A Week in the Life of Ben and Jessie

I know it is hard to believe, but it really is me again…already. We had to make a quick run into town today to pick up some food and other supplies so I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to give you all a quick run-down of this past week. I will also be trying to get more pictures uploaded to the blog (www.benandjesse.blogspot.com).

Praise God, classes went very well this week. It was a little scary (ok, scary beyond all reason) getting up in front of all these students on the first day of Philippians class (the toughest one, by far), but God got us through. The first day was mainly introduction of us to the students and vice versa. It is a blessing to get to know these men and women (ages ranging from 18-45) and see their humility and eagerness to learn. English and computer classes went well, also. I wish I had a video of me trying to teach one of the guys how to use a mouse. I almost had to break his finger off just to keep him from constantly pushing the button. The whole concept of moving the mouse on a horizontal plane and seeing your pointer move in the corresponding vertical plane was not something a lot of them were used to either. So far, we have taught them how to turn the computers on/off, how to open a program (Microsoft Word), and begun to teach them proper hand position for typing. They really like this class and it is easy for us to see progress, which is always a plus.

During one of the afternoons, Ben and I took a break from studying and took a football, soccer ball, and Frisbee out by the dorms and had some good, informal interaction with many of the students. They all really seemed to enjoy the recreation and I think we will be having more of it.

On Saturday night, we had some unexpected guests, Dr. and Mrs. Yri from Norway who were passing through. They have been missionaries here in Tanzania for a long time and became acquainted with Ben during a one-year teaching opportunity Dr. Yri had at AFLBS (our church-body Bible School in Minneapolis). It was good to visit with them. Dr. Yri also said he may have a truck he can sell to us. This would be a real answer to prayer.

Yesterday (Sunday), we were in the nearby village of Gehandu. The day went very well. Ben shared a brief greeting and I shared the main message. Three other guests also showed up at the service: older ladies who have been here for decades translating the Bible from Swahili into the local dialect of Kiiraqw. It was a lot of fun to get to know them.

So, there you have it. That is a week in the life of Ben and Jesse these days. We may be going to spend this coming weekend at a youth camp but those plans are not yet certain. We are also considering whether or not we should use the weekend to go to Arusha and take care of some banking issues, supply needs, etc. We will see.

Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers. Keep praying! We depend on them.

God bless you!

In Him,
Jesse

Making Uganda Home

Well, here we are. Already on our 10th day here in Uganda. First of all, THANK YOU for your prayers & encouraging messages! We have been thoroughly blessed by your support. It means so much to have people back home praying & tracking with us.

Our house is starting to feel more like home as we are slowly purchasing furniture & necessities. We now have a table which we can eat our meals on. It was fun for awhile though to eat our meals on a mat on the floor (Elijah LOVED it). We also have a bed & a desk and a few shelves. And we just had curtains made at the market the other day - they sure add a lot. Each day we've had different people from the church body here (the ELCU) come by to take us shopping or to help us get settled in some way. We have felt so embraced by them & we love them already. Each day we make our list of what we should get done and where we need to go & it's fun at the end of the day to see what actually took place. We are learning to be flexible!! We are leaning to welcome visitors into our home at all hours of the day, but we will need to set some boundaries in the future to preserve time for our family & for rest (Please pray for us on that!).

Yesterday Nate was able to travel with another of the ECLU pastors, Pastor Edward (who is also our next-door neighbor), to one of the churches in a rural area about an hour from here. He preached again and was able to observe a few baptisms. Pastor Edward recommended that the boys and I not come this time because they were taking various modes of transportation (bus, taxi, motorocycle, foot) and he thought it'd be too difficult for us. Hopefully in the future we'll be able to visit the outlying churches, but for now we (the boys and I) will attend our home church here in Jinja while Nate touches base with each of the other churches on Sundays. Our church here in Jinja meets in a classroom in one of the many schools in town & it is only a block & a half away from our home.

As of this morning, we now have a lady coming to help with the household each day (a huge praise!). We don't have a washer & dryer, so laundry itself takes a lot of time each day. Also, the red dirt here sticks to everything & is tracked in by the boys all day long, so sweeping & mopping the floors is another time-consuming daily task. Cooking is another daily adventure w/ no convenience foods, microwave or fridge. SO, we are grateful for the help! Please pray for the lady who is helping us. Her name is Sarah, she is 21 years old & has a 5 year old son, Jamil. Her husband works in the capital, Kampala, and is only able to come home every other weekend. She actually lives in one of the sheds on our property as well, so it is handy to have her nearby. I do not yet know if she is a believer. Also, we have just hired a guard to watch our place at night as robbery is a great threat to mzungu's ("white people"). His name is Tomboni & he is a young man. Please pray for him as well. Nate has gone out to talk with him each evening when he comes & is working on developing a relationship with him.

One last prayer request... please pray for our boys. They are doing very well & have stayed healthy thus far, but the last few days they have both been a bit on edge, the both of them, and we need patience & wisdom in knowing how to best help them to adjust to their new world. We are praising God for their health! Judah puts everything into his mouth (dirt, bugs, etc.) so he has been plenty exposed to germs & such, but he's warded off sickness thus far.

It is hard to know what to write to give you a picture of our lives here... this seems like just a tiny dent. We are hoping to put pictures on our blog soon so you can better visualize life here.

Thank you again for your support. You are a wonderful team!!! We pray God's blessings on each of you.

Serving Him together with you,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah & Judah

Mission Work Advances on Our Knees

“Prayer is for the helpless.”

-O. Hallesby

Dear praying friends,

With all of the smacking, pinching, wiggling, talking, interrupting and running around, I thought it might be a good idea to divide our 35 kids in the Frente Popular club into smaller classes. So we split ourselves into 4 different classes. Our daughters, Rachel and Megan, each take a class of littlies up through 3^rd grade. Their pa (that would be me) also takes a class of little ones with a few of the more rambunctious included. There is something about being 3 or 4 ft. taller than they are that helps them sit in their chairs betterJ. . . at least for most of them. Barb now takes a group of the older ones, 4^th and up by herself.

