Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

17 February 2019

Many of you may have noticed Peggy has written most of the recent blogs after we had to change the name because of the situation here. I am grateful that she has been willing to do this. The reason is I have finally started writing the book which some of you knew was in the back of my mind for years. Along the way I have received a lot of insight about how to approach getting it published and a major requirement for an unknown author is to have a complete text of all the chapters. I am now about one third of the way along with an estimated thirty chapters-this weekend I finished chapter ten which will be the most difficult one. Why do I think the world needs another book? Well, the answer is to provide another example of the fabulous grace of God extended to me over the years I have known Him. The few others who may find themselves in a similar situation can take heart that God is faithful in grasping us by the hand (Ps 73; 21-26) and leading us through some things worse than death. It is not really a biography but centers on the greatest crisis of my life and how He delivered me through it. My faith is, if the story proves to be worth while, it will be published, if not may it fall to the ground. I am hoping to finish by the end of this year and start looking for an agent. In any case, I will have a little more time to help with the blogs because the rest of the book principally rests on recorded material already in my diaries.

Meanwhile we want to bring you up to date on what is going in our discipleship program. All the text for handouts has finally been completed. The handouts are original but the outline follows a scheme used by CRU (old Campus Crusade for Christ)-WIN, BUILD, SEND with five major divisions under WIN and SEND and ten under BUILD. By the way, those of you who have not read Amazing Faith, a biography of Bill Bright’s life, are missing out on a great story. After you have finished look up the statistics on what CRU is doing.

The scheme for approaching discipleship here is training individuals who come for our teacher training program and the medical programs at Machame, the location of a fine old mission hospital further up the mountain in the rain forest. These programs last for three years and a lot of discipleship training can be done in three years. The students who finish these programs are going to spread out literally over all the nation. The medical trainees will be virtually guaranteed jobs since medical care is still scarce here. The situation with teachers is a little different but when our school is accredited, the well trained teachers should have no trouble finding really good jobs.  Getting into the discipleship training program is purely voluntary and most are not interested because of the extra time requirements, we meet on Saturday morning or on Sunday. The reason I am so enthusiastic about these programs is they get training which will enable them to support their families when they marry (most of the students are in their mid-twenties) and they catch a vision for being disciple makers. From the standpoint of long term spiritual investment one could hardly ask for something better. The unemployment rate here is above 40% and looks nearly as bad for university graduates unless one is really wise about choosing a course of studies or has connections which most do not.

Here is what we put in our discipleship overview handout and require the students to learn by heart:

1. Disciple of Christ-definition
2. Discipleship-what is it
3. Disciple of Christ-character

Definition-A disciple of Christ has: 1. a consuming passion for the person of Christ, 2. an unshakable confidence in the word of Christ and 3. a complete commitment to Christ in obedience, worship and service.

Discipleship consists of four things based on Luke 14:27-33:
1. Love for the Master which makes all other loves look like hatred in comparison (including the natural instinct to live)
2. Abandonment of our own aims, ambitions, desires and goals to Him (taking up our own cross to follow Christ)
3. Planning and sacrifice must be taken into account
4. All our possessions must be devoted to the interests of the kingdom of God

 Character of a Disciple (2 Tim 3:10, 11):
1. Sound teaching (accurately handling the Word)                 6. Love
2. Godly conduct                                                                     7. Perseverance
3. Purpose                                                                                8. An example in persecution
4. Faith                                                                                     9. Suffering in varied circumstances
5. Patience                                                                               10. Endurance

If you would like to get more personally involved in these programs let us know.

Personally we are in our hot, dry, but humid season as we await the long rains. The wind comes up in the evenings and blows the loose dust over everything. We are thankful that this season is short lived. The positive things are that farmers are plowing the fields, so we have many transient species of birds. As I write this, the Superb Starlings are splashing vigorously in the bird baths by the porch. I also see a Common Bulbul and the spotted breasted morning thrush taking dips and many variable sunbirds. We do live in an exquisite location for birds. I forgot to mention the Yellow Fronted Canary that just flew in. along with the Baglafecht weaver. AND, oh my, a gray headed Kingfisher just arrived!! I should write about birds more often.

Life is still a bit hectic at the village with 15 students going out each day for secondary school attendance mandated by the government, while we struggle to get our lab construction far enough along as the rules seem to keep changing. Our goal now is the Easter break. I am only TOO ready for all our children to be back at the Village. For now the children leave at 6 AM to walk to the local school (2.5 miles away) which begins at 7:15 and then back home, arriving around 6 pm just in time for dinner. I hold the Rafiki Bible Study for them on Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7 to 7:30 and they can hardly stay awake. It is indeed a long day for them also. We have one lab completed with just equipment outfitting  needed so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Kent and I are looking forward to spending a few days in London with Anna and Andrew on our trip to Florida. We will only be away from the village for a bit more than 2 weeks as the Nickels (village administrator and family) need to also travel to Florida for the Enrichment meeting (like a spiritual emphasis week in college). We are thrilled to be traveling back with the Alexanders, friends from Bismarck, ND who act as our business administrators and power of attorney when we are in Africa. They will then be staying with us for three weeks. I will say that life seems to spin away here!!! I also must say that I have missed the adventure of the ND winter this year, but NOT the below zero temperature OR the snow. Snow on the mountain is just fine with me.