(Woodland Kingfisher with a Gecko- taken in our front yard)
It is beautiful this time of year. The rains are upon us,
the air seems cooler, the ground is being worked, and our sweet corn seed is in
the ground. Everyone is busy digging and planting, all in the hope of a coming
harvest. I love how the Gospel abounds with these images- labor, planting,
watering, growing, harvest. In many ways it is exactly where we are at as a
family and as a ministry.
(Keith's Cousin Kelsey Learning to Ox-Plow with Samuel Family)
We are settling well into our Ugandan home, now that we've
been back for more than six weeks. Our
children are enjoying their summer, playing Risk and Bang, collecting and
counting bottle-caps which they make into a battlefield, climbing trees,
reading hundreds of pages daily, and speaking in thick Ugandan accents. We are
enjoying our children here, making and developing new patterns of growth as a
family. A few we have continued or just started are- family tea and sharing night,
before bed dance parties, Monday night tacos
and worship, and Friday family night. These traditions have and continue to bind
us together no matter where we are on the globe. Pray that our children's hearts would continue to be soft toward God
and toward us as we shepherd them through these days.
We have officially
moved into our post-ten year phase of ministry here in Uganda. While we're
not yet sure exactly what that means, we feel the significance of the season
that we are entering into. We have labored intensely, planted, and watered. We
ourselves have grown and matured as a family and individually, all unto something that is yet unseen. Pray for us that our Father would lead us
clearly in the ministries He has called us to here in Uganda. Pray for wisdom
and insight as we walk forward in what He has put on our hearts and before us.
Strategic planning is
something that I (Keith) absolutely delight in. I am wired to dream,
envision, and think strategically about moving towards those ends out of a firm
foundation and consistent vision. We are at a place in the ministry here where
we are strategically re-evaluating everything, with the hope and firm belief
that greater things are yet to come. As we look at the Childcare and Family
Institute, the Pastoral Training Institute, and the Church and
Church-planting/multiplying/strengthening ministry, we are convinced that God
is preparing us for significant growth and changes. Pray for clarity as we look ahead, and pray that God would give all of
us in leadership unity of heart and mind in the things we are to pursue and
change.
Our first ever Luganda
Institute is under way. No foreign students. No English (unless
translated). Fifteen students from our ministry and the community around us. We
are just finishing up moving through worldview foundations, African worldview,
and Western worldview. The plowing has occurred, the soil is soft and is now ready
to receive the good seed that promises a harvest yet to come. These students
are excited and wide-eyed! Pray with us
for transformed hearts and minds, marriages and families, churches and
communities through these lives being deeply impacted. Also pray with us that
God would graciously allow this discipleship-oriented, life-impacting training
to be offered THROUGH THE CHURCHES all around us in the days and years to come.
Thank you for praying for us and being a part of this
journey of following Jesus.
For His Glory,
Keith and Laura Beth (and the Mc-F-Clan)
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