Big Trash Day!

As many of you know, we sold our house 1 week prior to leaving for Uganda on February 2^nd.  We spent that week frantically packing and sorting.  We built our house in 2005 and moved in November 1^st of that same year.  We thought that we had done a good job of cleaning out and getting rid of unneeded items, as the years went along.  When it got down to it, and we needed to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, we were living in a Bunch of Trash!  This picture shows one trash pick up day. 

We had this much again on the next trash day, in addition to a pickup load of stuff that we took out of the garage to the clinic’s dumpster.  That got me to thinking of how much trash we live in, both literally as shown above and figuratively, as we hold on to things that are unnecessary.  You know, things like anger, bitterness, jealousy, grudges, and emotional pain. 

In five years, without proper “pruning”, our house became cluttered with things that we did not need (trash).  Just think how our spiritual dwellings can become cluttered if we don’t lay it down before the Father. 

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us”.

I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble running in just running shorts and a good pair of tennis shoes!  I don’t need anything to hinder me.  This is true for a physical race or a spiritual race, as Paul describes.

I think that it is time for some good “spring cleaning” and a Church-wide (all Christians) “Big Trash Day”.  Let’s set that trash that entangles us out at the curb of Jesus!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Jay

Get out of my Boat!

I am guessing that most of you did not realize that I was a boat captain.  It is true.  My ship is a beauty.  She is called the USS Complacency.  She is one of the most “easy going” vessels out on the ocean of life.  She boasts the compass of comfort, the ballast of familiarity, the stern of distraction, the mast of inactivity, and the bow of weak will.  I would really like to find a different ship to lead, such as the USS Bold or the USS Sold Out.

While I am driving around the USS Complacency, it reminds me of the great American philosopher Mr. McGee.  He was the boss of Prince in the song Raspberry Beret.  He said, “I was busy doing something close to nothing, but different than the day before”. 

John 21:15  15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He *said to him, "Tend My lambs."16 He *said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He *said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."17 He *said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus *said to him, "Tend My sheep.

I would really like to be more like Peter.   Not the Peter that denied Christ 3 times, as foreshadowed in the above verse.  Not so much the Peter that lost his temper and cut off the Roman guard’s ear in the garden.  This Peter went on to be the Rock that the church would be built on.  Christ can use even those that have fear and anger problems.  The thing that I would like to mirror is his courage.  The courage he took in Matthew 14:29 when Jesus said “Come”, and Peter GOT OUT OF THE BOAT, and walked on water.  I want to GET OUT OF THE BOAT!  Sometimes the water around the USS Complacency can get rough and seem scary.  But if I keep my eyes on Christ, and don’t concentrate on the waves, I think that I can GET OUT.

Join me, we will Get Out of the Boat together.

Jay

A few firsts

As I write this, it is 5:30am in Uganda on Thursday am.  That would make it 8:30pm Wednesday in Oklahoma.  The last couple of days have seen some firsts for our family.

1.) Jake and Jared got their first hair cuts in Uganda.  We have no broom, so clean up was going to be an issue.  We did not want to sit outside, because of the mosquitoes.  I had already purchased the clippers on our last trip to the department store.  We placed a chair in a shower.  This would barely fit with no room on any side.  I squeezed them in the shower and had to do one side of their head at a time so that I could reach it.  The clippers are "Sunbeam" brand, which is one that we recognized.  They seem like they need more RPMs.  Our haircuts took at least twice as long as usual as the clipper seemed to chew their hair rather than clip it.  I cut it short and the boys will be wearing hats the next few days.

2.) Gregston boys were caught washing dishes!  That is right.  Without any bribing or coercion, they were washing dishes after our dinner with the Gash family on our Wednesday evening.  I think this could be an early sign of tropical disease!

3.) Our kids got to gain experience in the medical lab at Wentz Medical Center in Gaba.  Science class on the job.  Looking through microscope and learning to do tests for malaria, HIV etc.  Please see Jake's future post on this event for him.  They will be able to use this training as we do some of the same tests in our mobile medical clinic.

