This Makes It All Worthwhile

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 4) We experienced this joy in a recent follow up visit to the Village of Hope in Northern Uganda.

In April, we taught freedom and identity in Jesus to leadership of Village of Hope, an organization that has taken 250 children out of internal displacement camps (IDPs). These camps were the result of the mayhem of rebel Joseph Kony, who turned children into soldiers and forced many to kill their own parents.

Most of the abducted kids have grown and moved on but their siblings remain and suffer scars by the past. A few of the former child soldiers still live in the camp with unspeakable memories.

The leadership at the Village of Hope fully embraces the message that we are who the Bible says we are as believers in Jesus - accepted, secure and significant in God's eyes. Several leaders said it was life changing and they are eager to teach and model this to the kids. Mark preached to the kids and they got it!

This was confirmed in our recent follow up trip. Many of the kids are no longer victims of the past. They now know their heavenly Father who loves them as believers in Jesus. They see themselves as the beloved they really are. Bad behaviors and destructive habits have changed. Several leaders also confessed their own lives changed.  They have been relieved of the burden of not forgiving others which had held them back.

A great testimony of how the teaching is ingrained in the kids' DNA is the song "Who Are You?" that they composed and offer unto the Lord. Click on the picture and enjoy the 4 minute 30 second music video!

Dan, Mark and Margaret

Forward from Jericho

Last time we wrote about our own Jericho experience as God challenged us to chart a new course and depend on Him to acquire land in Africa for a Rock discipleship house and ministry center.

Dan Vick, Mark and Margaret Noblin

Just as God provided unconventionally for the Israelites’ first acquisition in the Promised Land by delivering Jericho through marching and shouting, so He has overcome our steep walls and given The Rock its first half acre in Uganda!

Praise Him and many thanks to faithful Rock supporters who responded to the vision.



More to Come

Like the Israelites who saw the rest of the Promised Land before them after Jericho, we know there is more to come for The Rock as we have our eyes on an additional adjoining .6 acre at a cost of $80,000 to implement fully the vision of the original plan.

The land God has provided adjacent to Uganda Christian University overlooking Lake Victoria is for Kingdom View, which will serve as a magnet of ministry operations in East Africa to draw those wanting to grow in their faith, leadership and discipleship.

We will be in Uganda Sept. 12-Oct. 8 to begin work on architectural renderings, as well as meeting with other ministries wishing to use the future facility.  In addition we will continue our teaching and equipping of other ministries and university students on Freedom and Identity in Christ; God’s Plan for Men, Women and Marriage; Doing Business God’s Way; and Practical Life and Problem Solving Skills including assisting recent university graduates in their job searches.

Immediate Ministry Needs for Upcoming Trip

Some immediate needs are to purchase 12 additional Life Application Bibles for eager disciples in Africa to deliver on this trip. The cost is $35 per engraved Bible, or $420 total. Also, while the Lord has provided for the land purchase so far, it has left us stretched to cover the costs of this trip and training. We need $1,000 to train church leaders from Uganda and Kenya on starting small groups to address spiritual warfare including witchcraft.

Please keep us in your prayers. 

Dan, Mark and Margaret

 

Marching Around Jericho

Our board of The Rock Outreach is having its own Jericho experience as we move forward with plans for the Kingdom View Fellowship and Guest House.   This is an exciting new mission

Dan Vick with Mark and Margaret Noblin

approach to address root spiritual issues holding back Africa.
 

Consider how Joshua's fighting men might have felt as they passively walked around the seemingly invincible fortress of Jericho for six days. How futile and foolish these challengers must have looked to the city's guards staring down at them from walls 25 feet high and 20 feet thick.
 

God directed Joshua to have his armed men walk around the city for six days behind seven priests carrying the ark of the LORD. On the seventh day they walked around seven times before the priests blew their horns and everyone else shouted. The walls then crashed and the city was overrun by the Israelites.
 

As improbable as it sounded, it worked because it was of the LORD who already had determined to hand the city over to the Israelites as their first conquest upon entering the Promised Land.
 

Our Rock board believes our Jericho moment has come in following God's lead to build the Kingdom View Fellowship and Guest House in Uganda.
 

We need $150,000 for Phase One which includes purchase of land. The land may not be available after July 5. It's a tall order, but we are affirmed in God's leading and sufficiency by the story of Jericho.

God will get all the glory for Kingdom View, just as He left no doubt the battle belonged to Him at Jericho.

Pouring Forth

My challenge to the African teenagers chosen to help lead teaching on identity and freedom in Jesus was concluding in the rural Northern Uganda classroom when the rain began. The metal roof made even the beginning sprinkle sound impressive. Then the sound of sheets of rain pounding on the roof in an all-out storm became overpowering.

Not wanting to go out in the downpour, Denis, one of the Ugandan adult leaders in the village established for children impacted by years of war, shouted that the kids should sing praises to God.

As the clouds continued to open up and thunder clapped, the Spirit also poured forth. The praise was elevated to a heavenly level with great passion, tears and joyful dancing.

Overwhelmed, I sensed a specific leading from the LORD. Then I prayed for confirmation of the leading. Then I responded in obedience by telling the students at the top of my lungs that God was opening the floodgates of heaven to pour His anointing upon them. Impossibly, the worship escalated.
 
As the storm subsided, we all left quietly, sobered by the presence of the LORD.

"This is a day these kids will never forget," said a leader.

Me neither.

Mark Noblin

Boldly Moving Forward

God is opening a new door for The Rock's BOLD teaching of freedom, acceptance, security and significance in Jesus to traumatized young survivors of war-torn Northern Uganda.

Aerial View of Village of Hope

Accompanied by Rock-trained African disciples, we have accepted an invitation to spread the Good News at the remote Village of Hope next month.

The Village of Hope extends Jesus' love "through our time, love, and hope in the grace of God to bring healing to the hundreds of orphans affected by the brutal attacks of Joseph Kony and his army by the name of the Lord's Resistance Army." Founder Cindy Cunningham believes the message of freedom in Christ is essential for healing the emotional and spiritual wounds of the young people. She has embraced The Rock's BOLD adaptation for Africa of the Freedom in Christ Ministries. (BOLD is for Believers Overcoming Lies of the Devil - a compelling message in the African culture).

We are excited to encourage the Village of Hope leadership team, present an overview to the young people and hang out in the homes with the kids and house mothers. We are trusting God to plant the seeds for fundamental change in individual lives. Our identity in Jesus as taught in BOLD is not a program nor curriculum. It is a paradigm shift that penetrates the essence of who we are spiritually every bit as much as our DNA defines our biological makeup.

God is multiprocessing as this also is a great opportunity for African disciples currently in BOLD fellowships to put to use for the Kingdom what they have learned by serving others in Northern Uganda.

In addition, the opportunity to serve other ministries is confirmation of The Rock's leading to be a teaching resource to western and indigenous ministries. While in Uganda, we will be exploring opportunities for developing a BOLD Resource Center near Uganda Christian University, which could include a guest house, media center and meeting space.

This is a faith journey and we trust the Lord to provide as we go. Please pray if He would have you be a part of this BOLD initiative.