“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,” 1 Timothy 1:12

I hope this letter finds you well and continuing on in the love of Christ.

Happy Missionversary! In the month of April we celebrated a whole year of being in Uganda. By God’s grace we have done many things and endured many things, small as they may be, for the sake of Christ and His gospel. We are continually amazed by the opportunities God puts in our path, the grace and strength He gives us as we walk through it, and by the results of our obedience which are most times better than we expected. And then we look at the many people God used to bring and keep us out here, and the fact that each of you made a decision to give and support and pray, being obedient to what God put on your heart. We are humbled by Gods abundant and lavish love on us in such evident form. Praise God with us for the good things He has done, especially the ones He has done here as we celebrate our 1 year mark. And thank you so much for your part in this ministry!

Right now Matt is on an airplane with our good friend and teammate Luke, headed to Mexico to celebrate his brother’s wedding. God answered a direct prayer and allowed Matt to go for the wedding, and we are so thankful! I’ve stayed behind with the kids and am faring well. God has put in place many good relationships in our community and I feel at peace with being here “alone”. We are in good hands here in our little village. Pray for us though, while he’s away, I think by the end of his trip the kids will be out of their minds from missing him. Pray for me too that I would have wisdom and patience.

Last month was eventful. Besides for the normal happenings of studying, classes, and managerial work by Matt, and homeschooling and managing neighborhood kids by me, we’ve had some really cool stuff going on. We’ve seen an increase in the profitability of the clinic here at the Dream Center, which is a huge matter of praise to God. The business end was blessed to expand it’s chicken operation, and to fence off the property to protect crops and assets from cows and anyone taking advantage of the openness of things here. And the first set of pastors just finished their last week of class, which included each pastor teaching through a scriptural theme and presenting the gospel. Later on this month we will see them graduate! 

Please be in prayer for our friend from this community, for his sake I’ll call him Edward. He was friends with the last American who lived in this house, and naturally he came soon after our arrival and wanted to get to know us a bit too. Matt would often sit with him and answer his questions, especially about the Bible, and encourage him to live the way Jesus talked about, since Edward says he is a Christian. Recently through the rumor mill we heard that he has been getting drunk regularly in the village center, which we have since found out to be true through overhearing a conversation of his. We also heard that he was providing his family’s unused hut for prostitution purposes (the women were doing it as an unfortunate way to make ends meet). When we ask him about his life right now he is very closed off, not like before, and when we ask around the topic (indirectly inquiring), it would seem as though these rumors are true. Please pray for Edward. Whether or not he truly is saved we don’t know, but we do know that he’s not living in Christ, and we need to now evangelize to and treat him as if he were an unbeliever. Please pray that the truth would come to light, that he would be convicted by the Holy Spirit and repent of his sinful lifestyle. Pray for his heart to be soft toward the gospel and that he would hope in Christ to satisfy him.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.
In Christ,
Matt, Noelle, Emma, Maddie and Noah