Hey everybody! It’s Deuce here with some great new stuff for you in this blog. First, we have a first impression of our ministry in Uganda from one of our mission pastors from Tyler. Then we have some exciting new video of our ministry and some special needs for Pastor Emmy’s own family. So enjoy!

Reflections from Trip #6:

We asked Steve Rumpf, Global Outreach Pastor at Grace Community Church, to share his impression of our ministry in Uganda. He and Jay Ferguson just got back from an eight day visit a couple of weeks ago. Here are Steve’s words:

In John’s Gospel we read that Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and see!” Two thousand years later Jay Ferguson said to Steve Rumpf, “Come and see!”… And, so I did. Now I understand why so many people are impressed with the ministry of Pastor Emmy in Mbarara, Uganda. The sights and sounds of the children at class or the Believers at church are still strongly embedded in my mind. The PCM journey from such humble beginnings to the current scope of ministry to the future possibilities for huge impact on Uganda is refreshing.

I, for one, have never before been carried on the arms and shoulders of a gang of kids as I was as we entered the school compound. Ferguson was somewhere behind me, but all I could think about was being dropped! Dropped, I was not. What a fun yet scary, yet humbling, experience of being greeted by excited school children of all ages.

My job was two-fold. I was Jay’s videographer / cameraman and I also met with 19 of the PCM pastors to map out a strategy for future biblical leadership training conferences. 700 photographs later – after visiting five of the church sites and spending hours at the school – I had a good “picture’ (excuse the pun) of all that The Spirit of God has been doing with Emmy, Sarah, and the leadership team in Mbarara. Impressive to say the least.

The partnership with supportive Believers in East Texas is expanding on a monthly basis and the leadership at Grace Community Church is in process of determining what our commitment to leadership training can look like. Please pray with us as we seek God’s will on this.

Steve Rumpf

Global Outreach Pastor

Grace Community Church

A closer Look at Pastor Emmy

We thought we would take some time in this post to help you get to know Pastor Emmy a little bit better. A lot of times we talk about PCM only being two years old, but that’s just the USA part.  PCM was actually started a long time ago as a burden that Pastor Emmy and Sarah had.  I’m sure many of you would love to hear Pastor Emmy’s full story of his childhood, how he and Sarah met, and how the vision for Parental Care Ministries began. Well, we thought you might as well hear it from Pastor Emmy himself! You can check out his complete story in three parts on our pastors/ churches page of the website.

http://www.pcmonline.org/churches.php

Plus, we also have some new videos on our website. We have updated our videos page so you can check out some of those videos here:

http://www.pcmonline.org/video.php

We often hear testimonies about Pastor Emmy and his amazing vision and leadership such as what Steve shared above. However, because Emmy is so selfless we rarely hear of needs that he has personally. Well this week he was asking how he could pray for my family specifically so I asked him about his family as well. He let me know that he is concerned because two of his children and two of his adopted children are about to start secondary school for the term, but they are still trying to get the money to pay for it. My immediate thought was that we have a great leader of our ministry who is now overseeing the care and discipleship of almost five hundred children and he may not even be able to afford for his own children to go to school. If he were in this position of leadership in the States we all know that he would be doing very well financially, but he has done what was necessary to follow God’s call to help children who cannot help themselves.

So, I asked him specifically what they need and here are their specific needs:

His daughter Faith is 16 years old and is in Senior Level 3 now. She goes to school in Mbarara and her term fees are $513 for a term which is 4 months.

Faith Nnyanzi

His son Daniel is 13 and is in Senior Level 1 in Kampala which is 6 hours away. His term fees are $432.

Daniel Nnyanzi

Emmy and Sarah also have two of their adopted children with needs:

Winnie is an orphan. Her Dad died of HIV Aids and Her Mom is also very sick struggling with HIV and they cannot tell whether she will live through this year. Winnie has lived as Emmy and Sarah’s Child for 5 years now. She is now in Senior Level 4 and her term fees are $482.

Winnie

Amos Byamukama is also an orphan. His dad died of HIV. His Mom is also positive with HIV. He just got back from seeing his mom because she is very sick now. He will go to school with Daniel in Kampala and his term fees for Senior Level 1 are $432.

Amos

Please pray with me that God will meet their needs, and if you feel led to help with one of these children please let us know. We are excited because when we start building on the new land we will be able to offer classes for these older children, but we do not have room for them at our present schools.

Our PCM family would also love to pray for you and your family if you have any specific needs.  We meet for our staff meeting once a week and know that prayer is the foundation of everything we do.  We finally had a chance to take a picture of the four of us!  Please be in prayer for us too as we work to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Uganda.

Today we headed back to Kampala for the long ride home. Along the way, we visited six pastors. One main purpose for our visits was to follow up on the “Cows for the Kingdom” program. The pastors we visited have all received cows from the generosity of PCM donors.

