Team Life

Foreshadowing

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined
 what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Cor 2:9

In this last chunk of our time here, it’s hard not to catch homesickness. Our last several weeks place us in “the land-in-between.” One foot in Uganda, another in what’s to come, we’re neither fully here nor there. So it’s easy to long to be fully somewhere… and naturally, most of us are longing for home. For me, longing for “home” is a bit tricky. Currently, my possessions are strewn across four states, my immediate family is spread over two and my family-esque friends stretch around the globe. Over the past several years Jesus has been teaching me that He is home, and that (surprise) my home is His Kingdom. Jesus said His Kingdom is here, yet His word also tells us there will be a day when we enter the Kingdom in it’s fullness. So, the Kingdom is now and not yet. We’ve got one foot here and one foot in His Kingdom. When I’m homesick, I long for the days when I get to be in that glorious place with both feet.

Last Tuesday morning I sat longing for the place He is preparing and I asked Jesus if He’d show me glimpses of that home throughout my day. In this land-in-between, I thought surely I could catch foreshadowings of the Kingdom-to-come. Boy was I in for it. Jesus answered my request for myself and for other teammates that day.

The Bible says the Holy Spirit is our down-payment, our assurance of what’s to come (2 Cor 1:22). That day, myself and three teammates witnessed the foreshadowing:

Instance #1: In the midst of a lesson, a dear friend who often translates for us took time to speak God-given truth into the lives of two teammates (while the Lwo-speaking disciple sat watching the hint of heaven before her eyes). She spoke about the sureness of God’s promises to one and gave brilliant practicals for reconciliation to another. In His Kingdom, Truth reigns, the ultimate promise is fulfilled and the whole earth is reconciled to the Creator through Christ. My teammates caught a glimpse of what’s to come.

Instance #2: Across town, another teammate of mine was meeting with a woman she’s been discipling for several months. The woman suggested sharing the word with a neighbor who “always likes to hear the words of God” so off they went to find the man. My teammate describes this man as a saint you’d read about in a book. Near ninety years old, this man shared wisdom and lessons learned from a life of walking closely with God. The world restored in paradise will be us, once again truly walking with God as Adam did in the garden of Eden. My teammate met someone who’s had a life-long taste of that this side of the Kingdom.

Instance #3: In yet another area of Gulu, I sat with two women, progressing through a discipleship lesson about the Holy Spirit. We couldn’t have been twenty minutes in before they began ministering to me. As she prayed for me, God impressed upon her heart to pray for various things that I hardly ever talk to anyone but God about. She would periodically pause to look me in the eye and tell me that God was going to take care of matter A or worry B. God reminded me of the sureness of His promises and His faithfulness and attentiveness to bring them to fruition. I had thought I was going to spend an hour or so leading a lesson about the Holy Spirit, but instead, it was I who was ministered to by these women and the Holy Spirit. Thus, God reiterated again and again that He is faithful and His Kingdom surely will come in it’s fullness.

The Word says that the Holy Spirit is our down payment, an assurance of things to come. Each of my teammates and I encountered the Holy Spirit seriously at work in and through Ugandans that day. We left encouraged and in awe of the One who’s love for the missionary supersedes our ideas about the importance of the task. And our experience of His deep love, reconciliation, wisdom, faithfulness and attentiveness are only foreshadowing what is to come.

Sunsets here are incredible. Last night a couple of teammates and I were talking about God’s radical glory. It’s in such abundance, He can seemingly waste it on a sunset here or a lightning show there. Sunsets here are heart-stirring and awe-inspiring, yet they are only a hint of the fullness of His extravagance. They are merely foreshadowing what’s to come. In His Kingdom, the Bible says there will be no need for a sun – the Lord will be our light. There will be no more sorrow and His love will be fully felt. My teammates and I have been catching glimpses of what’s to come for Gulu, for our team, for us individually, and for the world. How have you seen the Kingdom foreshadowed lately?

- Sadie

A New Set of Eyes

It’s official.
We have one more month of ministry.
8 days of ministry in Gulu.
10 days of ministry in Kitgum and Lira.
In a sense it’s crunch time. At the same time I am exhausted.  However the question is not if I will finish this race, but how will I finish it?

