful for the many opportunities we have to regularly preach and teach that word.

And we are thankful for the fruit which we are seeing. On Thursday afternoon Lokwii Paul and I were in the village of Akuyam. Before starting the Bible study, we visited the home of Anyakun Zakaria, a member of our congregation. He asked for prayer. A local witch doctor had warned him of danger. She had dreamed that one of his young sons would die (little “Albert”, named after my colleague, Al Tricarico). She told him that the child needed to be smeared with mud for protection against the evil spirits. This is a common practice in this culture’s Animism. No doubt the witch doctor was to receive some payment for services rendered. Well, Anyakun has turned from the practice of witchcraft and has taken a stand against such things. This is not the first time that he has faced this kind of pressure to compromise under the threat of harm to his family. But he understood that Christ was again calling him to testify to the truth in demonstration of bold faith. He asked me to pray. I prayed in the name of Christ Jesus who in his death and resurrection has conquered all of the powers of darkness. I asked God to place a hedge of protection around Anyakun and his family and to enable them to stand firm in their faith knowing that not one hair could fall from their heads apart from their heavenly Father’s will. On Sunday morning, all was well. The family came to church. It so happened that their newest baby was being presented for baptism. God is good.

I alluded to ministry to our workers. We are very encouraged by the growth we are seeing in some of the young men who help maintain our compounds and are also members of our church. The work day begins with a brief time of devotions for all workers. Well, we have been helping these men learn to lead the devotionals and prayers. It is fun to see them get excited about this ministry. And with our struggles against polygamy in recent times, we are making extra efforts to interact with them around God’s word and what it teaches about the marriage institution. For a bit more on this, I am pasting below a recent communication from Al Tricarico. (For further reading, you can also check out Christopher Verdick’s recent fine blog post here).

We are also excited to be taking steps towards starting a school. Again, I will simply paste below what Al wrote about that as well.       

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for all of these things!

In Christ,

Dave Okken

Al Tricarico’s updates…

Notes from Nakaale

The Tricaricos

Number 45

April 26, 2013

This week I would appreciate prayers for a new ministry to the folk who work for us.  After a thick but productive counseling session with a church family, I asked my translator and another brother how we can encourage our young men to think differently about marriage and family life.  [Polygamy is normative; drunkenness and abuse are common.]  We concluded that regular teaching on the subject along with prayer would be a good start.

Yesterday, after morning devotions, I announced to six men that part of their work each day, Monday through Thursday, would be to meet with me for fifteen minutes [1:00-1:15 p.m.] to discuss Christian life issues, starting with God’s design for marriage.  The women who work for us were invited to join in.

We met.  Attendance was ten.  We read Ephesians 5 from which a lively discussion emerged.  On Monday we will pick up where we left off.  I see this as an ongoing ministry to our workers, several of whom are members of the church.  Of the six men, two are unmarried and two are monogamous. 

Please pray:

·         For the meetings themselves and those who attend

·         That I would be a good listener as I put God’s truth before them [and me!]

·         That I would remove my own logs as I help others to see their specks [Matthew 7:3-5]

Rejoicing in the Bridegroom,

Al

Notes from Nakaale

The Tricaricos

Number 43

April 12, 2013

You will be interested to know that our Mission is planning to establish a Christian school.  The name of the initiative—recently approved as a special project by our Committee on Foreign Missions—is “Nakaale Nursery School and Education Program.”  

Where we live, education is poorly delivered.  Teaching methods are flawed.  Attendance is poor.  Teachers seem unmotivated.  Parents undervalue learning and keep most of their children in the village to work.  There are exceptions, of course, but these things are generally so. 

The Bible has been translated into Karimojong, but few are able to read it.  Primary students are promoted year by year, often without gaining the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need.  We believe that we can help our neighbors by operating a school [preschool at the start] that is committed to delivering quality education in a warm, gospel-centered context.  We also see the school as a means by which we can prepare the next generation to fill and lead Christ’s Church in Karamoja.  

Please pray:

             

·         That God would provide what we need to develop the work

·         For our education committee [Martha Wright, Erika Bulthuis and Emily Pihl]

·         That the children who attend, along with their families, would come to know Christ

Yours in Nakaale,

Al