Remember the Poor

shared by Cindy May

In 2007, Frank and I attended a class that forever changed our perspective and understanding of God’s call to take the gospel to the nations.

The Worldwide Perspectives course (in Arizona and a few other states, known as Pathways) is offered nationally, so just click on the links below to find a location near you.  In Arizona, some classes are starting this Monday, January 18th.

Our church was introduced to Perspectives while we were partnering with local pastors in India to take the gospel to the Borok people, then a group of people who had NEVER heard of Jesus Christ.  (I can’t even fathom that as a possibility.)

It is 13 weeks in length, with each class being taught by a different teacher.   Frank and I had been involved in missions work for more than a decade when we attended, so, to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go.  Well, I am SO glad Frank signed us up!  I learned some incredible truths about the Bible the very first week.

If you haven’t already, check out the Pathways or Perspectives courses in your area.

The links to these courses are always available on the sidebar under “Videos and Reading.”

shared by Cara Murray (and John Mugabi)

Was wonderful.

While it is hard being away from my family and friends, I feel extremely blessed to have shared Christmas with my friends and family here. We started the Christmas celebration last Sunday at church. The Sunday prior Pastor John has asked everybody to write down a person in the church who they thought deserved a gift for Christmas. He encouraged us to think of the people who go above and beyond in their service to others. This past Sunday we gave out gifts to over 20 people and it was amazing. As each person was called to the front, the entire church cheered and people hugged each other. The sense of family and community in this church is so strong. It is always a blessing to be in the presence of true, heartfelt joy and gratitude.

Then Wednesday we had the opportunity to give food to over 60 adults and 40 children in our community. We met in the church, Pastor shared the Word, we worshiped and then each adult received a gift of soap, 3 kgs rice, 3 kgs sugar, 3 pcs of corn, 1 kg salt, and 1 head of cabbage. The food was given to many of the school children’s guardians so they could cook Christmas dinner from their own homes.  Many different food items and supplies were also distributed to the sick in different prisons. It was wonderful to be part of such a celebration. I was again amazed at people’s genuine gratitude and joy.

Pastor John Mugabi with one of the women from the community

Christmas day was wonderful. Like Christmas in the US, the day began with church and was then followed by a big meal. However, unlike Christmas dinner in the US, we shared our meal with over 40 people, including 20 children.*  It was truly amazing. We brought van loads of kids from the orphanage to the house, the women that stay with the kids at the school came, friends from the community joined us and we all indulged ourselves in a fabulous meal. We were extremely blessed with support from friends in the US and were able to buy all the food the kids love. There was no posho and beans. We ate matooke, 2 types of rice, potatoes, beef, chicken and chapatti. To top it all off, we also served soda with the meal. One of my favorite parts of the day was when the kids were eating their meal. They all shared their food, giving their friends the food they didn’t want, trading matooke for rice and tasting each other’s sodas. It was truly a feast and one that I am sure made God smile.

Cooking Christmas Dinner

Waiting for dinner

Serving Christmas Dinner

The wait is over!

After dinner, the kids went back to the school for a day of movies and the rest of us relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company.

Like I have mentioned before, the way this community lives out the Gospel by serving each other and working together as the Church is truly amazing. They operate in true community and I absolutely love that I am able to be a part of it. I see the way this community operates and my heart aches for all church families to act the same way. I see God being glorified in their joyous, generous hearts and I am know that God is teaching me His ways through this community.

*Another larger Christmas dinner will be hosted later when children return from their villages.

shared by Cara Murray

My favorite author is Brennan Manning. There is no question about it. Each time I read one of his books I feel like it was written for me. Earlier this year the pastor of my church in Chicago recommended a Brennan Manning book called, “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.” I read it before I came to Uganda and am so glad I brought it with me.   Out of my two bags and 100 pounds that I brought, all the Brennan Manning books made the cut. The last section of this book focuses on the significance of Christmas and what the birth of Christ means to us. In one of the last chapters called, “Christmas Means Freedom, “ Manning writes:

The wailing Infant bears witness to a God whose Word is fresh and alive, who is not the defender of the old, the already-settled, the well-established and familiar…

This Christmas such a God might well expect us to be creatively responsive and thus truly Christlike.  Indeed, He might call us to set free captives bound by loneliness and isolation, to share our hope with prisoners of gloom and despair, to invite the unlovely to our table, to celebrate our freedom in forgetfulness about our comfort and convenience, to cry the Gospel by ministering to widows and orphans, to be the church by bringing soup to the poor, to ignore conventional expectations, to call His Son out of Egypt once more.

