There was so much that needed to be accomplished on this particular trip, and it was a bit daunting to be completing all of it by myself. There were many challenges that I had to personally face (spiritually, physically, mentally, socially...), but that’s another story for another time. As for the trip as a whole... God provided exactly what I needed when I needed it! And of course, He rose far above any and all expectations! (Though none of us should be surprised by that!)
Wow! Where do I even begin???
My last email prayer update was sent on February 8th - while I was still in Uganda. Many of you who received that email didn’t know that my birthday was on February 9th, but I could tell that you were praying. And it’s one of the reasons that I made sure that I sent a prayer email the day before. :-) Anyway... before I go on... you’ll have to remember that due to the time differences between Uganda and the States, my “Stateside” birthday fell between the Ugandan evening of Feb. 9th & morning of Feb. 10th. Have I confused you yet? Just hang in there, ‘cause I’ve got a story to share!!!
Friday morning, February 9th, I woke up bright and early. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so bright since it was 5:00am. But I needed to get up early in order to meet up with our small caravan:
missionaries John, Danny, Evert, and Pastor Deo (a local Kampala pastor) - and me, of course. We all loaded into a truck to travel almost 6 hours north to Gulu. The ride was not only long, but extremely jarring. If you’ve never traveled on an African road then you won’t truly be able to appreciate the experience of bumping along an old beat-up road filled with more pot holes than solid ground. Back, neck, or knee problems? They’ll only get worse! And anyone who travels these roads for long will get them all. Well, I digress. We eventually completed the long trip to Gulu, checked into the hotel, and quickly returned to our vehicle. 
We picked up Pastor Paul and then made our way to one of the Acholi IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps. The Acholi people have faced rebel wars and displacement for the past 20 years, and now many of them live as refugees in these IDP camps. Paul is an Acholi man that was trained by missionaries in Kampala, ordained, and then sent (just this past December) back home to Gulu to begin a new work (or church plant). Our small traveling group went up to Gulu hoping to encourage Pastor Paul’s work and with the expectation that he might be struggling to start one small fellowship. Boy, did God have a surprise in store for us! Pastor Paul – in less than six 
weeks – has started 3 house churches and one “celebration point” – a place where the house churches gather on Sundays to worship together.When we arrived at the IDP camp, we noticed that the Acholi people had already built a meeting place for their worship (to protect them from the rain and sun – remember, they’re on the equator, and the sun is intense!) with some wooden poles and a tarp for cover. That Friday night we had a wonderful worship time with over 50 adults and MANY more children! Before the evening was over . . . God had designed a meeting for us with one very special woman – a lady named Margaret.
Margaret was a local witchdoctor from a distant village who had met Pastor Paul soon after he arrived in Gulu. The witchdoctor of a community is the individual that people come to when they have concerns or needs or problems that need to be solved. And because the witchdoctor performs spells and witchcraft in order to meet these physical or spiritual needs, he/she often becomes feared as well as depended on. (As believers in Jesus Christ, we know that this work is from the devil and not from God.) Here are some of Margaret’s words – from an interview that I conducted with her that Friday evening:
“I was a witchdoctor. I was doing witchcraft. I began to realize that the evil power was disturbing me and my children – and even killing my children.” “We (Pastor Paul & Margaret) met and he (Pastor Paul) began preaching the Gospel to me. He prayed for me.” “I realized that I needed to leave the evil work and turn to God. Now I have gotten saved and am together with God with all of my family. Now I am leading the women in the church. My husband is also a leader in the church.” “I need the Spirit of the Lord to lead me to go back and burn the witchcraft things I have left behind.”
I believe that God set us on this specific path to meet Margaret. She had this desire to go back to her home village – almost 3 hours away – to burn all of her witchcraft relics, potions, medicines, clothing, pottery, spears, drums, etc. But Margaret had no way to travel back home (no transportation or money), and she didn’t want to go alone. And here we were with transportation, planning to head back to Kampala the next morning, and passing near Margaret’s village on the way home. More than anything at that moment, I had this strong desire to help Margaret and her husband (Ojok) get back to their home to rid their lives of the remaining evil. The biblical scriptures kept coming to mind from the Old Testament about the Israelites turning to God over and over again – and yet always leaving intact the idols, alters, and high places (where people would burn incense and offer sacrifices to other gods). Time after time these things became temptations for future generations and always led to more sin and devastation. What would happen in the future if these evil items from Margaret’s past life of witchcraft were not destroyed? What havoc and evil would be rekindled by others or by her own descendants? I didn’t even want to consider the option. So I suggested that we take Margaret, Ojok, Pastor Paul, and his wife with us the next morning, and I offered to pay for their transportation back to Gulu after we got rid of the witchcraft items. Everyone unanimously agreed, and we made the arrangements to pick up the others in the morning.