4.) I got to see what was likely the first non-pulmonary TB patient of my career.  Not that I recognized it, but Dr Andrew, here in Uganda, feels pretty confident that this is the case.  In Oklahoma, we don't see much TB, and when we do, it is usually a lung related case.  A 11 year old boy with recent weight loss and stomach swelling (ascites).  No pulmonary (lung) complaints or cough.  He also had an unusual rash on his lower legs.  This boy weights between 60-70 lbs at 11 years old.  He had a hernia surgery yesterday and it turns out that he did not have a hernia, but a fluid filled sack that likely showed evidence of TB.  Specimens will be sent for pathology.  Please keep him in your prayers as he is a sick little guy.

5.) Today will be the first Bota Bota ride for most of us.  These are the motorcycle taxis.  We are crossing a potion of Lake Victoria to go to Eagle's Nest Ministries to see if there is a way that our mobile medical clinic can help them in the future.  We won't be able to take our van there (when we eventually purchase one), but we brought 3 large back packs so that we can bring medical supplies with us when we go.  After we cross the lake on a small boat (water taxi), we get to ride these motorcycles another mile or so to our destination.  We will try to get pictures or video to show you.  Report/war stories later.

Catching you up.

Thought I would take some time today to catch you up on our first few days in Uganda.  This post won't really have a topical theme, but more of a diary feel.

We arrived in Uganda at about 11:00pm local time after a fairly uneventful set of flights from Dallas to Detroit, Detroit to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda.  Our host, Dr. Martin, picked us up at the airport and took us the 40 minute drive to our apartment in Bugolobi, Uganda.  Our friends, the Gash family, had worked with the hotel staff to have our room ready to go when we arrived.  As they purchased their own, the Gash family bought us things that we would need, like a water dispenser, measuring cups, milk, eggs etc.  We visited over PBJs and cupcakes before we went to bed about 1am. 

Thankfully, we all slept well on that Friday night, and woke Saturday morning without too much of the "switching times by 9 hours hangover".  We went to the grocery store and to a store that is supposedly like Target, but probably more like TG&Y.  We bought more essentials to stock our fridge and cabinets.  Some things are really cheap.  For example, a pineapple on the side of the road cost 2,000 shillings (80 cents), but a pint of Haagen-dazs ice cream will cost 62,000 shillings ($27).  Needless to say, we bought 4 pineapples and no ice cream.  Saturday evening, a Ugandan friend named Rogers came by and we visited for a while to catch up on things since we had last seen him in July.  We went to bed a little early and again slept well.

Sunday morning, we went to the early service at Watoto Church and were treated to great worship and a timely message about the Holy Spirit.  I'll have to admit, I was disappointed when I heard that there would be a guest speaker from Canada preaching.  I was ready for some Ugandan fire-you-up kind of preaching.  I was even a little more disappointed when I saw the old bald guy that was the Canadian speaker.  I am ashamed of my stereo-typing.  This guy was fired up and preached it that day.  He was so fired up at times, there were spit grenades almost making it to my seat in the second row.  Jayne leaned over to me and said "I am afraid he is going to have a heart attack".  It reminded me of a comedian from back in the day named Gallagher.  He had a routine where he smashed things with the "Sledge-O-matic". 

People familiar with his routine would bring plastic sheeting to cover up with if they were in the first couple of rows to avoid getting the splatter from all of the things going under the sledge-O-matic.  After a great service, we boarded a bus and drove to Jinja, Uganda.  I love Jinja.  This is where I had my first exposure to Uganda in January of 2011.  It is a city, but much smaller than Kampala.  This bus had been arranged by our friend Steve Swigert from Ardmore and Watoto's Brent Smith.  We first drove to the area where the Nile River starts out of Lake Victoria.  We took a boat over to an island and had pictures made there.  One of these photos is Jared with his R hand in Lake Victoria and his L hand in the Nile River.

After this tour of the head waters of the Nile, we headed north of Jinja to a Kalagala falls.  When we arrived, we were greeted by men in canoes that rowed us across the Nile to a lovely restaurant RIGHT ON THE RIVER.  The view was awesome.  We had lunch in the shade next to a pool that looked like a polar bear exhibit and just on the other side of the pool was the river.  You can see it behind Jill and I in this picture.