A funny thing happened after that. We had about 15 more kids show up! It seems that since the older ones felt that they had a class more geared to them they thought it was worth it for them to come. So now we’re averaging 45 to 50 kids. That caused us to go looking for more help. And we found it in one of the Jr. High kids from church. Abraham has been coming out with us now for a couple of weeks and I am seriously tempted to give him his own class so we can keep each one a little smaller.

There have been a number of people from back in the USA who have made that neighborhood a special focus of their prayers for us and we are very grateful to all of them. It seems to be yet another demonstration of the fact that the Kingdom of God advances on its knees.

Thanks for praying,

Todd Schierkolk

Pastor Kevin Olson Accepts World Missions Call

Pastor Kevin Olson has accepted a call to become the Developer of Distance Education for AFLC World Missions. Pastor Olson and his family served as short term missionaries in Tanzania for nine months in 2004-2005. God used that time to impress His call upon their hearts to teach and train pastors around the world.

Pastor Olson was on sabbatical from the Youth Department during the months he spent in Tanzania. Kevin agreed to return to the Youth Department following his return as a condition of the sabbatical. Therefore, Pastor Olson will not begin his new position until after the 2007 Free Lutheran Youth Convention. His transition is scheduled to take place at the end of July 2007.

Pastor Olson’s responsibilities will include development of a distance theological education program under the authority of a Distance Education Board. He will promote and publicize this education program throughout the AFLC to increase awareness and fund distance education.

Distance Theological Education is a venture of faith on the part of AFLC World Missions and Pastor Olson. This ministry is not in our budget, but we believe it is a necessary part of reaching our world for Christ.

Pastor Olson’s letter of acceptance concluded with these words,

May the Lord go before us all as we set out on a task that may be greater than we are, with resources less than we need and with people that are unqualified in themselves. May the Lord go before us so that we will look back in amazement of all that he has done. May the Lord go before us so that He alone receives the glory.

News from Paul Abel's

We are presently in Illinois visiting churches in this area. Next week we will fly to Texas for a few days. The end of the month we will be with Paul’s family for Thanksgiving before finishing up our deputation travels in northern MN. We praise the Lord for good health and safety and special times along the way.

We would like to ask for your prayers. The Brazilian national church leaders will be meeting Nov. 11-12 at the ARCA. Please pray that the Lord will be glorified as His people come together. We do not know how to pray as we ought, but we do trust in our sovereign God to cause unity and renewed purpose among His people. Thanks for joining with us before the throne of grace!

We are always encouraged with the news we hear from Brazil. Friday and Saturday a group of over 20 people from Bateias went on an evangelism outreach in the “back 40.” They spent the night in rough quarters with no showers (a real sacrifice for Brazilians). The Jesus film was shown, many visits were made, and a program for children reached out to many. We don’t know all the details, but rejoice at the initiative of our people there and their concern for the lost.

The Campo Largo church is forging ahead in finishing the floor in the new sanctuary. The services are well-attended and new people have come to faith and are preparing to become members. The four churches in the Curitiba area joined together in a big tent for a Reformation Service on Oct. 29. It was a time of praise to God and mutual encouragement for the members of our churches.

A Note From Jores

Just a quick email to send our new address as many of you have requested it:

Nate & Rhoda Jore
PO Box 304
Jinja, Uganda

We are doing well & have been busy trekking around town purchasing furniture & necessities for our home. We're healthy & are almost over the jet lag now. We had a wonderful welcome on Sunday at the ECLU church here in Jinja. Nate preached as one of the pastors translated. The boys are loving life here. Elijah said to me the other day, "In a minute, I will be an Africa boy." :) They have friends all over town already. Jinja is beautiful! Lake Victoria is about 1/2 mile from our home.

Thank you for all of your prayers & messages!! They have been so encouraging to receive. Know that we'd love to reply to everyone but because of time, we won't be able to. But we love to receive them just the same.

In Him,
Rhoda & the boys

Polish Lutheran Bible School

“Szkoła Biblijna” in Poland

By Pastor Tim Hinrich


Lutherans in Poland? Yes! Believe it or not! And seeking to encourage renewal in the Lutheran church of Poland is one of the main goals of the Bible School located in the southern border village of Dzięgielów, southwest of Bielsko-Biała.




Since 1998 the Bible school has been discipling students and has grown from 11 students the first year to over 60 this fall. The school is directed by EEMN Career Missionaries Tim and Renata Hinrichs as part of the Center of Missions and Evangelism of the Lutheran Church of Poland. They lead a small full-time student body (usually around 6-8 students) for a one-year program of Bible teaching and practical training in ministry. Students usually go on to further studies and about half to seminary.

A second program the school offers is a two-year program operating on Saturdays. Students come from all ages and backgrounds to attend classes from morning until night. Also offered is a third year of practical studies.

This year, they opened up their first branch of the Bible school in Mrągowo at the other end of the country.

There, seven students gather to watch a live broadcast of classes held at the same time in Dzięgielow on Saturdays. Plans are already drawn up for another broadcast location next year in central Poland. The school exists today based on the prayers of leaders going back as far as 50 years ago. Today 12 volunteer faculty are planting seeds in those who can be used by God to bring renewal within the Lutheran church and in Poland. Thank you for your prayers for this open door!

Total Student Body Passes 60!

It’s been an amazing start to the school year. First, we spent half of September reparing the Bible school building for the new school year. We’re thankful to the Lord that CME acquired a large amount of new carpeting in which all of the facilities have been now carpeted including our Bible school building (“Syloe”). That and a new coat of paint make a huge difference in our classrooms and in the 3 rooms we have for dorms. We also were able to get an extra room to use as a student lounge so our students aren’t suffering as bad as we thought they might.

We also interviewed and received a record amount of new students in our two Bible school programs. The daily Bible school now has six students and the weekend program has a whopping 27 new students to add to the 2nd and 3rd year! It’s an amazing blessing and we are really excited for what the Lord has in store for this year. Altogether, our student body is now over 60 if you can believe that!