The idea, for those of you who may not know, is to provide pastors with a cow, the milk from which they can give their children. They can also sell the remainder for a profit, and earn an income to support their families further.

Emmy wanted to leave the hotel in Mbarara early in order to meet the pastors and get to Kampala in time for dinner. He said he’d be at the hotel to pick us up at 7:30 am. You have to understand that 7:30 am Africa time usually means 8:00 am, maybe, if they’re early. So, you can imagine my surprise when we’re eating breakfast and Emmy comes into our dining room at 7:10 am, like he was a grandparent showing up for Grandparents’ Day at my school or something.  We hustled our bags out of the hotel, and away we went.

Visiting the pastors is always a humbling experience for me. These are men who love the Lord and truly serve Him, even to their hurt. One of the pastors who we saw was Pastor Amos. Amos is a coffee and banana farmer who lives literally out in the middle of nowhere. The “road” (using that term in its most charitable sense) is really a cow path. But, sure enough, Emmy the driver negotiated it successfully in the Miracle Van. Amos’ church is located 10 miles away. He covers that distance on a bicycle, unless his chain breaks or he flats, at which point he walks. He’s been serving that church in that way for 15 years. It’s an honor to provide a cow for that man. He is so grateful for his cow (although I’m not- ask Rumpf- that sucker put down his head and almost charged me- never seen a white guy before, I guess).

The cow was impregnated when he got it, so he will sell the calf for more income and use and sell the milk. He is so humbled by the fact that you would care to provide for him in this way, this man who has to think at times that the world has forgotten about him. His was the last house we visited. We were running late, and Emmy called him to ask if we should come (we really didn’t need to, at that point). Amos practically insisted that we come, and of course we agreed. When we showed up at his house, he led us into his very tiny parlor and asked Rumpf and me to sign his guest book. As we did so, we noticed that his last visitor was in 2007. Three years without anyone visiting him! We were very humbled by that, and thankful that God would use us to bless this man just by our presence.

Amos is just an example of what we saw everywhere we went. Pastor Reuben, Emmy’s chief assistant, is raising seven children in a mud house that is falling apart. We saw instance after instance of men living in humble circumstances, serving God well. They were all so thankful to you. Providing these men a cow would be analogous to someone giving you a really nice car, or even a small house—something of tremendous value that is to them a living example of God’s superabundant provision and grace. And, it’s not just a handout for these pastors. These men are some of the hardest workers I’ve met in my life. These cows are an opportunity for them to work hard and provide income. But, hard work it is, and it’s all on them. Those of you who have given cows to this program can feel good about what you’ve done. If you feel led to do so, please talk to Mark about going on one of these trips some day. You’ll have an opportunity to see how hard these men work, yet how well they live in the joy of the Lord. It is a true blessing.

We arrived in Kampala tired, dusty from the trail, and rejoicing again in what God is doing through PCM in Uganda. We’re heading home now, but we’ll be back. Being here is an experience in the “pure and undefiled religion” that James talks about. It was a great time seeing my dear friends and hugging my kids. Thanks again to all of you who support PCM. Please pray for Steve and me to have a safe trip home, and we’ll see you in Tyler, Lord willing.

It is amazing what a big difference two years makes, when the Lord is in control. Today, we went to the PCM orphanage and school again. When we went on Saturday, I was so busy knocking out the to-do list of video, photos, and testimony we needed to stop, look around, and appreciate what God has done. I had the opportunity to do that today. In just two short years, God has used the faithfulness of all of you to: i) provide clean water for the kids, rather than pulling it out of the river, as before; ii) completing the dorms (what will soon be only the girls’ dorm) with plaster and a portico on the outside, protecting the kids from the rain; iii) nearing completion on another set of dorms, which will house the boys; iv) two new classroom buildings, one a dedicated classroom, and one that serves as a classroom during the week and the church facility on the weekend; v) bathhouses and bathroom facilities that provide much cleaner, safer, and more modest facilities for both the boys and the girls; vi) a major gate entrance and fencing surrounding the entire property; viii) a culvert that diverts water and prevents erosion that was eventually going to destroy the school kitchen, and ix) landscaping throughout the facilities that, again, prevents erosion during the rainy season.

That’s not to mention uniforms, blankets, better food, mattresses, teacher training, and dozens of other things that Bub could remember, but I can’t. The point is that I was completely overwhelmed by God’s goodness and provision, working through the hearts of so many of you. I know I’ve said it several times during these blogs, but thank you again for your generosity and faithfulness. God has used you to perform a dramatic work in the lives of these kids.

