Author: rhondajwelch

In the last few months Christian has had the opportunity to preach in many places. Every week he goes to the prison near us and preaches and teaches to over one hundred men. In the few months since he started going there fourteen men have given their lives to follow Christ. He has been able to give out close to one hundred bibles to the men there and audio bibles in their language that they can listen to. He takes razors, soap and for their literacy program we give notebooks and pens.

Last month he was able to go to Kampala and preach in a slum where there are many drug addicts and prostitutes. Raelee and I stayed at a hotel, it is hard for me to not be with him when he preaches but it is harder to sit among hundreds of people and half of them sit staring at us instead of hearing what is being preached! Even in our church services where there aren’t many people, I sit in the back and many of the people sit through the service turned around staring at me. It is uncomfortable to say the least, both because it is awkward to be stared at but also because it takes away from them hearing the word of God.

There were eight people saved at that conference. We are thankful that Christian is able to travel and preach. We feel God is calling him to preach the word not only in our community but all over Uganda. He will be speaking at a youth conference in November and has been asked to go way up north to a very poor area to preach in the future.

Right now he is preparing to teach classes to Pastors how to study their Bibles. There have been so many outside influences here, many denominations come in and the result is many people take a little from this and a little from that and then mix in the Muslim culture, while still holding on to what the witch doctors teach. There is way too much wealth and prosperity preaching. A lot of Pastors don’t even know scripture well enough to teach it. The challenge for Christian as he prepares this is finding the materials to teach from. He would like to teach them how to study with resources like concordances so that they can really get an understanding of scripture but so far we can’t even find actual study Bibles. We are praying God provides everything he needs to help these men to deepen their knowledge of the word and be able to go back to their churches and really begin to teach and disciple their congregations.

If you would like to help with Bibles and audio Bibles or contribute to the ministry as Christian travels please visit themandate.com

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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Thanks to the generosity of the ladies of Good Hope Baptist Church in Anacoco, Louisiana in August I was able to give out receiving blankets to forty-five pregnant women so far. They donated about 200 blankets I believe. I have to say it has been very challenging to give them out – it is always challenging to give anything away, I usually try to wait until there are visitors to give things away. It takes the pressure off of me, when I run out of things to give there are always rumors and doubts that I really have more but am hoarding them for myself! I also told the women that I often buy mats to help out, I would much rather buy something than for someone to come and just ask for a handout. I have bought fifteen mats so far. There was a condition to receiving the blankets, when the babies were born they had to bring them by so that we could see the new bundles of joy! I have had some come by and am waiting to see the rest as they come into the world!

Thank you ladies for your giving hearts and all the work you have done with dolls, pads for the girls and the blankets. I know that as you make them you pray over everyone thing you are working on! I believe those prayers, the work of your hands and joy you get from making and buying things for people here won’t go to waste in God’s Kingdom!

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,and one who waters will himself be watered.  Proverbs 11:24-25

We went to visit Ndianga at his home on Tuesday before he went for his last visit to the doctor who did the surgery in August. He has been going every month to see how his progress is coming along. He and his wife were so happy we came to see them, she brought out enough food to feed about eight Americans – we do not eat as much as they do! He is so very grateful to us and the Mandate for allowing him to have this surgery. We were mistaken about when he had the wreck that left him cripple, instead of five years ago it had actually been twelve years. So for twelve years he has had pain and trouble walking. His therapy and healing is coming along well, he says he is so happy that he had the surgery. He has a little ways to go before he is one hundred percent, he still has a limp but yesterday at his check-up the doctor told him that because he has had the limp and uneven leg length that his hip and buttock muscles had atrophied so much that it will take a little while of walking to strengthen those muscles and be able to walk normally. On Tuesday he still had the crutch but when he went back on Wednesday the doctor took the crutch and told him he needs to walk slowly with small steps without it. He doesn’t have to go back for six months unless he has problems. When he stopped by Wednesday on the way home from the check-up he walked for us without the crutch. It has been such a blessing to see the joy in him for the gift of healing him from something he has had to deal with for twelve years. He looks so much healthier, I told him he is fat now, his face is filled out and looks so good. He laughed and laughed at that!