You might remember that the AFLC Bible school choir was on tour here in the spring and how much of a blessing they were through that ministry. The amazing thing is that two of our weekend students signed up for Bible school as a direct result of the choir concert in their congregation in Skoczów. It’s amazing to see how God uses a variety of ministries to accomplish his purposes.

Remembering Students in Prayer

• Pray for the daily B.S. students: Marek and Renata (Czech Republic), Zhenia (Ukraine), Julita, Sylwia, Marta and Artur (Poland) and Genadij (Guestministry leader from Ukraine).
• Pray for the approximately 60 students in the weekend program.
• Pray for the seven students in the weekend program via internet.
  

Would you like to receive the Hinrich’s newsletter by mail?
Would you join the Hinrichs' support team?

Contact EEMN at terri@eemn.org

This article comes from the EEMN Newsletter.

More on the Floods in India

Our brothers and sisters in India have experienced tremendous flooding. The roads are impassable and their homes and crops are washed out.

We have sent some relief funds to help and they are assessing the situation.

For a CNN video of the flood in the area click here.

Please be in prayer for them.

We Made It!

Saturday morning:

We are here at last! Thank you for all of your prayers. It's been quite a journey to get here & we praise God for bringing us here safely & for giving us joy in being here.

We have been through a rollercoaster of emotions this past day & a half of being here. We feel vulnerable in many aspects in regards to our safety & health & just generally not being in control of anything. It has been difficult but very good for us & we are learning anew what it means to truly depend on the Lord. Last night at about midnight we were all awake, lying together on our air mattress underneath our mosquito net. The electricity was out, so the boys were enjoying playing w/ our flashlights, giggling together & not showing any signs of sleepiness. Nate & I were hot & tired, wishing the boys would sleep, and feeling very much alone. We started to pray & then to sing & the Lord met our little family in a wonderful way. As we praised His name together, we were filled with peace & with hope for our new life here. We know He has brought us here for a purpose. We know He is with us. We know He will not leave us. We know He will accomplish what He has started.

I'm sitting in an internet cafe (surrounded by Europeans backpackers), waiting for our breakfast. It just arrived so I'll close for now although I'd like to write much more. I'll try to make it back here soon. After breakfast we're off to the market to purchase a few things for our home & then will head back to try to unpack some more. We may end up staying at a hotel tonight because the landlord is fumigating our home today.

Thank you for your prayers!

Love from Jinja,

Rhoda (for the boys too)

Happenings in Jerez

Diana and Betsy
Here’s a first for all of you who have been praying for the little girls from my last update, Diana and Betsy. As Kid’s Club began to start a couple weeks ago, Diana, the younger of the two, popped her head in the garage and proceeded to come in and play the opening games with all the kids . . . then she scampered off home. None-the-less, that has never happened before. Let’s keep praying that these little Jehovah’s Witness girls will be able to come to the Club.

Ingrid Giles - Short Term Mission Assistant
Would you also please pray for our Short Term Assistant, Ingrid Giles? Ingrid has been with us here in Jerez for a little over a year now and has been a huge blessing to the ministry. In the attached picture she just finished teaching our two oldest girls, Rachel and Megan, their Spanish class.

Ingrid’s main ministry here is the translation of the Ambassador Sunday School curriculum and she has been a great help to her mom and dad. Since Ingrid has been here the translation has advanced to the last year. If you’d like to see her work (along with her folks) you can check it out on the web at www.iglesialuteranalibre.org and click on “Material.” The last time I checked with Dan there had been about 1,200 lessons downloaded in one month! No, that is not a misprint . . . one thousand-two hundred. Check with Dan as he travels up in the USA on furlough. Among other things, Ingrid is also filling in for her mom teaching the Women’s Bible study as well as teaching one of the Sunday School classes at church.

If you’d like to support Ingrid financially I know she would greatly appreciate it and it would be a big encouragement to her. Financial support for her can be sent to AFLC World Missions with a note that it is for Ingrid Giles.

Dan and Debbie Giles on Furlough
Thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry in Jerez. Please keep Dan and Debbie in your prayers as well while they are traveling and sharing these next months in the States.

In Christ,

Todd Schierkolk

Looks Like We're Finally Going

Nate and Rhoda left for Uganda today. They have been preparing for this moment for several years. It is the start of a new life for them and their boys. Please be in prayer for them and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Uganda.

Cyclone Hits AFLC Work in India

We just received the report below from Luther Dasari the president of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations in India. Please be in prayer for our work in India.

Again our area has been affected by cyclone. This is a greater disaster than the previous one. Three days heavy rains and winds caused much disaster in Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts in which more of our congregations are established. Our congregations Lakshmipuram, Vadaruvu, Nagulapalem, Pothukatla, Komarnenivaripalem, Bapatla, Bodduluripadu, Etheru, Reddypalem, Bodapadu, Gollamudipadu, Pandrapadu, Govada, Amruthalur, Kotipalli and Zilllellamudi have been affected severely. You know all our members are daily labourers(they will get daily wages if there is work). They lost their crops totally. Now they do not have work in the fields. If there is no work they will not get food. Pastor D. Devasahayam who is working at Etheru congregation has lost his house. His house was totally damaged and the church building tiled roof partially damaged. Some of the poor members in this congregation lost their huts. Communications and electricity have been broken down three days. Kindly remember us in your prayers.

The following article was taken from Reuters News Service on the internet.

HYDERABAD (Reuters) - Nine people were killed and more than 45,000 evacuated as heavy rainfall and cold winds battered Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

Cyclonic storm Ogni had hovered over the Bay of Bengal for two days before hitting the mainland between the towns of Ongole and Bapatla on Monday evening.

It has since weakened into a depression and is now moving in a north-northwesterly direction, according to the state cyclone warning centre in Visakhapatnam.

"Heavy rains and cold winds of 50 to 60 km per hour are likely to continue for another 24 hours," said the centre's director V.L. Prasada Rao.