As we left the restaurant, we again had to leave by canoe.  We really were not anxious about riding in this small boat until we stopped to take pictures at the falls that was just down river from where we boated across.  The life jackets in the canoe would not have helped much going over this fall.

After an awesome day of seeing the sights of Africa, we headed home.  We see multiple times everyday the incredible beauty of God's creation, right next to severe poverty and desperation.  We stopped to buy freshly picked pineapples and our kids got to love on some Ugandan children in a slum area north of Kampala.

Monday we met with Africa Renewal Ministries and were encouraged with the discussions.  We will be "training" in the Wentz Medical Clinic in Gaba for 2 weeks while we get our Mobile Medical Clinic together.  I will be working with the local doctors brushing up on the local treatment of illnesses and resources that are available.  Jill and the kids will be learning how to do simple lab tests, health assessments for children (height, weight, head circumference etc), pharmacy skills, and putting together wheelchairs that someone donated that we can take to those that need them in the rural areas.  One thing that is a little different than I had planned is that most of the areas where we are scheduled to go, are more than "day trips" away from our home.  So there will be many weeks that we go out for 3 days and 2 nights to more remote areas of Uganda.  I am surprised by this, but not disappointed.  My greatest love and perceived calling is to the more rural areas and this will allow us to connect with them a little better.  In addition to doing "normal medical" clinics where our coming is advertised and people line up to see us, we will do some "unannounced" clinics where the pastor of the local church knows that we are coming and he identifies a few sick people that we can go to their home and visit.  In these visits, we can spend more time getting to know the family and the health issue.  We also can pray for the family and share Christ with them in a more intimate setting.  I think that I am looking forward to these trips the most.  We were excited to hear that our family working together will be a "ministry" as many people in rural areas may have never seen a mzungu (white/non-African) child and likely never mzungu families.  To show a western/Christian family dynamic will be important in our mission.
We went to a remand home this morning.  This is a home where suspected juvenile law breakers are held awaiting trial.  They are supposed to only be there for up to 6 months, but many are held there for 2 years or more on only accusations. 
This week and next could feel a little slow as we do our learning internships and get our medical unit put together, but we are excited about what the next few months have in store for us in Uganda.

Jay

Sold out!

Sold Out?  I have always wanted to be sold out to Christ.  I have seen people that I knew were sold out to Him and have admired their lives.  But not giving up control has slowed me from joining them.

I sold out to chase a beautiful woman so as to make her my bride.  But have I chased that hard after the Almighty?

I sold out to my studies and successfully completed my schooling.  But have I studied enough in God's word?

I have sold out to exercise programs (past tense) to complete marathons and triathlons.  But I don’t know that I have ever totally exercised my faith in the Savior.

I am currently “Sold Out” of the housing market in Duncan.  But can I be radical enough to be sold out to Jesus?

I sold out my family in 2005-2007 as work occupied way too much of my life and attention.  I’d like to feel that urgency and need for the life giver as I did for my livelihood.  

Lord, I pray that you will corner me in Uganda, amid a life of fewer distractions, and help me to sell out to you.  Help me to join the National Association of “sell-tors” by leading others to be sold out as well. 

Are you sold out?  Are you holding back some inventory?

Jay

On our way

As I type this, I sit on an airplane headed to Detroit from Dallas.  I am exhausted; both physically and emotionally.  As many of you know, we signed a contract to sell our house late last week.  Since that time, we have been frantically trying to get things sorted, packed and stacked so that movers can physically move it next week.  Emotionally, I am spent as well.  We are on our way to Uganda currently and we will be there for 6 months.  Making plans to be gone half of the year, fund raising for our mobile medical clinic and telling friends and loved ones “so long” can start to to wear on a fellow after a while.  I think the main thing that has me exhausted is the last minute cram session of packing and moving last night that only allowed me to sleep from 3:30am-5:00am this morning.

Jill and I want to say thank you to the many friends and family members that helped us through prayer, packing and lifting over the past week. With your help, we have almost completed a huge task.  I was a little overwhelmed this am as some of the same special people showed up at our house at 6:45am to pray over our family before we took off on our journey.  We can never say how much you mean to us.  We walked out the door of our home (for the last time as the owner) and stepped into a medium term medical mission to East Africa, all in one stride.  We have either lost our minds or relinquished control of the part that was in charge of “rational thought”!