I look back at Jesus’ time on earth. He was with His disciples until He was taken into custody. He was so submitted to the Father’s will regardless of what He wanted. He never gave up. Even on the cross He was showing love to the ones hanging beside Him. He never gave up. He died and is resurrected. He still spent time on earth before going back to the Father, speaking truth and pursuing hearts. He never gave up. He ascended into heaven and still He intercedes for me and is my mediator and the passionate pursuer of my heart. He never gives up.

So why would I? Jesus gave His all, even to death, and He endured with joy. I wonder what it was like for Jesus each day. Was He always excited and full of passion or did He just live a perfect life of radical obedience? Every day I have the choice to follow Jesus. It does not get easier with each day. As we are nearing the end, my flesh is getting weaker and weaker. To be honest, I am ready for a break. I have the choice; I can slow down because I am tired or I can run even harder because the end is in sight. I don’t want to walk away with anything left in me. I hope and pray I will be able to say the same thing Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7 (for this season of my life) “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

As I was riding on the boda today I thought back to the two years before leaving for Uganda. Ask any of my friends and family what I was dreaming and they would say, “She wants to go to Uganda. Her heart is for Uganda because that’s where God’s heart is.” I remember being so excited and passionate about this place and people I had never met; I felt this love for them that I could not explain. Now I am here. I have been here for seven months. I have lived and still am living my dream.

It’s just that now, it does not feel like a dream.  It’s my reality. So what do I do when the glitz and glamour has faded away? Do I respond the typical American way by moving on to the next thing that will grab and hold my attention for a while until I am bored with that and move on to the next thing? I can’t tell you how thankful I am that God does not do this with us. He’s in it for the long haul and so was Jesus while here on earth.

So I am in it 100% until the end. If it were not for Jesus, I could not do this. I could for a little while, but once the glory and fun has faded and this becomes every day life, what is it that is propelling me? I had to ask this question, because I desperately needed a new set of eyes, if even for one last month.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

It’s His love that compels me. Without His love this is all in vain and worthless. People desperately need it. It really does come down to life or death. I have one more month to share His love with as many people as I can! Because I have decided that I will finish strong and be able to say I gave my all for Uganda.

Jesus, thank you for the way you lived and loved while here on earth. Thank you for the way you continue to love me. You never give up and you take every opportunity as a blessing to share Your love with people. You see things so different than I do in my flesh. Jesus, I want Your eyes and Your heart for the people here. Your heart is full of love because it is who You are. I am at the end of myself, but I thank You that You have given me all I need. All I need is You and You are faithful. I love you, Always and Forever.

-Kimberley Taylor

Following David

King David was onto something. He wrote in Psalm 62:8 to trust in God at all times and pour out our heart to him because he is a refuge. We’ve got the entire book of Psalms to see David practiced this regularly. It isn’t anything fancy other than a man pouring out his heart regardless of whether it was joyful, hurting, sad, frustrated, or angry, and then landing on the goodness and nature of God in the end. I gave it a shot, and it really brings peace to fully express my heart to God in this way. Mine is below. Maybe you should give it a shot soon!

Though I start out with nothing in my heart,
Though I rise with clean slate, blank, and silent,
Though my mind stirs with its first thoughts,
You are my first discovery.
You are the One who rushes into my space.
You are the Spirit that deposits into my heart.
Without You my thoughts turn sour.
Without You my perspective diminishes.
Without You I can offer nothing to anyone.
But You have come, O Faithful One.
You have found me in my emptiness waiting to be filled.
You have come with a fresh infilling; the most essential of all things.
Thank You for knowing me.
Thank You for never overlooking me.
Thank You for always connecting deep to deep.
I cry out that You are worthy from my inmost being.
I proclaim Your goodness from the depths of my soul.
I announce Your love from the overflow of my heart.

Therefore I say, all blessing, honor, glory, power, adoration, praise, worship, and exclamation be unto Your name, Almighty King, Supreme Lord, Good Shepherd, and Slain Lamb.