The coastal town of Chirala, around 360 km southeast of Hyderabad, was the worst hit, with much of the town flooded.

"We have been living in darkness for over 48 hours without water and milk supplies" said K. Ramulu, a local weaver.

Waterlogging at several power substations plunged more than 2,000 villages into darkness.

"Seventy farmers working in shrimp farms near Chinnaganjam village in Prakasam district were evacuated by army boats after the fields were flooded by rainwater," said B. Udayalakshmi, the administrator of Prakasam district.

Disaster management officials at Hyderabad said that nearly 275 camps had been set up in Prakasam, Krishna and Guntur districts to accommodate those evacuated from their homes.

"Nearly 1,000 houses have collapsed and standing crops in over 12,000 hectares were destroyed," said a state government spokesman.

Greetings from Jesse in Tanzania

Greetings from Waama!! I wish I had time to write a personal note to each one of you with regards to all that has been happening. As anticipated, however, our opportunities to receive, much less write, emails have been very limited. We are very grateful for your prayers as we have made this transition to life here in Mbulu. It is amazing how the time goes by.

Since my last update, we have moved into our new house, received our teaching assignments, begun to get to know the students and faculty here, worked with the students to get the harvest in before the rainy season, participated in a local high school graduation, and showed the Jesus film and spoke at a village crusade. We are thankful for each opportunity.

One thing we have definitely been learning over the last several weeks is flexibility. As you may recall, we were anticipating that classes would begin in the second week of this month. As it turned out, many students were delayed in arriving here due to a late harvest, etc. and once they did begin to arrive, the first order of business was to get the school’s harvest in. This was a big learning experience for Ben and I as we participated with students and other teachers for several days doing with our hands what a combine would have accomplished in a matter of a couple hours. The positive result of this work, however, was the ample opportunity it provided for us to get to know the other people on this campus. We will teach our first official class period tonight.

On the days when we were not working with the harvest, Ben and I have been doing a lot of studying. Much of this has been Swahili but it has also included class preparation. We have been assigned to teach English, computer, and the book of Philippians. As you can imagine, computer and English don’t require nearly as much Swahili as the Philippians course. As a result, we have been putting a lot of time into studying this book and outlining our entire semester schedule including assignments, what we will be writing on the board, etc.

In the middle of this past week, Ben and I were invited to participate in a local high school graduation. It was a little awkward and even frustrating to show up and receive almost more attention than the graduates themselves, but they would have it no other way. It was not a Christian school but as we participated in this Baccalaureate-type service, it was very encouraging to see the number of Christian students present. Ben was able to share a very clear gospel message, as well. As a result of that interaction, we received an invitation to show the Jesus film in a local church this next weekend. Pray that many unsaved would be able to attend this event.

We had another very positive opportunity this past weekend. On Friday afternoon, we were invited by the Mbulu Diocese Evangelism director (Pastor Zak Malekwa) to participate in a crusade in a village about 30 kilometers from here. It all happened very fast and we ended up leaving within a couple hours of receiving the invitation. We took one set of video equipment (which we left with him for his regular use in the future) and showed the Jesus film to about 250 people that night. Saturday was a full day of sessions. Ben and I both participated. The primary theme of the day was prayer. On Sunday, we were both again asked to speak in the closing service. Being Reformation Sunday, Ben spoke on Ephesians 2:1-10 and “What is required for salvation.” I followed him speaking on the topic of dealing with trials in the Christian life.

Before leaving on Sunday evening, we had received several more invitations to visit other village churches, speak at an upcoming youth camp, etc. Pray that we have wisdom to know what opportunities to accept. It is amazing how fast a schedule can fill up.

For our first couple weeks here, we were very grateful for our relatively open schedule which allowed much needed study time. It appears as though those days are over. Continue to pray for our language abilities. Each of the opportunities we had to speak this past weekend, we were blessed with a translator; however, this will not always be the case.

Also, continue to pray for a vehicle. We have discussed several possibilities with a number of additional people here but still need wisdom with regards to what would be the best for us and the people we are serving. So far, we have been able to either accompany other people or rent the school’s Land Cruiser but these options are not always available and our transportation needs are only going to increase.

Attached is a picture of our house as well as one of me with some of the evangelists at this past weekend’s crusade. More pictures have been posted to our blog. Be sure to check them out at www.benandjesse.blogspot.com.

I hope that this update continues to be a blessing to you all. We pray for you often and do not take your thoughts and prayers for granted. Thanks so much to those of you who have taken the time to write. As always, feel free to write (or call) to ask any question you might have that I do not answer in these updates.

Until next time, God’s richest blessing to each one of you.

In Him,
Jesse Long

Update from Chmiels

This month we wanted to thank you VERY MUCH for keeping us in your prayers so faithfully. We see it daily how God is taking care of us in every little detail and how He is preparing us for the future ministry in Ukraine. We reached the 70% mark in our fundraising this month and we praise God for that. It is really encouraging to see so many brothers and sisters excited to be part of a ministry on the other side of the world. This week we marked all our regular supporters on a map (some smiley faces represent more than one person). It was fun to see all these different places where people care about people in Ukraine. And we know that if we were to mark all the places where people pray it would be even more!

Here is couple more things we would really appreciate your prayers for:

• Better communication with the Ukrainian Lutheran church and especially the pastor in Lviv. Right now we have a very hard time getting hold of him and that makes our planning for the ministry in Lviv much more difficult.
• God’s protection when we travel
• God given opportunities to be an encouragement to those we meet when we travel
  
• Miriam’s back problems
• Our visa situation – we applied for a new US visa at the end of May. We have not gotten any reply yet. Because it got obvious that it is now beyond the normal processing time we started wondering. Today we learned that, probably in error, the file had been referred to a fraud section. The person helping us with this, said there is no legitimate reason for it to be there and she hopes to get it out of there soon so that the proper processing can continue. This error substantially delays the case but we still pray that our file will be processed in time for us to leave for Europe in February 2007.
• You can also pray for strength for us during our last couple of deputation months. If you want to see our schedule, you can look at our calendar at http://www.chmiels.com/calendar.htm
  

Thank you so much! We hope you are having a good week. Keep in touch.

