Consider the Helpless...

There are spiritual principles in the Bible that we very often skim over. I'm not talking about the Ten Commandments, or Jewish law, I'm talking about the "if/then" places where the Lord makes a promise. Sometimes the promise is negative, as in Jeremiah - "If you do not listen to Me...then I will kindle a fire in it's gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched." (Jer 17:27) He did it, too! But a lot of them are positive promises... "IF my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, [THEN] I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chron 7:14 - notice it's not just "pray" which is what you usually hear... it's also "seek My face and turn from their wicked ways"... a bit more complicated!)

Many of God's promises actually pertain to how you treat the helpless, the poor, the widow, and the orphan. Did you know that?

Psalm 41:1-3
How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord WILL deliver him in a day of trouble.
The Lord WILL protect him and keep him alive,
And he SHALL be called blessed upon the earth;
And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
The Lord WILL sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.

Deuteronomy 24:19
WHEN you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you SHALL NOT go back to get it;
it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, IN ORDER THAT the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Proverbs 19:!7
He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
And He WILL REWARD HIM for what he has done.

Jesus said the poor will always be with us. That means we will always have the opportunity to show His love, and the love of the Father, to the fatherless, the hopeless, and the despairing. God knows your circumstances. He will show you what he wants you to do for those He puts on your heart. All you have to do is listen and obey... don't get ahead of Him, and don't fall behind.

Thank you all for your prayers!
Jennings

If I am going to know who Jesus is, I must obey Him. Most of us don't know who Jesus is because we have not the remotest intention of obeying Him.
Oswald Chambers

Time flies!

Wow, I haven't posted in a week! I have a new assistant, Laura, which is awesome, and I've been training her. Also trying to get used to "standard time" - it is dark by 5:30, and makes me very tired!

Zeke and I got our tickets last week for March. We will be going March 1-15. I found a new itinerary that will be tough on us physically, but, since we can't sleep on the plane anyway, it gets us there and home in the quickest time. Amazingly, we leave and get home on the same day (because we leave Entebbe at 12:35am, but that's ok!). So we will have full days the 3rd-15th!

I got my confirmation on the Sanderson High Holly Fest Dec 5-6. I will be setting up on Friday the 4th. A British Airways pilot is bringing a bag of goodies with him to the UK, and shipping it to me from there, so I should have enough for the weekend! And it's always so fun to get a box of stuff!

Page will be taking a suitcase of clothing back early next month for Ray of Hope and Nesco - we'll be shipping that out this week!

So that's the update. November is quiet as we get ready for Thanksgiving, Ryan being home for a good visit, and preparing for Holly Fest. Thank you all for your prayers - and patience! - as we keep looking ahead!

Choices, every day

Truly, we do face choices every day. I'm not talking about what to eat or wear... I'm talking about the real choices of life and death: to pray, to give, to follow. The choice to trust God. To die to self. To see beyond the thin skin of this world to the real spiritual world beyond. To follow the vision given to us by our Father, no matter what the discouragements or stumbling blocks. To trust Him for all, no matter the circumstances or our feelings. Today... I choose HIM. I choose the great I AM. I choose to die to myself and live unto Him. Thank you all for choosing to follow Ten Eighteen as we grow and learn and seek to do His will. You are ever in my heart!

Thank you Lighthouse teens and parents!

Last night I got the opportunity to share about Uganda and Ten Eighteen with the teens/parents group of Lighthouse homeschool group. It was so fun, and so many people made donations. I really enjoyed it! Also sharing was a wonderful lady from Blue Star Mothers, an organization of mothers of servicemen and women. She was a great blessing, and I'm going to do what I can to help them this Christmas season... It was a good reminder -

DON'T FORGET what our military is doing for you and your nation this Christmas - and all year. Get involved! THANK YOU to our troops!!!!

Above is another photo of the slums of Nomowongo, in Kampala. When you think things are bad... look through some of the photos. We have no idea how good we have it here in the US!

Update on Riots in Kampala in Sept

I just read that 563 of the people accused of "involvement" in the riots that had broken out in the Bugandan regions of Kampala the day before we arrived in Sept - and were still going on for the first couple of days we were there - have been given bail. Apparently the Kabaka (king) of the Buganda kingdom offered free legal aid to the suspects, who have been charged with terrorism.

Amazingly the riots started via text message, and over a rumor that turned out to be false: the President Museveni had put the Kabaka under house arrest to keep him from visiting Kayunga (traditional Bugandan land) to mark the annual youth day. While the government of Uganda is significantly improved over the previous several governments (Idi Amin the most notorious), the concept of "free speech" is a bit tenuous. While we were there Museveni shut down 5 radio stations (or the talk part of their programming) because they were apportioning him some blame.

At any rate, "over" 25 people died, and at least 80 were injured. There was a good bit of property damage, including a police station in Mengo being burned down. Things were quite tense there when we arrived, with lots of soldiers, people calling friends and family to see how things were, etc. It was especially hard on those who make their livings at the markets, as there were no customers from Thursday to Monday. However, once it was over, things seemed to settle down. BUT....

