Hello again, everyone.

So here goes my attempt at reviving this much neglected missions blog of mine.  Strangely, this is the first time that I’ve found myself the sole individual in charge of my PR over here.  So I’ll give you all fair warning right now that the updates and news may be slightly sporadic until I get used to this whole blogging thing.  We appreciate your understanding.  😉

What has happened here in Uganda since we last put words on this page?  Well Andrew and I wrapped up the Ambassador Institute class in Jinja town.  Some of those students are already beginning their own classes as teachers and bringing the word of God to others in this area.

Right now I’m helping teach in a few of those classes and meeting with others to help prepare them for their classes each week.

Since our class finished Andrew has returned home and the Jores are about to return here.

Also in the works are some translation projects for the Ambassador Institute curriculum.  I’ve heard that Uganda has about 50 different languages, although many of them share similarities to others.  Right now we’re in various stages of work with the languages of Luganda, Lusoga, Luo, and Karamojong.  This is a big area of need for your prayers as we desire to see these translations completed in a timely yet accurate way.  Some of them are going faster than others but ideally we would like to see some finished work before the Ambassador Institute graduation ceremony at the end of January.

Another prayer request/praise is that in recent days we’ve had a surge of interest in our training as multiple churches from various places have requested us to begin new classes with them.  It’s wonderful to see such eagerness for God’s word here although we’re not yet sure how to supply teachers to all of them.  Please pray for wisdom for us in that.  The fields are indeed white and so we find that we need to request more workers from the Lord of the harvest.  That means workers from our own churches in the states of course, but perhaps even more so from right here in Uganda.

Also, please remember the Jores in prayer as they return to Uganda.  We’re all hoping to see them arrive safe and sound at the end of this month. 

I’m extremely grateful to all of you who have been keeping us and this ministry in your thoughts and prayers.

That’s all for now, I guess.  Lord willing I’ll have some pictures to post next time.

God bless

Katonda akuwa mukisa

Micah Berger

These days Micah and I have been enjoying trips out to the village for 3 days at-a-go, as well as African Cuisine in many ways. A common dish to have over here is Posho, which I’m trying my hand at making in this photo.

 

Ugandan Mission

1 Corinthians 6:17
“But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in Spirit”

When a Christian decides to become intimate with God, they embark in a soul-melding experience. For union with God is fellowship with His Spirit, attentiveness to His cries, anger with what rages Him, and accepting His soul redeeming will as a part of our personal mission.

When we are one with God in Spirit, we have become one with Him in our deepest place. Spiritual Maturity is then a greater unity with the Spirit of God, and conformity of our will to His.

When a man decides to make a candle, He takes all pieces of wax and fixes them into one shape. That one shape was designed to have one purpose (unless its an ornamental candle). Likewise, as we experience union with God, we join with His Spirit in our function—to bring…

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1 Corinthians 6:17
“But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in Spirit”

When a Christian decides to become intimate with God, they embark in a soul-melding experience. For union with God is fellowship with His Spirit, attentiveness to His cries, anger with what rages Him, and accepting His soul redeeming will as a part of our personal mission.

When we are one with God in Spirit, we have become one with Him in our deepest place. Spiritual Maturity is then a greater unity with the Spirit of God, and conformity of our will to His.

When a man decides to make a candle, He takes all pieces of wax and fixes them into one shape. That one shape was designed to have one purpose (unless its an ornamental candle). Likewise, as we experience union with God, we join with His Spirit in our function—to bring all people to Jesus Christ.

Micah and I (Andrew) are on the way to Chicago via Greyhound Bus!!
Since the last post,
Hans got married,
The Jores came back
and 200 lbs of gear has been assembled for yet another adventure in Uganda. We will be staying with Heidi and Josh Tryon in Chicago, and flying out Sunday night. (Making one connection in London, then straight to Entebbe)

Micah and I made the transition to our new home yesterday.  The place is…interesting.  I couldn’t begin to describe to you what the place looked like…50 years ago.  What was likely once a beautiful mansion in the last days of colonial Uganda is now a building that shows the effects of years of neglect and wear and tear.  Micah and I aren’t moving into this new living arrangement for the purpose of investing in a building though.  We’re here to invest in the lives of the people who are in spiritual darkness.  We’re here to communicate love to the Ugandan people.  This is going to be a new adventure for us.  As of right now, we have no electricity or water (hoping that both return to the building sometime in the next week).  Today, I was working with Tracy, the landlady who is a member of our Jinja town class (Ambassador Institute), to help her get one of her tenants evicted.  The man is a pastor whose witness is damaging and whose behavior is terrible.  The man hasn’t paid rent in five months (and it is not because he can’t), he is causing confusion among the other tenants, and he was abusing his control of the only water source in the building.  Pray that God would uphold our cause and be the perfect Judge of this wolf in sheep’s clothing.  There is a chance that Tracy and I will be meeting with this man yet this evening.  Our hope is that he would leave peaceably.