I get the sense that we are on the verge of a major change in our Church. I have had several discussions with friends and family over the need to ‘think-outside-the-box’ and challenge the conventional ways of doing things. I think Christmas is the perfect time to start making those changes. I know many people take time to serve the poor and buy gifts for those in need during the holidays and I think that is great. However, with that said, those things are often times secondary to everything else we do for Christmas. They are secondary to gifts, grab bags, turkeys, holiday parties and cookies. I think this year we need to switch the order and make Christmas primarily about the exact things Jesus did while He was on Earth. He spent time with lepers, widows, the lonely, the children and the hopeless.

I wonder why more people don’t spend their Christmas doing these things. Are they worried they won’t get the new shoes they’ve been waiting for or the new set of tools? Are they worried it won’t ‘feel like Christmas’? What would it be like to visit a nursing home on Christmas and share Jesus with those that have no visitors? What would it be like to bring Christmas dinner to a family without food? What would it be like to walk the streets of Chicago and hand out gloves and hats and share the good news of our Savior with those living on the streets? I actually know the answers to these questions – it would be absolutely amazing. I think if people did it once they would never go back.

I pray that this Christmas we would look to Jesus first, focus on the freedom that comes with the naked, humble, vulnerable baby in the manger. Jesus wasn’t known for doing things the traditional way, so why should we?

For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13

Shared by Frank and Cindy May

Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love, has a way of communicating powerful truths in just a minute or two.  Here is one great short video.  You can also find this one and others on the side bar under Videos & Reading.

Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly…that we might be happy…that we might be free and full in Him.

If we want more happiness, we really just need more Jesus!  Jesus identifies Himself with the least of these. He says when we love the least of these, we are loving Him.  If we want more Jesus, we can be sure we’ll find more of Him in loving the least of these.

When John Mugabi came over in April, he brought with him a list of about 50 children– some orphaned, some abandoned, some off of the streets, all of them the least of these.  There are 18 children who still need to be sponsored.  You can see them on the waiting children page. (right sidebar)

This week, I came across an insightful saying.  “I need Africa more than Africa needs me.” God is using Africa in our lives to bring happiness and freedom we never even dreamed was possible, happiness that surpasses anything we have ever experienced. Yes, I need Africa, because in many ways, in Africa, I have found Jesus.

shared by Cara Murray

We went to the clinic with Andrew and Vicki Edwards.  He is doing well and was in therapy for over an hour.  I think we will need to start bringing snacks to distract him.  We will take him in another two weeks and will hopefully get him insoles for his shoes soon since he has completely flat feet.

When we brought him home we laid hands on him and Vicki and I prayed for his healing.  The grandmother was outside and got on her knees when she found out we were praying for him.  She told Julius that she didn’t know what we were saying but that it didn’t matter since we were praying to God. Even the other kids got on their knees.

In January, Andrew will be evaluated in a children’s hospital in Uganda for further diagnostic testing regarding his head.  It is believed he has hydrocephalus, and there is evidence of a past shunt.  If any of you reading this has any experience with hydrocephalus or contact with western doctors who might volunteer to evaluate Andrew or his medical records or treat him, please contact Cindy.

Andrew in Physical therapy several months ago

Rose, Simon, Andrew, Joan

Since our last update on Andrew in April of 2009, both Andrew and Joan have been sponsored. John Mugabi is helping Rose (Andrew, Simon’s and Joan’s mom, who was abandoned by her husband) start a small store so that she can better support herself and her family.  This will take time and coaching, but is well worth the effort.  And of course Andrew’s medical care is underway. If you’d like to help Andrew and his family, Remember the Poor has a medical fund established for him.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:9-11

shared by Frank and Cindy May

If you read this blog, we have a request for you. I believe what we’re requesting will dramatically change the world, so I hope you’ll consider it seriously.

In August, I (Frank) read an article about a man I’d never heard of, Pastor David Platt.  I was intrigued. After watching what was described by Christianity Today as “the most powerful sermon in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention” I was more than intrigued. I dragged my wife in. 🙂

Since that time, we and several others we know have watched through his RADICAL series and Faith Works series.

We believe that the message contained in these series will change us and will therefore change the world.  Why? Because David Platt is great?  No, because God’s Word is great.  Because His Word is like a hammer that breaks rock to pieces.  (Jer 23:29)

The request is simple.  Will you watch and/or lead a small group through these two video series- RADICAL and Faith Works.  It will take 13 weeks, perfect for a Spring Semester.  If you’ve never led a small group before, there is no better way to start.  All you need to do is press PLAY, and an hour later, ask one simple question, “What are you thinking?”  In our experience, there will be no shortage of conversation.

The message contained in these series is compelling, is urgent and is anything but boring.

