Appleseed Travel Journal

April 28, 2017 — One Man Impacting His Nation

Brooks

Simon and I spent a long time together. He told me story after story with great excitement about everything God is doing in his area. I wish I could share his testimony of going from a drunkard living a very promiscuous and demoralizing life to where he is today, but that is for another time. For now, here is just one example of what God is doing through him in only the short 1.5 years that he has been saved:

“In that far place (in Burundi), I live in Village 6. There I met one lady named Maria. That lady had been sick for 8 years. She was very, very thin, but her stomach was very large as if she was 8 months pregnant, but she was 45 years old. She was trying to get help from the doctor. They told her she had (blood) pressure and they even did an exam by x-ray. They told her that’s why the stomach was so big. She also had been many times to the witch doctor who gave her some herbs. She even went to different churches asking for prayer. I’m telling you this lady was very skinny but the stomach was huge.

“That lady invited me into her house and I prayed for her. I told her that God wants to do a miracle for her. We looked at Scripture together. I lay my hands on her and she started crying. She was saying that something was happening in her body. One month later I went back to that area, near my home. When I was in the street, someone touched me from the back. It was that lady who was crying so very hard because of her joy. She started to give many testimonies of what God had done to other people in that community. She started gathering people through two Discovery Bible Studies (DBS). There were two baptisms there whereby 9 people were baptized. Now in Village 6, there are 5 house churches in the small community and 12 DBS going on now. One guy has even gone to Village 3 with the gospel. You know in that area of Village 3 there are only a few people and they drink that local beer which is very strong. There are many drunkards. Today there has been 5 baptisms in Village 3. There are 2 house churches and 6 DBS that are meeting now in that community. We can only praise God!”

April 25, 2017 — It’s Never Easy

Roger

Lest you get the wrong idea, working with leaders from many different nations in one week of training/coaching… well, it’s not always smooth nor easy.

The schedule is LOOOONG. Prayer began each day at 6:45 am and we were in sessions with someone or some group until 8:30 pm or later.

And, things happen. One young man fell down and began convulsing outside the meeting hall. It was unclear what was happening but he was prayed for while being rushed to the hospital. There was nothing medically wrong, but an overnight in the hospital along with prayers allowed him to rest and he is now fully recovered.

Another evening, a leader was taken away by police due to a ‘misunderstanding’ during the night.

Yep, things happen… and the road to progress is not always an easy one.

Yet… as I reflect back on the week, here is what we are celebrating:

Our guest ‘coach’ Bill Smith affirming that the work taking place in these teams is very effective. They have initiated disciple making movements in an unprecedented manner in this region.
Many people’s lives have been touched through these teams. I am not one for numbers, but as reports came in from each team, it is probably safe to say that at least 25,000 people collectively are being discipled and trained to disciple others.
A new team in Tanzania is doing a wonderful work among unreached people groups in the ‘upcountry’ as well as unreached Muslim groups along the coast.
Many, many wonderful stories of God working in the lives of people through miracles, through the love of these disciples, and simply through the power of God’s Word. See Brooks’ upcoming story.

So, the ‘never easy’ things are well worth it as we see God doing what God does through these teams and through partners like you who walk alongside.

Here are some pictures Brooks took of this past week together with these teams.

April 20, 2017 — Joy, Tears, and Celebrating God

Roger

sunrise in Kampala, Uganda As the sun comes up over Kampala, Uganda, some of the African participants have gathered for a time of early morning prayer. Mid-way through our week with leaders from six nations, we have already celebrated much as well as shed some tears.

We joyfully listened to updates and reports from different teams as they described people being reached in remote places, baptisms taking place indicating that lives are being transformed, and thousands of lives being touched. We have been so encouraged by the overall enthusiasm to reach more, develop many more leaders with a heart to serve and love, and to see thousands of more communities find hope amid darkness.

And, yes, some tears are inevitable as the struggles of leading movements takes its toll. Specifically, one team leader felt the betrayal of several of his key leaders who became greedy for influence and the hope of financial gain. They saw his ‘position’ of leadership as something to be coveted and, therefore, they waged a campaign of slander against him. He is a humble leader and his heart is broken but God is restoring and the work continues.

So what happens in a day of ‘facilitated learning’ with a group of competent, capable movement practitioners?

After prayer and breakfast is a time of worship. No instruments, no drums, just voices. Africans love to sing, worship, move, and praise God. Harmonies come naturally and the room fills with their voices and exuberance. But today, the Congolese are leading worship and everything steps up another notch. Their gift of music and worship is famous throughout Africa and the joy and clapping and dancing moves to a new level.

Richard from Tanzania Next, we hear reports from two of the seven teams, including Richard from Tanzania, who shared this inspiring story with us:

“My brother and a team of four went to an unreached group in a remote area that was far from our big-city home. We asked God for a person of peace. The bus dropped us under a mango tree where we sat for four hours in prayer. It was not until evening that a villager invited us into his home and said we could stay with him. For several days we went from house to house and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No one responded. One morning, we felt that God was leading us to begin walking around the village in prayer. Soon, people began to come out and we began ministering to the sick. God did some miracles and healed and delivered some people. Everything changed from that point on and the work was established and has now grown throughout that area.”

And then… Bill Smith (our guest ‘coach’) and I begin to facilitate some learning experiences. As I write this, Bill is teaching by having the participants act out a portion of the book of Acts and then discovering key leadership and discipleship movement principles.

Finally, the real learning takes place in discussion groups and interaction.

