Monday, May 21, 2007

"We will bury you within 10 days..."

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits..."

Hello dear friends,

Thank you for blessing us with your prayers. We have all been healthy now for the past couple of weeks. The Lord has been faithful. We have recently become aware of some difficult situations around us. The Devil is busy doing his work of stealing, killing, and destroying, and we need your continued prayers to stand against him.
  • One young man, a member of our church, is in need of our prayers. He was informed by members of his clan that the demons had selected him to come back to the village and serve full-time in the shrines. They said that the demons had selected him even before he was born and that now it was time for him to fulfill his role. He refused, saying that now he is following the Lord and is free from that bondage. They responded that the demons would come and kill him. "We will bury you within 10 days," they told him. He is not worried because he is confident in the Lord's power over darkness. However, he has been experiencing a lot of spiritual oppression since they came to him.
  • A neighbor girl who frequently comes over to play with our boys and to help Rhoda in the kitchen was raped this past week. She is twelve years old and has had to go to the hospital since the incident. Sin is so ugly.
  • Another neighbor woman confided to us this weekend that her husband beats her and is "very dangerous." He does not work so she has been trying to provide for the needs of her family but is struggling to make enough money to pay for her kids' education.
  • The lady that has lived on our compound and helped Rhoda with housecleaning since shortly after we arrived in November just moved out this past week. She left us with many unanswered questions and concerns, and we were hurt by her deceitfulness to us. We all loved and trusted her and are saddened by her leaving. She just came to the Lord in January, and we are praying, first of all, that her commitment to follow Jesus was real, and if so, that she would stand strong in her young faith as she goes now to live with Muslim family members.
  • The "Jinja for Jesus Crusade" just completed here. It sounds wonderful, but the "heavily annointed woman of God" leading it preaches a message that is purely health, wealth, and prosperity. It is so blatant that people are invited to come and receive prayer only after giving money. Benny Hinn was also just here this past weekend announcing, "come and receive your miracle... you will not leave empty-handed." There is a real battle for the truth. The great majority of churches are moving in the direction of prosperity theology. I am thankful that our churches have not gone after that, but we are still concerned that this false teaching here in Uganda is spreading.
  • Please join us in prayer for the Jesus Film Campaign we are holding that will run from June 27 - July 15. We have designated Saturday, June 2 as a day for fasting and prayer for this campaign. We know prayer is vital because of the spiritual opposition that is sure to accompany this film showing. The plans are coming together well so far. Please pray for the team from the States and Tanzania who are preparing to assist in this campaign and who will be arriving here in just a month.
Thank you to all who have let us know you are praying for Rhoda's Sunday School kids since we mentioned them in our last prayer update. We have attached a couple pictures of a few of the regulars.

Thank you for standing with us!

In Him,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah, & Judah