Here's some good news from David Spencer about God's work going on in Africa during the pandemic:

Greetings in Jesus

Just wanted to send a note during this time of lockdowns in Africa where school is not permitted and churches are not allowed to meet. While Bible School has not been able to be active with classes, we have been assisting our people (Jackson; Juma; Agrey; Sande and other helpers) to purchase food and soap to distribute to people in need. They have been able to go through neighborhoods and give out the food and share with people. Just this week, 6/8-6/11, Juma, Sande, and others have the goal of helping 500 households with gifts of food. This has led to sharing the Gospel with people and some receiving salvation in Jesus!   This week they visited a house and encountered a woman named Esther, and her 3 children (two children are pictured below). The woman was bleeding from a miscarriage and was without food in the house. She was in need of medical attention. In Uganda you don't go to the clinic or hospital without money. You will not be released without payment. And, the longer you are made to stay, the more you will owe.  HERE AM I Ministries sent money to get her to the hospital. There, the scans showed that there had been twins in her womb and the second was on the outside of the uterus and dead.  Surgery was performed to remove the dead child.  Juma was at the hospital to visit on Wednesday, 6/10. This woman was asking why they had done this for her. She also wanted to know if God can and would forgive any sin. Juma shared with her the Gospel and how God loves her.  She then prayed to receive Jesus in her heart and has begun New Life.  She shared with Juma about her life of prostitution and contracting HIV, and that her 12 year old daughter was also a prostitute.  She shared about how she had rejected God and Christianity because a "pastor" that had a well on his property had refused them to get water because he was "sick and tired of all the poor people coming to take his water."  Juma tells me that he was crying with this woman, and I cry too as I try to accurately relay it to you all.   But I thank and praise God as another lost sheep has been found.  This lady is already sharing with others in the hospital!     

Our hope is that we can help this woman move to another location and help her start some small business of selling used clothing, vegetables, or something else. We want to help her start her new life of trusting in Christ..  There is also talk of a home church beginning in her house.  To God be the glory!  

Last week in the village of Izira where Jackson lives, while giving out food and supplies to needy families two women and a man came to Christ. The two women are the wife of the one man. It is pretty common for this in Africa. But, we pray with the spread of the Gospel and sound Biblical teaching to see this becoming less and less known.  We are thanking God that HE is working to draw people to Himself during this difficult time in Uganda.

Juma's church of Heartland Worship Center in Bugiri has been able to purchase a plot of ground to build on and not have to worry about rent or having to change locations. God is using this group to reach people in this neighborhood. Within the last few weeks a Muslim mother told them that she would be sending her children to the church because of the love shown to her and her family through the giving of food and prayers for her family! Many of the families in this neighborhood are Muslim.  Pray for them as they continue serving the people in this area. 

These are just some of what is happening during this time.  Lockdown in Uganda is closer to martial law than a stay at home request. People have been beaten and even shot for breaking curfew. Others have been beaten and killed for stealing from gardens to feed their families.  But through it all God is still at work saving people. "Though you intended it for evil, God meant it for good, to preserve life."    

To God be the Glory, great things HE has wrought.

Be a blessing and be blessed.
nJesus
David Spencer

Today we hear from Juma, one of the Lead Pastors at Here Am I Bible School in Bugiri, Uganda:
​
The song writer said it well “ trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus,but to trust and obey.
The Bible tells us about a man named Jabez who trusted and obeyed. "Jabez" means "sorrow" or "painful." Maybe during his birth his mother struggled a lot and ended up giving him that name.
His story comes in between very many genealogies, and the Bible says he was a honorable man. Chuck Smith said “ ... his prayer was honorable. If you ever want to pray for me, pray this one, lord bless Chuck. Enlarge his areas of ministry and service, keep Chuck from evil. Keep him from hurting others. May God keep us aware of the needs of others. It’s so easy to build walls around our church keeping the riffraffs out - that is the tendency of man. Putting up walls to keep others out But May God help us to always have an open door and enlarge our borders, where people can come in feel warm and accepted." 
Let’s look at the three specific ways Jabez prayed.

1. Lord enlarge my territory - he had a dream of having more land and he asked God to bless that dream.  People have said that when you stop dreaming you lose direction. When we stop setting goals we stopping growing. Let’s keep pushing forward, but if we don’t trust the Lord and keep our obedience to him we are going no where. 
2. Lord that your hand would be with me -  Jabez realized the more territory is more responsibility, more needs, more demands, more pressure, and that would call for Gods help in his life, otherwise it would be trouble. That is why he asked God to be with him. It’s very bad to grow away from God to pleasure. Many times we begin with God and keep moving away from God. We have all we asked and forget Him. We need to keep our trust and obedience to God.
3. That you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain - Jabez prayed for God's protection because the more he owned, the more influential he would become, and that would make him a target. Just like me and you today, we need God’s protection in the work and ministry of God. Also, we need to learn to be a blessing to others instead of causing pain to others. Let’s be a blessing to many. Jabez trusted and obeyed the Lord - we need to do the same, and he prayed to not cause pain.

