Update from Karamoja
Dear
Friends,
Warm greetings from Karamoja! Just a few weeks ago the rains were so great that we had to cancel a trip to Mbale because of severely muddy roads. A couple of weeks of mostly hot sunny days and the roads have dried up. Seasons change but the Lord remains the same faithful God.
Karamoja continues to be a land with many souls lost in sin. Just yesterday the talk of the day surrounded the news of a man who had been killed while stealing maize. Apparently, the owner was fed up and desperate after consecutive seasons of losing his crop to theft. He was spending nights hiding in his garden ready to defend his property at any cost. The unsuspecting intruder came for maize but instead found a spear hurled at him. The report was that in the morning a trail of blood led to his dead body.
If stealing and killing are commonplace in Karamoja, false reporting is even more so. Today we heard that the man was not actually killed. Instead, the blood was from his hand which was severely injured blocking the spear. The false report was likely spread by his own family who knew that the police would not pursue a dead thief.
The light shines in the darkness. Such sad events give us opportunity to testify of that One who came not to steal, kill and destroy nor to speak lies. Christ Jesus, the true and faithful witness came not to take life but to give His own that we might have life more abundant.
We are thankful to be about the work of scattering the seeds of God’s word in many different venues. We just finished a series of studies from Jesus’ parables about the kingdom. This week was the parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. Yesterday I was out in the village of Akuyam with Lokeris Simon Peter. He did an excellent job teaching a good group who listened well. Please pray for the salvation of many. And, like lamps fueled by the oil of the Spirit of Christ, pray that Christians in this place will shine brightly in His service even as they look forward to the day of His return.
Please pray as well for our Bible story book project, which has occupied much of my time lately. The slow and arduous process has received a significant boost by the efforts of Christopher Verdick who recently put his good writing skills to work by joining me as co-author. Much of the work simply involves making use of the writing and teaching done by Al Tricarico and myself through the years. The challenge now is to consolidate into a more concise and digestible, yet sufficiently thorough, volume. Please pray that God’s wisdom will guide us as we seek to take the treasures of His word and put them into a book which will be clear and understandable and will help many to grow in the saving knowledge of Christ.
Dave
P.S. I'm also pasting below Al Tricarico's latest update on our church plant...
Notes from Nakaale
The Tricaricos
Number
89
September 19, 2014
A class for those who want
to join Nakaale Presbyterian Church began last Sunday. We are using a
booklet we produced that answers four questions: What is the Bible?; What is
the Good News?; What is the Christian Life?; and What is the Church? It is brief [about 3000 words] and has been
translated into Karimojong.
The content is what you
might expect, with one possible exception. The answer to question three
includes a statement on God’s design for marriage—namely, monogamy. This is a
huge issue here since most men are either polygamous or aspire to be so. People
who profess their faith in Jesus must know from the beginning that all of life
is to be ordered under the commands of our loving master, including every
aspect of marriage and family.
Please pray:
- For the classes that will be conducted through October
- For those in the class who want to profess their faith
- That more people would see and love the beauty of God’s design
- For Dave and me as we interview people for membership
- For Nakaale Presbyterian Church—its growth in numbers, but also [and more so!], in spiritual maturity [2 Peter 3:18]Humbly yours for King Jesus,Al
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