Pools To Quench their Thirst (Psalm 84:6)

Women in worship at Kayunga

The children sat quietly and listened attentively.

Last week Joe and I had the privilege of visiting the recently developing Mennonite churches in Uganda, a marathon 10 day trip including two days of teaching in two different locations. We were accompanied by one of our Kenyan bishops (Moses Otieno), another newly arrived missionary to Nairobi (Evie Hershey), and the coordinating pastor (Simon Onyango) of the Ugandan churches. At the first location (Kayunga, near Kampala) the congregation was primarily women from three various churches who enthusiastically welcomed us with music, ululations, and dancing. We no sooner were in the tin building structure, and they broke out into simultaneous prayer as a group, worshipping and praising God. Some of these women had walked 6 kms and had slept in the church overnight in order to be there. We could literally feel and sense their commitment to Jesus even though we could not speak to many of them because of the language barrier. Their intense desire to learn and know more was conveyed by their attentiveness to the teaching given and through the questions they asked during the response time. We also introduced our study materials to about 10 groups of women who expressed a desire to study the Bible together, some who were from other denominations. The coordinator’s wife, Alice, will continue to provide leadership and encouragement to these groups. Joe met with the men to discuss and encourage them in strengthening their leadership. Our hearts were blessed and our eyes were opened to the deep need for spiritual nurture and growth. 

Nshure Mennonite Church, with a new addition being built

Women studying the TEE materials

Men in Bible study

The second location was a days drive across Uganda to the western and southern tip to a town called Rukungiri. This was the first place a Mennonite church had been established about 10 yrs. ago. The churches in this area have been struggling because of some conflict among leaders. Although this group was much smaller and less glamourous, we also felt the presence of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts and sensed a deep longing for becoming a people of God. 

During our church service on Sunday, several people felt the need for repentance and prayer. We feel certain God will begin a new thing among them and provide a pool to quench their thirst as they come to him seeking and obeying what he will teach them through the study of the Bible. In these churches, it is the younger people who will be key in helping the older ones to use our materials because they are the ones who know English. Uganda does not use Swahili, so we could only offer English materials that will need to be translated as they work in their small groups. This should produce an interesting interaction and sharing between the young and the old! Pray for the leaders of the groups as they begin to work together in strengthening the church. We have planted the seeds, may God provide the water to quench their thirst!

July - Vacation in USA

"Welcome, Grandma and Grandpa." Kade, Isaiah, and Kathryn,
children of Jon, welcoming us at the Charlotte NC airport.

We spent the month of July on “vacation” in the USA. July has also been a time for other church meetings, especially Mennonite World Conference, which met in Pennsylvania. But we did not attend any of those, since we focused on visiting our family, especially the children and grandchildren in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Sherrie and her girls, Mykah, Zoe, and Gloria, at the
Milford DE Dairy Queen - always a favorite.

We also attended reunions with our siblings. The first was around the funeral of Joe’s father, Eli Bontrager, who passed away just before we left Africa. He was within 3 weeks of his 97th birthday and has been longing for his “transition” for many years. He passed peacefully following a short illness. His funeral was early July. Near the end of July we attended the annual reunion of Gloria’s siblings and their families.

It has been a time for remembering and sharing our rich heritage! We are so blessed and truly appreciate the influence of our families on our lives. Hopefully our children and grandchildren will also treasure the relationships and backgrounds from which they come.

Gloria reading to Ivy, Max, and Kaia, children of
daughter Chris

A picnic at Dismal Falls, Bland VA, with Beth
and Brad and their girls, (left to right) Beverly, Lily, Juliet,
Evie, Beth, Brad.

It has been especially enjoyable to get reacquainted with our thirteen grandchildren, ranging in age from 15 years old to 10 months. What beautiful personalities, exuberant energy and noble spirits they display!

We are writing this on our way back to East Africa, and will complete it after we have arrived in Nairobi. Within our first week back, we expect to engage with the new Mennonite churches in Uganda, then a training seminar in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, finally returning to Sumbawanga to complete the teaching we left in June.

Unfortunately we did not have a chance to see many of you this visit, but we are grateful for your interest and support that we often feel as we move around to encourage leaders.

Note: we arrived in Nairobi, all our flights were on schedule, and we are grateful to arrive safely. Our luggage arrived also. But it was a long trip, about 30 hours from Charlotte to Nairobi, with stops to change planes in Frankfurt, Germany and Doha, Qatar.