We traveled to one of the churches in Kakagate, pastured by Januario (which sounds kind of Latin, don’t you think: “Don Januario”). Anyway, the purpose of our trip there was to preach to his church and several others, as well as several of the pastors in Emmy’s network. The funny event of the day came during the preaching portion of the service. Emmy led off with about a 10 minute introduction of Rumpf. Rumpf did a very good sermon about being available to God and not prejudging others, preparing to share the gospel at any time, in any place, to any one. It was your standard fare, 35-minute American sermon. Emmy asked if I planned to teach, and I said “no”, thinking with my American brain that the service had gone on long enough. Little did I know that Emmy was going to do a 30 to 45-minute “summary” of Rumpf’s sermon, adding his own points for good measure. When he finished, Pastor Januario stood and told us that these pastors had done such a good job presenting God’s Word that he was not releasing us, requesting instead that we continue preaching. And, the people agreed! I had a couple of barely illegible notes on spiritual gifts, based upon extensive preparation from the 25- minute van ride to Kakagate over bumpy roads, but it was all we had. So, I presented it. Emmy followed with another summary, this time a “brief” 15 minutes. We were afraid that it would keep going, and that we’d have to remember our commencement addresses from high school and give those. Fortunately, however, I think my message beat them into submission.

In an American church, or certainly one in my hometown, the congregation would have responded to two hours of preaching by calling out a mob to lynch the pastor. But these folks were staying with us, following along in God’s Word and taking notes. Amazing.

On our way back to the school to say our goodbyes, Rumpf drew some interesting comparison to Uganda, which has more of a western, Christian worldview, and other nations he had visited that were predominantly Islamic or Hindu. Rumpf was impressed by the relative lack of poverty, the depth of the people’s joy, and the cleanness of the area as compared to the surroundings of those other nations (trash everywhere, a heavy feeling of oppression, lack of education and personal freedom, and the like). It caused us both to reflect and give thanks for the redemption we enjoy in Christ, not only through salvation from death but also from the common grace that comes from a nation operating from a basic Christian worldview. The Church brought not only the gospel to Uganda (and to America, for that matter), but Christian values that resulted in hospitals, strong liberal education, (in the original sense, meaning an education focusing on reading and writing, with literacy with the goal, so that people could read and understand God’s Word on their own), the rule of law, private ownership of property, and many other things that come with a nation that originates from a Christian worldview. I was grateful to have come from a nation built on the gospel, encouraged that these things are being taught in my own school back home, and that they are being taught in the PCM school. As Rumpf observed, these are the potential future leaders of Uganda, and they are being taught everyday from a Christian worldview. To a great degree, the kids have a remarkable faith. As we left the school, all 200 of the kids laid hands on us, praying for us and sending us off. The depth of those little prayers was incredible, and it’s an awesome thing to have 200 little hearts who innocently love Jesus praying for you.

Rumpf summed the day up well when he said:

I’m impressed by the lack of extreme poverty resulting in starvation, the depth of joy, and the humility of Pastor Emmy. “He’s the real deal. I’m excited about the future value of a partnership with PCM. We’re really seeing future potential leaders of Africa here, coming out of this church and school.”

There is a popular song in Uganda, referring to this nation as “the Pearl of Africa”. Though by no means perfect, an underdeveloped country by most any standards, Uganda certainly has the potential to be a shining jewel of hope for Africa. And, PCM is a big part of spreading that hope throughout Uganda and, maybe some day (Lord willing) Africa.

Heading to Kampala tomorrow, by way of a world-wide church tour (just kidding—about four churches). I’ll talk about the Cows for the Kingdom program with the pastors tomorrow, assuming I can get the Internet in Kampala.

From Jay in Uganda:

Have you ever had one of those really great worship times, when you were gathered with a community of believers, and you felt such intimacy, such joy, such closeness to the heart of God that you were overwhelmed? Did you know you can experience that kind of worship, even when you only understand about 50 percent of what’s being said?

That’s what happened today. It was such a joy to watch all of God’s people at the Mbarara church this morning worship, and to join in that worship. There was wonderful singing and dancing (even the two rhythmically-challenged white guys in the room joined in!).

As Pastor Emmy addressed his congregation, he did so with great humility, but coupled with the authority that is given to him by God. Those of you who are supporting PCM might at times be wondering what kind of a man Pastor Emmy is. We all know and love the Barrets, and trust Mark and Monica, but what about Emmy? Rumpf captured what we were both thinking when he said that Emmy is the “real thing”—a humble, godly servant leader. We saw this for certain as he rebuked his congregation for some political lobbying that had taken place at church on several Sundays leading up to a local election. He told them that politics was in a separate realm of authority given by God than the church, and that they were not to bring their politics with them to worship. He rebuked them gently, with patience and love, and they received it well. It was obvious that it wasn’t done for our benefit (I mean, who in their right mind would rebuke their congregation for messing up in order to impress visitors! Put another way, if you had a board member present, as well as a pastor of an American church with whom you wanted to build a relationship, wouldn’t most pastors wait until NEXT week, when we weren’t around, to counsel their people?) It was a very authentic moment that revealed a lot to me about this man and how he leads his people. This ministry is in very good hands from the Ugandan end.

