Sustained.

"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved."  Psalm 55:22

Life.  Has.  Been.  Busy!

Between ministry, family, adoption, homeschool, farming, tests in faith and surviving the rainy season with leaky thatches roofs.

Ministry is full.  Zane continues to teach Sunday morning, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.  He also spends Tuesday-Wednesday in the village teaching a bible study as well as going hut to hut sharing the Good News.

{Friday evening bible study}

Our family is unique.  Its the way God designed it from the beginning of time.  And with a big family comes unique challenges.  Raising children can be hard.  Its definitely a full time ministry with 100% dependence on the Lord's strength and wisdom.

  

{Don't all families have water fights whereby an adult has to balance an orange cone on his/her head}.

This month marks the month that we are officially beginning the final process to adopt three of our Ugandan children, Elizabeth, Ezra and Elianah.  The Uganda adoption law states that foreigners can adopt if they have lived in the country and fostered the child for three years.  And although we have had these three children far longer than three years, we have just felt the Lord's nudge to finalize their adoption.  God led us to an amazing lawyer in the closest town with a High Court who is excited to help us {she is born again} and is even offering us a discount!  Please pray for us in this, that all the paperwork we submitted will be sufficient and for the judge, that he would rule in our favor.  Also, we had mentioned in an email ministry update concerning the expense of adoption; God has already laid it on someone's heart to pay for one child.

{Elizabeth}

{Elianah}

{Ezra}

Our little homeschool has had a new little twist thrown in.  Due to the governments gentle nudge harassment, we have had to register our children at a local international school.  However, because the Lord is into details, the head of the school is a very open minded man and has agreed to allow us to continue educating the children at home and only bringing them in for mid-terms and final exams.  Please pray for me as a teacher as Ugandan material is very different to the American material we are all used to using.

The rains have ushered us into the planting season!  The papaya are producing sweeter fruit.  The maize seeds haver already began sprouting.  The greens are nearly read for harvesting.  And men and woman from the surrounding villages have joined us in the work.  Pray for us as we minister through farming.

Living in local grass thatched huts has brought us even closer to the people.  We are beginning to understand an "ounce" of their struggles.  The newest challenge has been leaky roofs.  When it storms outside, it rains inside.   Please pray that the men who thatched our roofs would be honest and come back to fix their work.

Like Paul, we are continually learning to be content with much and with little.  This month has been another lesson in being content with little.  Please pray that we would be good stewards of each and every gift the Lord brings us.

There is so much more to share.  Youth growing leaps and bound in the Word of God.  Men being discipled as Zane works alongside them on the Kitgum farm.  Preparing for teams.  Summer's upcoming time of rest in Oregon. 

The youth of Lotodore village.

It is so comforting to know that God means what He says.  Truly we can cast ALL of our burdens on the Lord knowing full well that HE WILL sustain us.

P.S. This is God's village...our ministry base!