Uganda Gulu Walk Update
FYI- I had to cancel my participation in this 5 mile walk. You can still click here to make a financial contribution though. Here is some information about Uganda. Please pray and ask the Lord how He would want you to help with the horrific situation these innocent children are going through.
For the last 20 years, the people of northern Uganda have been caught in a brutal war between the Government of Uganda and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA have terrorized the local population as a means to challenge the government and sustain itself. The LRA has abducted over 30,000 children to be used as soldiers and sex slaves. Tens of thousands have been wounded, maimed and killed in LRA attacks. The LRA has no support from the local population; however, northerners also feel excluded from the central government. Since the current regime came to power in 1986, northerners have been marginalized in political and economic processes. Further, the government plan in 1996 to confine people to “protected villages” has collapsed into a displacement nightmare with 1.7 million people displaced in horrid conditions. One thousand people die weekly in these camps: deaths that northerners attribute to government’s neglect and failure to protect them.
Children are lucrative resources for the LRA rebels. The atrocities committed against these children are impossible to imagine: in captivity children as young as seven years old are tortured, beaten and raped. They are then forced to become rebel soldiers, sexual slaves, porters and labourers. Some are forced to kill, maim, beat or abduct innocent victims, including family members and neighbours, or to look on as these abuses are committed. Girls are used as domestic servants or forced into sexual slavery as LRA commanders’ ‘wives’. They are subject to rape, unwanted pregnancy and the risk of infection, including HIV/AIDS. Child abduction is clearly a major security concern for northern Uganda. Desperately afraid of abduction, vulnerable children as young as four years old will walk from their homes or displacement camp to a large urban centre every night. These ‘night commuters’ travel as far as 20km on a daily basis without any adult supervision subjecting them to a wide range of violence. They gather in schools, hospitals, district offices and NGO compounds – wherever they believe they can spend the night in safety. They settle to sleep in the open, where they are often abused and exploited. This temporary night displacement has destroyed family and cultural roles, and has deprived an entire generation of children from a primary education. At the peak of the conflict, the UN estimated the number of night commuters in Gulu, Pader and Kitgum districts to be 40,000.
To learn more or give a donation, click here.
Homework, homework, homework
I have been doing homework for the last 8 hours and my brain has turned to mush! Although being in Bible college has been one of the best experiences of my life, I am glad that I am in my last semester, woohoo! I am taking 3 classes, Kingdom of the Cults, Church History and a Masters level advanced missions course. What was I thinking taking 12 credits? Haha.
It is cool to be able to learn about the Lord and Christianity and I realized that since attending college, I have a real thirst to know stuff. I want to know everything! It amazes me that with my past addictions, God has graciously saved not only me but my brain cells too. It’s so cool to know that He has a plan for my life and He doesn’t waste any part of it, no matter how bad it is. Everything has been redeemed! I am living proof. Hallelujah!
If my High School teachers could see me now, they would probably fall out in disbelief. I never actually won the award for least likely to succeed but I was a close runner up. I hated school, I only went to hang out with friends and socialize. Who would have thought I would be able to maintain a 4.0 in Bible college? My Abba Daddy thought so, that’s who! He saw my body being formed and knew that He had a plan and purpose for my life even though I didn’t figure it out until 5 years ago when I accepted Jesus as the Lord of my life.
Whew, I love talking about Jesus! I get so fired up. Back to the school stuff…
I am actually praying about taking more courses but not in Bible college but taking medical courses to become a certified medical assistant. I know…more school… I am not really concerned about getting the certification though because I am pretty sure that overseas (where I want to go) certification doesn’t matter. They have so many needs that they would take anyone willing to help in the hospitals and clinics. I want to go to Africa, big surprise as my blog is full of Africa, and help in whatever way I can so I think it would be beneficial to have some medical skills. The HIV/AIDS situation has devasted the country and I am tired of complaining about the situation. I am going to do something about it. With God’s help, I will go there and share the love and hope of Jesus with them and try my best to minister to the 42% of the people dying right now.
Last night after church, some of my friends were hanging out at our coffee house which serves Starbucks, man is God good or what? One of the guys there heard me talking about missions, becuase I am always talking about missions, and he informed me that he would never support a person going on a mission trip because it would be nothing more than a paid vacation. I praise God that I am a new creation in Christ cause I was ready to jump out of my seat and….. I couldn’t even say anything because I knew I would say nothing that would honor God at that moment. I used to be one of those people who thought the same thing. Why go overseas when there are starving children here and yada yada yada. I tell you why. I heard a great line from a missionary to India that about sums it up with me, “Why should someone hear the Gospel twice when there are people who haven’t heard it once?” Amen and Amen. I have nothing against evangelizing the US but I wholeheartedly agree with the statement. Especially in light of AIDS, poverty, war and famine that is killing people at an alarming rate.
Hmmm, I started off talking about homework and ending up here again. Imagine that!
Gulu Walk for Uganda
As most of you know, I am praying about when to go to Africa as a fulltime missionary. There are so many needs there and Northern Uganda is one of them. I will be raising much needed funds by walking for 5 miles around Washington DC on October 21 for Gulu Walk. Click here to learn more about the purpose for the walk.