There was then now unrest in Kayunga by a minority group, the Benyala, who oppose the Kabaka's visit. The Vice President issued a statement basically telling Bugandans that they need to just get along with everyone else, and that the tribal kingdoms are for "cultural" issues only, and politics should be left to "elected officials." Which would be a little easier to buy into if there was really much to the elections. I know Museveni is very concerned about the tribal kings trying to get political power, and thinks they are getting financial support from Qaddifi. Certainly, Qaddifi would be interested in any kind of unrest that would allow him (as President of the African Council) to have influence, for himself and for Islam. It's a very unsettling prospect! (The HUGE mosque above was paid for by Qaddifi. It's in the middle of Kampala, on a hill.)

So there you go... you are now up to date on Ugandan politics!

Lighthouse tonight!

I'll be headed out in a couple of hours for the Lighthouse homeschool meeting. Everything is packed - since we just left it in the Suburban after FZWC. :o) I'm excited to meet new people, and share all that's going on in Uganda (well... all that I know of! LOL).

One of my favorite books is The Last Battle, the last of the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. In it, the last battle of Narnia takes place as the Narnians fight both an enemy within and an enemy that is invited to infiltrate and enslave the people. The last king of Narnia, Tirian, does all he can to rally the faithful Narnians to his side, but it is a losing battle, and one to the death. But as it turns out, it is not just the end of Narnia, it is the end of that world, and Aslan returns. When Tirian first meets him face to face, Aslan says "Well done, last of the king of Narnia..." (Mt 25:23) It always, always brings tears to my eyes. How I long for Jesus to say to me one day, "Well done!"

Fa La La La La....

As I was signing in to post, I realized I was humming along to a Christmas carol on tv. Really?? It's Nov 6! *sigh* Anyway...

Tomorrow I will be heading up to Youngsville (which, I am reliably told, is "not that far"...) to share the jewelry and story of Newezekana, Father's House, Nesco, Malaika's House and Uganda with the great families of Lighthouse homeschool group. I'm excited!! I LOVE sharing my heart for Uganda, and love just expecting nothing and waiting to see what Father will do. As Gandalf says, "All tears are not evil."

My doctor asked me last week, "What is the problem with Africa? Why are they always having such horrific things go on?" I don't know... it seems that the continent certainly grows it's fair share of tyrants and crazies. The stories are the same, only the countries change. And then the country names change... and the stories are still the same. I did some research on the history of Uganda for my presentation at FZWC, and the horrors they have endured since WWII - Idi Amin being the worst, of course, but not the only - are despicable. And yet it's happening now in The Congo, in Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia... All over Africa. It just moves from place to place. Please keep the people of this beautiful and yet sad continent in your prayers - I pray that you will feel Father's sorrow and pain over the choices His creation has made - and continues to make.

Thank you for everything!

Thank you, FZWC!!!

Tonight Zeke and I went down to Garner to Faith Zone Worship Center to introduce them to Uganda and Ten Eighteen. I did my first longish presentation (25 min or so), and it seemed to go really well. We'd set up a table with all the jewelry, cards, jewelry bags, etc in the back (and had LOTS thanks to the wonderful box of new things that came today!), and people were very very receptive. So more people are praying for Uganda tonight, which is just AWESOME!

Thanks to all of you who lifted up this event! Saturday night we'll be at Lighthouse.

News from Uganda - Fathers House has a new 10 year old boy named Francis as of today. Hallelujah!

A lot going on this week!

Big week for Ten Eighteen! Prayers are greatly appreciated... :o)

* Faith Zone Worship Center: I have been working on my presentation for FZWC on Wed night. This will be my longest formal presentation on Uganda and all that's going on there, so I'm working on some history of the country (how it got in the mess it's in), history of Ten Eighteen and the Lord's hand in it, and what we are currently working on. I am meeting the media guy down there at 2pm today to make sure we can show my Powerpoint slideshow at the beginning (having a Mac is great, but can have issues!).

* Lighthouse: On the 7th, I will be in Youngsville for a Lighthouse Homeschool Group meeting. I think this is for teens, and I'm hoping for the opportunity to share our travels, our mission, our sponsorship opportunities, and the beautiful jewelry of Newezekana with them.

* Work on the benefit concert and silent auction: Pastor Jimmy gave the thumbs up to hold this at Journey Church in Feb, so I'm hoping to have a date by the end of the week. Working on the musical entertainment, and planning the auction. I will be calling on some of you wonderful people for help, so stay tuned! I'm really excited about this project!!!

* Also working on a venue at Appalachian for some pre-Christmas donations for jewelry. Ryan had some ideas, so we'll keep the site updated on that.

* Finally, I should be receiving my box of new stuff from Uganda in the next couple of days. It'll be like an early Christmas!! I'll be posting some pictures (reminds me, I'm working on a more professional set up to take photos of the items, so those will go up as soon as I can get them!). I should get another shipment by the end of November, as well, in time for the Holly Fest at Sanderson High School the first weekend of December.

So WOW! Thanks for all your prayers - God is definitely blessing your efforts and prayers, and I am beyond grateful!