On October 5th, Team Wellspring arrived in Lira, Uganda to begin our fifth month of ministry. At the local bus stop, we were met by our ministry contact for the month, Pastor John. Pastor John is the head pastor of Christian Renewal Church in Lira. We will spend this month working in conjunction with Christian Renewal Church in much the same way that we worked last month with Deliverance Church in Isibania. Our ministry will be varied: preaching and leading teaching sessions at the church, visiting local hospitals, ministering in prisons, and perhaps speaking at schools (we are now well practiced in that after last month!). In my understanding, our month will consist primarily of speaking engagements in various settings. While this is a challenge, I continue to have a new found love for preaching the word of God and look forward to what the Lord will do through Team Wellspring this month.
This month, we will be staying at the missions base for a group called LightForce International. LightForce International is a Christian group that originated in the UK which focuses primarily on humanitarian efforts in Uganda and Albania. While we are not directly working with LightForce International, the director of the organization is a friend of our contact, Pastor John, and has agreed to let us stay at the missions base. It is definitely a treat for us as we have beds to sleep in, three meals prepared each day, and even a laundry service!
Soon after arriving, Pastor John informed us that he has spent the past seven years praying and fasting for a missionary group from the west to come to his church, and he told us that we are the answer to that prayer. The church is hungry for revival, and strongly believes that we are bringing that revival with us. I also believe that we bring revival with us…after all, we are traveling with the Sprit of the Living God. However, I’m afraid that our presence may feed a false mindset that I have begun to notice. There seems to be a very prevalent belief that amazing things will happen during our time here not simply because we have the Spirit of God in us, but because we are “mzungus” (people of western culture). Our whole team has sensed that we are held up on a very high pedestal simply because of our country of origin. While I am plenty proud to be an American, I sure don’t want anyone believing that I am defined by that, or that God’s Spirit is any more powerful in me than it is in them simply because of my citizenship. While temporarily on this earth, I may be classified as an American, but ultimately I am a citizen of heaven. I desperately want the people here to understand that, as believers, they have the same citizenship and that the same Spirit that dwells in me dwells in them. I never want to be deified because of the country that I may live in during my temporary life on this earth.
Please pray that, during our time here, eyes would be turned straight to God himself rather than to us and our culture. I pray that the words of the Living God would be heard rather than the words of a group of Americans, and that all attention would be focused on Him. I am positive that God has words to say and work to do through us this month in the city of Lira, and I simply pray that the hearts here would be fertile soil to receive His word and produce real fruit.
Thank you all for your constant prayers and support. I have been so blessed by an outpouring of love through prayers and finances these past few months, and am grateful beyond words for this opportunity. I would ask that you would prayerfully consider supporting my teammates in the same way. I have two teammates, Daniel Montenegro and Brittany Priess, who are in danger of being pulled from ministry if they are not able to receive additional financial support by the end of this month. Daniel is in need of an additional $1500 and Brittany needs $500, each by October 31st. I am currently fully funded (granted that monthly support continues), and ask that you would pray about turning your focus to these two teammates of mine. They are absolutely an asset to our team and to our ministry here in Lira. If you would like to support my teammates, here are their websites:
