Karamoja Okkens

Greetings from the Okkens! We have some big personal news to share. We praise the Lord for His wonderful guidance and provision with regards to our next place of service. I have received a call to serve as a pastor at Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. During multiple Skype interviews I enjoyed getting to know the pastor, elders and deacons. Then the church graciously flew our whole family from Uganda for a ten day visit in March. The congregation was truly wonderful and the visit went very well. The Lord led us to the decision that, should the call come, we were ready to accept. On April 8 th they voted unanimously to extend that call. We decided to wait on announcing it until it was approved by the presbytery. That happened today. I am so thankful that they allowed me to meet with them by Skype. I was interviewed and the call was approved. I look forward to working alongside Pastor Matthew Holst, whom I so enjoyed getting to know. In addition to helping w...

We write both with some exciting Karamoja ministry news as well as some pretty big personal news. I guess we’ll jump right into the personal. Many of you are already aware of our plans though others are not. This will be our last term of service in Uganda. We were due for a furlough this past November. Instead, we extended the term to conclude this coming summer at which time we plan to return to the U.S. A significant factor which led to this decision was our desire to be closer to and better able to help our parents as they become older. But there were other factors as well. The bottom line is that we believe that the Lord is leading us to a new place of service somewhere in the States. Though we are convinced that this is the right decision, it has not been an easy one to make. All of the challenges and heartaches of life and ministry in Karamoja notw...

Dear Friends, Christmas greetings from Karamoja! When you have lived through enough of them in this place, you don’t even bother dreaming of a white one. It is dry, windy and hot as is typical for this time of year. But, the more unpleasant the weather, or whatever other circumstances, the more precious the truth which we remember. God left the glories of heaven and dwelt in the barren wasteland of this fallen creation. Out in the fields, the shepherds were shown that the glories of heaven had broken into their dark world. In that little baby, lying in a manger in Bethlehem, the Word had become flesh and was dwelling among us (John 1:14). It was a privilege for me to preach about those shepherds this morning, first in Akuyam and then in Nakaale. Additionally, Lord’s Day worship is now taking place in a new place. Some weeks back, we had become overwhelmed in Nakaale by attendance of folks from Nakasien. This is a village where we have done evangelism and village Bible study teac...

Greetings from the Okkens! We enjoyed a wonderful time of vacation in the States. Now we are readjusted and back in the swing of things in Karamoja. For the last time, Friday morning I preached and prayed for patients at the old clinic location. Today was the first day of operation at the new site. With gratitude we think back on all that has happened to get us to this place. We are thankful for the hard work of Bob Wright and so many work who worked with him. Then, more recently, with the Wrights taking up new labors in Mbale, Christopher Verdick worked tirelessly with a Ugandan contractor as well as local helpers who assisted him in getting it to the place of operation. Leah Hopp helped cover some of his duties to help free him up. There remains work to be done, but it is quite amazing. We praise God. May the great love of Christ increasingly be magnified as the work of Akisyon a Yesu [“Compassion of Jesus”] Presbyterian Clinic continues, now in this wonderful new facility! ...

nearby view from the boys' hike one day Ending our Saturday play with a bible story just a cobra dinner with the Verdick girls opening day even in Nakaale...baseball

beginning phase of the latest project Dead Genet more progress Spring piano recital

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” [Psalm 63:1] Happy New Year from Karamoja! It is definitely the dry season! Without a trace of mud on the roads, travel is easier. But the heat, wind and dust often feel unbearable. As water sources dry up, snakes and other animals search for new ones. One evening recently, our dog, Scout, went for water. Turning around the corner of the house to his water bowl, he discovered an uninvited guest already there having a drink – a Black King Cobra! Thankfully, his bark alerted the night guards who made quick work of the intruder. God continues to protect, sustain and bless us through hard seasons of weather and of life. More importantly...

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Most importantly, we pray that you will do so remembering the true reason for the season, the birth of the Savior King, Jesus Christ. Much thanks to you all for your prayers and support which enable us to minister here in Karamoja. God is good! Blessings in Him, David, Sunshine, Caleb, Megan and Jacob Most of our team at our Mission retreat in November

Well, after 15 years we finally made it to Murchison Falls along the Nile River! The kids are finally old enough to actually remember going on safari and we were able to do it in a way that David didn't have to drive, so he could enjoy it as well! Some more over on Facebook...

Greetings from Karamoja! In May I asked you to pray for our upcoming June conference which our Mission was to sponsor. Thank you for your prayers. It took place on the 23rd (this update is overdue). We prayed for dry enough roads for travel, particularly for the sake of one of our speakers, Eric Tuininga, since he was coming up from Mbale. Leading up to the event, very heavy rains made road conditions so bad that we wondered whether he would make the trip. Wonderfully, he was gracious and adventurous enough to be willing to ride on the back of a motorcycle, which could be pushed around and through the muddy places where cars and trucks were stuck and preventing others from passing. He endured the rough journey and the conference went forward as planned. More than 50 pastors and church leaders gathered to receive ...