We told him that it is God that has blessed him, and we are His hands and feet. We explained to him that we have grown to love him and that his character and honesty and the fact we can depend on him for anything we need is what has brought that blessing to him. We continue to pray for him and wait for the day he is back to driving the tipper and we get to see his smiling face everyday!

On a side note, I am sorry I don’t get posts up regularly. Just for this post it has taken me and hour and a half just to get the picture, video clip and paragraph. With all I have to do in a day it is hard to sit down and upload pictures and write so I end up just posting our daily life on Facebook and Instagram. I do not friend many people on Facebook – mainly close friends and family. But I can be followed on Instagram at roxxiheart64!

On Sunday Ndianga had his surgery, all went well. We made it to the hospital an hour before surgery, praying the entire way we would. The Dr. had told us it would be on Monday but if he got admitted early enough on Saturday they may do it Sunday. We got the call Saturday night they would be doing it Sunday. Because of fears of hospitals they don’t tell patients what time their surgery is. The Dr said because they get too stressed out. Not knowing would stress me out more I think! Also because of fear they mostly don’t put patients under, the fear is great about not waking up again. So, with local anesthesia he made it through and we went in and prayed with him again before we left. He wanted me to take a picture and tell everyone that helped make his surgery possible that he is so grateful and thank you very much! On Monday and Tuesday they had him up and walking with nurses supporting him. Tuesday they stopped the hard pain killers and the update today was he slept all night last night! If all keeps going so well he will come home on Sunday or Monday. Keep him in your prayers for his ongoing recovery and again many thanks for helping our friend.

We finally got to meet the new Chairman of the village. He is a businessman, doesn’t speak English but very friendly and seems to be happy to work alongside us. We talked about leaving the past in the past and starting fresh with him, he said he didn’t know anything about the past before us so we really would have a fresh start! We are praying for a good friendship with him, that he is a good leader to the people in our community and that we can work together. One thing that was encouraging to us…he and his family eat rabbit! We’ll see what comes out of that, he could be a big influence to the community and our project.

Sorry to everyone that follows by email! I got the video fixed…

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.  1 Timothy 2:1-3

Tuesday was the first time in twelve years there was a vote for new LC 1’s. An LC is “Local Community Chairperson” and there were seats up for election (or re-election) in 60,800 villages. An LC 1 assists in maintaining law, order and security as well as receive and solve problems or disputes in villages.. There are five levels of LC’s, the highest level being LC 5 who is over an entire district.

We knew that the Chairman that was here when we came had been in office for twelve years and we just thought it was because he was well-loved, respected and had done much for the community. Now we know that he has been in office because there has been no voting for change in twelve years. I am not disputing any of the things we previously thought, truth is we don’t really know. Since we don’t always get information, or truth it is hard to know what really goes on. I do know that until the last year he has always been helpful to us, always tried to place bore holes where they were most needed to benefit the village and is a very friendly man. About a year ago we thought they were going to vote and heard a lot of rumblings of unhappiness with him. We now believe that was just the beginning of campaigning and wanting to oust him.

Monday night we were told that he had dropped out of the race, which was shocking for us. We talked with him last week about future plans for bore holes and there wasn’t any talk about it. We will probably never know the truth of it, we’ve heard rumors today but the one person I know tells me the truth in everything told me she didn’t have enough facts to tell me why and she wasn’t going to speculate or spread rumors. I have a lot of respect for her, rumors are always rampant here! She did tell me what happened at the polls. There were two different men to vote for, one is a Muslim, a business man that we have never met and she knows him to be a good man. The other was our former farm manager, who apparently had made a lot of promises using The Mandate’s name and then couldn’t make them happen. To the community he proved himself a liar and has brought shame on himself since leaving us. As my friend and “little sister” said “Pride will always be a person’s undoing”. And she is right. Christian and I cried today when we heard the things that happened at the voting. He was like a son to us and over the past two years we have done everything a parent and friend could do to set him on the right path. But he let pride and other influences rule. Even up to two weeks ago, we tried again to give him another chance and let him work on a job for us, which caused all kinds of trouble for us but he still couldn’t stop himself from the pride and building himself up. Then when he realized he was in trouble for saying too many things he couldn’t get us to do it was too late. We believe in second chances, in his case third and fourth chances but we can’t let one person bring down all that we have tried to do here. We say “he brought it on himself” but we say it with great sorrow. We know he had bad influences but he also had wise counsel and he made his own choice of which to listen to.