Tomasz and Miriam

One Week to Go...

At this time next week we'll be on our way to Uganda. . .
We take off late Wednesday (November 1st) afternoon and after switching planes in Chicago and London, we will arrive Friday morning Uganda time (around midnight on Thursday night CST). We have talked about, prayed for, and prepared for this move for the last few years and it seems unreal to us that our departure day is so near. We are eager to go and join our brothers and sisters in Uganda, but we're not eager to say good-bye's here. We're thankful for all the time we've been able to spend these past few weeks with many friends and family members.

Pack man. . .
Packing is coming along great, thanks to Nate. He is the ultimate packer! All the boxes packed thus far have been put together like a puzzle, every centimeter of space used has been carefully planned and each piece weighs almost exactly 70 pounds (the maximum allowed weight). We are just about done and then we'll be able to relax a bit before take-off.

Almost there. . .
Our monthly pledged support is currently at 91%, which is very encouraging to us. Thank you to all of you that have committed to giving! Even though we do not yet have 100% of our support raised, we have been receiving above and beyond in one-time gifts each month. We praise God for His provision through all of those that have given.

Commissioning service...
We will be commissioned for missionary service this Sunday at our home congregation, Grace Free Lutheran, in Maple Grove, MN. The service is at 10:30am and there will be a potluck following. You're all invited to come!

Please pray for. . .

• Our relationship with the Lord - teachable and quiet hearts, complete dependence on His strength, greater love for Him
• Our relationship with each other - We have been told by several other missionaries to be alert in standing against Satan's attacks on our marriage, which is often one of his first tactics in destroying a couple's ministry and influence. We have felt the attacks already! Please pray for unity, selflessness and a servant spirit towards each other.
• Our travel - that we'd be alert to opportunities that God may give us to share with others about Him, that the boys would sleep well and be content, that we'd be able to get a bassinette and carseat (given on a first-come, first-serve basis) for Judah on our overnight flights, and that all of our luggage would arrive with us
• Our health - Nate just got over a cold, Rhoda is in the middle of one and the boys are currently healthy (Pray that they stay that way! Flying in an airplane with a cold can be pretty miserable.).
• Our transition - for cultural sensitivity, for a closeness and unity with the leaders and churches we'll be joining, for quick acclimation to Ugandan culture, for wisdom and patience as we set up our home (it will be unfurnished)

We will email our next update from Uganda as soon as we're able to from an Internet cafe near our home.
Thank for your ongoing support and encouragment!

In Him,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah & Judah

Who's on Your Road?

“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” Luke 10: 33, 34

I was asked in mid September for a devotional for this month. I look at the calendar—October is already almost finished.

Time is an unforgiving taskmaster. We celebrate Christmas and no sooner get things cleaned up and put away then another Christmas season has arrived. We celebrate a child’s first birthday, turn around and that child is leaving for college or walking down the aisle for marriage or even holding a child of their own. We go to reunions and marvel at how everybody else has aged until we look in the bathroom mirror (Isn’t it amazing how motel bathroom mirrors make you look older than you are?). Time is unforgiving and unrelenting therefore, it is a precious commodity.

Now that I have a business of my own, this story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ really intrigues me. This Samaritan was headed somewhere –he had a schedule to keep and people to see. Maybe he had a secretary who told him that he had to be to Jerusalem by 8:00 or the whole deal would be lost. Maybe he had a boss who had told him that to be late one more time and he would be out on the street looking for a new job. Maybe he had a wife who told him if he were late one more time, there would be consequences to pay. Nobody knows where he was headed or why he was going all we do know is this: “…when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him…”. There was no hesitation, there were no feelings of self pity or remorse for an interrupted schedule—there was only compassion. I wish I could say that I was always ready to dump my schedule as easily as the Samaritan did that day. To be honest, there are days I pray with earnestness, ‘Lord, please don’t leave any wounded Jews in my path today—I simply don’t have time!’ These are the days when I have to remind myself of why Jesus gave us the lesson of the Good Samaritan—it was in response to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” May our Lord be our Lord even in our time schedules and may I learn what it means daily to “Love my neighbor as myself.”

World Missions Committee Member Lyle Mattson

At Home in Waama

Thank you so much for your prayers for Jesse and I as we transition from a language school setting to Waama Bible College and teaching. God has been very gracious to us and has taught us a lot, especially about Tanzanian culture. When we were still at language school, we were told that classes started on October 9. We made our plans accordingly and arrived on the 7th. We soon found out that when they said that "classes start on the 9th", they really meant "students are allowed to start arriving on the 9th and when we have enough students, then we'll start class." Students have been trickling in this week, yet it looks as if we will have too few students to start even this coming Monday. So we wait. It's also amusing that none of the teachers (including Jesse and I) know for sure what they are going to teach yet! So Jesse and I have had a very relaxing week with plenty of time to get settled into our new house, study and practice Swahili, and get to know many people including our new boss, other teachers, and many staff on campus. God has been very gracious in "breaking us in easy".

Our new house is very nice as you can see in the picture. It is made of concrete, with a concrete floor, and a tin roof. We each have our own bedroom, we have a nice-sized living/dining room, a small kitchen and a small bathroom. 2/3 of the house is ours, the back third is extra rooms for guests. The house is on the Waama campus about a 2 minute walk from the main academic building. None of the campus has electricity from the national grid, though Waama has a generator that they run for two hours every night. This also gives us running water for a couple hours so we can fill up a couple barrels with water to get us through the day. We also have a solar panel (which can be seen on the roof) that charges a battery which gives us light when the electricity is off. There is no Internet access at Waama and have to go to Mbulu, the nearest town about 5 miles away, to send and receive emails. Waama is over 6000 ft above sea level. So the temperature is beautiful, despite being so close to the equator. In fact the house has a fireplace in case it gets really cold! Both Jesse and I are very pleased with our housing situation. In fact, sometimes we think it is too nice! God is truly gracious.

