leaves me breathless...

in a good way... God is moving so fast... He is pouring on the blessings... we are just trying to write fast enough... find buckets big enough...

We will not pass this way again.  Of course, we will return to the states after our first two-year term in Uganda, but we will return changed.  Our boys will feel like we're leaving home to come back to this place where they have faint memories.  So we're trying to live well- carve the memories deep- savor every moment.  It's gloriously exhausting!

#3302- #3330

birthday party for best buddy, Noah

catching up with dear friends

bowling alley noises

old school music

first day of Spring

Free Rita's water ice!

sweet, happy, sticky boys

treats with people we love

Prayer Buddies

smiling for the camera

sheer joy

first train ride

DC Metro

"mama-lovin" on the train

so excited

watching him take it all in

little boy wonder

dinosaur bones

a museum full of His handiwork

kindred spirits

a whole day of quality time

unhurried friendship

family night

homemade brownies

savoring every morsel

a church catching the vision for Uganda

97.2% (which also means just 2.8% to go!)

how blessed He is when people catch His heartbeat for the world

Prayer inspiration

"Prayer brings you into a sacred partnership with Jesus Christ, the enthroned Son of God.  If God has not revealed this to you in His Word, it would have been blasphemous to suggest that you could share such partnership.  "The Lord worked with them" is a succinct history of the early church (Mark 16:20).  Further, Scripture calls all Christians "God's fellow workers" (I Cor. 3:9, II Cor. 6:1). 

There are many ways to "work" with God- through obedience, through service to others, and through sharing His love.  But He wants to have even more intimate contact with you. 

He wants to bring you into His inner circle where you can hear His great heart beating for a lost world.   

He has created you with the ability to speak to Him and fellowship with Him.  Above all else, as His "fellow worker," you were created to pray- as He prays...

He loves you so much that He desires you to intercede with Him as He intercedes with the Father, and to bless the world as He does.  

He mediates blessing through prayer.  You and I are to do the same"

-Wesley L. Duewel, Touch the World through Prayer

Prayer Guide: Missionaries

Team Uganda: Thanksgiving 2010

God certainly hears when His people pray- and I believe He honors even when we pray "bless so and so"- but how He longs for us to bring specific needs to His throne and actively participate in missionaries' lives and ministries!  You may not be called to full-time missions- but you are called to missions.  Praying for missionaries is another way you can participate in the Great Commission.  Here is a weekly prayer guide:

• Sunday- the missionary's own spiritual walk, growth in grace through daily devotions, private prayer, corporate worship and Sabbath keeping.
• Monday- The missionary's personal life, health, safety, financial provision, emotional stability, and well-being.
• Tuesday- The missionary's family life, husband/wife relationships, parenting, children, extended family from whom they are separated, and the model of a Godly family they display
• Wednesday- The missionary as a communicator, facility with the foreign language, cultural adaptation, and communicating the truth by the example they set.
• Thursday- The missionary's ministry, teaching, preaching, witnessing, discipling, boldness, fruitfulness, and satisfaction in their work and open doors through which they may pass to share Christ.
• Friday- The missionary's relationship with fellow workers, a sense of cooperation and not competition, humility, consider others ahead of self, avoidance of pride, working with nationals
• Saturday- The missionary's country of service, stability, freedom, governmental leaders, passports, visas, work permits, etc.

Here is a list of missionaries in Uganda with WGM-

Southern Uganda Missionaries

·                              Jonathan & Lisa Mayo (Jordan & Ethan) (Home Ministry Assignment)

·                              Kenneth & Delight Hopson (Kaleb, Austin, & Emilee)

·                              Lisa Fish (Home Ministry Assignment)

·                              John & Beth Muehleisen  

·                              Jean Komline (volunteer teaching first grade at Heritage)

·                              Karli Elsrod (volunteer teaching physical education at Heritage)

·                              Jessie Mittleman (volunteer teaching art at Heritage)    

·                             Christina Maddalone (volunteer web and marketing development for WGM Africa) 

Northern Uganda Missionaries

·                              Billy & Joanna Coppedge (Elsie Jayne & Lucy Mae)  

Eastern Uganda Missionaries

·                             Michael and Brenda Guilliams (Luke - preschooler) working in the Jinja area in pastoral training/community health and development 

New Missionaries Preparing to Serve Throughout Uganda

·                             Josh and Kelly Hallahan (Caleb & Seth - preschoolers) will be the chaplain at Heritage International School, working with university students

·                             Scott and Meg Rambo (Timothy - preschooler) will be in Arua working with Coppedges   

·                             Matt and Joy (Morse) Burke (Judah & Lily - preschoolers) will be working with pastoral training/community health & development

·                             Raymond and Nicole Leisure (Joshua and Katherine) will be in Kampala doing community development and maintenance, and also working at Heritage International School

One Pastor in Uganda

Wilson’s Story 

Let me tell you about a Ugandan pastor named Wilson. God has some serious plans for his life. Wilson has planted three churches and is the proud father of four children. But Wilson didn’t always have such a promising life. His father died when he was a child, and he was abandoned by his mother. He became a child soldier in the rebel forces in his early teens. After leaving this violent life, he became homeless and addicted to drugs. An older Christian lady led him to the Lord, and his life gradually began to turn around. Tragedy struck when a witch doctor poisoned Wilson’s first wife and their unborn child, killing them. About a year later, Wilson married a wonderful Christian woman, Grace. Then he felt led by God to become a pastor, and he planted a church. Later he heard about the pastors’ training offered by WGM. He knew that was what God wanted him to do, and he completed the training. Wilson did not even know how to read until he took the training.