In the coming weeks, I am hoping that Micah and I have meaningful opportunities to get to know the other tenants of the building.  There are always many children running around (they made for a great moving-in crew!), and I hope for many opportunities to play with them in the next three months.

I’ve included a slideshow of pictures that show our room in several stages.  It’s looking a lot better than it did when we first saw it!  I imagine that it will be rather homey within a short amount of time.  Micah and I have committed our room to God – to be a place where He is glorified and dwells.  We are praying that the souls of the people in the building with us would be ushered into God’s kingdom – that they would live with the hope of someday living in an eternal mansion that Christ himself has prepared (John 14:1-3).

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All of these things that I’ve mentioned are things that we’re inviting you to pray for.  We covet your prayers because we know God works through them.

Thank you for being such a faithful friend, follower, and encourager.  We know that we’re not alone in this mission to which God has called us.

To God be the glory!

Hans

Ogamboki? (The Ugandan equivalent of “what’s the good word?”)

Micah and I are doing really well.  We’re sitting at a cafe in Jinja, working on different things that we can’t do as easily in the village (such as contact family, update the blog, work on college application essays, or organize Lusoga information).  I’ve been in town for a little over a week now (the longest I’ve gone without being in the village since coming to Uganda).  My primary mission during this town time was to finish my application for Moody Bible Institute (this is where Janna and I are feeling led to for Fall 2012).  I am hoping to study applied linguistics, and Janna is wanting to study TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages).  We’ll hear back in the middle of January if we are accepted – any prayers for us as we wait will be greatly appreciated!  Anyhow, amidst the town time I’ve had, I knew that it was time to give you guys another glimpse into what our lives have been like.  Almost all of these pictures have longer stories behind them that could be told – I hope that I get a chance to share some of them with you when I return next year.

If you didn’t already know, the word is out – a new pair of little feet will be joining the Jore family! We’re so happy to see this family grow!

Such an amazing family! We’re privileged to be with them.

This little girl is such a ballerina princess – she’ll even tell you such herself! This picture was taken at Hannah’s ballet recital.

There is little better than watching a boy and his father enjoy each other.

God continues to paint beautiful sunsets on our side of the world. How about yours?

Friends, welcome to one of the first steps of the process which gives you what you use so often and love – sugar. The sugar cane sticks are being squeezed by the teeth that are being turned by the cow.

This place is becoming my favorite spot to be in the evenings!

We invested in some Thanksgiving meal! Mr. Gobbles is fattening up on Nate’s land, to be enjoyed later this month.

The Creator captivates this Christian continually!

How about those colors!

Micah and I are with our friends Henry and Godfrey in this picture. We’ve been seeing a lot of Henry out in the village recently

All this water is completing covering Nate’s bridge – the very bridge we had been hoping to work on this day!

Somebody enjoyed the water!

We added a culvert to the two that Nate’s bridge already had. Recently, any big rain has flooded the bridge, so we are hoping that this will help to handle the extra water.

We’ve lengthened and built up the walls on Nate’s bridge as well

You can see here some of the work we accomplished one day.

I couldn’t pass up an opportunity with wet cement!

As you can see, village work isn’t the easiest on our clothes. This pair of pants has had two different large rips now mended – I’m giving the Jinja tailors too much business!

So one day after lunch, Godfrey and Micah chased down and killed Mr. Monitor, who was in Nate’s garden.

Micah thought they shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to share him with someone else – so I had the pleasant surprise of finding him on my desk chair when I entered my room!

Well, I decided that the sharing shouldn’t stop with me. So we decided that Mr. Monitor had at least one more visit to make…

So Nate became the target of the next practical joke!

After calling Nate to come visit us down at the boys’ quarters, we lay in wait to watch Nate’s reaction to finding his sandals’ companion. I missed capturing the perfect moment, but I can assure you – it was a success.

