Life As A Foolish, Weak, Lowly Vessel of God

Elisa, John, Kazibwe, and I lovin the church-wide fellowship.

Matoke, beans, rice, greens, and posho. Servin it up Ugandan style.

Anette, a teacher at our primary school was baptized at our 4 year anniversary.

We made a mail run today. By we I am not including myself. It would be more accurate to say that we sent for the mail. You see, there is no mailbox here in the village. The mail comes to the post office in Luwero, the nearest town about 35 minutes from Kubamitwe, and it sits in our PO Box until we send for it and a boda man brings the whole lot of letters and packages, sans junk mail because paper isn't wasted here in Uganda on super saver coupons.

The rambling about our means of mail delivery is to say that today was a very special mail delivery day because it brought me three sweet letters from three special people. Two were from aunts of mine just writing about how they are praying for me and all that the Lord is doing in their lives back home in Georgia, complete with some much appreciated VIA Packets. The other was from one of my dearest friends, Lizzie Griffith. We had agreed before I left that we would write each other while I was gone, the old fashioned way. I'm pretty sure the agreement was based on our mutual love for adorable stationary, but a deal is a deal, and I am much appreciative of this said agreement.

I opened the letter with a smile on my face because if it was nearly as funny as our text messages that I have been missing dearly, then I knew that it was going to be a good read. And the letter didn't disappoint. I will admit, it made me miss home a bit, but the end of the letter was the best part. The Lord had used 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 to encourage Lizzie recently and she was inspired by the Spirit to share it with me, so I have chosen to share it once more, probably the millionth time it has been shared since Paul was inspired to write it to the Corinthians hundreds of years ago:

"For consider your calling brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"

This encouragement could not have come at a better time. Much of what I have been doing the past few weeks is considering my calling. I am going to be honest and admit that there have been more than a few times that I have asked myself, "What am I doing here?" and "How am I supposed to make any sort of difference when there is so much to be done?". I am not the most talented, I am not the smartest, I am flawed, I am easily discouraged, and there are more times than I can count that my faith is not strong, but rather it falters and I choose to turn to myself rather than the Lord.

This verse was exactly what I needed to read when I opened one of my first letters here in Uganda. Consider your calling…consider that God has chosen what is weak to shame the strong, consider that God has chosen what is low and despised so that we will not boast. He gave us Christ Jesus, who became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. What more do we need? There is no requirement that I be the best communicator, that I know how to handle every interpersonal situation that arises, or that I have the ability to review all conversations and relationships with perfect discernment. The requirement is that I proclaim salvation that comes through Jesus Christ and allow the Lord to work through me so that all of my boasting and bragging can be on the things that God is doing through me and the people I get to serve with here at SOS Ministries.

Speaking of bragging…

We just had the privilege of hosting a team from Placerita Baptist Church and Legacy Christian Academy in Santa Clarita, CA for a week and with their help we were able to plant over 200 fruit bearing trees at the houses of the students that attend our primary school here so that they can grow, harvest, and share some of the fruit with the school to supplement the students' lunches. We built a kitchen for a mother in a neighboring village so that she can provide food for her children even when it is raining outside, avoiding cooking over an open fire in the pouring rain. A full size soccer field was built enabling SOS to host the local villages' soccer games and use them as an opportunity to share the gospel with the athletes. There was  a date night at the church for 35 married couples who had most likely never been on a date before talking about how marriages are created by God to represent Christ and the Church and couples are to complete one another and help each other love Jesus more. We celebrated the 4 year anniversary of Community Bible Church of Kubamitwe, serving a celebratory lunch to over 500 people from the surrounding villages. And lastly, witnessed 14 baptisms from different believers in the church who had recently accepted Christ as their Savior or had chosen to make their profession of faith public after many years of salvation.

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. He has been so kind to the ministry of SOS here in Kubamitwe, the surrounding villages, and in the churches all over Uganda. Many meetings have been taking place between SOS and the leaders of the Baptist Union of Uganda which oversees over 1500 churches all over the country. God is at work here in Uganda. He is calling the Church back to himself and using many men and women to bring truth to churches that are lacking anything similar to that.

Please be in prayer for the people of Uganda, for the Baptist Union, for the people of Kubamitwe and the villages that surround it, and for all of us here at SOS. Pray that we can have love for all that we come in contact with, that we aren't overwhelmed by the need, and that we can find our strength from the Lord when our bodies and minds are tired.

I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 again and praise God for his kindness in using those who are broken and incapable for the advancement of his Kingdom, and pray that he will show you how you can be used to further his Kingdom wherever he has you today.