We had been looking forward to getting back to Uganda since we left there last Summer, but we had not been looking forward to the 24hours of planes and ports.  Our big move this past week, has made us look forward to sitting and resting for 24 hours!  That whole perspective thing can change your point of view?!?!?!?

We are trying to stay awake on this early flight to Detroit and we plan on sleeping from Detroit to Amsterdam.  I was planning to take medication, if needed, but I somehow don’t think it will be warranted!  We will arrive in Amsterdam around 7:00am on Friday morning.

On our short layover in Amsterdam, I am supposed to meet up with Steve Bredesen.  He is a missionary/pastor from Oklahoma and he is part of Eagle’s Nest Ministries near where we will be living.  I hope to be able to talk with him on the flight from Amsterdam to Uganda.  He will be in Uganda for 10 days before returning to the US.  I hope to be able to provide medical services in a meaningful way to the children in the orphanage and school that Eagle’s Nest serves. 

We are scheduled to arrive in Uganda at 10:20pm tomorrow night.  That will be 1:20pm in Oklahoma.  Our official and professional host Dr Martin, from Africa Renewal Ministries, will be meeting us at the airport and taking us to our apartment in Bugolobi.  I am sure Saturday will be about dancing with circadian rhythms that are off beat and stocking the fridge and pantry.  I am too tired to come up with any witty bits from Great American Philosophers today, but I think I will end this entry with this:  We have many gifts to be thankful for. If I had to rank these gifts, the friends and family that are advocates of our family & Due Unto Others would be at the top.

Thanks again,

Jay

Be Bold

I spent yesterday with two words on my mind: “Be Bold”.  As I received those words, yesterday, I realized that two weeks from now, we will be waking up in Uganda to start our 6 month mission there.  With the word “Bold” coming to mind, I had to think of a story.

It started out as a day like any other in the life of a two year old, watching videos, playing with toy cars, chasing his dog, but things were soon to change.  Because it was on this day, that while eating lunch, this two year old child got a piece of sandwich stuck in his throat.  For his mom, the next thirty minutes were a blur of screaming, frantic calls, Heimlich blows, and earnest prayers.  A young mother saw her son’s fear-filled eyes grow dim and there was nothing she could do.

Paramedics took this young boy to Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City.  There his lifeless body was accepted by a cocky young doctor eager to show off some of his recently learned skills.  Despite the young physician’s and staff’s efforts, they could not revive this child. 

When the mom arrived, alone, at the hospital, this doctor had to explain to her the futility of his efforts.  He then stood with tears in his eyes and a hole in his heart as this young mother sat, by herself, and rocked her lifeless child.  Back and forth, back and forth, and back again for what seemed like hours.  The doctor wondered if he could ever stop rocking if this was his child.  He also, despite all of his training, did not know how to help this lady.  This mother seemed to know that when she put down the child and stood up that she would have to “stand alone”.

The physician in this story is me in 1996, as a resident in Oklahoma City.  I regret not being bold in this situation.  Just think of how God could have used me to minister to and witness to this young girl.  I could have offered a kind word of encouragement.  I could have offered a hug of condolence.  I could have rallied a group of ladies from our church to help her through this time.  I could have said a prayer with her asking God to give her wisdom and courage.  Instead, I did nothing.

God did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity, so why do I default to this so easily?  He created us to be “different”.  He called us to be “radical”.  There is a quote from the movie, “What a girl wants”, that says: Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?

I know that God has called our family to go to Uganda and I know that He is telling me to be bold.   I don’t know what He has in store for us there, but I am so excited to find out.  I was prepared to tell you that I am going to “try” to be bold while we are on this Great Adventure.  But I remember the words of the great Jedi philosopher Yoda when he said: “Do or do not.  There is no TRY”

A part of “Jesus Calling”, by Sarah Young, today says “If you believe that I (God) am sovereign over every aspect of your life, it is possible to trust me in all situations.  Don’t waste energy regretting the way things are or thinking about what might have been.  Start at the present moment – accepting things exactly as they are – and search for My way in the midst of those circumstances”.

I plan to be Bold.  I will stand out for Christ!  Where do you need courage today?

Jay