Judah was being a wonderful little brother by trying to convince Hannah that the monitor was really only asleep, and that it was liable to wake up at any moment to chase her and bit off her toes 😉

I’ve been continuing to enjoy my camera and the new things I am learning about it. I’m so thankful that my dad decided to upgrade to a new before I left, and that he gifted me with the old one. It might be old, but it still works great!

For a while, I’ve had the urge to make a slingshot to have here in Uganda. With Bosco this past week, I’ve done just that. We’re now waiting to acquire the rubber to finish it off. Soon the creatures of Uganda will have something to fear!

I was greatly gifted by being able to watch the baptism of Eden Anderson (who will be my niece come May 2012) via skype.

This is Janna’s sister and brother-in-law, who are Eden’s baptismal sponsors.

Meet Anika, the lively daughter of renowned photographer Abby Anderson. Before leaving for Uganda, Anika’s parents asked me to join Janna in being her baptismal sponsor. It’s been a privilege to pray for her.

She’s a fun and fiesty little girl!

 

There’s many things that Uganda has been teaching me.  Several things have reminded of different themes that can be found in Scripture.  A couple months ago, a friend’s trial reminded me of God’s just judgment, what eternal sentence all sinners deserve, and Christ’s redemption.  You see, Nate ended up paying the bail for our friend after he unjustly was found guilty (the corruption in Uganda is widespread and deep).  Our friend’s life was ransomed from 9 months in an earthly prison.  Though you have been justly found guilty of transgressing the one, true, holy God, Jesus Christ paid His life as a ransom so you wouldn’t have to spend forever in an eternal prison.  The reality of Christ’s redemption came to life in beautiful new ways for our friend.  As thankful as he was to Nate, Micah, and me for what we had done for his immediate problem, he was incredibly more thankful for what Christ has done for his sin problem.

(You’ll find in the following analogy several places where it breaks down.  Bear with me and just try to see what I’ve been learning.)  The thing in Uganda that has most recently made me think about a Biblical theme is…chickens.  I have such a mixture of emotions concerning chickens…but the primary emotion that I feel towards them is…wrath!  Chickens are constantly transgressing me (& Micah).  And what has become all too clear is that, although their lives are in our hands, chickens don’t have a lasting fear of us.  In the moment in which I pour out my wrath upon them, they are sure to fear me and flee.  But it seems that within minutes, they have forgotten their fear and are back at it, doing that which should not be done.  

 

You see, Micah and I have a holy of holies out in the village – it is our boys’ quarters.  Though we are at work in all of the compound (like God is at work in the world), the boys’ quarters is our special dwelling place.  Just as a regular, old Israelite was not supposed to waltz into the holy of holies because of his uncleanness, so the chickens are not to enter into our home.  It is off limits!  But…they trespass.  They don’t fear.  They spread their filth and eat our food.  Though I could utterly destroy the chickens for what they do, I choose to show them mercy.

No matter how many times I chase them away from their trespassing (I should mention that chickens have also been heavy trespassers of Nate’s home garden – this thing ought not to be done!), they are constantly are returning to it.  These chickens often seem hopeless to me.  But friends…I am the chicken!  Not just because Godfrey calls me his “stubborn chicken” – because I constantly seem to not be walking with a fear of God.  I dabble in sin time and time again, though God is constantly chasing me away from it.  Thankfully, I have an incredibly merciful master, One who actually loves me in ways that I never have and never will love chickens.  I deserve to face the righteous wrath of God, but I don’t have to!  Thanks be to Jesus Christ, I will not face the wrath of God when I am judged.  It is ridiculous to think of looking at a chicken and seeing it as innocent – ridiculous!  But how much more ridiculous is it that God looks at the believer who is in Christ, and He sees His Son’s righteousness?!  Ridiculous!  Wonderful!

When chickens bother me by getting into our dishes like this one, I feel like preaching a Law verse such as Ezekiel 7:4 - "And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

Friends, rejoice today in the truth of what Jesus Christ did for you, though you were completely undeserving.  Because of Jesus Christ, you don’t have to face the wrath of God.  John 3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

So glad I’m a “stubborn chicken” with a merciful Master!

Gospel truth - "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Thanks for following us, friends!  We’ll be sending out in the next week a more detailed email update on how our lives and ministry are going!

Hans

We leave tomorrow!  It’s finally here!  Booya!