I have often said that my life in Africa probably looks a lot like yours in America…apart from some very different kind of scenery. In some ways life can be pretty routine. On the other hand, there is always the need to be prepared for the unexpected. A night’s sleep might be interrupted by the 2am whining and barking of our dogs after they have chased an animal (most recently it was a genet) up into a tree.  Just this week the morning homeschool plans were thrown out the window as our whole compound spent almost two hours figuring out how to get to and kill a very large black mamba snake which was hiding up in the under parts of our vehicle. Routine in our home schooling, but not necessarily scheduled. Routine in our weekly activities but with a visitor or teammate usually coming or going. My mornings are filled with school or some other educational experience. Doing my best, well usually my best, at juggling three grade levels of subjects. Thankfully the kids are on autopilot ...

Rains have come in plenty. It is very wet these days. Muddy roads will make for challenging travels again. Yet we are thankful for the plowing and planting taking place in many fields. We appreciate your prayers both for our travels but also for the farms of our friends here. We are thankful for our new teammates, the Robbins. You are welcome to check out their blog ( mygandarobbins.wordpress.com ) as there are interesting adventures going on in their lives about which we ask you to pray. It has been fun getting to know their family and for me to get into a ministry rhythm with my new colleague, the other Pastor David. Actually, our Karimojong friends have given him the name “Pastor Lokut”. His family’s arrival on the field was during the dry season which is very windy. Lokut means wind . (The same name was given to our son, Caleb, who also first came to Karamoja during windy times). This will help distinguish the two pastors, leaving me the lone Pastor David. (Despite attempts earl...

Is it really almost March?! An update is overdue. It has been a crazy time in Uganda leading up to this past week’s election. After all was said and done, we cannot say that we were terribly surprised to hear the result. The nation will continue with the same president. We rest under the sovereign rule of the God of heaven who, in His timing and according to His will, “removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21). In fact, a while back we finished teaching through the Daniel stories for our village evangelistic Bible studies. Now we are in the book of Ezra, learning about the Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The same God who had called Israel out of slavery in Egypt to dwell with Him in the Land of Canaan did great things to return them after the exile. He is the same God who is calling a people out of slavery to sin and into fellowship with His Son, Jesus, who is the true temple, Immanuel, God with us. Please pray His blessing on these studies....

An update is way overdue, especially considering how deeply we feel the need of your prayers these days. The Knoxes left at the beginning of the month. The Tricaricos left just last week. Then Taryn Dieckmann left this week. Our team feels extremely small at the moment. Saying goodbye to teammates has been bitter sweet. On the positive side, it has provided wonderful opportunity to reflect upon our years together and how much we have been blessed by our friendships. The bitter part is obvious. Seeing them go has left much sorrow in our hearts this Christmas Season. I suppose it should help us to think about the sorrow endured by the Son of God who for a time left behind his home in glory with the Father and came into this world to suffer for us. We rejoice that his sacrifice means such a wonderful reunion which we will all enjoy together in glory one day! As for the departure of the Knoxes and the ongoing work of the Clinic, some of you may have already read what I wrote fo...

Not a word I really like because it means change, and I don't like change. But, that is what this year has been about. As most of you know, two families on our team are leaving the field this next month and returning to the States. I know God is in all of this but it still requires steps of faith - sometimes I feel like just baby steps - on my part as I walk through it. This past week our whole team (minus two families) gathered for a retreat. We were blessed by good times of fellowship and encouraging messages. Pastor Chris Folkerts, who is our teammate, Eric Tuininga's cousin, shared from Ephesians 3: 14-21. He reminded us of the relationship we have with our Father, how He strengthens us through His Spirit, Christ's immeasurable love for us and what a glorious God we serve. What a needed reminder and good encouragement to remember Christ's power and love. Things I am blessed by because I am His child. I also need to be praying these truths daily in my life as Satan l...

Thank you for your prayers for the team that is here. We have a quality group of young men and women eagerly serving the Lord. Last week we were in one primary school where we spent five days teaching Bible stories, performing skits, teaching songs, playing games and just enjoying being with the kids. The teaching has been on how Jesus fulfills the Biblical offices of prophet, priest and king. The students responded well to the instruction. The team also had opportunities to visit various villages where they taught some of the same lessons. Today we began the same program in a new school. Since this week’s program is in the afternoons, the team is also spending time in the mornings in other local schools where our pre-primary teachers have a regular presence. So we are thankful for the many opportunities before us to be sharing the gospel with hundreds of young folks. On Thursday, Pastor Peter, Pastor Al and I led the conference for pastors. As advertised, some one hundred pastors...