-Jay Shewan
The Outpouring

Patient Endurance

First, here is the difference between perseverance and endurance. According to Dictionary.com, perseverance is defined as continuance till the end. And endurance is defined as using strength to continue despite pain and fatigue. The difference between the two is that persistence is remaining steady in hopes to finish while endurance is bearing pain so that you can finish. Endurance is different than persistence because you have to conquer pain to endure.

2 Peter 1: 6-7 says, “Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.”

And James 1:2-4 says “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when you faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

Ready for anything……………wow. I want that. I want to be ready for anything, but to be perfectly honest I don’t want to go through endurance. Why cant knowing God lead to godliness? I’m laughing as I type this, but a part of me is serious. I just looked up the definition of godliness. It is: Having great reverence for God. That is why knowing God can’t lead to godliness. You have to go through endurance. When you are going through something hard or painful you have a choice. You can trust God or not trust God. This sometimes is a daily choice and a constant conversation with God. Trusting Him doesn’t mean you understand the situation, or know when it will be better. It doesn’t mean the pain is less. It means you will trust Him regardless.  It means you will believe what the Bible says and what God says over your own emotion and experience. God is teaching me this right now. Maybe it’s not the endurance part I have trouble with, but the patience part.

-Brittany Bagwell

Testimony

Can you swim across Lake Victoria?

Awhile back we were sharing the gospel, and the ladies we were sharing with did not understand how “we all fall short of God’s glory” with no way to bring ourselves back to His glory. So on the spot, we made up a story, and since then I have often repeated this story in sharing with others about our need for a savior. It usually begins something like this

Me: Stella, can you swim?
Stella: As for us, in Uganda we are strong swimmers for sure.
Me: Do you think you could swim completely across Lake Victoria?
Stella: No!
Me: Could anyone?
Stella: For sure, no one could swim across Lake Victoria.
Me: No one? Hmm. It’s just too big of a distance. I want to tell you a story about swimming. This is just a made-up story but it will help to explain something.

Once God created an island and it was beautiful and full of the most delicious foods. He created man and woman to live on the island, and they had everything they could want or need. God created them to enjoy life and relationship with Him forever. He gave them one command to protect them. He told them that they could swim anywhere around the island except for one specific cove because there was a strong current in that cove. If they swam there, then the current would carry them far away from the island.

The man and woman truly loved living on the island. They enjoyed friendship with God and each other; they ate the good food that gave life; and they enjoyed swimming in the ocean.

One day they ventured around the island and came to the cove God had forbidden them to swim in. It was such a hot day (much like today), and the water looked so calm and refreshing. They reasoned, “We are strong swimmers. When God gave us that rule not to swim here, we were not good swimmers, but we have grown so much. The rule probably doesn’t apply anymore.”

The man and woman dove in and were immediately caught in the strong current. The waters carried them far, far, far away to a distant island. This island was nothing like their home. There were no trees, the scarce food barely kept them alive, and worst of all, they were separated from the One who loved them.

The man and woman wanted to return to God’s island, but they didn’t even know which direction to go. They could never hope to swim the distance, and they had nothing with which to make a boat. They were doomed to live and die on the lifeless island. Over time they had children, who had children, who had children, for generations. The people lived – or rather barely lived – and died on the island, often hearing and dreaming of the faraway island and the God who loved them. Oh, how they longed to return!

God too was so sad that the people were separated from Him. He knew that there was not proper food or life on other islands to sustain the people, and He missed being with the people. He knew there was no way for the people to return on their own. They could not swim the distance, they had no boat, and they didn’t even know which direction to go.

So God sent His son Jesus in a boat to bring the people back home. Jesus came to the lifeless island and told the people, “I have a boat that can take you back to God’s island. This boat is the only way you can possibly get back. Go tell everyone. There is room for all on this boat but everyone must come now. God wants you to return to Him. If you come with me, you will live forever like God intended for you. If you stay here on this island you will die.”

And the people had to choose: to stay on the lifeless island that they had always known, or to let Jesus carry them back to God and to the island full of life.

[Amy]