Wilson says, “I am what I am because of the training I have received. Not only am I a better pastor, but I am also a better father, better husband, and better person.” He also went home and taught his wife the things he had learned. Together they now go from home to home, sharing about God’s sacrificial love. Today, Wilson’s church continues to grow. And the witch doctors? Six have already been saved. At least eight are attending church. Several have left the area, saying they cannot compete with the power and love of Jesus.

Thank you for praying for the church and the pastors in Uganda this week!

Prayer Guide: Local Church in Uganda

Fast Facts about WGM Pastor Training in Uganda:

• In 1999, missionaries in Uganda felt God leading them to train Ugandans to reach their own people, rather than having missionaries be the primary church planters.

• Since 1999, the number of churches started by WGM-trained pastors has jumped from 1 to 142 churches.

• This training began with 10 pastors, but now more than 110 Ugandan church planters and pastors have been trained at nine centers throughout the country.

• Currently over 110 pastors are in the training, which discusses theology, church planting, pastoring, and other areas of ministry.

• The team is looking ahead and making plans to start future training points in Sudan in coordination with WGM Sudan, as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo and possibly Rwanda and Burundi.

How you can pray for pastors and the church in Uganda?

• that Jesus will be lifted up and glorified in all of the ongoing training
• for safety for the instructors and pastors while traveling within the country
• for funds needed for continued pastoral training
• that the pastors would be growing in wisdom and knowledge, and in their own personal relationship with the Lord
• that God would protect the pastors, their families and congregations from spiritual attack and false prophets
• that many will come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and make His name known among their people.

• Pass It On: After hearing about this powerful ministry, can you think of someone you know who
would like to know about training pastors in Uganda? Pass on the word or share the website so
others can experience Uganda and learn how God might use them to minister to a lost world.

Prayer Guide: Government

As we lift up the country of Uganda, we're starting at the top- with the government.  As you are well aware- the government is still in the midst of the election process.

Presidential elections were held in February, and President Museveni was re-elected.  Mayoral elections were postponed.  They are likely to happen soon- so please pray for peace in Uganda. 

Here are some prayer points as you pray for the leaders of Uganda- or any country that is on your heart:

That they would love the truth

That they would have wisdom

That they would display courage and integrity

That they would be sharp in insight and quick in discernment

That they would surround themselves with good staff members and advisers

That they would enjoy God's protection over themselves and their families as they submit to His authority

Lenten Prayer Guide for Uganda

Lenten Garden inspired by this post

dark earth, awaiting seeds of Easter hope.

today is the first day of Lent- and we'd like to invite you on a Lenten Journey with us as we (yes, you) prepare our hearts for Uganda. 

"Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil." -Luke 4:1-2

As we stare at the giants looming large in the Promised Land (Uganda), we plead for one more lap around the wilderness.  He graciously grants our request... but not exactly how we envisioned.  He has a different wilderness in mind... one thousands of years after the first... 40 days and not 40 years... Jesus spent 40 days in the desert after He was baptized, filled with the Spirit, and commissioned into ministry.  40 dark days of temptation in preparation for ministry and also the cross. 

This barren garden reminds us of how trying the days ahead will be.  Satan fights hard.  We are weary in the waiting.  But Lent is just the time to set aside that which distracts us from God, and push into Him, so that we too might rise victoriously with Him on Easter!

Will you join us?  Perhaps you've never observed Lent before, but it is simply a time of preparation for Easter.  As we near our departure date (May 15!!!!!!!!) we need our team strong!  Let's redeem this time in the wilderness with time on our knees- where the real battle is.  Here's the challenge:


Pray for Uganda for the next 40 days.  There are a couple ways you can do this:

• Find a prayer partner and meet (in person or over the phone) once a week to pray for Uganda.
• Fast and pray for Uganda one day each week.
• Share the weekly prayer focus with your small group and pray together.
• Fast sleep and rise an extra half hour early to pray for Uganda.
• OR ask God how He wants you to participate in His plans for Uganda as we journey toward the cross together

Here's the Prayer Guide:

• March 9-16: Pray for the Ugandan Government
• March 17-23: Pray for the Church in Uganda, Africa Gospel Church in Uganda, and the Pastor's in training
• March 24-30: Pray for the missionaries in Uganda
• March 31-April 6: Pray for Heritage International School
• April 7-13: Pray for the Compassionate Ministries in Uganda
• April 14-20: Pray for Kampala International University
• April 21-24: Pray for Revival in Uganda!

