God Will Find A Way...

Last night I met with the board of 4 Him in Africa for our regular monthly meeting, but for me it was anything but a regular meeting. Our meetings are such a blessing as we look at the things that have been accomplished knowing that it is all a miracle. Our ministry is funded by donations and no matter how big our need has been we have always had the funds when we needed them. Last night was no different, because there was much to celebrate.

As we began to discuss new business I realized our next topic had the potential to cause problems. You see I came prepared to present a motion to feed the children of the Omubihembe Village in South Western Uganda. We learned during our last mission trip that the drought had hit the Ibanda district quiet hard, but we did not realize how severe things would get. A couple weeks ago I came to realize that this village was suffering because most of the families depended on their crops for their livelihood. Without the crops they could not eat or purchase the other needs that were provided for by selling produce.

This information hit me particularly hard because the Lifesong School located there is one that we partner with and over the last few years we have gotten to know many of the children through our visits. The Omubihembe village got my attention early on when the parents responded so well to a request made by Pastor Simon, who we work with in Uganda, to help build a school for the children in the village. When you realize the size of the sacrifices made by the parents to help fund and build the school it warms your heart. It only takes one visit there to see that the children are happy and the parents are grateful for any help we can give them. We were able to help them finish the school last year by funding the roof and when we came to the school in the spring the children were happy and the school was beautiful. Some of you have helped us buy desks for the school this year which is making it even better for the children.

When I heard that the children were hungry and they were not even able to stay awake and do their school work it broke my heart. To think a child tries to sleep at night, but can’t because of the hunger pains they are experiencing it makes me want to do something. Then there is also the issue with the children who do not attend the school, because they cannot afford school fees. We know there are many who don’t attend especially the orphans in the village. How will they eat and survive? I sent Pastor Simon into the village to see just how bad things were and when he reported back we found that there are 350 + children in the village and many are not getting a meal each day.

After doing many calculations Pastor Simon and I have come up with a plan to feed the children and last night I presented it to the board. I think it is because God has been teaching us how to do business through faith that it was not even an issue with the board and we all agreed that we must go forward with the plan to feed the children. The first thing we need is to build a storehouse for the school. As all the feeding will occur at the school there must be a place to store the food, so the board approved funding for that. Then we have to buy cooking utensils, plates and cups, and the board approved funding for that. Then we need to put up some type of facility to cook the food so we have some money approved to help with that. (All the cooking is done over wood fires) Our plan is to feed the 160 children in the school a simple breakfast and then prepare lunch for all the (350) children in the village.

Today I started a campaign to raise the money for this which is quiet a large amount. We will be feeding the children every day until May. I notice when I posted something on Facebook that it did not draw much attention. That is to say if I post a joke or an interesting story it is not unusual for 50+ people to like it and another 15 or 20 to comment. Today’s post that were asking for help only had a couple of likes and one or two comments. My question to you is this, why is this so hard? I know most of my friends on Facebook personally and all of you can afford a few dollars. Most of you are parents, great neighbors, and faithful friends. This is one of those times when I really need you to get involved with what we are doing. I remember a few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Simon with the estimates for feeding these children and I thought “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND”!!!!!  As I started to reply the thought came to mind, am I telling him that God cannot afford that much? The truth is I don’t think God cares how much it cost He is more interested in our obedience. For that reason I had to decide whether or not He wanted me to take action. I am telling you that my heart has ached since that day and after listening to the board last night it makes sense for us to go forward. Won’t you reconsider and help by first making a donation and then asking someone else to do the same. I know we can’t save all of Uganda, but I think we can make a difference in one village.

Congratulations it's a ....

             The birth of a ministry can be an exciting time for those involved, although, even that kind of birth can come with some unmistakable labor pains. As a pastor and church leader, I found myself checking over a long list of preparations as we began the birth process of “4 Him in Africa Ministries”. Items like cost analysis and project guidelines had to be checked and rechecked. The Bible teaches us that the wise man should first consider the cost before proceeding. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? (Luk 14:28 KJV) It is wise to have an idea what you are about to get into, but with ministry there are many unseen variables that will add to the intensity of the labor pains. Any pastor knows that operating on faith is far from an exact science.

         Then there is the nature of the ministry that must be added to the equation before moving on. Are the main needs and ideals of a fixed nature? Do you know up front exactly what will be needed and is there an expected duration for these needs? What are the administrative costs and reoccurring expenditures that have to be accounted for? Will there be rapid expansion and what will dictate that expansion: will it be needs, or faith, or maybe success? All these questions need answers, and all those answers take much deliberation. Finally, all of it factors into the birthing process.

         If that wasn’t enough, what about those who will help with the birth or care in some way for the new baby? And what about the baby’s closest relatives? These are the people who receive from the ministry, or help facilitate the ministry, or even those who help fund the ministry. They all have their own personality, their own level of maturity and in some cases their own culture. As part of the founding group of “4 Him in Africa Ministries Inc.”, some might accuse me of being the father of the baby, but I would beg to differ. It should be obvious that God has to be the father, but I might get to help deliver the baby.