Micah and I are very excited to be off.  This time of preparation has been truly blessed, but now we are looking forward to our imminent immersion into a very different world.  I am eager to begin the day-to-day life of living in Uganda.  I know that it will be a big change, and I am sure to be stretched a lot.

Here is our itinerary for our travel these next two days:

2:05pm – Depart Minneapolis for Chicago (1.5 hr flight)

8:05pm – Depart Chicago for London (7.66 hr flight)

9:45am – arrive in London

11.5 hour layover in London

9:15pm – Depart London for Entebbe (a couple hours away from Jinja) (8.5 hr flight)

7:45am – Arrive in Entebbe, Uganda!!!

As you remember us, could you cover us in prayer?  I know that God has already been hearing and answering the prayers that have been so faithfully prayed for us.

A praise: my dad decided to get a new camera, so he gave me his old one (and I really like it!).  I’ll be using it to post pictures of our adventures in Uganda (my goal is once/twice a month).

Just some of the friends to whom I have recently had to say "goodbye" - there have been a lot of those lately!

Micah and I should be arriving in Uganda about 48 hours from now!  Praise the Lord!

Psalm 115:1 – “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!”

To God be the glory!

Hans

For those who have not yet received the news – I am engaged.  To Janna Fugleberg.  God is good.

I won’t use this blog to share the story of our relationship or how the proposal occurred, but I thought I would publish the news in one more corner of the cyber world in case some of you hadn’t yet heard.  If you want to hear about either of those stories, just let me know – they’re fun to tell.

Here are some of our engagement pictures that were taken by Abby Anderson (Janna’s sister):

Abby was able to catch a wonderful sunset. One thing that Janna and I love doing is standing in awe of our Creator

Janna and I love to laugh - this was after twirling Janna in the air and getting very dizzy

Janna and I love to play - we're both very much golden retriever personality types. At the end of our session with Abby, we took some pictures of Janna and I fighting with the Mashoongas that I bought her for a graduation gift. This capture and editing by Abby was accidental - while working on it, she noticed that it looked like Janna and I were holding up the Cross. Though unintentional in this case, this is exactly what Janna and I want to do throughout our lives - lift high the cross and point people to Jesus!

I look forward to being her walking companion for the remainder of my earthly life after May 26th

Reeses has been a thematic candy in our relationship

 

She's got amazing eyes - I could do this for a long time!

To look at more of the engagement photos, check out http://www.hansandjanna.studioaphoto.net.  Thank you, Abby Anderson!

Janna and I are planning on getting married after I get back from Uganda.  We are looking at May 26th as a wedding date.

Thanks for your prayers!  May the Lord bless you!

To God be the glory,

Hans

 

No more classes of Revelation at 8 AM on Monday mornings.  No longer will I sit through the stories of Pastor Lee as he teaches about the history of Henry XIII and the English Reformation or Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement.

This Saturday, I received a diploma from the Association Free Lutheran Bible School.  They congratulated me on graduating.  There was a grand service on the campus by the shores of Medicine Lake, celebrating what God had done in the lives of many in the past couple years.  Was it wrong?  No.  But I want to always have a clear understanding about something: Nobody graduates from being a student of the Bible.

My time as an AFLBS student is done.  My time as a student of the Bible is not.  My desire and prayer is that I would continue to grow in my relationship with the Lord everyday – and the primary means by which the Lord causes this growth in my life is through His Word.  That Word is effective to expose sin in my life, convict me of it, comfort me with the promises of the gospel, and sanctify me.  May I never lay aside this Word.

A temptation that Micah and I will likely face during our time in Uganda is to lay aside that Word as we become very busy and involved in various things.  God’s Word should never take backseat to a busy schedule.  Actually, it is probably a good idea to spend more time in God’s Word as schedules get more busy.  The more I can meditate on the Word of God throughout my day when I am very busy, the better.

So was it wrong to have a graduation service from Bible School?  Like I said already, no.  The students graduating definitely came to the end of a phase in their lives.  It was good to look back and see the faithfulness of God over the past couple years.  The important thing to remember is that we need God’s Word just as much the day after graduation as we did all the days before.  We can never stop studying His Word.  I’m never going to know everything about what’s contained in that amazing book – not during this life.  And I don’t think you are going to either.  I hope that you’ve been witnessing in your own life the blessings of spending time in the Word of God.