Uganda 2009(overview)

Hey folks!

I am safely returned from an incredible adventure with God in Uganda! Our time there has changed me forever and I am so excited to be the one to tell you what God is doing in the Karamojong people!!!

For starters I want to give you a brief timeline of our trip then a short description of our time there. We had 4 days of pre-field training in Oklahoma City at the home of our leaders Tye and Christy Brown, 4 days of training in the city of Kampala, Uganda, 9 days in Moroto (unexpected 7-day delay because of a car radiator), 5 weeks on the mountain, and 3 days of rest and debrief in Jinja before we flew home. Our time on the mountain was spent hiking out in small groups (2-3) to various villages storytelling(telling various Bible stories through a translator) with the people and building relationships with them. We would hike out each day and spend the morning with the people. Afternoons were spent in the Word, studying language, debriefing from the morning, and various other things such as washing clothes, bathing, or just hanging out with the team(who I love!). Evenings were times of teaching and corporate worship.



The goal of this trip was to give us a taste of what frontier missions is all about as well as to begin the process of reaching the Tepez people. Much was accomplished on both of these fronts. We learned much about the process and logistics of frontier missions-- lessons that will continue to challenge and assist us throughout our lives whether we go into long-term missions or not. In addition a great foundation for the gospel was laid in the Tepez people. Many of the villages were very receptive to the message of the gospel and some even promised to continue to spread the Word even after we left. We are excited to see what will happen with future teams!

Frontier missions is basically the process of reaching a people group that has never heard the gospel. This includes everything from the first mention of the Word to the first gathering of the new saints to the people reaching out to their own tribes. One of the things I learned about frontier missions is that knowing the people and their culture is absolutely key to effectively reaching them with the gospel. Knowing a people can affect how the Bible stories are told, which stories are told at what times, and can even affect where stories are told. The familiarity you have with the culture of a people will dictate how ministry works and how long it will take. Other things I learned were how important little comforts of home (like food and music) became, how refreshing calls home can be, and how very necessary it is to have people at home praying for you. I also learned that doing logistical things such as set up, take down, and other daily tasks that may seem mundane are just as much part of ministry as going out into the villages every day. These support tasks are completely necessary and without them, the village ministry could not happen. When I realized that, they became less of a drudgery.

As far as the village ministry goes—I LOVED it! I loved sitting on the ground shelling beans with the ladies. I loved playing games and teaching dances to the kids. I loved telling the stories. I even loved (and really miss) hiking to the villages! I didn’t mind having to live in a primitive hut with few of my comforts of home to do that ministry. The Lord gave me a grace to live and love that kind of life. I can definitely see myself going back and perhaps even long-term. As of now, I plan to go back there next year(of course, it’s all in the Lord’s hands). If you would like to stay in touch with what the Lord is doing with the Karamojong, you can give me your e-mail address and I will add you to my monthly e-newsletter that I’m getting started. This newsletter will include trip preparation info, how you can be praying for the Karamojong, other stories from my trip and things the Lord taught me, as well as links to various missions resources. Don’t miss out on God’s work in Karamoja!!

Thanks everybody for your prayers! Don’t stop praying for these people! They need Jesus and God has given us the task of bringing that message to them. It’s up to you!

In His Grace,
Missy