But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
In traditional Ugandan wedding introduction attire |
We find ourselves doing plenty of
waiting on a couple of major ministry areas even as the Lord opens new doors in
our primary focus of discipleship.
We continue to wait
for our Uganda work permits, which in November we thought were a done deal
after a six-month process. There have been opportunities for short-cuts to
receive the permits. Acting on these would dishonor the LORD. Waiting upon the LORD to deliver the permits in the proper way is our decision so our ministry
will not be hindered from soaring like eagles. Also, we want to stand on
the Rock of Jesus - not in the shifting sands of the world --as in Matthew
7:24-27. Those verses are the inspiration for the name of our ministry.
Patience also is
required in the building of our first phase of Kingdom View. Based upon
estimates from our architect and engineer, we thought we had enough funds to
start building the first phase - a ministry/missionary house -- last month.
However, the construction bids came in significantly higher than estimated.
We are seeing what costs we can defer and still have a fully functional
ministry house with our existing budget. (It appears we need another $25,000 to
complete the original design).
Crossing the cultural
divide in construction is daunting in both approach and design.
The accepted way to
build in Uganda is to start before you have enough funds to complete the
project. If you have enough funds to put in the foundation (or even part of a
foundation) then you begin work. You proceed to other phases when more
funds are available. This is the answer to the curiosity many visitors to
Uganda have when they see many partial shells of buildings. In this case,
we do not conform to the Uganda norm.
"Suppose one of
you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to
see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is
not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This
fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' (Luke 14:28-30).
Though this statement
by Jesus is in the context of considering the cost of following Him, we believe
the literal interpretation applied to considering the cost of building also is
valid. As ministry leaders, we desire to model Jesus' teachings and biblical
truths in all areas.
We are blessed to have
new opportunities for ministry on campus at Uganda Christian University. We
have been asked to teach biblical leadership to leaders of the 40 fellowship
groups on campus. Margaret is teaching our Identity in Jesus and
Mark is expounding on The Rock Leadership Creed.
It is a critical time
on campus as some outside influences are promoting unsound doctrine. Confused
students have sought guidance from us regarding false teaching from a nearby
church. These students are being falsely told that as Jesus believers we
are all gods; that if you wear eyeglasses you have weak faith because God has
not corrected your vision; that you can skip classes to attend church functions
declared mandatory by the pastor and God will give you favor on exams; and that
it is dangerous to travel and get outside the "spiritual covering" of
a specific pastor. We are joining with and supporting the university chaplaincy
in teaching and doing spiritual battle against these unbiblical assertions.
We also continue our Sunday afternoon "Leading God's Way" seminars, movie nights with discussion, individual Christian counseling, serving as guest lecturers and providing mentoring training to staff and the Honors College.
We also continue our Sunday afternoon "Leading God's Way" seminars, movie nights with discussion, individual Christian counseling, serving as guest lecturers and providing mentoring training to staff and the Honors College.
The spiritual fruit
encourages us in a way that far outweighs our frustrations in work permit and
construction delays. Yet, we seek your prayers that the ministry may move
forward in God's perfect timing in all areas.
"No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
-- Mark and Margaret Noblin