Because many of the people in our village don’t have national ID’s the Electoral Commission representatives had both candidates stand and then whoever was voting for each made a line behind the candidate they wanted to be Chairman and the representatives counted the people in each line. It was said that the line for the farmer went from the village center almost to the main road (very long line!) but there weren’t as many in the other line – even his brothers and other family members stood in the other candidates line. When the representatives investigated, the majority were under the age of eighteen – too young to vote.  So they were sent from the line. This made them and their candidate mad and they began stoning people. My friend said she was hit with big rocks and it was awful. The police came but before they got there all of them, including our farm manager/candidate ran and hid. She said that later there were some supporters for him that came and said they realized then that he was a coward. I say all of this with great sadness. My friend said she and her family have been praying about this election and we need to keep praying for the new chairman. I told her we need to pray even for the other candidate, he also needs many prayers.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:43-45

I don’t know where we go from here, we hope to meet the new Chairman soon. Our current farm manager and good friend has been the Vice Chairperson for many years and I was afraid that her position might be up in the air with the new Chairman. It worried me so much that I walked down to her house to talk with her and found out that there was a vote last week among just the women of the village and a new Vice Chairperson was voted in. When the ladies asked for the day off to go and vote for a new woman leader we weren’t told that was the position Jenifer held. (See how we are left in the dark so much of the time?!) She said she was excited because it is her best friend and that she nominated her. She is an advisor to her now. With the other, we are pretty sure that just as we were used in promises we will be used in excuses for failure but we will survive that too. God is in control of it all and we pray that this new man can bring peace and growth to our community. And we pray for Bakali, that God will change his heart and help him see the error of his ways. God will forgive him, we forgive him, we love him and if he repents and truly means it we will be there for him.

All you prayer warriors keep our village lifted up and join us in prayer for the new leader. He will need it, all leaders need it. As I told my friend, even if we don’t like who our leader is, we are still to pray for them. Governing and leading others is a heavy burden, especially to good men. I printed out a list for her with specific things we can pray for the new Chairman.

And as always, pray for each other.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

Christian and I have many many conversations about what it will take to reach people who are so entrenched in their culture, the mix of western religions that have passed through for so many years and believe that it is okay to mix them all together? He has taught Bible study and I have taught the children for over two years now, teaching that it all comes down to the relationship you have with Jesus and only Jesus. And still we get questions about worshipping spirits, lying and actions not lining up with words. We have watched growth in the two women who claim to be Christian and try very hard to learn the Bible, learn how to live the Christian life, yet because of their culture they struggle in so many areas. We spend a lot of time with them, know their hearts and that they love Jesus in earnest. But then they will ask a question that is so contrary to what we try to live and teach, it just shows us that not only is it a struggle for us but how much more the struggle is for those who truly want to follow Christ but don’t know how to separate the gospel from the culture and rituals that are all they’ve ever known. They believe they are born Muslim and can become Christians but not turn away from all that was taught before. And most really don’t know what Islam really is any more than they understand what Christianity is.

Ancestral worship is believing in the spirits of the dead. It is founded on the belief that the dead live on and are able to influence the lives of later generations. These ancestors can assert their powers by blessing or cursing, and their worship is inspired by both respect and fear. Many believe, and questions have been asked in Bible study about it, that ancestors can be reincarnated in their descendants. This practice used to be only in secret, shrines were hidden and the practice wasn’t known to neighbors. But over the years it has become widespread. People openly visit shrines to seek healing power from the spirits. Traditional healers today openly advertise their services to the public. What are called “traditional healers” were what used to be called witch doctors. There are shrines being put up in more and more places.

