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Uganda, East Africa Plans of the Heart April 2012 I always marvel at how God gives us thoughts, dreams, ambitions, and as we try to act upon them,
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Plans of the Heart
April 2012 |
I always marvel at how God gives us thoughts, dreams, ambitions, and as we try to act upon them, He changes and molds them to His own design, many times taking years. Proverbs 16: 9 says, In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. We may think we should do a certain project or ministry, but God’s plans are even bigger, taking in the course of our lives as well. King David was anointed as king while yet a boy, but it took him 40 years of living in caves with a ragtag band of rebels to actually attain the throne. Moses was to rescue his people out of slavery, but it was not done by killing Egyptians; it was done after herding sheep in the desert for 40 years.
I have also seen my plans and ambitions change under the mighty hand of God. That’s why I don’t get upset when it seems things are not working out as planned. This is just God changing my steps a bit. One of the areas of recent change has been in our plans to teach and train villagers in the Word of God, and other areas of practical need. As we work to develop both our village church congregation and our physical church building, we are seeing growth and development in new and delightful ways. |
I wanted to teach a ladies Bible study during the week. But the ladies said that wouldn’t work too well for them. Some of them work at small businesses during the week, and all have transportation issues. All live within a radius of 10 miles from the church but when you have no transportation, it’s a long walk, and poverty makes using public transportation something you use as little as possible. So they suggested we meet on Sunday afternoons after our morning church service, because they are already there.
Well…. That could work, but it brought up other issues, such as lunch. Such as what to do with the men, since we have a group that we pick up for church from the most distant of the villages. The pastor could have a Bible study with the men while I did the women’s Bible study. But he’s my interpreter! There is another man who can interpret, but at a women’s study? Not necessarily a good idea. Ok, the pastor’s wife could interpret for me… but she’s a rather difficult and unpredictable lady at times. But, hey, I think we can do it! |
Ultimately the way things have worked out with a few heads put together has been we are simply having an all-day church service. As our church building isn’t really a building yet, it’s portable. The men put up the tarpaulins for the overhead shelter from the sun and haul the plastic chairs to the church. The women prepare to fix a simple meal with tea, and the children go hunt for firewood for the cooking fire. When these chores are finished, we have a normal morning church service with worship and sermon. |
Then we break for lunch, a nice social time. In the afternoon several of us teach Bible studies until about 5:00. The pastor’s wife has been interpreting for me, and others interpret to English for me when the pastor and others are teaching. We rotate who does what, because if you preach in the morning, it’s going to be tiresome to be on your feet in the afternoon, interpreting. The past 3 Sundays I have gotten home from church after dark! Very tired, very happy, very contented. |
Everyone loves this new regimen. We are calling it The Lord’s Day, as we give the whole day to the Lord. It is giving hard working village people a rare chance to kick back and relax, to socialize, get better acquainted with others, and to learn more about Jesus. This is helping our church to become a real family. The only complaint we’ve had so far is that people want a chance to give towards the construction of our building! As they said, they don’t have much to give, but they want the opportunity to give what they can. One formerly Muslim lady received a recent financial blessing, so she had a simple new pulpit and table made for the church, after our previous pulpit was destroyed by vandals. |
To further develop our church land and building, we’ve been selling gravel to a road construction company that has been rebuilding our highway. The removal of the gravel has helped us to level the land and make it more usable for our future development plans. And the money thus generated is going exclusively into the church. In previous newsletters you have seen pictures of the foundation and support pillars. We have now completed the pillars and added more for the porch across the front. The next thing is a ring beam around the top of the pillars so the roof can be constructed. Walls can come later, but the roof is paramount to shelter the congregation from tropical sun and rain.
However, we need prayer because the past month’s gravel sales showed a huge discrepancy in the number of truckloads of gravel taken, to the point our income for March is much less than what we had counted and budgeted on. We believe that the truck drivers have been stealing our gravel and selling it elsewhere, altering the actual number of loads we are supposed to get paid for. Please pray that God will enable us to be able to complete the roof on our church in a timely manner! |
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