Thus the Friday evening of February 9th ended.Saturday morning, February 10th (which was still the 9th in the States) arrived soon enough. Nine of us now packed ourselves tightly in the truck and began our long journey to Margaret’s home. Once again we traveled over the many potholes in an overcrowded truck with no air-conditioning.
We passed baboons playing on the side of the road, many UN trucks overflowing with refugees, and eventually we crossed the Karuma Falls – just north of our destination. We had just a short distance to go according to our African friends... "just off the road a bit." 
But as I’ve learned (or been reminded) in Uganda... African distances and American distances are not equal. So this “short distance” was at least another hour into the bush. We traveled by vehicle as far as possible – along paths no wider than a bike path – forging our 
way through the bushes. But eventually we had to get out and continue on foot through villages and fields and grass/weeds that were at least 6 or 7 feet tall. On and on we went... one following another... 
until we eventually reached her remote banda (or hut) where she had lived and performed her many witchcraft rituals. Pastor Paul and Margaret gathered all of the witchcraft relics: all of the medicines that they used, the bones, their ancestors’ spears, the ritualistic clothing, the drum that they used to beat to call upon the evil spirits. Everything was gathered and piled outside. 
And after Pastor Paul poured the kerosene on the pile, Margaret leaned down and started the fire herself. She was freeing herself from the evil bondage that had held her for so long! And as everyone watched the items burn... 
prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ were uttered, followed by spontaneous singing and dancing in praise to our God above! It was an amazing sight!!! But this isn’t the end of the story. This is just the beginning...
Two men were passing by and witnessed what was taking place. As they joined our group, they began to ask questions about what was happening, because they knew Margaret and her husband as the community witchdoctors. Our small group began to share the Gospel with these two men. One of the men stood distant, barely listening, uninterested. But the other man became excited, asking one question after another. He couldn’t contain his excitement and he wanted to choose Jesus Christ as his own. But first he wanted his brother to hear this Good News. 
So off he ran – as fast as he could – to find his brother and bring him back to this banda where the fire was still burning and the people were still worshiping the Living God. When this man and his brother returned, the Gospel was shared a second time. They heard Margaret’s and Ojok’s testimonies and how they had given their lives to Christ. And the brother simply said, “Well, now if my family has come to Christ... then I don’t want to be left in the camp of the devil!” And on his own, he knelt down, raised his hands to heaven, and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. 
Both brothers chose life with our Lord Jesus that day. So now we welcome Ojo Ajul and Anywar David Livingston as our new brothers in Christ!!! This was a wonderful testimony of God’s power and grace in the midst of people’s hearts being changed! God used Margaret and Ojok and their obedience to God. And I was given the privilege of joining in this extraordinary experience... on my birthday no less! :-)People often underestimate the power of prayer. But let me tell you... I have no doubt that faithful believers all over the States were praying for me on my birthday – as often churches do for missionaries. God heard those many prayers. And he answered in mighty ways... beyond anything that I ever could have imagined! YOUR prayers were used by God to help bring these two new believers into the very arms of our Lord and Savior! Thank you, thank you, thank you... for your faithfulness and your prayers for my Ugandan adventures.
I realize that this is an extraordinarily long blog (which was previously an email), and I would apologize for that... except that I couldn’t contain these words of joy. There were many other happenings on this trip – challenges, obstacles, blessings, various stories – but again, those must remain for another time.
One more thing... I had a wonderful welcome home when I found a beautifully potted plant and “welcome home” balloons sitting on my doorstep on Sunday evening. There was no note, but the gesture of kindness was overwhelming and certainly appreciated after my extensive journey in Uganda and my travels (for over 30 hours) back home. I’m not sure who delivered them, but please know that they were wonderful and totally unexpected! THANK YOU (whoever you are)!!! ;-) And may God bless you as you have blessed me!!!
Well, I suppose I should sign off now. Thank you once more for your many thoughts, prayers, and emails. I hope to respond to each of your messages personally within the coming weeks... so please have patience with me in the meantime.
For His Glory – now and always!
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