 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,  for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. Deut. 18:10-12

It has been said that at least two out of ten Ugandans believe in witchcraft, sacrifice and ancestral guidance. But a survey that was done by the US organization Pew Research Center also showed Uganda is one of the most religious countries in the world. Many people will tell you Uganda is a Christian nation – the survey said nearly nine out of ten people say religion (Christianity or Islam) plays a key role in their lives. Their survey says Uganda ranks 15th in Africa and 20th worldwide in the “most religious” tables. But it also says Uganda takes 2nd spot in East Africa and 11th in Africa in the worship of evil spirits, sacrifices and believing in traditional religious healers. There have been higher numbers of child (and even adult) sacrifices each year, especially around election times.

So, when you look at all of these factors, and that they view Christianity, Islam and traditional religion as all options that can be mixed together, you can understand what we face everyday when trying to witness about Jesus as Savior. If you wear the garments for Islam you are a Muslim, if you go to church and have a Bible you are Christian but you were born a Muslim so you mix a little from here and a little from there. If you aren’t getting the results you want from either of those, you can still go to the traditional religious leader for quicker results (or so they believe).

Even though we teach and talk about how you cannot use “but that’s how we Africans are” to validate cheating, lying, stealing and disrespect, we still have questions over and over about people who come to church but then go out and lie and steal. We get questions even from the few that we believe are saved about worshipping angels and reincarnation. It astonishes us all the more when we see such growth at one time and then questions like worshipping angels comes up. The longer we live here the more we learn but it is so slow it feels like we really don’t know anything. I am reading “African Christian Ethics” and the author states that failure to understand African traditional beliefs is the source of many failures to understand African ethical problems and to suggest appropriate solutions in the light of Holy Scripture. It explains a lot about how culture and traditions in Africa defines morals and ethics and how hard that is to change without really knowing what is believed, what has been taught and passed down from generation to generations. We are challenged in learning the traditions specific to our community in that  we only have a couple people that can translate and many times they don’t actually translate but tell us what they think we want to hear. It is hard to find out life stories and what people really think or truth about their lives when every word is put through the filter of “Watch what we say or the Mzungus and the money might disappear”. We ask ourselves and each other so many times “What will it take to reach them?”. That there is a separation from what God’s word says and what other religions say? That you can’t live contrary to what God’s Word says even if you have to stand alone. I spent two weeks teaching the children about salvation – that it isn’t just saying words, coming to Church on Sundays and believing that makes  you saved. That it isn’t just about what you say or do but that you accept Jesus into your hearts and only the Holy Spirit can help you to live for Christ. You can’t do good things and be a good girl or boy and get into heaven without confessing Jesus as your savior. As soon as I was done, my interpreter, who I believe is saved and tries her best to learn God’s Word so that she can live for Him only – tells them that (to sum it all up) if they do good works, be the best they can be, never do bad things like lying, stealing, cheating – then God will let them through the gates of Heaven. I was astonished that after all I said, that is how she took it. Is it just in the translation, was she trying to put it in a way she thought they would understand – is that where the problem lies? Or is it that the truth is just so hard for them to understand in the culture in which they live. In America, contrary to what the media and politicians want people to believe, our nation was founded on God and our values were a result of that. When you come to a culture that doesn’t have that you see the huge difference. I don’t know. Some days I feel like a total failure and don’t know what else to do. But when I pray and meditate on His Word He reminds me that it isn’t up to me to give up, to decide I am failing if I know that I am doing what He has for me to do. I have to ultimately leave it to Him, teach them that in Christ other powers are nothing, be ready when one wakes up to the truth, when He has stirred their heart to His truth and do the best we can to make disciples and help them grow in Christ.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he:before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior. Isaiah 43:10-11

I put together some of the video clips I took. I loved seeing all the different times with the children, the joyful singing with our workers but I think my favorite part is where John is helping the children with their crafts and trying to figure out what they were telling him and their reactions! Again, thank you all for the love, joy and encouragement you gave and are still giving to us!

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. Philemon 1:7