Rumpf did a great job of bringing the blessings of Christ from America and Texas. The people loved him, like we do. I had a Holy Spirit moment, as well. Rumpf and I just assumed Emmy would be preaching. Toward the end of the worship singing, right before he got up to introduce the offering and prepare for the sermon, Emmy leaned over to us and asked, “Which one of you will be preaching?” We were both thoroughly unprepared for that. I hopefully looked over at Rumpf, who boldly swelled up his chest and uttered, “Not me.” I looked down at my papers, and I had two Bible verses written down-that’s it. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would speak through me. I got up and preached those two verses. God got me through it. It was not the best sermon ever preached, but Rumpf said it went okay. Nobody to praise but God on that one!

In the afternoon, we met with 15 of the PCM pastors to discuss our continuing pastoral training plans.

We had some ideas about what to share with them over the next several years, but really wanted their input to see whether our ideas were relevant to where they were with their congregations. Turns out that the issues pastors face in Uganda are pretty much the same ones they face in America. It just goes to show you—human nature and the community of Christ are all universal- same issues, same struggles, same solution, same redemption.

The depth of the pastors’ insight was very encouraging. We’re going to be able to share a lot with these folks, but we’ll learn much from them, too. I think the general idea will be to come once or twice a year over the next three years. Please pray that God would be glorified through our time with the pastors over the next few years, and that their congregations would be transformed through our sessions together.

We must be heading in the right direction, because Rumpf and I have both faced some unwanted attention. We have faced some heavy spiritual attack over the past few nights as we slept (or attempted to sleep). But, God has given us victory and rest in His Son’s name. What a blessing to have a great Provider and Protector.

I’m going to try to give this sleep thing another try now. Good night.

From Christie in Orange, Texas:

Justin and I attended North Orange Baptist Church twice yesterday.  I guess Justin did more than attend, because he was the preacher!  He gave a strong, clear message from God that challenged us to ask ourselves, “Which kingdom am I building?  Is it an earthly kingdom or an eternal kingdom?” I wish I had a picture of him preaching, but I thought it might be a little strange to pull out my camera during the sermon. 

Last night at their evening service, we presented PCM.  North Orange is the church Justin grew up in and the church his parents and sister’s family still attend.  The presentation was a great time of sharing what God is doing through PCM as well as in our lives.  It was nice to look out and see many familiar faces who were excited about hearing what Justin is doing now that he’s a “grownup.”  Everyone was so welcoming and supportive.  Thank you, Pastor Scott, for the privilege of being at North Orange this weekend.

After both services many people came to our tables to find out more about our ministry and to buy t-shirts and necklaces to support PCM.

The really neat part of it is that 7 more children were sponsored by the members of North Orange!  What a blessing these sponsors will be to our Ugandan children.

One last thing…during the evening service there was a thunderstorm, and the power even went out for a minute or so.  It was fine because it came right back on and the storm was over when we were finished and heading out to the parking lot.  But as we walked to our cars, we saw an amazing thing.

It was a huge double rainbow stretching across the entire sky above the church!  Justin’s dad said, “I think this is a good sign for your ministry!”  We pray that we will continue to see God’s blessings and provision for these sweet Ugandan people.

I know everyone is wondering about Sunday night’s open house and share time.  Well, it was incredible!  Thank you so much to all of you that were able to come and help us celebrate what God is doing through Parental Care Ministries.  We had over 100 people come throughout the evening, and it was overwhelming to see how much this ministry has changed over these past two years.  For those of you who are really into numbers, here is some exciting news!

We now how 180 children sponsored with only about 70 more kids to sponsor to finish our Mbarara site! These children will be so excited to know that they have all been chosen someday very soon.

At this point we have 18 cows sponsored for pastors! The 15 pastors receiving their cows will go through a 5 day training at our PCM Uganda office on May 29th before receiving their cows later in June we hope.  These pastors feel so blessed to now have a way to earn their own income.  In fact, here is one pastor’s remarks concerning his cow:

We also have some VERY EXCITING NEWS about the future of Parental Care Ministries.

Here are Pastor Emmy and Reuben in our favorite new area.

Can you believe that?  Yes our long range goal is to eventually have a large piece of land to farm and raise cattle on in order to provide the operational funds for the school as well as to eventually move the school to this property.  Well this goal is becoming a reality!!!!  MUCH SOONER THAN WE COULD HAVE EVER IMAGINED.

