He Will Faithfully Guide

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Lisette Lewis, Missionary, Uganda
October-December 2015

When I graduated from high school, one of my last writing assignments was to predict where I would be and what my life would be like in 15 years. I have vague memories of writing about teaching in some interesting city. Even back then, I wasn’t entirely sure where I would end up. Still, if you had told me that almost 15 years later, I would be traveling around the U.S. and talking to people (public speaking!) about community development in Uganda, I would have never believed you. Even if you had told me two years ago, I would not have believed you.

In 2006, God called me to teach missionary kids for two years at Tenwek Hospital. I was surprised, but I happily left the American public education system. I quickly fell in love with Kenya, MKs, and the Tenwek community. When God called me back to Tenwek in 2013, I thought it was a long-term call.

I headed back to Kenya, preparing to be a part of that community for many years. I had a wonderful school year with many of the same kids I had taught before, but once again, my path curved unexpectedly. The very last day of classes, I got the call I had been dreading: my request for a work permit had been denied. I would not be able to stay at Tenwek.

I returned to the U.S., perplexed and brokenhearted. I had been so sure that God would provide the work permit. I looked at other MK schools in Africa, but one by one, God closed those doors. Even my fallback option in the U.S. was not available.

But one door flew wide open: Community Health Empowerment in Uganda. Once again, God changed the course I had expected my life to take, but I am so grateful for His clear leading that I serve a God who is bigger than any of my ideas or plans.

As I (once again) make my way through this unknown territory, I am thankful for a God who loves abundantly and guides faithfully. I am (slowly) learning that as long as I am walking in obedience, I am exactly where God calls me to be.

PRAY: When God’s plans for us change, it is often hard to understand. Many who have experienced this would relate to Lisette’s feelings of being perplexed and heartbroken. Will you commit to praying this month for a missionary facing a change in ministry assignment or someone in your life whom God is redirecting? They need your prayer support now more than ever.

An excerpt from...

Prayer, Praises, and Dancing

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By John and Beth Muehleisen, Missionaries, Uganda
January-March 2015

Did you pray?

On August 12, 2014, World Gospel Mission’s Prayer Lifeline sent out this pertinent request for WGM Uganda:

Uganda: John and Beth Muehleisen, Tiana Duncan, and Jennipher Wasirimba (Community Health Empowerment coordinator) are holding a Training of Trainers on August 14–18. Pray for good health, safe travels, and good discussions.

On August 26, we sent this praise report: We’ve just returned from seven days in Petete, a village in eastern Uganda. We trained a group of 30 pastors and church leaders to train others in their church and village to do village evangelism and health education. This was our second week-long training with this group, and they brought some amazing stories of what happened since our first training a few months ago.

Planting Seeds in Their Communities
One of their assignments after their first week of training in May was for each team to do a seed project in their community. A seed project is a great way to practice concrete ways of demonstrating God’s love to everyone around—not just those in their family or church.

From the report-back session on the first day, it was evident to us that God used them to touch the lives of others in a very positive way.

Pastor Samuel described how they had approached the local village elder for permission to fix the community well, which had a broken cover.

The village elder’s response was better than they had hoped for. He offered to buy the cement they needed to fix the well cover and gave them his blessing.

The group not only made a new cover for the well, but they also cleaned the area around it and gathered the community together to teach lessons on good sanitation. Even though Pastor Samuel and his group did these things without expecting anything in return, the results were amazing!

The Next Sunday…
The following Sunday, Samuel was surprised at how many people came to church. The small church building could not hold all of the people who came, and they sat outside on mats to hear God’s Word from a pastor who cared enough about the community to take the time to fix their well cover and to make sure their water source was clean.

Pray that the people from Pastor Samuel’s village will also recognize their need to drink from the pure, clean Living Water so they can live forever.

Please join us in praying for the seven training teams currently involved in Community Health Evangelism training.

Thanks for being a part of a big, big thing.

And yes, you can start dancing with us now.

Your missionaries in East Africa,
John and Beth

Could you have even imagined these results as you prayed? God takes our offerings, no matter how small, and uses them for the glory of His kingdom.

GO: God is challenging Ugandan Christians and missionaries to train more people to proclaim His truth and life-saving love. The harvest is ready, but the need for workers is greater than ever. Discover how you can join the team and serve in Uganda by visiting www.wgm.org/uganda.

MORE: The gentlemen in the first picture were demonstrating the River Crossing story, a core story we tell in our CHE training. If you are not familiar with this story, here are a few videos made by David Phipps of Gingamsburg UMC: http://youtu.be/mhZqS9dLebc.

Community Health and Development [May 4-10]

In partnership with the Sudanese-led In Deed and Truth (IDAT) team, Mango Ministries in South Sudan provides medical care and other basic needs and encourages local churches to care for their communities.

After a mobile clinic, a pastor named Paul who had been in the Bible Storytelling training told a Bible story that he had learned on his own, not from the training. Afterward, a young man asked an IDAT teammate, “How can I be like Pastor Paul? I love it when he shares a Bible story, because it is so good.”

Mango Ministries works person by person and church by church to transform lives and encourage healthy living—both physically and spiritually.

• May the Lord’s transforming grace continue to change lives through the sharing of His love in word and deed.
• Pray for strength as national Christians are empowered to reach their own people one person, one village, and one church at a time.
• Pray for safety as many community health and development projects include a lot of traveling, construction, and medical care.

GO: Are you gifted in construction? Can you pack a sack lunch? Do you simply love people? Contact teams@wgm.org to schedule a trip to one of the ministries listed on these pages. They need your help and are waiting for you! 

PODCAST: Enjoy interviews with missionaries who serve in key missions causes. Listen to this week’s podcast!

CALL: Call WGM’s Prayer Lifeline at 671.7232 (Marion, Indiana, area) or 1.800.426.0846 (toll free) to join other concert-goers in hearing this week’s recorded prayer.

SHARE: Invite others to pray with you during the concert. We depend on your prayers! Email us at thecall@wgm.org and tell us who you are praying with so we can encourage our staff.