Some things to praise God about...

• we are finally here at Waama!

• the new friends we have made and the many new friends we will make with the incoming students.

• God's grace as He has given us an extra week to study Swahili, get to know people, and settle in.

Please pray for...

• the new school year at Waama. Pray for the incoming students and their safe arrivals; the teachers as we divide up courses, teach in the classroom, and get to know the students outside of the classroom.

• our Swahili language skills. They are improving, though still a long way from being fluent.

• a vehicle. We still do not have any good leads. We need wisdom to know when we should buy and what vehicle to purchase.

We both so appreciate your prayers for us, we couldn't do it without you. Thank you for your partnership with me and Jesse. May the God of Grace richly bless you,

Ben

Evangelism and Church Planting Deep in the Heart of Africa

Church planting and evangelism are alive and active in the countryside of Uganda. The picture at the left shows Rev. Balise Sospeter in a church he built next door to his home. Pastor Sospeter is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Uganda. He has a ministry of church planting. Pastor Sospeter enters a village and develops a relationship with the leaders. Then he starts to evangelized the people of the village. Rev. Sospeter then starts a church with the believers.

The church you see at the right was started on Christmas Day 2005. When we visited the church many people came from the village. One man stood and stated that before he came to the Lord the Bible was not important to him. He now is in adult Bible classes and wants to know all he can about God's Word. Rev. Sospeter says that he knows the importance of all his church members being in God's Word every day. This church that was started on Christmas now has a weekly attendance of 40-50 people.

Pray for the Jores as they travel to Uganda to join this exciting work.

Grace Lutheran to Commission Jores

Grace Free Lutheran Church in Maple Grove is planning to have a commissioning service for Nate and Rhoda Jore the Sunday before they leave for Uganda. The Jores are memebers of Grace Free and this will be a worship service sending them out as missionaries. The service will include special music by the Monseth men, Rhoda's family.

The service will be held at:

Grace Free Lutheran Church
15655 Basslake Road
Maple Grove, MN 55311

October 29, 2006
10:30 am

For more information call the church at 763-463-2300

Ben and Jesse Finish Language School

It is hard to believe, but Jesse and I have completed 6 weeks at language school already! We are far from fluent, but have an excellent foundation in Swahili grammar and look forward to continuing to learn in the future. We have left language school at Morogoro and are at Arusha.
We will be staying here in Arusha for a couple more days and then heading to Waama Bible School on Thursday or Friday, Lord willing. We will have a couple days to get settled in there and then we look forward to classes starting the following Monday! We still are not totally sure of the classes we will be teaching, but will let you know when we find out.

Please pray for us as we travel, get settled in, meet the students, start classes, and continue to learn Swahili. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Ben and Jesse

Gene Enderlein Approved as STA

Former AFLC World Missions Director, Rev. Gene Enderlein has applied to travel to India and work as a short term missions assistant. The World Missions Committee approved him as a STA at their last meeting.

Pastor Enderlein will travel to India just after the first of the year and will stay in India for one to two months. He will be involved in teaching, preaching, visiting and encouraging the congregations. Pastor Enderlein has travel to India many times and looks forward to renewing longstanding friendships.

The Beginning of a Relationship

An agreement to begin a working partnership between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Uganda and AFLC World Missions was signed last Sunday, October 1, 2006. Rev. Del Palmer, AFLC World Missions Director traveled to Uganda to finalize the agreement and make preparations for the deployment of the first AFLC missionaries to Uganda.

The signing was monumental for the Ugandan Church and was celebrated with feasting and gratitudeto God.

The Jore's will move to Uganda the first of November.

Update from Ben Jore and Jesse Long

I recently realized how long it has been since I sent my last update. I am so sorry for the weeks of silence and I thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers despite this lack of communication.

Before I get distracted with more of what has been going on, I want to let you know that, as promised, our blog is officially up and running. You can view it at: www.benandjesse.blogspot.com. We are excited about this means of making more information and photos available to you all. Check it out and let us know if you have any questions or comments. We will do our best to keep it updated but anticipate limited access to the internet (and any other means of communication) once we get to Waama in a couple weeks.

As far as general update, we now have only 2 weeks left here at language school. It is amazing how fast the time has gone! We are grateful for the progress that we have made and, in answer to your prayers, we will be moving into the second book in this course later this week.

This past weekend Ben and I decided to take a quick trip to see the sights in Dar es Salaam. It was good to get out and as we took the three hour bus ride, we realized that this was the first time we had so much as left the campus of the language school since we arrived here almost a month ago. It was certainly an adventure and God’s care was overwhelming.

It all started on Friday morning when a student here recommended a guest house in Dar that he had stayed at. I called right away and made reservations for that night and the next (Friday and Saturday). Ben and I got packed up on our extended lunch break and were walking out to the bus stop within 20 minutes of our last session Friday afternoon. The main problem at that point was that we had never been to the local town by ourselves and had no idea even where we could catch a bus to Dar. Well, God just happened to have one of our teachers walking by at that time who, after asking where we were going, said he was going that way, too, and could help us catch a van at least as far as the bus stop.

We went out with our newly found guardian angel to the place where these vans pass in front of the school and had not even been there for 5 minutes when the next miracle happened: a pick-up truck came pulling out of the school with a lady in it who was heading home for the weekend…in Dar es Salaam. The driver had us jump in the back of the truck and took us, along with our new travel companion, right to the bus stop.

After the 3-hour ride, we arrived in the bustling city of Dar (where it was now late and dark) not having so much as the address of our anticipated accommodations. That was no problem for God, however, who had already arranged for us to be met at the bus stop by the husband of the lady we were traveling with. We insisted that it would be no problem to get a Taxi but he insisted on taking us past his house for some quick refreshment and then taking us to our guest house. We were overwhelmed and very grateful as we were soon delivered right to the front gate of the Cefa Guest House. A beautiful room with air conditioning, a private bathroom, and a hot shower only increased our gratefulness. I could go on and on with all the ways God blessed us the rest of the weekend. Basically, we were able to see a lot of the coast, take a boat ride over to a small island where we relaxed, saw some dolphins swim by, and did some snorkeling. We were also able to visit the Tanzanian National Museum downtown and be back to the language school in time for dinner on Sunday afternoon.