Please consider joining the team by walking or by making a financial contribution. You can make the difference in a life and you can do it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have created a team, Team Redeemer, and my prayer is to have many of you walking with me. I set an initial goal for the team to raise $2000 but I pray we can go above and beyond that goal.
Maybe you are thinking that you are unable to walk or don’t have time, you can still help by making a donation. It can be as little as $1 or as much as you want. Any amount would be more than they have now and could literally save one child’s life. Click here to donate. Once you get to the donate page, click on the sponsor an individual link on the left sidebar and follow the instructions.
If you are unable to give a donation, you can still help us by praying for the situation in Uganda and by praying that many will join the team to walk.
Thank you so much!
2 Chronicles 7:14
Last night at church, our Pastor gave a message on 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
It was awesome, inspiring and yet very confrontational and challenging.
Did the Lord really say that to His people? Think about it, if we, believers in the Lord Jesus, would humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways…then God will hear from heaven, He will forgive us and He will hear our land. This was not written to unbelievers, it was written to us!
I don’t know about you but I am saddened by where our nation is heading. I look around and I see a generation of people who have no respect for themselves, people, money, parents. We accept things that used to be considered degenerate and immoral. The list goes on and on. Last night our pastor challenged us to do something about it. You say, what can I, one person, possibly do? PRAY! That is the first step. We need revival. We need turn back to the Lord, we need to set the example. It needs to start with us first. How can we be effective and change the world if we have not ourselves been changed? Do you know Christ? Do you really know Christ? If someone spent any amount of time with you, would they know that you were a believer in the Lord Jesus? What are your actions and attitudes revealing about you? I ask these questions to not condemn, I ask them simply to make us aware that WE have the solution! If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem! Let’s change our world. As my pastor stated last night, we need to start with personal revival before we can be effective to change the world. Revival means “restoration to life, consciousness, vigor and strength.” Is your relationship with the Lord in need of revival? We will not impact this generation or this world until we, the Body of Christ, humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face.
Sharing our Burdens
I was stopped at work by a lady who used to be in my recovery group with me. She looked at me, hugged me and thanked me for encouraging her in her struggle with depression. I really didn’t know that I had! I inquired about what she meant and she told me that because of my openess in sharing my past addictions to drugs and alcohol and my lifetime struggle with depression, it made her realize that she too did not have to conntinue to suffer.
Hers is a pretty sad story and it amazes me that she did not turn to chemical dependency, she just held all her hurt in and it manifested itself in major depression. From what I can remember about her, she has suffered many losses, including her brother to suicide when she was in high school. The sad thing about it is that for the last 20 years, she blamed herself for his death. She relayed to me the last time she saw him alive. It was Christmas and she said that he was ruining everyone’s holiday because he was being excessively rude and nasty and she told him maybe he should leave. Shortly after, he commited suicide.
When she came to Celebrate Recovery, I remember all she did was cry. She looked so sad and she could barely talk about her brother and this was over 20 years later. In our group, I shared about my struggle with depression and constant attempts at suicide and how much my life has changed since I began to process and look at all the hurt and pain I had inside of me.
That was about a year and a half ago and when I saw her in the hallway at work last week, I was looking at a different person. The immense sadness and pain that was so easy to see in her eyes was gone. It was replaced by a look of peacefulness. She shared that she has been off all antidepressant medication for her depression for 5 months. What a miracle. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not against meds at all. What I am against is the fact that doctors are over prescribing them to everyone, thus putting a band-aid on the symptoms and not caring for the deeper issues. I think meds are great when used appropriately but I also think and know from experience that to take something to not feel unprocessed pain and hurt is like waiting for a timebomb to explode. That’s my little rant…
The point to me sharing this story is this, when we take off our masks and admit our hurts and struggles, we find out that we are not alone! When we are open and honest and yes, vulnerable too, this is when people identify with us. When people see what Jesus can do with broken lives and messed up people like myself, it gives them hope. Hope that their life can change too.
Meeting Jesus changed my life, but merely meeting Him did not erase all the pain I was in at the time. Working through the pain and shame with Him and other people is when the healing began.
I take no credit for anything that has happened in my friend’s life. If not for Jesus, I would not have been in that group, nor would she have been there. God is always working out His perfect plan and I am proof that what the enemy meant for harm, God uses for the good of His kingdom.
When Paul was persecuting Christians, who knew that he would one day pen most of the New Testament? Who knew that when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, he would one day be second in command of Egypt? Who knew that when Joni Earickson Tada had her diving accident and was paralyzed she would go on to found her ministry which gives hope and healing to people with disabilities? Who knew that God would take someone with a hideous past, who has broken all of his commandments, and take them out of a lifestyle of addictions and use it for His glory?
The answer, as one of my dear friend’s would say is, always Jesus…
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Kingdom of the Cults
I started taking a course on the cults and I am utterly flabbergasted at what I have been reading. If you have not read Walter Martin’s Kingdom of the Cults, I strongly urge you to go get it and read it. In the beginning of the book is a quote that we, as Christians, should take to heart. It states, “A man who will not stand for something is quite likely to fall for almost anything.”