In case we need to be reminded of the urgency…

I want you to imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: “One hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500.”  Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, parliaments, and congresses convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy.  Think about the avalanche of media coverage…

Now imagine that the very next day, one hundred more planes crashed–and one hundred more the next, and the next and the next.  It is unimaginable that something this terrible could ever happen.

But it did–and it does.

It happened today, and it happened yesterday.   It will happen again tomorrow.  But there was no media coverage…and no investigations were launched.  Yet more than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that… Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, The Hole in our Gospel pg 106

Richard Stearns goes on to quote Bono speaking to this generation and specifically to the Church.

Fifteen thousand Africans are dying each day of preventable, treatable diseases, for lack of drugs that we take for granted.

This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality.  What is happening to Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern and questions our commitment to the whole concept…An entire continent bursting into flames?  Deep down, if we really accept that their lives–African lives–are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out.  It’s an uncomfortable truth.

We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies–but will we be that generation?  Will we in the West realize our potential or will we sleep in the comfort of our affluence with apathy and indifference murmuring softly in our ears?…We can’t say our generation didn’t know how to do it.  We can’t say our generation couldn’t afford it.  And we can’t say our generation didn’t have reason to do it.  It’s up to us. ~ Bono

Let’s change the world.

Click here to download a Radical Small Group Guide

…That now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” 2 Cor 8:14-15

shared by Frank and Cindy May

If you read this blog, we have a request for you. I believe what we’re requesting will dramatically change the world, so I hope you’ll consider it seriously.

In August, I (Frank) read an article about a man I’d never heard of, Pastor David Platt.  I was intrigued. After watching what was described by Christianity Today as “the most powerful sermon in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention” I was more than intrigued. I dragged my wife in. 🙂

Since that time, we and several others we know have watched through his RADICAL series and Faith Works series.

We believe that the message contained in these series will change us and will therefore change the world.  Why? Because David Platt is great?  No, because God’s Word is great.  Because His Word is like a hammer that breaks rock to pieces.  (Jer 23:29)

The request is simple.  Will you watch and/or lead a small group through these two video series- RADICAL and Faith Works.  It will take 13 weeks, perfect for a Spring Semester.  If you’ve never led a small group before, there is no better way to start.  All you need to do is press PLAY, and an hour later, ask one simple question, “What are you thinking?”  In our experience, there will be no shortage of conversation.

The message contained in these series is compelling, is urgent and is anything but boring.

In case we need to be reminded of the urgency…

I want you to imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: “One hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500.”  Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, parliaments, and congresses convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy.  Think about the avalanche of media coverage…

Now imagine that the very next day, one hundred more planes crashed–and one hundred more the next, and the next and the next.  It is unimaginable that something this terrible could ever happen.

But it did–and it does.

It happened today, and it happened yesterday.   It will happen again tomorrow.  But there was no media coverage…and no investigations were launched.  Yet more than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that… Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, The Hole in our Gospel pg 106

Richard Stearns goes on to quote Bono speaking to this generation and specifically to the Church.

Fifteen thousand Africans are dying each day of preventable, treatable diseases, for lack of drugs that we take for granted.

This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality.  What is happening to Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern and questions our commitment to the whole concept…An entire continent bursting into flames?  Deep down, if we really accept that their lives–African lives–are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out.  It’s an uncomfortable truth.

We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies–but will we be that generation?  Will we in the West realize our potential or will we sleep in the comfort of our affluence with apathy and indifference murmuring softly in our ears?…We can’t say our generation didn’t know how to do it.  We can’t say our generation couldn’t afford it.  And we can’t say our generation didn’t have reason to do it.  It’s up to us. ~ Bono

Let’s change the world.

Click here to download a Radical Small Group Guide

…That now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” 2 Cor 8:14-15

shared by Cara Murray

This past week has been extremely busy as we have visitors in from the US. The wife, Vicki, has been staying with us while her husband and son have been doing work a few hours away. We have taken Auntie Vicki (what the kids call her) all over, introducing her to the kids, women in the community and taking her to a few tourist places in Kampala.

This past Monday, Auntie Vicki and I had dinner with Auntie Rose. Auntie Rose lives on the church property and she and I have become very close over the past month. Auntie Rose is absolutely amazing. She makes a very small income as a teacher but has taken in 6 children. 4 of the children are sponsored so there is a little relief from food as they are fed through the school, but she cooks for them, buys them clothes, cares for them when they are sick and most importantly shows love to them everyday – she is wonderful.

Dinner with Auntie Rose was great. We ate a huge feast with all the kids and spent hours enjoying each other.

