Pastor A

Am I discouraged? NO | Am I disappointed? YES  |  I was proud that Arizona voted correctly but flabbergasted that Tucson voted to stay liberal and left-leaning. When we look at the national landscape, we must remember the story of Samuel… it was not God’s plan to have a king. However, the people clamored and complained because of their corruption until God said, Let them have their king. The nation of Israel was never the same again.

The USA has thumbed her nose and shaken her fist in the face of our Heavenly Father. Corruption abounds in the wickedness of a nation that has turned her back on our God. God has said, Let them have their king. Rational and intelligent folks know that our nation cannot in any way survive another four years like the last four years. We are headed for an economic collapse soon and very soon! Does anyone really believe that the economy is going to improve when we all start paying more taxes January 1?

But, here is what is important for the Christian and I will use an illustration from our own congregation: Amber is a vibrant young lady in her mid-20′s who was invited to church by a concerned coworker who is a member of TBT. Amber came to church and trusted Christ three weeks ago. Amber followed the Lord in baptism with all of her family present. She is growing and excited about her new relationship in Christ! Our mission: go find the Amber’s of this world. There are many people who are still searching for truth; they are lonely and concerned about their future. We DO have the answer and the answer will never be the President of the United States. The answer will ALWAYS be in the person, Jesus Christ.

May each one of us be willing to go find the next Amber? Let’s grab a handful, no, two handfuls of tracts and tell others about The One who holds the answer key to life. Let’s not wait; let’s not delay; let’s begin today!

We had the privilege of visiting and helping Marvin Wright in March of 2012. It was a fabulous mission trip. We met and worked with many of these Bible Institute students. It is encouraging to hear of their feedback from the conference they attended. Enjoy!

Oh, I’m on the battlefield for my Lord, yes, I’m on the battlefield for my Lord. . .

This last week we had the opportunity of attending a Pastors/Workers Conference in the town of Lira which is about four hours from Arua.  Early Tuesday morning we loaded ourselves and eight Bible Institute students into the truck headed for the conference.  This year’s theme was “Striving Together for the Faith.”  It was a good meeting and tonight at church we asked the students to share something that they had gleaned from the time in Lira.  Below you will read what impact the Scriptures had on their lives.

Adaku Phinehas -  The question was asked, “Are you really a soul winner?  Are you discipling people that you have won?”  This really caused me to examine myself to see if I was doing that which Christ commanded us to do.  And I realized that as I was discipling others I was in fact discipling myself at the same time.

Izama David- I was impressed that the teachers used the Bible only.  In some other groups, the speakers talk about writings of other people or tell funny stories to make the people feel good.  God gives us the opportunity to multiply and it stirred me up to be a witness to others.

Payiro Benard –   We were divided up into two groups – the married ones and the unmarried ones.  I went in the second group, and we were told that we were being trained to be a church leader.  And that being a leader means being a servant; we lead best by our example.

Adomati Henry -  I see that God had a plan in even letting me attend this conference.  I was challenged to spend more time reading the Word and in prayer.  I also realized that we must show love to each other, and the Lord let me realize the many times when I had an opportunity to talk to someone about Him, and I failed to do so.

Driciru Grace – When we were in the ladies session, I learned that my body is the temple of God and that it was bought with a price, and I must give it back in service to God.

Alesi Harriet -  I learned that we cannot leave the work for one person to do.  We all have to work together for the job to be done.  I realized I must get the fear out of me and to do it (witnessing, discipling, etc.) for the Lord.

This is a good sample of the encouragement and challenges that these people received this last week.  Thank you for being so faithful in supporting this ministry.  Truly we must “strive together for the faith.”

God bless you all.

Marvin and Jewell Wright-Uganda

First of all, right out the gate, let me say that I am not a PETA fan! I do believe it is okay to kill animals for food. I even think it is okay to kill animals to make clothing. And I definitely believe it is okay to kill snakes to make purses, shoes, and boots. Having stated that, I also believe that it is wonderful for families to own animals and treat them with value and respect.

There are 37 widow(er)s in our church. Most of them have an animal to keep them company. Whether a cat (yuk), dog, pig, skunk, ferret, monkey, or whatever your favorite animal; I know there is great value to have a “friend” in the family.

