"Merry Christmas From Uganda"

    

Greetings!

Abiding faith and trust in God are central themes of the Christmas story, just as they have been guiding lights to The Rock’s ministry through the years.

Mary believed “that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished” in the promise she would give birth to the Savior of the world.  (Luke 1:45)

Joseph was ready to move on from a pregnant Mary when an angel visited him in a dream. The angel told him the child Mary carried was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be the Messiah. “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1:24)

Wise men in faith followed a star to find Jesus. “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’" (Matthew 2:1-3)

At The Rock, Jesus is our star. We follow and know our final destination in heaven, but we often don’t know the points in between. Who could have anticipated COVID and its universal impact? As the Ugandan university we minister to only reopened in November, who knows what new opportunities the Lord will introduce?

After 19 years of serving Uganda, we are excited this year to be spending our first Christmas there with our African friends and spiritual children. We are hopeful God will present fresh ways to “go and make disciples.” (Mathew 28:19)

We choose to trust God and delight in the many blessings He has provided. He warned Believers we will have trouble but promised through Jesus we will “overcome” (John 16:33) and be “more than conquerors.” (Romans 8:37)

Our Christmas wish for each of you is that you may count your blessings as overcomers and conquerors in Jesus. And we count each of you as blessings to us.

Gratefully,

 

Mark and Margaret Noblin
The Rock Outreach, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
www.rockoutreach.org

"Stories About Gratitude and God's Blessings"

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29   Keeping A Kingdom Perspective

 

 

In December we will spend our first Christmas in Uganda. Even when we lived in Uganda we returned to Texas for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Actually we arrive on Margaret's birthday and look forward to celebrating. We are grateful for many things during this unusual time in history. Personally we are healthy, our leadership teams in the U.S. and Uganda are doing well and keeping things running smoothly. Recently we were told the university will open on November 1st for on site classes. Plans are being made to resume movie nights and relationship forums in person at Kingdom View. COVID-19 has brought some challenges but God has encouraged us to be creative in our ministry opportunities. We are grateful for technology which has borne some exciting fruit. UCU students and graduates have been mentored remotely on WhatsApp. On an average Margaret has been developing resumes online with 5 Ugandan students a week. Part of the career planning is knowing your God-given skills and being grateful for "the far God has brought you." (as they say in Uganda). Writing thank you notes is one of the things the students do as part of their career training. Thank you notes honor God and they encourage and reveal a grateful heart. Margaret has found if they pray to God to bring people to mind who have been kind to them, do this sincerely and share their resume, amazing things happen. Often people don't know we are available to work, so communication is key to getting the word out. Law, business, and social work students have gotten great jobs or promotions in the last few months because they were offered unadvertised jobs or they were recruited when a position opened up. The excitement in their voices as they report the results of their journey from fear to confidence is more rewarding than we can describe. Congratulations Joan, Patience,Tabitha,and Phiona! God really has a plan and a future for each of you and He blesses a grateful heart in surprising ways. Especially during this time, people are so encouraged to be appreciated. We can each do this and put a smile on someone's face. God continues to multiply the discipleship being done even in the midst of COVID-19. WhatsApp and Zello apps have been special tools to allow us to communicate with individual students, discuss relationship questions from guys to Mark about long-distance courting, and encourage them during this time. We appreciate your financial support, prayers and standing with us as always. More news to follow from Uganda in December. With grateful hearts, Mark and Margaret For daily reports on news in Uganda you can follow the link below: https//www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national