Pam and I are headed to Uganda on November 3^rd and it just got REAL!  Our airline tickets have been purchased and yesterday we went to the infectious disease clinic at Reading Hospital and received our immunization for Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and Polio.  OUCH! My arm is sore this morning and we’re nervous, yet excited about this completely unique ministry opportunity.

When we scheduled our current sermon series, “Right Where U Are” about being available to serve God by using our spiritual gifts in any situation, I didn’t know it would come to this!  But I guess I need to practice what I preach!  Here’s how this all came about.

Back in the Spring, one of our Bethany missionaries, Wendell Stoltzfus, contacted our mission committee chair, Rozanna Leever and me with an out of the box proposal.  He wanted to conduct two “Biblical Marriage” seminars in Uganda to help bless and minister to Ugandan pastors and their wives. And he asked if our church would be interested in participating. Much like in the US, marriages are in crisis in Uganda. And the hope is that by training pastors, we can impact whole churches, who in turn will impact whole regions with the transforming power of the gospel.  For maximum impact, the 3-day conference is limited to 20 couples and will be held in two towns in northeast Uganda, Nebbi and Pakwach.  And Wendell wanted to recruit a mature Christian couple from our church to assist him in the teaching.

Our elders were enthusiastic and after considering a list of potential candidates, decided to send Pam and me on the trip!  I was a bit suspicious at first and carefully checked to make sure our plane tickets weren’t one-way… but everything appears to be in order.

But seriously, this is a perfect fit for Bethany.  Just recently our elders agreed that developing strong and healthy marriages should be one of the cornerstones of our discipleship strategy at the church.  And while we’re just getting started here at home, this is a way to invest in that priority globally as well. I hope that this is just the one of many opportunities that Bethany has to “impact [our global] community for eternity”, as our vision statement says.

So, this Sunday Wendell is coming to share a bit more about the trip.  Most Ugandan pastors are impoverished, bi-vocational, and their churches are deeply under resourced, so Bethany is seeking to raise funds to scholarship the participants.  We want the pastors and their wives to feel honored and cared for as they invest in their marriages.

Also, after our second worship service this coming Sunday, our Hospitality Team has organized a taco luncheon fundraiser for our entire church family.  (Do they eat tacos in Uganda? Probably not.) We’d love to have everyone come and enjoy a time of community and connection.  A free-will offering will be received via our offering boxes down in the fellowship hall.  But you don’t have to participate in the offering to come to the luncheon.  We want everyone there regardless of your ability to give. And if you can’t give, we can all pray for this upcoming trip.  We are hoping to raise $10,000 so we can scholarship every single couple who has committed to come.

And pray for Pam and me.  We’ve been on mission trips before, but never to Africa and this feels like a stretch.  We’ll have a 9-hour 40-minute flight to Istanbul and then an 8-hour 25-minute flight to Entebbe, Uganda. From there it will be a 7 or 8 hour cross country road trip to our first conference location. So, prayer for endurance, safe travel, good health, and effective communication… we’ll be using a translator at both conferences.

But more than that, pray for our dear brothers and sisters in Uganda.  We want them to be encouraged, strengthened, and refreshed.  Serving as a pastor and pastor’s wife is challenging enough.  I can’t imagine the struggles and pressures that believers in rural villages in Uganda must face.

These are tough times, but let’s dig a little deeper to help fellow Christians in a faraway land.  We may never meet them or know their story here on earth.  But one day we will.  And when we finally meet, it will be well worth it.

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16

Let us know you’re coming to the luncheon.  Sign up here