Growing up on a farm setting in West Virginia, we were privileged to be around lots of animals. In fact, we had dogs, chickens, goats, a horse, a skunk, pigs, guinea pigs, and a couple that I have probably forgotten. Most had names: my first dog – Tiger; Mary Magdalene – a chicken who was allowed to come into our house, Flipper and Skipper – goats who were also allowed inside our house, a horse named Spirit, and all of our cows were named… names like Brenda and Tiny. Our skunk was named Scooter. I’ve forgotten the names of our pigs but I didn’t much care for them.

Growing up, I didn’t know that it might be considered abnormal with our animal loving family. Every morning at 5:30 a.m., I had the responsibility to feed and water all of the chickens in the chicken coop. I had to open the door for the chickens to be able to go outside in the fenced-in area and then gather the eggs. I had to feed and water the cows. I never thought of it as a “hard life,” although growing older I didn’t always have the greatest attitude with respect to my chores. Now I have a great respect for how hard my parents made me work. They were slave drivers (another article on that later)!

Here is what I have learned: there is great value in owning an animal. It teaches responsibility to your children (if you make them do chores like feeding, watering, and cleaning up). But for the most part, animals provide companionship, almost as if they have another sense that we do not have. They understand when you are going to leave or even if there is a death in the family. Animals can mourn and get sick too.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my mother. She has a chocolate lab named, Hershey. As a widowed lady with no children living close, I don’t know what my mom would do without her dog! She loves Hershey. Hershey, as big as she is, still climbs up into mom’s lap, as if she is a lap dog or something. She talks to mom, runs with mom, follows mom around, and genuinely loves mom. I’m thankful that God put animals on this earth for I know that my mother’s life would be much more difficult without a Hershey in her life.

The pics in the post are of mom’s dog and from my recent trip to see her. I had such fun throwing balls and sticks to mom’s dog. She even sat in my lap! One of these days we will just have to own a dog like Hershey. Love your animals the right way.

As I grew up in West Virginia, on a farm with both pasture and woods, it was not uncommon for us to gather brush (limbs and twigs) from beneath all of the trees. As our house was heated with wood, we would also cut down trees and all of the excess limbs would be stacked into huge brushpiles. We would save the brushpiles to burn after a good rainstorm or in the winter months when there was snow on the ground.

In my younger years, fire intrigued me; just as it continues to do for every child who has the opportunity to play with a brushpile. I would poke a long stick into the fire and pull it out to see the flame and smoke it created. We would often poke a spider web or a leaf to hear the sizzle of the heat as it burned whatever we touched. I would often see my dad sitting by the fire as it died down; he would just stare into the fire and I wondered where was his mind and what was he thinking about.

Many times after a long day of work, mom would grab some hot dogs and bread (we could not afford hot dog buns) and we would cook our hot dogs over the coals of the brushpile we had just burned. I do believe that is some of the best eating in the world – a scorched hot dog over glowing, red-hot coals. There were often times that we would even stay up very late to ensure that the fire burned completely down to a pile of just ashes.

My dad taught me how to build a proper brushpile to ensure that it would burn. We used matches and kindling to start the fire. Gasoline, kerosene, oil, and paper were considered cheating for anyone could start a fire that way. Even to this day I like to do it the old-fashioned way for it is more satisfying for sure. It might take a little longer but the fire does not smell of gasoline, kerosene, or oil when you do it the right way. Also, if you do not use paper then you do not have all of the paper flying up into the air to cause another fire that you did not intend to have.

Well, as I crossed over from teenager to adult, I began to realize how soothing it was to just sit next to a fire and discuss all of the world’s problems. You can really meditate about life and all that is going on when you stare and watching the flames dance in their own little party. The smell of wood smoke, the heat from the fire, and the dancing flames are mesmerizing to say the least. In fact, my dad and I had some of the greatest conversations that we ever had in life… sitting around a brushpile that we had set to fire. I do miss those times with my dad.

This past week I had the opportunity to go visit my mother. She had built four such brushpiles and asked if there was anyway before I left if I could help her burn them. Of course that was okay with me; however, due to local fire regulations we had to wait until after 5:00 p.m. On Thursday it was spitting rain and rather cool… a perfect day for fire building. I was transported back to my childhood days as we burned four brushpiles late into the evening. It was fabulous to be covered in that great, great smell – wood smoke!

By the way, in spite of my protests to start the fires the old-fashioned way, my mother insisted that we cheat. To honor my mother I complied with her request and therefore we used kerosene to start the fires. I still feel bad about this…