         The birth of this ministry has been a difficult time for all concerned. Although, I have found that the starting process was not nearly as difficult as sustaining the ministry as we strive to reach the level of funding required to meet all the needs. Some may even argue that we should have waited until we were confident that we could sustain the ministry for that appropriate time before starting such an endeavor. But our situation with “4 Him in Africa Ministries” has been a little different than most. The schools we are trying to support were already in existence. Although I cannot say for certain whether these schools would have survived without our help or not, the main issue has and always will be do the children get an education.

         To the people of Uganda an education is not mandatory or even guaranteed, but rather a privilege that not all children get. As I see it, if the parent cannot pay the school fees once the child is enrolled one of two things should happen: 1) the child leaves school or 2) the teacher does not get paid and leaves school. Either way eventually the child does not get an education. However, often times I meet teachers in Uganda who are not getting paid but continue to teach at the school. There has to be a better way.

         At “4 Him in Africa Ministries”, we believe there is a better way, at least for those children, teachers and schools we have been blessed to partner with. What way is that? For us to find the school fees for each child. With consistent funding of the schools the dominos will stand. With funding the children receive a uniform, one meal each school day, their school supplies, and an education. That money also pays the teachers who can in turn feed and help educate their own children and so on and so on.

         You might ask, “Why did he go into all that detail about childbirth and birthing pain?” Let me explain. There is nothing easy about operating a ministry from the other side of the globe. Cultural and language issues are but of a few of the challenges that face us as we try to grow. The challenge is keeping everything moving forward while we raise the funding we need to operate the schools in the black. Our plan is to find a sponsor for each of the children in our schools until we fill the schools to capacity. By finding 200 sponsors for each of our 2 primary schools we will not only keep the teachers and staff paid and educate the children, we will eventually be able to build better facilities and educate more children. Yes it is a big task and some might say it is overwhelming, but it isn’t. For anyone wanting to help the cost to him or her is actually less than a dollar a day. Think about it, for less than a dollar a day you can make a difference in the life of a child.

         As I sit here tonight thinking about how to end this blog only one thing comes to mind and that is a plea. My plea for those who took the time to read this post is to take action right now. Click on our link and go to our web page. Choose a child and sponsor that child right now, don’t put it off. If you are financially able please make an additional donation to the schools as well. Help us get the number of sponsors needed as quickly as possible so that we can start operating this ministry in a proactive manner. We have a goal of 400 sponsors in 2013. I would love to see us surpass that goal by a large margin. After you sponsor your child please ask a friend to make a difference. We at “4 Him in Africa Ministries” believe it is going to happen. As long as we just keep telling our story God will touch the hearts of those people who will sponsor a child until that difference is made. Someday Uganda will offer her children a free education and when that finally happens the possibilities for this beautiful country will be endless. Won’t you help? May God bless.

Choices.....

            As most of you know I was back in Uganda with a team in April. It was a great trip with several very memorable moments for us all.  The reality for Uganda is that it’s poor country and full of dirt and disease; offering up very few comforts. For a Christian on mission in country there is very little focus placed on the environment or at least until it becomes a direct hazard to the people who live there. Yes, we would like to see the Ugandans healthy and happy, but our mission deals more with their soul. Ugandans are wonderful loving people who for the most part provide more blessings for us than we do for them.

            4 HIM IN AFRICA Ministries started because of the children who attend the church run schools that we visit while we are there. Prior to starting our non-profit corporation we realized there was a need, but we felt we already had our hands full with the work we were doing. It was coming home from each trip with the stack of letters given to us by the different widows and orphans asking for their children’s school fee’s that caused things to change. Maybe it was just a soft heart that set all this in motion or maybe it really was God speaking to my heart about doing more. I would like to think the later is true and that we are on a mission ordained by God for the purpose of changing the future of the children in Uganda. I have spent a lot of time there and I can believe it is time for a change.

            Can you imagine what it means to a child who lives in a village deep in the interior of Africa to hear that a person they don’t even know, who lives on the other side of the world wants to give them a chance, a future, hope? It sounds a little dramatic but that is what happened for some of the children we were with in April. The team was able to sit them down and say your school fees are being paid. For several of them they were handed a gift from their sponsor and then they got to write that sponsor a letter. Something that really does not seem that significant to us ($28.75 a month) makes a world of difference to them. The sponsor has given them a uniform, is giving them lunch at school each day, and the school supplies they need. The schools we work with are Christian schools and the children learn to pray and they learn to thank God for meeting their needs. How cool is it to think God has blessed you by providing your needs and you have blessed a child by providing theirs?