Sorry to spend such a high percentage of this email on just last couple days but it was very exciting to get this 48 hour excursion after our schedule we have had the last month. We also appreciated so much the opportunity to get to know more about this country, relax a little, and experience some genuine “immersion” language training, which never hurts either, right?:)

We are now back to reality, plowing through the final lessons of this first half of the course. Thank you all so much for your prayers in these regards. We are definitely making progress and grateful for all God has taught us during this time. We have been able to continue developing relationships with kids from the high school here on campus. They are eager to help ‘enrich’ our Swahili skills. It has been good…I think. Due to the fact that it is a boarding school, we have actually met several students who are from the area where we will begin working in a few weeks. We look forward to keeping in touch with them and getting to know their families as well.

God has also been watching over our health. We are quite certain Ben had Malaria a couple weeks ago. There has been some climate change taking place which resulted in increased incidences in this area. In fact, within a week and a half, about 5 international students were tested positive with and treated for Malaria. Ben had all the same symptoms but his test came back negative. We later found out that the test can fail to be accurate if the patient is taking Malaria prevention medication, which we both are. As it was, God seemed to have in His perfect plan to heal Ben in His own way. Within 30 hours of his first headache and fever, he was virtually back to normal…and has been ever since. Praise God!

Please continue to pray for the weeks we have remaining here and for the following items in particular:

• Quick processing of our residence/work permits (needed for teaching at Waama)
• That we would find the perfect vehicle to purchase for our ministry
• That God would give us extra grace and wisdom as we study these 2 remaining weeks
• Continued protection from Malaria and other sicknesses
• Sensitivity to God’s leading in every way as we make final preparations and move to our official ministry location in Mbulu.

Thank you all so much! I have included a few pictures from our trip this past weekend for your enjoyment. More will soon be available on our blog. Thanks for your continued interest, thoughts, prayers, and support.

God bless you all!!

In Him,

Jesse

Mission Director Travels to Uganda

AFLC World Missions Director, Rev. Del Palmer leaves September 27 for Uganda. While there he will prepare the way for the Jores' deployment. The Jores will be leaving for Uganda on November 1, 2006. Please be in prayer for Pastor Palmer's travel.

Betsy and Diana

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and . . . it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:17,18)

Dear praying friends,

Betsy and her sister Diana are both Jehovah’s Witnesses. I tutored their older brother in English for a while and their mom and dad came to the adult English class we had a couple years ago. Their mom and brother both go out knocking on doors for the JW’s and their dad is in charge of the market downtown. Betsy and Diana have come off and on to our grade school English over these last years.

Would you please pray with us that God would rescue their family from the deceptive teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and that the girls would be able to start coming to Kid’s Club?

Thanks so much,

Todd Schierkolk

AFLC Youth Missions Blogs

Did you know that the AFLC Youth Department has missions blogs? You can see what some of our own youth have been doing in the area of missions.

They can be found by going to the AFLC Youth Page and click on the Mazatlan Blog or the Jerez Blog.

How Many People Does It Take to Send a Missionary?

How many Christians does it take to send one missionary? In the United States, Christians send one missionary for every 2,000 believers. In Mongolia, every 220 believers send one missionary. Nigeria has sent over 5,200 missionaries into 56 countries. In 1987 in Latin America, there were 1,600 missionaries sent out. Today, that area has sent more than 8,000 missionaries to more than 150 nations.

More than 100,000 Christians are "born" every day throughout the world, and 4,500 new congregations begin every week. More missionaries are being send by non-Western churches, and there are now over 4,000 thirdworld mission agencies. There are no longer any exclusive "sending" or "receiving" nations; virtually every country sends and receives.

Excerpt from The Church Around the World, September 2006

Winding Down (Part 2)- Jore's

Frequently Asked Questions

What will your function be in Uganda?
As outlined in our working agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Uganda (ELCU):
“According to the AFLC World Missions’ purpose to make disciples through teaching and evangelism, and according to the ELCU’s request for a missionary to come and help them to train their pastors, the missionary’s primary function should be to disciple church leaders and to train them in the Word of God. The training should always have as its goal to equip Ugandan nationals to fulfill the role of trainer, evangelist, pastor, church planter, and lay leader. The missionary’s primary responsibility is to preach the Gospel and make followers of Jesus Christ who will then go out and make more followers of Jesus Christ. The missionary’s activities will reflect the goal of making disciples and will lead him to developing relationships with the nationals, teaching the Bible, and modeling the Christian life.”

What will you be doing your 1st year in Uganda?
Our 1st year in Uganda will be spent studying the language and culture and building relationships. We will be observing how things operate, what the greatest needs are, and we will be assessing how to best meet those needs. Also during this phase, we will be prayerfully seeking reliable and faithful men (II Timothy 2:2) with whom to partner in the ministry. We look forward to this time of learning, and we realize how necessary it is that we have a good grasp of the Ugandan culture before we attempt to set up a pastoral training center. We are going in with an American worldview and perspective, but we desire to learn how to see things with an African perspective. We know that it will take time and won’t be easy, but we pray that we are up for the challenge!

What will your housing be like?
As of yet, we don’t know… nor do we know for sure which city we will be living in! Del Palmer, AFLC World Missions Director, will be traveling to Uganda sometime in September to meet with the ELCU church leaders to discuss our working agreement with them. He will also work on deciding where we should live and securing housing for us. We are thankful that he is going before us and making our transition much smoother!

What will Rhoda’s role be?
I do not have a specific assignment, but I see my responsibilities as being primarily in the home, supporting Nate in any way I can and caring for our boys. I have a degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) so I hope to eventually use it in some capacity. I also have dreams of starting an orphanage. For now, we are just praying and waiting to see what doors the Lord will open.