What a true statement! The first chapter begins with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I was appalled by the things that I read that I clearly did not know they believed.
Today, I read the chapter on Christian Science. If I thought the beliefs of the JW’s were bad, they paled in comparison with those of the Christian Scientists. They don’t believe in evil or hell or that we need salvation because everyone is already saved! What Bible are they reading? I am sitting here gritting my teeth even as I write this because countless people will fall for the many cults that are so called Christian. The only reason I feel compelled to write about this is because it should challenge us to get out there and preach the Gospel!
One of the hardest things I had to read in this book came from a JW. He said it was easy to go door knocking and share his faith and that he loved to challenge Christians because Christians don’t know what they are talking about! He actually said that! He said that so many people claim to be Christians but when he would explain the doctrine of the JW’s, the Christians had no way to refute it. They did not know the Scriptures enough to be able to have a two sided conversation.
I am not telling Christians to go head to head with these ‘door knockers’ and get into heated theological debates. What I am challenging is the need for us to be equipped and to know and be able to represent the God we love and serve. How can we tell people about Him if we don’t even know what we believe?
Everyone is born with an innate desire to want to believe in something. God has made each of us with a hole inside of us that only He can fill. I pray that we will open up our eyes and realize that we are in very perilous times and that we would diligently search the Scriptures daily for truth.
I don’t think I can state it any clearer than Paul did in his letter to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
Prayer request for my knee
Over the last 5 and half years, I have been to 5 orthopedic surgeons, had 3 operations, 5 cortisone injections, 5 synvisc injections and countless hours of physical therapy for my right knee. I have been in pain virtually every day for the last several years and it has been a difficult journey for me. The Lord is gracious to me and has given me strength to not have to take pain medication. I know it would be perfectly ok for me to do so but with as a recovering drug addict, the thought scares me silly and after being in constant pain, I can see why people with chronic pain become addicted to it.
Last week, I received a letter from my doctor that his office will no longer participate with my health insurance. At first, I was upset but I am now looking at it as an opportunity to find a specialist that will help me. The reason I am blogging this is to not complain but to ask for your prayers. Please pray that God would give me wisdom about which doctor to see next. A dear man in my church is on the board at Johns Hopkins and he has referred me to several doctors there. Please pray that they will accept my health insurance. The insurance companies have paid out over $50,000 for my knee already and my out of pocket expenses have been in the thousands.
I know the Lord will use my situation for His glory and I am fully convinced that His grace is sufficient for me. Please pray for me and if you feel led, post your prayer here. Thanks.
Romans 8:28, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
2 Corinthians 4:17, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Answering the Call
I can’t really pinpoint the exact moment I felt in my heart the desire to go to Africa. I shook it off at first and tried to not think too much about it. The more I tried to push it out of my heart and mind, the more it seemed it be at the forefront. I have been to Mexico and Peru and I loved both countries but I can’t see myself living there. I can picture myself living in Africa though. I would love to live in the orphange and be a “mom” to at least some of the 12 million orphans there.
I am still praying for confirmation from the Lord that this is His will for my life and not just something that I think would be cool to do. It’s so hard because I want to go to so many places. I want to go to India. I want to go to the Czech Republic where I have friends who have given up all to be missionaries there. I want to go to Papau New Guinea and preach to the tribes there. (Side note-that one scares me a little since they cooked and ate the first missionary there!)
I have been going over my finances and with the Lord’s help, I will be totally debt free in about 2 1/2 years. That would be awesome. I feel like the Lord has been preparing me for the last few years to be able to let go of material things. I think back to a time when I had the best of everything. Clothes, cars, homes, everything I had I felt represented my successfulness. It all seems so meaningless to me now. When I see the devastation of poverty and war, it seems almost ridiculous to me that there are so many orphans walking around in so many countries. So many people starving. I read an interview that a missionary had with a young boy who lived in Kenya and they asked him this question, “if you could have just one thing, what would you want?” Do you know what this young man asked for? A shirt. He said, “I would like to have another shirt.” I remember all the times I looked in my drawers or my closet and I thought I had nothing to wear. I have hundreds of pieces of clothing. How could I want one more thing?
I have been in contact with an organization called Children’s Cup and am praying about serving with them in Swaziland and Zimbabwe. They have several Care Points where they feed the orphans and educate them and basically take care of them. Click here to read about what they are doing and if you feel led to contribute to them, you can do that right on the website. Pray for all the missionaries there too.
Lord willing, I will be going in the next 6-9 months to visit and stay with the missionaries. This would be a dream come true because I don’t want to just go on a missions trip to Africa, I want to see how the missionaries live on a daily basis. I want to see Africa from their viewpoint.
If you are reading this, please pray for me. Pray that God would confirm this call in my heart I feel and that I would not go ahead of His perfect timing. Pray for financial provision as well. This will not be an easy task as I will have to raise all my support. It’s almost uncanny though this peace I feel about it. When I first felt Africa stirring in my heart, I immediately thought there is no way I can do this financially. My faith is increaasing on a daiy basis and I know that if I am called to the mission field, God will meet all my needs. I am holding to this Scripture:
1 Corinthians 12:9 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