We have found an amazing 65 acre piece of land that is the perfect fit for our ministry.  On top of that, we have an anonymous donor who has helped us SECURE THIS LAND  AND is willing to match every dollar donated  up to $65,000 to pay it off in full.   “WAHOOO” is what Pastor Emmy is saying.  “Acres for Orphans” is now officially a new project. Many of us have dreamed of one day owning our own land.  Well, for $1,000 you can own an entire Ugandan acre! You can even purchase a smaller plot if you like less upkeep and fewer bananas on your property (a half acre is $500 and a 1/4 acre is just $250). No gift is too small with this new project.   Everything will be matched by our donor.  We will even let you walk this precious land of milk and bananas and you will soon see why we have chosen this place as the site for our future work in Uganda. The view from this land is literally amazing.  It is in a very rich agricultural hotspot with banana plantations in every direction as far as you can see.    The front of the land is flat where we will be able to have a real playground and soccer field.  Tons of space to run and be a PCM kid.

On the hill we will construct our main campus and even have room for the firstborn of all the firstborn calves of the pastor’s cows. At the top of the hill there is a banana plantation. In the back of the land is many many acres for our PCM farm.This place truly has EVERYTHING WE COULD EVER NEED to start a farm and eventually build a school on.

We presented this vision on Sunday at the open house and already have 9 acres spoken for. Mukama Asiimwe!!  Please pray that God will bring  other sponsors who would be willing to invest in our future at Parental Care Ministries.

“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” 1 Pet 1:8

Thank you so much for what you are doing to invest in the lives of these people in Uganda.  All the pastors, teachers, and children are filled with so much gratitude for what we are doing.  I think it is a reminder to us how blessed we are, but we are blessed for a reason.  We can choose to use our blessings just to make our own lives a little more comfortable or we can forever change the life of someone else or many others!  Thank you for your eternal investment.  Here is a video showing a little bit of what we experienced on trip 5 as well as some others along with a big thank you from Pastor Emmy:

Blessings to all of you,

Deuce

Here is a 2 minute video that was made by Deuce and shown to the children during Trip #5:

Hey everybody, it’s Deuce.  Today would be our last day of ministry.  We had just spent the night in Masaka town with Pastor Emmy and Supermom, Driver Emmy, and Pastor Charles and his wife Grace.  I am so glad that Epa invited Pastor Charles and Grace to go with us on this trip.  In their eighteen years of being married they had never been to a hotel.  So, they looked like they were on their honeymoon.  He had brought a camera with him and they took pictures while they were eating and just had a great time.  This morning we asked how they enjoyed the room and also asked them about any other firsts.  It was also their first time to eat in a restaurant other than the one at the hotel in Mbarara where we try to invite people during the trips.  And it was Grace’s first hot shower which she said was great.  I almost don’t even know how to feel about such a different life that these two lead.  All I know is that they are happy, so it brings me that much more joy to see them enjoy new experiences.

This morning we traveled to Pastor Amos’ church.

It was close to Masaka (although it took about an hour to get there because of the roads), and Pastor Emmy’s birthplace was actually on the way.  We stopped near the house where he was born and he reminisced about all that he did growing up.  He also showed us a dirt road that he used to travel with tall grass on both sides.  This was actually the same road we were driving on to get to the church, and Pastor Emmy told us that he used to run as fast as he could down the road because he was scared that a large animal was going to jump out of the grass and get him.  He laughed so much telling that story!  He also told us about the first pair of shoes that he owned.  He was fifteen years old and begged his father for them because he was involved in athletics in school and all the other boys had them.  Well, after many tears he was able to buy the cheapest pair available which were made out of plastic.  He jokingly said that they weren’t too bad unless it was hot because then they would really stink, and he didn’t want to get close to any fire because they would melt!  He said they lasted about six weeks and fell apart.  His next pair would be two years later.

Here’s a quick side note: I asked Supermom about whether most women here have their children at home or in hospitals.  She said most of them just have their children at home, but there is a high mortality rate.  She tried to get one of the pastors’ wives to go to a hospital to have her child one time, but she said she would rather give birth at home.  Unfortunately, when she gave birth there was too much bleeding and she did not make it.

When we were nearing Pastor Amos’ church we saw people running to the church and shouting, “They’re coming!  They’re coming!”

It was possibly the biggest day of the year for their congregation.  We felt like celebrities!

As usual they were singing when we arrived and we were offered comfortable seats at the very front of the church.

This was Epa’s first chance to be at this church so we were on level ground with the people we knew.  In fact I shared with the people that although it took Epa five times to come to their church I made it a point to come the first time.  That brought roars of laughter and Epa threatened to fire me.  I hope he doesn’t though because he’s my ride home!

Pastor Amos’ wife could not be there because she was taking care of some of their 10 children, but Pastor Amos just kept on thanking us for coming and telling us how excited he was.  He was also the pastor who had given us a letter of appreciation the Sunday before when he was at Pastor Emmy’s church with us, so we felt very encouraged.

This was also the first church that gave us gifts.  Someone had hand made gifts for both Epa and me that said may God bless us and our families.  And they had our names on them as well.  I was thinking how much more valuable this gift was to me than anything we could have bought in town.