           Every child wants an education and we have a lot who would love to go to school. Unfortunately, this plan has not gone the way we had hoped. Yes, we are grateful for those who are sponsoring children, and somehow I doubt they fully understand the magnitude of their generosity. The issue is we are not getting enough sponsors. We are struggling with our efforts to get the word out about the opportunity to be a sponsor. It was our plan that we would form an organization and then create a web site where people could go to pick the child they wanted to sponsor and pay the school fees at the same time. We had hoped that once a person sponsored a child they would encourage their friends to do likewise and soon everyone would be doing it. It did not happen quite that way, although it did in a couple of instances. Then we tried using social media and the internet to promote our corporation including a twitter account that I still don’t fully understand. Through these efforts we have picked up a few more sponsors, but we still are not on track.

            Our goal is 400 students in the year 2013 and we are still hopeful that can happen. It is all a matter of how you look at it. Some people hear us say that and say wow!!!! While others say is that all? And we feel the sponsors are out there if we can just find them and give them the message. I do not know anyone who could not afford a dollar a day to give a child a future. The price of a bottle of water or the hope given to a child who cannot afford an education ….it’s not a hard choice. I realize may people are already giving that dollar in other places and I really am thankful for that, but those people could tell a friend about this opportunity and help make a difference by finding a sponsor.

            Just like the ripples made by throwing a stone into a pool of water your help with this mission can reach further than we can imagine, first a child, then a country, then a continent, and then who know maybe the world. Won’t you help us by sharing our mission? Sponsor a child or tell your family and friends so that we can reach our goal 400-2013.  

400-2013

  

Some thoughts as we get ready...

We are at the start of our last week before leaving for our next mission trip. It is always exciting, but with all those last minute details the excitement can be swept to the back giving way to a host of other emotions. It is not the things we plan that become the pitfalls of the last week, but those things not planned for, that make us crazy. Today I made a list of to do’s and this evening I tried to find it and couldn't so now I can start it all over again.

This team is made up of many different personalities  and I am sure that God has a use for each one. Although, I am not worried about their actions, I do wonder about what they will take away from this trip, and how it will affect the rest of their lives. It is the mission that will not only be their teacher, but also the potter which will shape each of us for a lifetime of use. With such a life changing event just over the horizon it is important to understand we did not arrive here by accident. And with so much at stake we must not forget the training and preparation we have endured during the past weeks. And maybe the most important aspect of our journey so far is those who have worked so hard to provide all that we need to do the ministry before us.

During the last six years I have led mission teams on several types of short term missions and each one has been an incredible learning experience for me. If I think about it enough I can begin to feel a bit of pain due to the mistakes I have made along the way.  Not that any of the trips were a complete failure in any sense of the word, but there were many ways that they could all have been better. A mission trip should be a life changing experience for each team member even if that team member has made multiple trips to the same place before. That is why long ago I started searching for the answer to the hard questions about Short Term Missions and how to apply the solutions for past mistakes. I believe one of those answers is a more intentional approach to team training which requires the team to invest several weeks into training before leaving home.

Last fall I met a man in Georgia who had designed a training program for Short Term Missions. His organization is called Culture Link and their approach is to train team leaders to lead Short Term Mission teams through a curriculum and series of team building exercises created to prepare them for the mission field. After listening to   Larry Ragan speaking at First Baptist Woodstock I was convinced that he was holding a very valuable tool needed for helping to make a mission trip an experience of a lifetime.  It wasn’t long after that I traveled to Pennsylvania to attend one of Culture Link’s training sessions where I learned to use their material in team building and preparation. All this took place just in time for me to bring a condensed version to our team and start team building for this trip. What I have found is pretty exciting and although I don’t believe any training can cover everything completely it has made a difference. Our team has given some great feedback about the experience so far and from a team leaders perspective I just keep noticing improvements with the team responsibilities.

Before you go on line and sign up for the next Culture Link conference I need to add something to the mix. Part of the training is based on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians:  More than once when I needed help in Thessalonica, you sent it to me. It is not that I just want to receive gifts; rather, I want to see profit added to your account. (Php 4:16-17 GNB)  This teaching is centered on the sender rather than the missionary (or goer)  The idea that we can be guilty of withholding the blessings of God from those He has chose to be part of the mission is driven home early in the team building process. For that reason I decided to recruit a sending team who would meet regularly to pray for the team and the mission. This sending team has sent cards with encouraging words and scripture inside and they ask for prayer requests from the team weekly.  The team is also taught to create their own sending team who will help fund their trip and pray for the team member. This is not just a hit and run solicitation of funds, but rather a team effort where the sender and goer are working together on the same mission.

Will this mission trip be a life changing experience for this team? If it is will that mean that the culture link material is the answer to the hard questions? Is the sending team and their intercessory prayer that much different than the approach we have used in the past?  Of course I won’t know until we have completed the mission or maybe I will never know for sure, but I do know that we are in the last week and I feel really good about what’s next.

Thanks Sandy you have been the gift from God that has helped me stay focused on the mission.  I’m sure all of it has been credited to your account.