Yesu, atenderezibwe! (Jesus, be praised!) This is a common exclamation amongst Christians in the Lusoga language. Lusoga is the tribal language of the Basoga people, the main tribal group of this region. There are over 40 tribal languages in all of Uganda!We began formal language lessons last week with a wonderful tutor, Roy, and we are both excited to be learning how to better communicate with those we came to serve. We meet 3 times a week for an hour and a half and are expected to practice, practice, practice in between lessons.
It has been fun to greet people in Lusoga when we're out and about in town. They are always delighted and surprised to hear their language coming from our lips. We know it'll open greater doors for ministry to be able to speak to them in their mother tongue. Please pray for perseverance and discipline for us in studying and practicing Lusoga.
The missionary community here in Jinja is reeling over the loss of 2 missionaries in the last few days. One young man, Adam, in his late 20's was killed Tuesday night in a car accident and the other, Talitha, was the 16-year-old daughter of a family that lives just down the street from us - she died this morning of cerebral malaria. Would you please pray for these families as they grieve? The parents of Talitha prayed for hours after she died that God would raise her from the dead. We cannot begin to imagine their pain. They, along with Adam's entire missionary team (3 other families), will be returning to the States to conduct their funerals within the week. Pray as you are led, but please pray that many would come to know the Lord through their deaths. We did not know them well, but since their deaths we have heard much about their impact here and about how much they loved and ministered to the Ugandan people.
Nate will be attending a 4-day Pastor's Conference the end of January, along with the 7 pastors of the ELCU (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Uganda) and David Natema, president of the ELCU. We are praising God for a recent gift of money from the States which was the EXACT amount needed for each of the pastors to go. When Nate told them the news of this gift at their meeting last Saturday, they all cheered and clapped. They would not have been able to attend without this generous gift. A special bonus of this conference will be that each of the pastors will receive 72 books to assist in their ministry! This is a HUGE gift for them, being that Christian literature is expensive and not easily accessible here. 
Please pray for the pastors and for Nate as they attend this conference - for protection as they travel and for teachable spirits as they attend the sessions. We feel that this is a good opportunity for them to be unified more as a group as well. Please pray too for the boys and me as we stay home and hold down the fort.We will be travelling to Kampala, the capital, tomorrow morning for a quick shopping trip and to meet a friend for lunch. Will you pray for us as we travel? The roads here aren't the greatest, and drivers are often quite careless.
Please continue to pray for protection from the Enemy for our family . He's obviously not happy that we're here and would like to stand in our way. We have no reason to fear because we have the Victor on our side, but we still need to be alert to the evil one's tactics so that we are not caught off guard.
We are grateful for your prayer support and your partnership in this ministry. Thank you too for all of the encouragment that you've given to us through emails, letters and packages! Each one ministers to us greatly.
Serving Him together with you,
Nate, Rhoda, Elijah and Judah