Well, we did our best to encourage them and then took some pictures with them outside the church.

 Epa also gave the pastor some money to treat the congregation to bottled drinks.  They were so excited!  I often wonder how many more dirt roads with pot holes I can take, but then I see the impact of our visits and remember that God has given us a huge blessing to be able to encourage these churches that never get noticed outside their little villages.

After leaving the church it was on to Kampala.

I found myself praying a lot of the way because driving in Uganda just isn’t quite the same as in the States.  There’s a whole other standard of safety.  Luckily we have the King of Kings to protect us while we do his work so I choose not to fear!

Getting to Kampala we realized it was rush hour or something.  Traffic was backed up really bad.  For a city of 3 million they only have 3 traffic lights, so unless you are on a boda boda you’re going nowhere most of the time.  It was worth the wait to get to the hotel though and get to ride the elevator with Pastor Charles and Grace.  You guessed it!  That was their first time in an elevator, too.  I wondered what Grace was thinking about stepping into a little metal box, being surrounded by six other people and luggage and then a door closing.  She did not say much, so she must be pretty trusting.

Speaking of surprises.  There are many things on a trip like this that always shocks us about the differences in our cultures.  So, we thought we would give you a fun little quiz to see how well you know our friends in Uganda.

True or false:

1. Driver Emmy has no idea what a microwave is.

2. Grace can speak four languages.

3. After three days of labor with their first child Pastor Emmy put Supermom on a borrowed bike and pushed her to the hospital.

4. None of our friends know what McDonald’s is even though the golden arches are the second most recognizable emblem in the world second only to the cross.

5.  People drive on the left side of the road here.

6.  The most people we have fit in our van this week at one time was 19.

7.  Pastor Reuben and Hallen’s house is smaller than my hotel room and they have 10 kids!  5 biological and 5 adopted.

8.  The fair market price for a bunch of bananas ranges from 10 to 20,000 shillings which equals 5 to 10 dollars.  Young men will load three bunches on a bike and push it miles to town to retrieve their cut of this money.

The answer to all of these questions is TRUE except for the one about Grace.  She does not speak four languages.  She speaks five!  Sometimes we tend to think that people here are all uneducated, but remember that almost all the people here speak at least two languages including the children.  I have trouble just speaking English!  Oh, and number 5 is debatable.  We have definitely been driving on all sides of the road as well as off the road.  I hope you enjoyed our little quiz!

____

Well, since we’ve written this post we have had the pleasure of taking five flights across 3 continents and five countries.  I must say it is great to be home, but we both felt a real feeling that we were going to miss our friends.  Pastor Emmy put it really well though when he shared with one of the churches.  He said, “Even though we would love to have Epa and Deuce stay, it is for our good that they leave.  Because unless they leave they can not help us.  Their ministry is helping the people in America learn about our need.”  That is very true.  It is exciting to be part of a ministry where we know that God has very gifted people doing his work in Uganda.  He has definitely equipped the right people for the right positions over there, and I’m excited that he is equipping people over here to love and support them.  We have a long way to go, but I have been able to see this week just how far we have been. 

We will be posting a few other things and also letting you know when we will be having a get together soon for all our PCM family where we’ll have the opportunity to share pictures, video, and things from the kids.  You won’t want to miss it!  We are so fortunate to be serving with a great family both here and in Uganda.  Thank you for your faithfulness!

Today was church Sunday……….a day for church.  We got checked out from the hotel, said bye to our bell boys Milton and Angelo, loaded the Miracle Van,  and we were off again down the main road toward Masaka Town.

It would take us 2 hours.  Just a few minutes outside of town Emmy Driver found some friends on the side of the road.  They came much closer than last trip through this area.

We took the main road another hour or so and then turned off to the village road. ;o)  I just love going through the village dirt roads. The people are so friendly.  They will often run out of their homes to see who is driving down the road.  When the children see us………..you can hear them almost in unison “MUZUUUUGUU”  (white man).   All of them are waving and smiling.  We made the trek past where we had the crusade and so many were saved in December.  Kind of a special feeling that place.  The Lord was definitely there back this December. 

Once we got to Reuben’s church, everyone was waiting. The church was in full worship mode.  Our arrival was met with much cheer as usual.  All the kids greeted us at the door.

We made it to our seats and service began all over.  Reuben was there and wasted no time leading his congregation in worship.

Can’t you just feel God’s presence in this building with this picture?  Many of you know his wife Hallen from our previous blogs.

