New York and .....Uganda?

Hello again :)

In my last update we were on our way to Canandaigua, NY for a pastors/leadership conference. It was really awesome because we got to spend the week with a family that we met last time we were there and are totally in love with, the Kenney's. Joe & Shannon have 5 kids who are crazy and awesome and we love them, but their heart is for evangelism and reaching the lost, so much so that they are moving from their awesome home that sits on 4 acres, to live in the ghetto of Buffalo (or Rochester) and minister to the people there. Sweet. 

So we got there and went to the conference which lasted from Monday afternoon-Wednesday morning. It was cool but it wasn't really anything outstanding. I guess I expected more from it. Don't get me wrong, the messages were good, it was good encouragement, but my mind wasn't blown. We did get to meet Pastor Joe Focht who is the pastor at a Calvary in Philly, so he's going to be able to direct us to people we can do ministry with. 

So the conference ended on Wednesday morning and we weren't sure if we should leave that afternoon or wait, but we figured we could just go to church that evening and leave the next morning. So after church we were hanging out for a couple of minutes, saying hi to some people we had met last time, when we ran into Jen. When we were in town in July, we met her & her 5 kids, but her husband was in Uganda at the time. If you've been following my blog for long enough, you'll remember them. Well, after church, we finally got to meet her husband! Let me refresh your memory if you don't know who I'm talking about. This family of 7 (Tyler & Jen, then their 5 kids aged 8, 6, 4, 2, & almost 1) that has one on the way, are moving to Northern Uganda to live in a hut and share Jesus with the people. It's a little more complex than that, but that is basically the purpose. How awesome! Back story aside, her we go with the story-we met Tyler and as we were talking to him, told him that we wanted to visit him in Uganda in a couple of years. He said, "Please do!" And I said, "We want to! We've been praying about it for years!" 

Knowing that we were leaving the next day, they came over that night and Tyler shared the vision with us, which I will share with you!
Ok, so for those of you who don't know, Uganda is central eastern Africa. Southern Uganda is pretty modern-settled cities & stuff, but in the north, it's all huts and whatever the opposite of modern is. Because of the decades long war that went on, people were living in UN refugee camps and now, don't know how to work their land. When the Goodens (Tyler & Jen) get down there, they'll be taking over the work from this guy, Zane who has been down there for some years now, but his wife had to come back to the states because she has Lyme's disease & will die if she goes back to Africa. Zane is still down there because they adopted 11 Ugandan kids & now have to go through the legal process of bringing them home! A sticky situation! Please pray for them! So as I was saying, what Zane does & what Tyler will do, is find people who have land then make them a proposition-give us your land for 2 years. At the end of the 2 years, we'll give it back to you as a working farm, to which everyone says yes! So now they have land-who's going to work it? The locals! Genius, because it creates jobs! The locals work the land and are paid according to how much they work. Over the 2 years, they raise up people to oversee the farms and to disciple the workers, so not only are they providing for themselves & their families, they're hearing the gospel! 

One thing that I thought was really cool and a very sharp contrast to the people in America-the people in Uganda think it is rude if you don't stop them & talk to them! When we evangelize here, we just have a few minutes of sharing before the other person doesn't wanna hear it or has to be somewhere. In Uganda, Tyler was telling us that they call street witnessing "house visits" because you stop one person to talk to them & they want to know more so they invite you to their house! Not only that, but they bring over their family and as many people will fit in their hut to hear the gospel! You can share with them for hours and they sit and listen. How wonderful is that?! 

Here is the problem-what about afterwards? Who will disciple them? Who will teach them to follow the Lord? US!!! Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." Exactly dude! Are you afraid of evangelism? Talking to people you don't know because of the fear of rejection? But you want to share your faith? Pray about going to Africa! Seriously! 

If you want to check out the Gooden's story, here is their blog:

www.curlyheadedfamily.blogspot.com

Needless to say, I believe this is the reason that we went back to Canandaigua-not for the conference, but to sit down with the Goodens and get a heart for exactly what they're doing. But that has brought up another problem-my heart is so excited for Africa, I want to go asap! Like, go home, get a job, save for a couple months, then bounce, but God hasn't told us to go home yet. The Goodens aren't even there yet! 

So that's where we are with that. Finishing this trip, praying for the Goodens and Zane & Summer. 

Also, while you're praying, pray for the Kenneys! The 1st family I mentioned that are moving to the ghetto. :)

While we were there, we went with them to Rochester to serve with this guy who opened a mobile soup kitchen and the only thing he's ever paid for is the bus. Did I mention they've been doing it for a year and a half AND their office is a house? That was donated! And all of their food is always donated! They go out about 15 times a month with food & clothes and they feed the people but before they do, they give them the gospel. It's pretty fantastic! We got to have a really sweet conversation with this girl who said she was an atheist, but that's only because she had never really sat down & talked about it before. It was so awesome, she really listened to everything we had to say.

Next up: New Jersey. Stay tuned. :)