Prayer Update #6 ~ The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing . . .
[originally posted 31 Jul 2022]
Dear Friends & Family,
“So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah …. heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.””
(Nehemiah 4:6-9)
When the workers rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem had reach the halfway point of their project, the enemy opposition increased to it’s strongest force, so that discouragement began to set in.
We are now at the halfway point in our mission to teach and train the local church leaders of the Bushenyi District here in Uganda, and discouragement, at least within me, has begun to arise. There is too much rubble in my soul.
Friday evening I realized that I was becoming quite short-tempered and easily irritated by the slightest annoying behaviors (from my perspective) of others around me. I decided to take the opportunity of a day-off from any scheduled activities on Saturday and spend the entire day in solitude, personal reflection, and rest. The day alone, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer directs for his students in his little book, Life Together, was extremely needed and proved to be refreshing and renewing spiritually, psychologically, and physically.
I awoke this morning before dawn and enjoyed a delightful time of reading, meditation, and prayer. I was greatly looking forward to worshipping with our sisters and brothers in Christ here in Mbarara. After a breakfast of omelettes, toast, tea and fresh fruit, Pastor George arrived to take us to the location where his church gathers for worship.
Just before we departed, though, we were blessed by the arrival of a small flock of crowned cranes in the field in front of the university guesthouse. Crowned cranes are the national bird of Uganda. A crowned crane appears on the flag. 🇺🇬
After appreciating this glorious view, we traveled a few minutes away from the university and came to the church building where many local believers where gathering and beginning the morning worship singing and dancing!
Their worship is so contagious that even this German-Irish boy was not only joining in the singing but even moving! ……. and in rhythm!!! A miracle, indeed, just ask Sandy!!
You would have thought all those fiery discouraging darts that had been piercing my soul the day before would be thoroughly quenched and driven away by such a vibrant spirit of worship ……
…… but just as the National Bishop (for the Full Gospel churches who we are serving here) was invited to preach (I had been asked earlier in the week, but had been advised late last night that the Bishop was coming to be the featured guest speaker), an extremely painful and violently cramping bout of intestinal distress struck me.
It became unavoidably necessary for me to make a fast exit from the service and to be quickly driven by the church’s deputy back to the guesthouse. I made to my room just in time. I spent the rest of the afternoon suffering the ill effects of evidently something i had eaten at breakfast.
To add to my distress, the electrical power went out at the guesthouse and was off for over 4 hours. As I now sit and write these words, the electricity has been restored and my stomach and bowels have somewhat stabilized (sorry if this is TMI for some, but it is very helpful to me to describe my experiences here a bit vividly as a few have you have been praying frequently and very specifically for my whole person wellbeing.
My team members stopped by the guesthouse on their way from church to a family thanksgiving celebration feast at Pastor George’s home. They provided me Gatorade, ibuprofen, and English biscuits to nibble on as I began to be restored to a measure of health.
I am so very appreciative of these kind acts of caring and also of the many short notes and messages of encouragement that you have sent to assure me of your prayers.
Our second leadership training conference with 40 participants, local pastors and their spouses, begins tomorrow afternoon back in Bushenyi, about a 90 minute drive further west from here in Mbarara.
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