She is my favorite singer in all of Uganda.  She had a repertoire of songs that were inspiring and thoroughly enjoyed by all.  Then we got up to speak and had a chance to share a few things.  I spoke on the advantages of being poor. I told them that they are a very rich people and they could teach my friends in America much.  I went on to share that being poor made them more reliant on God and each other.  They interact with each other much more than we do in our country.  Sometimes we live next to people in the US and we don’t even know them, who they are, or if they are hurting.  In Uganda, you know all your relatives and the church functions really well using the gifts and talents of all the members. People in Uganda know the difference between a necessity and a luxury.  I told them it is hard for a rich man to enter heaven.  The Bible says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.  For them, the GOOD NEWS really is GOOD NEWS.  I told them that Satan has blinded the eyes of so many in our country.  People have so much that they don’t feel a need for God.  The need for God in Uganda is so big. It is everywhere. 

Then the Deuce got to share after I spoke and did his usual terrific job.

His words were inspiring and enough so for the children to climb the trees just for them to see outside the church. 

Pastor Charles then interpreted for Pastor Emmy in the message he spoke tagging on to both of our messages, one of his great skills as a pastor.

To take what he has learned and immediately apply it to another area of the Bible.  Truly amazing.

After the service, we were greeted by nearly the entire church one by one.  We made our way over to Reuben’s home and met his cow. 

His cow does not have a sponsor yet.  I had Reuben and Hallen give Deuce a tour of their home.

It’s the most humble place of all the pastors’ homes I have seen. You wouldn’t know it by their smiles from their front window.

He showed me how they were adding on a second room behind but needed the funds to buy a roof of iron sheets for it. It would cost just $125.  About 4 months salary for Reuben.  Many of you remember me showing you this home on the blog.  It is truly amazing that these 2 people can be so incredibly sold out to the Lord.  Their church is lacking nothing…………….their home is lacking everything. Lord help me to be like Reuben and Hallen.  Thank you for showing me what it takes to be a sold out disciple of yours.  They have given all they have …….and then some.  I forgot to mention that during the service their youngest child, Ezra, made it all the way down the church aisle, up on to the elevated speaking area and right on to my lap.

Ezra fell asleep there.  So friendly……….he is already learning so much from his mom and dad.            

We soon made it to Simon’s home. We had stayed so long at Reuben’s church that Simon’s church stayed for an hour and a half after their service but eventually decided to leave as we were still interviewing Emmy, Reuben and Hallen outside the home.  We did make it to Simon’s home where we found him out back with his new cow. The cow has been adopted by Jerry and Debbie White, Christie’s parents, and we have named the cow Jeri.

She has already taken up the personality of her owner Simon and lets him feed her from his hand.  So friendly and likeable. The Deuce decided to join the fun and play along.

Jeri wasn’t too much interested in his grass.  We sat in his home and visited.  I love his home.  So peaceful.  So full of the Lord’s presence.  Finally it was time to go.

We made it to Masaka. There Pastor Charles and his wife would spend their first night in 18 years in a hotel. It would be their first restaurant to sit down and order from a menu as well. I just sat there at the table watching them smile and laugh.

They had borrowed a camera and were taking pictures left and right.  So thankful for our supporters to give this great pastor and master builder a chance to rest and be treated like a king and queen. It costs us just $50 USD for this night for him. He has looked so good all trip.  The HIV is present, but the Lord’s presence is much stronger.  So thankful for every moment of every day that the Lord is giving us Charles.  He is one of our biggest blessings in this whole ministry.

Sula Bulungi (Good night) from Uganda.

While we were touring lands nearby our school, we came upon a man all alone on the road. I asked who he was and Driver Emmy told me.  His name is Lawrence and he is a homeless man living near our school.  He has no family or means of support. He is close to 79 years old.  I wanted to hear more so Driver Emmy began to tell me.

About 2 years ago, he began to fetch clean water for us near the town.  We were paying him a small fee for that service just like paying the other water boys before we had a well.  Supermom knew this man was too old to continue carrying these heavy jerrycans of water.  She began to start feeding him breakfast porridge, lunch and dinner when he showed up.  Supermom said he is our oldest student at Parental Care School.  ;o)  I just love this about both Emmy and Sarah.  They are a father and mother to so many.  Psalm 68:5

All I could offer him was what was in my bag at the time we saw him.  A chocolate mint power bar.  As I gave it to Driver Emmy to give to him, Driver Emmy told me something more powerful.  He said by showing Lawrence love, he now is attending our church. He encouraged Lawrence like no one else can to continue to do so.  His salvation was very important. 

Lord thank you for showing me this example of love.  Help me to go and do likewise.

Epa

Hey everybody, it’s Deuce again.  Today was going to be another day of many firsts for me: first time at chicken church, first time at the Church of Light, and first time to have to say good-bye to the children.

We were going to visit two churches first and then go out to the school one last time.  So, we drove about an hour out to the first church.  (I don’t remember much about the drive because I was dozing off the whole time). 

The church was very nice and there were about 25 people gathered there on a Saturday to greet us and worship with us.  They shared some of their worship music playing the drums and dancing while they sang.  It was very uplifting. 

