Flexibility and Fingerprints the First Few Days

After sitting on the runway in London, while the engineers replaced an engine on our British Airways plane we learned more about flexibility and God’s timing. During the two hour delay on the plane we began to visit with other passengers including a group from Northern Ireland. Turns out they are staying at the same guest house group and work with the ministry the manager is affiliated with Fields of Life. As we talked to them we discovered they had some boarding schools with spots for orphans. Yvonne had mentioned early on that she hoped we might be able to research schools for the nine orphans she has been helping as a result of the Christmas box she sent. It seems the organization is very open to helping in this area and there are other organizations that one of the men recommended to consider for the boys. When we finally arrived in Entebbe after Mark had waited four hours at the airport, four of our bags were delayed. Fortunately we had mixed the materials so we had a little of several things and all our clothes were not checked.

Monday we unpacked and rested then headed for Gaba to appraise our painting project. We determined the best times to visit the classrooms with the puppets, along with buying paint at a local paint store and shopping for supplies that were too heavy to bring. By evening we were ready to hit the sack.

After a wonderful nighttime rainstorm, Tuesday morning we ate breakfast and headed for Gaba with cool weather and a full schedule. Yvonne and Lindsay started the day with puppet ministry to the pre-school and primary school children. By noon they had worked their way through nine different classrooms. As they entered each classroom they were greeted by the teachers and children. In Uganda it is customary for the children to stand up and say “we welcome you dear visitors.” What a wonderful blessing the children have been to us. Ritah the principal enjoyed explaining the different levels of education and continued to thank us for wanting the help the school by encouraging the teachers and painting scripture verses in each classroom. By 7:30 p.m. the last two classrooms were painted by kerosene lantern!

Margaret had an exciting day seeing old friends, coordinating more ministry opportunities with the new superintendent of all the ARM area schools, setting up final plans for the clinic at Bethany and teaching a women’s ministry class from 5-7 p.m.

The men’s ministry had a time of healing as Mark taught about God’s perspective on righteousness and the men shared testimonies of what had happened in the past year. The faithful men who received loans were recognized and honored for their commitment, the other men shared principles they had learned that had helped them get jobs or improve their businesses. God answered our prayers for healing and also opened more doors to further help the men be strong spiritual leaders and providers for their families.

Tuesday evening we dropped by our old house to see Ben and met a wonderful man from Toronto in radio ministry. The interesting thing about it was that Margaret and Beth McKee (our friend who has come to Uganda twice) had just been to Hope for the Heart to share at the devotional time about Uganda and Margaret had mentioned to June Hunt something about the possibility of broadcasting in Uganda. Could God be connecting the dots? We are always alert for open doors and opportunities where God may be doing something to gain more glory. Hope for the Heart Biblical Counseling is building a presence in Uganda in Kampala, Busia, Rukunjiri and soon there will be training in Kabale. How exciting to see Him at work! We pray this is an open door for Hope for the Heart and possibly Telling the Truth ministry the Briscoes do as well. Ugandans need these radio ministries with sound doctrine and application to face the many challenges they have in life. Wednesday we cross Lake Victoria to visit the homes for orphans along with a visit to the boarding school at Mt. Carmel.