July 27, 2018

Going to Uganda to take our visitors back to the airport…we made it to Lalonga and our rear axle wanted to fall off!  I walked 10 miles back to Lohutok and brought Scott to help me fix it.

So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21

     You’ve probably gathered from our last few newsletters and prayer calendars that the past few months have been crazy with visitors and travel.  For years we have been praying for team mates for Lohutok, in the past six months we have had six visitors and three of them are now going through the long application and fundraising process to join our team!  That is exciting news, but entertaining visitors is a lot of work, even for the low-maintenance visitors we’ve had. 

     Normally we go to Uganda every three to four months for shopping, car repairs, medical care and rest.  With the extra visitors and an extra trip to get a car running Justin has actually made six trips to Uganda so far this year.  Add in a required unit retreat in Kenya, a week in Juba to get our two year residency permits, and supply runs to Torit every couple of weeks and this half-year has been pretty insane, but mostly in a good way. 

     Justin recently drove to Uganda to take back some visitors from our sending church so they could get their flights home, then drove back to Lohutok three days later to pack up Amy and the kids to come back down…although Justin has had to travel quite a bit, it was time for Amy to have a break!  The two day drive is not leisurely, and both times there was some kind of catastrophic mechanical issue with the vehicle (as you can see from the pictures) but the past week in Uganda has been one of incredible rest and refreshment and we are ready to go home and hit the ground running. 

This was two weeks of car trouble!  On our way back to Uganda with the family we got stuck once, had to be dug out by some guys who were there to help, and then when we hit the fast road in Uganda our radiator exploded!  Thankfully we have a mechanic who spent 8 hours on a bus to come and help us fix it! 

     We have been doing language study in the midst of the busyness, but we are looking forward to our next time “in” to really get into a good routine with our tutors, visiting people in the village to practice, and finding new friends and relationships that way.  Please keep praying that we would be able to focus on learning to speak Lopit (we can already see our progress when we go to funerals and homes in the village to talk to people!) and not be distracted by the “urgent.” 

     Last month you read about Teresa and some of the difficulties she is having.  She has made some progress in finding care for her mother and Paul has actually called some of her family members to a meeting to discuss their mistreatment of her.  As I have been talking to people about this whole issue, I’ve discovered some close links between Michael (who is the watchman at our compound and my language helper), Teresa’s uncle, and the village landlord.  We are praying that God will use a few people of peace, people with whom I’ve become friends through the building process, etc., to give me some access to the uncle and landlord and share the gospel with them.  It is a little scary and humbling, but the more I pray about the connections, the more I experience the temptation, self-doubt and discouragement that can only be from the enemy. 

     The past few days I have been struck by 2 Timothy 2:21 as Paul uses it in the context of instructing opponents, and spiritual warfare.  I’m praying for the Spirit to reveal to me things in my life that need to be purified and help me be “useful to the Master.”  Please keep praying for us, Teresa, her family and the spiritual strongholds that exist in Lohutok to keep the church down after so many decades of missionary history. 

Thank you for your support and prayer!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb Culp

Amy and Caleb having fun on their night out together!