The next day I asked Auntie Vicki if she had a good time the night before. She told me that she was a bit overwhelmed with Auntie Rose’s generosity and hospitality. She said, “In the US we give out of excess and Auntie Rose gives out of sacrifice.”

It is Thursday night and I am still thinking about that. It is absolutely true. Auntie Rose truly gives out of a joyful heart regardless of how much she has. She has very little, lives in a small 2 room house, sometimes has 10 people sleeping under her roof and feeds any person that comes into her house. I have a lot to learn from Auntie Rose and I am so grateful to have several more months with her.

Auntie Vicki’s statement is so true and I think has huge implications. In my mind the big difference between those that give out of excess and those that give out of sacrifice is trust. It doesn’t require trusting Jesus if we give out of excess but it takes tremendous trust in Jesus to give out of sacrifice. It requires us to trust that while we give what little we have, He will provide more. It requires trusting that loving people and sharing what you have with others is more important than keeping all you have for yourself in the event you may need it in the future. I definitely have a lot to learn and pray that God would be patient and persistent with me.

As a thank you for the dinner, Auntie Vicki wanted to buy Auntie Rose some food since she couldn’t have her over to her house in St. Louis. It was incredible. We spent about $70 and probably bought enough food for 2 or 3 weeks. We bought rice, sugar, tea, onions, tomatoes, beans, cooking oil and soap. We also bought her a lantern since using a candle each night to do homework can be very dangerous (especially with 5 kids running around a very small space).

We brought the food to Auntie Rose last night and I have no doubt that she will turn around and use that food to feed others.

This is why I love it here – because of people like Auntie Rose.

shared by Cara Murray

I haven’t written in awhile and I feel like there is so much I want to share.

Pretty much a typical day at work...did I mention I love it here?!

Over the past two weeks a lot has happened. I have made over 10 trips to the clinic with either sick kids or visiting those that that had been admitted overnight.

First there was Angel, my little shadow, she had Malaria. After Angel there was Moses and Fidi, her cousin and sister. Moses had Malaria and is also severely underweight and malnourished. Fidi had to be de-wormed and had an infection on her scalp. Then there was Hasifah who had Malaria and a horrible allergic reaction to the medicine. A few days later I took Roger to the clinic in the morning for Malaria and later that night after Bible club I took his sister, Gift, to the clinic as well for Malaria. Yesterday I took Fidi back to the clinic for Malaria and due to the severity; she had to be admitted overnight.

Here is Angel at my office. She came to work with me and when I gave her a pen and paper to keep her busy she laid down like this - I almost died - so stinkin cute.

Tuesday after I took Roger to the clinic I decided to bring my IPOD with when I went to Gift as a distraction for her as the doctor pricked her finger. I am happy to report that it worked. Gift was completely preoccupied when they drew blood. When we got home later I watched as each child was in utter amazement as they put on the headphones and music came out – they couldn’t believe it. They patiently shared and sang and danced as the songs came on. It may sound weird but it was so cool to see, I felt like I was in a different world. I can’t think of a child in America that hasn’t seen an IPOD and here were 5 kids having a blast over something we consider so common.

Also, over the past two weeks Bible club has started and it was been wonderful. Since there are so many girls, I split them up by age this week and had Bible Club 3 times this week. Holidays are coming up and many of the kids are going home to be with family but I am so excited for their return. I am confident that God is going to work in mighty ways through the Bible clubs. I think we will study women in the Bible when they return and then tackle the ever-so-fun topic of sex, boys and relationships. I know they are talking and thinking about it so it is time to take a look at it from a Biblical perspective. This particular topic is going to require a lot of preparation and even more prayer.

I recently visited a family that lives close to the school. As I was waiting for one of the girls to get home from school all the little kids put on a performance for me, singing all their church songs - it was so amazing! They all came to church yesterday and brought me a huge papaya as a gift!

Cara has GOT to be beside herself!!!!!  Fresh, clean water for Christmas…

For I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Matt 25:35

Cara has GOT to be beside herself!!!!!  Fresh, clean water for Christmas…

For I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Matt 25:35

CHECK THIS OUT!!!  Guess how much it costs to bring clean water to the ENTIRE WORLD?  $10 Billion Dollars.  You got it, that’s a 10 with NINE zeros after it.  It seems so overwhelming, until…

Guess how much Americans spend on Christmas EVERY YEAR? $10 Billion?  Nope, that’s just a drop in the bucket.  How about $450 Billion.  Do you see what could happen here?!

Lack of clean water kills more people every day than anything else.

Watch this short, inspiring, hope-filled video.  Then, if you like what you see, spread the good news…we are free!!!  Take it to your family, your small group, your church.  What could happen this Christmas?…

Let’s make Jesus proud.  After all, it’s his birthday!