Have you ever wondered what Jesus’ disciples were thinking when He told them to distribute the five loaves of bread and two fish to a crowd of 5,000 men and their families? It is an impossible task for man to even comprehend. It doesn’t make much sense to feed that many people with so little food. However, the disciples were faithful and obedient to Jesus. Isn’t that what God asks for, our faithfulness to Him and our obedience to the things He asks us to do? As a result of the disciples’ obedience, Jesus glorified His Father inheaven. Those five thousand plus people experienced the Glory of God, and witnessed one of Jesus’ miracles.Perhaps the disciples thought a few things:
- God is greater than what we can see or understand
- When Jesus asks us to do something, we do it out of obedience
- Our desire and longing for God would be encouraged and strengthened.
God has called us to a short-term mission trip to the country of Uganda, Africa. It is with God’s leading that we have to come to peace in saying “yes” to His call. As we were praying through whether or not we should go, God opened door after door for us. We saw His hand move in our lives to guide us through that process. Out of our love for God and our obedience to Him, we knew it was God’s plan for us. We are excited to share that plan with you.
We will be leaving for Entebbe, Uganda, on Saturday, March 10th, 2007, and will be returning to the States on Sunday, March 25th. More specifically, we will be in the city of Jinja on the north shore of Lake Victoria. Approximately 106,000 people live in Ji
nja,which now includes missionaries Nate and Rhoda Jore, who moved there earlier last month. Nate and Rhoda have been called to teach pastors and to train the people there to reach out to non-Christians. Our hope and prayer is that we can come along side them to encourage and build them up in the short time we will be there. We will have the opportunity to stay with the Jores as their first visitors in Uganda. They have expressed to us their excitement for our trip and have told us how much it will lift their spirits in this time of transition. We hope to help with projects around the house, play some board games, and simply encourage them in the Lord. Of course, we also want to be able to gain some first-hand experience of the work the Lord is doing in and around Jinja. During part of our trip, we will get to stay with a local family. We can’t think of a better way to learn about the culture and get an idea of what life is like in Uganda. We look forward to the Christian fellowship we will have with that family. We also plan to visit a couple of orphanages and spend some time with the children and workers there. Daniel will have the opportunity to meet with one of the seminary students, too, in order to have some time of discipling and mentoring. We want to be able to come home as witnesses to the things that God is already doing in the lives of the people of Jinja.We want to ask you to consider joining us in prayer for our mission to Uganda. God tells us in His Word that when we pray to Him, His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus (Phil 4:6-7). We desire the prayer cover of our family and friends in regards to our trip. If you would be willing to pray for us, we will send you an updated prayer report twice a month through email. Those prayer reports will have updates on our mission as well as specific prayer requests. Please pray and consider this opportunity to be part of God’s work with us.
As with many mission trips across the sea, the financial expense of it is certainly a large part. The total cost for both of us to go is estimated at $4,000 - $4,500. As we were praying through whether or not we should go, we asked God for financial peace. Peace that only He could give that would the provision would be there. We have that peace. However, we still need your help. Would you consider financially supporting our mission? We have taken some steps in our own finances, so we would be able to put aside as much as we can. The biggest need is our plane tickets. We have been blessed to work with a Christian travel agent who books mission trips for people. As a part of that, we have until January 18th to pay the balance. The rest of the cost will go towards our time in Jinja (food, Jores, car travel). If you would like to support us financially, please write your check to “Christ Is LordFree Lutheran Church,” who will be handling the finances of our trip. Your gift will be taxdeductible. Simply note in the memo line, “Keinanen’s Uganda Mission.” Please pray and consider this opportunity to give to God’s work.
If you would like to contact us with any questions about our mission, feel free to either call us at 608.779.0686 or email us at uganda_mission@makikalem.net. Please email us if youwould like to be added to our prayer chain email list.We know that this mission trip will benefit us in many ways. We are very excited about the opportunity God has given us. Our hope is that many others will be blessed as well. Likethe disciples that witnessed the feeding of five thousand, we want to witness what God will do through our mission to Uganda.
Sincerely,Daniel & Kelly Keinanen