Prayer is wonderful, but how we pray matters. In Luke 11:1 it says, “ Now it came to pass as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of his disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. “ Our Lord Jesus Christ, after He had prayed, His disciples asked Him to teach them as well. It must have been an amazing awesome wonderful thing to see Jesus praying!
The disciples did not ask Jesus to teach them to teach, or do miracles, or anything else, but they asked Him to teach them how to pray. I believe it was a prayer of trust and obedience to God.
May you pray for your family, pray for the church, pray for the missionaries, pray for the church leaders, pray for Here Am I Ministries in Africa and the United States, and pray for the world over the COVID-19 pandemic and those affected. 
May the Lord Almighty bless you. 
Juma 

This week's post comes from Josh Mullins, one of the guys who does some outreach for Here Am I:

At one time I was driving a lot for my job. And during those times I was always trying to set my heart on God, turning my car into a "mini worship service" before facing the world at work, and before seeing my family after a day of working in the world.  Having scoured Spotify for various playlists I came upon a collection of old hymns. They reminded me of the churches I grew up in. But admittedly, as a child, the weight of the words of those songs didn't have the same effect they do now.  Recently I was listening back through the playlist on a long drive. And, in the midst of all that is happening in the world and the United States, I was reminded of just how weighty those words can truly be...

I think it is safe to say that those among the Believers in Christ desire that God be close and active in our lives.  We greatly desire to see His working in our troubles.  We want to see suffering end in our own lives and the lives of others.  We want to see justice for the innocent.  And, there's nothing wrong with these things. Needless to say, we want to see God fix the broken parts of this fallen world. 

You know, John 3:16 doesn't say, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that He would fix all the world's problems and make life an easy place to live, free from troubles, suffers, and injustice." John the Baptist doesn't declare, "Behold the Lamb of God who has come to bring us lives of ease and comfort!"  Interestingly enough, this is what the people of Israel were expecting. The Messiah was supposed to come and throw off the yolk of Roman oppression, remove the Gentiles from their land, and reestablish the throne to the rightful descendant of King David.  That's what Palm Sunday was really all about.  They were celebrating the Messiah riding into Jerusalem to overthrow Rome. And when Jesus didn't perform, within a week they went from "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!" to "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" 

I think this is where many issues arise with people lacking faith in God.  They are expecting Him to step in and fix everything.  But that comes later.  That's what we're waiting for. But at the moment, we have to hold onto what Christ came to do the first time.  Because John 3:16 does say, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." In other words, Jesus came to save us from eternal perishing and give us eternal life though faith in Him. John the Baptist does declare, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Jesus came to die as our payment (or the Biblical word, as our propitiation) for our sins. He came to deal with the problem that is causing all the problems in the world - SIN. And through faith in Jesus we don't have to pay for our sins, because He did it for us.  And that's not all...

Jesus says in John 16:7 and 13-14, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you...However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak...He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and declare it to you." In going away Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit.  He didn't leave to take away the problems we face, but to send the Spirit that we may face them together with Him. He even prays for us later on in John 17:15-23:

"I do not pray that You (the Father) take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for them alone but also for those who will believe in me though their word (that's us!), that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me...I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them as You have love Me." 

He didn't pray to take us away from the world, but rather that we would be sanctified - set apart -  for His work.  Jesus set Himself apart, dying for our sins, that we would be sanctified by truth. And, His Word is truth.  The Word, the Bible, declares who God is, who Christ is, from beginning to end.  To draw near to God, to be used for His purpose, starts in study and application of the Word to our lives.  Why? Because we are not of the world. We are sent into the world, set apart, that the world may believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  We are here to be light in the darkness, saved from our sin, empowered by the Spirit, living lives set apart according to God's Word, that the world may know that God loves them.  In other words, we are called to suffer among the world's problems and glorify God anyway. Our lives are to show His power in spite of the "wrong seems oft so strong" as the hymn says.

Or as another hymn says, "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, "It is well, it is well with my soul."

Or as another hymn says, "Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me."

Are we willing to draw near to God though it cost us everything? Because it cost Jesus everything so we can draw near! Can we see the pain and struggles in the world, in our own lives, and declare, "My God! How great Thou art!"? Jesus prayed for us that we could - that the world would see, through our lives giving glory to the One who will deliver us from this world - that they may know His power in our testimony - that they would be saved from the same suffering world we're seeking to be delivered from? Do we understand that the eternal Hell to come is worse than the world we're suffering in? Do we understand we've been saved to be with Him forever and to live lives declaring His glory to the world?

As I consider these things, I can't help but cry out:

 I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
  Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior!
    I come to Thee.

I need Him so I can be the light He has called me to be.  It's easy to focus on the suffering. But, brothers and sisters, it is better to focus on Him. Because He hasn't left us orphans.  He has given us power to live for Him, and He's given us hope of a time to come when there will be no suffering.  Paul says we are supposed to comfort each other with the hope of what is to come. Pain will be taken out. Justice is coming. As the hymn says, "Lord, haste the day, when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll! The trump shall resound, and our Lord shall descend..." This will be a glorious time for believers.  But this will also be a horrible time for those who reject Him.  And so we're here, waiting for His return, and burning all the brighter to show the power of God in our lives throughout the world...

As Paul declares, "To live is Christ, to die is gain."