STAY TUNED: We will update the blog with devotional thoughts and specifics in each weekly prayer focus throughout Lent as we focus on God's global purposes in Uganda!

Are there giants in Uganda??

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”  Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”  Numbers 13:27-33

January 2009 Training at Headquarters

Thoughts from Josh:

Over 2 years ago Kelly and I were accepted by World Gospel Mission as “Missionary Disciples” and began our journey of raising a team for ministry in Uganda. While we did not formally begin raising support until a few months later this journey was not expected to last 2 years. At least, we did not expect it.

As I look back to what seems like “forever ago” I stand in awe of the many lessons God has taught us, the amazing people we have met along the way, and the way that God has worked. There have been many times we wondered why it was taking as long as it has and more or less questioned what God was up to. Just recently we were reminded by someone (sadly I cannot remember who we had this conversation with) that today we Christians expect God to work quickly and if He doesn’t act quickly then something is wrong. We question our call. We lay blame on earthly influences like the economy or other people. And sometimes we give up. We obviously heard God wrong or maybe He changed His mind. But what about men like Noah? God told Noah to build an ark because He was going to destroy mankind. While we do not know the exact timeline it is reasonable to believe that it took Noah 20 years to build the ark. 20 years! Noah never questioned but rather we are told a few times in the Genesis account that, “Noah did everything just as God commanded Him.”

And what about the Israelites wandering in the desert? After being held in captivity in Egypt God delivered them but made them wait for 40 years before they could enter the Promised Land. There are many reasons for this and the Israelites can be scrutinized for many different things but to wander for 40 years waiting on God to fulfill a promise is a pretty big deal and not something I personally wish to experience. What is interesting is that in the verses above we read the reaction of the Israelites when its time to take hold of the Promised Land. They questioned God and were fearful.

We have, over the past 2 years, wondered many times why God was making us wait so long to go to Uganda. This lesson is reminding us that 2 years really is not as long a period as we make it out to be. We are beginning to see reasons why it has taken this long and I know God will continue to answer the why question little by little. What is funny though is that I am beginning to act just like the Israelites these days. After questioning Gods timing I am becoming a bit fearful of entering the “Promised Land” (Uganda is amazing but I’m not sure it is flowing with milk and honey). As of today God has provided 90% of our needed finances to make the move. We have a target date of May 15^th for our move to Uganda. We are realizing that it is for real and we will soon be 6,000 miles away from everyone we love and enjoy life with. Everything will be new. It will not be easy. There are “giants” in Uganda!

As I was driving last night I found myself hoping things would “slow down” because, man, its getting so real and I’m scared. Our time on HMA has been long and we have questioned why it’s been so long but in some respects it has become “comfortable”. When looking at the challenges ahead of us in Uganda, HMA doesn’t seem so bad. To the Israelites the wilderness became a place they hated but in the face of giants it did not seem so bad.

I have no lesson to pass off to you because I am literally in the middle of this current lesson God is teaching me. This is merely me sharing my current situation with God. It’s a fun ride and I look back on the story of Noah and the Israelites with newfound clarity and understanding. I understand, in part, what the Israelites were feeling and I hope if someone was writing about me that they could say what was said of Noah, “The Hallahans did everything just as God commanded them.”

February 2011 Training at Headquarters

Can't catch my breath!

 

He boggles our minds.  His goodness makes us a little goofy!  He takes us by surprise.  He's running, and we are trying to keep up! Just last night we jumped 6% in our monthly pledges!  We are just 10.6% away from Uganda- only 5.6% away from buying plane tickets!  How crazy is that?  He is a good, good God.  And, though we know He answers prayers, and always makes good on His promises- we are still amazed.

Will you join us in praising Him?  Will you seek His face on how He wants you to participate in His plans for Uganda?  We're not there yet, team!  And we need your creativity and fervent prayers now more than ever!  If you want to get our weekly prayer updates, click the "Join Our Team" tab above and make sure you click weekly.  We'll be posting soon about how we're all feeling about this pending transition- some heart stuff is starting to happen with Caleb- Seth is just ready to go :) 

We're praying the rest of our support comes in by the end of April.  We're looking for creative ways to connect with new people, and faithful champions who will promote God's work in Uganda in their own sphere of influence.

He is doing amazing things- what a privilege it is to partner with Him among the nations!   

Makes us wanna dance :)

Grateful for... {#3223-3230}

91% of our funds in

Plane tickets reserved for May 15

faith that God will indeed provide all we need

a palm tree in our future yard in Uganda

and a balcony off our future master bedroom in Uganda

and dear sweet friends who are carrying us there

friends we will miss painfully

and our Friend, who sticks closer than a brother