Monthly Support
Goal ………….……………$5000
Pledged ………$3620 (72.4%)
Needed …….…$1380 (27.6%)
Prayer Warriors …..……..551

Winding Down (Part 1)- Jore's

Just 2 months to go! We continue to travel each weekend and occasionally midweek to visit churches and share about Uganda (our total is 45 programs in 11 states!). Elijah and Judah have
really gotten used to life on the road and have done great, which we attribute much of to your prayers. A few days ago as we were traveling home from sharing in Kenyon, MN, Elijah said, “Where’s me going?” He’s never quite sure how long he’ll be sitting in his car seat each time we strap him in! He was quite pleased to know we were going back home to Grandpa and Grandma Monseth’s house.

In our “downtime” we continue to plug away at planning what to bring and making purchases (we’re hoping to start packing soon!), as well as keeping up with correspondence and paperwork. Every once in awhile we take a break! We enjoyed a night at a cabin on Lake Michigamme in Michigan last weekend following our time in Ishpeming. The cabin was cozy, the
sunrise was beautiful, the water was warm and we all drove away refreshed and ready to get back to work.

We will visit churches until October 1st (every weekend and a few Wednesdays), primarily here in MN, and then our final month will be spent packing and saying good bye’s. We will be commissioned by our home congregation, Grace Free Lutheran, in Maple Grove, MN on October 29th (Sunday - 10:30am). Anyone and everyone is welcome to come! It will also be our final Sunday at Grace as our plane takes off the following Wednesday (November 1st).

Update from Chmiels

We are writing to you to invite you to praise God together with us. We have reached 50% in our fundraising this week and we really see God’s hand behind this because in June we still only had 14%. It is really encouraging to see that God is standing behind us even during these deputation months and it is He who will make it possible for us to move to Ukraine when it is His timing.

We are so very thankful for all of you who are lifting us up in your prayers (we definitely feel it!) and supporting us financially. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

If you would like to learn more about our preparations for Ukraine, please don’t hesitate to email us or visit our website at http://www.chmiels.com .

Update from Tanzania - Jesse Long

It is Saturday night (August 19, 2006). Last night, we accompanied the short-term team to the Kilimanjaro Airport Earlier in the week, we were all able to go on a “Safari” at the Ngo and said our goodbyes. On the way, we saw Kilimanjaro for the first time…AMAZING!! It was as perfect an ending to a trip as any of them could have asked for.rongoro Crater. It was a day I can hardly begin to describe and a welcomed break following 9 days of pretty intense ministry.

I will back up to give you a more accurate picture of our time with the team. There were thirteen of us from the States who divided into two teams of 6/7. We also always traveled with a Tanzanian driver and/or Pastor and saw many churches and schools spread over some of the roughest and most diverse terrain I have ever traveled. My team (“A” team) was led by Andrew Olson. He is only 14 years-old but was an amazing translator/preacher/friend to us and the people of Tanzania.

Our first day of ministry on Sunday, August 6^th. Near-by, was a school where we were able to show the ‘Jesus’ film after the service. This was a common sight throughout our 9 days of ministry.

The picture shows a fairly typical set-up and also shows the type of church we most commonly worked with during this time. In all, between our two teams, we were able to minister in 30 places over the 9 days…it was very exhausting.

Following our scheduled days of ministry, the leader of our group, Pastor Kevin Olson, was good to schedule some time for debriefing, reflection, and seeing some sights. I have included some pictures to try to give you a little idea of how great this was. Even Tanzanians (and the safari tour guide we had on Wednesday) said our day in Ngorongoro Crater was “once-in-a-lifetime” kind of day. During our day we saw lions, ostriches, zebras, foxes, hyenas, giraffes, hippos, black rhinos, elephants, flamingos, cheetah, water buffalo, Kudu, gazelle, wildebeest, crested cranes, warthogs, etc. Nothing short of being there could do it justice but suffice it to say, it was unbelievable to see all this in the wild. The vehicle actually belongs to the mission here and was how we traveled throughout our time.

This morning, Ben and I jumped a bus and took a 9-hour ride down to the Lutheran Junior Seminary here in Morogoro (3 hours West of Dar Es Salaam) where we will be until October 1^st attending language school. We arrived around 3:30pm and are very pleased with what we have seen so far. The accommodations have running water, electricity, internet, laundry facilities and good meals. We have already met students from around the world and look forward to starting classes on Monday morning. Pray for wisdom and quick learning.

I want to say here that I am very blessed to have Ben as a ministry partner. We get along great, see virtually everything the same way, even like the same kind of food, and both speak Portuguese (which comes in very handy when we need to discuss something privately in the presence of others). God is so good.

God bless you all for the blessing you are to me. Keep the prayers coming. They make all the difference in the world (and in heaven, too, for that matter!)

With much love and gratitude,

Jesse Long

MTI Graduate Paul Blom Leaves for Slovakia

Paul Blom departed Saturday, August 19 for Slovakia as a short term missionary with Eastern European Missions Network. He will be serving in Martin, Slovakia, where he will be teaching 1st-3rd grade English at the Bible School.

Paul previously attended the Association Free Lutheran Bible School and the Ministry Training Institute in Plymouth, MN. He graduated from Trinity Lutheran in Issaquah, WA with a degree in Bible with emphasis on Youth Ministry. He has served on short-term mission ventures to Mexico, Eastern Europe, and Tanzania. He served as youth director at our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Kirkland, WA for the past three years.

As he prepares to serve in Slovakia, Paul is raising funds for his mission service. Please consider joining in prayer and financial support of his ministry. EEMN welcomes financial contributions in his behalf.

Paul can be reached at blomer@hotmail.com .

“I’m so glad I am being prayed for,
It is reallysuch a great blessing!
I just can’t say thanks enough
to you and to God for all His blessings.
Praise the Lord.”

Paul Blom

If you are, or know of an AFLC member who is serving as a missionary for another mission organization please let the AFLC World Missions Office know at delp@aflc.org .

"He who loses what he cannot keep gains what he cannot lose." -- Jim Elliot