Then on to the Church of Light.  On the way, though, we made a stop.  We stopped at a spot in the middle of nowhere where there were three mud huts with thatch roofs.  When I asked why we were stopping Supermom said we had to deliver a letter to a sick kid and produced the letter.  It turns out that it was the letter my in laws had written for their sponsored child!  Joshua was at home sick.  He was at the clinic, but we got to see him on the way back through.  He was looking pretty good but said he was still sick.  It was cool to see the lengths we are willing to go to in order to hand deliver these sponsor letters!

We also stopped to meet the first cow we purchased for Cows for the Kingdom.  This cow belongs to Pastor John Juanuario. He introduced us to his cow and shared with us how much it has impacted his life.

He has a real sense of pride knowing that he owns something like that and seeing that he can provide income for his family through it.  He also showed us the pen he had built for it which was right between his house and the church.  It was great to see one of our goals come to fruition.  Thank you so much to those of you who have purchased cows for these pastors!

This evening we went out to the school one more time.  We all knew we only had a few more hours with the children, but we played games as if we had forever.  Epa played several rounds of bingo with the older children while I got to show the younger children what a matchbox car racetrack was.  I must say it was kind of chaotic but well worth it.  I showed them how to piece the tracks together in different ways to make the cars do loops or ramp.

Then I handed out the cars.  There were only about twenty cars for over 100 children so I had to fight off all the hands in my face while trying to hand them out and yelling the word share!  It was extra special for me because my son, Carter, had chosen several of his own cars to give to the kids.

Well the kids loved the whole experience!  They pushed those cars all around the classroom making all sorts of motor and horn noises.  We tried to let them play for as long as possible before having to take all the cars back up so they would survive for another day.

A little while later we saw Moses and Alon come zooming into the school on our two newest bikes.  At the beginning of this week they just had one old bike.  Well I’m happy to say that they now have four new bikes to add to their one to make five bikes that they wanted to have.  Special thanks to Jason and Carrie Bigbie, James E. White, and Jerry and Debbie White for giving the money for these bikes!

Our hunt all over Mbarara for apples unfortunately turned up empty.  So, we chose to feed them ice cream one more time. 

We figured since some of them had eaten it for the first time this week they wouldn’t be tired of it.  So, we lined up the kids once again and raced the coming rainstorm to hand out all the ice cream.

They loved it of course, so that gave them something good to end on before the big announcement.

We gathered all the children together and Epa, Pastor Emmy, and I climbed up on the truck to give some final instructions and say our good-byes.   We asked them to be praying for several things including the land that we are asking God to give us.  (We had heard earlier in the morning that some of the children had chosen to fast the day before and pray for the land on their own.  I don’t think I even knew what fasting was at their age, except break-fast.)

As we got ready to leave we wanted to pray with the children and one of the children, Abias, volunteered to pray.  It was a very sweet prayer followed by a spirit-filled prayer by Pastor Emmy.

After praying we had one more surprise for them.  BUBBLES!  Even though it was sprinkling and getting dark we wanted to have a few more minutes of fun.  Epa had brought some big bubble wands that we used to make big bubbles over all the children.  They had a lot of fun jumping and trying to bust the bubbles.

When that was over it was time for hugs.  It was getting pretty late so you couldn’t see the children’s faces too well but many of them were covering their eyes to hide the tears.  They hugged us tight and I found myself telling as many kids that I loved them as I could.  I know that they get a lot of love at Parental Care, but I couldn’t help but wish I could be a parent for any of them that has that void in their lives.

As we said our last good-bye’s I was thinking of many children and staff who will be etched in my mind:

Elsam, who cooks for 250 kids three times a day over a wood-burning fire and loves to laugh as well as occasionally dancing with goats

Teachers Jonathan and Emmy who are very well educated and pour their hearts into making sure these children get the best education possible.

Diana, who is a leader among the students and a mother figure to some of the smaller children, leading worship with this 250 voice choir.

Shallon, whose smile is evident every time you see her and is very contagious.

Supermom, whom all the kids call Mommy, listening to each child patiently as they tell her what they need or just get their few moments with her.

Moses, who helps wherever he can whether it is cooking with Elsam or holding an umbrella so Epa doesn’t get a sunburn on his head.

Driver Emmy (aka EmmyD), who tirelessly runs people wherever they need to go and dreams of one day owning his own land and getting to visit America.

Julius, whose mom died and dad has AIDS so he was given to supermom, giving me a big hug on my leg like only a six year old can to tell me bye for now.

And of course Pastor Emmy, whose wisdom and sensitivity to the Spirit provide the perfect foundation for this ministry.  His gentle quiet spirit is respected by young and old.

These are the people that you have chosen to invest in.  These are the people whose lives are changing daily for the better.  These are the people whom God has shown his faithfulness to through your faithfulness to God. 

2 Corinthians 9

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!