Your love and prayers keep us going!

April 16, 2017 — Easter Kickoff

Roger

map of Uganda Happy Easter! Today, we kick off our week of meetings in which seven teams from six countries have gathered in Uganda. We are joined by Bill Smith whom, at 72 years of age, I like to say “knows more about disciplemaking making movements than anyone else on the planet.” His interacting, coaching, and mentoring will be invaluable to the teams we are working with.

Our focus for this week is five-fold (and your prayers to this end greatly appreciated).

Re-focused and enlarged vision for lostness (faith for seeing thousands of churches rather than hundreds).
Greater commitment to eliminate distractions (very common and difficult, especially as these leaders experience ‘success’ which attracts outside influences).
Tools and encouragement for selecting and training key leaders for future growth.
Discussion about UPG's (unreached people groups) and reaching out cross-culturally. How such work relates to our own mission.
Separate time to minister in a personal way to each leader, specifically around their hearts being refreshed and re-filled.

As shared in our prayer letters, we have already had some challenges which are going to be typical when so many people are involved in such an important time together. But, we are seeing God ‘resurrect’ each and every situation as He typically does! For example, we continue to pray for Steven’s son (Steven is the team leader from DR Congo) who has had a blood infection. And, we thank God that he is improving!

Please continue to pray for grace around travel and logistics as people arrive today!

As Brooks wrote in a prayer letter:

Easter Sunday! SEVEN leadership teams from SIX different countries. We serve a risen Christ! He lives. Here's proof! These folks are representative of what God is doing in these six countries, changing lives, pouring out His Spirit, giving life where it looks like there could be only death. SUPER EXCITING!!! We truly believe this is going to be a springtime, faith building, life-giving week that will encourage, bless and ignite these folks into a whole new season of growth and blossoming of seeds already planted and more, many more to come that will bear much, much fruit.

Thank you so much for your prayers and journeying with us!

A time to share. A time to care. A time to come together. Happy Easter from Safaricom. May peace and love be with you and your family #HappierTogether As a side note, in case you didn’t see my Facebook post, it is nice to have our cell phone provider in Kenya send a warm Easter greeting. Not expecting something like this from my provider back home!

November 7, 2016 — Miracles Still Happen!!

Brooks

Often when in Bikeke we get to visit some of the homes of the vulnerable children attending Liberty School, most of whom would not be attending school at all without the vision of the Director John Wayonye. It’s always a very humbling experience to sit in the dwellings for even a few minutes with the relatives of some of the students and hear their stories.

This particular time, we got to visit a single mom Jentrix Nangami whom we had visited last year. When we reached her place, I couldn’t believe it was the same woman. She was grinning ear to ear, so happy to receive us and especially thrilled to share what’s been going on. She excitedly started with telling us how she was able to “expand” her home to not just one room for the six of them, but now she had “added” to now have two rooms. It was clean, decorated, homey and inviting. I couldn’t possibly tell you what it was like being with this electrifying mom, so I’ll let her tell you herself. Remember English is a second language for her that she rarely uses. We were so grateful for her courage to just step out and talk to us freely without a translator. Here is part of her share:

“By the time my husband died. He left me with five childrens. I was pregnant. My last daughter now she was with me six months pregnant. So by that time, I think this was the end of my life. How will I do with these childrens? My father, he told me, ‘Come, just come home.’ It was very, very painful. I say that I cannot go home because of the death of my husband. I say I will just go back where I was staying. By that time, I was just there (pointing across the marketplace) behind there; I was not working. I am not where I am now. So when I came to the market I was totally naked. My life was very poor. I had no one who can even see me and even assist me in food. It was a very hard life. But, I appreciate God where He assisted me.

“I think where will I with my children be landing. I called the Director to ask for a chance for my childrens. He asked me so many, many questions and I was trying. When he looked at me, he told me God must do very much and you are going very far, because what God can do, no man can do. I appreciate it so much. I feel like, the one who is giving some assistance to him. He took my children, those four of them. The little one was still young. He started life with him and I saw many marvelous things. For the first week the children came back home, I saw, ‘This is my children?’ I was very surprised to look at my children and see them come where I am, ‘Mom, mom!’ I was wondering! ‘Is this my daughters, my children?’ I was wondering. They were wearing very beautiful uniform; they have shoes. Even my neighbors are looking at them. I appreciate that so much. It is true. It is Mungu (God) is the one doing marvelous things.

“So I am continuing with my life. I get a chance in the borehole (well) there. There is one who is there who give me that work there. They give me by the end of the month something small for my assistance. So, I believe in God He can do marvelous things. And I appreciate God and through you I know very well that God has a plan. He said I am going to take your husband, and there are some people who are going to stand with you. … I don’t know what I shall say…you are doing very different things, which when I think or I look at you, I say, ‘Live long!!!’”

To put her whole story in perspective and why it was such a touching time (one of our male team members couldn’t even share he was so emotional because of her very obvious sincere and animated gratitude amidst what in our eyes was extreme poverty). Sitting with her five children and one neighbor girl in a two room “apartment” with barely anything, it was indeed humbling to be with someone showing such obvious gratitude for all God had done in her, for her children, and for their lives as a family. She felt loved, cared about, part of, as well as having dignity as a woman who could exist and provide for her children. She had applied for and been given the job of managing the community borehole (well), where people in the village come, pay two shillings to fill their jerry cans. Her hours? 6am until 7pm with a couple of hours for lunch. Her pay? One thousand shillings a month…$10. Her response? Gratitude.